Catrice Absolute Nude and Rose Eyeshadow Palettes

You may have already heard the news (or even seen it among new things in the drugstore) that Catrice released a new chocolate inspired palette, which unsurprisingly is also very high on my wishlist. The news of that palette made me think of other such palettes by Catrice, namely the Absolute Nude and Absolute Rose versions, since I already have the Absolute Matt palette. I am a huge fan of the latter and I think it's probably the best such palette in the drugstores here. Absolute Nude was the one that started the whole line and I'm kicking myself for not picking it up earlier because it's such a lovely palette, while the Rose one is from the spring revamp and I heard mixed opinions about it, ranging from it's terrible to it's amazing. I find a bit repetitive, but worth the purchase. 

CATRICE Absolute Nude Eyeshadow Palette

010 All Nude

Absolute Nude contains a collection of neutral eyeshadows, ranging from light to dark and all are shimmery or with a satin finish (just the last one), but I love especially the medium shades, as they are great one-wash colours. I like that there is also a variety of hues - gold, rosy, bronze and deep taupe. 

The first shade is a very shimmery light gold-beige and its best use is as an inner corner highlight. The second is a neutral shimmery shade with a rosy hue and it might be similar to All that Glitters by Mac. Third is a classic medium brown shade, similar to YDK from Urban Decay, only a bit more rosy and it's my favourite in the palette. The forth is a old gold-brown shade that reminds me of Patina by Mac, except it's more brown. The last two are cool toned browns that look very similar on the eyes, but the fifth shade is a bit lighter and not as cool as the sixth.

CATRICE Absolute Rose Eyeshadow Palette

010 Frankie Rose to Hollywood

The rosy-purple theme is obvious in this palette and it definitely drew inspiration from the popular Urban Decay's Naked 3 palette. I don't own any such shades from before, as my collection mostly consists of warm bronze and taupe eyeshadows, so this was a great way to expand my shade range. The one thing I'm not too happy about is the variety of shades. Two pairs of colours look the same on my eyes, so the selection of available colours is reduced to four. 

First two shades are light as well as sheer, so there isn't much difference between them on the eyes. The first one is a light pink with a satin finish and the second one is a bit darker pink again with a satin finish. The next two shades also appear almost identical when swatched, the only difference is that one is cooler medium rosy brown and the other a warmer version of this colour, but on the eyes there is no difference as far as I'm concerned. The fourth shade is a matte medium taupe shade, which has a slight purple hue, and it's brilliant. It's so soft, creamy and pigmented that it's almost like a cream eyeshadow. The last shade is a deep warm purple with red shimmer, which was probably inspired by Mac's Beauty Marked. It's nicely pigmented, but it doesn't actually look purple on the eyes, instead it's more like deep brown with red shimmer.

The quality of the eyeshadows is nice as far as I'm concerned. They of course don't feel as silky and aren't as pigmented as Urban Decay's for example, but they are nice enough, especially for the price. However, I think that the Matt version is far superior in terms of quality to both of these. Absolute Rose palette is less pigmented on a whole, but that taupe shade is such a pleasant surprise. It seems that Catrice knows how to make excellent matte eyeshadows, while the rest leave some room for improvement. I like the quality of the Rose palette, but I miss variety. I've been wearing Nude version a lot more because I find that such shades suit me more that rosy colours. I mostly wear that medium brown YDK-ish shade with the darkest cool brown, but I really miss a matte base shade, like the first one in the Rose palette. I can't report anything significant about the staying power of either of these. They last well enough for me and I don't expect them to last all day. These also don't crease on me.

These cost 5.29 € and I got both of them in Müller. I can't wait for the chocolate version.

Have a great day!

I Heart Makeup Black Velvet Eyeshadow Palette

Makeup Revolution with their subsidiary brand I <3 Makeup has so many new beauty launches in short spans of time that I have trouble following them all, so this palette completely eluded me. Nonetheless, when I first opened it, I was greeted by a lovely sight on a nice collection of neutral eyeshadows. But when I started using it, it was exactly as I expected for a budget palette.

