Review: The Balm Mary-Lou Manizer Highlighter and NUDE'tude Nude eyeshadow palette

One of the best things about moving house is having the opportunity to reorganise! I took full advantage of this, especially in de-cluttering my makeup. It has been so much fun being able to try new things from my stash!

One of the products I have really enjoyed recently is the Mory-Lou Manizer from The Balm. I have no idea how long it was hiding in the hack of a drawer, as it is by no means a new product, but I thought I would give it a chance when I cleared out some of my older highlighters.

This highlighting powder comes in a round mirrored compact. It is super soft and smooth and applies absolutely effortlessly. I would describe it as a warm champagne colour that is very reflective, but with no glitter or sparkles, just a satin sheen.

A little definitely goes a long way as the pigmentation is very good.

I use it as a highlight on my cheekbones, with a thin fan brush and a very light touch. It's also great as an eyeshadow - either an all over base lid colour, a brow or inner corner highlight.

It just adds the most amazing glow to the face and goes with most blush colours I have tried as it is neither too warm/ gold toned or silver/ cool toned. Sometimes highlighters can look a little off on very light skin like mine, but I find this one to add the perfect amount of radiance, without adding too much colour.

The Balm Mary-Lou Manizer is available from Superdrug here for £17.49.

I am also currently trying out The Balm NUDE'tude Nude eyeshadow palette (£29.99), which has a great selection of neutral, wearable eyeshadows. The texture is super smooth and they have great pigmentation. My favourite eye shadow is stand-offish - a nude, pinky toned shimmery colour that is perfect as an effortless all over lid colour!

Review: Narsissist Dual-Intensity Eyeshadow and Blush, Contour and Lip Palettes

This week I have been having a little bit of a narcissistic love affair with the new Narsissist products!

 (flash)

 

 (no flash)

The Dual-Intensity Eyeshadow Palette* is absolutely stunning. The colours are rich, pigmented and so easy to work with as they can be used both wet and dry. I have played around with them using both methods and have particularly liked using them wet over the lid for a foiled effect and then blending them out dry through the crease and under the eye to create a really intense smokey eye.

 (swatched wet and dry)

The shades include: Europa, Himalia, Ursa Major, Subra, Andromeda, Lysithea, Giove and Sycorax.

 (with flash and without flash)

The Blush, Contour and Lip Palette is the perfect compact travel companion. It has everything you need for the lips and cheeks including 3 blushes (Enrapture, Enthralled and Roman Holiday), Albatross Highlighter, Laguna Bronzer and even a mini Istria Lip Gloss.

The Dual-Intensity Eyeshadow Palette is £45 and the Blush, Contour and Lip Palette is £35. You can find both the palettes on the Nars website here.

Have you tried the new Narsissist Palettes?

Gift Edit: The Body Shop

The Body Shop have brought out a fantastic selection of Christmas gifts this year! From stocking fillers to luxurious sets all encased in adorable packaging there really is something for everyone! Plus with 40% OFF their entire website with the code SANTA for 10 days it's definitely worth a look!

Born Lippy Fruity Lip Balms (£10)

Apart from the amazing packaging this set is also great value as it contains five juicy, moisturising lip balms in a selection of flavours including strawberry, raspberry, satsuma, watermelon and passionberry.

 Body Butter Collection (£20)

This selection of scrumptious body butters features the nutty scents of shea and cocoa butter as well as delicious chocolate and coconut. Beautifully packaged in a reusable aluminium tin this makes a great present that doesn't even need wrapping.
 

Cranberry Joy Moisture Collection (£15)

This festive cranberry selection is not only great value, but smells absolutely delicious. The set contains Cranberry Joy Shower Gel, Body Butter, Soap and Scrub.

 Dazzling Rocks (£16) and Slanted Kabuki Brush (£16)

This limited edition tub of shimmering copper and gold beads gives an irresistible dazzle to cheeks, temples and décolletage. It's great to use as a bronzer to lift the skin and add some subtle glow.

The Slanted Kabuki is made with soft, fluffy synthetic hairs designed to sweep a fine, even dusting of powder onto face and body. Its unique slanted design makes sculpting, layering and contouring a cinch.
 
