The Urban DecayNaked Heat launched much to the surprise of almost everyone a few weeks ago. We’d had nary a sneak peak before the palette was suddenly thrust upon us with a release date of two days later! Kind of incredible if you think about it… I feel like EVERY brand has their products leaked far, far in advance of launch!
Urban Decay Naked Heat
The Naked Heat palette features 12 brand new shades that are, as you would expect, very warm-toned. Although this post is only a swatch post, you can see my full review, as well as a tutorial and giveaway (woohoo!), right here:
Inglot has had a few launches lately that I wanted to bring to your attention. I always find the products and colours that Inglot puts out to be inspiring, so instead of a conventional review, I wanted to play around with these products and give you my thoughts.
Back in March, Inglot launched their Aquastics – a “water-based cream eye shadows [that] will ensure a long lasting effect with a subtle or stronger shine depending on the application.” The overall aesthetic of the collection is very much “watery pastels with a sheen” to me.
And in May, Inglot launched their Ms. Butterfly collection – an ensemble of brand new vibrant matte eyeshadows as well as a range of nail polish colours to match the shadows. Now THIS is my kind of collection!
Inglot Aquastic in 18 and Inglot Ms. Butterfly eyeshadows
I received the Aquastic at a launch event and the three mini shadows at another event as we well. I loved the colours in the Ms. Butterfly collection so much that I went ahead and bought that gorgeous lime green shade (Matte 288).
Inglot Aquastic and Ms. Butterfly eyeshadow swatches
The Aquastic had BLINDING pigment in one swipe. I had expected to do a few swipes to build up the colour, but nope – totally not necessary! The eyeshadows were a bit different – 289 (orange) and 288 (green) had the best pigmentation, whereas 294 (teal) needed a little bit of building up and 290 (magenta) needed a LOT of building up.
I was a bit tired of the conventional type of makeup review where I apply them in a pretty eye look and show off how pretty the products could be. I always really enjoy Inglot products and I have more than enough experience with their eyeshadows… so this time I just wanted to play with my makeup.
It’s definitely not the cleanest look I’ve done – I’m chomping at the bit to clean up some of the black edges now after the fact – but I had a lot of fun doing it! I was semi-inspired by a monarch butterfly’s wings and wanted to show graphic black lines with a gorgeous bright, but soft background for it all. I used the eyeshadows as a base, then applied Inglot‘s matte black gel liner with some Duraline in some kind of pattern on top. To highlight the segments between the black lines, I filled in the gaps with the Aquastic for an extra pop.
My Thoughts
I love the Ms. Butterfly eyeshadows – there’s no doubt about that. I found the magenta did need some building up, but the rest of them were excellent to work with. I also LOVE the colours of them – they’re bright, yet somehow soft at the same time. Inglot shadows have been a long time favourite of mine, and these are no exception.
As for the Aquastic, I was impressed with the pigmentation right off the wand. This kind of product absolutely gleams on the skin! We were advised it could also be used as a cheek highlighter, but I don’t find myself keen to use it that way since I’d rather stick to my powders. It’s very easy to apply to to the lid with the wand (which is highly unusual as I typically reach for a brush to blend things out). I also found that eyeshadows layered well on top of the product and on the edges and I wasn’t left with a weird separation line between the cream shadow and my powder eyeshadow. I do experience minimal creasing on the inside curve of my eye, but please note I am exceptionally prone to creasing and you may not have a problem at all.
What a great find this palette was on the Toronto Bunz Makeup Zone! (Worth looking into if you live in Toronto and want to trade some makeup you don’t need.) Someone had no need for their Sugarpill Sparkle Baby palette so I snatched it right up!
Sugarpill Sparkle Baby
I didn’t get this one year at IMATS New York and I’ve been sad ever since. ESPECIALLY since there’s a shade called Kitten Parade!
Too Faced is expanding their Melted Matte range with their Summer 2017 collection and there are some really intriguing shades in the mix!
Too Faced Melted Mattes for Summer 2017
Too Faced has released six new shades with this launch, although I only have four which I’ll be featuring in this post. The Melted Matte formula is on par with other liquid lipsticks we’ve come to know in recent years: opaque colour (I’d actually say the Too Faced ones seem to have a more consistent colour payoff than other brands though), solid pigmentation, a matte paint like finish and excellent longevity.
Too Faced Melted Mattes for Summer 2017
The Melted Mattes are beautiful and they are not as dry as some of the formulas I’ve tried over the years (looking at you Colour Pop), however they are also not some of the most comfortable to wear either. I know everyone has a different tolerance for liquid lipsticks, and for me these are definitely okay to wear for extended periods of time. I do get a bit of that “cat’s butthole” lip we always talk about, but I tend to swipe a bit of chapstick on the inner rim of my mouth in order to smooth out that jagged edge. For those of you who are extremely comfortable wearing liquid lipsticks on the daily, I feel confident in saying you would find this formula to be very, very good.
Too Faced Melted Matte swatches – Jawbreaker, Granny Panties, Wine Not? and Wicked
Of the four shades I have, swatched out, Wicked is the only one to show a bit of streakiness (although that wasn’t the case on my lips!). With a single swatch of these Melted Mattes, you can see that you get an immense amount of colour payoff!