Black Velvet palette contains 16 eyeshadows, most of them are matte and three are satin-shimmery ones. Upon first inspection it looks like a lovely collection of neutrals, but when you start swatching them you realize how similar some shade are - certainly too similar to be in one palette. The quality varies from eyeshadow to eyeshadow, as is the standard for MR palettes, but much to my surprise the shimmery ones are some of the poorest in the palette. Mattes perform ok, again some better than the others, but mostly the shades are sheer and need a lot building up as well as some are a bit chalky. This is not a palette I'd pick up when in a hurry, especially since I'm quite inpatient and I don't want to slowly build up the colour on my lids. This sheerness also brings about another problem - a lot of the shades, even in varying intensities look alike on the lids if you don't apply a lot of them. Building up the colour is the main thing you need to know about this palette.

True - a cream shade with a matte-satin finish. A classic base colour.

Want - taupe with a slight rosy hue and a matte finish. Great shade for in the crease for pale people with a cool/neutral skin tone. Appears creamy in the pan, but needs building up.

Long - a shimmery light gold. Such a disappointing shade due to poor pigmentation. It's like a sheer wash of shimmer on the lids, unless you really build it up with fingers because it's almost impossible with a brush.

Feel - a medium brown-bronze shade. Less disappointing than Long, but you still need so many layers for decent opacity. I don't know why this shade performs bellow average, as a similar colour in the I Heart Sin palette is really good.

Black - classic matte black. 

Baby - light matte cool pink. Another base colour. I don't really understand why it was needed in the palette since there is already a double sized cream base shade True, but you could argue that this pink one is more brightening or better on cool tones. 

Please - a curry colour or a warm medium matte yellow-brown. This has a slight orange hue on my skin due to warmth of the shade, but I tend to use it in the crease or all over the lid. The pigmentation is not the best.

Sweet - warm matte brown-terra rossa shade. A nice shade to put in the crease for warm skin tones and I use it like that as well, but it also looks nice all over the lid. The pigmentation is much better than at Please. 

Sin - deep matte grey-taupe. This looks quite intense in the pan, but it's sheerer on the skin and also a touch warm, so it looks like a deep warm taupe on the eyes. Pigmentation is not the best.

Tender - a touch lighter cream shade than True. No need to have this in the palette as well.

Slow - medium matte grey. Pigmentation is ok.

Sweet (yes, another one. I'm as confused as you are) - medium vintage rose shade with a matte finish. It's a very interesting shade and I like it on the lids, but the pigmentation is just decent.

Bring - medium cool brown. One of the best pigmentations in the palette.

Wild - a warm purple. A pleasant surprise in the otherwise quite neutral palette. Pigmentation is nice for a matte eyeshadow in such a purple shade.

Cry - gunmetal  shimmery deep grey. Nice pigmentation, but to me it feels a bit out of place in this palette.

Velvet - another black eyeshadow, but of a slightly lesser quality than the other one. Not sure why the felt it necessary to have two black eyeshadows.

Due to the need of layering, the staying power is actually quite good. It doesn't last amazingly well, but it can survive a regular school/work day if you have normal or dry lids, while on greasy ones these will crease, so I suggest a primer. 

The packaging is made from velvet, which gathers dust like crazy (why would they think this is a good idea?) and it has a black (khm…gaudy…khm) crystal in the middle. The quality of the packaging is nice, it's sturdy and nothing is loose, plus it has a big mirror. 

This palette is a classic Makeup Revolution quality meaning it's far from amazing, but it's not at all bad. The pigmentation and quality varies from eyeshadow to eyeshadow and most need a lot of building up preferably with good quality brushes, but you can create a nice look with it if you have patience. My perhaps odd complaint would be that I just feel like I can't make a nice combination with these colours. Just like something is off in most looks I try to do. Perhaps it's just that this palette contains colours that are too warm for my skin tone. But if you like the colours and think that this will work for you, then give it a go. 

