Yves Saint Laurent, Extremly YSL - Tuxedo Travel Palette

A few weeks back I popped to the #JetSetBeauty event to spend some time with the lovely team from World Duty Free.  I think I almost died when I found out that they had kindly gifted me the Extemely YSL - Tuxedo Travel Palette* in a goody bag. After a week or so of being too scared to use it in case I broke it, I started testing it out. 

The Tuxedo Travel Palette features five eye shadows, four lip colours, one blusher, a white highlighter and a Mascara Volume Effet Faux Cils in Shocking Black as well as 3 adorably cute mini brushes, which i'll likely never use - but they're super cute!

I must say that the blusher and highlighter in this palette are so pretty. I've been wearing them together for the past week and they work perfectly on pale skin to create a natural flushed look.

The eyeshadows are pigmented and apply easily, although when testing the matte black shade, I did notice quite a bit of fallout, so if you're looking at creating a deep smoked out eye using this palette - I'd recommend eyes first, base second. 

The palette contains 4 different shades of lip products and whilst the diverse range of colours is great, the fact that they are sandwiched between the powder products without any sort of protection isn't. After using the black eyeshdaow, I did notice a fair amount of fallout had made it's way on to the lipgloss, it wiped off easy enough - but i'd much rather some sort of protective layer to keep the lip gloss safe.

The Tuxedo Travel Palette comes with a mini Mascara Volume Effect Faux Cils and having not used a YSL mascara before, I can't say I was prepared for what seems like a totally unnecessary high amount of perfume. I'm not sure I ever needed a perfumed mascara, but I'll give it a shot....

Overall, I think this palette is beautiful, It's carved it's place into my daily make up and certainly worth picking up if you find yourself passing through the airport any time soon as it's a travel exclusive you won't find it in the shops!

Which swatch is your favourite for this palette? Let me know in the comments...

Em xxx

First Impressions: A Cohorted Urban Decay Electric Palette

Sometimes a new product comes out that is both incredibly amazing and scary at the same time. For me, that product is the Urban Decay Electric Palette. I've seen so many breathtaking looks on various social media sites that have been created using this palette and let me just tell you, they are amazing.

I recently won a mini Twitter competition and recieved £25 worth of points for Cohorted. In case you don't know, Cohorted is a 'new type of social shopping' where people shop in groups to drive down the prices on products. To simplify, it means, the more people who want an item, the cheaper it becomes for everyone! Cool right?

The Urban Decay Electric Pressed Pigment palette usually retails at £38.00. However, I was on a bus on my way to SpaceNK and noticed on twitter the palette was up as a Cohort, so I did what any self respecting blogger would do... I shopped, on my iphone and joined the Cohort. I Bought in to the palette at £29.49, which was already at an almost £10 discount... and after using my £25 winnings It meant that the palette was mine for the amazing price of £4.49! 

Although it gets better... because I joined the cohort before it closed and spaces were still available... the price went down even lower... to £27.36. Making this palette the very best £2.36 I've ever spent in my life.

Let's talk about the palette. The click. It makes the most satisfying click when you open and close it. One cannot talk about this palette without mentioning that. The colours. I think I stared at them for a solid few days before I even dared swatch them. They're so bright, so vivid and crying out for crazy makeup to be created using them. The swatch. It's a case of love at first swatch for some of these colours. I have to say that my favourites on first swatch are Jilted and Freak. I'm not sure why, but those are just really doing it for me. This will probably all change as soon as they get anywhere near my face... so stay tuned to find out if my favourites change.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this palette and see any looks you've created using it! Which swatch is your favourite? Let me know in the comments!

Em xx

BY TERRY Ombre Blackstar Eyeshadow - Frozen Quartz

There's only one way to begin this first impression post and that is to simply say, I ADORE this eyeshadow.  The BY TERRY Ombre Blackstar eyeshadow in Frozen Quartz packs a hefty price tag and at £28.00 it's not cheap by anyone's standards, but on first impressions I'm in love.

In Space NK, I swatched 3 different shades on the back of my hand, took a picture and uploaded to Twitter as I was having trouble deciding which to purchase. I read through the replies and then decided to try and rub the swatches off - they didn't budge. So I grabbed the hand sanitiser... nope, still there... these shadows took about 2 squirts of sanitiser and some surgical spirit to get off my hand with an awful lot of rubbing! The persistence of the swatch vs remover made me gasp. I was immediately impressed.

