The brand new Urban decay Gwen Stefani eyeshadow palette! Plus swatches of the Spring 2016 Gwen lipsticks!

So this is the Urban decay limited edition palette that 5000 people signed up to be on the mailing list for! The Gwen Stefani x Urban decay colaboration palette.

Now I have to admit, to me it wouldn't matter who did a colab with Urban decay because I would still want it in my collection. I love Urban decay shadows and have all the Naked palettes which I use   daily. 

First, let's talk about the packaging. This comes in a beautiful case with a magnetic close. If was inspired by Gwen's love of black and white graphic prints with an antique gold accent. One of my favourites, along with the Vice palette. It is bulkier than the naked palettes but you do get bigger shadows inside.

There are 12 brand new shades exclusive to this palette and 3 (Skimp, stark and blackout) that are already in the collection. When I first heard about this collaboration I was a bit worried that there would be a lot of bright vivacious colours in this palette to suit Gwen's style and music but apart from the pinky shade, all of the colours are so wearable everyday and I would wear ALL of the them.

Swatches

Let's start on the top row.

Here we have blonde, bathwater skimp, steam, punk, baby, anaheim, stark, zone

And serious, pop, harajuku, danger, 1987 and blackout

As I expected, these shadows are great quality, just like the naked shadows. You will not be disappointed in them. There are 5 matte shades and 10 shimmery ones.  I particularly like baby and pop. They are perfect shimmery shades for the Christmas season. 

I've listed a couple of links incase they are sold out:

Urban decay here

Sephora here

Now here's a sneaky peak at some more exciting launches in Spring 2016.

Coming out in the Spring will be 8 lipsticks:

Rock steady (cream)

Spiderweb (cream)

714 (matte)

Wonderland

Ex-girlfriend (Sheer)

Firebird (cream)

Phone call (cream)

Plaid (sheer)

I have four of the shades which swatch beautifully:

We have: 

Firebird- a cream lipstick in a vibrant fuchsia pink with a blue undertone

Ex-girlfriend- a cream lipstick in a nudey pink

714- a matte red (my favourite!)

Rocksteady- a dark, rich pinky red

Thanks for reading

Katherine

xxx

Two Zoeva palettes that should be on your Christmas list! Plus MAC dupes!

It's getting to that time of year now where people are asking me what I would like for Christmas. As a beauty addict I always find it hard asking for beauty products for Christmas as what I really want usually costs too much money for those on a budget or are too difficult to get hold of if you don't live in London/ shop online (cue Grandparents!)

What I love about these palette are their price. On Beautybay.com you can pick these palettes up for just £15.50 with free 2 day tracked delivery. Compare these to Urban decay naked palettes £38 and Mac £65, these are much more affordable for sisters, brothers, grandparents, aunties etc!

First up, the Cocoa Blend palette

This is a lovely palette with 10 shades:4 matte, 6 shimmer. It is the perfect autumn/winter palette with everything you need to create a warm everyday look, smokey eye or a hint of rusty red. The shadows are very good for the price, especially the shimmery shades. There's a lot of dupes in here for Mac shadows. Looking at my MAC Shadows I can see some dupes already:

Bitter start is like MAC Brûlée

Sweeter end is a little darker than MAC Naked lunch

Warm notes in like MAC Cranberry

Subtle blend is like MAC Bronze

Next up we have the Zoeva En Taupe palette

This is for the girls who like a subtle everyday eye look. There are some beautiful muted browns, greys in here with the purple shades that are perfect to smoke up the look for the evening.

This remind me of something www.inthefrow.com would wear.

Again, there are some definite MAC dupes:

Stitch by stitch and MAC Vanilla

Hand made is slightly pinker than MAC Naked lunch

Gallery and MAC quarry

Hour by hour and MAC orb

Sheers & Voiles and MAC Vex (Perfect dupe!)

Outline is actually better than MAC Satin taupe

I know there has been a lot of hype over the Cocoa bled palette from a lot of bloggers but I think the En Taupe palette is even better! There are 6 MAC dupes in here and the palette is so wearable!

Stuck on what to put on your letter to Santa or simply want to treat yourself?

Look no further

Have you tried any of the other Zoeva palettes, I would love to know your thoughts

Thanks for reading

Katherine

xxx

Tanya Burr's Limited edition Christmas Candy Glam palette

Last week I watched Tanya Burr's youtube video showing her Christmas collection and I really wanted to see what her Candy Glam palette was like and also the Advent calendar. I have tried her lip glosses when they were in the old packaging but have yet to try any of her new products.