Black Velvet palette costs £7.99 on Makeup Revolution.

I Heart Makeup paleta senčil Black Velvet stane 10,95 € na Ličila.si.

*I was sent this palette.

Max Factor Excess Shimmer Bronze

There was much talk about these a few months ago, though I feel that the hype had subsided by now, these remained in the back of my mind as being a nice drugstore buy. When I first saw the full price of these, I swiftly recoiled and focused on the rest of the Max Factor stand, but when I got a not so shy discount coupon, this eyeshadow was the first to land in my shopping basket. There were four shades available here and two caught my attention. The lighter taupe-champagne shade called Copper and this one called Bronze. Since the former was out of stock, I got this, which was my first choice anyway.

Bronze is a medium-deep warm brown shade with some bronze tones in it and gold shimmer. I think this would be a great shade on all eye colours, especially blue as it would emphasize it. It's quite a dark shade, so it's better for smoky eyes, though if you decide to wear only a sheer wash, it could be an everyday shade for those who are comfortable with such a look. 

The texture is very soft, almost like a cross between a mousse and a liquid eyeshadow, so the lightest touch of the surface with a finger leaves you with tons of colour. I would advise to apply this gradually, with lots of blending between applications to get a nice soft focus blend at the edges. It's difficult to apply in such a way that the lid is covered with an opaque coat of eyeshadow as firstly you need a lot of layers if you want a nicely blended look and secondly this creases. You'll see on my eyes how remarkably beautiful it looks when my eyes are open, but it looks patchy once they're closed. It doesn't look like that at first and I was quite disappointed to see all my blending work, which wasn't easy, erased by tiny creases that appear after about a minute. It all depends on the thickness of the eyeshadow coat, so light layers work a lot better, but I just wanted that nice liquid metal effect and with this it doesn't really work. I do love it as a nice wash of colour though and I still think this is a product that works best as a base rather than an individual eyeshadow.

Staying power is difficult to determine because it depends on how you perceive durability. Do you mean how long does the eyeshadow look intact, so with no creases or do you just care how long any colour remains on the lids? If you care about the latter, then it lasts long enough to get you through the day, but it won't look pretty. As I said before, I'd definitely put an eyeshadow over it because in that case you'll get a nice intense eyeshadow look paired with nice staying power.

I tend to apply these with fingers, though it's possible to use a brush, however, I just feel that with a brush it's ever messier. I apply the colour with a finger on the lid and then tap outwards, finishing with a blending brush around the edges for I get a nice haze of colour.  

I applied a thicker coat on my pictures, because I presume most would buy this eyeshadow to get that liquid metal effect. If you apply it more as a wash, it doesn't look as creased, but it does crease.

I general, I'm not as impressed by this as with Maybelline's Color Tattoos. They are definitely messier and they crease, but I am completely in love with this shade because I think it compliments my eye colour so well. I've been pairing it with Smog eyeshadow from the Urban Decay Naked palette, though that one is definitely a more gold shade than this and would really like to find an eyeshadow that would match this one from Max Factor.

These cost 9.99 € in DM. Are they worth it? Only if you really like the shade and you plan to use it as a base. Otherwise I'd go with Maybelline's Tattoos.

Have a great day!

Kiko Long Lasting Stick Eyeshadow 38 Golden Taupe

When I was planning to order from Kiko, these eyeshadows were at the top of my list to buy. The hype surrounding these is impossible to ignore, especially since they have been dubbed as the dupe for By Terry Ombre Black Star eyeshadows. Eyeshadows in stick form were one of my first eyeshadows ever, but back then they were dry and tugged on the lids, so I haven't bought one since. This is completely different and find it nothing short of amazing, so believe me when I say that the hype is justified.

