A DOSE OF BAKED BROWNS: THE PERFECT MINI MATTE PALETTE

Hello everyone! When it comes down to eyeshadows, it is no secret that i am such a sucker for the warm neutral shades and i literally don't feel like myself if i don't opt for that kind of eye look. Also as of late i have been living for a completely matte eye look and just having a pop of shimmer in the inner corner, i just think it looks stunning. Talking of stunning for quite a while now (since it launched in the states) i have been lusting after a certain Dose of Colors five matte shadow palette, after seeing swatch after swatch and tutorials here, there and everywhere. So the other day when it launched in the UK on BeautyBay, i had to snap it up ASAP!

So this is the particular palette that i am talking about, the Dose of Colors Baked Browns eyeshadow palette and the first product i have ever tried from Dose of Colors, as until recently it wasn't really a brand we could get easily in the UK but now we can thanks to BeautyBay. So earlier this year the brand launched two different palettes one called Baked Browns and the other called Marvelous Mauves, both contains five matte eyeshadows. Of course being the complete warm neutrals girl that i am, you know i was going to be all about that Baked Browns palette. The pigmentation of these shadows are insane, without having fall-out, buttery soft texture and not to mention blend effortlessly, who doesn't love all those qualities in a eyeshadow? If i was to compare the formula of these eyeshadows to another brand, i would say they are very similar in ways to Anastasia Beverly Hills palette formulas. These palettes retail for £28GBP each ($32USD) from BeautyBay.

Like i mentioned above this palette is made up of five matte warm neutral shades, in a palette with a deep bronze/brown metallic packaging which is super luxurious looking/feeling and not to mention sturdy. The palette also comes with a pretty decent dual ended eyeshadow brush, unlike some of crappy brushed you tend to get in palettes. The palette is also cruelty free, talc free and paraben free. The shade range is great for creating a bunch of different looks with from light daytime looks, to dramatic smoky evening looks. 

tealight: off white / deserted: sandy caramel beige (perfect for a transition shade) / outdoorsy: tawny peachy brown / cherry wood: reddish rusty brown / rock bottom: chocolate brown 

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FREEDOM #PROARTIST PRO HD CUSTOM EYESHADOW PALETTE

Hello everyone! So when it comes down to eyeshadows i love a good palette, whether that be a quad or even a twelve or more shadow palette. To take things that bit further there is only one thing i love more and that is custom creating your own eyeshadow palette, which i have blogged about a couple of times in the past in a makeup obsession custom palette and custom creating my own perfect neutrals palette. With that in mind when one of my new favourite affordable brands Freedom, launched their #proartist refillable magnetic palettes i just had to make one of my own and once again the brand has shocked me at the quality of their products.

I have actually already tried eyeshadows from Freedom before, as i have the pro32 innocent palette and i was really impressed by them because of the buttery soft yet easy to blend texture. Putting that aside i had never tried any of the #proartist eyeshadows, blushes or contour/bronzing products except for the concealer. So when they launched these packs of five pan shadows for £5 (£1 a shadow) called the hd eye foils (they also stock the shadows loose for £2 each), i just had to make a palette up of my own. 

The palette i created is made up of three of the five pack shadows, with both matte and shimmer/foil shades costing a total of £15 and the empty magnetic palette was £5. This makes the total of the palette £20 for both the palette and fifteen shadows, how much of a bargain is that? Especially taking into consideration that Makeup Geek shadows are almost £5 each and MAC shadows are £10 each, the concept is completely identically for a lot less. Just like the other eyeshadows i had already tried, these #proartist shadows are also as pigmented, easy to blend, if not even better than some other shadows from MAC. Like i mentioned above this palette is made up of the freedom #proartist pro hd empty magnetic palette and the three #proartist pro hd eye foil five pack shadows, which are the hd burnt, hd matte bare and hd bare packs.

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GO-TO PALETTES FOR SUMMER

Hello everyone! Over the past couple of weeks i have shared a couple of summer related posts from a summer style wishlist, a best of beauty:coconut, as well as a handful of "my go-to products" posts. So for today's post i thought why not combine the two together and share with you some of my go-to palettes for summer, from cheek and face palettes to eyeshadow palettes, as i haven't done a palette post in quite some time.

nip+fab blush palette in the shade 01 blushed

Kicking things off with a blush palette from Nip+Fab, which is brand who's new makeup range i am loving right now from what i have tried, including a liquid lipstick in the shade tart that i blogged about here recently. If you have read quite a few of my posts then you will probably know that i haven't always been a blush person, but now i am a total convert and i am a sucker for a palette. The formula of these blushes are like nothing i have ever felt before from a blush, they are super silky smooth almost suede-like, highly pigmented (so a little goes a long way) and has a mixture of shades from soft pinks, light peachy/coral shades and some deeper almost plum toned shades. This palette retails for £8.95 from Superdrug or the Nip+Fab website.

