Review; Urban Decay NYC Book of Shadows vol.III Psychedelic Sister

Psychedelic Sister (Sephora exclusive)



This is a gorgeous purple, I can imagine I will wear it a lot. A very soft and pigmented purple that can be blended out to which it becomes a lovely pink (I tried to display that on my outer corner in the pic below, but it didn't really work so well). This will suit any eye colour and skin tone in my opinion. Easily applied and blended, it is a very good quality shadow and a must for the lovers of purple. It looks a little lilac-y in the picture, but it is closer to the colour in the pan then it is lilac, I think that's just the flash making it looking a little lighter.

With ransom 24/7 liner on the lower lashline (the more blue based purple)

Review; Urban Decay NYC Book of Shadows vol.III Kush

Kush (Limited Edition NYC BoS shade)



This is a lovely bright shade of green, it is predominantly shimmer however it does have the odd speck of glitter. There was a lot of fallout with this, if I didn't put a cotton pad under my eye when I applied it my face would have been a glittery green mess. It is a lovely colour, and it applied nicely, but it is quite a messy one!

Review; Urban Decay NYC Book of Shadows vol.III Rockstar

Rockstar (Limited Edition NYC BoS shade!)

This is a blackened plum colour, a very dark red based purple. I didn't expect to like this much as it wouldn't normally be a colour I'd jump for, but after trying it I really like it, because it is such a warm colour it really brought out the blue in my eyes, and the colour is so rich it was really nice to wear! I'd say the purple in this black-ish colour is more obvious and dominant over the black, unlike Loaded which looked more green dominated in the pan but turned out more black with a little flash of green. I like the colour to be dominant and for the black just to be the undertone and so this colour suits me a lot better! The consistency is the nice smooth and pigmented one that I tend to blab about with urban decay.


The liner is Ransom 24/7 liner from this palette.

Review; Urban Decay NYC Book of Shadows vol.III Money

Money (Limited Edition NYC BoS shade!)



This colour is really difficult to put your finger on. It is like a greeny silver, in certain lights it looks more mint green and other times it looks more silver. I'd say it was appears metallic silver more often then green. It is very unique I couldn't think of a dupe for this! The consistency is very shiny and metallic, it goes on very soft, blends well and is very shiny on the lid. I think this is one colour you need to try yourself to get the idea, I am finding it quite difficult to describe this accurately as to other people it may appear differently! My only drawback of this colour was that it had that annoying glitter fall out. It is predominantly shimmer, but there are bits of glitter within it and they just end up all over your face.

Again, this may not look as attractive due to lack of mascara.

Review; Urban Decay NYC Book of Shadows vol.III Haight

Haight (Sephora exclusive colour)



This colour is a blue that has a hint of teal to it. The closest colour I can think of to this is MACs Freshwater, however Haight is a little more deep and teal in colour, but because of the bright blue they are quite similar on the lid. This colour isn't as teal on as I expected it would be, but nevertheless it is a really pretty colour. This is definitely one of the Good Urban Decay shadows, the shimmer and soft easy to apply/blend makes it a good quality product, and it was these qualities that attracted me to the brand, so I find it is shadows like this which keep me buying their shadows.

It might have looked nicer had I had mascara on!

Review; Bourjois 3D Effet Les Nudes lipgloss

This lipgloss I shall be reviewing is in "Rose Mythic" No 34



The thing that first hit me with this lipstick was the availability, it has taken me weeks to get my hands on this shade. After trawling 3 boots and 2 superdrugs I finally found one 2 weeks later that had it in stock, it was always the shade that was sold out.

Once I had got the lipgloss and had tried it the first thing I noticed was the smell, it smells very sweet like sherbert, I like it but I can imagine a lot of people won't, however at least it has a more pleasant and edible smell then some lipglosses which can smell chemical, plastic or play doh! It has a small little brush which makes it easier to apply more precisely. The colour is sheer, a beige-y pink with some minimal sparkle. I find a drawback is that it does settle into the lines of your lips, however it is not too sticky, gloopy or thick in consistency. It is so light, unnoffensive and lovely in consistency that I could, if I wanted to, wear this everyday. As nudes go I am very drawn to this as I tend to opt for just baby pinks when I go for nudes, so it as nice to try a more beige variety (though still obviously pink) and to really like it.

I paired this with MAC Creme Cup lipstick to create the pink-y beige nude lip. I think the lip gloss colour pops so much more and shows its colour better when on top of a lipstick base. I will definitely be pairing this up with a few lipsticks to see how it goes!