The texture is so creamy and in reminds me of Maybelline's Color Tattoo, just in a more convenient stick form. It just glides in the eyes, without tugging or dragging and you don't have to go over the line a  million times for an opaque and even finish. This shade is very pigmented, but of course as you blend the intensity diminishes, so you have to build up the colour if you want a nicely blended look with the intense colour on the lid. It blends so well and with any blending brush I've tried, from the classic MAC's 217 to the inexpensive synthetic eBay one. 

Once it sets it doesn't move for ages. It only creases at the end of the day and even then it's not in any way tragic (I have normal lids). Their claim about an 8 hour no-transfer eyeshadow is not exaggerated as far as my experience goes. For a cream eyeshadow to perform so well, is quite an achievement.

38 Golden Taupe is a neutral taupe shade with an equal mix of brown and grey, so a type of shade I love wearing and in the same colour family as Satin Taupe, which pairs excellently with Golden Taupe. It has quite large, but sparse chunks of gold-green shimmer, which to me looks out of place, especially when the eyeshadow is blended out, but it's not too distracting and it's still a nice everyday shade.

This is one of the most impressive eyeshadow formulas I've tried so far and if you love Maybelline's Tattoos you'll love this as well. I wouldn't mind having some more shades in my collection, especially after seeing shade 06 that my fellow Slovene bloggers, Petra and Sandra ordered. I also like shade 04 Golden Chocolate that Nadja swatched here.

These cost 6.90 € and they are so worth it.

Have you tried these? Have a great day!

New in: Kiko Purchases

Long Lasting Stick

38 Golden Taupe

There is quite a hype surrounding these stick eyeshadows, especially since they have been dubbed as the dupe for By Terry Ombre Blackstars. I completely get the hype and these definitely deserve it. The texture is amazingly creamy, in fact, it reminds me of Maybelline's Color Tattoos, but in stick form. The stick just glides on the eyes without any tugging, the shade is very pigmented and it blends out so well. The shade I got is a neutral-warm taupe shade, which is in the same colour family as Satin Taupe, but what surprised me is the amount of shimmer in it. The shimmer is quite big and gold-green, so to me it looks a bit out of place, especially when the eyeshadows is blended, but I still love the shade (swatches are towards the end of the post). Staying power is amazing and once it sets it doesn't budge. On my normal lids it goes strong for over a half a day and it doesn't crease. I've been wearing this loads and I'd love to have a few more shades.

6.90 €

Velvet Touch Creamy Stick Blush 

07 Natural Rose

I expected this shade to look a bit different, in particular something like Catrice's Nuts About you, so a natural brownish-rose shade, but Natural Rose is in fact quite pink on me, which is still fine. It's buttery and transfers well on the cheeks in an even swipe, however, I find it's not as easy to blend it evenly on the cheeks with fingers. It's nothing major, but since you're swiping it directly on the skin and blending later, it moves the foundation around, so it can give a bit of a patchy effect, especially when it's fading. I find that it works a lot better if I use a stippling brush to blend. Staying power is quite a strange thing at this blush. If I use fingers it fades a bit patchy and fast, while if I use a brush it stays put a lot better and fades evenly. The finish is natural, so not dewy nor matte.

7.90 €

Velvet Mat Lipstick

612 Strawberry Pink

Kiko has so many lipstick shades and I swear I checked the entire internet for as many swatches as I could possibly find to choose the one for me (I really need to see them in person once). I wanted something completely different from what I already own and Strawberry Pink was literally the last minute choice before I ordered. I definitely don't have anything like it in my collection, but in essence it's just a very classic and almost vintage rose-nude-brown-ish shade. I presume this would be a my-lips-but-better shade on a lot of people, but on me it already gives a bit more colour while still being a natural shade. I wish it were a bit pinker, but you'll see in a full review how it looks on me and judge for yourself. The formula is very creamy upon application, so it's the type of lipstick that glides nicely on the lips leaving behind a classic creamy finish. It does get more matte with wear, but by that time a lot of the colour has worn off, so as far as I'm concerned this doesn't differ from a regular creamy finish lipstick. Just as Sara (Passing Fancy) I noticed  that sometimes it does get a bit uncomfortable on the lips after a few hours. My lips are almost never dry, but this leaves me with a tight feeling on my lips, even though the lips don't look dry. The packaging of this is seriously cool though. 

