Review | Maybelline Colour Tattoo 24-Hour Eyeshadow in Pink Gold

Maybelline Colour Tattoo 24-Hour Eyeshadow in Pink Gold

If I'm honest, I never thought much of the Colour Tattoo's when they first launched. I picked up On and On Bronze when they first launched, which is a beautiful bronze shade that looks gorgeous on the lid but I found no matter how I primed and prepped my eyes, it creased like a bitch within a hour or so. I'm happy to report that I'm now eating my words as I am aboslutely obsessed with one of the newer shades 'Pink Gold' - so much so, I'm wondering if I got a dodgy batch with On and On Bronze and am reconsidering a repurchase.

As the name would suggest, it's a champagne pink colour. The cream formula helps colour to swipe on with ease - I use my ring finger on initial application before going back in with a Real Techniques Deluxe Crease Brush to buff out. On it's own it looks pretty and with a slick of mascara you had a ready-to-go, low maintenance everyday look. If I want to amp it up a touch, I use a purpley-taupe colour in the crease to smoke it out with ease. 

The formula is a good consistency, it's creamy enough to blend easily, but it also has enough stick that when it sets in place it's not budging for a long time. It claims to last 24 hours, but who really wears their makeup for that long? I always prime with my trusty NARS Smudge Proof Eyeshadow Base and I can usually get a good five or so hours before I might need to go back in with a brush and buff out any creasing. 

Overall I'm pretty happy with the product - it still creases on me but for some reason this shade less so. At £4.99 it's a great price point if your just starting with cream products and the shade range is fantastic too. Have you tried the Colour Tattoos?

Review | Clinique All About Shadow 8-Pan Palette in Neutral Territory 2

I'm a bit of an eyeshadow floozie. I can take or leave them, often going through phases with various palettes or singular shades, but 2014 was the year I upped my eyeshadow game. When Clinique launched their Neutral Territory 2 Palette last January, I was all over it. The eight pan beauty had a mixture of matte, satin and glittery numbers, sure to see you easily from day to night, but most importantly it had the shade Black Honey, a colour I'd been coveting for months but never got around to buying.

Since purchasing, this has been undoubtedly my go-to palette (the original Naked Palette following at a close second). It's extremely versatile - if I just want to perk up my everyday look, I swipe the fifth shade across my lid and add mascara before I'm ready to go. If I'm looking for something smokier, I use the three last shades, including Black Honey, which is a red toned bronze shade that really makes the blue in my eyes pop. The shadows themselves are highly pigmented and buttery soft in texture, blending easily and seamlessly onto the lid and into one another - not one is chalky or patchy once applied. When used in conjunction with my favourite NARS Smudge Proof Eyeshadow Base, nothing budges for a good eight-ten hours. The packaging is also great, it's slim and compact making it perfect for travel as it really takes up no space at all in a make up bag.

At £32, this isn't the most expensive palette when you consider the quality and has been a worthwhile investment given how much I have used it in the past year. Do you have a favourite eyeshadow palette? 

May Favourites

Another month down, another favourites post.  May has been a busy month, I've finished university and have been working up in London but it's also been a month for rediscovering old favourites, or perhaps products I once discarded.  

As with April, there's only one skincare product, as I've found a skincare routine I'm pretty happy with and I didn't want to bore you by banging on about the same products.  The La Roche-Posay Effaclar Duo is another one of those crazily hyped products that almost everyone has heard of and tried.  This product is supposed to correct and unclog pores to eventually leave you with clearer looking skin.  It's also quite mattifying and makes for a great base under foundation.  I use this in the mornings before moisturiser and my skin has definitely been a lot better lately (*touches wood*).  I've had this since the beginning of the year and I'm yet to run out, but if you're looking to buy it, it's currently on 3 for 2 at Boots.  Speaking of Boots, I dug out No7's Essentially Natural Foundation in Calico from my stash and have been setting it with MAC's Mineralize Skinfinish Natural this month for the perfect luminous complexion.  Essentially Natural is a buildable light coverage foundation which leaves a natural finish to the skin. 

Cream products have definitely had a moment in May.  First of all, my new love in the form of the Bourjois Cream Blushers. I have shades Nude Velvet and Rose Tender and they are both beautiful.  I reviewed them earlier this week so I won't bore you with the same details but they are pigmented, smooth to apply and give a gorgeous colour to the skin.  The next cream product is one I have a love hate relationship with.  I've had the Maybelline Colour Tattoo in On and On Bronze for a while now and whilst I love the colour (anyone know of a similar powder shade?), I find it always slides off my eyelids too quickly and up until this month I just threw it to the back of my drawer.  Whilst for me it's not the most long lasting colour, I still use it and in conjunction with the NARS Smudge Proof Eyeshadow Base, I find it lasts a little bit longer.  This with a slick of mascara and a nude lip is a quick and easy, good to go look, which is something I've needed whilst working in London.  Another look I've been enjoying comes in the form of the Naked Basics palette.  For an easy everyday look, I've been applying Walk of Shame over the entire lid, whilst using Naked 2 for added definition in the crease.  

So those are my May favourites, but what have you been loving this month?

Tested: Eyeshadow Primers

I've long been a fan of eyeshadow primers. A good primer will hold your look in place all day, whilst still keeping the vibrancy of colour.  It's no secret that I love the NARS Smudge Proof Eyeshadow Base but the price can sometimes be a bit off putting.  I was excited to see that high street brands were taking note, with Rimmel and MUA releasing their own offerings to the eyeshadow base world.  I've tested all three against each other, putting them all in the deep end, only using them when I needed my eyeshadow to stay put all day - birthday parties, 9 hour shifts etc. 