+ =

My camera is playing up so unfortunately the quality is quite bad today, I'm afraid :[

Review; Urban Decay NYC Book of Shadows vol.III Loaded

Loaded (Limited Edition NYC BoS shade!)


This, in the pan, looks like a deep dark green/teal, like a shimmery MAC Plumage, however on the lid it appears more light black/grey, shot through with a bit of green shimmer. I still love the colour and it will make a smokey eye a little more unique and colourful but I would be lying if I didn't say I wasn't disappointed! It also needed a few applications of colour to get it to show up properly. This just wasn't what I expected. On the upside there was little fallout and no glitter fallout! So if you were expecting a dark green/teal colour, then think again this is predominantly black/grey looking in real life. It is still a nice and unusual colour, but it is a little deceptive looking in the pan.

Lower lashline is one light application of the same eyeshadow.

Review; Urban Decay NYC Book of Shadows vol.III Bordello

Bordello (Limited Edition NYC BoS shade!)



This shade is a purple more on the pink side in the pan, it appears to be more of a shimmer, however when applied it goes on an almost nude light purple, it isn't a strong colour on the lid. It also has quite a bit of glitter as I experienced some fall out which I find standard for glitter Urban Decay shadows, and this to me is a negative, noone likes glitter that isn't supposed to be there all over their face. The colour is unusual and very nice, if it wasn't for the glitter I'd say it would be very work safe as it doesn't stand out a whole lot, but it adds a bit of colour.


I used the purple 24/7 liner "Ransom" that came with the palette for the waterline and lower lashline.

Review; Urban Decay NYC Book of Shadows vol.III

UD ♥ NYC (this is a loooong review!)

Click on photos to see them bigger!

General information;

I love Urban Decay, their quality and unique products, their big fat NO to animal testing, and even their vegan friendly products (I’m no vegan but it must be nice for Vegan’s to actually have a product line that is catering for their lifestyle choice.) I am however going to show the good and bad points of this palette, and just because I like the brand I wont necessarily sugar coat the negatives. I also bought this palette myself, just in case that makes a difference to anybody.

There has been less buzz about this Book of Shadows (which for some reason I keep calling a “box” of shadows -__-) then the Alice in Wonderland one maybe because it is less limited (there were only 2000 in the UK of Alice in Wonderland), but also there hasn’t been as much of a wait for BoS vol.III to hit the net in comparison to the long wait suffered for the Alice in Wonderland. Or maybe people just prefer Alice to New York! I will update with the limited edition information when I find out.

So here’s the deal, it is a Debenhams online exclusive however it may make an appearance in some stores at a later date. I am not sure how many are available in the UK however it is more then 2000 this time round. It goes for £30 (not including the overpriced P&P which is £3.99, even though they post it 2^nd class 2-5 days and it should cost half of that to send it by that method.) Mine also came scratched and a little dented, thank-you for treating luxury and expensive items so well Debenhams! /rant!

The format is standard for the Book of Shadows. It has a pop up top displaying a New York Scene, although it also comes complete with up-pointing LEDs lighting up the New York skyline. The draw beneath the pop up top houses the 16 eyeshadows (7 LE specific to this palette, 1 LE available in another palette, 2 Sephora exclusives and 6 permanent shades). The 24/7 liners are Zero (as per usual) and Ransom. And the mini primer potion is also there.

Here is a breakdown of the shades…

Limited edition shades;

Bordello

Kush

Loaded

Money

Radium

Rockstar

Suspect

Snatch (also in Show pony palette)

Sephora shades;

Haight

Psychedelic sister

Permenent shades;

Last call (also in Alice in Wonderland)

Maui wowie (also in Alice in Wonderland)

Midnight cowboy rides again (also in Alice in Wonderland)

Smog

Perversion

Uzi

So, onto the review and more pictures!

The Eyeshadows;

OK, first off these are unusual and I’d say highly difficult to dupe colours. They are said to be “complex colours” on the paper that comes with the box and I would agree, they are very unusual and lovely colours. A problem I have with this is the same problem I had with the Alice in Wonderland one, and that is that there are too many similar colours, all the neutrals are similar, all the purples are similar. No orangey, reddy, yellowy colours to be seen and only one blue. There’s a teal and 3 types of greens… it seems too little variety, which is silly considering there are 16 colours which should give you tonnes of variety! So yes the colours are nice and complex, but if you dislike greens, or neutrals, or purples you may as well not bother as that is pretty much all the palette contains!