Let's start with the beauty essentials palette. There are 9 eye shadows, 1 lipgloss a blush and a bronzer in this palette. The packaging isn't the best as it is cardboard and quite bulky but it is only £12 from Superdrug/ Feel unique. The colours in this palette are very pretty indeed with embossed stars on all the shadows.

From top left to bottom right:

Snowflake, Chandelier, Plumberry, Creme Brûlée, Date night in Paris, Ballet slippers, baking brownies, teddy bear, starry night

This is a lovely palette with good colour pay off and pigmentation. The shimmer shades do fall out slightly but for the price I think they are very good quality.

Lipgloss in daydream, pretty peony blush, beach bronze

I love this palette because it has everything you need in it for travelling or on the go. I think this would be the perfect palette for a Christmas gift for people that are just starting out who want an affordable palette but also for makeup addicts like me!

I definitely recommend checking it out. There is currently a 3 for 2 deal in Superdrug and feel unique often have discount codes too!

Thanks for reading

Katherine

xxx

My collection is complete! The Hourglass Ambient Lighting Edit

Ok! Ok! I caved. I waited for ages, I tried not to- but it happened and I can't say I regret it one little bit! I know there has been a lot of comments about the size of these and gram for gram they are over priced compared to the previous palette or individual pans but I don't care- look at it!

Now I don't need to take powders, blushers and bronzers away with me when I travel, this has them all combined.

In this limited edition set you get:

Dim Lit (Included in the ambient lighting palette)

Iridescent light

Diffused light

Mood exposure (Included in the ambient lighting blush palette)

Luminous flush (Included in the ambient lighting blush palette)

Luminous bronze light

So as you can see, I do already have the 2 blushers and 1 of the powders but there are 3 shades not included in the previous trio palettes. Diffused light can be bought separately but iridescent light is only in this palette. The bronzer luminous bronze light can also be bought separately.

It may not be a bargain but I am very pleased I got this palette. If you do want this to add to your collection- I would be quick as it is probably going to sell out fast! 

You can buy it here from Space NK or here from Sephora.

Will you make the splurge?

Thanks for reading

Katherine

xxx

The NARS: Steven Klein limited edition Killer Heels lipstick set

You may have seen my blog post showing the NARS & Steven Klein limited edition neutral lip set and I have to admit I've caved again to this very cute Killer Heels Mini lipstick set.

This is another limited edition set from the NARS collaboration with the famous photographer Steven Klein.

In this set you get 5 mini lipsticks (1.7g compared to 3.4g normal size):

Fire down below

Joyous red

Jungle red

Mayflower

Little darling

Left to right: Fire down below, Joyous red, Jungle red, Mayflower, Little darling

I love this little set, it's a great way of trying out 5 different lipstick and at £29, I think it is very good value. 2 mini lipsticks=1 normal size so you are looking at around £50 of lipsticks here!

The mini size are perfect for throwing into your makeup bag. I love Fire down below- it is the perfect autumnal lip colour!

I think this collaboration is one of my favourite that NARs have even done- well done!

Good news! This set is still available here and here.

Thanks for reading

Katherine

xxx

Weekend windup: New purchases, flat lays and Byron's Christmas menu!

This week has been a very VERY quiet one. I haven't really been out at all except for work and going out for dinner at Byron. Now, I love a good burger so when I got an email about their new Christmas menu I had to go and try it. Their menu includes the Father Cheesemas burger, Caramel and salted pretzel milkshake, Holy Macaroni and Oreo cheesecake- yum!!! I definitely recommend paying a visit soon.

I have also made some naughty purchases. I finally caved in to buying the Ambient lighting edit palette. A full review will be heading your way this week but I have to say, I am so glad I bought it! 

I also bought one of the limited edition sets from the Nars and Steven Klein collaboration. You can read my blog post all about it here.

I've also been posting some make up of the day flat lays over on my instagram @ihartbeauty. These only appear on instagram so I would love you to check them out and let me know what you think!

I hope you have had a lovely week, please let me know what you have been up to!

