Thursday 28 June 2012

China Glaze - Sun-Kissed





Another colour from the China Glaze Summer Neons collection, Sun-Kissed is a vivid neon yellow that borders on highlighter yellow.




For someone who isn't a massive yellow fan, I seem to keep picking them up. This is my third neon yellow nail polish.
Of the three, Sun-Kissed has less of the green tint that is common amongst yellow neons. It shows up quite vividly in the photos, but, on the nails, it's far less obvious.

with flash - no top coat

China Glaze - Orange You Hot?





I have to preface this by stating that I'm not a huge fan of orange. There has to be something to an orange polish, such as it being a holo, for me to find myself falling in love with it. What Orange You Hot? has to offer is its screaming neon shade. And, unusually for a neon, a shimmery finish.



Orange You Hot? comes from the Summer Neons collection, and it is indeed neon. I found it to be more tangerine than out-and-out orange, it's not quite as red-toned.

with flash - no top coat

INM Northern Lights Hologram Top Coat - Gold





I've already reviewed the silver version of the Northern Lights top coat, this time around I'm looking at the gold version.

As with the silver, Northern Lights gold is a clear base with holographic glitter suspended in it. In order to get the full effect, you need to give the bottle a vigorous shaking, as all of the glitter settles in the bottom.

Before shaking


The holographic effect is a sparkle, rather than a linear holo. The gold version is easily as holographic as the silver, but the actual glitter seems to be a little finer. Because of that, I found I needed an extra coat or two to get the same effect that two coats of silver gives.


Taken outside in direct sunlight

Urban Decay - Blackout Eyeshadow






My ridiculous urge to buy black shadows hasn't subsided, I caved in & bought the single version of Urban Decay's Blackout from their newly-reformulated eyeshadow range. In my defence, it is to go in the UD build your own palette, although quite how much justification that is... either way, I like always having a matte black to hand.

Blackout has previously popped up in a couple of the Urban Decay pre-made palettes; Naked 2 & the 15th Anniversary palette.



Ignore the pink tinge on the shot of the packaging, it seemed I couldn't find a decent angle to get a good shot without it showing up.
This is how Blackout looks in its packaging. You can leave it in there, or pop the pan out to store in the palette.



It's not a massive chore to remove the shadow from the packaging, all you need to do is open the lid & carefully push on the label with the name of your shadow and out it pops.


Wednesday 27 June 2012

INM Northern Lights Hologram Top Coat - Silver




If you're a somewhat-regular reader, you may have gathered that I have a bit of a weakness for glitter & holo polishes. Upon seeing pictures of the Northern Lights top coat, I gave a little gasp & swore that I would add it to my nail polish stash at my earliest opportunity.

Upon first glance, the bottle looked very disappointing. The holo glitter settles, so, unless you give it a good shake, it looks as though it's just a clear top coat. Given a good, vigorous shake, it becomes a little bottle of glittery, holo beauty.



Tuesday 19 June 2012

Beauty Bargain - MUA Eye Primer





I've collected some of the MUA eyeshadow palettes, but I had no idea they now had a primer until a friend told me about it. She gave it a great recommendation, so I decided to hunt it down as I like their shadows & the prices on their products are unbeatable.



MUA's Eye Primer is a nude colour, it's quite light, so it works especially well for those of us with a paler complexion. That doesn't mean it won't work on darker skin tones, as it turns more or less invisible upon application.
The tube isn't overly big or bulky, it's not going to take up loads of room in your make-up bag.
Unscrew the lid & you'll find a doe-foot applicator, not unlike the old-style of UDPP.





Monday 18 June 2012

Sugarpill - Heart Breaker Palette




The newest palette from the fabulous Sugarpill - Heart Breaker.

As with the previous palettes, Heart Breaker contains four matte shadows in bright, vivid colours.



The packaging on Heart Breaker is as stunning as always, but this time, the artwork on the front of the palette is blue, rather than pink.


Flip it over and the colours are illustrated and named, a really nice touch as you don't have to dig through your collection to find the shadow you want.


Wednesday 6 June 2012

Nubar - White Polka Dot






Another polish from my recent Nubar haul, this one is White Polka Dot. Along similar lines to the gorgeous Black Polka Dot, White Polka Dot is a clear base with glitter.






The close-up shows the glitter; large white glitter with smaller white glitter & gorgeous bits of teal/blue glitter scattered throughout.

Sleek - i-Divine Bad Girl palette




Another day, another Sleek palette! This time, it's the Bad Girl palette, which is made of 12 stunning dark & jewel-toned shadows.
The box proclaims that it's a limited edition palette, but I've seen it in a few branches of Superdrug now. As with the Ultra Mattes Brights palette, it's priced at a very reasonable £6.99. As with all of their palettes, Bad Girl comes with a mirror in the lid & a dual-ended sponge applicator.



The palettes, regardless of edition, are all the same size & it's a good size to carry around for touch-ups. I have found that some of the Sleek shadows can fade a little throughout the day, even when used over primer, so being able to take it with you is a definite plus.



Sleek - i-Divine Ultra Mattes VI Brights palette





I'd seen some pictures of the Sleek Ultra Mattes Brights palette & decided I wanted to check it out. For £6.99 you get 12 eyeshadows, which is a pretty good deal.





The palette is a neat black that isn't huge, it will happily fit in most handbags for touch-ups. Opening the lid reveals a decently-sized mirror, two rows of shadows & a double-ended sponge applicator.




Friday 1 June 2012

Nubar - Black Polka Dot




Another of my recent Nubar purchases, this is Black Polka Dot. This one is a top coat rather than a polish to use on its own.



with flash