Urban Decay Naked Ultimate Basics

Okay, I am very aware that I am incredibly late on the bandwagon in regards to this palette from Urban Decay. I was at first hesitant to purchase it as I was very content with my Naked Basics 2 and the original Naked Basics had never really interested me and I did not, at the time, feel it was necessary to have even more matte eyeshadows. Oh, how I was wrong. If I am completely honest it was the shade Extra Bitter that really caught my attention and trapped me in a state of lust which led me to promptly adding this to my Debenhams bag and purchasing it without a second thought. 

First up, I feel the shade range needs to be discussed. As I have previously mentioned, I am fully obsessed with the warm-toned orange shade, Extra Bitten, as I feel this colour is vital in a matte formula for any warm-toned shadow lover like myself. Orange will also be a prevalent shade this Spring/ Summer which also explains why many other brands are opting to include orange tones in their palettes. I also love the top three left shades as I feel it offers a real spectrum of opportunity in terms of a matte brow bone highlight which is always completely necessary. I feel the only shades I would not get a full use out of are the two on the bottom right, Magnet and Blackjack, as I am not one for grey tones as I usually tend to go for purples and reds when it comes to a smokey-eye. I also found that these two deeper tones do lack in pigment so would not really work to their full potential if used to smoke out an eye look

Essentially, this palette would be ideal for those who tend to use predominantly mattes as the shade range does cater for a variety of looks and most typically, warm-toned looks as there is a lack of cooler hues. Equally, this palette is great for those, who like myself, may already have a wide range of palettes that offer an abundance of iridescent finishes but need a matte to complement them in which case, this palette would be a perfect addition to use in companionships with the majority of warm-toned palettes

The pigmentations of the shades do vary as you can see in the swatches above. Whereas some shades such as Extra Bitter and Pre-Game really pack a punch and apply seamlessly with little fall-out (a rarity for UD eyeshadows) others fall short at the hurdle such as the greys and unfortunately the purple-toned Lethal which disappointed me. However, these powdered shadows can still be built up if you are willing to put the work in so don't let yourself be put off by this fact too much. 

All in all, I am very pleased that I finally purchased this palette and I now wonder whether I would have still purchased the Naked Basics 2 if I had known this was in the pipeline as that has pretty much become redundant thanks to its successor.

I would love to hear your thoughts.

Have you tried any of the Naked Basics palettes?

A Natural Quick & Easy MOTD and Tutorial

A quick and simple makeup tutorial that is perfect for those who are looking for something pretty but easy to wear to work or school. Hope you enjoy!

Products used:

Rimmel Match Perfection Foundation in Porcelain
Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer in Fair
Charlotte Tilbury Airbrush Powder
MAC Pro Longwear Blush in Baby Don't Go
Anastasia Dipbrow Pomade in Dark Brown
Anastasia Tinted Brow Gel in Brunette
Makeup Forever Aqua Cream Eyeshadow in 13
The Balm Mary-Lou Manizer Highlighter
Makeup Geek Eyeshadow in Purely Naked
MAC Eyeshadow in Nylon
Kiko Khol Liner in Nude
Maybelline Lash Sensational Mascara
Hourglass Ambient Lighting Palette
Too Faced Sweethearts Blush in Candy Glow
Sleek Highlighting Palette in Diamond in the Rough
Dior Lipgloss in Venus

Hope you like it and let me know what you think!

My Beauty Empties Menu

Urban Decay Naked Skin, NARS Sheer Glow, Estée Lauder Double Wear, MAC Mineralize Skinfinish in Soft and Gentle, MAC Mineralice Skinfinish Natural in Light. 

Diesel Fuel For Life, Estée Lauder Modern Muse, Anna Sui Flight of Fancy, Lancôme Tresor Midnight Rose, Jean Paul Gaultier Classique. 

Chanel Hydra Beauty Gel Créme, Origins GinZing Moisturizer, Clarins Instant Smooth Perfecting Touch, Benefit Porefessional. 

NARS Creamy Concealer in Vanilla, Collection Lasting Perfection Concealler in 1 Fair. 

Clinique High Impact Extreme Volume Mascara, YSL Shocking Mascara, Benefit They're Real Push-Up Liner.