As aforementioned in my previous post, there is only one matte, I can imagine for people who want a more work/school friendly look this is a pain in the bum considering these are pretty much shimmers and the only matte is jet black! So, a little variety in texture also wouldn’t go a miss (I’m more of a shimmer lover myself!) However, personally what I love in this box is that there are only 2 glitters, that damn cowboy that won’t go away and Uzi. I love the shimmers and so the fact there are virtually no glitters I wont use fills my heart with joy! There are a couple such as money and Bordello that do have little bits of glitter as well as shimmer, but not to the same extent. Yes I have just ranted about lack of textures, but for me personally these are the most gorgeous texture and pigmentation and no glitterball fallout to be seen!

The aforementioned paper that came with the box;

The ethos;

It’s about time homage was paid to NYC! I love the ethos surrounding the palette. Most girls love New York or at least the idea of New York, if its sex and the city’s fashion and romance or Will & Grace’s fun and friends, or maybe even the culture or architecture, there are plenty of reason’s to love the city! The graphics on the front of the box is well done and different, I like how simple and clean it looks and how each letter represents a different aspect of New York. The pop up graphics inside show different types of people from New York, the scenery, the different fashion and some of the different landmarks and famous buildings. It is a nice touch, however the LED lights are overkill in my opinion, they wont last all that long, it’s just something to go wrong, plus it is unappealing how you can see the little red wires!

To the far right of the pop up design, next to the green man, you can see the red wiring (it’s a lot more obvious in real life).

The Packaging;

Enough has been said by me already on these bloomin’ LED lights, so no more shall be said! The packaging is cardboard and paper, although it is hardy and the design is nice, at the end of the day if it is just cardboard, it will wear and tear a lot more quickly then if it were plastic. Though I like the idea it is biodegradable. The ribbon pull is robust and it isn’t too difficult to open (unlike the Too Faced eye kits which are nightmares to pull open!) It is quite a bulky palette, even bulkier then the Alice in Wonderland one, but it isn’t too heavy in weight. The magnetic catch on the pop up top is very strong, it is very difficult to open, it takes two hands to open it!

See the depth of NYC BoS is a lot bigger and bulkier then the Alice in Wonderland one, though the lengths and width are much the same.

Overall I am so glad I bought this, I love the colours. I’d say so far my faves are Haight and Bordello, though with use that may change… Loaded and Money may change my mind :] I just wish there was a bit more variety and it wasn’t so bulky, but other then that I am a happy customer.

Urban Decay NYC Book of Shadows Vol.III

OK, so I bought the UD NYC BoS Vol.III. I will get my palette around Friday and so will do a more in depth review of it then, I will also do a video, however the video may not be up that day since I have work as well :[ So for a more specific review of NYC BoS vol.III (sans the UD palette rant) stay tuned!

I have a love hate relationship with UD palettes and so before I receive and review this palette I need to get a few things off my chest;

LOVE

It works out a lot cheaper to buy the palettes then to buy all the shades. Granted I shall give it that, I would have a lot less Urban Decay shades had it not been for the palettes.

You do get some limited edition colours specific to the palette or to a previous collection. In this one Haight & Psychedelic Sister which were only available in Sephora and not the UK, so had they not been in this palette I would not have been able to own them. Though this may not be a benefit to people who live in the USA and can already get/have those shades. There are also 7 limited edition shades, which is better then the 0 limited edition shades in the AiW palette.

The designs are a little cute & the pop up bit makes it more fun but its good you don’t have to open that part up to get to the shadows or it could get damaged. It’s a fun palette.

I love all things NYC, I love TV based there; Sex & the City, Will & Grace, Friends, even dare I say it CSI haha.... all in all just the general retail culture and big city lifestyle! Being in the UK it is somewhere I have always aspired to go, especially for Christmas that would be magical! So you put out a make-up palette based on loving New York and hells yeah I'm going to buy it.

The colours are varied and really pigmented!

The 2 eyeliners are a bonus, especially since the second liner (Ransom) is a different colour to the Alice in Wonderland palette (Flipside).

HATE

This is £2 dearer then the Alice in Wonderland BoS which came out less then 6 months ago, that rate of inflation is ridiculous. And why? Because it has unneeded LED lights that will no doubt break soon after you buy it anyway? I would rather they cut down on the packaging and design and made it cheaper!

Even though this has travel eyeliners, a travel primer potion and a range of colours (shimmer & glitter) this is very bulky and therefore it isn’t good for travel, although obviously that’s what it was possibly designed for considering the contents. The pop up bit adds a bit too much bulk to it. You’d be best with a slimmer palette.

You always get the same old colours, won't Midnight Cowboy Rides Again just get lost and die already? I only have 2 palettes and yet I have 3 shadows duplicated! That is a ridiculous number. If you are going to make a limited edition palette like Alice in Wonderland use limited edition shades, not permenant shades which are no doubt in every other palette anyway. This palette is no different, it has a fair few limited edition colours which is an improvement, but some of the oldies that are in every other palette are still making an appearance.