6.90 €

Smart Lip Pencil

709 Magenta

This is so my colour. It's a deep, bright magenta colour or a deep hot pink with a bit of red. You'd think it's similar to Relentlessly Red, but it is in fact darker and a lot less coral. It's one of those shades that just works with my colouring. The formula of the pencil is very soft and it doesn't tug on the lips, so it's actually similar to Bourjois' pencils, but less waxy. If you love Essence pencils, you'll love these as well. The staying power is a bit disappointing as due to softness it's smudges easily and doesn't survive eating or drinking, which a lot pencil do, but the colour is seriously gorgeous.  

2.50 €

Nail Lacquer

345 Jade Green

I had to get the mint green nail polish, I can't go against my nature. Jade Green is a greener version of Mint Candy Apple, but with a much better performing formula. My Mint Candy Apple is very old and the formula of it is pretty much a nightmare, so Jade Green applies like a dream compared to that one, but it still has those classic faults of the pastel formula, however, all is rectified with two coats.

3.90 €

You may already know that I ordered with two other Slovene bloggers, Petra from Adjusting Beauty and Sandra from Keep Calm and Wear Lipstick, so here is our entire order. Both Sandra and Petra ordered shade 06 of the Long Lasting Stick eyeshadows, so they'll have reviews of that shade as well. 

Sandra got the shade 614 Dark Berry from the Velvet Matte lipstick range, so check out her post if you want to see swatches and first impressions. She writes in Slovene, so if you're an international reader I can sum up for you by saying it's a darker shade on the lips than it appears in the tube and as far as texture is concerned she has the same findings as me (by the way, yes the pictures in that post were taken by me if the same background confuses you. Apart from the swatches, those are hers).

I know I'll get questions about the order, so I might just write about it now. I ordered on Kiko's international site, which ships to certain countries (check here which). They offer Paypal as a payment option. The shipping is expensive if you order under 50 €. It's 8.90 € to Slovenia and it varies from country to country, so it definitely pays to order in bulk because in that case the shipping to Slovenia is only 2€. It took a week for the order to arrive, which is average for shipping inside EU. It was all well packed, nothing got broken and all items I ordered arrived in one box. Overall a good shopping experience, but the shipping costs under 50 € need to be addressed. 

Oh and another thing. Since I posted the order on Instagram I've had a flood of messages asking me if they can join my next order - will I sound too mean if I ask you kindly to stop asking me that? I have no plans of ordering in the near future and I ordered with the other two bloggers because I know them for quite a while, so I know I can truly trust them. It's a huge responsibility for me to organize everything, please be aware of that. I used to do this regularly, but things got messed up once, so I stopped. 

Same goes for potential Boots orders. I hope I don't sound too rude, the last thing I want to do is offend anyone.

Have a great day!

My Ideal Palette Tag

I was tagged to do this post ages ago by Taya and I actually had the pictures ready for months as well. Now I'm actually thinking I may have done this tag too fast because I just got the Urban Decay's Naked2 Basics palette and Catrice's Absolute Matt palette, which I both use daily and love to bits. But then my choice of eyeshadows would be even harder, so let's just keep the original selection and I'll talk about those two awesome palettes at a later date.

This tag was created by a Youtuber Carah Amelie, here is the link to her video. The rules are simple, the choices are hard, but your ideal palette should contain 10 eyeshadows combining 2 highlighting shades, 2 lid colours, 2 crease colours, 2 outer V shades and 2 extra colours. The last detail is that you describe your ideal packaging.

I'm still very much a newbie when it comes to this eyeshadow business and I'm a matte eyeshadow girl through and through, but still my choices were not that easy. Here they are.

