It's official, naked is the best way to be!

So after many days waiting for the postman, it has finally arrived, Urban Decay's Naked Palette.

Urban Decay Naked Palette - £27

Much sought after, the palette is great value for money, containing 12 neutral shades, all that you could ever need! Four of the shades are exclusive to the palette and the different textures include matte, shimmer, satin and sparkle.

Shades: Virgin, Sin, Naked, Sidecar, Buck, Half Baked, Smog, Darkhorse, Toasted, Hustle, Creep, Gunmetal

The aim of the palette is cover all the basics you could ever need, but make them versatile and interesting. You should be able to go from office looks to an evening smokey eye with just these shades. As well as the eyeshadows, the palette contains a 3.7ml size the bestselling Primer Potion and double ended 24/7 eye pencil in Zero and Whiskey (black and brown).

The case itself is quite sleek, has a decent size mirror inside and the outside is flocked. Although this is a nice idea, I doubt that it will wear well. As the idea is that this palette can be all you need when out and about, a leather or metallic casing might have been more suitable.

I haven't tried the eyesahdows on yet, just swatched them, but they do feel lovely and creamy. I haven't used any Urban Decay products since I was 17 and used a couple of their face palettes for school, so the quality of the shadows was a pleasant surprise.

The swatches were taken without the primer potion applied underneath. On the darker shades, the photo makes them appear a lot more glittery than they are in real life.

Shades: Virgin, Sin, Naked & Sidecar

Shades: Buck, Half Baked, Smog & Darkhorse

Toasted, Hustle, Creep and Gunmetal

 

Overall, I think this is a great palette for anyone and everyone. Even though I have quite a few Bobbi Brown neutral eyeshadow palettes, this Naked Palette offers something that little bit special. I would only hesitate to recommend it to those who already have a number of Urban Decay shadows as I don't know if I would pay £27 for the sake of just 4 new shades. Happily for me, I have none so all are new and exciting. I can't wait to have a play around with them. Plus, I have never used the primer potion so I'll be interested to see how it affects all of my shadows, not just these.

The palette is what it says, a great basic. It allows me to have a wardrobe of nudes at a good price, which I can add to with the more expensive brands like Edward Bess, Rouge Bunny Rouge and Burberry, as I would never be able to afford 12 of their neutrals in one go.

Although this should satisfy my requirements for nudes for the foreseeable future, I still feel incomplete without Chanel's Taupe Gris. It will be mine when my bank balance is out of the red!

Urban Decay's Naked Palette is available for £27 from Boots, Debenhams and House of Fraser.

Get it while you can!

Estee Lauder Blue Dahlia & Surreal Violet Eyeshadow Palette Review & Swatches

The second part of my look at the latest limited edition collection by Estee Lauder, this focuses on the 5 colour eyeshadow palettes.

Both palettes have received a lot of press attention in the recent months as this is the first major collection for the brand by makeup artist Tom Pecheux. He produced a stunning look with the Blue Dahlia palette in the promos for the collection and the Surreal Violet palette is a beauty must-have in the October UK edition of In Style magazine.

Estee Lauder Blue Dahlia Eyeshadow Palette - £34

Both the palettes come in a luxurious gold compact, complete with traditional sponge applicators, a fine tip for eyeliner and 1 brush head.

I was a little surprised with the Blue Dahlia palette that only 2 of the 5 shades could be considered blue, so if you are worried that the palette could make you look more Pat Butcher than supermodel, don't be. None of the shades are chalky, they have been expertly chosen to be used together to create a sophisticated, modern look.

Blue Dahlia Eyeshadow Palette Swatches - clockwise around the palette starting with the pale highlighter

There is a pale highlighter, a mid blue and a dark blue, a dark taupe and a deep navy in the centre that could be used for liner. All in all, it is everything you need for a subtle, smokey or statement eye.


The surreal Violet palette is my personal favourite as I love purples on my green eyes, the vivid violet shade in the lower right corner being the standout colour.

Estee Lauder Surreal Violet Eyeshadow Palette - £34

Once again, there is a pale highlighter, 2 lilac/purple shades, a grey/taupe and a darkened purple in the centre that could be used as liner. I tried creating a very strong eye with this palette the other night and although i started with some trepidation, the result was fantastic, just what I was aiming for. The palette contained all the shades I needed and so made application both easier and quicker. Great for a glamorous night out.

Estee Lauder Surreal Violet Eyeshadow Palette swatches - clockwise from the pale highlighter

The textures of all the eyeshadows are perfect, I think I prefer them to the recent Chanel quad that I bought, they seem slightly less dry and powdery. Although expense purchases, they represent could value compared to some as all of the shades are wearable. At a push I would say that the Blue Dahlia would suit darker skintones, would look great with a tan, and I love the Surreal Violet on my fair, cool toned skin.

In reality though, I think you should go for what you love. The expertise that has gone into creating both palettes should mean that anyone could wear them without a problem as there are so many different looks you can play around with.

For some inspiration, check out Lisa Eldridge's video tutorial on an evening look using the Surreal Violet palette at www.lisaeldridge.com

Chanel Eyeshadow Quad in Enigma - Review & swatches

I couldn't resist this beautiful eyeshadow quad by Chanel last week when I made the trip to my local Chanel counter (which is not that local!) to get my hands on Paradoxal. So here is a closer look at it.

The quad is number 19 and is called Enigma, part of the Chanel Fall Collection 2010 that was released on Friday 13th August. Perfect for creating a smokey looks, it consists of a shimmery peach, a dark taupe, a blackened plum and a charcoal grey. All 4 shades have a shimmer to them. For the swatches, the shadows were applied dry but obviously they could be applied wet for more intensity. Unfortunately, the peach shade doesn't show up that well in the photo because it is very similar to my natural skin tone.

From left to right the colours are:

Charcoal Grey
Blackened Plum
Dark Taupe
Shimmery Peach









Although the colours are not groundbreaking, I adore this palette because they are just the shades I have been looking for to create an easy yet sophisticated look as Autumn draws near. I have been wearing the lightest colour all over the eye and then the plum colour as a liner for day. For the evening, I have used the grey and taupe on the lid and crease with the plum applied wet as liner. The peach colour makes a great highlighter for underneath the brow bone and in the inner corners of the eye.

The great thing about the palette is that the colours are fairly neutral, they would be hard to class as either warm or cool. Although I feel that the Collection as a whole is probably more suited to those with cooler undertones, I think that this palette would suit everyone.

However, I would recommend before buying that you dig out your exisiting eyeshadows because it is quite possible that you may already have a few of these shades, in which case it is probably not worth spending £34 for maybe one unique colour. I have a lot of Bobbi Brown neutrals but the Chanel quad is deeper in tone than these, but I think if you own a lot of Dior quints then you may be at risk of duplicating.

If, like me, you have fallen hook, line and sinker for the whole Chanel Fall look, then this palette is worth the money as it will tie in with any other products you buy from the collection. When my bank balance has recovered from from my latest haul, I look forward to trying the shadows with the eyeliner in Cassis, the new blushers and the latest Rouge Coco in Chintz.