Battle of the Nudes: MUA vs Chi Chi vs Stila

I have three nude eye shadow palettes for you today.  The MUA Undressed palette.  The Chi Chi Nudes palette.  The Stila In the Light palette.  These palettes have some similarities to the Urban Decay Naked palette.  Unfortunately, I do not own that so I can't compare these palettes to it directly.  With that said, now owning these three, I don't really feel the desire to buy it anymore :)

The MUA Undressed palette can be purchased online through their site.  It retails for: £4

It's packaging is simple and sleek.  The case is very secure, perhaps too secure.  Sometimes I have trouble opening it.  It comes with a double ended foam applicator.

As you can see the colours are very similar to the Naked palette (if you're familiar with it).  These really are very versatile colours and are great for every day looks.  All the shimmer shades are quite smooth and pigmented; however, the mattes are pretty crappy.  In the swatches below, shades 3 and 5 are matte and they took a lot of effort to get the swatch.  Several of the colours in this palette have a pinker tone when compared to the other palettes.  This shades in this palette don't have names, but my favourites are 6, 7 and 12.  These are particularly creamy and pigmented.

Next up, Chi Chi.  This can be purchased at Myer and retails for $19.95AUD.

The Chi Chi Nudes palette looks a bit more like its 'idol' the Naked palette with the pans being in similar shapes and in the same layout.  I really like its clear lid.  It comes with two double ended foam applicators.

Again, similar colours; however, there are subtle differences between this palette and the others.  A big difference between this one and the MUA is that these mattes are better.  They're softer, but they still lack some pigment in comparison to the Stila palette up next.  The latter of the palette tended to be quite sheer, which was a bit disappointing.  My favourite shades in this palette are 2, 4, 6 and 7.

Finally, Stila.  I'd heard so many great things about this palette and decided to get it.  I purchased mine from Beauty Bay during their Black Friday sale for $29AUD.

The packaging of the Stila In the Light palette is quite beautiful; however, it is cardboard, which isn't the most sturdiest of containers.  It does have magnets in the lid to keep it closed.  I love that there is a quote on the lid ('believe in the beauty of the future').  Plus, it comes with a smudge stick in damsel. 

This palette only has 10 shades (6 shimmer, 4 mattes) whereas the other two have 12.  The formula of these eye shadows was far superior than the others.  They are all buttery and creamy and wonderful, even the mattes.  My favourites in this palette were kitten (shade 2), sunset (shade 4), champagne (shade 6) and luster (shade 8).  I actually like most of them.

Here are swatches of these three different palettes. 

These shades were all pretty close.  Shade 1 didn't register on my skin very well, but they're quite pretty.   

Stila was quite different in shade 4 (sunset) and 5 (sandstone).  

Again, some close matches.  Please note, shade 9 and 10 have been numbered differently for these swatches only.  What is labelled as 'shade 9' is actually shades 11 from MUA and Chi Chi and ebony from Stila.  The labelled 'shade 10' is shades 12 from MUA and Chi Chi and night sky from Stila.  I did not include shade 9 and 10 from MUA and Chi Chi because there was no match from Stila, but again they're similar differing mainly in tone.

Wow, this has become quite a long post.  To conclude, I think the Stila palette is the best.  It's quality is far better than the other two and it comes with the smudge stick.  However, the other palettes are still pretty good.  If I were to choose between the Chi Chi and MUA palettes, I would choose the Chi Chi.

I hope this has been an enjoyable, albeit lengthy read!  Which palette do you prefer?

My Love for Femme Fatale

After being introduced to Femme Fatale through Kat's blog (check it out here, it's fantastic), I knew I had to order a few of their nail polishes. They also have samples of their other mineral products you can purchase. I highly recommend doing this before committing to a full size product.

I ordered three nail polishes: Winter Hyacinth, A Tisket, A Tasket and Star's Lament. I decided to get the smaller sizes in case I didn't end up loving them. I have only tried Winter Hyacinth so far and I loved it so much, I have already ordered the full size (however, it is horrid to remove). The other two are wrapped under the tree.

The formula is very sheer and this is four coats. You may choose to use a base coat to reduce these. With that said, I do love the layering effect you get when you continue adding layers. This nail polish has a beautiful combination of teal and fuchsia. The fuchsia and red glitter is awesome, but my favourite part is the inclusion of white diamonds and hexes.

In addition to the nail polishes, I also wanted to try their blush and eye shadow. I ordered samples of Archangel and Starcaller (both eye shadows) and Fire Bloom and Velvet Cupcake (both blushes). There were also surprise samples of Amber Eyes and Enchanted (both eye shadows). The samples come in plastic bags which can get a bit messy; however, there is a fair amount of product included.

I will start with the blushes, because I am far more obsessed with them than I am with eye shadow.  Femme Fatale has 12 different blushes to choose from and are quite unique in comparison to the blushes I currently possess.  In their descriptions, it gives recommendations for which skin types (i.e. fair, olive, dark, etc) the blush is best suited for.

L: Fire Bloom, Right: Velvet Cupcake

Fire Bloom:  This is a beautiful rose and coral blush.  It is buildable, which allows for versatility when wearing it.  It can look like a modest glow to a pretty dynamic look.  It has a lot of gold shimmer in it, so if you're not a fan of shimmer, this probably isn't for you.  

