Urban Decay Primer Potion.

Urban Decay's Primer Potion is probably my all time favourite beauty find. It's, as the name suggests, a primer for your eyes. In the past I have had issues with eye shadow creasing a bit by the end of the day. I am not a big fan of having to so touch up throughout the day so ideally I want my makeup to stay put.

Applying the PP under my shadow means that not only do I have a nice smooth base to work on but also that the colours shows up amazingly and stay put all day. Plenty of people online recommended this stuff but it wasn't until I saw the results for myself that I was hooked, it really does work!

My only issue with it is the stupidly shaped tube it comes in, guaranteed when you think you have run out and none is coming from the tube on the applicator you will still have more than half left, the shape of the packaging means the majority of it gets trapped in the curves of the bottle. Simple solution though, saw it open and store the remains in a little pot! That way you use all the product and save yourself from buying a new one way too soon. There are tutorials all over the web on how to do the sawing so I won't go into it.

On the whole, one of my wonder products that I would never be without.

Perfect Powders

I currently use two, both as cheap as chips but excellent, I think.

As my main face powder I use NYC Colour Wheel Mosaic Powder in Translucent Highlighter Glow, it's light and gives pretty good coverage and it also has a highlighting element to it which means more of that lovely light reflecting action that you get with Skinlights. My face must resemble a glitter ball on the days I over do my make up.



There isn't much to say about this powder really, except that I love it, it lasts well, goes on smoothly and best of all is a bargain buy at under £5.

On top of that I use another product which I have to hunt down online, as a blush I use W7 Illuminating powder. I'm not a big fan of blush, I have nightmares about turning into one of those girls with two bright pink go-faster stripes down their face, so I tend to stick with lighter colours and subtle blush rather than any real pink or red coloured product.



The W7 is perfect for this it gives a rosy pink glow with a bit of shimmer and can be built up if I do fancy having a pinker cheek.

Again, it's a bargain at under £3!

Skinlights

I know I post a lot about eyes and eye make up, specifically because it's my area of interest and what excites me most in terms of make up, but I do use other products as well, so this post, and possibly the next few, talks about face products instead.

I currently don't wear foundation, for a number of reasons, the main ones being it never seems to stay on and by half way through the day it's sliding all over my face, I hate that over made up, orange look which is very easy to stray into if you are even a shade out in your colouring and I've never really found anything that cover well without doing one of the previous two.

What I do use on my face is my number one top wonder product, Revlon Skinlights.


I have been using it for years, around 15 years actually which is scary, and although it doesn't seem to be available in most UK shops now it's totally worth tracking down online.

It gives a really nice natural glow to the skin and kind of wakens your face up a bit, but is still light enough to not look like a full coverage foundation while diverting attention from small blemishes and uneven skin tone.

Generally I just stick on some Skinlights and powder over the top, but, it can also be used after you've applied foundation and powder as a highlighter, like a cheaper version of Benefit's Highbeam.

When Skinlights were available in UK shops they retailed at around £9.99, however, since I've started sourcing them online you can pick them up for a good deal cheaper than that, in fact last time I think I got 3 for £12 off eBay, so it's worth searching around.

Sunset

A couple of snaps of the iDivine Sunset palette from Sleek, which obviously I couldn't resist when I saw it.







Another collection of really wearable shades for a bargain price!

NYX Jumbo Eye Pencils

My new obsession! Obviously, I chose something awkward to obsess about, it wouldn't be so much fun otherwise.

NYX is a very well regarded drug store brand in the states, known for being good quality, great colours and very reasonably priced. Although NYX products are available on a couple of UK sites, they are much more expensive and generally less easy to get hold of here than they are in their native land.

The JEPs come in a fantastic choice of colours, so obviously I was powerless to resist to urge to track them down and try them out for myself:



Anyway, a little more information; the jumbo pencils, are, as the name suggests, big chunky pencils for your eyes. They can be worn either as liner or shadow but what I want them for is to use as a base. They're well talked about online as a perfect, and cheaper, alternative to MAC Shadesticks. For those who don't already know, Shadesticks, as well as being great to wear alone, are a perfect base to show off your eye shadow colour and make it really pop. They are also an ideal base for glitter or shimmer powders and pigments which need something to stick to.

So, I tracked down a seller on eBay who will send 10 JEPs over here for $20 plus $6 shipping, queue much excitement! UK sites are charging £6 each. Now it's just fingers crossed to see if they turn up, and how soon. In the meantime, have a look at the colours I am waiting for!


Next NYX update should be when I get them!!

More looks

Teal:









Fireworks inspired eyes for Nov 5th; terrible pictures as the light was bad:










Navy:






Yellow & Orange:



Special squinty eye shot:

Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil Swatches

Eventually! I am the proud owner of the new Super Stash set from Urban Decay:


I was slightly concerned that a lot of the newer colours were doubling up on the existing ones in the line so I have done some comparison swatches. The names are on the photos and should show up better if you open them in a new window.

Ransom & Lust.
Ransom actually seems brighter and more vivid than Lust which shocked me, I was expecting it to be a bit darker and less vivid, definitely a different shade though which is good:



Underground, Bourbon, Corrupt & Oil Slick.
Underground is darker than I expected, which I am pleased about, though lighter than Bourbon. Corrupt is a good bit darker than Bourbon. Oil Slick is black but with quite a bit of glitter in:



Binge, Deviant, Covet, Flipside & Electric.
Binge is navy, although not dark, dark navy, it's darker and less vivid than Deviant. Covet is a lot more teal than the others and darker. Flipside is turquoise, and quite a light, matt shade. Electric is the lightest of all:



If you'd like to see side by side comparisons of two colours other than these ones, let me know!

Some more recent looks

These are more so I have a personal record of what colours work well and what looks I might want to try again, rather than to show them off to other people, I'm not sure how interesting it is for other people to look at multiple pictures of my painted eyes:

Gold & Teal








Green & Gold
The pictures of this are terrible, but it was nice in person




Purple & Gold






Brown and bronze
(awful lighting)