Urban Decay Stay Naked Foundation

I was really excited to see Urban Decay has launched a new foundation with Stay Naked. I am horrendously fussy when it comes to liquid foundations and I have a love-hate relationship with most products I try. I don't like something that is too thick so it feels like you have just applied your second layer of emulsion on to your skin and equally, I hate that skin is a bit suffocated feeling too. I often add the thickest of foundations to my moisturising cream to make them work for me when I feel the need.

Newly launched from Urban Decay comes Stay Naked Foundation and it is available in a pretty remarkable 50 shades. Most brands are roasted if they deem to come up with what we feel is less than reasonable when it comes to the number of shades available, I remember when you had a choice of light, medium and dark and that was your lot, if you didn't fit into those categories, then you are either yellow or orange and that was an end to it. It is now an issue of not just your shade range but also the undertones that go with that shade - are you neutral, cool, pink or somewhere in the middle of it all. 

"This 24 hour longwear foundation has a real-skin matte finish that not only looks gorgeous but feels amazing thanks to its breathable and flexible formula," 

As well as the choice being of 50 different shades each one has a name and you will find 10NN is the lightest and 90CB being the darkest but from this Urban Decay break the foundation down much further and you will find 9 different shade intensities, 3 mastertones and 7 undertones. The best part? The bottle has a pump.

I was lucky enough to be shade matched by Urban Decay for my foundation and I am usually always the lightest shade without question and this was my expectation with Stay Naked, only to find I actually wasn't the lightest shade, but that I fit right in the middle of the lightest shades with 20NN.  I was shown the lightest shade and it was much paler than I actually am, which impressed me, but I was shocked more to find it wasn't the right fit for me.

When it comes to liquid foundations, I really am not a fan of fully caked coverage, I hate how it feels on my skin and every time I will opt for the lightest possible liquid coverage I can find. Urban Decay foundations are usually thick and gloopy, anyone who has tried the original Naked foundation, I am sure will agree it is a bit like paint because it is so thick, so much so, I added it to my moisturising cream.  Stay Naked thankfully is not as thick, it has much more movement to it when applied.

 The swatches above are, as always, unedited and taken in natural daylight and as you can see, it is not thick in texture and it is one of the easiest liquid foundations I have used in a very long time.  Once it has been buffed onto the skin it feels weightless and similar to how my Korean CC cream feels to make a comparison.  It doesn't feel cakey, it definitely have that medium coverage and it doesn't oxidise like a few other liquid foundations do. For me, this is the ideal coverage and texture.

Priced at £29.50 here* (you can grab 20% via Lookfantastic currently too) it has been the product I have gone too over the past few weeks and I have had quite a few compliments on how natural it looks when applied. 

*this post contains PR samples and/or Affiliate Links unless indicated otherwise - you can learn more on my Disclaimer page.

Rabot 1745 Fruited Chocolat Lip Balm Review and Swatches

Did you know that Hotel Chocolat has launched its very own beauty range called Rabot 1745? This post introduces Rabot 1745 and gives a brief introduction to what you can find within the range and of course this Lip Balm.

Admittedly I hadn't until a blogger press day when I got to give a few products a bit of a swatch and then bag myself a lip balm!

The range is divided into four categories and is said to have been inspired by Hotel Chocolat’s Saint Lucian cacao plantation, Rabot Estate and if you have never seen it or even heard of it, then literally I want to move there it is just stunning. The brand founders spent four years restoring the 250-year old estate before opening a hotel and restaurant nestled within the cacao groves.

The collection includes body butter, hand creams, shower gel, hand wash, a body mask, a scrub, a candle, a wonder balm, a body mist, a reed diffuser, a perfume. In total the range features around 25 products and that includes lip balms, which I am sharing with you in today's blog post.

Rabot 1745 Fruited Chocolat Lip Balm 

I am a huge fan of lip balms and I have lost count by the number I have used up already this year, for me they are an integral part of my daily routine and something I am constantly applying to my lips. From Rabot 1745, I was kindly given this Fruited Chocolate Lip Balm (£7) and oh my, as you might have thought, it smells insanely good, almost good enough to eat.

This lip balm is not only rich in essential oils but it also contains a natural blend of almond oil, Sunflower seed oil, cacao butter and rosemary leaf extract and as soon as you remove the top, the beautiful scent of cacao and almond oil come to life. The balm is a solid balm, but it melts with the heat of your finger as you rub it across the top and once you apply to the lips, it doesn't have a greasy or tacky feeling to it but it is incredibly moisturising. 

Would I recommend this Lip Balm? 

There is absolutely nothing that I dislike about this lip balm, I love the packaging with the wooden pot, I like that it is a solid balm, I like how it smells and I love how moisturising it is for my lips. 

Have you tried anything from the Rabot 1745 range and if so, do you have a product you have absolutely loved?

*this post contains PR samples and/or Affiliate Links unless indicated otherwise - you can learn more on my Disclaimer page.

Colourpop 'Give It To Me Straight' Eyeshadow Palette Review and Swatches

When it comes to eyeshadow I am a neutral/nude kind of girl, it is my comfort zone and it gets me through the working week.  When I saw Give It To Me Straight from Colourpop, it was in my basket without even a second thought because it is just absolutely stunning and whilst there are mainly shades that I am happy to use, there is also one or two which are slightly out of my comfort zone which I was keen to try. Priced at $16 which works out to just over £12, it is an absolute bargain.

This palette, as you can see, is full of warm coppers and rich, romantic mauves alongside those more neutral shades, so it will complement most skin tones. Of those 12 shades, 7 of them are buttery mattes and 5 of them are intense metallics that can be used wet or dry.

Across the top row of the palette the shades are:

• Matter of Fact: pale pink
• Up Front: metallic pale gold with a silvery sheen
• Straight Up: metallic warm gold
• BS: matte orangey brown

From this row, Matter of Fact is the shade I use as a base shade as it doesn't have the best colour pay off and it blends like a dream.  Up Front which is one of my favourite shades could also be used as a highlighter

The middle row contains:

• Frank: matte warm brown
• Candid: metallic bright copper
• Forthright: neutral metallic rose
• Downright: matte soft pinky beige

This is my favourite row on the palette and the one where I feel most at home.  Downright can again work well as the base shade but I absolutely love Forthright which works really well with Straight Up from the top row.

The bottom row contains:

• Truth Hurts: matte peachy beige
• Be Blunt: metallic rich raspberry
• TMI: matte dusty burgundy
• Actually...: matte deepened chocolate brown

This row is the one which takes me out of my comfort zone, especially with TMI and Be Blunt as they are two shades I am not used to using but are just absolutely stunning once applied.

This is only the second Colourpop palette I have ever purchased and whilst it is pretty straightforward with no fancy packaging or even a lid with a mirror, you more than get what you have paid for.  I have swatched the shades that I absolutely adore and the ones which shimmer.

From top to bottom these swatches are of Forthright, Candid, Straightup and Be Blunt and each one is totally unedited, what you see is a finger swatch from the palette onto my hand with no photo editing at all.  What I have found with Colourpop is that each shade is true to its description.

If you have been wanting to grab a bargain or five from Colourpop, then it is well worth signing up to their mailing list because not only do you get to read about new products, but they also have quite a few sales, free gift with purchases and free international shipping too. Shipping taxes are now added on to your purchases before you check out, so no duties to pay when your parcel arrives with Royal Mail.

*this post contains PR samples and/or Affiliate Links unless indicated otherwise - you can learn more on my Disclaimer page.