Beauty ¦ Zoeva Cocoa blend palette.

Are you guys sick of me talking about warm toned eyeshadows yet? I feel like they are all I ever seen to talk about these days but I just really bloody love them! Today I thought I'd do a little review and rundown of the Zoeva Cocoa blend palette which is something I've been reaching for a lot in the past couple of weeks so without further ado lets get straight into it.

 

So lets start of with packaging, this palette is cardboard which I do kind of hate as I feel like it isn't strong enough to protect the product properly. That being said it does have a pretty strong magnetic closing making it a little sturdier. I really like the design of the packaging and how thin the palette would make it ideal for traveling. Moving onto the formula I am really impressed I wasn't sure what to expect as although I had heard good things I hadn't heard that much. All ten shades are incredibly pigmented and buttery and blend really well.

 



 

Bitter start - Completely matte bright cream highlight shade. This one is pretty standard it works really well in the inner corner to really brighten up a look without adding any shimmer.

 

Sweeter end - Light pinky gold shade with a metallic finish. This makes a beautiful all over the lid shade with basically any of the other shades in this palette in the crease. I imagine this would make a beautiful highlight on darker skins.

 

Warm notes - This one is such an incredible shade, it is a beautiful dark pink with a metallic finish. I absolutely love this one however I haven't been quite brave enough to wear it yet as I don't really know what to do with it.

 

Subtle blend - This is a warm brown shade with lots of gold glitter. This one is really perfect for smoking out and darkening up a look without adding any of the really dark almost black brown. I find this one pairs beautifully with the gold shade in the palette.

 

Beans are white - At first I thought this one was a black however it is actually a very deep brown shade which is almost black. This one is completely matte.

 

Pure ganache - This one is possibly my favourite shade in the palette. It is a stunning coppery gold shade with the most incredible metallic finish. This one looks so stunning paired with Subtle blend but also with Freshly toasted for a super warm look.

 

Substitute for love - This one is a very warm medium brown shade which is super versatile. It works well as a lid shade or transition shade for a darker look however it does also work well in the crease for a little bit of subtle definition.

 

Freshly toasted - This shade reminds me a lot of Makeup geek Cocoa bear, it's a little lighter and just a hint more red toned however offers that similar look. This one again is completely matte, I also feel like this would look incredible all over the lid with black in the crease to create a warm smokey eye.

 

Infusion - This one is a grey toned brown shade absolutely packed with different coloured shimmer. This is such an individual shade and is absolutely perfect for a smokey eye.

 

Delicate acidity - This shade is definitely my least favourite in the palette. Don't get me wrong it is an incredibly stunning metallic pinky purple shade however I just don't feel like it fits in the palette. Don't get me wrong I will get some use out of it however on an everyday basis I have definitely been overlooking it.

 

So that's it guys I really hope you enjoyed this review and if you have any other Zoeva palette recommendations leave them in the comments. 

Beauty ¦ My new favourite cheekbones

I received an email about this palette from beauty bay a couple of weeks ago and needless to say I was instantly sold and I headed straight over and ordered it. If you know me in real life or you read my blog a lot you will be fully aware that I have no cheekbones at all my face is chubby and so I  require a lot of work in the contour department meaning I'm rather fond of a good contour palette. Again if you are a regular in these waters you will know that I really love the Barry M contour kit so for anything to come even close to being on par with it I am incredibly impressed by.

 

The formula of these powders is really lovely, they aren't chalky and they blend into the skin beautifully. They have a good amount of pigmentation but not to much so that it makes them hard  to work with which is one of my main expectations of a cheek product. As much as I love the rose gold packaging it is only cardboard and I feel like if you kept your makeup in a makeup bag it could very easily get destroyed as there isn't much protection for the powders.

 

Starting off with the contour shade which is definitely my favourite out of the three powders. It is one of the most brilliant contour powders I have ever tried. I am casper the ghost pale so I find that even super grey toned powders can sometimes still end up looking to dark and orangey on me, this shade however is the perfect mix of grey and orange to make it look natural. It is quite a sheer product however I personally like that in a contour as I can often go over board so I would rather have to build it up on my face rather than spend 10 minutes trying to tone down a super heavy contour.

 

 

The highlight is absolutely incredible however it is very intense. When it first arrived and I saw it I was a little disappointed as I was pretty sure a bright white highlight was something that would work for me however when I swatched it I realised that the shade in the pan was pretty misleading. It's actually a beautiful icy gold shade which catches the light so beautifully. It is one of those highlighters for people who aren't afraid of some intense glow however I have tried it under my foundation on the high points of my face and it just leaves a beautiful subtle golden glow to the skin.