MUA Professional Eye Primer; £2.50 - available at Superdrug

The cheapest of the bunch, MUA's eyeshadow base comes in the smallest of the three tubes.  On the packaging, it boasts to be long lasting, smoothing and no creasing. This is the only primer out of the three which has any colour to it.  Similar to the Urban Decay Primer Potion, it has a beige, skin tone like colour to it.  It felt nice across my lids, not sticky but instead silky smooth.  Eyeshadows applied evenly on top and were easy to blend.  Unfortunately, the product didn't hold my look in place all day, after two hours, I noticed that my eyeshadow had started to slip and crease and by the end of the day, I had virtually no eyeshadow left.  I was left quite disappointed after hearing so many reviews and being recommended it several times.  I wonder if there is a colour chemical that doesn't agree with my skin as the Urban Decay Primer Potion also had the same results.  

Rimmel London Exaggerate Undercover Shadow Primer; £4.99 - available at Boots or Superdrug

Rimmel London have had some successful product launches so far this year, include their new eyeshadow primer.  The packaging guarantee's 18-hour wear, as well as being smudge and crease proof.  The product is silicone based, giving it that smooth and silky texture.  It's a white cream consistency that disappears once blended over the eyelids.  When applying eyeshadow on top, they went on easily and evenly and were still very blendable.  Whilst the product is long-lasting, it doesn't last the promised 18 hours.  After four hours my eyeshadow had started to move slightly and after eight - ten hours I had noticed some creasing.  In my opinion, this is good wear for an eyeshadow primer and I wouldn't need the product for much longer than ten hours. 

NARS Smudge Proof Eyeshadow Base; £19.00 - available online or at Space NK

The most expensive of the three, NARS' offering has once again come up top trumps.  NARS say that this product is lightweight and wont cause your eyeshadow to smudge, crease or cake.  They don't give a time frame like Rimmel, only stating that it is long wearing.  Again, it feels silky smooth across the lids, the white cream fading once applied.  Eyeshadows apply smoothly on top, sticking to the primer but not so much that it cakes or begins to crease. Layering colour is easy and the primer allows you to blend colours seamlessly.  Whenever I wear this, I barely notice a difference after six hours and by the time I'm taking it off, it's still pretty much in place, how I applied it ten hours earlier.  

Overall, I still love NARS' offering but if you're looking for something for a quarter of the price, Rimmel's latest launch is the best bet.  

What's your favourite eye product to create a long lasting look?

Revlon ColourStay 16 Hour Eyeshadow Quad in Siren

Whilst browsing the make up aisles of Boots, I came across the new Revlon ColourStay quads and was instantly drawn to Siren.  I far prefer cooler tones on my eyes and I had been looking for the perfect, inexpensive set of eyeshadows for a while.  The quad features three shimmery colours including a blue toned silver highlight shade, a taupe colour for all over the lid, a darker purple toned taupe for the crease as well as a matte charcoal grey for eyeliner.  My two favourites are the two taupe shades, I use them either alone or together.  

The pigmentation is good on the shimmery shades but I feel the matte charcoal shade could be more intense if it's supposed to last 16 hours (although, who really wants their make up to last that long?)  To make the most out of my eyeshadow, I always use my trusty NARS Smudge Proof Base (reviewed here).  Using the two products together, I have found that my eyeshadow stays put for around 6-8 hours before it starts to crease or fade.  They are smooth in formula, making application easier and they sit comfortably on my eyes.  

At £7.99 and 14 different quads, there is definitely going to be something for everyone.  Revlon have even included a little diagram on the back of where and how to apply the colours, great for any beginners who don't know what the terms 'crease', 'inner corner' or 'outer V' mean and just want to know where each colour goes.  

Have you tried any Revlon eyeshadows? 

NARS Smudge Proof Eyeshadow Base

I've really been getting into NARS products recently and after hearing only good things about their eyeshadow base, I decided to give it a whirl.  I've only ever tried one other eye make up primer, the infamous Urban Decay Primer Potion, but found it did nothing for me - if anything my eyeshadow slid off faster with it than without.  Needless to say, I was skeptical but I went into Space NK before holiday and caved. 

The product itself looks the same as the UD Primer Potion - it comes with a doe foot (always thought that was spelt dofer) applicator and the product itself is a white, silky base.  While Urban Decay wins on price - Primer Potion retails at £14.50 whereas NARS is £18 - the results from NARS Smudge Proof Eyeshadow Base were far better than what I had imagined.  

Whilst on holiday, I used this primer, hoping it would help keep my eye make up in place whilst we were out consuming cocktails.  It held it in place well but it wasn't until I was working the other day that I really noticed how great this product was.  It was a humid British 'Summer' day and I was hot and sticky and for some reason, that morning I decided to wear eyeshadow. At around 2pm, five hours after application, my eye make up hadn't budged at all.  I was absolutely amazed, I was expecting to be a creased mess, and there I stood, looking the same as I did before I left - hurrah! Instantly this became holy grail and something I will now and forever repurchase.  At £18 for 8g some may say this is too pricey, but you only need a small amount to cover your entire eyelid meaning that this product will last a long time.  

Which product do you prefer - Urban Decay Primer Potion or NARS Smudge Proof Eyeshadow Base?