Urban Decay Eyeshadows // Virgin & Sin

After the purchase of my first Naked palette (earlier review here) I quickly hit pan on my two staple colours - Virgin and Sin. Naturally, I had to go out and restock, but rather than re-buying the whole palette I just picked up the two neutral shades on their own.

I absolutely love both of these shades, and I use them daily. They're a powder product, but I don't notice fall-out or any waste left on my chosen eyeshadow brush. They pack on nicely and are easily buildable for a day or night look, but they do have a slight shimmer to them.

Ultimately, both of these shades are worth picking up. They last well with Urban Decay's eyeshadow primer, but they hold their own without a base as well.

So, there's a very quick recommendation of two every day neutral eyeshadows. Quick, pick them up from here for £14 each.

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This review is based solely on my opinion of these products.

I cannot, and do not, guarantee that you will have the same experience.

Urban Decay // Naked Palette

One of my favourite purchases of the year has got to have been Urban Decay's Naked Palette. I was very late on this band wagon but now that I've got it in my collection I rarely reach for anything else.
Last year I got the Naked Basics palette and it's my go-to for nude eyes (review here)

My favourite shades are Sin, Virgin and Half Baked, all shades that are great worn alone but I find they're best worn over the eyeshadow primer.

For a night out I usually combine Sin and Half Baked with Toasted and Hustle.

The big question is do I need the other 2 palettes in my life?!

You can pick this up for £38 on the Urban Decay website here but it's a few pounds cheaper with Debenhams for a limited time.

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J'adore...

It gets to Wednesday / Thursday and the motivation to make it through the week just dips. Spending 50% of the day clock watching definitely doesn't make it any easier, but sometimes appreciating the little things just might.

This week I've been loving a few things in particular..

The Naked Palette is my new favourite toy. I can't believe it took me so long to buy it but alas, it is now mine!
The Tesco Lady and the Tramp bag was a little treat a couple of weeks ago from my friend Natalie. It's perfect for taking my teaching books, folders, 1000000 pens and post-it notes to and from school.
My Liveworks planner and pen have been a life saver this week. With teaching, going to uni, blogging and having a social life sometimes things can fall by the wayside so listing everything really helps.
Finally, this body mist from Bath and Body Works. I love this scent... sometimes I just spray it round my room because it's so lovely!

What have you been loving this week?

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Urban Decay Naked Basics Palette

The Naked and Naked 2 palettes have been make-up staples for pretty much everyone I know. I'm not sure how I resisted both of them but somehow I did...I think it's because although they're super neutral palettes that can be used to create almost any eye look I was unsure as to how much use I'd get out of each one when I've got a stock pile of single eyeshadows in my make-up organiser.

A couple of weekends ago I was returning some items with my mum and we both decided this would be a worthwhile purchase. We weren't wrong! My mum and I have different skin tones, she is slightly more olive toned than I am but this palette is used every day by both of us. The colour range is perfect to create a quick and simple every-day look or to blend the darker colours to make a smokey, night time look.

My favourite shades are Venus and Naked 2 - I use these daily for my no-make-up make up! Venus goes in my inner corner and under my eyebrow and Naked 2 is blended into my crease.

All of these have a very smooth but slightly chalky texture apart from Venus... It's very soft but I tend to experience a little bit of fallout or grittiness with the shimmery shade. Once it's applied it doesn't really shift until I take it off though so it's manageable! There's also a strange smell to my palette, is that just me? Let me know in the comments so I know I'm not alone!

What's your favourite shade from Urban Decay? There are a ton of new releases in individual pots which are certainly next on my shopping list!

Everyday work face part 1

So this is what's on my face on an everyday work day. I work around upper school children and this is what I feel is appropriate to wear in a classroom when I'm not the student anymore, sob!!!

Liz Earle Signature Foundation in the shade Porcelain which I apply with my Real Techniques Stippling brush. These can be bought here (click!) and here (click!). The foundation is medium - light coverage and it's got a pretty good wear time, even when worn alone I think it's between 6-8 hours. My HD Brows kit in the shade Vamp is perfect for me as my eyebrows only need defining. Find it online here (click!). This powder is long lasting and easy to erase if you make any mistakes! 

 For my face products I love the Urban Decay Naked Flushed palette as the bronzer and highlighter compliment one another when used together. You can get one here (click!) and rather than using the blusher in the Naked palette I use Benefit's Dandelion because it's a little lighter and less of a statement blusher than the Urban Decay palette provides. Click here (!!!) to view it and buy online. I apply these with a range of brushes - both white bristle brushes are the same except one is a travel brush. They're Bobbi Brown Face Blender brushes and can be found here (click!) The black brush is a Mac brush but the number has rubbed off!
Around my eyes I go for the Collection Lasting Perfection concealer in the lightest colour (bought here, click!), Clinique High Impact mascara in black found here (click!) and Maybelline Color Tattoo 24hr cream-gel eyeshadow in the shade On and on Bronze which I reviewed here last week (click!).

 (why are these different DAMMIT IT'S SO STRESSFUL. I took them literally seconds apart!)

This is the final product - I think it's relatively natural looking whilst hiding any imperfections and evening my skintone, although you may disagree. Unfortunately as you can see make-up does not conceal a totally stroppy facial expression, oops!