Urban Decay Alice In Wonderland Through The Looking Glass eyeshadow palette

YESSSSS!!! That was my initial reaction when I saw this palette appearing on the net the first time.  I got to know UD because of their gorgeous I love New York Palette and I feel like it's been ages since they brought out an eyeschadow palette with artistic packaging like that.  Don't get me wrong, I love their naked palettes.  These have all your everyday colors and are very convenient for traveling or if you're doing someone else's makeup.  But when it comes to packaging, they're just not that interesting.

So I was really excited when I saw that UD was 'going back tot their roots' in a matter of speaking and of course I just had to get this palette (or what did you expect?)!  I left my email on the notification list of Feelunique.com and waited.  Well, I'm lucky that I didn't wait until I got a mail because I never did!  I saw on instagram that the palette was in stock and ordered immediately, good thing I did because it sold out very fast.  And not only the palette but also the lipsticks of the Alice In Wonderland collection.  So that tells me that there are people out there that are even more into collecting makeup than I am because those lipsticks aren't the most wearable colors (which is why I didn't get them).

This palette is so gorgeous.  The packaging is a real work of art!!  I absolutely love it!!  Of course this isn't made for traveling and it's not the most handy palette but hey, all's fair in art right?

The eyeshadow collection is very colorful and great for experimenting.  I know UD shadows are great quality shadows but these shadows just blew me away.  The pigmentation is to die for and they go on so buttery and creamy.  

You get 20 all new shades in the palette and each column is dedicated to a character of the movie: Alice (left column), Mad Hatter (second column from the left), Mirana (third column), Iracebeth (fourth column) and Time (last column). You can recreate the look of your favorite character by using the colors in their column or you can just mix and max the colors and create your own looks.

I had so much fun swatching these.  I always do swatches before I start playing with the shadows and I already knew I was going to love putting these on my eyelids.  These shadows are so pigmented, I swiped once with my index finger on my arm to make the swatches and as you can see the pigmentation on these is just fabulous.

top row

second row

third row

bottom row

I know there are colors in there that I'll probably never use but to me this palette is more of a collectors item with the benefit of great shadows.  

Where to buy:

I bought mine at feelunique.com but unfortunately it's totally sold out.  I paid €56,76 for mine.

Too Faced Sweet Peach Palette

If you're no stranger to my blog than you know by now that the word 'limited' has a special effect on me.  Sometimes it feels like I'm collecting makeup (and I admit that I have way to much to ever use up) so when something is limited or hard to get, I just have to have it.  Thankfully my man finds it all very funny.  He can't understand why a new - limited - makeup item makes me happy (and somewhat proud maybe) but as long as it makes me happy, he doesn't care.  

So it shouldn't surprise you that I really wanted to have this palette.  It was released in the States a while ago, has sold out completely and Too Faced has announced that they will be re-releasing it in a few months.  I knew if I wanted to have this one I had to be fast.  Sephora France announced on instagram that the palette would be in stock on Monday May 2nd and since I had a week off I was prepared!  The palette sold out fast so if I was working that day I probably wouldn't have been able to get it, sometimes luck has to be on your side with these things.  Delivery was fast and by Friday I got to hold my new little treasure.  

First thing I noticed was the smell (of course).  It's a very fruity sweet peachy smell and the sensation feels very weird to me.  Eyeshadows aren't supposed to smell like this, lipsticks maybe but eyeshadow?  Weird.

The palette contains 18 eyeshadows and the colorselection just screams summer.  I'm usually one to go for the more neutral tones so this palette will be a nice and welcome addition to the ones I already have.

I'm sorry, I just had to include a picture of this cute little peach...

With the palette comes a little booklet with instructions on three different looks.  I love it when they do this, especially with this palette where some of the colors can be a bit out of the comfort zone for most people.  Now at least you know where/how to start and you can let your artistic freedom flow as you go.

Top row (from left to right):

White Peach, Luscious, Just Peachy, Bless Her Heart, Tempting, Charmed I'm Sure

Middle row (from left to right):

Nectar, Cobbler, Candied Peach, Bellini, Peach Pit, Delectable

Lower row (from left to right):

Peaches 'n Cream, Georgia, Caramelized, Puree, Summer Yum, Talk Derby To Me

As usual the pigmentation and formula of these eyeshadows is great.  It only took me one sweep with my ring finger to get these swatches.  The colors are very build able and blend like a charm.

I'm really happy I got my hands on this one!  I've been experimenting with the palette ever since I got it and one of the reasons I love it is that you can go bold and neutral with this.  A great palette for spring/summer!!!  The smell though ... weird!!

