Josie Maran : Watercolour in Polynesian purple

Sephora Website

A USA brand which is getting more popular within the UK now, as Sephora has become available to order from internationally. So i was kindly given a watercolour eyeshadow from one of my closest friend's. A beautiful purple shadow which has the consistency of a liquid yet sets on the eyelid like a paint. 

What Josie say's : 

These days, lots of companies are claiming to be earth-friendly, organic, "natural," and socially responsible. As a consumer, it can be hard to figure out what those claims actually mean. I know what they mean to me. I started Josie Maran Cosmetics to make cosmetics that are top-quality and healthy for people and for the planet. I want my customers to know what effect they're having on their own health, and the world's, when they buy my products.

- The key ingredient in my cosmetics line is 100% Pure, 100% Organic Argan Oil.

- We work with our suppliers to use ingredients and packaging that minimise our impact on the earth.

- Our glass, cardboard, and PET plastic containers are recyclable.

- Most of our cartons are made from post-consumer-waste paper and printed with soy-based ink.

- Whenever possible, we source materials that support the people that produce them. 

Josie Maran Watercolour eyeshadow

50% Coconut Water, 100% Hydration. Like a refreshing sip of coconut water for your eyes, this pigment-packed liquid shadow instantly makes eyes look and feel more hydrated. It has two layers: one layer of fresh Coconut Water, and one layer of Argan-infused pigments that instantly give eyes a more youthful appearance. 

Why Josie love's it: Living on the beach in Oahu, I became a devotée of coconut water—and noticed that drinking lots of it seemed to make my skin glow. I created Coconut Watercolor eye shadow to bring that hydrating color to the eyes. Have a sip of coconut water for your face with this shadow that's cool to the touch.

What’s in it: Infused with Coconut Water and Argan Oil to provide hydration.

How I use it: Unscrew cap and insert the doe-foot applicator for a fresh first use. Shake it up! Dab a little bit of shadow directly onto lids with applicator, and finger paint to blend.

You do need to shake this shadow really well, because being a liquid and containing oil it will naturally separate. So shake it well and you can judge by checking the bottom of the glass pot, if the shadow has been completely dispersed then it's ready to use. Now you take the doe foot applicator which is provided within the package. Dip the brush in and then apply to your eye, don't overload the brush as this is still a very thin looking liquid with high pigmentation. So just dab a little off on the side of the container (you can always go back and add more) then apply to the eyelid. 

When i first received this product i was more then happy to swatch, check the consistency to see the best method of application. In my opinion and on feeling the product, i would do my base shadows and then use this shade last as my bold pop of colour or the lid shade to a cut crease. I would say the cut crease would look amazing, as you can apply just this shadow on the whole lid then lightly blend in the crease.

The swatches above are beautiful and the pigment on the shadow is stunning. The shadow dries very quickly and feels lovely on the skin. I cannot wait to use this shadow to do a look, as i want to use this in summer when the evening's are lovely sunset's and you watch the star's roll in. Ive seen the green and rose gold shade's which i would love to also purchase as they are beautiful. 

La Colours - StarGaze Palette in Make out

So I've not heard much about La Colours until my friend and makeup "soul buddy" told me about them. She had recently tried some of the palettes and said the pigment and texture was amazing for an affordable brand. So I thought lets go back to being budget conscious and check out some makeup when you want a treat, but need to watch the purse. So the palette has 16 rectangular pans of colour with metallic shades being most prominent. This palette is called the Star-gaze and I know there is a neutral palette doing the rounds on YouTube.

There ethos is -

Our research & development team continues to expand the line with innovative products, brought to you in trendsetting colors and styles. By expanding the L.A. COLORS® line we continue to add strength and dignity to the L.A. COLORS® brand. At the same time, the marketing department works side by side with management to keep pricing low and quality high, therefore, maintaining excellent customer satisfaction.

We have an enthusiastic team supporting us, from our sales department to our warehouse personnel,  thus enabling us to provide you prompt, efficient and reliable service. For over 25 years, Beauty 21 Cosmetics, Inc., and LA. COLORS® have been making superior cosmetics establishing a name in beauty industries all around the world. We look forward to serving you at all levels of commerce in the near future.

So when you open it the colours are embossed with little diamonds. It comes with a sponge applicator and they look like amazing colours on first impression. Apparently there are 3 in this range, this being Make-out then there is Admire and Contemplate. I would also love the block palette in Design. 

