FOTD: Golden Smokey Eye.

So last Wednesday I went out & the next day morning I shared a photo of my make up on Instagram because I loved it. You know when you have like three hours to watch Youtube videos & get ready and everything just comes together?
Then the lovely Sarah from RaraGiggles asked me to do a post on what products I used, so here it is! I also decided to check how much my face costs, because using a previous picture means I;m not actively trying to use certain products!

Eyes

Essence I Love Stage eye primer - €2.99

Urban Decay Naked Palette (Naked, Buck, Half Baked, Smog, Darkhorse & Creep) - €44

MUA Up All Night palette (No 1 & Hot) - €4.99

L'Oreal Infallible Eyeliner (Black) - €7.79

Maybelline Lasting Drama Gel Liner (Black) - €11.99

Maybelline Colossal Go Extreme Mascara (Black) - €10.49

Maybelline One By One Mascara (Black) - €11.99

Urban Decay Browbox (Brown Sugar) - €25

Face

Benefit Porefessional - €34

Nars Sheer Glow (Mont Blanc) - €40

P2 Dress Code Happy Concealer - €3.95

Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer (Light) - €6.35

Benefit Booing Concealer (01) - €24

NYC Blushable Creme Stick (Big Apple Blush) - €3.49

Bourjois Bronzing Primer - €13.99

ELF Shimmering Facial Whip (Pink Lemonade) - €2.40

Lips

Korres Lip Butter (Pomengranate) - €9.95

Rimmel Exaggerate Lipliner (Eastend Snob) - €5.49

MAC Satin Lipstick (Snob) - €19

Total

€281.86

Waaaaah that is a bit of a crazy total... But I suppose it's my hobby, plus I used a lot of products! It'd be pretty easy to leave out a lot of these products & get a similar result. I couldn't go without the Naked palette though, the golds & browns are beautiful!

This is not in any way a tutorial because I cannot do that for the life of me! But for reference, I blend Buck & Naked just in/over my crease, Half Baked goes in the centre of my lid, with Smog on the outside & Darkhorse applied on the outer V of my eye, with Creep blended over that. Then under my eyes, I started with Darkhorse on the outside, Smog in the middle, and Half Baked in the inner corner. I used the colours from MUA Up All Night as highlights, but Virgin from the Naked palette is one of my favourite eye highlights ever. (I'll stop gushing over Urban Decay now).

So that was my face last week!

Chloe x

Sleek Celestial Palette

As much as I love a good nude palette (or ten, because I have a ridiculous amount), I've found myself buying more colourful palettes & eyeshadows recently. I actually got the Sleek Celestial palette for Christmas, but have only really started playing around with it in the last month or so, so it's time for a review!

Like all Sleek i-Divine palettes, this contains 12 1.1g eyeshadows. Plus, they all have names! (For anyone who doesn't compulsively buy palettes this isn't a problem... But there's only so many time you can mention 'That blue shade... Beside the purple.. On the bottom row?') It's the standard matte black case, which comes prepackaged in a cardboard case, and it has a big mirror in the lid. It also has a double ended sponge applicator which is probably now in my sister's art box. 

How pretty are all these colours? Or at least most of them. 

Solar has become one of my favourite shadows: It's a purple/pink with quite a bit of shimmer.

Astral Blue is a deep blue with tiny silver glimmer.

Aurora is a dark sea green & it's shimmer doesn't transfer to the skin much.

Galactic is one of the brightest silvers I've ever had - Stunning!

Earth Shine is a lovely blue navy without much shimmer.

Dark Matter is a shimmery black, but it comes out more of a dark grey.

Stargaze is a light matte lilac, which works nicely as a base shadow.

Saturn's Ring is gorgeous! It's a duo chrome purple with blue shimmer.

Meteoric is my favourite to use with Solar - It's a matte, rosy red, which I use in the crease.

