Review | Charlotte Tilbury Luxury Palette the Dolce Vita

I know, I know, she's a beaut and you're probs drooling over this photo so I'll just give you two a moment.

Review | Lorac Pro 2 Eyeshadow Palette

YASSSSS
I had been curious about Lorac ever since the first Pro palette was released and it was buzzed up on every blog and vlog in the biz. I refrained from purchasing because I was going for the Naked palette collection first and then Charlotte Tilbury eyeshadow palette in Dolce Vita caught my eye (and wallet). When the Lorac Pro 2 came out, I did about four months of researching blogs, Pinterest, Instagram, Google and YouTube before deciding I had a lot of shadows similar to the original Lorac Pro so I definitely needed this one. I bought mine for nearly half the price ($23!!!!) because I had a $20 Cash Back coupon at Kohl's so I picked up the palette two weeks ago and I haven't even looked at my other palettes since.

First thing's first - the packaging. It's super slim and slick, resembling the original Urban Decay Naked palette in that it just has a cardboard flap with a mirror, which I actually prefer because it's quicker to open/close. I think choosing grey was such a smart move because all of the shades really pop against the coolness of it, even the other greys! It's also really satisfying having 16 small squares evenly placed along two rows, the top one being all mattes and the bottom all shimmers. I also feel like this one has way more variety than the first Lorac Pro because when I look at that one, it is very white/nude and brown. This one has pinks, greys and browns but also throws in a plum, navy and mossy green.

Everyone raves about how buttery the shadows are and they ain't lying. I didn't even know what buttery eyeshadows meant until I dipped my brush into Nectar for the first time and got more product than I knew how to handle. Yes, a lot of product gets kicked up if you are heavy-handed and yes, there's a learning curve, but after a few plays with the palette, you'll see that you literally need like, half a dip to complete an eye, no matter what you're doing or which shade you're using. The shadows are all so pigmented and transfer to the lid exactly as they appear in the pan, which is AMAZING. I will say Buff is definitely a shadow that kind of just evens out the eyelid rather than adds anything to it, but it's great with Lt. Brown for my current fave natural eye look. I've tried about half of the shadows, but I can genuinely see myself using all of the shades. My favorites are Nectar, Rosé, Mocha and Cocoa, but that's not to say I haven't loved every one I've tried. I really like how neutral this palette can be, but it can also incorporate pops of color or a full on smokey eye. The shadows are so easy to blend and it's quite fun to experiment with different looks.

The only real downside to the Lorac Pro 2 is the eye lid primer it comes with. I feel like it actually makes my shadows melt off because after a few hours, they've all creased and blended together in a very weird way. When I wore the shadows alone or with my L'Oreal De-Crease eyeshadow primer, they lasted so much longer. I'm wondering if maybe I have to leave the primer on longer to let it settle before applying the shadow, but that's annoying because who actually has time for that?

Are you eyeing up any of the Lorac Pro palettes? Do you already own it? Is using the word "buttery" to describe an eyeshadow something that needs rethinking?? Let me know below! Xx S.

Review | Urban Decay Naked Basics 2

One of my first major makeup investments was the Urban Decay Naked Basics Palette almost two years ago. Never having been one to successfully blend shadows together and create art on the eyelid, most palettes scared me because they offered way too many colors and I couldn't figure out which shadow would go on the lid and which belonged in the crease. This was clearly when I was still in a newbie eyeshadow phase (not like my skills are much improved tbh) so the less intimidating, the better. Naked Basics also appealed to me because of all the love surrounding the Naked Palettes online, with claims that the shadows were pigmented and easily blendable, all good things for a beginner. Urban Decay's latest release of the Naked Basics 2 also seemed right up my alley as it was more cool-toned and had hints of taupe and reddy-brown, two flattering shades for my lighter skin tone and brown eyes. I held out on buying it because I didn't need another palette and there were other ones ahead of it in line, but my extremely generous friend Amanda gifted me the palette for Christmas, so now I couldn't feel guilty about having it in my collection.

Urban Decay Naked Basics (left) and Naked Basics 2 (right)

December Faves | 2014

Where has January gone, amirite? Blaming the blur that is winter break, screwed up sleep schedules, TV show binges/movie marathons and family visits, I completely lost track of date/time and missed my appropriate window to post December faves! I was thinking about just not writing this post and sticking to 2014 faves, but I discovered so many things in December that wouldn't be fair to include in a year's worth of favorites, but I do think they deserve their own post so here we go!