A Makeup & Beauty Blog – Lipglossiping

Released on the 7th June, the highly anticipated return of Urban Decay Nail Polishes to the UK is nearly upon us!

I’ve been snapping up the UD Polishes from yesteryear as and when I see them on eBay or in discount stores, so I’m pretty darn excited about this set.  Infact, it was through their polishes that I first discovered the brand… anyone else remember the polishes?

Anyway, last year I found myself whining (I know, quelle surprise!) at Urban Decay’s UK PR peeps when I was told that we wouldn’t be seeing the Apocalyptic Nail Kit on our shores, so I nearly peed my knickers when I was sent these this week.

7 mini-sized nail polishes housed in a faux gold snakeskin little zip-up case.  Tack-o-rama!  Um, in a good way!

One for every day of the week!  The colours do shout summer…. well… nearly all of them.  I just can’t associate purple with summer… and that one on the far left.. I’m thinking more early Autumn.  Pedantic, sorry.

I couldn’t wait to begin swatching and I’ve been deliberating… Do I post them all up at once, or do one at a time in a  usual NOTD?  I decided that I’d just get some quick swatches up so you can see if the shades are colours you’d be interested in wearing in advance of the release.  As I work my way through them over the next week or so I’ll give thoughts on formula, application and a better swatch photo…

In particular, my Woodstock photo is a bit off…. so I’ll make sure I get another one up early in the week (it’s my favourite too!)

For now…

Very, very quick first impression.  Each polish is 5ml, so we’re talking the same quantity as a Mavala.  Packaging is cute and even better, the brush is normal sized… a little wide even.  I much prefer this as it means I can cover my nail in 2/3 strokes… none of this faffing about with a teeny brush.

The set consists of 3 cremes (woodstock, psychedelic sister & magic bus), 2 shimmers (love light & hashbury) and 2 metallics (aquarius & shine on).  Formula wise, I had the most application joy from those cremes (but they benefit from a glossy top coat).  The metallics gave me the biggest application woes with a touch of cuticle drag.

The set will be priced at £17.50 and available from the 7th June.  Now…. if only they sold them full size and separately…

I received the press release for Urban Decay‘s new tinted moisturiser range that’ll be hitting our shores soon and it’s got me thinking…

Do you swap your base product for something lighter in the Summer?

I have a couple of tinted moisturisers on the go throughout the year, but I tend to reach for them more often in the Summer.

I don’t feel that my skin is clear enough (I get redness) to completely rely on a tinted moisturiser, so I tend to use a concealer brush to blend a little foundation over my nose and cheeks.  I’m also not a huge fan of the ‘shine’ that tinted moisturiser always brings to my face.  I need a top notch setting powder to hand with a couple of touch-ups throughout the day.

I do love the lighter feeling though… Oh, why must everything be a compromise?

Urban Defense from Urban Decay will be hitting shelves in Debenhams and Boots soon, priced at £17 for 50ml and could hopefully put the compromising to an end!

Do you opt for tinted moisturisers in the Summer or are you a hardcore full-coverage addict?

Yesterday I went along to the Bourjois Press Office in central London to have a look at a new line of cosmetics that have been launched exclusively to Boots in the UK.

Une Natural Beauty is a new brand backed by Bourjois. The main focus of the brand is on it’s natural and eco-credentials.  The brand’s formulas are 98% – 100% derived from natural origin, contain no oils from petrochemistry and are paraben and silicone free.  14 out of the 20 products carry the French ECOCERT label which means that the products adhere to strict ecological and environmental regulations and standards.  You can find out more about the ECOCERT label here.

Une Natural Beauty is a brand for those who take a keen interest in ingredients and the environmental impact their cosmetics may carry with them and simply want to discover a more natural way to wear makeup.

This is all great stuff and frankly an exciting concept for a new high street brand, but only if the products are as good as the philosophy behind them right?  I chose a few products from the range to bring home with me to have a play with and I’ll share my thoughts on them (and some of the products I didn’t choose) later in the week.

For now, I thought you might like to see some photos from the unveiling.

Beware… it’s image intensive beyond this point!

Read the rest of this entry »

A mostly cool-toned FOTD bar a hint of peach on the lids.

It’s crazy how much of my eye makeup actually disappears when I open my eyes…. which kinda begs the question, “Should I walk around with my eyes shut?”

Face:

~ Max Factor Second Skin Foundation in Creamy Ivory (thanks Jen!)
~ Stila Sheer Pressed Powder in Light

Eyes:

~ Urban Decay Drink Me, Eat Me on the lid (from the AiW palette)
~ Urban Decay Vorpal in the crease and outer ‘V’ (from the AiW palette)
~ Stargazer Cake Liner in Brown on the lashline
~ YSL Singulier Mascara in Black

Lips:

~ ELF Runway Pink with a slick of…
~ …MAC Please Me ontop.

Here comes the older, more glam sister…

Urban Decay Primer Potion in Sin has been out in the US for over a year now, and I’ve been cooling my heels ever since I saw it pop up on Sephora many moons ago!

It promises all the benefits of the original UDPP with a little added pizazz.

They Say:

~ Use it alone; it’s a crease proof shadow!
~ Maximise it’s potential by using it as a highlighter, dab on brow bone, eye corners and cheeks for a radiant finish.
~ Sin works perfectly with any eye shadow and doesn’t show through, experience vibrant colour all day, with absolutely no creasing!

I received the sample of this last week and as a fan of the original, I was keen to see exactly why I’d want to purchase this one instead.

The new-fangled angled (I’m a poet) wand which promises to reach into each dark primer-potion filled corner of your tube.  I was initially sceptical about how putting an angle on the wand would *really* help, but having had a little play at ‘scooping’ from that very bottom jutting out bit, I think it might just work.  I don’t like how it makes the wand more difficult to remove from the tube though, I keep thinking it’s gonna ping primer at me as it pops free.