Terrestrial is the big disappointment. It's a pale matte green that isn't very pigmented.

Lunar is like Saturn's Ring's little silvery sister. It's icy blue metallic.

And Eclipse is like a shimmery khaki - Sounds strange, but it's brilliant for a smokey eye.

The Sleek Celestial Palette costs €9.99 & can be found on Cloud10Beauty, or in selected Superdrugs. It's not something you need, & I'll always keep my nude palettes on hand but I'm delighted it's in my collection!

PS - How do other beauty bloggers take a photo of their eyes? It's IMPOSSIBLE.

What coloured eyeshadows do you love? 

Chloe x

Maybelline 24 Hour Colour Tattoo in Metallic Pomengranate

First up, if you think there'll be photos of this actually on my eyes, go away. I spent FORTY FIVE MINUTES trying to get a photo of this at work.. They all left me looking like I had the eyelids of a 90 year old or a severe eye infection. But I promise, Maybelline's Colour Tattoo in Metallic Pomegranate is actually nice.. In real life anyway. 

The story behind this is that I bought a variety of Colour Tattoos before I went to a festival last year, figuring they'd be handy to just smear on my eyelids (They were.) Back to reality, & I realised as hard as I tried, bright blue & purple eyelids weren't going to take me far. So I picked up a few more wearable colours, like Metallic Pomegranate. (It's a serious effort writing that just so you know.)

The colour tattoos are housed in a clear glass jar, with a black & coloured lid that corresponds with the colour inside. Handy until you realise you put the wrong lids on the wrong pots & your lovely white highlight is actually now cranberry & you look like you have a bruised eye.. But anyway.

Metallic Pomegranate is a cranberry coloured creamy shadow, with little flecks of gold shimmer. It's soft & easy to work with, plus it can be patted onto your lid or built up for intense colour. They also work as excellent bases for powder eyeshadows - I've been putting this under a shimmery cranberry colour from the Sleek Celestial palette & it keeps it perfect throughout the day. They can also of course be worn alone, but be careful, especially if you have oily eyelids - Primer is needed, or they will crease a tad & start to fade. It's not very pretty.

It is red-toned, but not overly so - It's more of a purple-red-brown. I know, I'm killing it with descriptions today. My point is, it's actually really wearable! Especially when you want a bit of a smoky eye that's not just blacks & silver.

Even if Metallic Pomegranate isn't your colour, I recommend checking the range out if you haven't already - I have about seven at this stage & use them regularly! They cost €10.49 in Boots, but are often on 3-for-2 offers etc.

Chloe x

#SBBC 2: Favourite eyeshadow palette

Day 2 may be late, but still on track to tell you about my favourite eyeshadow palette. Why is it late? I could barely sleep last night, trying to decide. Could it be my Naked palette? One of the colourful MUA palettes? Something to do a smokey eye with?

The shadows are housed in a slim black case. 

But finally, I made my decision. The Crown UK 28 Nude Palette is currently my top one. I won it in a competition run by Laura from All-Made-Up-21, & I've been using it regularly since it arrived. (Thank you Laura!) It was my first foray into Crown make up, and I wasn't disappointed. I have many neutral eyeshadows - the Nakeds, the MUA dupes, single eyeshadows.. But really, the shades in this are my favourite.

It's quite cool-toned, which doesn't bother me, & all the shades have a bit of shimmer. Again, I like shimmer & glitter, so it makes me happy! The only thing that could improve it, would be a black shadow, just for handiness, but I can live without it. A mirror would also be nice, but I have one with me usually anyway!

Pigmentation is good, made better with the addition of an eyeshadow primer, & wear time is also good - It carries through all day, with just slight creasing. The shadows all blend well, & can be layered a bit for extra depth. Happy days! It costs €26.24 from crownbrush.ie, so under one euro per shadow. Bargain.

That said, I do love all my other palettes (Just so they don't feel left out.)