Where to buy:

Unfortunately the Too Faced Sweet Peach palette is currently sold out at Sephora.fr but you can join the waiting list.  I paid €44 for it (I had a discount code but the discount was around the same amount as the shipping costs are).

Essie Retro Revival collection

This collection has been out a while now and I finally found the time to swatch all the colors.  It did take me a while to get all the colors since Starry Starry Night sold out quite fast and it took DI a while to restock.  

On Essie's website you'll find this subscription of the collection:

"For essie's fabulous anniversary, we're celebrating vegas style in honor of the ultimate party town where it all began. in honor of this iconic birthday, the legendary essie color archive has been opened with a thrilling glimpse into the brand's dazzling history. the result is a limited edition collection of six iconic shades that all promise a sparkling night of thrills."

Translation: it's a party collection that was launched for the 35th birthday of Essie!!  These are all colors that have been released in the past in limited editions so the thought of bringing these back is just brilliant.  You see, when these came out I wasn't really into nail polish so I never had a chance to buy them, I even doubt I would've been able to find them in Belgium (but you know that that wouldn't have stopped me).

As usual the collection contains 6 colors: Starry Starry Night, Life Of The Party, Bikini With A Martini, Sequin Sash, Birthday Suit and Cabana Boy.

Starry Starry Night

Starry Starry Night is a bright dark blue color with glitter in it, a very festive color! This color was originally released in 1997 (mind you, that's another century) and became a cult color for many polish addicts!

Starry Starry Night close up

Look at the glitter in there, it's so beautiful!

Life Of The Party

You can never go wrong with a red poilish when partying, this is a dark brownish red with a pearly finish.  This color was originally released in 2002.

Bikini With A Martini

A frosted iridescent pink is how Essie describes this color and I can't describe it any other way.  This color was originally released in 2006.

Sequin Sash

Described as a sheer glittery bronze polish with silver flecks, it's a very sheer formula.  Swatches are made with two coats of polish and you can still see my nails through it.  This color was originally released in 2005.

Sequin Sash close up

Here you have a better look at the silver flecks.  They're not prominent but they are there.

Birthday Suit

A nice nude polish that's quite sheer. This color was originally released in 1981!

Cabana Boy

A cool toned pearly nude with a bit of a lilac/grey undertone.  This color was originally released in 2005.

I love the philosophy behind this collection and I can totally understand why Starry Starry Night was sold out all the time.  For me that one is definitely the star polish of this collection!

Where to buy:

In Belgium this collection is sold exclusively at DI for €12,49.

Catrice LE Rough Luxury nail polishes

I admit I missed a limited edition of Catrice.  Well, I partly missed it, I got a few nail polishes from the Treasure Trove collection but not all of them so I didn't do a blogpost on it.  I might use them as a NOTD post.  But I didn't miss out on the latest collection: Rouge Luxury.  The nail polish part of this collection contains 4 nail polishes and 1 Topcoat.

01 Natural Nude

01 Natural Nude is nice pinky nude polish.  Nude can be tricky, if there's too much brown in there I always feel like my nails are sick, it's just not that flattering on me.  But this one is.  It applied without streaking and it took me 2 coats to get this result.

02 Rustic Red

02 Rustic Red is a nice brownish red.  It has a bit more of a rusty brown in there than shown on the picture.   A nice color that suits every occasion because it's not too 'in your face'.  Again 2 coats do the trick.

03 Call Of The Wild

03 Call Of The Wild is a cold light grey color.  Not really something I tend towards but nice for spring.  And all it took was 2 thin coats.

04 Arctic Shadows

04 Arctic Shadows is a cold darker grey.  Now this I would wear.  A nice grey.  Nothing more, nothing less.  Once again, 2 thin coats for the perfect coverage.

Frosted Flows topcoat

Frosted Flows is described as a frosted matt effect topcoat.  Do you see the difference on my nails.  If you look really good you'll see that my index and my ring finger have a different finish.  Am I impressed?  Not really.  The effect is minimal and to me it's more the 'I used cleaning products before my nail polish was completely dry' kind of effect.  Just a washed out nail polish finish. 

overview

Where to buy:

You can buy Catrice polishes at Kruidvat for €2,89.

Catrice LE FALL-osophy nailpolishes

It's that time again: Catrice released their new limited edition.  And FALL-osophy is a very appropriate name for this range.  As usual I focused on the nail polishes and had time this morning (and some good lighting) to swatch them for you.