Swatched beside the original UDPP you can see that it’s a champagne cream with a metallic looking shimmer.  I instantly liked it… what with being a fan of metallic neutrals with a bit of shimmer n’all  😉

It’s quite heavily pigmented and the first thought that struck me was that it may do a better job at evening out skintone on pigmented eyelids better than the original.  I’m only speculating here as I don’t have a particular issue with red eyelids, but it makes a nice neutral base that sheers out well depending on how much you blend.

I really like this worn as a cream eyeshadow combined with a powder crease colour, as you would imagine, the staying power is rather marvellous.

The two primers blended out a little (not completely).

You can see that Sin retains it’s champagne shimmer whilst the original UDPP is well on it’s way to blending invisibly.

I’m an idiot and forgot to take a photo demonstrating how the same eye shadow looked applied over both primers.  I promise I’ll do it before the week is out and just pop up a quick comparison post.  Basically, if you’re applying a shadow over UDPP Sin… it ups the shimmer.  I <3 it, but it’s important to see as it may put you off completely.

I find that staying power for eyeshadows applied ontop is pretty equal for both primers, if there is a difference, it’s not discernible to me.  Blendability is still hard work over Sin and I’m a bit disappointed about that as it’s the only thing I really would have loved to see changed about the original UDPP.

D’yanowot… I’m on the fence about it with regards to my original question: “Why would I purchase this one over the original?”

Don’t get me wrong… I  really like it, there’s nothing for me not to like.  I like neutral, I like shimmer…

Might I sometimes want some of my shimmer eyeshadows even more shimmery… Possibly!

Do I want all my eyeshadows turned a bit shimmery by using it?  Probably not…

Do I want a lovely champagne cream eyeshadow practically guaranteed not to budge in the summer? Yes please!

Would I purchase?  I dunno!  Stop asking me hard questions!!  What say you?

Urban Decay Primer Potion in Sin is due out next month, priced at £11.50.

I just got mine, well… Leila’s.

Remember, SHD1 for free delivery and PE5P will give you10% off (yeah, I found that one AFTER I ordered)

I’ve received clarification from Urban Decay’s PR representative in the UK.

You’ll be pleased to know…

Debenhams.com will be restocking the Alice in Wonderland on their website. They’re hoping to have this done within the next 2 days, but can’t give an exact time frame.  Advice is to simply keep checking.

The palette will then hit Oxford Street Debenhams on the 28th of February.

On the 1st March, the palette will roll out to Debenhams stores nationwide.  Check to see if your local has a UD counter because if you pop down to your local counter, you’ll also have a (no purchase necessary) chance to win a pair of tickets to see Alice in Wonderland at the cinema.

Please refer to this post for further shopping details.

I hope that eases the confusion x

….As of 12.30am on the 21st Feb, the Alice in Wonderland Palette is out of stock on Debenhams.com.  That’s about 12hrs after it was first released right?

How do I know this?  ‘Cos I’ve been umm-ing and ahh-ing all bloody day trying to decide whether or not to purchase the one I’ve had sitting in my basket since lunchtime to keep as a little makeup heirloom for Leila.

At 12.30am, I decided to go for it!

BUGGER!

Hurry up and come back Alice!  Will it be there when I wake up in the morning?

I guess it didn’t want to be late, for a very important date! *groan*

Click the image for more info!

Enter code SHD1 upon checkout for free UK delivery.  P6MP will give you 5% off your order too, bringing the total to £26.60 delivered.

Huge thanks to Yuen-Ting for the heads up and Lady Gray for the 5% code – good going ladies! xx

… I realised I hadn’t shown you the lovely Underland from the Urban Decay Alice in Wonderland Palette.  It’s a beautiful shade although I do wish it were a bit more pigmented… it’s not that it’s NOT pigmented… ‘cos it is.  It’s just not as heavily pigmented as say Alice or Oraculum.  It’s more along the lines of Absolem/Homegrown, that pretty green that was in the BOSII, remember?  Alice swatches are here if you want reminding.

Face:
~ Maybelline Dream Satin Liquid – so quick to apply and blend with a lovely finish, but staying power is kinda sucky if you’re at all oily.
~ Illamasqua Blush in Rumour
~ NARS Orgasm Illuminator on the cheekbones

Eyes:
~ Urban Decay Primer Potion
~ Drink Me. Eat Me across the entire lid
~ Underland applied lightly from the inner 1/3  gaining strength towards the outer corner.  Also swept under the lower lashline.
~ Jabberwocky lightly applied along the lashes to line.
~ Rimmel Glam’Eyes Lash Flirt Mascara

Lips:
~ MAC Speed Dial Cremesheen Lipstick
~ NYX Round Lip Gloss in Whipped to tone down the lippie a touch.

Hope you can’t see my rotten nose crusties *blows nose*… I moisturised and picked at ’em like a demon before attempting a FOTD…. TMI?

As previously reported on BritishBeautyBlogger, the Alice in Wonderland Palette will now be released online at Debenhams.com on the 22nd February and will be available instore from the 28th February.

Get hunting for those free delivery codes!

Earlier in the week, I posted a Day Look with the new Urban Decay Alice in Wonderland Palette.

Here’s my “Evening Look” to complete the set.

Apologies for the graininess in the shadows of the image, it looks like I have the beginning of a green-tinged beard.  My flash kept crapping out on me ‘cos I was too lazy to find a new set of rechargeables, so it was pretty underexposed and then lightened when I edited it.  And that’s never a good combo.

Anyway – crap photography excused…

All shades blended like a dream.

Can you see spot any great evening combos in the palette?