Thanks for reading

Katherine

xxx

A Capsule wardrobe part 5: Week 3 in outfits

We are now into the fifth instalment of my Capsule wardrobe experiment, if you missed any of the previous blog posts, here are the links

Part 1: New purchases

Part 2: My 32 piece collection

Part 3: Week 1 in outfits
Part 4: Week 2 in outfits

Next Saturday, there will be one more week of outfits to show you. I have found this so easy and still have plenty more combinations to choose from.

Here we go again..... week 3:

Outfit No.1

Thin knit jumper in mustard

Short jacket (Bigger than you expect, swapped for a size s)

Black jeans

Accessories not included in my capsule wardrobe:

Mini rucksack (Similar)

Black boots

Outfit No.2

Stripe top

Leather look jacket (Similar to mine)

Black jeans

Grey jeans

Accessories not included in my capsule wardrobe:

Nike thea trainers (Similar)

Outfit No.3

Black dress (Similar)

Denim shirt

Thin knit jumpers in green

Accessories not included in my capsule wardrobe:

Black boots

Outfit No.4

Black jeans

Thin knit jumpers in cream

Accessories not included in my capsule wardrobe:

Scarf (similar)

Black boots

Black bag (Similar)

Outfit No.5

Blue jeans

Mint t shirt (Similar)

Accessories not included in my capsule wardrobe:

Nike thea trainers

Scarf (Similar)

Outfit No.6

Chunky jumper

Leather look jacket (Similar to mine)

Black jeans

Accessories not included in my capsule wardrobe:

Black boots

Scarf (Similar)

Outfit No.7

Denim shirt

Stone skinny trousers

Accessories not included in my capsule wardrobe:

Steve madden boots

Scarf (Similar)

Next Saturday will be my last week in outfits before a round up of all 28 outfits and what I have learnt during this Capsule wardrobe experiment

Which outfit is your favourite this week?

Thanks for reading

Katherine

xxx

A Sneaky peek inside Tanya Burr's Advent Calendar

I do like to see what you get inside beauty calendars before you buy them- I know this is probably spoiling it but when you look at expensive ones like Charlotte Tilbury/ Jo Mallone- you need to see if it is worth the money!

This is at the other end of the price scale. Tanya Burr has created a 12 door advent calendar containing some limited edition products for her Christmas collection.

Let's take a look inside....

Inside you get 2 nail files, a mini mirror, 2 nail polishes, 2 sets of lashes and glue, 3 lip glosses and 2 shimmer eye shadow pigments.

On the left are the 2 shimmer pigments in starry night and creme brûlée. These actually match two of the shadows in her Candy Glam Christmas palette.

There are then 3 lip glosses in Macaroon, Bewitching and candy frost.

Carnival night and under the sea nail polishes

My thoughts.....

If you look at the value of the items, you get two full size nail polishes £4.99 each, 2 sets of lashes £5.49 each and 3 mini lip glosses (full size are £5.99) so this is quite good value so around £37. It also contains a lot of products that are limited edition which makes it more special. 

The nail files are a bit of a filler, but overall this is a nice advent calendar which is great value if you manage to get it with a discount code. Super drug have a deal on where you can get it for only £15- bargain!

Thanks for reading

Katherine

xxx

NARS & Steven Klein limited edition Neutral Lip Set

I absolutely love the NARs collaboration collections. I was so gutted when I missed out on a eye shadow that I really wanted from the last collection. I was browsing through the collection and decided to pick up the Neutral lip set

In this cute little set you get 3 miniature lip products:

Dolce Vita Velvet matte lip pencil

Patong beach lip liner

Dolce Vita lipstick

This set is already selling out fast but I've found it still available here. 

(Matte lip pencil, lip liner and lipstick)

I absolutely love the matte lip pencils from NARs, I have 4 or 5 that I love and use daily. You can buy all of the items full size in the normal NARs collection for £57 but this is a great way of trying out the products much cheaper and they come in a lovely black magnetic box too!

I thoroughly recommend it!

Thanks for reading

Katherine

xxx

Weekend windup: Elf the musical, feel unique haul and rubbish weather!

This week has been much quieter than last week, I've been staying in a lot more as the weather as been so rubbish! It's cold, miserable and dark so early!

I did however venture out to see Elf the Musical on press night on Thursday. There were a lot of celebs there including Cheryl Fernandez Versini who was there to support Kimberley Walsh who plays the character Jovie in the show. There was then an after party in Hamley's toy shop!

