Urban Decay Naked Basics Palette | Review

Since I already own the Naked 2 palette, I was pretty sure I didn't need the Naked Basics palette but after days of drooling over pictures of it on Instagram and seeing it featured in peoples YouTube videos, I went ahead and bought it. Six, gorgeous, shades all housed in a dinky palette. What more could you want? 

UD Naked Basics Palette £20

Venus: Shimmery off-white

Foxy: Light yellowish beige

W.O.S (Walk Of Shame): Creamy seashell pink

Naked 2: Pale taupe

Faint: Warm brown

Crave: Plain black

The palette includes six shades; five of which are matte that are neatly packed into a dinky little palette. The packaging is very sleek and - as you can see in the picture above - there is a large mirror which makes this palette perfect for travelling or carrying around in your makeup bag.
  Usually, I like to use; W.O.S/Foxy all over my lids; Naked 2 in my outer corner; Venus on my brow bone and on the inner corner of my eye and Crave as an eyeliner. I do occasionally use Faint after Naked 2 just to darken the crease slightly and it's also a great shade for filling in eyebrows. Overall, I think this is a fantastic little palette that contains everything I need for a simple eye look. I don't think darker skin tones would probably like this as much but for paler skin tones - e.g: me - it's definitely worth the money.
  Now onto how much it costs. Well, this palette costs £20 and -unlike the other naked palettes- you don't get a free brush or lipgloss/primer. Personally, I think £20 is a good price to pay considering MAC single eyeshadows are £12.50 each!
  If you've always wanted to try one of the naked palettes but always found them quite pricey, then this palette is for you. It offers a selection of seductive nudes that are must-haves for everyday makeup.

Back To School Series #2 | Natural School Makeup

Going back to school after the Summer holidays can be nerve racking, so it's best to plan out a simple everyday makeup look, so you're not late for your first day back because of a makeup mishap. So for the second post in this 'Back To School' Series I'm going to share a natural, everyday makeup look with you that you'll - fingers crossed - be able to complete in 10 minutes.

For your base you're going to want to use a light/medium coverage BB cream -I really like my Maybelline Dream Fresh BB Cream at the moment- it's better to use a BB cream rather than a heavy coverage foundation because it will look so much more natural, and more appropriate for school. As for concealer, I'm sure you'll all have your favourite but I'd recommend the Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer, because it does a great job of concealing under-eye circles and any blemishes you may have too! Finally set your base with a powder, I love my Rimmel Stay Matte Powder because it looks natural and doesn't make your face look cakey, plus it helps to stop you getting an oily face throughout the day.

 For blush you'll need a soft and easy shade to wear, so a light pinky-peach is perfect! I really like Benefit Hervana blush for more neutral days. If you have time you could use a little highlighter too such as MAC MSF in 'Soft & Gentle' or -as a cheaper alternative- MUA Undress Your Skin Highlighter.

Now onto eyes, you're going to want to use either a shimmery neutral shade -like MAC 'All That Glitters' / MAC 'Naked Lunch'- or an almost-skin colour matte shade -like Urban Decay 'Walk Of Shame' / Urban Decay 'Foxy'- it's up to you weather you go for a shimmer or a matte as long it's natural-looking. You don't want to go over-board on eyes, so a little slick of eyeliner and a few lashings of a mascara should do you just fine.

For your lips, a light pink lipgloss or a glossy lipstick will be perfect. The Clarins Instant Light Natural Lip Perfectors are great for a neutral gloss, and Revlon's Lip Butter in 'Strawberry Shortcake' would be great to use for shiny healthy-looking lips. And of course if you don't fancy a lipgloss or lipstick then you could use a lip balm of your choice to help prevent dry, chapped lips. I'm really liking the Maybelline Baby Lips right now.

So that is my natural school makeup look! Thanks for taking the time to read through this lengthy post and if you give this look a go yourself be sure to send me a picture on Twitter! My Twitter is: @Amybfashion35

Will you be using any of these products mentioned in this post? What do you think of my 'Back To School' Series?

The Makeup | Currently Coveting #2

I'm revealing my hot new must-haves for the up-coming months, and showing what's been on my beauty radar recently...

UD Revolution Lipsticks £15
Urban Decay have re-vamped their lipsticks and ,from what I've heard, the quality too. These new lipsticks come in a range of shades so there's bound to be one to suit everybody. Urban Decay claim them to "deliver insane colour payoff with creamy shine" so they sound right up my street! I particularly like the look of 'Native'.

Revlon Lip Butter Autumn/Winter Shades £7.99
Revlon are releasing two new Lip Butter shades for their Autumn makeup collection: Invite Only and Provocative. They're very natural shades - considering their for an Autumn collection - but I'd quite like to get them to add to my collection - haha!

Revlon Lash Potion Mascara £9.99
Yes, another Revlon product, but I definitely think it's the packaging that gets me with this mascara. It just looks so magical and lovely - strange I know. I've read a couple of reviews and they've all said good things so once I've got some of other mascaras used up I might give this a go.