zoeva cosmetics basic moment blush palette

Sticking with the blush palette theme but this time a face palette from Zoeva, which happens to be one of my favourite brand for blushes and i own so many different palettes and some individual ones also. This particular palette is a new go-to/favourite of mine, as it was only just recently released along side an eyeshadow palette which i also own. The formula of the Zoeva blushes/face products are so lightweight yet pigmented, they blend so effortlessly and i am literally obsessed with the blush shade called yet to come, as it is the most stunning pastel pink-y shade perfect for any look this summer time. The highlight shade called liquid clock is also stunning, not to mention glow-y with its finely milled texture. This palette retails for £13 from BeautyBay or Cult Beauty. 

too faced sweet peach eyeshadow palette

This eyeshadow palette along side another palette in this post, was probably my most reached for palette last summer and it will be this summer also. I mentioned this particular palette in my recent updated go-to crease/transition shadows post, as well as quite a few other posts. I think this palette is one of those that i will never get bored of reaching for, which makes me happy that they made it a permanent line as at the time it was a limited edition item. The shadows in this palette are incredible just like every other Too Faced eyeshadow palette, the pigmentation, the shade range and the easy to blend quality. I also love how amazing these palettes smell, this one smells like pure peaches (hence it's name) and the chocolate bar palettes smell like...you guessed it chocolate! This palette retails for £39 from Selfridges and Debenhams.

mac cosmetics warm neutrals eyeshadow palette

This particular palette from MAC, is the one i have had in my collection for the longest out of the bunch of palettes in this post and will always contain some of my favourite eyeshadow shades. MAC eyeshadows were so hyped up for so long and of course we all splurged so often on shadows at £10 a go, but this pre-made warm neutrals palette is such a great deal if you want to give multiple shadows a go, at the time i swear this palette was a good deal at around £60 but now this palette is under £50. My go-to summer favourites from the palette are saddle, gingersnap, creative copper and of course honey lust. 

morphe 12s soul of summer eyeshadow palette

I love love love Morphe eyeshadows in general, but there is just something about this particular one that i will forever be in love with and that is probably because shimmery shadows from Morphe are literally the bomb, they are so pigmented, buttery soft/smooth and are amazing used both wet or dry. If i am ever stuck on picking a shimmery lid shade, i will always reach for this palette and is perfect for all year around not just summer. I really wished these shadows in the palette had names but they don't, but my favourites are the first shade on the left in the middle row and the first three on the bottom row. This palette like all Morphe products is super affordable coming in at just £13 for 12 shimmer shadows and you can get this from BeautyBay. 

anastasia beverly hills modern renaissance eyeshadow palette

Finally and probably saving the best one until last (well in my opinion anyway ha), as well as it being the priciest palette of the bunch coming in at £41, from BeautyBay, Cult Beauty and the Anastasia Beverly Hills UK site. I have been in love with ABH shadows since i first tried them, they are just so unique in formula, pigmentation and everything, so naturally i had to pick this palette up when it was released last summer because they are my kind of shades, which i have mentioned on so many occasions now. My favourite shades from the palette are raw sienna, burnt orange, primavera, love letter and cyprus umber. Whilst on the subject of the warm toned neutrals, i am super excited to get the new Naked Heat palette bu Urban Decay when it launches. 

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UPDATED GO-TO CREASE/TRANSITION SHADOWS

Hello everyone! Usually the key base to any eye-look is to start off with a neutral shade in the crease of your eye, as a transition shade in order for anything to blend seamlessly and for everything to tie together. At the back end of last year i shared a post talking about my current favourite go-to crease/transition shades and since then i have found myself reaching for a few different ones, as well as my holy grail go-to's.

too faced sweet peach eyeshadow palette in the shade puree

This particular palette is a favourite of mine as a whole but the shade puree definitely has to be my favourite, for both a transition shade and all over quick eyeshadow look. This is the perfect warm toned neutral shade, quite similar to another favourite crease shade of mine but probably a touch deeper in colour. I have always been a fan of too faced eyeshadows, for their pigmentation, the way they blend and of course the famous scents. Another favourite crease shade of mine from too faced, is in the chocolate bar palette and that is the shade salted caramel. This palette is a spring/summer go-to of mine and retails for £39.

pur cosmetics glitz & glam daytime cheek palette

So i think this particular item was limited edition from the holiday's but i picked this palette duo up from beautybay months ago, it comes with two palettes one eye palette and one cheek palette. If i am being honest i don't love the eyeshadow palette but i am obsessed with the cheek palette, which i use the bronzer shade called trance as a crease/transition shade. The reason being is i actually love using bronzers in the crease, as they always tend to be that perfect shade and great for if you are in a rush. As this palette is limited edition, there is a similar type of palette on beautybay from l.a girl which is a bargain £8.