I also love how effortless it is to apply. It's a one swipe wonder and by finishing with a little smudge of your finger, you're good to go. It may seem crazy to spend so much money on one colour, but when you try them you'll understand why.

The Ombre Blackstar Eye shadows definitely have some fantastic staying power - even after a long day at work, they're still there.

After the first couple of days, I love this product... but stay tuned for an in depth review when I get to know it a little better.

Em xxx

KIKO Longlasting Stick Eyeshadow Haul & Swatches!

This week I was a woman on a mission to spend money on things I didn't know I needed, and those things just so happened to 6 KIKO Eyeshadow Sticks. This week also happened to be a week of first times, as these were my first ever KIKO purchases. I'd been into the store in Westfields Stratford before, but it was so busy I couldn't even get to the products and I sensibly left the store before I started getting pushed and shoved.

On Monday, I must have got lucky as on the suggestion of a few bloggers on twitter I walked to Regent Street in London, and popped to the KIKO store. I'd heard that the KIKO eyeshadows are good dupes for the By Terry, Ombre Blackstar Eyeshadows and having just spent £28.00 on one, I was keen to see how a £6.90 Dupe would compare.

There are 32 Eyeshadows in the range and I must've spent about 40minutes swatching and walking back and forth the shop trying to decide what to get. I finally settled on the 6 shades above as I felt that they were the perfect mix of every day wears and comfort level pushing shades.

My favourite on first swatch, has to be 07 as I think this could easily work it's way into my everyday look! Coming in close second is 36, this is a stunning rose gold shade and as beautiful as this is, I'm not sure If I can pull it off yet! I think it's going to take some experimenting!

I'd love to hear your thoughts on these shades! Which is your favourite?? Let me know in the comments...

Em xxx

Concealers For Pale Skin: Pale Test #3 - Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer - Fair. (1)

I get asked on an almost daily basis which foundations and concealers are the best for pale skin tones, and this series is going to explore all different types of  products from varying brands and at all price levels which will hopefully help you to make a decision on which foundation and concealer is right for you! 

In universal skin tone terms.. I'm an NC15 in Mac. However, Mac isn't really doing it for me at the moment, so i'm on the hunt for a replacement that will be the perefect concealer for My Pale Skin. 

Product: Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer is a product I often see popping up on various blogs.  Famed for it's great coverage and low price point it's a product which many find themselves binning their high end products for.

Packaging:  The concealer comes in a sturdy plastic tube and has a wand applicator. The packaging has the brand name printed onto the exterior and after a few uses, this does wear away. After a few weeks uses I found the tube to have completely lost all the print.

Coverage: The Product comes out fairly thick as you can see in the swatches above. A little goes a long way with this product and I have found the best way to apply it on my skin is for it to be dabbed in small areas and blended, building it up where needed. I find it great at covering my under eye area, as it masks dark circles well, however I've found that break outs need a few more layers to cover well.

Colour:  Although the Collection Lasting Perfection Concealers are made in a limited shade range, It's so pleasing to see that the lightest shade - Fair, is actually a light shade. I find that it has just the right level of neutral undertones without photographing or wearing yellow. As an NC15 girl, the colour is bang on.

Finish:  The concealer has a smooth finish that is meant to be a 16hr wear although I find that towards the end of a work day it has slightly worn off, even after setting it with some pressed powder. Upon reapplication it does not leave a cakey finish on my skin, but this is likely down to the fact that I'm building up on it in small does, rather than going straight to it in one shebang.

Final Verdict: A drugstore concealer that covers dark circles, doesn't cake on my skin, comes in a shade suitable for ghosts and costs less than £5?? It all sounds too good to be true, but I'm so pleased to have finally added this product to my make up collection. The Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer has Passed  the pale test with flying colours and it has even replaced my Mac Studio Finish concealer! I've fallen in love with this product and I've been wearing it every day since I've bought it without looking back.

As Always, I'd love to hear your thoughts on this concealer or what you'd like me to try next, let me know in the comments. xxx