This Reindeer Washball is so completely adorable I am very tempted to order one for myself! At just £3 it makes the perfect, fun stocking filler.

Smoky Eye Palette in Smoky Moonstone (£14)

This gorgeous palette features four on-trend eyeshadows in cool shades of moonstone and espresso, a mini eyeshadow brush and mini eyeliner brush so you can touch up on the go. I love the colours in this palette as they would suit any skin tone and can be layered for a gorgeous smokey eye, or worn alone for a sweep of shimmering colour.

Coconut Butter Up Duo (£7)

This cute coconut body butter and lip butter duo comes packaged in an ornamental bauble, perfect for any tree or stocking.

I have also heard that The Body Shop will be the official headline sponsors of the Teenage Cancer Trust concert series at the Royal Albert Hall in March 2013! The line up includes fantastic acts such as Kasabian, Russell Brand, Noell Gallagher, Rizzle Kicks and Labrinth. Tickets are on sale now and can be purchased here.
Have you purchased any gifts from The Body Shop this Christmas? Do let me know your favourite! xxx

Accessorize Lovely Day Palette

Everyone loves a good bargain, especially when the quality of the product is much higher than its price! Recently I have been playing around with some makeup from Accessorize and am absolutely in love with their beautiful Lovely Day palette!

The palette comes in cute cardboard leopard and rose print packaging with a sizeable mirror. Although I am not normally a fan of paper cases this does make it lightweight and perfect for travelling or just throwing into a hand bag.

The selection of colours and textures is also impressive. There are lots of different colours to choose from in matt, shimmer and satin finishes. I love the mix of pigmented fun, bright, yet wearable shades and staple neutrals making this palette extremely versatile.

A selection of shades (with flash)

 (Without flash)

I recently created a neutral brown and gold smokey eye using a couple of shadows from this palette.

The shadows were really rich in pigment and effortless to blend. Not bad for under £8.95!

This palette is available in Superdrug and online, and I highly recommend you check it out.

Have you tried any makeup from Accessorize? Which are your favourite products? Any recommendations? xxx

L'Oreal Miss Candy Collection

 

Pastel colours were all over the runways this Summer so I was excited to see that L'Oreal have brought out a new collection of candy colours for eyes, lips and nails. The collection features a fun selection of mouth watering, sugar sweet swirls of sparkles and shimmering shades.

Miss Candy Glam Shine lip glosses give a great twist on the classic glam shines with contrasting  swirls of shimmery and creamy colours. They are available in 6 glistening shades for £7.69 here.

Left to Right: 710 Pink Treat, 711 Nude BonBon, 703 Tart Lollipop, 712 Dolce Pralina, 

709 Miss Candy

My absolutely favourite part of this collection is the gorgeous assortment of candy cane nail polishes. There are 10 shades to choose from ranging from effervescent pastels to tangy brights at £4.99 each here.

Left to Right: 202 Marie Antoinette, 101 Opera Ballerina, 305 Dating Coral, 601French Riviera, 213 Sassy Pink, 616 Innocent Turquoise, 304 Spicy Orange.

I was so excited when these colours landed on my office desk that I almost gave myself a mini manicure straight away! I chose the gorgeous creamy 601 French Riviera to set off my (spray) tan. I absolutely love the summery colour with a hint of shimmer, though it is quite sheer so it needed 3 coats to build to an opaque finish.

The last part of the collection is a trio of Miss Candy Color Infallible eye shadows. These colours promise to be waterproof, long lasting and crease resistant. Each shade has a mix of contrasting flecks adding depth and interest and retails at £6.99 here.

 Left to Right: 32 Sassy Chamallow, 36 Naughty Strawberry, 31 Innocent Turquoise.

Have you seen L'Oreal's Miss Candy Collection in stores? What do you think of their selection of colours? I love pastel shades and am really excited to have a play with these over the summer! xxx

Urban Decay: Build Your Own Palette

As a beauty blogger I try not to play favourites, but sometimes I just can't help myself. Urban Decay eyeshadows are amazing! Their Naked palette has been my most used beauty item and has accompanied me on business trips, nights out and beach holidays alike! I am so excited that UD have now brought out a customisable palette - so whether you love their ridiculously vibrant shadows, glitters or nudes you can easily build your own, individual eyeshadow wardrobe.

