Makeup Geek 'Tiki Hut'

My Makeup Geek eyeshadow collection is slowly growing and they are by far my most used single shadows.

Tiki Hut is the newest shade in my collection, it's a warm medium brown with yellow undertones and a matte finish. 

3

MORPHE 35o PALETTE

The struggle to get my hands on the Morphe 350 palette was REAL but let me tell you it was worth the wait. 

0

Makeup Geek Duochrome Eyeshadows

Makeup Geek is a company that was started up by a U.S beauty blogger & I absolutely love their eyeshadows! I use the shade 'creme brûlée' pretty much every single day as a transition shade. They pack a punch with their pigmentation (often compared to mac) & with their $6/£3.88 price tag they really do rival high end makeup brands. I've made two previous orders and both came within good time & international p&p was fairly reasonable (Makeup Geek products are sent from the U.S) & I had never been stung with a customs fee.

So I was really excited to hear of the release of their new 'Duochrome shadows'. Swatches on their site looked stunning & with the same $6 price as their original shadows, I was eager to try some new shades out for myself.

3

Makeup Geek Eyeshadows - Better Than Mac? Shimma Shimma - Stealth - Barcelona Beach

Three new shade have recently been added to my ever growing collection of makeup geeks eyeshadows. 

4

Essence Holographic Effect Eyeshadow '74 peach beach'

This product has a rather misleading name, because this eyeshadow is most definitely not holographic. The effect is more of a sparkling slight duo chrome finish which I really like & in this shade '74 peach beach' it reminds me of the infamous Stila 'kitten' with its creamy champagne hue. 

Wait, let's not get too excited just yet, as this beautiful shimmery effect is just a light over spray. WHY DO COSMETIC COMPANIES DO THIS?!? 

It's so frustrating, my beady magpie like eye will spot & buy something shiny & pretty only to later find out that after a couple of uses it's nothing more than a plain old matte product! I find it so misleading, as after the thin over spray is rubbed away your left with a satin shadow with no hint of sparkle in sight. Yes it is a nice wearable shade that I will most probably get some use out of. The texture is nice & smooth & easy to work with considering the very low price tag. Packaging is pretty standard but feels sturdy & I do like the fact that you can see the colour of the eyeshadow from within the packaging.

Over all I do feel that this shadows name 'Holographic Effect' is very misleading. Having said that if you're after a nice creamy champagne shade for a very affordable price then it may be worth a try as it does have a nice formula. 

Twitter - Instagram - Facebook - Pinterest

12

Lorac Pro Palette

All true makeup lovers have heard of the Lorac Pro Palette, but to us Brits it's like liquid gold as Lorac is not sold here.

 So when I received the palette for my Birthday in June, well you should have seen my face I was like a kid on Christmas Day. Since receiving this, I have not gone a day without using the  palette as it has every shade you could wish for in one compact palette, that can take you from day to night. 

The lorac pro palette really is as amazing as the hype leads us to believe. Buttery smooth shadows with amazing colour pay off & fab longevity, especially when used with the mini shadow base that is included in the packaging of the palette. There really is nothing else I can say, this palette is truly a must have & there is not one negative comment I could say. Oh well maybe that the packaging gets very grubby very quickly, but I can't hold that against it. I could swoon about this palette all day but as you've probably read a million reviews on this palette I shall spare you all & leave you now with some beautiful swatches.

Oh & p.s keep your eyes open for a giveaway that I will be hosting soon, that may have a lil Lorac Palette in there tehehe :)

What do you think of the Lorac Pro Palette? Have you seen the Lorac Pro2 palette thats just recently released? What a beauty!

     Twitter - Instagram - Facebook - Pinterest

16

What's in my travel makeup bag?

On the 13th June was my 25th Birthday & to celebrate my amazing boyfriend Chris took me on a beautiful weekend away in Paris. 

We traveled in Style on the Premier coach of the Eurostar & had a beautiful hotel in the centre of Gare Du Nord, a perfect spot as your in short travelling distance to all major attractions. We had both been to Paris together before & did a lot of sight seeing then so this trip was purely for relaxation, wondering the beautiful streets of Paris & for my treat.... Sephora shopping! If you would like to see my little Sephora haul I have uploaded a pic on my Instagram(here) & I have some pics of my trip (here).

As a typical woman I may have slightly over packed, but I think I did pretty well on minimizing my makeup bag this time. Here's what I took with me;

Revlon Color stay foundation - through wind, rain, sun this foundation can do no wrong. Full coverage yet still natural & flawless (review here). 

Maybelline dream matte powder - To help keep that shine at bay. Why did they have to discontinue this?

LA Girl concealer - This really isn't my fave, but my holy grail Maybelline age rewind had run out so I made do & it did the job (review here).