I am fully aware that this is a lot of Empties for one post but I have been accumulating these products for a long period of time and have finally found the motivation to sit down and write this menu. I'm not going to mention every single product featured in the photos as otherwise we will be here all day. Instead I will pick out a few of my up-most favourites which will most likely be the products I will be repurchasing. So to get straight into it, I made my way through a number of base products, all of which I have been incredibly impressed with and would honestly purchase every single on of them again in the future.  I have a more in-depth post about my current base products here. I will also be holding on to the empty MAC products so I can qualify for the Back To MAC scheme. I have gone to town with fragrance usage in the past few months. Two of which are the Estée Lauder Modern Muse which is one of my personal favourites and I pretty much found myself wearing it everyday during A/W. I will be sure to purchase another again within the next few months as the smell is honestly to die for. If you would like to see a full (really old) review on this fragrance - check it out here. I also tried and tested a number of moisturisers and primers. I found the Chanel Hydra Beauty Gel Créme a little too overpriced for the quality of the product as it was far from outstanding. With the primers, I would definitely purchase the Benefit Porefessional again but as for the Clarins Instant Smooth Perfecting Touch, I found the packaging size fairly impractical and the product performance slowly deteriorated with use. Concealer wise, there isn't a lot to say other than I love both these products and have already repurchased all of them multiple times. Finally, to add a few eye products in the mix, I love the Clinique High Impact Extreme Volume Mascara and would definitely recommend it to anyone whose after a great amount of volume for their lashes. As for the YSL Shocking Mascara, I found this to be pretty average and the product dried up in a matter of weeks which was slightly disappointing due to the price I paid to have this product. As for the eyeliners, I am a big fan of the Benefit They're Real Push-Up Liner and have already written a raving review here.

Hope you enjoyed this post. Let me know what you think in the comments!

What products have you used up recently?

The Perfect Palette Tag

First: Urban Decay Naked 2 & 3. Second: Too Faced Chocolate Bar & Natural Eyes. Third: MAC Pro Palette & Warm Neutrals. Fourth: Urban Decay Naked Basic & Charlotte Tilbury Dolce Vita. 

I've been tagged by a number of people to do the The Perfect Palette Tag and I apologise that the reply has been slightly delayed and I am probably the last person to jump on this beauty bandwagon. Even so, I didn't want to miss the opportunity to discuss my favourite palettes with you as they are easily my most favourite purchases and the one I get the most satisfaction from - as sad as that sounds! 

Perfect Palette Tag Questions:

1. Best Packaging 

Even though there are so many palettes out there, that are dressed in gorgeous packaging with rose gold accents (*ahem* Charlotte Tilbury), I actually decided to choose MAC for this answer. I like the ultras slim feel of their palettes and the clear tops, that allow for you to see every colour you own without having to open the actual palette. They are perfect for display purposes and are ultra-versatile due to their removable pans thus allowing you to mix and match your shades and build your perfect palette. 

2. Best Colour Payoff

This has taken me a lot of thought to decide as I usually dabble in the likes of MAC and Urban Decay and both, as you most probably know, have great pigmentation. Yet, I decided to choose the palettes from Charlotte Tilbury mainly due to the loose pigment shade that features in each of her quads. Although, they're glitter pigments the colour pay-off is insane and seriously completes any smokey-eye. Admittedly, I actually purchased both my Tilbury palettes because of this little pan of glitter. There is all review of this palette on my blog which you can check out here. 

3. Most Versatile

Urban Decay are probably one of the most talked about brands when it comes to their eyeshadows. I can guarantee that the majority of the beauty fanatics out there own at least one of their Naked palettes. For most versatile I opted for the Naked 2 as the range of shades allow for a beautiful but simple daytime look yet but also caters for an amped-up evening look due to it's deeper hues, ranging from matte to iridescent formulas. I seriously love this palette.

4. Best for Travelling

Again, from Urban Decay comes the Naked Basics 2. A teeny-tiny all matte palette, that although has only a few shades, can easily cater for pretty much all neutral looks. The cool-toned shadows are incredibly buttery, blend beautifully and last perfectly. If you're just getting in to makeup and want something that's easy to use and easy to wear, I highly recommend this one, or its just as beautiful twin - the original Naked Basics palette. 

