MAC COSMETICS HAUL

It wasn't too long ago that I was a complete MAC virgin and although I was curious about their products I didn't feel like I needed them very much. It's now been 5 months since I bought my first MAC lipsticks and it's safe to say there's no turning back... Sorry bank account... 

I now work on a make-up counter so it does feel kind of silly spending loads on other brands when I can get everything from my own counter a lot cheaper, but sometimes you just have to treat yourself to fun new products! These items were bought in a few separate shopping trips; for some reason that seems to justify the spending a lot more than if I bought all of the products in one go. 

Firstly, I bought the Pro Longwear concealer in nw20. I already have the concealer in nw25, however it's a bit too dark, especially for under the eyes, which is mostly where I use it, so I just had to pick up a lighter shade. At the same time I also bought the MAC Prep + Prime Highlighter in Radiant Rose to brighten up under the eye area mostly as I'm now back at uni and working, which doesn't leave too much time for a full nights sleep (what even is a full nights sleep anymore).?!?!  The Pro Longwear Conealer can be used as an eyelid primer too, so really I should have left it at that but the Pro Longwear Paintpoint in painterly (obviously), was calling out to me and I just needed it. I'm glad I bought it as it's a great eyelid primer as it had a slightly sticky texture which holds the eye shadow in place really well. I don't think it will be running out any time soon either, as a little does go a very long way! The eye shadow is in the shade Girlie, it's a pretty pink shade, to be quite honest I'm not sure why I bought this one. I don't really wear pink... actually I don't ever wear any type of pink eye shadow, but Jaclyn Hill used it in one of her tutorials and I liked it and thought it would look good with purples, which I do like to wear so I bought it. On my final trip to heaven MAC I bought the Prep + Prime Translucent powder and the Skin Base Visage. I never thought I was one to follow celebs but I saw Lucy and Sam using the powder on TOWIE and their make-up always looks lovely so I was sold... *Note to self I need more will power*. I'd heard good things about the MAC Primers and I don't think this was actually the particular one that was being raved about but so far I really like it and will definitely be doing an individual review. 

All of the products in this haul will most likely either have their own individual reviews, or they'll be featuring  in future posts in some way or another in the future, so be sure to look out for them or leave any comments if you want any in-depth reviews soon. 

MUA EVER AFTER - MATTE PALETTE REVIEW AND SWATCHES

Finally MUA have answered our prayers and made an eye shadow palette full of only matte shades and easy everyday colours too! We've loved all of the other MUA palettes but there was always that longing desire and need for matte shades. The rest of the MUA palettes are very much shimmer/glitter based and while they are gorgeous eyeshadows and amazing price and quality, you always need those matte shades in your life to put through the crease to compliment and add definition to the pretty shimmery shades. 

Like all MUA palettes the eye shadows are of great quality and apply and blend really well. There's also a nice mix of colours as there's a lot of different shades of browns that you can use to create the perfect brown smoky eye or just a simple defined crease with one of the lighter shades over the lid. You can also use the light shades to highlight the inner eye and under the brow. It's great that a black has been included in the palette as matte blacks are definitely a necessary feature in any eye shadow collection. I'm not too sure why a blue/grey was included as it is pretty blue and not something that most of us would reach for too often. There's a great mix of both cool and warm toned eye shadows, so I'm sure this palette would suit so many people and can be used to achieve a wide range of eye looks. I haven't swatched the light shades as they weren't showing up on my 'need to tan' arm, however, they are really pigmented and show up really well on the eye... which is all that matters really! 

The palette is only £4, so it's well worth picking up and even if you don't like you wont have upset your bank account too much anyway. 

Have you bought the new Matte Palette? You can buy the palette at Superdrug stores or online on the MUA website. 

KARDASHIAN KOLLECTION FOR LIPSY - UPDATE

It's very nearly time for another Kardashian Kollection; on the 24th of October the newest Kardashian Kollection is being released in Lipsy stores and online and we're excited to finally see all of the new pieces. I feel like this Kollection hasn't been too well advertised and it's only in the last few weeks that it's been featuring on the Lipsy website, Glamour magazine and other social media sites. The photos below show some of the pieces from the new Kollection and there's definitely been a lot of Lipsy influence. The Kollection so far appears to feature a lot of glamourous red and black as well as their trusty, classic leopard print! We always thought that the Kollection didn't really suit Dorothy Perkins, as to us, Dorothy Perkins isn't the most on trend and fashionable of stores for their target audience, however we're also not sure Lipsy was the right move either. As expected the prices, that were already pretty high for high street, have shot up ranging from £30-£150, with the average dress being around the £55-£60 mark. The Kollection does fit in nicely with Lipsy's own prices, however it's now on the less affordable side which I think will annoy most fans and make the Kollection less appealing as we personally wouldn't spend that much on an average dress, unless it was for a special occassion. Moreover, it appears even the blouses and skirts are highly priced and we're even less likely to spend a lot on one blouse, when you can buy nice ones elsewhere for a lot cheaper! I definitely don't think we'll be buying as much as we normally do from the Kollection. 

There's 40 pieces in the Kollection so the UK Kollection is still no where near as extensive as the Kollection that they have with Sears in America, (who do ship internationally)! 

 (Left-Right) 

Khloé - Red cut out neckline bodycon dress £50.00

Kourtney - Black lace jumpsuit £75.00 and Cropped full feather jacket £150.00 (Woaaahh)! 