Now what I didn't expect was how soft these shadows are as I nearly took a chunk out of the top left blue one, when attempting swatches. This took a little run of my finger to get this payoff and its so butter to the texture that I was in shock. As you can see above the colour is very pigmented and shows true to pan . There is alot of golden and bronze tones to help add a little hint of zing to that daily look you may have. Just a dab of this and your good to go. It also blends like a dream. They are very shimmery and some shades because of the texture being so soft can fallout a little. I found a little fan brush just took that away or tape to catch the little fallout. Also if you do press too hard then some chalkiness may happen, but now I'm used to the pressure needed thats not an issue no more.

This palettes colours will not make you look disco at all and the glitter is kept to the blending you do and also with a good primer will stay as well. I'm so very impressed with these shadows that if you come across a palette in your travels, swatch that particular one and see if the pigment payoff is as good.  I've heard a few can be hit and miss so this Is why I say try before if you can. But the Star-Gazer defiantly gets a thumbs up in my book and has been used a lot in my looks this week. So keep an eye out for it. It will be listed in my what i use lists and will show the true pigments and blend ability.

LA Colors Facebook

LA Colors website (USA only sorry) 

Have you seen La Colors or used any of there products ? 

First Light Cosmetics

First Light mineral makeup is a UK british make-up company, bringing affordable and quality mineral foundations, Blush, Bronzer and eyeshadows etc. They also offer the best tools with an assurance of cruelty free products. Now this post is going to have a lot of pictures,as i want to show the quality in the pigments etc plus tell you more detail to how it applies and feels.

As said on there website plus details of the brilliant fact they also trade in some of London's most prestigious markets, meaning you can try and sample this brand up close for yourself.

First Light Cosmetics is a young British label, offering gorgeous, natural, chemical-free products, that are not tested on animals. We offer high quality mineral makeup made in UK. Our product is made of minerals that are so finely crushed and ground that they feel as weightless as silk.  We are a London based Company. Occasionally on Saturday we trade in Spitalfields Market, one of the oldest and most beautiful of London's Markets.  We will publish the dates on our Facebook page. We are member of NMTF. Find us also on I Love Markets, a new vibrant social network connecting all the exciting and cool markets in London.

I was kindly sent some products to trial for them and i must say a massive thank you. As the sample sizes in the bags were brilliant. I could get a real feel for the makeup plus have enough to play around with mixing different shades, dependant on my skin tone. I generally thought i could not wear mineral makeup due to my dry skin and it enhancing the dry patches i have at times. So after a lot of research (Youtube tutorials) and playing with methods. I finally figured it out and its not that hard at all. 

So these are the Products above and i really love the beautiful logo they have embossed on there packaging.

Lipstick in Dusk and Candlelight 

Candlelight is the raspberry red and Dusk is the nude brown 

 

So the first two products i want to share are the lipsticks. They come in the standard tube and are to me very highly pigmented. Its my first experience with mineral lipstick so I'm not sure on how it should react or apply. This was buttery but the minerals used are pressed into the lipstick so whilst you may feel that its a little lumpy, its not the quality being bad, far from it. 

From my understanding mineral lipstick is pigments pressed with natural oils, so like a powder you get the odd lump the same applies with the lipstick. This didn't impede my application and experienced no product loss, the only thing i did do was use a lip brush on further applications. Its only because the warmth is making the oils warm and once its again cool it reforms. By all means you can use this from the tube, Its just a mineral makeup tip.

Rich deep red Candlelight was my all time favourite to use as it didn't bleed or feather. Nor did Dusk and i used this as a day time nude. It was lovely and creamy. Not drying on the lips as really did make them stand out with no loss of pigment. 

Eyeshadows in Midnight Mauve and Japanese Blossom 

So we come to the Eyeshadows/Pigments, now I'm going to classify them more as an eyeshadow but you can pack these on with some makeup mixer to use them as pigment to so very universal in use. So these were the two i was kindly sent and wow, it was like they knew me and my colour loves.

 I love purples and rose gold colours, as they bring out my green eyes so much. Its what i have mostly in my collection but never have found a lovely rose gold. I've done a look with all these products at the end of the post.