In usual Urban Decay style the palette is fun and bold, yet durable in its metallic outer casing that opens flat to reveal 6 shadow wells and a large mirror.

Each palette comes with a Good Karma shadow brush and Walk of Shame eyeshadow (top left), the perfect nude, which can be used as a highlighter, base or blending colour and would work perfectly with different colours and finishes. I was kindly given the opportunity of choosing the other five shadows and decided to go for a mix of my favourites - neutrals and brights.

What I love about the design of these little shadow pots is just how easy the pans are to pop out of their original packaging and put in the palette. There are no fiddly magnets, sharp implements, heating glue, fumes or brute force involved (yes I'm talking about you MAC...). All you have to do is press on the bottom of the pot and the pan snaps out. 

This not only saves time, but also makes the palette super versatile so you can use it to store and organise shadows or if you want to throw one in your bag for touch ups on the go you can quickly transfer the pan back into it's original individual pod. Voila!

Top (L-R) Walk of Shame, Sin, Mushorrom. Bottom (L-R) Haight, ACDC, Busted.

Build Your Own Palette retails at £14 and is available at House of Fraser here and Debenhams here.

Are you a fan of Urban Decay shadows? Which are your favourite shades? Are you tempted to add the UD Build Your Own Palette to your collection?  xxx

FOTD: Lily Cole Shimmer Cubes

Getting ready in the mornings is always a pretty haphazard affair, but I love trying new products and aim to incorporate them into my morning routine. I spent last week playing around with The Body Shop's cruelty free collection by the gorgeous Lily Cole.

 

I absolutely love TBS's shimmer cubes as they always have a great selection of colours and are versatile as they can be used wet or dry. For this look I concentrated the bronze pink on the lid with a little of the dark burgundy on the outer corner and the light pink as a highlighter on the inner corners.

Sometimes you have to be careful with red based shades as they can make you look tired, but the shimmer in this pink really lifts it. I think it also makes my eyes look greener and somehow darker!

What do you guys think of Shimmer Cubes? Will you be picking up the latest installment from the Lily Cole cruelty free collection (£16 here)? xxx

Lily Cole Cruelty Free Collection for The Body Shop

The Body Shop's latest collaboration with Lily Cole has evolved into a limited edition cruelty free make up range celebrating their against animal testing ethos. The range is full of bright, springtime colours that make a statement, while being vegetarian and 100% cruelty free!

The collection includes a fantastic mix of face and skin products, as well as a mini brush set for cheeks, eyes and lips in a mirrored wallet.

Lily's favourite products are also my top pick from this collection. These cute little domes can be applied directly onto the skin to give an effortless subtle tint or flush to lips and cheeks.

Crazy for Coral is perfect to use on tanned skin, while Pinch Me Pink is flattering on any complexion. The colour is very subtle and easily blendable, perfect for on the go application over/ under makeup or on its own.

These Mini Hi-shine glosses are super sparkly and easy to throw in a bag. The colours are fairly sheer, so they can easily be used on their own or add a wet look to any bright lipstick.

The liquid liner in this collection is a rich violet with a hint of gold shimmer. As far as liquids go  this one is pretty simple to use as its felt tip applicator makes it easy to create a solid line. The purple is not as deep as others I have tried, but it's definitely a fun alternative to black, which is flattering on any eye colour.

I have always loved TBS's shimmer cubes and this combination of colours is absolutely gorgeous. 

I especially love pairing the deep, warm purple with the shimmery copper for an intense, yet radiant eye look.

The Pearl Radiance Primer in this collection is a great base to create a glowing complexion. Since this product has quite a bit of shimmer it does need to be used sparingly, especially on oily skin. Just one pump distributes the perfect amount of light-diffusing pearls!

Have you tried The Body Shop's strictly limited edition cruelty free makeup collection? What are your favourite products from the range? xxx