Kim - Red long sleeve midi dress £65.00

Kim - Tribal caviar dress £55 

Kim - Black long sleeve shift dress £55 

 Kourtney - Chiffon shirt £40 & skirt £48

Khloe - Long sleeve lace dress £55

So, there's a little sneak peak of the latest Kollection; you can view the whole Kollection online at www.lipsy.co.uk on Thursday 24th October. So far we like the Kollection but none of the pieces are really sreaming out to us, especially for the prices. We like the skirt and Kim's Caviar dress, so we are excitied to see the rest of the Kollection. 

What do you think of the new Kollection so far? Will you be buying anything?

**Photos from the Daily Mail website & Glamour Magazine.** 

REVIEW | REAL TECHNIQUES MIRACLE COMPLEXION SPONGE

Before we get into this review, lets just have a little, 'I can't believe how quick this year is going' rant. When I first saw that Real Techniques were bringing out a 'miracle complexion sponge' in September, it seemed like ages to wait, but somehow September has now come and gone and here we are, mid October and the proud owners of two Miracle complexion sponges. 

Okay back to the review! 

The Miracle Complexion Sponge was on a buy one get one half price offer the first time that we saw it in a Boots store, so obviously we both grabbed one each. Neither of us have ever used any kind of sponge before and instead use the Real Techniques Buffing brush or the Expert face brush, so we can only compare it against using a brush.

Real Techniques describe this sponge as a 3-in-1 product:

• "Rounded sides blend large areas of the face with a repeated dabbing or “stippling” motion.
• Precision tip covers blemishes and imperfections.
• Flat edge for the contours around the eyes and nose."

  Although they give all of this information about which part to use for which function, we both tend to mainly use the large flat edge as it makes the application even easier and quicker to apply as it's a large surface area and can quickly cover the face.

To use the sponge you have to wet the sponge so that it expands and then squeeze all of the excess water out. This is also beneficial when you're applying the foundation as it feels very refreshing on the skin and keeps the skin feeling fresh and hydrated, especially when you're applying concealer under the eyes. 

The sponge gives a really flawless finish and can give full coverage if you repeatedly pat the sponge onto your face, as you would a stippling brush, when 'stippling.' One of the main things we love about the sponge, is that it doesn't leave any lines un-blended, like brushes can often tend to. 

Both of us now always use the sponge over our foundation and concealer brushes as you get a much more flawless finish and it's also so easy and quick to use. We still need to try it out with other products, such as cream blush, which I'm sure it will also apply beautifully! The sponge is also especially good to use for contouring with cream or liquid products as you can easily apply the contour or highlight precisely to the area which you want to enhance or sculpt more. We both much prefer using the sponge to contour and then we use brushes to apply the powder over the top to either set the cream/liquid products or enhance the contour or highlight more. 

Have you tried the Miracle Complexion Sponge? How does it compare to the original Beauty Blender? 

SLEEK VINTAGE ROMANCE PALETTE

So, we're all pretty obsessed with the Autumn/Fall make-up colours and I think this may be the perfect palette for the job! Thinking about it, apart from the make-up side of things, I'm not feeling particularly Autumnal... I think this year is just going way too quick, that I can't even keep track of the seasons. 

Anyway, if you're a regular reader of our blog, you'll probably already know that I absolutely love the Sleek Ultra Mattes Palette. The Sleek palettes are of great quality and a really reasonable price at £7.99. I've been on the look out for the Vintage Romance palette ever since I saw it on another blog and grabbed it right up the second that I saw it. 

I really love the outside packaging; it's like the Sleek brainboxes knew that there's a tonne of girls out there craving the Autumn shades and Autumn feeling, so they decided to double please us with both Autumn colours and an amazing Autumn leaves packaging. I kind of wish that the actual palette's packaging was the same as the outer box. It would be very different from others and far from subtle, but it would be pretty cool. 

Another feature of this palette that I love is that each shadow has it's own name and not just any name but the cutest lovey dovey names to fit in with the 'romance' theme of the palette. Each shadow is either a state or city around the world with a love themed name in front. for example, 'Pretty in Paris,' 'Romance in Rome...'

As always the colour pay off is really good and all of the shadows apply really smoothly. Some of the shades are definitely more pigmented than others, however, they do all apply well, so it's not an issue, it purely is only that some are even better than the others. There is only one matte shade in the whole palette, which is okay as it's a great colour (propose in Prague), however it would have been nice if there could have been one or two more matte shades at least, as the palette is extremely shimmer/glitter focused and sometimes you need a little matte! The matte shades would have definitely made the palette easier to wear. 

Another slight criticism that I have is that the colours are all pretty similar and there isn't much of a mix. The palette is mostly gold shades and a lot of cranberry/purples. I do love these colours and they are Autumn appropriate, however, once you use them, there isn't much of a difference between each shade. 

For this look I was really just playing around with the colours and putting as many different shades as I could reasonably fit on my eye. I've used Propose in Prague through the crease, Meet in Madrid in the inner corner, Court in Cannes over the inner lid, Pretty in Paris and Meet in Madrid in the centre of the lid and Romance in Rome to darken up the outer corner. 

Overall, I am glad I got this palette and would recommend it if you love the purple and gold shades, if you don't however I would most likely avoid this palette as you'd be wasting the majority of the shadows. I'm excited to try out more looks with this palette and I enjoy using the colours as other than this palette, I don't really have these shades in my collection. Although there is quite a limited colour range, I think you definitely could sill create a lot of different looks, I just think the colours will be great for more dramatic looks, this definitely isn't a natural everyday palette. 

What do you think? Do you have this palette?