Fini!

Hurray it's finally complete! I know that there are a lot of people who already own multiple palettes, but MAC is pretty pricey in the UK so I don't go crazy and buy a load of make-up from there at one time. Since this is my first (and maybe only?) complete palette, I was a little excited about it! I'm not sure if I will go on to start another palette, I got this because it's great for travel, with 15 eyeshadows I can create a variety if different looks without having to pack a load of separate containers. I'm finding myself reaching for this pretty much every day though since it is amazing quality. So I paid a visit to the MAC store on King's Road, I usually go to the Neal Street one which I prefer guess I wanted a change of scenery, I go there far too often! Before I got there I thought I knew which eyeshadows I'd be buying, I blogged before about how I wanted this to be a neutral palette, but I'm also a big fan of green eyeshadow so wanted to throw a bit of green in there too. I wanted to get Humid, to compliment Greensmoke and create a smoky green eye. So I thought I'd get that, along with Wedge which is a great neutral crease colour, perfect for whatever eyeshadow combination you do and really good at softening any harshness. Finally I thought I'd get Expensive Pink, because I'd seen it around the blogging world and thought it looked stunning. Not a true pink, but a goldey pink, which has a two tone effect (similar to Patina), but in the store I thought this was too dark for me. Instead I got Da Bling, the bright looking pink shade you can see. I don't really know what possesed me, other than maybe the influence of the MUA in the store. I mentioned Expensive Pink and after she showed it to me and I decided against it, she started pointing out all the other variations of pink. She was also sporting a rather lovely pink eyeshadow look herself and I guess it threw my neutral ideas out the window. I wasn't really sure if it was a good decision, but honestly I'm so glad I took a gamble with it, because this is a great shade for my skin tone (pasty at the moment) and my green eyes. I'd recommend it to anyone with green eyes, it compliments them perfectly. I wear it with Twinks in the crease and Hush as a highlight, it's a perfect pink combination.

Top row: left to right - Typographic, Espresso, Twinks, Wedge, Humid

Middle row: left to right - Satin Taupe, Patina, Da Bling, Tempting, Greensmoke

Bottom row: left to right - All That Glitters, Woodwinked, Hush, Nylon, Shroom

Beauty Product of the Month:January - Lush Sugar Babe scrub

Yet another fantastic product from Lush and this one is both innovative and practical, exactly why I love Lush. Sugar scrubs, or an exfoliant of some description are an important part of skincare, I wouldn't say essential because for some they might be harsh on their skin, but most of us will be left with better conditioned skin.

This is a solid sugar scrub, the only one of its kind to not need any packaging. I'm all for recycling, but I think it's even better when products just don't need packaging! There are two scrubs to choose from, which I felt was a bit of a shame because I thought Lush could do a lot more with this product and introduce many more varieties. There's the green one called "Sugar Scrub", which is supposed to help tackle cellulite. I haven't tried it, so I won't knock it, but I am somewhat dubious of it's cellulite fighting properties. It didn't smell that great either, so when it came down to it, I had to choose the nicest smelling one. "Sugar Babe" smells divine. It contains coconut oil so this is one for leaving your skin really soft and moisturised, but the smell is floral since it's also made from ylang flowers and mimosa blossom. It's a very girly smell, although I let my boyfriend use it and he loved it too! It's ok because he never reads this.

At £2.60 for 100g I think this is really good value for money from Lush. After using it a couple of times in the shower, the scrub went a little softer and I was able to squish it into an empty Body Shop exoliator pot to make it easier to use, and last longer. I'd recommend this for use a few times a week, probably not every day because since it's sugar, it is kind of rough. It does a great job at exfoliating, so if your skin isn't too sensitive then it'll work just fine.

Nearly finished MAC palette...

My palette is slowly making progress. I had three new additions for Christmas, Nylon, Greensmoke and Espresso. I’m finding it more and more difficult to choose the final few colours. I look at blogs and the MAC website and think I’ve decided on the colours I want, then go in to the MAC store and walk out with completely different colours.

With flash.

And without.
I really didn’t think I would ever buy Nylon. I’d seen pictures of it, watched videos about it, thought it looked pretty but decided that since I had Shroom, I didn’t need another highlight colour. Obviously I was wrong because here I am with it in my collection. There’s just something really attractive about this colour, it has a frost finish, compared to the satin finish of Shroom and has almost a creamy texture to it and is very shimmery. I think the shimmer at first put me off because I’m not really into that look, but sometimes a bit of shimmer is just necessary and the shade also has enough of a hint of beigey gold in it to not look too brassy as a highlight.

Greensmoke is my new favourite eyeshadow. Green is by far my favourite colour to wear (if it’s not neutral!) and I love a green smoky eye, hence Greensmoke. As a lustre, it’s not amazingly pigmented but it is buildable. I like to wear this either on the lid with Espresso in the crease for a dark green smoky eye, or wear it in the crease with a shade like All That Glitters on the lid, for a lighter look. I’m thinking of getting either Swimming or Humid to wear with it, but not sure which would work best.

Espresso is probably one of the most popular shades by MAC. It’s pretty universal, making a great crease or outer corner colour for most people. Whether you’re just starting out with MAC or have a tonne of it, I’d recommend adding this to your collection. You can never have too many browns now anyway, can you?

(top row,l to r: Typographic, Twinks, Tempting, Greensmoke, Espresso, middle row, l to r: Satin Taupe, Patina, Woodwinked, bottom row, l to r: All That Glitters, Hush, Nylon, Shroom.)

I suppose this looks like a very unadventurous palette so far but neutral/earthy tones are my favourite and suit me best so I keep going back to them. There are some amazing and unique colours by MAC but I wanted my first palette to be full of staples I will actually use. If anyone has any recommendations for my remainder pans please let me know! I’d love to know what colour combinations work for you.