Review: Urban Decay Naked 3 Palette

Today, I will be sharing with you my thoughts on the Urban Decay Naked 3 Palette. I'm a little late to the party, but I have been lusting after this for months without being able to afford it and out of nowhere a package from BeautyBay arrived. Turns out it was from my mother and she felt like spoiling me. You won't hear me complain, thanks Mom! 

This is the beauty that arrived on my doorstep today. The packaging already is beautiful. It's a rose/beige gold with antique gold lettering. Got to love a flashy palette like this.

The palette itself is the same colours. Unlike the Urban Decay Naked (1) this has the same tin packaging as the Naked 2 palette. It seems sturdier than the first one and certainly more travel friendly. It comes with a double ended brush, that in a pinch could easily be used for a look. I prefer to have several brushes and would definitely prefer to have a blending brush along with this, but I can make this work. It's a flat paddle style brush on one end and a crease type brush in the other. They are synthetic, and as always everything by Urban Decay is cruelty free.

As always with a Naked Palette, it came with an extra. This is a sample selection of their eyeshadow primers, each with different effects. Each sachet contains about a weeks worth of primer.

Let's get down to the important part! The shadows. The palette contains 12 shadows, 3 (and a half!) matte, the rest are shimmery or glittery. Urban Decay have a reputation for making incredible palettes and this one certainly delivers. The palette is overall rosey/mauve toned and goes very well with most complexions, especially paler ladies like myself.

Swatch-a-palooza!

L-R: Strange, Dust, Burnout.

Strange is a creme-white shade, with a touch of pink. It is a very smooth, matte texture.

Dust is light, warm pink with micro-glitter. Has a slightly dry texture and seems fallout prone.

Burnout is a rosey peach colour with a beautiful pearl finish. Very pigmented.

L-R: Limit, Buzz, Trick.

Limit is a dusty rose/mauve colour. Very smooth, matte texture. Very blendable.

Buzz is a warm, coppery rose colour with a metallic finish. Buttery smooth texture on this baby.

Trick is a rosey bronze with a metallic finish. Very pigmented, very smooth.

L-R: Nooner, Liar, Factory.

Nooner is a warm/rose mid-brown colour. Matte and smooth. (And I love the name!)

Liar is a bronze-brown. Metallic and once again smooooooth as a babys bottom!

Factory is a medium-dark brown with red undertones. Shimmery and highly pigmented.

L-R: Mugshot, Darkside, Blackheart.

Mugshot is a warm, metallic taupe. Absolutely stunning colour.

Darkside is a cool, mushroom toned taupe. Metallic and smooth, but somehow seems slightly less pigmented than the others. Still a pretty shade.

Blackheart is a matte, dark burgundy with red glitters in it. Seems fallout prone and not as pigmented as I have come to expect from Urban Decay matte shadows.

Conclusion: I AM IN LOVE, YA'LL! Everything in this palette goes well with my complexion and eye colour, everthing (except Blackheart and Dust) is amazingly pigmented and blends like a dream.  I have yet to put the shadows on my eyeballs, but I will hopefully make a tutorial using this sometime soon. I can see myself using this palette for both everyday, neutral looks and for going all-out smokey. This gets two thumbs up from me!

Pros:

• Pigmentation, blendability and overall quality of the shades is incredible.
• Finally a matte highlighter in a palette, HALLELUJAH!
• Would work on skintones ranging from very fair to very deep.
• Packaging is, besides beautiful, very travel friendly.
• Since it's Urban Decay, it's cruelty free. If you want to know more about Urban Decays cruelty policy, click here.

Cons:

• Availability, as always with Urban Decay, it's not available in Holland and must be ordered from outside the country.
• The pricetag of €47.70 might be a bit of an issue, if like me, you simply don't have that kind of money to spend. IF you do, I feel this is well worth the splurge, though.

Have you purchased this palette? Are you lusting after it as bad as I was? Where do you buy Urban Decay?  Let me know in the comments down below!

I know, I know. It's been forever ( like 9 months. SURPRISE I HAD A BABY! No, I didn't. Don't worry.) Life has been happening, I had my surgery. Would you like to know more about my Gastric Bypass experience? Let me know!

Thank you for reading and untill next time!

XXX

Review: Urban Decay Vice 2 Palette

Last review of a Christmas gift, promise!