5. Biggest Regret

I really struggled with this question as I don't really regret any of my purchases. I obviously have palettes that I don't reach for as much but I don't necessarily regret them. I'm sure there are palettes or shades that I'm not thinking of but for now I'm going to have say none for this question.

6. Best Colour Names

The answer to this question was easily going to be a product from Too Faced as although some of their names can be a little risqué, I love the creativeness behind them. If you own any of the Too Faced palettes, you will know what I mean. The Chocolate Bar palette in particular, I felt really in-cooperated the theme into all the shade names eg. Black Forest Truffle, Milk Chocolate, Amaretto, Salted Caramel etc. Plus the fact that it actually smells of chocolate due to cocoa powder being one of the ingredients, is a serious added bonus! 

7. Least Used

As much as I love my MAC Warm Neutrals palette, I really do not get enough use out of it! I think the range of shades and formulas, is just slightly overwhelming and I never know what shades to pair with what. Nevertheless, I am making a subconscious effort to reach for this palette more as it really is beautiful. 

8. Most Used

This question was easy and the appearance of this palette proves that. My MAC Pro Palette contains shades I picked myself and I have used at least one of these colours almost everyday since purchasing them. The shades featured are probably my all time favourite eyeshadows ever and the ones I find myself reaching for when I want something simple and easy but still pretty. The shades are Naked Lunch, Nylon, Charcoal Brown and Mythology. Review of some of the shades are on my blog here. 

9. Most Loved

Other than the MAC palette I previously mentioned, my other most loved palette has to be the Urban Decay Naked 3 (yes I know, another one from UD). This palette was an unexpected love of mine as admittedly I got this purely because of the hype surrounding it when it was first released. Yet, since then I have found this palette to be amazing when it comes to creating pretty, pink-gold makeup looks that always seem to be the ones I get the most compliments on! 

10. Desert Island

I always find these questions kind of strange as realistically if I was stuck on a Desert Island, makeup would be the last thing I need but I'm probably being really boring! Yet, if for some reason I felt compelled to take one, I would definitely take the Too Faced Natural Eyes palette as I feel the range of shades can be used to create unlimited makeup looks that are more-than-easy to apply. I also love the petite, tin packaging thats surprisingly quite slim. The only thing this palette lacks is a decent mirror!

I tag anyone who wants to answer these questions and let me know below so I can check out your answers!

Let me know what you think.

What are some of your favourite palettes?

August Favourites 2014

It's the beginning of September, so that means it's August favourites time! This month I pretty much established an 'everyday make up routine' due to the fact that I found a palette of colours and finishes that worked well for me. So seeing as I've been using pretty much the same products on a daily basis, this meant that it was pretty simple to round up my favourite products from the month of August.

First things first, a rather overused and well-loved eyeliner pencil from Rimmel. This is the Scandaleyes Waterproof Kohl Kajal pencil in the shade Nude. Nude eyeliners are simple but extremely effective when it comes to making the eyes appear more bright and wide awake. I've used this everyday this month and traded it in for my typical black eyeliner to adopt a fresher brighter complexion for the sunny months. This is ultra pigmented and honestly stays in place all day, I highly, highly recommend it! Next up is one of my all time favourite (and expensive) blushers I own. This little sleek, black package of beauty is the Le Blush Créme De Chanel in the shade 64 Inspiration. This gives a beautiful, natural flushed appearance to the cheeks with a satin finish that lasts and lasts all day, better than any other blush I've tried. The colour is build-able so wether you want a slight wash of colour or an intense pop to the cheeks, it's really up to you. Another product that I've used non-stop this month is the Dior Addict Gloss in the shade 257 Venus. This is just a really pretty pinky-nude with a shimmery, ultra-shine finish that looks beautiful with any make up look. This is my go-to lipgloss on a daily basis as it looks so natural but still very lovely. This next favourite is definitely my 'most loved' of the month and that is my MAC Pro Palette, I've been using at least one of the four shades in this palette everyday this month and I honestly can't get enough. My favourite eyeshadow combination that I've fallen in love with is the shade Naked Lunch washed over the lid with Mythology blended through the crease and then Nylon dotted onto my tear duct, all of which creates a simplistic but 'pretty in pink' smokey eye. Next up is a fragrance favourite,  this being Estée Lauder's Modern Muse - a repurchase of mine that I bought and loved all through A/W 2013 and used up way before the first signs of Summer. I then tried to dabble in some other perfumes that were more fitting for the S/S months but now the weather is cooling down and thicker coats and leather boots are making an appearance on the runway, I decided to repurchase this beautiful fragrance and have loved it even more. Last up is a revolutionary product when it comes to self-tan. Of course, it's by St Tropez, my favourite fake-tan brand and it's their Self Tanning Express Bronzing Mousse which is basically a beautifully bronzed self-tan in a bottle where you can choose the depth of colour depending on when you wash it off. You can let it develop for just an hour for a light wash of colour of three hours for a deep, dark bronzed glow that carries on developing for up to eight hours and the colour pay-off can last up to a week. If you love fake-tan then I seriously suggest splashing the cash on this one!

