Urban Decay BoSIII and NEW primer!

If you don’t know yet… Urban Decay’s new Book of Shadows III has been released on Sephora. Yes, this was the palette that sold out within 10 minutes of its release on UD’s website due to them releasing too limited stock. Its been out for a day on Sephora and still in stock, so I doubt its going to go out of sale that quickly, but if you know you really want this, then don’t hesitate.

Also Urban Decay released a set of four mini Primer Potions, including one NEW primer called Greed that is a pearly gold. It is also available on Sephora if you want to try all of the eyeshadow primers that UD has out right now, including the new one, this is a great way to see which one you like without having to buy the full size of each. Also, did I mention those little bottles last FOREVER? I’ve had my full-size for two years and I can still manage to get lots out of it.

My thoughts on the Book of Shadows? I’ve had my Alice palette for about 8 months and I’ve only used it TWICE. Its not that I don’t like it, because I really love it, but just the colour combination and everything is just off for me. Its like UD just stuck all their colour choices in a random generator and whatever came out they would put in the palettes. This is also what seems to be the case with BOSIII. I personally really just want Haight, which is a single shade, and I might just get that. My advice is if you are someone with tons of creative juices and can think of random looks to create with a totally random palette, then go for the BOSIII and any future BOS that come out. Otherwise, if you are like me and prefer a ready-made palette with all of your colours laid out for you, then I would skip and go for a nice Dior, Chanel or Guerlain palette, or even looking at Japanese eyeshadow palettes because those ones are the ultimate colour coordinations, complete with eye graphs.

That’s just my two cents.

(stock photos courtesy of Sephora)

Swatches/Review: Urban Decay Naked Palette

I finally got around to digging my fingers into the pan to swatch the Urban Decay Naked palette for you guys. It was somewhat tedious because I don’t think I’ve swatched anything of this size before, so I hope you enjoy this.

What it claims (from Sephora.com): These neutrals won’t leave you naked. THIS is how Urban Decay does neutral: Far from boring, the Naked Palette includes 5 NEW shades (with names like Buck, Darkhorse, and Virgin) in addition to seven of the brand’s most addictive best-selling eyeshadows. This is a shadow palette that everyone will want, everyone can use, and everyone will buy. Experiment with office-appropriate neutrals, summertime bronzy looks, or sultry smokiness (achieve golden, brownie, or grey-hued shade combos). Plus, you get an exclusive double-ended version of the award-winning 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil in Zero (black) and Whisky (a warm brown shade without sparkle) and a mini genie bottle of Eyeshadow Primer Potion. With all this at your fingertips…you’ll hardly need clothes at all.

The good: The majority of the shades are extremely nicely pigmented and smooth. All of the swatches were done with just one swipe (with the exception of Naked, which is a tad bit chalky for me). I am also very happy to report that none of the shades had any ridiculous glitter fallout which is usually abundant in most Urban Decay palettes; this one had a very good balance of mattes, satins and shimmers in a variety of shades. Oh and did I mention the value? you get 12 full size eyeshadows for the price of less than three, plus the “free” eyeshadow base and duo-ended eyeliner (which makes the business student in me question the markup that they put on the eyeshadows if they are selling them at nearly 80% off and still manage to make money…).

• Great texture and beautiful colour payoff
• Good variety of colours and textures
• Amazing value

The bad: There is only one thing I have to complain about this palette: the packaging. First, the packaging is made of paper/cardboard, which means its probably not very portable, nor will it last long like those with plastic or metal packaging. Second, the entire outside is wrapped in velvet, which means it will attract tedious amount of dust. Other than that, there is really nothing wrong with the palette itself.

• Packaging is not the best

Overall: This is definitely a must-have eyeshadow palette that anyone and everyone should get. You can create a variety of looks from just this one eyeshadow palette, ranging from day to night. You can even stash this at the office for a quick fix-up during the day, there is just too many usages you can get out of this one palette. Also the colours all work really well together, so you don’t need to put much thought into what colour goes with what when you’re planning your makeup in the morning. I realize this is sold out pretty much all the time now here, but don’t worry, it is a permanent product and should be around for a long, long time.