Today we look at the new pride and joy of my collection: The Urban Decay Vice 2 Palette.

This was, just like the Black Market Set, part of last years holidays collection by the brand and probably the most popular of the holiday releases. It is no longer available at Sephora or through Urban Decay, but other online retailers do still carry it. At release it sold for $59, which I feel is a lot for a palette, but you get your moneys worth with this baby.

Let's start with the packaging, can we just like... Take a moment to admire this? URGH! SO PRETTY! The UD logo is this beautiful jeweled 3D gem... Looking at it just melts my little girly heart. Purple and silver are the brands colours and I think this is just absolutely captivating. I love it!

 

When you open the palette (which is completely automatic, might I add!) you see these 20 beautiful eyeshadows and a huge mirror in the lid. The mirror is literally the size of the whole palette. It is supposed to stop at an angle so you can use it when sat on a table, but the openening function in mine unfortunately broke in transit. It still opens, but it doesn't stop when it's supposed to. Annoying, but not a complete tragedy. You also get a dual ended brush with the palette, which is decent. The blending side of the brush is a little too flimsy for eyeshadows for my taste, but perfect for concealer and the like. So it's okay, but I don't use it a whole lot.

On to the swatches!

L-R: Smokeout, Prank, Radar, Dope.

Smokeout is a dark charcoal-taupe with a satin finish. Great pigmentation.

Prank is a beautiful deep teal-navy colour with teal and green micro-glitter. Great pigmentation. The glitter doesn't show up great when applied, but if you use a stickier base, it will.

Radar is a warm, medium brown with gold micro-glitter shot through. It is a metallic finish. Great pigmentation.

Dope is a peachy-pink champagne with a frosted finish. Great pigmentation.

L-R: Lovesick, Madness, Damaged, Toxic.

Lovesick is a matte black with multicoloured glitter. A little dry, pigmentation wasn't amazing and the glitters pretty much just fall out instantly.

Madness is a bright metallic blue with blue micro-glitter. Great pigmentation.

Damaged is an absolutely beautiful metallic emerald green. Great pigmentation.

Toxic is a copper-pink with a metallic finish. Slightly dry, great pigmentation.

L-R: Shellshock, Strike, Voodoo, Habit.

Shellshock is a bright, metallic silver. Amazing pigmentation.

Strike is a light metallic gold. Slightly less pigmented than the other metallics in the palette, but not by any means bad.

Voodoo is a shimmery purple with iridescent purple micro-glitter. Great pigmentation.

Habit is a matte nude/light beige. Great pigmentation.

L-R: Coax, Stash, Betrayal, Ambush.

Coax is a metallic medium pink. Great pigmentation.

Stash is a metallic olive green with gold micro-glitter. Great pigmentation.

Betrayal is a bright purple duo-chrome with a blue shift. When blended out it does go a little sheer, but still nice pigmentation.

Ambush  is a warm metallic brown satin. Great pigmentation.

L-R:  X-Rated, Poison, Derailed, Rewind.

Extra swatch of Rewind since my skin was not working with me in the first picture. This is a much truer swatch.

X-Rated is a light baby pink with a satin finish. Good pigmentation.

Poison is a charcoal-green satin with teal micro-glitter. Glitter barely shows up, but great pigmentation.

Derailed is a medium to dark warm taupe metallic. Amazing pigmentation.

Rewind is a matte, medium brown. Great pigmentation.


Conclusion: This palette is amazing! There's like one or two colours I feel it could do without (Lovesick and Strike) but other than that everything in here is great! They all blend like a dream, most have a very buttery, smooth texture and great colour pay-off. It could have used a few more matte shades for blending out, but in general I highly advise this to other make-up junkies. Obviously it should only be a choice for you if you feel comfortable with the colours in it, it is not a palette for people who only wear neutrals. I am very happy with this palette and will keep in my collection for years to come!

I will do some looks soon using this palette. Neutral and bright!

Pros:

• Amazing quality eyeshadows.
• I feel it is MORE than well worth the $59.
• Packaging is durable plastic and absolutely gorgeous.

Cons:

• To some the pricepoint might be, although I feel it is fine.
• It's not a really -complete- palette, I would need some a few more mattes for that.
• Availability. By now strictly online.

