This is a quick run-down of some of the products we’ve received over the past month or so. We haven’t tested them all properly yet, so full reviews will follow shortly.
Urban Decay Full Spectrum Palette
If you love colour, this is the palette for you. This limited edition Full Spectrum Palette from Urban Decay contains 21 shadows in a range of rainbow shades:
My first thought when I looked at the colour selection was ‘oh god no‘ because everything looked so bright and, to my conservative eyes, unwearable. However, on closer inspection, there are some really beautiful, wearable shades in this palette that I will definitely be incorporating into my routine: Alchemy, Warning, Seize, Jones and Goldmine (can you tell that I’m a warm-toned girl through-and-through?!). For more of a smoky eye, I would combine Delirious, Platonic, Sketch and Midnight Blaze, with a bit of Faded on the centre of the lid to add a pop of colour. Would you guys like to see a tutorial using this palette? Let us know in the comments section below.
To see swatches, you can check out Temptalia’s review here.
It retails for R999.00 and is available online from Foschini.
Urban Decay Blackmail Vice Lipstick Palette
This limited edition palette contains 12-pans of lipstick (all shades are from Urban Decay’s permanent range of colours) in six different finishes.
The palette contains an excellent selection of colours, so you will have a shade to suit every mood or occasion. Included in the mix are several cult-favourite shades, such as Firebird (deep fuschia cream), 714 (bight red mega matte), 1993 (medium brown matte), Conspiracy (plum-bronze shimmer) and Blackmail (deep berry matte).
If you’re beauty nerds like we are, then you will really appreciate this: the wells in the palette have been designed with a special stair-up effect that’s perfect for wiping any excess lipstick off the brush. This ensures that the product is kept in its compartment, and not all over the palette. Genius!
I think this is a brilliant palette to invest in if you’re a makeup artist, or if you travel a lot, or if you simply fancy experimenting with a couple of different colours.
It retails for R700.00 and may still be available from the Urban Decay store in Sandton City. An alternative colour way is available online from Foschini.
Elizabeth Arden & Sparrow Society
Elizabeth Arden have partnered with their Make a Visible Difference Community Hero – Kate Senekal of Sparrow Society – to create three cosmetic bags as part of an incredible gift-with-purchase initiative. If your purchase two Elizabeth Arden products (one of which must be a moisturiser, serum or foundation), you will receive a chic, handmade Sparrow Society bag filled with a full-size Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Cream Skin Protectant, a Grand Entrance Mascara and a 15ml Always Red Eau de Toilette (total value R785).
As you know, I am a massive fan of both the Eight Hour Cream and the Grand Entrance Mascara, so I am going to really encourage you to take advantage of this deal! All you need to do is treat yourself to two of my other favourite Elizabeth Arden products, the PREVAGE Anti-Aging Foundation SPF 30 PA++ and Eight Hour All Over Miracle Oil, and you’ll get these fabulous products for free! Thanks to this collaboration, you can support an incredible local initiative and score yourself some incredible products at the same time…what are you waiting for?
Availability:
16 January – 5 February 2017: Foschini stores
16 February – 6 March 2017: Truworths stores
12 April – 3 May 2017: Edgars and Red Square stores
NYX Cosmetics
Some lovely NYX Cosmetics goodies arrived towards the end of last year, and whilst we haven’t had a chance to properly test them all yet, they look very promising! Pictured above is the Dream Catcher Palette in ‘Dusk Til Dawn‘, and pictured below are the Pro Lip Cream Palette in ‘The Plums’, the Ombre Blush in ‘Soft Flush’, the Lip Lingerie in ‘Beauty Mark’ and the Liquid Suede Cream Lipstick in ‘Orange County’. Which product would you like to see reviewed the most? Let us know!
L.O.V. Cosmetics
L.O.V launched towards the end of last year, and it has positioned itself as a prestige product offering in the high-end mass market. It combines good quality with competitive price points – what’s not to like about that, right? We were sent the Forbidden Dramatic Volume Mascara (R189.95) and the LOVinity Long Lasting Nail Lacquer in ‘Scarlet Sunset’ (R114.95), both of which are lovely. Despite my reservations about the rather odd-shaped mascara wand, it performs well and the formulation is good (no flaking or smearing).
Available from selected Dischem stores, as well as online at Takelot.