 

Finally we have the blush shade, which is like nothing I've ever seen before. It is a very brown toned pink with a lot of very subtle golden shimmer and I really do love it. It's incredibly warm toned so not only does it add a flush of colour but it also leaves a slight bronze-y glow to my face so on can't be bothered days I've been wearing this without any bronzer. It is exactly the shade I hoped it would be and it has just made me love this palette even more!

 

Overall I would highly suggest that you check this palette out at £13 it's the higher end of budget makeup however for three powders of such high quality I think it's an absolute steal. I also picked up the Cocoa blend palette in the same order so expect to see a review of that in the next couple of weeks!

 



Left to right - Contour, Highlight (Unblended), Blush

Beauty ¦ The Makeup collection - Palettes

So I thought it was about time that I updated my makeup collection. This time I've decided that I'm going to be super in depth and I'm going to spread my collection out over 7 days. I just want to add a little disclaimer that I am in no way shape or form bragging I love makeup collection posts and videos and I wish that more people did super in depth ones. If you would like to know my opinions on any of the products in this post let me know in the comments and I can either link you to my review or give you a quick opinion in the comments.

 

If you missed it here is Part 1 and Part 2

 

I didn't actually realise before I took these photos how many palettes I actually have. I keep my most reached for palette in a set of two Muji drawers which I keep on top of my dressing table and then I keep the rest of my palettes in my Malm dresser in the stodja cutlery trays.

 



I have a good mix of high end and drugstore palettes however I do tend to reach for my high end palettes more often as I just find on the whole they are better quality. Some of my favourites include Urban decay Naked one, Urban decay Naked basics, Stila in the light, Nars virtual domination and my Mac quad. However I do still love my drugstore palettes and I reach for the Revlon photo ready primer shadow and sparkle kits, the Collection eyes uncovered and my Sleek vintage romance palette all the time.

 



 

Despite the fact that I love 99% of the palettes in my collection I do tend to use the same ones all the tame and I tend to neglect a couple which are really amazing like the MUA hall of fame palette, The Balm Balm voyage and my Illamasqua aura palette.

 

So that's it for today come back tomorrow for my powder eyeshadow collection.

 



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Beauty ¦ The perfect palette tag

So I'm actually finally properly back this time and to ease myself back into post writing I thought I would do a tag post. I love a good palette and when having a look through some of the tag posts I have written down I decided that this one would be interesting.

 

 

1. Best packaging?

Nars Virtual domination has the most amazing packaging and I love the fact that it isn't the typical Nars weird rubbery packaging. It's super sturdy and just all round well designed.

 

2. Best colour payoff?

Urban decay do the best shadows ever the colour payoff is so intense and the texture of the shadows whether they are matte or shimmery is so buttery and amazing I couldn't not pick them for this question.

 

3. Best for traveling?

Illamasqua Multi facet - Aura is amazing as if I take it away I only need a base concealer and mascara with me and I have an entire face. All the products work well together which means I don't have to take a million different products.

 

4. Most versatile?

The Balm - Balm voyage literally has almost all the colours under the rainbow. I personally don't use any of the colourful shades but if I did this would definitely be the palette I'd reach for. It also has some gorgeous neutral shades which I reach for on a regular basis and it also includes 3 lip and cheek colours too!

 

5. Best colour names?

Stila has such cute names for the shades, I have to admit I had a little trouble deciding on the answer to this one but I settled on Stila.

 

6. Biggest regret?

Sleek - Showstoppers was something I bought on a complete whim and I honestly don't think I've used it more than twice. The selection of colours is strange and you cannot get a single eye look out of the palette other shades have to be used. I also found that some of the shades were lacking in the pigmentation department and were very chalky.

 

7.  Least used?

Sleek - Showstoppers (For the same reasons as it is my biggest regret)

 

8. Most used?

Urban decay - Naked 1is the palette that made me love all palettes and I use it at least twice a week. The shades are all beautiful and they work well alongside other shades in the palette. The shadows are pigmented, long lasting and super blendable. I couldn't actually sing it's praises anymore  

 

9. (Extra bonus question)  Best drugstore?

Revlon primer shadow and sparkle palettes are such amazing quality or the drugstore the shades are well pigmented and the shadows blend well together and have a good lasting power. I also love the little bit of glitter you get!