It's a Glitter Party! New Limited Edition Palettes from Essence & Catrice

Remember the face and eye palettes collaboration between sister brands Essence & Catrice earlier this year? Well, they did it again, bigger and better! 

12 palettes revolving around a royal theme have just hit the shelves of the following outlets:
Gozo:

Arkadia, Body Needs Victoria, Ta' Dirjanu Ghajnsielem & Rabat

Malta:
Fleming Pharmacy Paola, Felice Phamacy Zabbar, Brittania Pharmacy and Health Plus Pharmacies B'Bugia, Lucy Plaza and Baystreet, Milia's Zurrieq and Birgu, San Filippu Senglea, Fgura Pharmacy, PAMA, PAVI, Pick & Go Ghadira Bay, The Label Swatar, Brooklyn and JB St. Paul's Bay, JB Iklin, Fgura & Hamrun, Gerada Pharmacy Zejtun, Tony's Pharmacy Gzira.

I was sent the Supreme Party Palette which contains 28 nude and smoky eyeshadows with different finishes. First, let's have a word about the packaging. Everything about it screams princess - from the glitter on the front to the eyeshadow names and the cute stickers that come with it, this palette has everything to achieve a tiara-worthy party look! The size of it, although bulky, shouldn't be a problem to fit an a drawer because it is sleek and even if it didn't fit, it would make a gorgeous decorating piece!

Let's have a look at the swatches. All of the swatches are without primer and most of them have excellent pigmentation. Some of the lightest shades need some work to show up and some of the darker ones are on the powdery side.

I have already tried this eyeshadow palette and the shades have good staying power and pigmentation as can be seen from the swatches. Do however be mindful of fallout and I would advise applying your foundation on last when using this palette.

Here's the makeup look I did for an event last weekend using the shades You're Invited, Living The Dream, Princess Diary and Lady Like.

Which ones will you get? If I were you, I'd get a couple extra ones to give as stocking fillers at Christmas 😉

PR Sample

First Impressions | MAC Cosmetics Snowball Limited Edition Christmas 2017

MAC's most hyped Snowball Collection has finally hit their 3 local stores last Friday and it is almost sold out! Luckily I managed to get what I wanted out of the collection so here's a first impressions post.

Right off the bat, you can tell that MAC has really made an effort with the packaging - everything is so pretty with the shattered gold tubes, pots and compacts and let me tell you, this collection is very photogenic!

photo courtesy of The Beauty Club Malta Facebook page

None of the kits and eyeshadow palettes seen online are available locally which I admit is a bummer, but, this is what is available locally (until stocks last that is):

- Crystal Adornments for Face & Body

- Lash 36 Gold & Lash 64 Silver

- 5 Extra Dimension Eyeshadows: Starry Starry Night, Delicate Drift, It's Snowing, Stylishly Merry, Frostwinked

- 6 Lipsticks: Shimmer & Spice (Frost), Holiday Crush (Frost), I'm Glistening (Frost), Warm Ice (Frost), Rouge En Snow (Matte), Elle Belle (Amplified)

- 2 Impalpable Glare Powder: Here Comes Joy, Happy Go Dazzingly

I got two lipsticks and an eyeshadow. The lipsticks I picked out are Shimmer & Spice and Holiday Crush and the eyeshadow is It's Snowing. Again, how gorgeous is the packaging? 😍 I'm loving the transparent boxes they come in too! The printed gold snowflakes makes them even more Christmassy!

Shimmer & Spice has the most beautiful duochromatic shift from burgundy to gold with a frost finish while Holiday Crush is a muted nude with a frost finish. I have only worn Shimmer & Spice for now and there's nothing bad to say about it - the colour doesn't go on patchy, has excellent colour payoff and although you will need retouching, it still lasts long enough. The lipsticks cost €19.50 each.

The eyeshadow is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen and it's such a pity to use - my heart almost stopped when I had to swatch it for the first time because I really don't want to ruin the snowflake design. Again, colour payoff is always amazing with MAC so there are no issues with this product either. Price is €22.50.

The prices for the products in this collection are a little more expensive than the core products but I didn't mind that as I'm still getting a great quality product that looks pretty too!

The MAC Snowball Collection is available at MAC Valletta, MAC Sliema and MAC Tigne Point.

Flormar Tropical Splash Limited Edition Collection

Summer is all about bright colours and Flormar is definitely on the right track with the brand's summer collection proposition for 2017 - Tropical Splash.

The collection boasts a vast array of products: 4 nail enamels, 6 lipsticks and 6 matching lip glosses, 8 eyeshadows, a mascara, 2 highlighters, 4 bronzers, 2 perfumes and 4 body mists - that's a mouthful isn't it?!

