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.

Bobbi Brown Old Hollywood Eye Palette

 I haven't bought Bobbi Brown cosmetics for a while, but I used to be absolutely obsessed with the brand when I was first hitting the high-end beauty counters. I think that was because Bobbi Brown make-up appeals to all ages; I first used the brand when I was around thirteen. I used to be able to just see pieces I could add to my make-up bag like a volumising mascara or a black eyeliner pencil. I liked the little treat of spending more money that I on the average kohl pencil from a pharmacy make-up brand.

I received this for Christmas and overall I really like it. The colour selection is certainly Old Hollywood with the shimmery golds and the dusty grey and beige. It feels very Gatsby-esque and glamorous.

Retailing at £59 this does look like it lives up to its price tag with the golden edges of the palette and the sleek black and gold exterior. It contains 9 shades each labelled individually in the photo above, five of which are shimmery and 4 which are matte. My three favourite shades out of the nine in this palette are ivory, golden pink and opal.

I use ivory as a base shadow and blend golden pink into the crease. Opal is better as a highlighter in my opinion but it does have some shimmer particles that can cause some fallout from the brush.
The same thing can be said for the majority of the colours with a glitzy shimmer - if the brush I am using is harsh or has some abrasive bristles (I'm thinking of the Real Techniques Duo Fibre eyeshadow brush here) it means that picking up a decent amount of pigment can be difficult. I prefer to use the regular Real Techniques eyeshadow brushes for these shadows. Using the softer brushes is definitely a better option for applying these shadows as it allows the brush to blend the shades together on my eyelid without being harsh or flicking specs of the shadow onto the rest of my face.
I think this is the perfect palette for a Hollywood smokey eye if you used ivory, opal, fog and eclipse. If I'd been going out on New Year's Eve I would have reached straight for this palette.

You can buy this palette from a number of retailers for £59 - click here for the Bobbi Brown website to buy it directly.

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Maybelline Color Tattoo 24hr - Eternal Gold

A couple of weeks ago I reviewed the Maybelline Color Tattoo 24hr eye shadow pot in the shade On and on Bronze (you can read it here, click!). 

I'm bringing you this shade just as a comparison rather than a full review because I noticed a stark difference between the two products and it's not just their colour.

As you can see this shade is a vibrant, metallic gold. It's the same texture as my other pot and the pigmentation and buildability is on par with it but I noticed that it creases much quicker and much more than the bronze shade. It's an absolutely beautiful shade in the pot but when I applied it it seemed to have so many more sparkly particles - does that make sense? It looked grainy and as if it had separated slightly which doesn't occur with On and on Bronze.

Due to this little difficulty I will probably be using this sparingly or to add a brighter shimmer to my inner corner on slightly above my crease but I can't use it as an all over shadow colour because it's a little too difficult to work with. Has anyone had the same experience with this shade or any of the others? Let me know in the comments!

Maybelline Color Tattoo 24hr

I bought this on my little impulse splurge last week and I'm so glad I did. Claiming to last 24 hours this eyeshadow is a make-up bag favourite across the USA and now the UK. 

This one is in the shade On and on Bronze, number 35. It's brown cream/gel with a light shimmer and it doesn't need to be applied with a brush.

It's creamy and soft to the touch but incredibly pigmented for a drug store product. It's blendable so one swipe across the eyelid deposits enough product to blend across the eyelid and in the crease but it's also buildable so you can have a light, shimmery dusting of colour or you can build it up to create a smoky, dark eye from the inner corner to the crease.

I didn't experience any creasing when I used this, even without an eyelid primer which is a pretty good result. 

I think there are twelve shades available in the UK but they don't all correspond with the colour selection or the names available in the USA. You can buy yours from Superdrug online here (click!)