MAC Lipstick in 'Angel' £15
This wouldn't be a makeup wishlist without something from MAC on here, and I'm always wanting a new lipstick too. Angel is a soft pink shade and it's a great daytime colour to wear on your lips. Plus Kim Kardashian wears it.

L'Oreal Paris Brow Artiste Eyebrow Pencil £5.49
Usually I prefer to use an eyeshadow to fill my eyebrows in, but it's the double-ended pencil that does it for me. One end has the coloured eyebrow pencil and the other end has a clear wax to set them in place, so it's super quick and easy.

Rimmel Scandaleyes Shadow Paint £4.99
After seeing Lily (from Lily Pebbles) use these I've been eyeing these up in Boots but I think it's about time I got around a bought one. My favourite shade is 'Rich Russet', a shimmery bronze/brown shade, which would be good to use as a base or just on its own.

The Body Shop Camomile Cleansers £?
These aren't actually on The Body Shop's website at the moment but I have seen them in-store already. Their new camomile range consists of; makeup removers, cleansing butter and a silky cleansing oil, all of which sound heavenly and I'd love to try. I'm not sure of the prices but I think they're around £9-£12 :)


What's on your beauty wishlist right now?

Monthly Favourites | July

Yes, another month is come to an end and it's time for me to show you my favourite beauty bits and bobs, that I've been using over the past few weeks. I will warn you though that this months favourites aren't going to be that exciting, because I'm saving up for a shopping trip so I've been using some old favourites recently.

Revlon Lip Butter in "Cotton Candy" £7.99

I have been wearing this stuff on my lips an awful lot recently, a perfect sheeny pink shade that manages to keep your lips hydrated and looking luscious at the same time. I won't ramble on too much about it, as I'm sure everyone of you will have heard about the Lip Butters before but it's a lovely balmy texture and fuss-free to apply. A delightful bubblegum pink shade with a touch of shimmer, perfect.

Boots Coconut & Almond Intensive Hair mask £1.99

Particularly in the Summer I always need a tad more moisture in the ends of my locks, to avoid the frizzy look. With this being cheap I wasn't expecting a miracle but after a few uses I can tell a difference in the feel of my hair. I apply this to the ends of my hair, leave for a few minutes and rinse out. The next morning your hair will feel super soft.

Benefit Hoola Bronzer £23.50
This is actually one of the very few bronzers I own - surprisingly - and it's been hidden away in my stash for a while, until I decided to give it a go for some contouring and I fell in love, again. It's very pigmented so you don't need too much product on your brush and it's great to contour your face with without looking dirty. I like to apply a small amount using my Real Techniques Contour Brush whilst pulling the 'fishy face' and blend it out to look more natural.

Urban Decay Eyeshadow in "Half Baked" £14
Half Baked is a very shimmery golden bronze shade which I've been using on the outer corner of my lids daily this month. I was expecting this to be a pain to apply (because of thee shimmer) but it applies very easily and it has a very smooth texture. The pigmentation is great too, I would definitely getting the Naked 2 palette as all of the shades are fantastic.

Bourjois Bronzing Primer £9.99
I did a full review - here - on this, but I had to include it in my favourites for this month. As all of you in the UK will know, the weather has been very hot this past month so due to this I haven't been wearing a full face of makeup everyday and this primer has come in very handy. I apply this (using my fingers) all over my face, making sure to blend it well and then go ahead and use a BB Cream over the top for a perfect Summer makeup base.


Non-Beauty Favourites

Hay Day (Available from the App Store)
I've been spending so much time on this app - warning it's very addictive! - and it's free too.

Watermelon!
I've been eating Watermelon like crazy at the moment, but at least it's healthy!

Skater Skirts
I never used to be a skirt fan but this Summer I haven't been out of my Skater skirts. I have three in total - note to self: buy more - two from Topshop and one from New Look. They go with EVERYTHING and look so pretty as well.


Phew. That was a long post, what have you been enjoying this last month?

The Weekend Post #15: The Natural Eye

Whatever the weather, you'll pretty much always find me sporting light and natural eye makeup. A sweep of eyeshadow, a flick of eyeliner and some lashings of mascara is all I need these days. I thought it would be interesting for you to see what my eye makeup menu consists of on a daily basis.

source

First on the menu is Mac All That Glitters, the perfect all-over lid shade (full review coming soon!). I sweep this all over my lids and move straight onto eyeliner. Oh, but not forgetting a subtle highlight on my brow bone and inner corner, I use one of my old favourites, enter... Urban Decay Bootycall.
Using a liner brush, I build some of Urban Decay's Blackout up and apply this with a small flick at the end. A good tip is to slightly dampen the liner brush to intensify the line. For mascara I'm currently loving Benefit They're Real, for lots of volume. A few lashings of this on my top - and don't forget the bottom - lashes and my eyes look wider and much more awake.


What's on your makeup menu for a natural look?