Anastasia Beverly Hills Modern Renaissance Palette

Anastasia Beverly Hills Glow Kit - That Glow

L - R; 1. sunburst, 2. golden bronze, 3. bubbly, 4. dripping gold.

I am such a HUGE fan of the highlighter trend that has popped up over the past year. The cat walks were flooded with natural, glowing skin this year and I could not be happier. Especially if this means that harsh contouring and layers of make up are soon to slowly fade away to the place that homes shoes with wheels and undefined eyebrows. I will not be missing any of those things at all.

Tarte Tartelette In Bloom Palette

swatches from L - R; charmer, jetsetter, rocker, smokeshow, flower child, smarty pants, firecracker, activist, funny girl, sweetheart, rebel, leader.

Hourglass Ambient Lighting Edit

from L -R; dim light, iridescent light, diffused light, mood exposure, luminous flush, luminous bronze light.

How crazy people went over this palette was slightly ridiculous - said someone who didn't own this palette because if you did, you'd know it was completely justified.

I'm always sceptical of hype around products. It almost puts me off buying them but when something as beautiful as this emerges from the beauty world it's hard not to jump on that band wagon the first chance you get. I realise this review is almost redundant now as it's not available anywhere except maybe eBay but I hope you enjoy looking at the pretty nonetheless and maybe it could give you some insight in to which full size products you'd want to invest in.

I received this as a Christmas present and genuinely squealed with excitement when I saw the unmistakable gold box. Since then I haven't put it down. Not once. It's become my absolute favourite for everything face and I love it so much it hurts. The only flaw I have seen in any review of this palette is the amount of product you get for the price you pay. There is a considerable difference in quantity when compared to the lighting and blush trios although, as someone who wanted to try a bit of everything I really wasn't too fussed to have smaller versions. I've already been using this every day for over 3 months and haven't even dented any of the shades so I'm more than happy to have this to decide what full size products I like the best and which ones I'm prepared part with my money for.


Dim Light-
A light peach with warm undertones and a super fine shimmery, satin finish. For my skin tone this shade is too warm to use as a face powder which is what I think it would work best as so instead, I use it to warm up areas of my face similarly to how I'd use bronzer. I also sweep it across my cheek bones to make the most of the subtle shimmer and it gives the perfect lit from within look. It lasted around 6-7 hours on me.

Iridescent Light -
A pale peachy beige with white shimmer. It's described as a sheer illuminator and I couldn't agree more. The shimmer within in this is much more noticeable than the other 2 lighting powders in this palette which makes it the most apt at being a highlighter. It's quite a subtle highlight but still totally gorgeous regardless. This does kick up a lot of powder in comparison to the other shades but it doesn't make it difficult to use. It wore for around 6 hours.

Diffused Light -
A pale, yellow toned ivory shade with a super subtle shimmer and a mostly satin finish. On my skin tone this works exceptionally well as a face powder. Because of how light it is I haven't yet used it all over my face but it works perfectly in my t-zone and under my eyes to brighten everything up and keep everything in place. Using it as a setting powder definitely helped to keep my make up in place for a little longer although usually, I do still feel the need to put on a setting powder before applying this due to my oily skin. Overall it wore for 6 hours.

Mood Exposure -
A soft, medium plum shade with warm undertones and a light shimmer. This is my favourite of all the products in this palette. The texture is silky smooth and it blends incredibly. Not only does it leave your cheeks looking perfectly flushed it creates a stunning subtle glow that no other product I've tried so far has matched. It lasted for 7-8 hours.

Luminous Flush -
A vivid coral pink with warm undertones and a satin finish. Everything about this is almost identical to the previous blush but this one is slighty less glowy. The colour is much more vibrant with this shade but applying too much isn't an issue as you can blend it out with ease. It lasted 8 hours on me.

Luminous Bronze Light -
A medium brown shade with yellow undertones and a lightly shimmery finish. If you're looking for a bronzer that will make people genuinely believe you have just spent a day lounging in the sun, look no further. This has an amazing glow to it that never looks too intense no matter how much you pile it on. The only downside to this product being in this palette is the small pan leaves no room for a large brush and trying to create the same effect with a smaller, more precise brush just isn't the same. This will absolutely be one of the products that I buy the full size of not only for the quality of the product, but for the convenience of being able to use the right brush. Again, this lasted 8 hours.



All of these are rich in pigment but not overwhelmingly so. They're all buildable, not patchy and definitely not chalky and this palette, by far, is the best thing in my make up collection. If I had to recommend getting the full size of any of these it would be the Luminous Bronze and Mood Exposure. Both are unbelievably stunning and I am yet to find products that are even in league with them. I do like the lighting powders but I feel like they are perhaps a little unnecessary. When you have separate setting powders and highlighters already I don't really see the need for a product combining the two, but having said that I have found them a place in my make up routine and if  for nothing else they sure are pretty to look at.
Next on my Hourglass wishlist are the highlighters that have been released recently. They look beautiful.


Have you tried anything from Hourglass?  Did you manage to get your hands on this palette?

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Bobbi Brown Eyeshadow Palette - Rich Caramel

Swatches from L-R: cream (yes, there is a swatch there. I know it's abysmal I tried I promise), rich caramel, bellini, toasted cinnamon, rich caviar.

Cream - A slight pink toned bone shade with neutral undertones. As you can see from the swatch above it doesn't transfer well if you don't use a brush and becomes powdery the more you work at it. It feels dense and dry in the pan and the pigment pay off is lacking. It has a satin/demi matte finish and lasted 2-3 hours on me.

Rich Caramel - A medium bronzed brown shade with slight cool undertones and a golden, shimmery finish. The shadow is very dense as is the shimmer within it giving a much more understated look, especially for an eyeshadow with this finish. The pigmentation is great and applies beautifully. It lasted well too at around 6 hours.