C01 Mystic Moss took me a bit by surprise.  The first layer made my nails look sick, there was hardly any coverage just a see through sheen of a blueish polish.  Three thin layers later and you see the result in the picture above.  I still don't know why it's called moss because to me it has a very blue tone in there, something I don't see growing in my garden (and since I'm not a garden person, there is a lot of moss growing there). This one has a pearly finish.

C02 Mauving Leaves is a gorgeous mauve color.  I love these kind of mauves, they are so much warmer than for example a grey polish and perfect for fall.  Not too dark, not too light, just a great everyday color.

C03 Berrytale is a very dark berry color.  Great if you want something warmer than black but still something quite dark.  This one also has a pearly like finish to it.

C04 Fabulous Fox-ia, definitely THE fall color of the year.  Nothing else to say about this one really.  Great color, great coverage and applies like a charm.

C05 Morning Dew, now this one I don't understand at all.  After my first layer I thought it was a topcoat but the Catrice website states that this is a real polish. A pearly nude they call it.  To me these kind of polishes are just a waste of money.  Not special enough to be a topcoat but not a nice nude because of the glitter.  In the picture I'm wearing 3 coats of it.

The quality of the polishes is great just as you would expect from Catrice.  For the swatches I applied three thin layers.  Mystic Moss isn't a color I would normally buy and I think it would take some getting used to but I kinda like it.  Morning Dew is a disappointment to me and I don't even feel like it has a place in this collection.

Where to buy:

You can find Catrice at Kruidvat and cost €2,89.

Essie fall 2015 collection

It shouldn't come as a surprise but I generally love Essie polishes.  The quality of the polish, the range of colors but the most important one for me: the brush!  I love the wide brush, it applies polish so easily (even with my non-dominant hand)!  

Essie's permanent range has a great choice in colors and yet they always seem to able to come up with something special for their limited editions.  And now fall is here!  The good thing about fall polish wise is that the time is here for glitter!! Yess!! Probably one of the thing I love most about fall (aside from scented candles and my little couch blanket).

The fall collection exists of 6 colors (from left to right):  Color Binge, With The Band, In The Lobby, Leggy Legend, Bell-bottom Bells, Frock'n Roll.

Color Binge

Color Binge is described as an orange red and it is just that: a gorgeous color that applies easy.  In the picture I'm wearing 2 coats and you can tell it gives good coverage (which isn't usually the case with a color like this).

With The Band

With The Band is described as a toasted spice burgundy.  Personally I would describe it as a 'rusty' dark red.  But let the picture speak for itself.  Again 2 coats give great coverage.

In The Lobby

In The Lobby is described as an exotic cinnamon plum.  It is plum, not quite sure where the exotic an cinnamon come in though.  I applied 2 coats and as you can see, the result is quite 'patchy'.  I couldn't even it out in 2 coats but I'm pretty sure a third would've made the result a lot better.  Because of the 'patchiness' I don't think I'll be putting this one on a lot this fall, which is a shame really.

Leggy Legend

Leggy Legend is described as a 'glamourous alloyed bronze bombshell'.  It's a gorgeous bronze polish  but maybe a bit too orange for my skin tone.  I do love these kind of polishes.  2 coats are enough for great coverage and the formula isn't streaky at all.

Bell-bottom Bells

please excuse the awkward pinky pose ;-)

Bell-bottom Bells is described as a midnight indigo.  I'm not one to wear blue nails often, something about a bottle of blue polish just puts me off (no idea why really) but once I applied it, I was kind of fond of this one.  It will get a special place on top of my nail polish vanity so it's always in sight for fall.  I wonder how many times I'll grab it.

Frock'n Roll

close up of Frock'n Roll

And last but certainly not least: Fronck'n Roll.  Described as a lustrous shimmering rich expresso.  I was a bit surprised by this description since I only read it after I swatched it.  When you look at it closely there seems to be a bit of plum in there.  You can see it a bit on the close-up picture (which was initially taken to show you the shimmery part of the polish).  I love this color, I love these kind of shimmers in polishes and that's what fall is all about.  2 coats give perfect coverage and the polish has a great formula.  I already know I will be wearing this one a lot this fall.

top row: Color Binge, With The Band, In The Lobby

bottom row: Leggy Legend, Bell-bottom Blues, Frock'n Roll

Where to buy:

You can buy Essie in Belgium at DI and Kruidvat.  As of Tuesday sept 8, Kruidvat has a promotion where you get 20% off when you buy 1 Essie polish and 30% off when you buy 2.  Or you can order Essie at bol.com.