Let me know what you think in the comments.

What products have you been loving in the month of August? 

Cosmetic Collection: Urban Decay

It's the beginning of the week again! Which means it's time for another one of my Cosmetics Collection posts. Today I have for you a smaller collection but no less amazing as it features all three of the iconic Urban Decay palettes that are easily one (or three) of my favourite features in my whole collection. I will be posting full reviews and comparisons on all of these palettes in due course so if you find yourself wanting a little more of an in depth review, don't worry one is coming your way! So lets get cracking.

Naked Illuminated Shimmering Powder for Face and Body £20 (very old review here) 

A beautiful highlighter that although is more shimmery then most, is a gorgeous accomplice for a night out. Once applied the skin appears illuminated although don't go with a heavy hand as so to avoid the disco-ball effect. I love the packaging as although it's bulky, it gives a nice representation of the product inside. It lasts well on the skin and a little bit really goes a long way. A nice justification for the high price tag.

Naked Skin Liquid Foundation £27 in 2.0 (review here)

A truly gorgeous foundation which is easily one of my favourite bases out there. I was a bit hesitant buying this at first as for one thing, I hadn't read any reviews before hand and also although Urban Decay are known for their excellent palettes, liners and setting sprays, foundation has never been a product I've heard much hype about. Luckily, my expectations were immediately exceeded for many reasons. The first being the great shade range, the colour I had matched my skin better then any other foundation I've tried. Secondly, it seriously feels weightless once applied, which is impressive considering it's an medium coverage with an easily build-able formula with a semi-matte finish. Lastly, the lasting power which was still visible, with minor imperfections, a good 14 hours after application. I've never had so many comments about my skin then when I'm wearing this foundation! 

Naked Eyeshadow Palette £37

I don't think I really need to say much when it comes to this palette. Probably one of the most talked about palettes on the beauty blogging scene and it's completely understandable why. Twelve beautiful shades mostly iridescent with a couple of mattes in a range of beautiful tertiary tones that will complement anyone. If you a want a Naked palette but are unsure on which one, this is definitely the one to opt for. I've only had it for a short while but already it's love. 

Favourite shades: Virgin, Sidecar, Smog. 

Naked 2 Eyeshadow Palette £37 (featured in a FOTD here)

The first one I owned and probably my most worn. I love the shades in this and the easily blend able formulas and great colour pay-off are just a dream to work with. The thing I love almost the most about this palette is the excellent brush it comes with. It's a dream to pack on colour and blends beautifully, fitting in to the crease better then many of my petite crease brushes and creates a beautiful smokey eye look in seconds. 

Favourite shades: Half Baked, Suspect, YDK.

Naked 3 Eyeshadow Palette £37

Urban Decay's newest addition to the trio. A beautiful rose-heud palette that although may not be to everyone's taste, is definitely the prettiest even if it's just to look at! Again, there's twelve gorgeous shades varying from shimmery, pearlescent to matte finishes. This neutrals palette is definitely a must have in ones Summer collection! With great staying-power, incredible blend-ability and no fall out, I really see little reason to not snap this up.

Favourite shades: Limit, Trick, Factory. 

So there's the round up of my Urban Decay Cosmetics Collection. I think next on my 'Things To Try' list is definitely the Glide-On 24/7 Eyeliners as I'm intrigued to see how good the staying-power really is! 

What's your favourite product from Urban Decay? 

