Urban Decay Naked 2 Eyeshadow Palette

Hello lovelies!

I have to admit, I have caved and given into the blogger hype. 
Yes, I have bought my first Urban Decay palette.

I decided to settle for the second edition of this palette mainly because of reviews. I have cooler toned skin and I had heard that it is more suited to warmer toned girls. At the time I had bought it, Naked 3 had sold out. This didn't matter as I wanted a true neutral toned palette where the Naked 3 was more rosy-hued. So I managed to grab this from House of Fraser in January with my Christmas money.

As you all probably know, the Naked palettes all come with 12 shades in. This palette (I think) has around 5 exclusive shades to this palette. This is a bit of a bummer if you particularly liked a shade and wanted to buy a bigger pot.

However they have repeated the shade 'Half Baked' from the original Naked palette. This is slightly cheeky if you already own the first one but luckily, I didn't.

It comes in a nice, robust, metal tin with a large mirror on the inside. I love the mirror! It is large enough to do your whole make up routine in if you wanted. This would make it ideal for travelling.

This also comes with a miniature Lip Junkie lip gloss. I have seen many bloggers moan about this but I have to say I am rather happy. I quite enjoy wearing the lip gloss on occasion and it tastes minty.

 Foxy - A matte, cream colour. It is actually quite yellow.

Half Baked - A shimmery, gold colour. 

Bootycall - A champagne, shimmery colour. It looks slightly peachy/pink.

Chopper - A bronze shimmer. 

Tease - A matte shadow that is a mauvey/taupe.

Snakebite - Almost a khaki-brown shimmer with gold micro-glitter.

Suspect - A light brown shimmer with champagne tones.

Pistol - A grey, gunmetal colour with micro-glitter.  

Verve - A beautiful shimmery, light silver.

YDK - A cool toned copper.

Busted - A very dark brown with frosted undertones.

Blackout - A matte black.

These shadows are all of excellent quality. Super pigmented but yes, there is occasionally some fallout. However, there are some of the shades I don't think I will hit the pan with. I will give you my over view below:

Surprisingly great colours: Personally, I LOVE Tease. I usually gravitate towards shimmery colours but I love this matte brown. I can wear it on its own or smoke it out with others -  I love it.

Blackout was also a surprise. I thought I would never use a matte black as it is too dramatic. However I tend to use this more and more as a soft eyeliner.

The colours I didn't get on with: Half Baked & Chopper. I wore these on a day off fearing they may not suit me and I was right. As a stand alone shade on my eyes, they are too warm and make me look as if I'm ill. I may use these in a smoky eye look but not as a stand out shade.

The shades I wear the most: Snakebite, Suspect and of course, Tease. All of those can be used to create some great looks but also can be used one their own for when you don't have time to create a perfect face of make-up.

The shade I thought I would love more: YDK. I love the colour, I really do but I find that I already have a cheaper, dupe of this in my make-up bag. Rimmel's Mono Eyeshadow in 102 is so similar to YDK that I think I've kind of grown bored of it before I even got the palette. I know that sounds odd.

This palette made me love Urban Decay so much that I managed to get the Naked 3 for Valentine's Day (Lucky me!). So for those who have their heart set on the Naked 2, I would just buy it and love it as much as I do. I get the feeling I will get a lot of use out of this.

Which Naked palette is your favourite?
Is it worth getting the first one?

American bloggers, I need your help!

Hello lovelies!

I am currently very excited because I have a friend going to the US that is willing to bring me over some make up goodies we cannot get here in the UK!

I have already thought of a list I want but I cannot help but think that it's a small order. I really want some great suggestions. Here's what I have already asked for;

Milani baked blush in Dolce Pink or Coralina
Eons Lip Balm
Physicians formula Happy Boost Blush in Pink
Physicians Formula pH matchmaker lipgloss
Burt's bees lipgloss in spring splendor

Anyway, I would love some suggestions on drugstore brands that you find fantastic. I've tried to do my research and it fell a bit flat. But who else better to ask than experts like yourself?

Love
Raisa xxx

Lancome Hypnose Doll Eyes by Alber Elbaz in DO5

Hello lovelies!

I want to share one of my little treasures from my post-Christmas sales purchases. This year I found the sales to be utterly fantastic if you went to the right places (Debenhams in Nottingham still had some fantastic offers a week after Boxing Day).

I could not help but grab the Lancome Hypnose Doll Eyes Eyeshadow Pallette by Alber Elbaz in DO5. After swearing I would not spend my money on Lancome eyeshadows again (after purchasing a palette before and believing the pigmentation was not up to scratch), I caved as this was half price. Instead of being £38, this was £19. Not a bad reduction for Lancome. However you only get 2.7g of product in total! I would have been very annoyed if I had paid full price for this for very little product.

The packaging is very enticing. The designs by Alber Elbaz seem to be aimed more towards a younger, more 'kooky' market. I cannot imagine this is the kind of palette my grandma would have on her dressing table! I love how different the design is - it is right up my street.

The palette came with instructions on how to create perfect smoky eyes in three different intensities. This was perfect for me as I have always struggled to create a look that works (I'm getting there!). The colours come listed as 1 to 5 with the diagram showing which shades to use for the different intensities.

From the swatches, you can see that the shadows are quite pigmented apart from number 1 which is the highlighter. It is very glittery and cannot really be used independently.

The rest of the shadows are rather lovely. The colours are typical of what I would usually wear as they are very neutral. The pigmentation is not as fantastic as brands like Urban Decay, but it is better than my last Lancome eyeshadow palette.

The shades seem to blend really well too. I find many shows hard to soften out the harsh edges but this palette is almost like a 'beginners' tool to smoky eyes.

I would never have paid full price for this product because of its minimal amount of product. It is only just worth what I paid for it at sale price. 

That said, the colour are gorgeous and the instructions have been very handy for me. I don't regret buying this product but if it was a permanent addition to the Lancome line, I would not repurchase this.

Why would anyone have paid full price for this at £38? I would rather spend a pound less and indulge in a Urban Decay Naked palette.