Mac Pro conceal palette in 'Light' - I used the yellow shade to highlight  my under eyes in the evening for a more glam look(review here).

NYC Sun 'n' Bronze Bronzing Powder in 'Montauk Bronze' - Bargain holy grail bronzer (review here).

Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder in 'Luminous Light'  - Now this was a risky move bringing this powder along as it is so fragile & expensive! but I simply can't do without it. I wrapped it in two pairs of socks & kept it in my hand luggage so I could keep an close eye on it. Haha yes I realize that's a little sad as I type this out, but I just loooove that powder(review here).

Mac Soft and Gentle MSF - Beautiful highlight to place along the cheek bones, brow bone & can double up as a lid shade(review here).

Urban decay Naked Basics palette - literally has every shade I need in here, for crease lid & blending.

Kiko wet n dry eyeshadow in 208 - I've been really into glowing golden eye looks, so I used this shade on the lid for evenings to change up my look(review here).

Stila stay all day eyeliner - For that budge proof cat wing.

Maybelline the rocket mascara - Holy grail!(review here)

Clinique bottom lash mascara - There will be no bottom lash smudge mishaps happening round here!

Collection 2000 'pink heaven' lip liner - All time fave lip liner, it's a spot on perfect match for my natural lip shade.

NYX Butter Gloss in 'crème brûlée' - perfect gloss for a nude lip(review here).

Yves Saint Laurent Rouge Volupte Lipstick in Nude Beige - I need my staple pink nude shade with me when ever I travel it can do no wrong (review here).

Revlon Butter Lipstick in 'Berry Smoothie' - it's a quick pop on your lips, no mirror needed lipie. Perfect for the handbag.

Urban Decay All Nighter Setting Spray - keep everything in place with the lovely sunny weather we had.

15 products! Well girls I am very impressed with myself for that, so lets just not go into how many makeup brushes I brought along with me too haha ALOT.

What are your must have products for your travel makeup bag? Do we have any of the same? 

Twitter - Instagram - Facebook - Pinterest

8

Makeup Geek Eyeshadow

If your an avid youtube watcher then you have most probably heard of Makeup Geek. Makeup Geek is an extremely popular makeup channel & blog run by a beautiful woman named Marlena. Marlena recently added to her list of accomplishments by releasing her own makeup line under the brand name 'makeup geek'.

One of the most talked about products in the beauty world are their eyeshadows. They are often compared & preferred to Mac eyeshadows & cost just a fraction of the price (even with U.S shipping prices) so naturally I needed to check them out for myself. 

I ordered 6 shades in pan form & here is a little run down on each one;

Cosmopolitan - Rose Gold with tiny gold flecks and a stunning shimmery finish.

Frappe - Medium maple brown with a matte finish. Would make a great transition colour for darker skin tones.

Crème Brûlée - A warm medium sand color with a soft matte finish. For such a lighter brownish shade it has amazing colour pay off & is my go to transition shade.

Latte - Medium matte brown. Another great shade for in the crease & can be really sheered out.

Chickadee - Matte yellow orange. I like to use this above crème brûlée as a transition shade to warm up an eye look. Compared to Mac 'rule'.

Cocoa Bear - Matte reddish brown. Very beautiful warm brown shade.

The pans can be stored in empty palettes such as the Z-palette, Or you can purchase the shadows in singular compacts that cost $2 / £1.18 more.

All pans weight 1.8g compared to the popular Mac pans that weigh just 1.3g. 

Makup Geek eyeshadows are all talc & paraben free & they do not test any of there shadows on animals. 

As you can probably tell I opted to try the more neutral shades first, as I know that's what I'll get the most use out of. But seriously ughhhh these shadows are amazing! All have a beautiful texture, with great finishes & blend so so so easily. 

Out of my little collection 'Crème Brûlée' & 'Coco Bear' are a total must have & I highly suggest them if your looking to make a Makeup Geek order. I plan on making another order very soon!

www.makeupgeek.com

Twitter - Instagram - Facebook - Pinterest

18

Bargain £1.50 Maybelline Color Tattoo 24hr Cream Gel Eyeshadow

I'm pretty sure that every one is now aware of Maybelline Color Tattoo eyeshadows & how fab they are. So I thought I would share this little gem of information, that you can now buy them from the website fragrancedirect.com for £1.50 yes that's right people ONE POUND FIFTY PENCE, absolute steal!

The more neutral shades sell out like hot cakes so get on there quick.

I picked up two shades 'Eternal Gold' & 'Permanent Taupe'.

Eternal Gold - A yellow based gold colour, with unattractive small lumps of gold that can not be blended in. I've looked at other bloggers opinions to see if they have the same problem or if maybe I just had a bad batch but all reviews say exactly the same. So 'Eternal Gold' is a pretty gold shade but the lumps of gold are so unworkable & unattractive I never reach for this shade, even to use as a base for other shadows.