 Now with mineral makeup you would expect a lot of fallout. However with the right base i packed this on with little fallout and in-fact the purple once applied then blended out so easily. Plus i could build the colour, I used my tape trick to prevent a glitter overload on the apple of my cheek. Im so impressed with these mineral shadows i think i may need to crack my others out. I literally thought they would be such hard work but nope i was proved so wrong. 

Foundations in Perfect day, Peach blossom, Spring morning and Breeze in Beaches

So i had originally been sent these in bags as the picture shows above, but i potted them so that they would be protected and also store better. It was a mix from the light collection and fair skin. As i have a Cool undertone with a tendency to then, completely change come summer to more neutral. So this gives you a chance to take literally a little finger full. Then colour mix to your complexion. These pictures are enhanced so what looks like a pile is actually a end of a teaspoon amount. You need so little, i used all four colours adding a little more of the cooler tones. Then mixed in a little container i have. Now when i had finished i kept what i had left, as its literally so little you need why throw good makeup away. I just labelled it accordingly. 

So firstly i will say as I'm on the dry to combination skin type. I moisturised, then applied a light concealer followed by a primer. Then allowed that all to absorb and was ready to apply. Now at first i was told to lightly tap it into the skin which i did on the areas i would need a fuller coverage.

Then taking a stippling brush worked my way around the face making sure to dab rather then swirl. It was so odd to me as i use full coverage and love that flawless look so when you see my picture you will understand why i was so shocked with the results. I am so impressed and now my skin is going back to its normal "summer" complexion, i can say i would rather mineral foundation, now that i know how to apply properly then a full heavy duty cream foundation. Its nice to know i have an alternative option if i decide to just dash and go rather then blending and all that faff. 

Blush in Kohilo, Zephyr and Bronzer in Santorini 

So now we come to the Blush and bronzers and really again, i would use these as eyeshadows as the pigment is amazing.  Santorini is a golden bronzer that just makes you radiate and you literally need a dab, i again took tiny little dots of an amount then stippled my brush and tapped them off to apply. As they blend so effortlessly. Now i took a light hand as i used Kohilo as a highlight/blush then used a little Zephyr and Santorini mixed to tone its all in together. The dusky pinkness of Zephyr really brings these colours together.  Finely milled and just a joy to apply as its not makeup thats caking or feeling heavy as you apply the layers. Its light, fresh and flawless plus i really wasn't used to it but i love the final look. 

So as you can see i went really lightly on the blush and bronze colours just to give a hint of colour. The eyes were done with the base being a Colour tattoo in Rose Gold, packed on the Japanese blossom and Midnight mauve, blended then simply used a liquid eyeliner and kohl for the waterline. 

The lipstick i did a duo effect with the Candlelight being on the bottom lip and the cupids bow lined the top lip, then taking dusk i filled my upper lip with this to really make the colours pop. 

I can honestly hand on heart say I'm so impressed this is flawless looking to me and i love heavy cream foundation. Now i was also sent an eyeshadow brush to use and I'm sorry i got it in a mess, so when i have it cleaned i will Instagram a picture of it to the side of my blog. Its a soft tool that picks up the minerals well, helped with packing on eyeshadow so probably is why i suffered very little to no fallout. 

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So you can find all you need here 

First Light Mineral makeup

At the minute they have a brilliant offer for samples of the makeup available. 

BUY £2.50 SAMPLE AND GET £2.50 DISCOUNT ON YOUR NEXT PURCHASE

Buy a First Light Cosmetics sample for £2.50 and we will give you a discount code for the same amount when you purchase the full product.

You can buy as many samples as you want and get a discount to the sum you spent in one card transaction. With the sample we will post you a discount code to use next time you want to buy our products online.

This offer it is specially addressed to the Foundations since we know it is difficult to find the right one. But you can purchase Finishing Powder, Bronzers and Blushers as well

You can find and buy sample on the product page, selecting the option "2g sample £2.50"

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So what do you think of my look and first look with Mineral Products ?

Urban decay fun with Smoked palette plus my super talented friend

So one of my favourite brands of makeup and defiantly attracted to the colours in the range of eyeshadows, also the primer potions i find are my favourite bases for my eyeshadows. Now I've owned the Smoked palette for a while but been so busy with the current new releases, I've hardly had time to do a full review on it. So now I'm going to show the colours and swatches plus looks I've done and my fellow Urban decay lover... Farhana. My friend is a stunning lady whom has done some looks with the new Oz collection to show off the Urban decay range and her amazing talent. 