mac cosmetics pro palette eyeshadow in the shade kid (wedge is similar)

This particular shadow is discontinued from mac but it is one of my favourites, as i mentioned in my previous crease/transition post. This shadow is the perfect in-between tones shade, as it isn't too warm or too cool and i think the shade wedge is quite similar in colour. This particular shade kid is a veluxe matte finish and wedge is just a pro matte shade. MAC eyeshadows retail for £10 pro form or £13.50 in pot form.

sleek blush in the shade suede

So i first bought this blush because i thought how beautiful it looked online, but when it came in the mail it looked nothing like the picture but it all turned out good in the end, as a transition shade anyway. That is the beauty of makeup as products can be used in a multi-purpose way, this shade suede is the most stunning peachy/suede like colour great for a light wash in the crease, but not so great on the cheeks for me personally. This is very similar to peach smoothie from makeup geek but maybe just a tone or two warmer/deeper and is a similar price, for a lot more product as these sleek blushes only retail for £4.99.

makeup geek eyeshadows in the shades peach smoothie and créme brulée

Finally and whilst on the subject of makeup geek eyeshadows, which are such good reliable shadows to reach for when you are stuck for what to go for in an eye-look, mainly because that is what my z-palette is made up with. My two go-to transitional shades are peach smoothie as i mentioned above and also the shade créme brulée, all depending on what type of look i am going for i will reach for one of these two. I just love how super soft, effortless to blend and pigmented the shadows are and not mention super easy to travel with. These particular shadows come in tons of different tones/finishes and retail for £4.95 per shadow.

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ZOEVA SWEET GLAMOUR BLUSH PALETTE

Hello everyone! Last week i shared an updated makeup wishlist post, which you can catch up on here and in that post i featured a particular palette that i have been lusting after. Soon after that post i caved and ordered a couple of the products, this blush palette from the new zoeva sweet glamour collection being one of them.

So i have always been a huge fan of zoeva blushes/palettes, in fact all of their products in general and as soon as i laid eyes on this palette i knew it had to be welcomed into the collection. First of all how stunning is the palettes packaging? Second of all the three shades in this palette are right up my street, with the perfect mix of pinks and a highlighter-like shade similar to the shade "glowing still" in the zoeva rose golden blush palette. These particular palettes are also great for travelling, which i happened to mention in my three go-to travel friendly highlight palettes post because of how compact they are in size/depth.

As i mentioned the palette consists of three different shades, two blush colours and a highlighter shade. First up in the palette is the shade sweet escape, which is the most beautiful almost vibrant shade of pink. Followed up by my personal favourite the shade ideal love, which is more of a light dusky pink shade and then finally moving onto the shade interpretation of dreams, which is the highlight shade adding some shimmery glow to the skin. Just like the other zoeva blushes/palettes i have tried, they never fail in the pigmentation/formula area. They have this soft almost light butter (maybe from the vitamin e formula) feel to them, which allows them to glide onto the skin and blend out seamlessly. If you fancy giving this beautiful palette a try just like i did, then you can get your hands on it for a steal at only £13 from cultbeauty or beautybay.

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BH COSMETICS DAY & NIGHT PALETTE EYE-LOOK

As i said a few blog post's back i received a couple of eye shadow palettes as gifts for Christmas and that i would more than likely do a first impression on them. Since Christmas i have been really playing around with the "BHcosmetics day & night" palette and i am really loving it, the colours are super pigmented and blend very easily without a lot of fall out (which is always a winner). The palette contains 60 different eye shadows from nudes and browns to bright neon colours, so basically it is a very versatile palette and you could pretty much create any look using it. After looking up the palette online it is also very affordable for the quantity and quality of product you get.
US: http://www.bhcosmetics.com/products/eyes/60color-bh-day-and-night-palette
UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/60-Color-Day-Night-Palette/dp/B007BSA5ZO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1388925288&sr=8-1&keywords=bh+day+and+night+palette

PRODUCTS IN ORDER OF USE:

Soap and glory hand maid gel, B pure micellar water, Nspa lip treatment, Nivea day cream, L'Oreal lumi magique primer, Bourjois 123 perfect foundation, Maybelline cover stick, Maybelline fit me concealer.

Apply (base) colour all over the eye lid and then repeat with the (lid) colour. Apply (crease) colour through the crease using wind wiper motions. Apply (outer corner) colour onto a fluffy blending brush and apply to outer corner of the eye blending as you go.

Mua brow kit, L'Oreal superliner ultra precision, Curl eyelashes, Soap and glory mascara, Soap and glory kohl liner, i used soap and glory powder trip to contour and blush (image not shown) Nars highlight, Rimmel moisture renew lipstick and Too faced lip gloss.

Hope you are all having a lovely weekend and are enjoying your 2014 so far...

Katie ♥