Highlight Colour: URBAN DECAY W.O.S.

from the Naked Basics Palette

A matte pink-toned skin colour base colour. I don't actually use a highlighting shade under the brow due to my hooded eye shape, as it emphasizes the hooded part of the lid, but I do use this shade as a base all over the lid and as a blending-out colour. This shade fits my undertone a bit better than Foxy from the same palette, though they are very similar on the skin.

 Highlight Colour: URBAN DECAY Sin 

from the Naked Palette

A shimmery light rose-pink toned highlighting shade. Though I don't use a highlighter under the brow, I do use it sometimes in the inner corner and I find this shade the best for the job. I also love this shade all over the lid paired with a matte taupe-brown in the crease.

Lid Colour: MAC Satin Taupe

frost

A taupe-brown with a purple hue and a satin finish. This is such a classic eyeshadow and one of the most popular MAC colours. It works so well with my eye colour. It's nice for an everyday look or a smoky eye, it just depends on with what you pair it.  

Lid Colour: URBAN DECAY Smog

from the Naked Palette

A bronze-brown with gold shimmer. This is a fantastic colour for a bronze smoky eye and again it's a colour that emphasizes my eye colour. I don't usually wear strong eye looks because due to my hooded shape they don't really come to focus, but when I do wear it, I use this on the lid with a darker shade in the outer V. I also love this shade on the lower lash line paired with a classic neutral taupe look that I do everyday, to add a bit of a twist to the makeup.

Crease Colour: L'OREAL Color Riche L'Ombre Pure 106 Breaking Nude

A classic matte taupe. This is my favourite eyeshadow ever and by far the best performing matte ever. I adore the colour, the texture, staying power - everything. I tend to wear it in the crease.

Crease Colour: MAC Wedge

matte

A matte medium neutral brown shade. It's a classic crease shade and a transition colour.The texture is hard, especially compared to Urban Decay's, L'Oreal's or Catrice's , but I love it for the colour. This is perfect for contouring as well.

Outer Corner Shadow: URBAN DECAY Faint

From the Naked Basics Palette

A deep cool toned brown. I adore this for the outer corner. It adds just the right amount of depth and definition. 

Outer Corner Shadow: MAC Mulch

velvet

A red-brown with bronze pearl. I struggled which shade to put here and I didn't pick my favourite because I believe it's discontinued or at least hard to track down. I'm talking about L'Oreal's Infallible eyeshadow in Endless Chocolat. Mulch is similar, but a bit lighter and not as pigmented. Most companies have a deep chocolate shade with gold shimmer, Catrice's Liquid Metal in 090 Nougat It Right comes to mind as the most affordable and of great quality. 

Bonus Shadow: L'OREAL Infallible eyeshadow 21 Sahara Treasure

A very shimmery soft golden taupe. I used to wear this all the time as it's such a quick eyeshadow do use - just apply with fingers and blend a bit with a fluffy brush. It has a very shimmery, almost liquid metal finish, so it's nice for special occasions.

Bonus Shadow: MAC Patina

frost

A light antiqued gold with gold shimmer. This is without a doubt one of the most unique eyeshadows I've ever seen. I've never ever heard of a dupe for it. It doesn't look like much in the pan, but on the eyes it's a stunner. Again, it brings out the blue in my eyes. My only little complaint is that I wish it'd be more pigmented as it needs to be build up for intensity even on my super pale complexion. 

Palette Packaging

I like things small and compact, so something like Naked Basics palette is superb, but an even more appealing packaging to me would be that of a Smashbox Full Exposure Mini, which fits into the palm of the hand. The colour would, of course, be mint green and I'd also like a decent mirror.

So that would be my ideal palette, however, I could easily just pick these three palettes in the last picture and have everything I need. Both Naked Basics palettes and Catrice's Absolute Matt are palettes I use on a daily basis, plus that L'Oreal Breaking Nude eyeshadow, of course. They contain all the taupe-neutral colours I'll ever need and the quality of the matte eyeshadows is brilliant.

I'm not going to tag anyone specific because it's an old tag and I don't know who's done it already, but feel free do to it if you like it.

Have a great day!