Product: 20/20

Value: 5/5

Packaging: 3/5

Ease of Use: 4/5

Overall: 32/35 | 91% | A

See swatches and more pictures!

Have you seen the new UDPP?

Image courtesy of Sephora.com

Have you guys seen the new Urban Decay Primer Potion bottles? After years of feedback from customers, Urban Decay has finally, albeit temporarily, changed the packaging of their cult favourite, the Primer Potion!

This amazing concoction is now available in a tube with a whopping volume of 25.5 mL (15 mL more than the original size!). The best part? Its in a squeeze tube. This means no more dissecting those pesky containers and then hoping it doesn’t dry up before you can use it all up. For those, like me, who still have a ton of product left in their current UDPP, you can keep it around for as long as you want if you don’t open up the new tube.

The Urban Decay Primer Potion Professional Size is available online at Sephora for a limited time only. Priced at $29USD/$31.90CAD, its just $11USD/$10CAD more than the original tube.

Are you getting yours?

FOTD with Bourjois Healthy Mix foundation *loves*

If you’ve been following me on Twitter then you’ll know that I’ve been raving about the Bourjois Healthy Mix foundation. Here is just a very simple FOTD with that foundation, a full review will be coming later. Here is just a super simple FOTD that I did in about 5 minutes. I know I look really tired… but that is because I didn’t get any shut-eye the night before and I’m also not wearing any concealer. Pictures were shot in natural lighting.

Face:

• Paul & Joe Protective Foundation Primer
• Bourjois Healthy Mix foundation in shade 53
• Diorblush in 859 Vintage Rose

Eyes:

• Urban Decay Primer Potion
• Benefit Creaseless Cream Eyeshadow in Sippin’ n Dippin’
• Soap & Glory Arch de Triumph (eyebrows)
• Anna Sui Super Long Lash mascara

Lips:

• Chanel Rouge Allure Laque in 77 Santal

This is what my makeup looked like after 13 hours of continuous wear. The foundation held up pretty well; even though my face looked, and was shiny after 13 hours of no blotting, it still looks pretty radiant.

FYI, I’m wearing the Alice in Wonderland necklace from Steph at Julu Jewelry. This is probably the most comfortable piece of jewelry I own, I love the chain and the pendants aren’t heavy so I can barely feel it around me neck. That’s pretty awesome considering I don’t usually like wearing any type of jewelry (although I do like to collect it… haha)

Below, the pictures were shot with flash.

Pore coverage has slipped a little, but thats to be expected. I didn’t touch up at all during the day.

Even though I used UDPP underneath the Benefit Creaseless Cream eyeshadow, it still creased on me… *sigh*

Review/Swatch: Urban Decay Lipstick in Naked

In my quest for the perfect nude lips, I purchased Urban Decay’s lipstick in Naked, which is supposedly the perfect nude lip you can ever find.

It is described on Sephora as being “pink nude/full coverage cream.” I definitely agree that it VERY cream and light to wear. I love the formula and the smell, which is much better, in my opinion, compared to MAC’s smell and some of their formulas (too drying!). It actually goes on quite sheer but because it is so creamy, you can layer on tons of layers and it wouldn’t look cakey. Its moisturizing for my lips too, which is a plus since I don’t have to do the lip balm thing beforehand.

As for the “nude pink” part, it is very pinky, but I expected something a little more “nude,” if that makes sense. I do love it though and think it would make a good pair with a nice neutral or classic smokey eye, but definitely not with something that has a little more colour, like maybe blue (aka Dior 5-colour iridescent eyeshadow in Electric Lights…).

Overall, I do like the formula, but because my expectations were raised so much from seeing other people say that it is the perfect nude, I am a little let down. Nonetheless, I do recommend this lipstick for people who have lighter skin. It could be my skin that is making it look not as nude… sigh. Price was okay, I got it for £11 at Boots during their UD buy 2 get 1 free promotion.