Urban Decay - Electric Pressed Pigment Palette

Like your neons? Then you'll want to take a look at this - the new Urban Decay Electric Pressed Pigment palette.
Ten shades in all, eight of them brand new colours, all of them bright.

The back of the box shows the colours inside & that a double-ended brush is also included.
The actual palette is made of a sturdy plastic, and the lid houses a decent-sized mirror. This is definitely packaging that will stand up to travelling.

Sugarpill - Cold Chemistry Eyeshadow Palette

The latest palette from Sugarpill Cosmetics comes in the form of Cold Chemistry. If you'd thought Sugarpill were all about the bright colours, this is the palette that will change your mind.

As ever, this is beautifully packaged. The actual palette comes with a slip cover that also features the shattered glass artwork.

Slide that off, and you'll reveal the palette. Instead of the square design of previous Sugarpill palettes, Cold Chemistry is a longer format, with the shadows lying next to each other.

Kat Von D - Ladybird Eyeshadow Palette

 The newest palette from Kat Von D's Sephora line comes in the form of Ladybird. This is slightly different to its predecessors - every shadow in Ladybird is a matte finish.

As is standard with the KVD range, the attention to detail on packaging is stunning. A metal tin houses eight shadows, a mini pencil liner, and a mirror in the lid.

Urban Decay - The Vice Palette

The minute I saw the new Vice palette from Urban Decay, I had to get my hands on it. Twenty shades of shadow & all of them previously unreleased - how could I say no to that?

It's only recently that I've developed a bit of a thing for the Urban Decay palettes, two of my favourites have been the Smoked palette & the 15th Anniversary palette. I think that the Vice palette may well end up becoming a favourite, too.

Illamasqua - Empower Eyeshadow Palette

One of the two new eyeshadow palettes from the latest Illamasqua collection - Generation Q, Empower has three powder shadows & one Liquid Metal cream.

 The four shades included are -

• Blink - a beige nude matte
• Synth - iridescent pale pink with glitter
• Fervent - reddish brown with green/teal duochrome
• Slick - metallic charcoal grey Liquid Metal

Urban Decay - Smoked Eyeshadow Palette

The newest addition to Urban Decay's palette line-up is Smoked. What Naked & Naked 2 do for neutral shades, Smoked does for deep jewel tones & smoky eyes.

Included are ten shadows, a full-sized 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil in Perversion (matte black), a mini tube of Primer Potion & a booklet that gives step-by-step guides to different looks you can achieve using the shades in Smoked.

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.

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.

Sugarpill - Burning Heart Palette

I'm going to preface this post by saying that I do already own all of the shadows in the Burning Heart palette as singles too. Why would I buy them again as a palette? I'm absolutely ridiculous at packing. If I go somewhere & take make-up with me, I get carried away & put things in a "safe place" where I can't find them once I reach my destination or I promptly lose things. Getting these four colours in the palette seemed like a sensible option for a clueless packer, such as myself.
With that out of the way, on to the pretty pictures!

The actual packaging of the palette is sturdy cardboard with the pretty Sugarpill artwork on the top lid.

On the back, there's details of the colours contained inside. I absolutely love that the actual colours are illustrated, not just listed as names. Makes things so much easier if you're in a rush or a bit bleary-eyed in the morning.

MUA - Glamour Nights Palette

MUA's range at Superdrug keeps getting bigger! This time, I picked up the Glamour Nights palette. For just £4, you're getting twelve shades of shadow in one palette, which is a bit of a bargain.

Whereas the other MUA palettes have been mostly shimmer, Glamour Nights has several shades that are a satin-type finish; they look matte but there's a tiny hint of shimmer to them so they aren't flat.

Glamour Nights is quite varied shade-wise; you could easily achieve a toned-down daytime look or something  a little bolder.

Top row

The first shade on the top row is a white that looks distinctly matte. Upon swatching, it reveals a slight sheen that stops it looking so flat.
A very dark purple comes next. It's a blackened purple shadow that is quite shimmery but not an out-and-out metallic/frost finish.
The third shade is quite deceptive; it looks very much like a shimmery midnight blue in the pan but it transforms to a blackened teal that has a very strong green tone once on the skin.

The fourth shadow along is a bright, extremely frosty silver that has an incredibly soft texture.
Next to the silver is what appears to be a matte mid-grey. As with the white, swatching it will reveal a slight sheen & there's somewhat of a purple tinge to it on the skin.
The last shadow in the top row is a frosty warm brown that has gold shimmer with a hint of green.

Row 1

For the first set of swatches, I applied the shadows dry straight on to bare skin. I found the white & the grey shades to be a little difficult to build up. The purple also proved to be a little tricky, but less so than the satin-type shadows.