Do you have this palette at home? Any of the Urban Decay palettes, Naked, Books of Shadow or Vice? Let me know down below!

Thank you for reading and untll next time!

XXX

Review: Urban Decay Black Market 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil Set

As stated in my last post, my next post would be a review of this wonderful eyeliner set which was one of Urban Decays holday releases last year.

These liners are a slightly smaller version of the cult-favourite, but they are by no means a mini. They are about 25% smaller than the original and there by a lot more travel friendly. The set retails for $36, but contains a value of $85, so you sure get your moneys worth. (The standard size retails for $19, so you do the math!)

The set is called "Black Market" and contains 6 sort of smokey, grungey dark liners with a mix of different finishes. Most of the colours in this are limited edition and one is part of the permanent collection (which is extremely extensive, might I add!).

I think this set is a nice way to try out the Urban Decay liners without having to commit to a full size. The fullsize is a very long pencil and  unless you wear that single colour every single day I don't really think it's possible to use one up, so this seems a much better alternative! This is unfortunately not sold anymore, but I wanted to share it anyway.

AL-R: West, Desperation, Black Market, Riot, Apathy, Ink.

West is by Urban Decay called a "dark brown pearl". It is a warm, dark brown with a gold sheen. Had perfect coverage in one pass, no need for layering. Absoutely beautiful! (Limited Edition)

Desperation is by Urban Decay called a "deep taupe-gray matte". It is a matte, mushroom grey with a hint of taupe. It has decent coverage, but I would do two or three layers of this to get it properly opaque. (Permanent Range)

Black Market is by Urban Decay called a "charcoal black satin". It is a dark charcoal, almost black with a teal or green satin finish. Has good coverage and is opaque in two passes. (Limited Edition)

Riot is by Urban Decay called a "smokey gray matte with violet and fuschia micro sparkle". It is warm, dark purple with purple and silver sparkles. It is not greatly pigmented, but can be made opaque by layering it enough. (Limited Edition)

Apathy is by Urban Decay called a "metallic olive green shimmer". It is a forest green with olive undertones and flecks of emerald green sparkle. Pigmentation wasn't -amazing- but as you can see in the swatches with just a few passes it goes opaque. (Limited Edition)

Ink is by Urban Decay called a "deep navy blue satin" which is pretty accurate. It is a deep navy, with a royal blue pearl. Great pigmentation, opaque in a single pass. (Limited Edition)


Pros:

• Great price for what you get.
• Amazing longevity. They are practically waterproof AND they will last you a long time.
• Great variation of colours for all your dark, smokey eyes needs!

Cons:

• Pigmentation in some leaves some to be desired.(Good thing it is buildable coverage.)
• Availability. It's a  Limited Edition set, and no longer available. And even then Urban Decay is just simply not available in Holland anymore. *sadface*

Conclusion:  My mum is a gem for getting me these! It was a Christmas present and she got it shipped to Denmark just for me! (Along with another Urban Decay item that you will see on the blog soon.) I love my Black Market set and will definitely be using these often. After swatching these on my hand for the photos, I couldn't even get these off with normal makeup remover. I love them! <3

Do you have any of the 24/7 pencils? Do you love them as much as I do? Let me know in the comments below!

Thank you for reading and untill next time!

XXX

Review: Sleek Vintage Romance

Oh, hello there! I know, I'm a bad blogger and I should feel bad. But hey, I do this for my own pleasure so if I don't feel like blogging/have nothing to blog about I won't, really.

Christmas has come and gone and the loot was aplenty and I am about to share some of it with you.

Vintage Romance is the newest Sleek palette and was also released with a blush and today I will review both of them!

A romantically themed palette, which just like all other Sleek palettes is only € 9.99. We're starting off good, it's budget-proof!

The packaging is the same as all Sleek palettes, it's black and matte with shiny print.
It's a really nice mix of cool- and warm-toned shadows, ranging from neutrals to plums and burgundy type colours.

A major plus for me is that, unlike my Storm Palette, the colours in this palette have names. And REALLY cute ones too! At first glance some of the colours in this had me a bit nervous, especially the mattes with glitters. On to the swatches!

L-R: Pretty in Paris, Meet in Madrid, Court in Cannes.

Pretty in Paris is a bright, light silver. It's very metallic and brightening. Not as pigmented as I'd like, but it's a good inner corner highlight for instance.

