Urban Decay - Smoked Palette

WARNING: This post contains pictures of my face. Close up. *Shudders*

UPDATE: I just noticed, this is my 50th post! Wooooo! And what a post I have for you...

You may remember (if you read my posts consistently, if you don't, why not?? :P) that for Christmas, my boyfriend Kris gave me the Urban Decay Smoked Palette. This is a palette I swooned over for months, so to finally own it was a joyous moment indeed! I literally squeaked when I opened it, that's how much I'd coveted it (and how much of a sad case I am.).

Each Smoked Palette comes in this lovely neoprene, scuba-suit-type feeling case, and is accompanied by a 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil in Perversion (Black), a travel sized Primer Potion and a handy little look book, which contains tutorials on how to use the shades to create different smoky-eyed looks.

The shades are, in order from L-R then top-bottom:

• Kinky – Light natural peach with a matte finish.
• Freestyle – Medium tan with a matte finish.
• Mushroom – Warm grey shimmer with taupe undertones.
• Backdoor – Matte dark brown.
• Blackout – Matte blackest black.
• Barlust – Metallic deep golden brown.
• Rockstar – Deep purple shimmer.
• Evidence – Navy blue shimmer.
• Loaded – Deep metallic emerald green.
• Asphalt – Shimmering gunmetal grey.

Sorry, I forgot to watch the eye pencil. Suffice to say it's extremely good quality; it is light, creamy, applies well, and comes in Perversion (black). So far I've only tried some light smokiness with this, but in the spirit of full reviewing, I tried one of the looks from the little tutorial guide. I went for a look titled: "Iconic with Colour."

Yeah it doesn't look much like the book, but I tried!! I do like the way it turned out though; smoky but subtle enough it doesn't look terrifying against my pale visage. I used Kinky, Freestyle, Loaded and Backdoor to create this look. Let me know what you think of the look!

Overall, I am so impressed with this palette. This is my first piece from Urban Decay, and it appears their eye products are of a very high quality, in keeping with the hype that surrounds them. I would definitely buy more products from their range. Not right now though, I am determined to stick to this no-buy come hell or high water! I think you can still buy the Smoked Palette online from a number of retailers, including Beauty Bay and House of Fraser.

Do you own/want to own the Smoked Palette? Any Urban Decay recommendations for me?

Christina xo

Haulosaurus Rex (i.e. When Christina got lots of lovely presents then went mental in Duty Free)

Recently it was my birthday (I had to work through most of it though, bleurgh), and to celebrate, I eventually went out with my nearest and dearest friends and family. And it was amazing! I had steak, wine and lots of catching up with my closest friends :) Birthdays, of course, also mean presents! And I was spoiled. I now have two new gins to try, a gorgeous new handbag, two stylish new canvas shopping bags and many other generous gifts. But the ones I'd most like to share with you are the beauty related ones (naturally.) And I will. In a minute. Because there's more...

I have also just returned from a week in Gran Canaria. Which means passing through the (Glasgow) airport duty free store! And it had just been refurbished with new counters *drools*. Plus once I arrived in Gran Canaria, I managed to grab a few cheeky bargains in a lovely little parfumeria. So would you like the run-down of my mental shopping spree/birthday haul?

 

Ta-Dah! I shall now break down each set of purchases for you:

DUTY FREE

Glasgow's duty free counters have always been pretty extensive (they have Dior, Chanel, OPI, Estee Lauder, Elizabeth Ardin, Clarins... you name it really), but since its refurbishment they have added a MAC counter (I literally squeed when I saw this...ask my boyfriend.) So it would have naturally been foolish not to indulge, no? So I picked up Studio Fix Fluid in NW15 (£17.50) and a single eyeshadow in Trax (£10). Trax is described on the MAC site as "Burgundy Plum with Shimmer" - the most gorgeous gold shimmer to be precise. I've recently been pairing it with some gold shades from other palettes, and the result is v.pretty :) Hopefully I will be able to master photographing my face soon so I can show you. The Studio Fix Foundation is so far doing pretty well in my estimations. It keeps me matte for quite a long time (Longer than my Dior Forever foundation) and gives a really good finish. I'll need to compare it to my 17 Miracle Matte foundation though in terms of longevity, but so far, a win!

Next stop was the Chanel counter. As I mentioned in my Wish List post, I've been eyeing up their new matte lip colour, Rouge Allure Velvet. I thought the shade La Fascinante was my dream, but when I went to swatch, I was instantly drawn to another shade, L'Exuberante, which can only be described as a deep bright pink, not fuschia, but a kind-of deep, slightly reddish, pink! I will try and get a review up with pictures soon, but suffice to say, My God, it is beautiful, and well worth the £20.50 I paid for it.

After leaving the check-out at Duty Free, I thought I was content. But alas, I had not banked on Glasgow Airport adding a Rituals store to there arsenal. And having loved their Yogi Flow Shower Foam from my Christmas Glossybox, I popped in to purchase a replacement shower foam, and picked up the matching body spray too. Delicious, luxurious smelling skin, here I come! Also, after that last stop-off, it was off to Gran Canaria with me! And this leads me on to...

HOLIDAY BUYS

One day, my boyfriend Kris and I decided we would get one of the many boats up Gran Canaria's South Coast to take us to the big town of Puerto Rico for some shopping (would not recommend staying there unless you're a typical Bulldog Brit, but like I say, some good shops) and I stumbled across a little parfumeria, where one of the ever-so-slightly-pushy sales assistants kept offering me discounts and "special prices". But there were two items I literally would have been stupid not to pick up: a 30ml bottle of Valentino's Valentina Eau de Parfum (I've seen various prices, but average appears to be £40) for around 36 euros (£29). But my piece de resistance... Getting Guerlain's Sun in the City Illuminating Powder for...37 euros (£30)!!! Not too bad considering the RRP is around £43. I am loving this just as much as my MAC Trax, and they actually pair well together too. I'm looking forward to experimenting further with it too!

BIRTHDAY TREATS

There's a reason I've added this last. One of my other presents was a Boots gift card from Claire (you can read her fabulous blog here) and I have just gotten round to spending (read: splurging) it! Having bought the Guerlain Powder, I realised that I should probably buy some proper brushes to actually use it with (and to do it justice), so after asking around I settled on getting myself some Real Techniques brushes. I bought the Base/Flawless Core collection (£21.99) and the Base/Flawless Powder Brush (£12.99). At the moment, Real Techniques brushes and sets are all on a Buy-1-Get-1-Half-Price offer in Boots, so the powder brush was only £6.50). So a big thank you to Claire! (Brushes are pictured below.)

Next up, my friends Fraser and Sara treated me to a lovely Soap and Glory gift set, which includes: Clean on Me (Shower Gel), Girligo (Moisturising Body Mist), The Righteous Butter (Body Butter), Flake Away (Body Scrub), and Hand Food (Hand Cream. I always love Soap and Glory (I rely on my Flake Away Scrub and their Fab Pore Face Mask), so I'm excited to try these products. Thanks Fraser and thanks Sara!

Last, but by no means least, my lovely brother Andrew bought me a bottle of Paco Rabanne's Lady Million. I had samples of this years ago and loved it, so I was well chuffed to finally get a full-size bottle, so again, thank you so much to my brother!

*Phew* That really is a shit-ton of stuff. I'm not going to be on a very, very strict budget in the run-up to Christmas because 1. It's the run-up to Christmas and 2. Kris and I are saving every penny we can to fund moving back to Glasgow as soon as we humanly can. So no more mental spending for me!

Does anyone have any of the products I've mentioned? Would love to know your thoughts, feelings, tips etc. All feedback is welcomed!

Christina xo