Permanent Taupe - A matte taupe shade, that can be blended out for a sheerer light wash of colour or built up to an intense taupe shade. It's a simple easy shade to wear day to day. I personally love to use it as a base for a brown smokey eye, it works amazingly well for that.

As with all other Maybelline Color Tattoo's I have tried, the staying power is great & they leave absolutely no sign of creasing on the lids, which is the main concern with creamy textured eyeshadow.

My preferred method for application is using my ring finger as the warmth blends the shadow beautifully into the skin, but if in a rush & don't have time to get a little messy a mac 242 does the trick.

If you haven't yet tried the Maybelline Colour Tattoos now is a great time to test them out with that bargain price of £1.50 from fragrancedirect.com

Review of Maybelline Color Tattoo is the shade 'Light In Purple' (click here)

Twitter - Instagram - Facebook -Pinterest

23

Wet n Wild Color Icon Single Eyeshadow In 'Crème Brûlée'

Hear is another cheeky purchase from beautyjoint.com. I promise I have no affiliation with them, but I just love that darn site.

Wet 'n' Wild Color Icon Single in the shade 'Crème Brûlée'. Is a small single eyeshadow in a matte, creamy nude shade, that is a spot on match for my skin tone (I'm a NC25 in mac for reference). So my purpose for buying this shadow to use as a matte inner eye & brow bone highlight, was a bit of a fail. Other beauty bloggers & vloggers have raved about this shadow & compared it to 'Brule' by mac, saying its a spot on dupe. I don't own 'Brule', but from online swatches I've seen 'Brule' looks so much more pigmented, but I agree they do look a very similar colour.

'Crème Brûlée' is quite a dry powder to the touch & can kick up a bit of a mess when dipping in an eyeshadow brush. Although when applied to the eye lid it does apply & blend well with other shadows. In fact that is what I have been using it for; when I've blended deeper shadows to high to the brow bone, or been a bit heavy handed I will use 'crème brûlée' to clean up or to smooth out edges. If I'm going for a really simple makeup look, by swiping 'crème brûlée' across my entire eyelid it does a nice job of subtly evening out my skin tone. 

Heavily swatched.

The packaging is rather basic, with a black plastic bottom & clear lid that shows the colour inside, which is handy when I'm rummaging through my shadows. The compact closes very secure with a loud 'snap', but so secure that it is sometime hard to open. The amount of nail polish I've chipped getting my nail under the lip to open it up.

Over all this isn't half as pigmented as I had hoped it would be & so I can't say I'm too impressed with it. Although If your looking for a really subtle matte nude shade then this may work for you.

Have you tried any Wet n Wild products, what do you suggest?

Available from beautyjoint.com $2.75/£1.65

25

Inglot Freedom System Eye Shadow Square's- 423, 453, 450

For some reason I had always thought that Inglot products were just sold in the U.S. That was until I took a trip to Westfields in Shepherds Bush, here there is a full Inglot shop/heaven. I immediately ran into the store like the crazed makeup fiend that I am with embarrassed boyfriend in tow & practically drooled over the display of eyeshadows.

Looking at the rainbow selection of eyeshadows I knew I had to create my own freedom palette of shadows & my Mr was lovely enough to treat me to one.  The idea behind the Freedom System is that you choose how many shadows, blushes, lipstick squares etc that you want your palette to hold (selection of palettes ranges for holding 1 to 10), you pick the shades you want & voila, you have your own personal makeup palette that you have created.

I opted for a palette that holds 3 shadows, just to start off & see how I like them (that took ALOT of restraint) I created a palette that I thought would create the perfect berry smokey eye.

Here's what I picked;

423 is a burgundy brown with a pearl finish.

450 is a medium-dark berry shade with a pearl finish.

453 is a bright white with a pearl finish that is by far to softest out of the three.

The formula is very similar to mac, in the sense that they aren't super soft & creamy like stila or urban decay but they're harder & therefore easier to build on the eye.

All shades are very blendable & the shimmer from the pearl effect is extremely fine.

Like I said 453 is definitely the softest shadow & the one I reach for most often, as I love popping this in my tear duct area for a brightening wide eyed effect.

The one thing I must add, is if like me you like to know the names of the shadows you use, then make a note of the shadows number & stick it to the bottom of your chosen palette. Because each shadows name/number is only written on the bottom of the pan & when popped into the palette the number is hidden & the magnets are extremely strong & pretty much impossible to remove.

Inglot is also available in the UK online(here) & U.S (here)

Each individual shadow is £4.50 (link here)

Palettes price range fro £4 to £24 (link here)

Have you tried any Inglot products? What do you recommend?  

35