Chloe x

Lancome Alber Elbaz Drama Eyes Palette

Hello there from The Worst Blogger Ever. I've used up my I had no laptop/ I lost my camera excuses, so today's excuse is: I have zero time. Like, so little time that I barely wear make up. So I was ridiculously excited to even do my make up to take blog pictures.

I picked up the Drama Eyes eyeshadow palette from Lancome's Alber Elbaz collection two weeks ago, & after two weeks of occasional use (i.e. when I had a spare two minutes in the morning), I'm going to tell you all about it.

In love with the packaging

First up: Packaging is stunning. Even the exterior cardboard box is just lovely, covered in doodles of eyes (not in a creepy way.) The Drama Eyes palette is covered with pretty little polka dots, is quite sturdy, & clicks shut securely. It houses a mirror in the lid and also contains two brushes. So far, so good.

In the pan, the shadows are beautiful - I've really grown attached to pink eyeshadows, and since I'm a glittery eyeshadow kinda girl, the slight shimmer in the shades appeals to me. Here, there's a mid grey with shimmer, a pale shimmery pink, a sparkly pale silver, a glittery deep grey, and a matte black. Basically, all the essentials for a smoky eye!

Pan - Mid grey, pink, dark grey, black, silver

I won't lie - The pigmentation could definitely be better. But the shadows are easily built up, and intensify once used over primer. This obviously has both advantages & disadvantages - They can be used during the day & not look too over-the-top, but can still pack a punch later on. I've mostly been using the pink/ mid-grey shade all over, with a bit of dark grey in the crease, for work, but also loved doing a smoky eye.

Staying power is fabulous - They've been lasting all day, even when applied at 6:30AM, they last through work & 3 hours of training. I'm definitely liking coming home at 11PM to perfect eye make up! They do cause a bit of fall out though, especially the two darker shades, so be careful if you do want to touch them up.

Using all the shadows for a light smoky eye (majorly sorry about the awful application.. Cringe.)

In summary, big thumbs up from me, & I'd love another - If I had a spare €49.00 (Thank God for vouchers!). It is expensive, but considering a single eyeshadow is €25, it balances out & is a nice bit of luxury. It can be picked up in Boots, Debenhams, Sam McCauley & many other stockists!

What do you think of the Alber Elbaz collection?
Chloe x

Khroma Beauty Khloe's Kardazzle Face Palette (Eyeshadows)

No, you're not imagining that I already did a post on this palette - You can check out the palette, & the face products here. But now, let's move onto eyeshadows.

I own the Naked palette, a variety of MUA palettes & far too many single neutral shadows to count.. But of course there's always room for extra neutral shadows in my collection! Especially when the palette contains 4 mattes shadows & 4 shimmers.

 You can see that the matte & shimmer shades have a light shade, two mid-tones & a darker shade.

The colours are pretty & basically, all you want in a palette this size. Also, it's the perfect size to pop in your bag for touch ups! But how did the shadows actually fare?

Without flash.

With flash.

I won't lie, I was a little bit disappointed. Even though we all need some matte shadows, I am a shimmery girl. So the lack of pigmentation in these mattes just re-affirmed my love for shimmers. The palest two mattes don't show up very well, though they do work as base colours, with a primer. The third shade applies better, but the darkest one is actually much better than the others - It's brilliant in the crease! The shimmers are all lovely. The palest one can be a little patchy, but it's brilliant as a highlight. The next three are perfect, especially that yellow gold, second from left. 

The shadows are nice & soft, so can be picked up easily but.. Beware. My friend borrowed mine, dug her finger into one, & crushed it. I'm awfully sad.. But don't let that put you off.

I don't think this'll be replacing my Urban Decay palettes, but it's perfect to bring in my bag, & I brought it home in my travel bag this weekend because honestly, blush, bronzer, highlighter AND eight shadows in this little thing? It's amazing.

What do you think of the shadows? 

Chloe x