With all the bright colours available in this collection and the super stunning packaging, I was already taking note of which products to get from this collection when, much to my delight, I arrived home after a long day at work to a lovely surprise - I was sent some products from this collection to try out. I took them with me to a weekend getaway in Gozo to try them out and haven't let go of them since!

The packaging has summer written all over it with the ombre boxes reminding me of the perfect summer landscape - clear skies, cool blue waters and warm golden sands! The same ombre effect is translated onto some of the products too such as the lipsticks, whereas other products such as the mascara and bronzer have a monochromatic packaging.

Tropical Sun Bronzing Powder BR01 Maldives | Dramatic Volume Mascara Black
Tropical Lipstick 04 Orange Sunrise | Summer Metallics Eyeshadow 07 Emerald

Of course the product that caught my eyes first was the lipstick. I was sent the shade 04 Orange Sunrise which is an orange-based red. I have to admit that I am not particularly drawn to such shades because I am quite pale, however, I was surprised at how much this shade suited me! I like the buttery-soft formula on this lipstick, not to mention the awesome pigmentation and a smell that reminds me of watermelons - it can't get more summery than that!. I put this lipstick to the test for dinner and I am happy to say that it lasted all throughout. Naturally, it did fade away a little but for a regular lipstick that doesn't have a matte finish, I honestly didn't expect it to last that long!

As much as I prefer to wear bright colours on my lips, I just had to somehow incorporate this gorgeous emerald shade for a dinner date with my better half as it happened to match the dress I was going to wear. I used the eyeshadow to line my bottom lashes for a hint of colour though I wouldn't rule out the possibility to wear it as a full colour on my lids. Pigmentation is ok - not too strong but just enough for the colour to show up nicely. Green is one of my favourite colours and I think it complements my eye colour; even my boyfriend commented on how good it looked on so that's a big plus ;)

Next, I have one of the best mascaras I have ever owned. I have a couple more Flormar mascaras which I find to be of very good quality and they really give my lashes a nice, fanned out look but this Dramatic Volume Mascara outdid them all hands down! The wow factor lacking in the packaging is made up for with the exceptional performance of this mascara - it has the perfect brush to achieve a full fanned-out look which gives the illusion of wearing false lashes. It has a nice, deep black colour which coats the lashes in an even, non-clumpy manner. The only 'issue' I have with this mascara is that I would have liked it better to be waterproof since we are talking about a summer makeup collection but other than that, this gets a 10/10 from me.

Lastly, I have the ubiquitous product in every summer collection - bronzer. Compact bronzers are my favourite as you can build up the colour to your preferred intensity. I am really enjoying this one at the moment as it has a matte sort of finish that makes the product very versatile - you can use it for contouring, instead of a blush, or even to give you an overall tanned appearance. The compact even comes with a mirror inside and the bronze packaging had me in awe as soon as I took it out of the box, this is most definitely a go-to product! Moreover, the colour, BR01 Maldives is the perfect match for my light complexion.

Overall, I think you got the gist that I really like this collection, so thank you Flormar for sending these products over! Flormar has stores in Paola and St. Julian's which are worth checking out for some fabulous products at very affordable prices!

PR Samples

New Launches at M.A.C. | New Retro Matte colours, Shadescents & New Collaborations

Last Wednesday afternoon I got the chance to sample the new collections and launches at M.A.C. thus of course, a blog post ensues! I got to discover the all new launches with Maia, my makeup artist for the day.

In all, I have five new collections to talk about so without further ado, let's get right into them. I'm going to start with the three collaborations first.

M.A.C. has collaborated with three makeup maestros to create collections which reflect their own signature style. Apart from the makeup artists' names, the products in each collection, all feature the full name expansion of M.A.C. - Makeup Art Cosmetics which is what M.A.C. is all about after all; art in makeup!

Diane Kendal -  this collection is all about contouring and highlighting with a touch of rich colours. The collection features two Quiktrik Sticks, 1 Conceal & Correct palette, 1 Casual Colour Lip & Cheek palette and 1 Cream Shadow palette, plus 4 Kajal Crayons in rich jewel tones and a detailing brush.

M.A.C. x Diane Kendal collection + Kajal Crayons Swatches

James Kaliardos - this collection focuses on a more natural look and features 2 Full Face Kits (similar to the ones in the Ellie Goulding Collection), 1 Haute & Naughty Mascara, a Jumbo Penultimate Eyeliner, 2 Eye Brow mechanical pencils, 2 Tricolour Lipglasses, 2 Lip Pencils, a face brush and an eye brush, 2 Into The Well eyeshadows and 2 Pressed Pigments together with 4 lipsticks and Small Cluster Lashes.