Smoked palette

So the Smoked palette comes in a lovely fabric case that has a zipper to protect all the product inside, making it convenient for travel and also making sure your eyeshadows are less likely to smash in transit. Now this comes with a really handy booklet to show you some looks you can do with the colours and eyeliner that is also included.

Colour shades and swatches

So the colours are the usual Urban decay quality with the buttery texture and amazing blend ability. Now there is only one shade i was not to happy with and thats the black in the top right corner, i find it comes off chalky and needs a lot of working to get it to stay and cover fully. The rest of the shades are deeply pigmented and only take a little to give intense looks. You have some lovely light colours to highlight your brow bone, darker colours for the smokey look and also some amazing colours to add a flash of colour to your smokey eye. My favourite to use are the deep green and mushroom which is the silvery shimmer shade (Top middle).

The eyeliner is not in the palette as i take them out to use with other looks, they are rich and creamy plus the one included is a rich black called perversion which is a Urban decay cult classic. This eyeliner can be smoked out when on the line to add more definition to your eye looks.

So i did a look using the palette to show the amazing colour payoff and also you don't need to just do a smokey eye with it.

My look with the Smoked palette

Now i also have a dear friend who loves Urban decay and she does some amazing looks, she has kindly agreed to let me show some of the looks she has created with the Oz palettes. Which are recent editions to the Urban decay family. I think she is an amazing talent, i also hope she agrees to regularly create some looks for me to show what amazing things can be done as i love to see looks to gain inspiration. So thank you Farhana xx 

Theodora Look

Glinda Look

So i am so thrilled to own this palette, i think it offers some amazing colours that are quite unique and pigmented as always. They offer a opportunity to experiment with colour as well as keep to smokey eye looks with the help of a brilliant booklet. Plus the addition of the perversion eyeliner give you a quality liner that you don't need to worry about dragging, plus it is creamy and highly pigmented.

Do you own any of the Urban decay palettes ?

NARS Blush in Sin

So there is no surprise when i have to admit i love NARS the brand for there pigmented powders and high end makeup with its oh so beautiful packaging, however not good for my OCD clean tendencies. 

So i have a lovely friend who loves NARS as much as me and we have a mutual love for there blushes, she surprisingly gifted me this beautiful blush in the shade - Sin this week. I cannot thank her enough as it really brightened a tough week emotionally for me. So hugs to my lovely girlie xx 

So to anyone wanting to know about this particular shade, may not know i have Mata hari and orgasm already plus laguna that was in the recent, Happening palate. Now i love dusky blushes and tend to go for a more muted tone for the daytime. I do like corals for spring and vibrant hits of blush if I'm really doing a fun look to jazz it up so my blushes fall into how my mood takes me, i suppose.

NARS Powder blush -Sin

So with the usual black and white NARS packaging and the clear insert included to protect the blush, you really can see that the blush is a deep berry coloured with hints of gold shimmers, so faint and finely milled to NARS high quality. High pigment and colour payoff, which also means that blending is really easy to do and it really doesn't in my opinion call for me to contour my face. This colour is so berry/dusky that any contour would take away from the beauty of the colour of the blush. 

Swatch

NARS blushes are so worth the investment in my opinion as they are so pigmented that the amount you use will be minimal so not likely to hit pan or need replacing for a good while. Plus i love fine milled powders that don't leave the skin feeling congested as you don't want to have to touch up to powder that feels heavy and clogging. Plus as I've used more NARS powders i can really feel the difference in blush with shimmers against competitors of the cheaper variety. Where you get a lot of fallout from the blush and down your face  not just on the cheek where you want it, with NARS the shimmer stays where you want it.  Now also I've rarely needed to touch up a application of blush during the day as the colour is so good in payoff and staying power. Now i have found some more affordable powders i love  as well so i have no aversion to high street blush, just sometimes a girl likes a bit of yummy in her life.

There formula is a cut above the rest, whilst i have some drug store blushes i do love and use for daily makeup i will always want to build my NARS blush collection to have more fun with looks and as part of my new year resolution to be more creative and bold with colour.

Now I'm going to be doing a review on The happening palate and the new light reflecting powder just released in compact form.

So do you own any NARS products ? Whats on your wish list ?