The Original Neutral Palette That Started The Trend - Urban Decay Naked

The astounding success of Urban Decay's series of eyeshadow palettes known as Naked, Naked 2, and newly-released Naked 3 is my inspiration for today.  Paying homage to the grand-daddy of the neutral eyeshadow palette trend, I decided to do a beautiful holiday smokey eye with a pop of gold glitter, paired with a ultra pale and shimmery nude lip. The face for today is model and dear friend, Alina. You can find her on Instagram and Twitter @glamourina89

We always have a lot of fun when we get together and this time was no exception.  She loves dramatic makeup and this look suits her perfectly.

I love Urban Decay shadows and the original Naked palette is no exception.  You get 12 gorgeous, pigmented, super-blendable shades. The texture is so silky. Based on my adoration for Naked and Naked 2, I have every intention of purchasing Naked 3 when it's on the shelves of my local Sephora.

The nitty gritty...here's how I got this look:

Eyes:
Lid primed with Maybelline Color Tattoo in Asphalt
From UD Naked:
Lid - Gunmetal
Center lid - Half Baked
Inner Corner - Sin
Outer Corner - Creep
Crease - Naked and Buck
Highlight - Virgin
Center of lid: MAC Reflects Gold Glitter
Liner - Vasanti Extreme Kajal in Black
Winged upper liner: Clarins Instant Liner in Black

Brows:
Anastasia Brow Wiz Brunette

Face:
Clarins Ever Matte Foundation
Clarins Instant Concealer
Maybelline Fit Me Stick Foundation in Toffee to contour
Clarins Illuminating Cheek Color blush in Lovely Rose 01
Mac Soft and Gentle MSF

Lips:
Hourglass lipstick in Edition
Mac Lipgelee in Luxure (Limited Edition), Dazzleglass in Baby Sparks is a good alternative

Let me know what you think of the Naked palettes. Do you own Naked 3 or plan on purchasing?

Try this look out for a Holiday night out. But be warned. You will be the centre of attention!

V xx

Clarins Glam Holiday Look starring Rouge Eclat in Passion Red

Clarins Canada has put together a collection of items from their collection that work perfectly for the Holiday season 2013. Here's a look at some of the products in this collection.

From top left clockwise:

Blush Prodige in Soft Peach 02

Rouge Eclat in Passion Red 11

Eye Quartet Mineral Palette in Graphites 06

BB Skin Perfecting Cream

Instant Definition Mascara in Intense Black

Instant Liquid Liner in Black

Instant Concealer in 02

Lipliner in Ruby 02

And here's the party look I came up with:

Clarins BB Cream is a great base that gives a natural glowing finish. I love their Instant Concealer for it's light texture and great pigment. It's an instant pick me up for highlighting and brightening under the eyes and anywhere you have darkness.  I used it between my brows, around my nose and mouth and of course, under my eyes.

This. Lipstick. Is. Everything. 

It's SO creamy and moisturizing yet highly pigmented. It's one of the best red lipsticks I've ever tried and paired up perfectly with the liner which gave me a fuller lip look and kept it in place for hours. I can see this shade working on everyone, from blondes to brunettes to gingers. Love!

Instant Liquid Liner is so easy to use! There's nothing more frustrating than trying to get ready to go out and struggling with a bad liner to get a precise winged look. I achieved great control with the felt tip applicator. It's just the right size, not too long and flimsy and not too stubby. Excellent!

The blush has a beautiful silky texture and i was able to use the deeper shade for a touch of contour and highlighted with the lighter tone in the palette. It's the perfect tone to complement a bold statement lip. 

The shadows went on easily with great pigmentation. Here's how I applied them:

I used the soft pink on the inner corner and inner half of the lid as well as the brow bone. It's a satin colour and I really appreciated the soft sheen without shimmer because it kept the look classic and subtle.  Next I applied the gunmetal darker grey to my outer third and outer corner. I applied the black matte shade along the lash line and deepened the outer v even more and finally I touched a bit of the silver shimmer to the centre of my lids.  I lined with the liquid liner and some kohl in the waterline and ran some of the darker grey along the bottom lash line to soften the look.  A couple of coats of mascara and some Ardell falsies and voila...I was ready to hit the town! 

Give it a try for your glam nights out. 

V xx

Warm Fall Makeup Look using Urban Decay Vice 2 Palette

I had a lot of fun creating this dramatic smokey look using the warm colours in the UD Vice 2 palette.
For extra pop, I used the metallic silver in the inner third of the eye and to create a double wing liner effect.  Give it a try and let me know what you think! xx

Here is a list of the colours I used and placement:

On the lid, from inner to outer corner: Shellshock, Strike, Radar
Brow and inner corner highlight: Habit
Outer V: Smokeout
Crease: Inglot 464
Upper Liner: Bobbi Brown Black Ink, UD Shellshock
Lower Liner: Vasanti Kajal Extreme Black
Brows: Anastasia Brow Wiz Brunette

Cheeks: Lorac Exposed

Lips: Nars Bahama
Rimmel Lipstick #14
Victoria's Secret gloss in Captivate

Lashes: Ardell 120

Urban Decay Vice 2 Palette - Review with Photos and Swatches

I recently picked up the Urban Decay Vice 2 Palette during the Sephora VIB sale and have used it both on others and myself a few times now.  Now I have quite a few neutral palettes and most MAC shadows in pro palettes that I use most times, so this certainly wasn't a necessity for me. However, I don't own the first Vice Palette so I thought this would be a great way to carry some colour along with neutrals in one -very sexy- palette. I already owned a few great single shadows and both Naked and Naked 2 palettes so I was familiar with UD pigmentation and quality. And who can resist this packaging? So pretty!

The case is a very beautiful and sturdy hard shiny plastic with jeweled UD logo embedded into the lid.  There is a spring push mechanism to open the case and inside a very large mirror takes up the whole inside lid.  There is a good quality synthetic dual-ended brush included with a shorter flatter brush and a long crease-type brush.  But the thing that sold me on this palette is the variety of fun colours which swatched great in store and the inclusion of some great neutral and even some matte shades.   

Here are the swatches.

Top row, left to right: Smokeout, Lovesick, Shellshock, Coax, X-Rated

Second row from top, left to right:  Prank, Madness, Strike, Stash, Poison

Third row from top, left to right:  Radar, Damaged, Voodoo, Betrayal, Derailed

Bottom row, left to right:  Dope, Toxic, Habit, Ambush, Rewind

Habit and Rewind are matte with a good texture.  X-Rated and Smokeout are satin finish with the rest of the shadows being quite shimmery.  Stash, Lovesick, Prank, Voodoo, Coax, and Poison have glitter in them. Lovesick has small glitter particles but it is not over the top. I do wish they had kept it matte however, because I almost always prefer a matte black.  All shades are very pigmented and swatch easily.  I found them easy to work with for the most part and easy to blend.  Surprisingly to me, none of the shadows had horrible fallout, which many of UD shadows do. 

Overall I'm glad I picked up this little gem because of the versatility and some standout shades like the metallic Shellshock, a high sheen extremely pigmented silver.  Or perfectly named Smokeout, a beautiful deep plummy charcoal that's perfect for smoking out a look. The blues, greens and purples are going to get used in more of my looks now thanks to stunning shades like Prank, Madness, Damaged, Stash, and Voodoo.  

I'm going to have lots of fun creating looks with this palette and I will be posting a few here. 

Stay tuned my beauties!