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Showing posts with label purple eyeshadow. Show all posts
Showing posts with label purple eyeshadow. Show all posts

Sunday, 31 March 2013

POP Beauty | Lid 'Amethyst' Eyeshadow Palette


Happy Easter to all of my lovely readers - I do hope that Mr Easter bunny has hopped over to your neck of the woods and bought you some wonderful edible goodies! For most of you, I'm sure the day will consist mainly of chocolate-egg devouring - maybe with a cheeky Sunday roast thrown into the mix, all together with a little dose of crappy telly. Easter has got to be the one day of the year that you can eat all the chocolate you could ever want, purely guilt free. What's a girl not to love about that?! Anyway, chocolate aside, I thought I'd type up a little post today on one of my newest additions to my eyeshadow drawer - the POP lid eyeshadow palette in 'Amethyst'. I've wanted one of these palettes for yonks now, but never ordered myself one simply because I swear by my Urban Decay Naked Palettes so much - I just couldn't justify my need for another palette. However, justification flew out of the window well and truly when I spotted one in the lovely Gemma's blogsale. I simply had to get my mitts on it.

The palette contains 6 eye shadows which progress from the darker 'smoky' end of the scale to light neutrals. The shades are described on the website as 'cocoa and maroon' tones - and contain a selection of browns, pale pastels and pretty lilacs. I have green eyes, so I find lilac toned shadows bring out the colour of my eyes very well - and make a lovely change from the golds and taupes I usually opt for.  I'd heard through the bloggery-grapevine that these shadows were really buttery and soft to the touch - and I can indeed confirm that the blogger-grapevine was correct.  I don't find these shadows powdery at all - the darker shades inparticularly are unbelievably creamy and the pigmentation is fantastic. They smooth onto the lid perfectly, and are amazingly blendable.  I find that the 2 lightest shades need a little more building up, but that might just be my skin tone. I find all 6 of really great quality, and the subtle shimmer in a select few of them just gives that extra bit of something special.  I'm all for a little bit of shimmer in my shadows - I find it makes them show up a little more.

What I love most about this palette though, is the size.  I wish so much I'd taken a photograph of the sides (sorry..bad blogger..but let's be honest it wouldn't have made for a very interesting bit of photography would it?) The palette is wafer thin - at not even a centimetre tall it's practical for travel and storage, and above all else it's strangely satisfying. It almost feels as if you're gripping a little credit card in your hands! For someone who travels a lot, these little palettes are fantastic. It's almost weightless (hello extra room in your luggage!)

The palette also has little handy hints for eye-looks you can create on the inside - giving you a starting point for any smoky eye looks you might wish to create. I find the middle two shades perfect for a daytime bit of colour - it's subtle without being too dramatic. The lighter shades are lovely base colours, and are perfect for highlighting the brow bone or inner corners of the eyes. It also comes with a little handy applicator - I hardly ever use these to be honest but it's a nice little finishing touch for on the go. Wear time is up there with my beloved Urban Decay palettes - I use a primer beforehand but the stronger shades of the bunch will probably stay put regardless! Overall, a massive thumbs up for me. I love this palette more than I expected to. So much so that I have my eye on there other ones in the range (typical me.. I can't just stop at one) which include 'Monochrome' - perfect for smoky eyes, 'Nude' - a possible mini Naked Palette dupe?, 'Bronzer' (i reckon this will be my next one!) and 'Neon' - for the colour loving ladies amongst you. They also do other variations of palettes - some being stocked on ASOS here, alternatively you can have a nosey at the website for a bigger range.

Have you tried the POP lid palettes? Which one have you got your eye on?
 

Saturday, 2 February 2013

Nars Eyeshadow Duo in 'Kuala Lumpur'

Nars Eyeshadow Duo in 'Kuala Lumpur' | £23.50

A gold star to those of you who can guess my favourite brand at the moment! My Nars collection has grown considerably the past year or so, and I'm a massive fan of their infamous Laguna bronzer, blushes and highlighting powders. After a sneaky purchase of Nars 'Mekong' eyeshadow late last year (seen here), I decided to take advantage of a recent 25% discount on ASOS and ordered myself one of their duos. After a great deal of pondering, I decided on 'Kuala Lumpur' - a beautiful duo containing a warm-ish toned purple with teeny-tiny flecks of golden shimmer, and a light pinky-gold shade that has a slight iridescence to it.  I have green eyes and so I tend to find any purple shades bring out the colour of my eyes a little more, and make a nice change from the usual taupes and golds I usually opt for. 

The pigmentation of Nars eyeshadows is undoubtedly very good, but I must admit I find the darker shades provide more colour pay-off. There is a noticeable difference with these shadows compared to 'Mekong' - an intense, rich dark brown. The lighter colour in this palette requires a bit of building up as it is quite sheer - but it's still a beautiful shade nonetheless and one that I would wear on it's own for a simple daytime look. This is my only niggle with the palette, and the purple shade I find applies really well and swatches pretty much true to pan. I haven't tried any other of their lighter shadows, but i've heard that there is a slight inconsistency with pigmentation of the lighter shadows.  What I love about 'Kuala Lumpur' is that it can be worn day or night, for either a subtle daytime wash of colour, or a more dramatic nighttime look.  I recently wore this duo on a night out, and as you can see, the colour makes a nice alternative to my usual neutral shadows but is still fairly soft in appearance. It adds a pop of colour without looking overdone. The two colours compliment one another perfectly, and add a little bit of warmth to the eyes.

I will definitely be investing in some more of the Nars duos although I was slightly disappointed that the unique lighter colour in the palette didn't show up how I imagined it would - I must admit it makes for a lovely highlight or blending shade, and when applied with a flatter blending brush I find I can get a bit more colour from it. It's a palette I know I will get a lot of use out of and it's a must-have for my fellow green-eyed ladies out there as it really enhances your peepers!

What are your thoughts on the Nars eyeshadows? Any other shades you could recommend to me?