Beauty| My MAC Pro Palette x 4

I was recently gifted a Mac Pro Palette x 4 for my Birthday and could not contain the excitement I had about filling it up with eyeshadow pans personally picked by myself. I find the empty Mac Pro Palettes an excellent idea as it allows you to both expand and personalise your eyeshadow collection making various palettes organised by look or hue with inserts designed to take from two pans to fifteen.  With Mac having one of the most talked about eyeshadow colours, I knew I would easily be able to fill a four and already I'm trying to hold back from buying and filling a lot more! 

I'm really happy with the selections I made and find this to be a really diverse colour selection suitable for all seasons, creates multiple looks and fills the gaps in my ever-growing collection. I find the palettes to be completely worth the money with the empty palette with the four spaced insert costing only £6.50 and each shadow pan costing £10, a price I'm willing to pay for such great quality, super pigmented and long lasting eyeshadows. 

Mythology (top left): A really pretty light Pinky/Orange with a gold shimmer that works beautifully washed over the lid or even applied lightly in the crease with a lighter hue over the base. I bought this on a whim, hearing of little reviews and barely any hype surrounding it which I find to be surprising. It's a really beautiful colour that's completely unique to anything else in my collection.

Naked Lunch (top right): One of Mac's most loved shadows and I knew right from when I saw the empty spaces in my palette, one would be filled by this. A really light, shimmery pearlescent Pink that appears beautiful applied to the lid for a natural daytime look or works lovely as a base when blending with multiple deep-toned colours to create something more suitable for the evening. A gorgeous colour that everyone needs in their collection! 

Charcoal Brown (bottom left): A great diverse colour that looks breath-taking in the crease but also doubles up to be one of the most loved Brow colours with the cool Brown tone and the completely  matte finish. The many uses this pan brings is one of the main reasons why I bought this colour making it completely worth the £10 price tag being multi-purpose. 

Cranberry (bottom right): A gorgeous, sexy deep Red colour with a slight Pink/Purple undertone that appears scary in the pan but can create some of the most bold but beautiful looks. Picture this  with Golds to create a beautiful Sunset Shadow lid or with Dark Browns to create a unique take of a Smokey Eye. So diverse and different, I knew this had to be mine. 

Here are some colour colour swatches of all four shadows in the same order then what they are in the descriptions above. I love the formula of these eyeshadows with their powdered consistency that blends easily, doesn't crease and last beautifully all day. Please let me know in the comments what your favourite Mac Shadows are as I'm already on the hunt for some more to lust over and to give me to excuse to buy another empty Pro Palette to fill.

Thank you for reading!

Make Up| Urban Decay Naked Skin Foundation

Another day and another review about one of my all time favourite foundations and the one I'm currently using and have been for almost two months now. This is the Urban Decay Naked Skin a lightweight, liquid foundation that has definitely found its way into my heart. This was a product that I bought on that rare occasion where I spend money on something even though I have read zero reviews about it and I'm pleased to say I was pleasantly surprised. If someone says 'Urban Decay' I think their beautiful Naked eyeshadow palettes or their eye primers that everyone and their mum seems to have but never a decent foundation that creates a beautiful, flawless complexion. I bought mine in the shade 2.0 a fairly light colour with a slight yellowy undertone which matches my skin perfectly and doesn't make me look discoloured like most foundations do with an obvious undertone. The coverage is definitely medium but easily build-able especially when buffed evenly into the skin. It has a fairly runny consistency which scared me at first as I was worried it would make me appear overly-shiny  but luckily it just creates an even, illuminated look with a semi-matte finish. 

I do find the formula hydrating which is definitely an added bonus in these wintery months and it doesn't cling to any dry patches that your skin may have meaning it's perfect for any skin type. As you can see the bottle claims it to be 'weightless', a description that I can definitely agree with. Once applied to the skin it feels light and natural, a quality that I look for as there's nothing worst then when it feels like the product is just sitting on your skin. It's long lasting and so promises a flawless complexion all day. Priced at £27 for a decent-sized, attractive-looking, 30ml bottle it's not too expensive but having difficult, temperamental skin, I never like to scrimp and save on a foundation and I would say this is most definitely worth the money.

Let me know what you think in the comments.

What's your go-to foundation?

xx