Meed in Madrid is a medium, neutral gold. It's a very smooth colour and applies nicely. Pigmentation is good!

Court in Cannes is a warm-toned medium brown. It's very frosty, but an amazing lid or lower lashline colour, swatched lighter than it looked in the palette. Pigmentetion was again good.

L-R: Lust in LA, Romance in Rome, Propose in Prague.

Lust in LA is a frosted chocolate with a sort of orange undertone. Very smooth and blendable. Good pigmentation!

Romance in Rome is a medium purple, with a blue duo-chrome. The texture of this was very dry, which I think shows in the swatch. Pigmentation wasn't amazing, but the colour itself is pretty.

Propose in Prague is a matte, medium to dark brown with a very warm/reddish undertone. The pigmentation is good, although the formula on this is a tad dry and makes it a little tricky to blend.

L-R: A Vow in Venice, Marry in Monte Carlo, Honeymoon in Hollywood.

A Vow in Venice is a medium to dark berry colour with a slightly frosted finish. Good pigmentation and blended wonderfully.

Marry in Monte Carlo is a medium berry colour with a fuschia duochrome. Wonderful pigmentation and a very smooth and butter-like forumula.

Honeymoon in Hollywood is a deep, dark berry-wine, cool-toned, colour. In the palette you see silver glitter shot through the colour, but applied you barely see it and I expect that while wearing it, it would just fall down. Formula wise it is again a little dry which makes it a bit trickier to blend than I'd like,

L-R: Bliss in Barcelona, Forever in Florence, Love in London.

Bliss in Barcelona is a dark, cool-toned, violet-purple with a frosted finish. Pigmentation was good, not quite as smooth a shadow as some of the other frosts in the palette but still blendable.

Forever in Florence is a mostly matte, deep burgundy. It has a touch of silver sparkle, but it doesn't really show up much, which I personally don't mind. It's a touch drier than I'd like, but with some effort easy enough to blend, pigmentation wasn't AMAZING but still more than decent.

Love in London is a charcoal blackish gray with a satin finish. Good pigmentation and a soft formula.


I love the purples in this palette and I feel it's a very well rounded palette for a night out. Personally I would have liked to see a lighter matte colour as well, but Sleek wanted to go for a romantic theme and I feel like they nailed it with this. Personally I would have liked a neutral highlighter in here as well.

Pros:

• Pricepoint (€9.99)
• Shadows are overall very high quality.
• Generally very easy to blend!

Cons:

• Availability. The brand is almost exclusively found online in Holland, except a few stores spread through out the country.
• Not enough for a full look.
• The glittery shades pretty much lose all their glitter when applied and become satin/matte.

On to the blush!

 The packaging on this is just like a tiny version of the eyeshadow palettes, I think it's adorable. It CAN be hard to open, and did kind of ruin my manicure, but once you get a hold of how to open it, it's easy.

The blush is called Antique and is a deep reddish-brown brick colour with silver glitters. It is very pigmented, so for the fair ladies like myself: less is more! It's a beautiful colour, but it IS very glittery, so it's (for me) an evening time blush.


Conclusion: Both of these products are great and I would advise them to makeup lovers. If you love a neutral, fresh faced look, neither of these products are for you. I will try to get a look up using these products within the next few days! Don't forget to click the pictures for higher quality and bigger images!


Thank you for reading and untill next time!

XOXO

Becky

Review and swatch mix. Lippies!

If you've read my blog before, you'll know I live in Holland. Living in Holland has it's cons and pros. One of those cons, as a beauty-addict, is that our drugstores are pretty slow in catching up with the American and British ones, product-wise. And some brands are very hard to get or just not available at all. So when I heard that my friend Sheila was going to the States for her honeymoon, I very kindly asked her if she would bring me home some products. Beauty products are generally also cheaper in the States, and since she is AMAZING she said yes! Thank you so much!

I had made her a list of things, since she's not as much "in to" makeup as I am, trying to explain how everything looked and listing colours. Of the things I had asked her to get, she could find these three, which were the ones I was the most excited about! The others were two NYX blushes and a NYX Lipgloss.