Wearing Too Faced Melted Matte in Jawbreaker
Jawbreaker is definitely the one I am the least likely to wear as these kinds of lavender-pink shades feel a bit comical on me! This one definitely sunk a little bit in my lip lines.
Wearing Too Faced Melted Matte in Granny Panties
How freaking FUN is the name Granny Panties for a lipstick? I love it! This colour is definitely a grey with a mauve tint to it. Really, REALLY like this one.
Wearing Too Faced Melted Matte in Wine Not?
In studio lighting, Wine Not? comes across as a red-brown, but I feel like in person it leans far more brown. Gorgeous colour, nonetheless!
Wearing Too Faced Melted Matte in Wicked
I’ve saved the absolute best for last… Wicked is astonishingly pretty. This deep emerald shade is… dare I say… ACTUALLY WEARABLE? I was absolutely entranced with this lip colour as soon as I put it on. The pigmentation is second to none and the colour and tone of it are absolute perfection. This is the kind of green that I would feel the most comfortable wearing outside of my house. And if you’re looking for something fun for a green themed look, or even St. Patrick’s Day, this is absolutely a shade you should go for!
Final Thoughts
The Too FacedMelted Mattes come in a wide variety of shades that are a lot of fun to play with. (You can see my previous review here.) I love how opaque and unique the colours are – it seems like they’ve really tried something new with the colour range and I am hugely appreciative of that. Of the four I tried for the Summer 2017 launch, Wicked is hands down my absolute favourite. I can’t believe how gorgeous that shade is!
Today marks the beginning of summer and the warm, summery makeup collections are in full swing (and the fall sneak peeks are already cropping up… good grief). Elizabeth Arden has released their Tropical Escape collection, so let’s dive right in!
Elizabeth Arden Tropical Escape FourEver Bronze Bronzing Powder in Medium
The first item in any summer makeup collection that intrigues me the most is always the bronzer! The FourEver Bronze Bronzing Powder is a combination bronzer, highlighter and blush in one. I have the shade Medium, but there is one other compacy shade that is deeper. I’m glad there’s a deeper shade because this Medium one is very, very pale.
Elizabeth Arden Tropical Escape FourEver Bronze Bronzing Powder in Medium – swatches
It’s an easy compact to take and go with you if you need something speedy, but you may find that the pigmentation on the blush is a little bit sheer. I liked the overall effect on my face (pictured below), but in general, I do prefer a more pigmented blush. The highlighter is quite pretty, although subtle. When using the bronzer, I preferred the look of all four shades mixed together since that added a bit of bronze, a bit of luminosity and a very faint hint of pink.
Wearing Elizabeth Arden Tropical Escape FourEver Bronze Bronzing Powder in MediumElizabeth Arden Tropical Escape Sheer Kiss Lip Oils
The most fun product in this holiday collection was definitely the Sheer Kiss Lip Oils. They come in six different colours, but I have what I’d consider the more traditional summer colours: a juicy red and a peachy coral.
Elizabeth Arden Tropical Escape Sheer Kiss Lip Oil
What makes the Sheer Kiss Lip Oils so fun is they’re a squeezy tube surrounded by an acrylic disc! How freaking cool is this? When you press the center of the product, the lip oil comes out the top. I find myself mushing the center of the product for fun when it’s just sitting there on my desk – THAT’S how fun it is!
Elizabeth Arden Tropical Escape Sheer Kiss Lip Oils Swatches in Coral Caress and Rejuvenating Red
Although these are billed as a lip oil, they actually have a lot of colour to them. I wouldn’t call them quite a lip gloss either though. More like a sheer but thick lipstick with oil thrown in. Weird mix, right? Overall, the formula is a tad on the streaky side if you apply too much, so definitely don’t goop it on.
Wearing Coral Caress
Coral Caress is your traditional summery coral-peach shade.
Wearing Rejuvenating Red
As to be expect, the Rejuvenating Red has that “red popsicle” look on the lips. Very juicy!
Elizabeth Arden Dare to Bare Body Bronzing Oil
I saved my favourite for last! The Dare to Bare Body Bronzing Oil took me by complete surprise – I really had not anticipated loving this at all. It’s not labelled as such, but this is essentially a dry oil packed with glitter.
Elizabeth Arden Dare to Bare Body Bronzing Oil – swatches
Don’t worry about it looking incredibly deep in the bottle – once you get it on your skin and blended out, it leaves behind a very faint tint of colour and a little bit of a glittery glow. It’s not so much that people would be overly conscious of the fact that you’re wearing glitter, it’s more of an overall healthy sunkissed glow.
What took me by surprise about the oil was just how good it felt on my skin. I could take or leave the scent (it’s not particularly heavily scented – but it does smell like just regular “oil”), but the way it sank into my skin and actually made the texture feel silky smooth and hydrated was really, REALLY lovely!
Let me know what summer collections you’ve been looking into! And I’m especially curious about summer glittery body oils – do you wear them?
The products featured in this post were sent to me for consideration.