M.A.C. x James Kaliardos Collection + Full Face Kit (Moons of Saturn) swatches

Kabuki Magic - the last one of the collaborations is probably the one that stands out the most, the Kabuki Magic collection which features 4 Retro Matte Lip Colours, eyelashes, a Powder Blush Duo, 2 Crystal Glaze Glosses, 4 Paints, a nude eyeshadow palette and a Dazzleshadow palette. The collection also comprises two eye brushes.

M.A.C. x Kabuki Magic Collection + Retro Matte Liquid Lipcolours swatches

Next are the Retro Matte Liquid Lipcolours - 15 new colours with a brand new, easier to work with formulation. I'm happy to say that the new Retro Mattes feature more wearable tones than the previous collection and the formula on these new ones is way better in terms of application and longevity. These will stay in the permanent collection.

Lastly, we have the highly anticipated Shadescents - 6 new perfumes which correspond to six of the most popular lipstick shades from M.A.C. In fact, the lipsticks in question have all been given a revamp for them to match the perfume. The available shades are Crème d'Nude, Velvet Teddy, Candy YumYum, Lady Danger, My Heroine and Ruby Woo. The perfumes will also remain part of the permanent collection.

Finally, I had the chance to try out some of the items from all collections and I let Maia work her magic...

Some of the products used to create my look at M.A.C.

Of course, I didn't leave empty handed and purchased the Kabuki Magic Retro Matte Lip Colour in Sweet Thing and the James Kaliardos Into The Well Eyeshadow in Midnight Tryst. I was also kindly given a Retro Matte Lip Colour in the shade Cafe' Au Chic which I am really excited to wear.

Head down to M.A.C. at Debenhams The Point or the M.A.C. store in Tower Road Sliema during February and discover all the new collections yourselves!

First Impressions | Urban Decay Full Spectrum Palette

Behold: Urban Decay's biggest and most colourful palette yet! Yes! The Urban Decay Full Spectrum palette has finally made its way to my eyeshadow palettes collection! And I don't think I am exaggerating when I say it's the brightest and the biggest one I own to date!

Let's have a closer look at what the latest lust-worthy palette from UD is all about. First things first, the packaging - it's very similar to other UD palettes in that there are the shades depicted on the outer box. However, it is much bigger than the other palettes - it contains 21 shades as opposed to the standard 12 shades that usually compose the brand's palette. You can compare the size of the palette here against the Naked Ultimate Basics.

The Full Spectrum palette comes in a black square layout palette with a magnetic closure. The ouside is just as beautiful as the inside (we'll get to that in a minute) with glossy parallel lines going all across the lid and down to the sides. The lid also features a multi-faceted rainbow coloured UD logo on the bottom right side underneath which is the name of the palette, also in rainbow colours.

On opening, there is a mirror as big as the lid and of course, there are the colours on the bottom compartment. The palette also comes with a small, double ended eyeshadow brush. The eyeshadows are arranged in a rainbow sequence of which there are three variations of the traditional rainbow colours. The last row is made up of grey, black and white - there really is a full spectrum of colours in there ;)

Urban Decay being Urban Decay, it is no surprise that most of the shades have a shimmer or frost finish. In fact, they only matte shade I can spot is Bump (white). Here are swatches and a description of all the shades:

Alchemy (deep fuchsia satin)
Gossip (bright metallic pink with subtle shimmer)
Paranoia (soft metallic blue-pink)
Warning (deep metallic copper)
Seize (bright metallic coral with subtle shimmer)
Jones (metallic orange with subtle shimmer)

Midnight Blaze (black matte with yellow-gold shimmer)
Calavera (bright yellow matte with subtle shimmer)
Goldmine (metallic yellow-gold)
Hundred (deep metallic forest green)
Hatter (vibrant green with tonal micro-sparkle)
Mean (bright metallic lime green)

Minx (deep navy matte with floating tonal pearl)
Blindsided (bright teal blue matte with floating pearl)
Metamorphosis (vibrant periwinkle blue with micro-sparkle)
Delirious (deep plum matte with subtle floating pearl)
Sketch (metallic medium purple)
Faded (lavender with gold shimmer)

Platonic (black matte with iridescent glitter)
Iced (oyster silver with shimmer)
Bump (white matte)

All shades are very pigmented and I find they last me all day (with the use of a primer of course) with no issues of creasing whatsoever and I only experienced fallout with the heavily shimmery shades. I have to point out though that the blue shades are a little patchy.

Would you give in to buying this palette? I got mine from feelunique.com for €49.54 with 10% off (usual price is €55.04).