Bellini - A warm toned champagne gold shade. It's described as a shimmer wash and I couldn't agree more. The shimmer within it is chunky, noticeably so to touch in the pan, and when applied to the eye  the glitter disperses into more of a glisten rather than an intense shimmer. It works really well to pack it on to the centre of the eye to when you're doing a smoky eye for example or just as a very faint wash of shimmer if worn alone (although I wouldn't really recommend that for us oily eyelid gals). It lasted 4-5 hours.

Toasted Cinnamon - A warm toned copper shade, again described as a shimmer wash. It really is exactly the same as the previous shade just obviously a different colour. This shade worked much better as a stand alone shadow on me because the base colour showed up much better on my skin tone (if you have a darker skin tone than me you'll probably have more luck with these 2 shades as they are going to look a lot bolder on you and have a much richer colour pay off). Applied alone (with a butt tonne of primer) it creates a really "delicate" look, for lack of a better word. It blends beautifully and works easily into a huge array of eye looks. It, again, lasted 4-5 hours on me.

Rich Caviar - A deep brown/black shade with neutral undertones and matte finish. It's extremely finely milled and I had a fair amount of fall out when trying to apply this. The pigmentation is good but takes a little bit of work to get a strong intensity. It lasted 6-7 hours on me.


In my opinion you'll need to wear a primer with all of these shadows whether you have oily eyelids or not, the only shade that I think would fair well on it's own is Rich Caramel. I'm not overly impressed with this palette (especially when I got it at the same time as the Gwen Stefani palette which is pretty tough to beat) but I'm not disappointed to have spent £38 on it either. I'm happy to have this in my collection and to have shades within this palette that I didn't already have.
I do think there are better palettes to spend your money on but if you particularly love the shades then I wouldn't say it's a bad investment.

Have you tried any Bobbi Brown eyeshadows? What did you think of them?

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Urban Decay x Gwen Stefani Eyeshadow Palette

first pictured swatches from L-R: blonde, bathwater, skimp, steady, punk, baby, anaheim, stark, zone, serious.
second from L-R: pop, harajuku, danger, 1987, blackout.

Every time Urban Decay brings out a palette I have to have it. Even after being disappointed in the quality of their previous release, the smoky palette, I still had the ache to try this one. First of all the shades in this palette - oh my god. I love them all, even the shimmery hot pink, although I'm not sure I'd ever wear it (unless anyone wants to invite me to an 80's themed barbie party). All in all you get 15 shades with a great mix of finishes from frosted to matte to create and endless amount of looks. On the whole every shade is smooth, soft, blendable and pigmented - just the way I like em'. Anyway, here's the run down of all the shades.


Blonde - The palest swatch I have ever seen, sorry about that - I really did try! A pale ivory shade with a hint of pink iridescence and a understated frosted finish. It feels very soft in texture and is finely milled and tightly packed but applies beautifully with good pigmentation (despite the swatching fiasco).

Bathwater - Light beige with golden yellow tones. The glitter/iridescence in this shade is much more loose and therefore the pigmentation isn't as strong and applies almost as a wash. It has similar finish to the previous shade just a lot more subtle because of the lack of pigmentation. The texture is equally as soft and feels just as finely milled.

Skimp - A pale peach with warm undertones and sheeny, satin finish. This shade is still soft in texture but is a little more powdery and has a tendency for fall out on application. It applied kind of unevenly on me and sheered out a lot more than I was expecting.

Steady - A beaaaautiful copper shade with a metallic finish. The pigmentation of this shadow is amazing. It's easy to blend and lasted ages on me without losing intensity or creasing as most metallic shadows tend to do on me.

Punk - A rich dark brown matte with red/plum undertones and great pigmentation. It has a buttery texture to swatch from the pan but was stubborn when trying to blend it.

Baby - Rose gold with warm undertones and a glittery, metallic finish. Wonderful pigmentation and a gorgeous shade that blends well and feels soft in texture like most of the other shades in this palette.

Anaheim - Medium taupe with slight warm undertones and a matte finish. It has good pigmentation but isn't as strong as some of the other shades which makes it a great transition shade. Still has a soft, buttery texture but is slightly more on the powdery side. On the plus side though, I didn't have any fall out applying or blending it.

Stark - Medium beige with strong peach undertones. It's a little bit powdery but still blends well although it did sheer out a lot. This shade is very similar to my skin tone anyway so it kind of just disappears on me even if it didn't sheer out. It has a soft matte finish.

Zone - A medium brown with strong yellow undertones and a matte finish. It has strong, even pigmentation that blends fairly easily and lasts well.

Serious - A deep grey shade with a really fine shimmer. Again this shade is a little powdery but it applied well but was a little difficult to blend.

Pop - Light peach with a sparkly, glittery finish. You can feel the chunks of glitter in the texture which makes it hard to apply with the amount of fall out. It was uneven because of the consistency but looked beautiful pressed on in the centre of the eye (which is how I wore it).

Harajuku - A hot pink shade with cool, blue undertones and a sheer frosted finish. The pigmentation is good but it does sheer out and lose intensity easily while blending.

Danger - The most beautiful deep navy blue with a silvery sheen. It has great pigmentation, that blends easily and evenly. It's soft and smooth in texture and is by far my favourite shade in this palette. It's gorgeous.

1987 - Very yellow gold with slight warm undertones and a metallic finish. It's lightly powdery but still feels soft in consistency. It has great pigmentation and blends beautifully while holding it's intensity.

Blackout - A deep, true matte black with neutral undertones. It's super finely milled and has a velvety texture that blends fairly well. It does have quite a lot of fall out though during application and throughout wear.



What do you think of this palette? Have you already added it to your collection or are you going to?

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