Bottom row

The second row of shadows holds the brighter colours in the palette. The first looks very much like a matte black, but it's a charcoal with a shimmer to it.
A yellow-toned gold shadow that has a frosty, metallic texture similar to the silver shade in the first row comes next. As with the silver, this is a very soft shadow.
Another frost shadow pops up in the form of a pretty emerald green shade. Again, this had a soft texture to it.
The purple shadow next to the green is very bright & vivid, it's also the closest to a matte texture as there's very little in the way of a discernible shimmer.
As with the dark teal on the top row, the fifth shadow on the bottom is a deceptive one; in the pan it appears to be a pink-toned red shimmer. Upon swatching, it becomes a very vivid hot pink with a distinct purple iridescence.
Shadow number six comes in the form of a slightly shimmery super-pale pink.

Bottom Row

These swatches were done using the supplied sponge-tip applicator slightly dampened. The shadows are still applied straight on to bare skin, but the dampness of the applicator made the colours apply more vividly.
Even so, the purple was still tricky to work with & took several swipes to build it up to a solid swatch.

Whilst the colours in this palette are gorgeous, I found that some of them require a lot more work than shades in previous MUA palettes, mostly the satin-types. A primer & a damp brush will definitely help in this regard.

Having said that, the palette is only £4. As long as you bear in mind that not all of the shades are really easy to work with, there isn't too much to complain about for the price.

Kat von D - Mi Vida Loca Palette

The latest palette from Kat von D's line at Sephora; Mi Vida Loca. Whereas a lot of her previous palettes have concentrated on a smoky eye theme, Mi Vida Loca is all about bright colours, you won't find any darks inside this one.

Of all of the KVD palettes done in this style, Mi Vida Loca has what I consider to be the best packaging. Its artwork on the lid is really colourful & it's so pretty.

Urban Decay - Naked 2 Palette

Urban Decay's latest palette offering; the Naked 2 palette follows on from where the original Naked palette left off.
Both boast an array of neutral shades that can take you from daytime to full-on smoky looks with just the one (or two, if you have both) palette.

So, what's the difference and is it worth buying Naked 2 if you've already got Naked? Read on to find out.

Kat Von D - Tattoo Chronicles Candelabra Edition Palette

The latest offering from Kat Von D's line at Sephora comes in the form of the Tattoo Chronicles Candelbra Edition eyeshadow palette. As with the previous Tattoo Chronicles palette, this is also packaged to look like a book.

And what spectacular packaging it is! The attention to detail on packaging is always first rate with the Kat Von D line, but this particular palette, with its black velvet finish & red metallic overlay, is truly something else.
Inside, there are actual pages with artwork & writing by Kat.

Kat Von D - Sinner Palette

The third & final of the new Kat Von D palettes from Sephora. Sinner is full of colours to create smoky eyes.
As with Poetica & Saint, the palette is now made of metal, rather than the rubberised finish of previous palettes. The lid is embossed with the design that's featured on the box.

Inside the box, there's a sample sachet of the High Voltage eye primer in the shade Skin. The palettes no longer come wrapped in paper like they did before.

Kat Von D - Saint Palette

Saint is the second of the three new Kat Von D palettes from Sephora. Saint features a range of nude & earth-toned shadows.

The cardboard sleeve is decorated with roses, these are also embossed on the palette lid. Inside the sleeve, there's a sample-sized sachet of the High Voltage eye primer in the Skin shade.

As with Poetica, the mini double-ended brushes seen in previous palettes are gone, there's now a mini Autograph pencil eyeliner in Puro Amor (black).

Kat Von D - Poetica Palette

One of the three new Kat Von D palettes (I'll be covering the other two very shortly). Poetica comprises purple shades with neutrals, shimmery black & a coppery colour. Poetica is a similar colour scheme to the True Love palette, although Poetica has no cream shadows.

Packaging-wise, these palettes still come housed in the cardboard sleeves featuring Kat's artwork. Previous palettes were wrapped in black paper, the new ones aren't. Inside the box, a sample sachet of  the High Voltage Eye Primer in the Skin shade.

The actual palettes are now made of metal, rather than the rubbery finish of previous palettes. Each features a different embossed design.

Beauty Bargain - MUA Dusk til Dawn palette

Another of the MUA palettes available from Superdrug, Dusk til Dawn is similar to Glitter Ball in the shades but Dusk til Dawn maybe runs a little to the cooler side of things.

The top row features neutral colours for a more toned-down look whilst the lower row houses the dark & vivid shades.

As with the other MUA palettes I've featured, there are no matte shadows in this palette. Three shades have glitter whilst the rest are shimmery, some more so than others.

Urban Decay - 15th Anniversary Palette

I'd been eyeing this one online for a while. I'm still not sure what won me over the most - the gorgeous packaging or the colours inside, maybe a combination of both.

All 15 shades are brand new and this palette manages to cover all the bases, pretty much. This one palette contains colours that go from neutral to bright to smoky.

This picture really doesn't do the shadows justice, the bad lighting in my house washed them out quite a bit.

As far as textures go, there's only the one matte shadow here - Blackout (a great, really deep black). Some Urban Decay shadows have a lot of glitter in them & as a result can cause the dreaded glitter-ball effect on your face. There's only one shadow inside the 15th Anniversary palette that does this - Midnight Rodeo.