The finishes are glitter and shimmer… only one matte to be seen (perversion). I have already made you aware that I hate mattes, but a lot of people like them and there seem to be no palettes with mattes. So if they added a few mattes then it is less likely people will end up with millions of duplicates from palette to palette (added variety is your friend!) and everyone is kept happy. Please, finally take note of this UD!!

The glitter shades are glitter bombs, I can’t touch them. If you don’t like your face looking like a disco ball then steer clear of the midnight cowboy! I find the shimmers so much better, but there are far too many shades in these palettes that are glitters and so will stay unused by me.

These palettes always seem to be limited. The Alice in Wonderland only had 2000 in the UK. And apparently this one is limited edition too, however I don't think to the same extent. Surely everyone should get a chance to buy one? I think this may be limited more in terms of time frame it is available (like BoS I & II) rather then a limited number of units (Alice in Wonderland stylee!)

So rant over. Hopefully people can relate to this, maybe learn a little more about the UD palettes from this blurb. Everyone is entitled to their opinions and this is mine, if anyone disagrees then thats fine. If UD has beef with it then maybe take what I say on board and CHANGE it! Your fans will thank you big style :]

Watch this space to see the review of the palette!

Review; MAC Dare To Wear Sassy Grass

Sassy Grass eyeshadow


I love this! I know I say I hate mattes, but this isn't a very matte like matte... if that makes sense? It is a little harder to blend, but it goes on quite soft and after about 2 swipes of it you have the full colour. It isn't chalky, it even looks a little creamy on the lid. It feels soft on the lid, and it has a really good staying power, when you rub your finger on your lid very little colour comes off on your finger, this colour will stay on and vibrant all day (I used MAC paint pot in Soft Ochre as a base, as I do when applying all eyeshadows I use and review). So minus the difficulty blending (not nearly as bad as Too Faced mattes though!) this is a really fun and lovely eyeshadow, though I would say it goes on more deep emerald green then bright grass green. I am a massive green eyeshadow fan so I'm glad this works for me. This is more the Dare To Wear ethos as it is a bright colour which some may feel uncomfortable wearing. It is also the eyeshadow used for the Dare To Wear promo image!

Video Review; Benefit Bad Gal Liner & Eye Bright

Video Review; Liberty of London

Video Review; Urban Decay Alice In Wonderland BoS

Video Review; OPI Alice In Wonderland Nail Laquers

Review; Sleek Limited Edition Circus Palette!

Sleek Circus Palette

This is a limited edition palette and since I have a few other Sleek palettes that I love I thought I would get it. As I have previously mentioned I am not a massive fan of mattes, and 9 out of 12 shadows are matte. I do like the red, yellow, orange & black mattes as they are still very soft, pigmented and not chalky, however the magenta & turquoise matte are very difficult to work with as they seem to go everywhere, and the lilac matte is badly pigmented barely shows up. The pink matte is a little patchy and goes on a little uneven. The shimmers however are the usual soft and pigmented shadows sleek normally provides. In terms of the shades it is a mixed bag. The neon-like colours are a little too daring for me, however colours like the blue, purple and green look like MAC colours (Deep Truth, Violet, Sweet & Punchy). So this palette is very hit and miss.

Review; MAC Dare To Wear Crazy Cool

Dare To Wear Crazy Cool


This is a beautiful pale lilac colour, however in my last review of a Dare To Wear eyeshadow (Going Bananas) I made note of how the ethos of the collection is bright, daring and out there. This shadow is none of those. This is a lovely cool lilac and therefore not really daring at all, so I don't understand why along with Going Bananas this was in this particular collection. For a satin finish it is pigmented and went on smoothly. This is definitely a colour for purple lovers, and those fans of pastels.

Review; MAC Alice+Olivia Partylicious pigment

Partylicious

This is a gorgeous bright aqua colour. I thought it would be more teal then it is, but I actually like the fact it is more aqua then teal as I have a lot of green/teal colours already. If you mixed Mutiny pigment with a little bit of Teal you might end up with something similar to this. It's definitely more blue the green, but I wouldn't say it is a pure blue colour. It has a subtle gold shimmer though it is more obvious when pressed in a pan or in the pot then it is on the eyelid. I think this is a really nice unique colour and one to pick up!

