Maybelline 'Pure Nude' 24HR Color Tattoo

Maybelline 'Pure Nude' 24hr Color Tattoo £5.95

When Maybelline launched their limited edition Dare to Go Nude Collection in March, I was gutted that I couldn't get my hands on the six new Color Tattoo shades. I am a massive fan of neutral shades so this collection couldn't have been more perfect for me. Whilst perusing eBay, I spotted a UK seller (here) that was selling all five shades of the Maybelline Dare to Go Nude Color Tattoo collection, and selling them at a very reasonable price too. I knew I had to snap up the shades I wanted quickly, as they were bound to sell out quickly seeing as they're all limited edition shades... I chose four of the six shades and they arrived the very next day. Since receiving my Color Tattoo's, I've bought quite a few other products from the eBay seller as they sell a lot of American exclusive products and shades.

The first shade I chose was Pure Nude which I was worried at first, may have been very similar to the shade Barely Branded (reviewed here) which I already own. Pure Nude is seriously stunning. It's a pale yellow-toned beige shade with a beautiful shimmery finish and a lot less metallic than Barely Branded.. Pure Nude has more of a sparkly iridescence to it. Just like all of the Maybelline Color Tattoo's, Pure Nude has an amazingly creamy texture which applies effortlessly all over the lid with either a brush or fingertip. It can be worn quite sheerly or it can easily be built up and works perfectly as a base for any shade of eyeshadow/s or just worn alone. I love how pretty Pure Nude is when worn alone and teamed with liquid liner.. it's just such a beautiful, easy to wear shade and even doubles up as an inner corner highlight, too. 

Snap it up quickly before it sells out!

Cute Clutches

1. Lamb 1887 The Cannes Clutch - I love the contrast of the pale grey snakeskin leather against the bright lemon piping of this clutch. The lemon yellow leather also features inside the bag, as well as being interwoven through the detachable gold chain. Not only is the outside of this clutch beautiful, the inside is fully lined with luxuriously soft suede.  

2. Lamb 1887 The Audrey Clutch - Millie Mackintosh owns this exact clutch which she used for her engagement party back in 2013, and I remember falling in love with it then. The Audrey has a colour block style in white and arctic grey, with a gold twist lock clasp and metallic trim. I also really love that all of the Lamb 1887 bags are complete with an adorable gold embossed lamb.

3. Warehouse Leather Pocket Front Clutch - How beautiful is the colour of this bag? Although it's not the most practical for someone as clumsy as myself, I must admit. I like its simple design and that it comes with a long, thin shoulder strap. It comes in a few pretty pastel shades too, if blue isn't your colour.

4. New Look Lemon Clutch - I love this bag.. although I think it would look better on holiday than in the UK. The segments are all individually stitched, and the attention to detail is amazing considering it's less than £10. I really like how big this bag is too as you can fit more than just your phone and one lipstick.

5. Klear Klutch Hologram Clutch - I have a serious love for Holographic accessories so I had to include this beaut from Klear Klutch. The clutch is made of a semi-sheer plastic with a holographic finish which is really unique with a secure popper fastening. I like how subtle the holographic finish is, as some can be a bit too garish for my liking.

6. French Connection Char Pouch Clutch - No clutch love list would be complete without a little leopard print. Call me a chav but I love (tasteful) leopard print. This clutch is 100% real leather and a pouch design so it'd be nice and roomy inside for night-out essentials. 

Which is your favourite clutch?

Anna Sui Eye Color and Lip Color Palettes Review and Swatches

Back in November Anna Sui launched her own limited edition cosmetics range, which was initially exclusive to ASOS. The range included two palettes; the Anna Sui Eye Color Palette and Anna Sui Lip Color Palette which are available to buy from Escentual for half price.

Anna Sui Lip Color Palette £14*

The Lip Color Palette has purple and gold packaging with a red and gold rose and butterfly design.. it looks very pretty (as does the Eye Palette) however the packaging doesn't include a mirror. The palette includes ten rectangular pans of lipstick and the packaging and layout is almost identical to the Stila Eyeshadow Palettes. The cardboard packaging makes the palette very lightweight but not very travel friendly as it is only secured by a magnet and can be knocked open easily. The palette includes a very frosty silver gloss, and nine extremely creamy, pigmented lipsticks. I never expected the lipstick shades to be so pigmented and most of the shades are opaque in just one swipe of a lip brush. The brush included with the palette is particularly great as it shed its bristles within the lipstick pans so I prefer to use a better quality brush or just my fingertip.

I would have loved this palette to have a mirror because the lipsticks last for around the two-three hour mark, so you'd need to take the palette out and about with you for frequent touch-ups. From the ten shades, I love seven of them (not too keen on the icy white shimmer or two brown shades) and there's a shade for every occasion. 

Anna Sui Eye Color Palette £14*

The Eye Palette has the very same layout as the Lip palette, with ten rectangular pans of shadow. The design on the eye palette is equally beautiful with a black and pastel rose design. The shadows vary in terms of their quality and pigmentation.. the first seven shades are quite smooth and pigmented and apply easily, however the last three matte shades are unfortunately quite gritty with a lot of fallout although they do perform slightly better with a cream shadow base. My favourite shades are the reddy bronze and gold.. they're really pretty.

I think that £14 is amazing for both of these palettes but in particular the Lip Color Palette; it's definitely my favourite from the two, and the better quality in terms of pigmentation and longevity. If you love the look of these palettes, be sure to snap them up soon as they're limited edition and at half price, I imagine they'll sell out pretty quickly...

Stila 'Bronze' Smudge Pot Eyeshadow & Gel Eyeliner

Cream eyeshadows are my favourites to wear and apply.. I love their longevity, and how they can be worn alone or layered under powder eyeshadow. I bought the Stila Smudge Pot Eyeshadow & Gel Eyeliner in the Lookfantastic Stila sale a few months back for just £6 (normal price is £13). I'd never tried any of the Stila Smudge Pots before, but I was intrigued as they claim to work as both a gel eyeliner and an eyeshadow. The Smudge Pot is packaged within a small, glass jar with a screwable lid. I was a little disappointed when I opened it for the first time, as you can see... it's dried out slightly, and a ring can be seen around the outside of the product as it has shrunk so much. I know I bought it in the sale, but I still think it's poor that I received mine in this state regardless of whether I paid £6 or £13 for it.

The Smudge Pot has a slightly creamy consistency, although I'm sure it's supposed to be creamier due to it being slightly dried out - seeing as it's difficult to 'smudge'. To apply the shadow I prefer to use my fingertip, as the warmth of my skin helps to blend the shadow better than a brush. Bronze is such a gorgeous shade, I really love it. It's a dark, rich chocolate brown containing gold shimmer particles and looks so pretty when worn alone on the lids. It doesn't crease or fade, and is so long wearing at over 9 hours wear. As an eyeliner I've found it difficult to apply, due to its lack of creaminess... it doesn't apply smoothly with an eyeliner brush. I love the shade of this Smudge Pot so much, but because it's dried out, it just doesn't perform as well as it could. I'm not sure I'd buy anymore of the Stila Smudge Pots as £13 is a lot of money to risk if there's a chance it could be in the state that this one was. Stila is one of my favourite makeup brands, but I can't help but feel disappointed with this Smudge Pot.. and that they should rethink their packaging to prevent this from happening again as many online reviews had the same issue.