The three beautiful products she brought me was a Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain in the colour 020 Lovesick and two Maybelline ColorSensational Vivids, in the colours: 870 Shocking Coral and 875 Vivid Rose. Revlon as a brand is very hard to get in Holland AND the Balm Stains are not available here yet, maybe next year. The Vivids line from Maybelline is not available in Holland either, but I did see a sale on Maybelline lipsticks last time I was at the drugstore so they might be introducing them.

Let's kick off this post with the product I was lusting after the most... The Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain. These have been raved about on beautyblogs and in beautyvideos on Youtube for a long time now, and I was so sad when I learned they wouldn't be coming to Holland (at least in 2013). So when I heard Sheila was going to the US, I put this baby on the top of my list!

The Balm Stain comes in a packaging we've been seeing a lot lately. It's sort of a twist-up jumbo pencil, which makes for very easy application and no waste of product on sharpening the pencil. The Balm Stains are loved for their pigmentation and their longevity on the lips, is there truth to the tales? 

L-R: Built up coverage and a single layer.

When I first applied the Balm Stain it was very sheer, but you can build up coverage very easy with this. It has a very minty smell and feel on the lips. It tingles a little, but not a bad or scary way. When first applied it feels very moisturizing and is shiny as you see in the photo above. After about an hour or so, the shine goes away and you are just left with the stain on your lips. The stain lasts for hours without re-application and feels comfortable throughout the entire day. I wore this to a BBQ and it survived drinking, eating fairly fatty foods and a lot of chatting. Many stains can feel drying once they settle in to the lips and can bleed into fine lines as well, but not the Balm Stain! This is a very comfortable wear and it even moisturizes as well!

Here I am wearing the Balm Stain, combined with the Urban Decay Naked (1) palette. The colour Lovesick is a beautiful fucshia and goes very well with most skintones, from very pale to very dark! If you can get your hands on these, (they come in an array of colours) get one! They are great for work or special occasions! It was $9.99 at Walgreens, but I know for a fact that they are cheaper in other American stores and that there are often coupons or offers on these.

The first of the Maybelline Vivids I'll show you, is Vivid Rose. The Maybelline Vivids have gained a very good reputation, in a very short amount of time. They are bright, pigmented, comfortable to wear and makeup addicts all over the globe are loving these. Do they live up to their reputation? 

Both of the Vivids lipsticks were VERY hard to photograph, thanks to their bright colour. Vivid Rose is a deep, vibrant fuschia. The colour is just summer in a tube, it's so beautiful! The depth of the colour makes it look very chique, without being too serious. I really love it! The formula is very creamy, needs two thin layers for full opacity and wears extremely comfortably. As it is a creme finish, it does not last SUPER long. It will survive a light meal and maybe a drink, but that is it. 

The creme formula is shiny when applied and dries into a sort of satin finish. It feels like a lightweight lipbalm, it is even a little moisturizing as well!

Me, looking slightly derpy, wearing Vivid Rose combined with the Sleek Storm palette.

  

The Maybelline Vivid in Shocking Coral is the exact same formula and finish as Vivid Rose, so I won't go into detail about that. Let's just focus on the gorgeousness that is the colour!

It does not translate very well from the tube. Obviously it's called Shocking Coral and in the tube it does look a LITTLE coral, but mostly pink. It's very bright which is what makes it so hard to photograph.

This swatch is probably the photo that is the most true to the actual colour. It's BEAUTIFUL and goes very well with my pale skin. I wouldn't call it a straight up coral, but more of a warm pink.

Me wearing Shocking Coral, combined with neutrals from the Sleek Storm palette. 

The Maybelline Vivids were also $9.99 a piece, but again, I know for a fact that you can get them from $6.00 at other stores than Walgreens.

My naked lips! Excuse the disaster on my lower lip, these pictures were taken shortly after my trip to Paris and the smog there completely effed up my skin. So excuse the horrible skin!

Close up of the Revlon Kissable Balm Stain in 020 Lovesick. This is about as opaque as it gets.

Closeup of the Maybelline Vivid in Vivid Rose. Here you can properly see the depth of the colour!

 And lastly Shocking Coral. This is a pretty true-to-colour picture. It's a warm pink, more than a coral (To me at least!).


As you might have guessed, I LOVE ME SOME BRIGHT LIPS! Do you wear bright lipsticks? If not, howcome? Have you tried any of these colours(formulas? Let me know down below!


Thank you for reading and until next time!

XXX