I thoroughly enjoyed the show, the set was brilliant and Elf (played by Ben Forster) was 5* The band was also brilliant conducted by Stuart Morley.

If you can grab some cheaper tickets- I would recommend going to see it! You can still pick up single £30 tickets or if you want to sit all together you are looking at £62.50+ You can book tickets here.

I also make a feel unique purchase so I could get the free gift! See my blog post all about it here. You get so many lovely things in the goody bag if you spend £100. There will be a lots of reviews coming your way about what I bought next week! Including Tanya Burr's Christmas collection and the Nars/Steven Klein collaboration.

I hope you had a lovely week

Thanks for reading

Katherine

xxx

A Capsule wardrobe part 4: Week 2 in outfits

We are now at part 4 of my Capsule wardrobe experiment, if you missed part 1-3, you can take a look below:

Part 1: New purchases

Part 2: My 32 piece collection

Part 3: Week 1 in outfits

Here are my next lot of outfits taken from 32 capsule pieces:

Outfit No.1
Geometric print shirt
Duster jacket (Similar)
Black jeans

Accessories not included in my capsule wardrobe:
Scarf (Similar)
Black boots

Outfit No.2
Thin knit jumpers in cream
Short jacket (Bigger than you expect, swapped for a size s)
Blue jeans

Accessories not included in my capsule wardrobe:
Nike thea trainers





Outfit No.3
Blocked colour Jumper
Stone skinny trousers

Accessories not included in my capsule wardrobe:
Steve madden boots







Outfit No.4
Thin knit jumpers in burgundy
Ripped jonni jeans

Accessories not included in my capsule wardrobe:
Black boots
Scarf (Similar)






Outfit No.5
Noisy may jumper
Skirt

Accessories not included in my capsule wardrobe:
Black boots







Outfit No.6
Denim shirt
Skirt

Accessories not included in my capsule wardrobe:
Steve madden boots








Outfit No.7
Black jeans
Chunky jumper

Accessories not included in my capsule wardrobe:
Black boots
Black bag (Similar)

Fab free give alert with Feel unique and discount code!

Now I do not normally post on Friday but I didn't want you to miss out on this fabulous free goody bag from feel unique when you spend £100. As it is getting closer to Christmas, it is quite easy to spend this on Christmas presents or just a treat for yourself. You also receive 15% off all the brands featured in this free goody bag.

Inside you get:

Photo taken from feel unique.com

This is only while stocks last so I would be quick! There is also £10 off when you spend £60 with the code FEELJOY10 until midnight on Saturday (7/11/15)

Enjoy!

Katherine

xxx

What I got for my birthday

As you may have known, last week I celebrated my birthday so I thought I would share with you what I got! I have split this into beauty, fashion and other. I was so lucky to get so many lovely things from my family and friends and want to say a big thank you to everyone who helped me celebrate my birthday.

Fashion

From my boyfriend I got this beautiful Green Bobble knit chunky scarf from accessorize. I absolutely love scarves (as you may be able to tell as I got 3!) I didn't have one in this greeny colour and it goes perfectly with everything in my capsule wardrobe.

I also got this Textured Block scarf from my sister but in a purple colour. It's so soft and warm for the winter. She also got me this cut of detail White top which looks very pretty with jeans or smart trousers/skirt. My parents bought me this Black and white scarf which I love and these Steve Madden Boots from John Lewis. I have been looking for the perfect winter boots for ages and finally found them! I also got this Louche Necklace from one of my friends which looks so pretty on with a plain top/ jumper

Beauty

Now onto beauty. A few of my relatives gave me money for my birthday so I decided to treat myself this this gorgeous Marc Jacobs palette (there will be a full review very shortly!) I also got a lovely hair set from the body shop with includes their Rainforest radiance range which I am excited to try. I also got a boots voucher so I decided to pick up the Clinique moisture surge face spray after hearing HelloOctober talk about it in a video. Lastly, I got lots of lovely bath bombs from lush including:

Pearl massage bar

The Experimenter bath bomb

Big blue

Cinders

Fizz banger

Bright side bubble bar

Other

I also got a Betty's afternoon tea voucher which I am really excited about. I LOVE afternoon tea and I have never visited Bettys before. I will let you know all about it when I have gone to visit! If you want to read about what I got up to for my birthday, have a read here.

Thanks for reading

Katherine

xxx