Review; Too Faced Smoky Eye Kit "Fashion Look"

Smoky Eye Kit


Fashion Look


As I mentioned in my last review, the looks on these Too Faced look cards are all very similar, so I made this look a lot bigger and blended it a lot more to make it look more smoky since it didn't look all that smoky following the cards. The Wicked Green and Midnight are a lot darker and less bright on the skin then then in the pans however they are very smooth and pigmented, however Sugar Cookie was too dark on my skin tone to be a highlight (I am very pale). Overall I find Wicked Green and Midnight a nice colour match, it is a very different type of smoky eye, and it's nice to get away from the usual black and grey.

Review; Too Faced Natural Eye Kit "Fashion Look"

Too Faced Natural Eye Kit


Fashion look


This look is glittery to the max, especially Nude Beach which is so glittery that when used it virtually crumbles in the pan (you may be able to see this in the above picture). The glitter from this shadow is a bugger to get off as the glitter is also quite big. The other drawback of this shadow as a highlight is that it is too dark for my skin tone, so it looks really stupid on me, and as I have mentioned before, I'm not a massive fan of going up to the brow bone. My favourite colour from this look is Honey Pot as it is a soft shimmery bronzey colour which is so pretty and pigmented, and applies so smoothly. This is a little too sparkly for me to wear, but it was easy to apply and the colours are nice, however with this whole palette I find all the looks very similar except a couple of the shades and the amount of glitter varies, it would have been nice if the look cards varied a little.

Review : MAC Alice+Olivia Morning.After Nail Lacquer

Morning.After (Full stop intentional)

The colour is very similar to Blue India from the Liberty of London Collection, however it is more blue then grayish teal. The similarity makes me question whether you would need both. This varnish is a cream finish. Although this is thick for a cream and not nearly as streaky as ones like Seasonal Peach, the thickness meant it went all over my fingers (and then dyed the surrounding skin!), it took ages to dry, and even hours/days after it had dried it still got dents/chips/scuffs too easily as the varnish is so soft on the nail. I assumed this would be more blue teal then deep blue and I never thought it would be this similar to Blue India. I would suggest that since the finish of Blue India is better then Morning.After (I didn't have the same denting/chipping issue) and since the colour of Blue India is somewhat similar but more unique, don't bother with this if you already own Blue India. Morning afters often involve regret, and I think a lot of the buyers will feel this after buying it, so quite an apt name. If the colour was a little more unique (this could be so easily duped) and the texture was better then it would have been much more popular.

And for comparison, Blue India;

Review; MAC Dare To Wear Going Bananas!

Going Bananas Eyeshadow


This is a beautiful colour, it goes on a subtle light yellow, and has my beloved veluxe pearl finish! However, this to me me misses the whole point of the Dare To Wear ethos. It is far too subtle and not nearly bright enough to be "daring", as it goes on lighter then it appears in the pan. A daring yellow would be a repromote of Style Warriors Bright Future, not this mellow yellow. I love this shade and will wear it a lot, however to me it does not fit in this collection at all, a more neon mad yellow would be a lot more outrageous then this lovely banana shade! It is a lovely shimmery colour, but as previously mentioned it goes on lighter then it appears in the pan (but the shade ends up one I prefer), so the pigmentation isn't all that great considering it is meant to be a pigmented collection, so again it just doesn't seem to fit. I would give it a try if you like these mellow colours, but if you were after something quite bright and bold I would skip this! Maybe trying it on a dark base would transform the colour, but it is never going to be a shocking shade no matter how you apply it.

My mascara didn't cover up all the powder on my lashes... sad times :[

Review; MAC Digi-Dazzle Lipstick!

I've bought the colour Naughty You.


This is a light but bright pink with pink glitter, however I found it went on darker then it appears in the tube. The colour on the lips is very pigmented. The glitter in this is very fine, so I found that the lipstick looked almost metallic and shimmery rather then glittery, I liked it more then I thought I would, though I am not sure I'd wear it all that often. The colour is nice, though quite ordinary for me, it is not a very outrageous colour like Baby's On Fire, but the mental imagery that comes with that lipstick wasn't worth the purchase for me (as you can guess, I picture the wrong type of "baby"). There is some glitter residue left behind, but not as much as I thought there would be (and a damn sight less then Sparklicious!) However it feels a bit gritty when you apply it, it isn't the smoothest lipstick ever due to the glitter, but then again it isn't dry because of the glitter so it is an OK textured lipstick considering. I am always putting glittery gloss on top of my lipsticks as I like the glossy sheen (get mattes away from me), so I am not sure whether it defeats the point of having a glittery lipstick when it will most likely be covered with gloss and glitter anyway. I don't think I would buy another, but it was fun to try and it wasn't all that horrendous considering I assumed the worst for this product!