Velvet Cupcake:  I love this blush!  It's extremely different from anything I own and it is super fun!  It looks like it will be candy-like than it actually is.  It shows up as a bright pink on the cheeks.  I wore it to the Nicki Minaj concert (see here) because I thought it really fit the mood. :)  It doesn't have any noticeable shimmer, which I think it good considering its vibrancy.  I will be picking this up once my sample runs out.

Femme Fatale has a large range of eye shadows.  They have around 90 different shades available on their website.  I was quite surprised by their eye shadows. I ended up liking the free colours better than the ones I had chosen, which only reinforces the need to sample!

Indirect Sunlight: L to R: Archangel, Amber Eyes, Starcaller, Enchanted

Archangel:  Browsing the website, this was my favourite shade.  I love champagne-looking colours, but this one fell a bit flat.  It didn't look great on my skin and I think that is partly due to its translucent nature.  However, in direct sunlight, you can see the violet shimmer it has, which is pretty sweet.  In the end, I'm still undecided about this one.

Amber Eyes:  I didn't really give this one too much thought, but I am so happy that I received it!  It is my favourite of the four colours and reads peachy.  In direct sunlight, you can see some green and pink shimmer.  The green surprised me and I may purchase this when I run out of the sample.  I love how complex each of these eye shadows is.

Direct Sunlight: L to R: Archangel, Amber Eyes, Starcaller, Enchanted

Starcaller:  This one didn't do it for me.  I didn't look nice on my skin and I just wasn't impressed with it (perhaps, because I liked all the others better).  In sunlight, you can see some subtle pink shimmer, but it didn't do enough for me to like it.

Enchanted: Again, I hadn't really looked at this colour when I was placing my order, but wow!  I like it.  This is a dusky pink with a red/coral duochrome.  I'm not sure how often I would use this colour, but I'm definitely considering purchasing this one. 

Femme Fatale is an Australian small business. I love supporting local brands, especially those who are also Eco-friendly. On each sample it says if the products are vegan or not. Being a strict vegetarian (cheese is the only animal product in my diet. I am too selfish to give it up), this is very comforting. Definitely give them a try!

Check them out here: http://femmefatalecosmetics.com.au/ 

Oz Sale Haul: Revlon Edition

A few weeks ago (it seems like ages) I placed an impulsive order with Oz Sale since they had four or five make-up brands up for grabs (see the first order I received here).  My first order was for a bunch of Revlon products; however, it was the last to arrive.  The others all under my Christmas tree as I felt quite guilty in purchasing all of them.

I haven't had a chance to use most of these products, but I have tested them all to validate my spending.  Up until now, I've only bought one bottle of Revlon nail polish.  I really liked it, but for some reason, I just never purchased any others.  I chose these two colours because I don't have any purple nail polish and Royal Cloak looked pretty sweet (I'm not a big fan of purple).  Black with Envy is supposed to be a pretty close dupe for Chanel's Black Pearl and the swatches I have seen look fantastic.  I adore black nail polishes and this charcoal grey suits me just fine.

L to R: Royal Cloak and Black with Envy

To be honest, I haven't been a huge fan of eye shadows.  I tend to stick with neutrals and neutrals.  Lately, I have been trying to incorporate more colour into my small, but growing collection.  The third colour in this palette drew me in and I'm so glad I purchased it.  The palette is the Revlon Colorstay 12 Hour Eye Shadow in Lavender Meadow.  The formula is smooth and creamy with great pigmentation and reminded me how dry my other Revlon quad is (see post here).  I do believe this product has been discontinued, which explains why it was so cheap on Oz Sale; however, if you come across it, I would definitely pick it up.  The colours are beautiful.

Packaging

Close up of the gorgeousness of these colours

Shades swatched from top to bottom

Now onto the lip products I purchased.  There were a lot of pretty cheap lip glosses and lip sticks and I didn't really know what to pick up.  So I decided to get whatever looked unique and colours that I don't already own. 

L to R: Colorburst in Rosegold and Liquid Lipstick in Grand Garnet

I don't own too many lip glosses because many I've tried tend to be thick and sticky, which I cannot stand.  I didn't look up any reviews of the two lip glosses I chose, I just took a chance.  (If I didn't like them, I was just going to send them to my mom :)  The first one I chose was Revlon Colorburst in Rosegold.  To start with, I really really like the packaging.  To me, this is a great nude.  It has the right amount of pink mixed in with nice bronze shade.  I wasn't sure if I would like the shimmer it has, but it is quite subtle unless in direct sunlight.  The formula is fairly thin, but it definitely leans towards that thick-ish consistency I'm not fond of; however, it is really smooth on my lips.  I really like it.

The other lip gloss I selected, ColorStay Ultimate Liquid Lipstick in Grand Garnet, isn't really a lip gloss, but rather liquid lipstick and that it truly is.  It lasts quite a long time and stained my arm when I swatched it (see swatches below).  First impression, wow!  It is super thin, super lightweight and super pigmented.  Plus, it dries super quickly, so be sure to fix any errors otherwise they will be there for a while.  The colour is a bright burgundy, but is not too bold for those who are weary of red lipstick.  Again, I'm very pleased with this 'gloss' as well.

L to R: Lip Butter in Tutti Frutti, Lip Butter in Cherry Tart, Moon Drops in Goldmist Bronze

The next products I chose were the Lip Butters.  I know, I am so behind on this trend.  I was totally never going to buy them at Australia prices so I had resigned myself to waiting.  However, when I saw them on Oz Sale, I decided to cave and get two, Tutti Frutti and Cherry Tart.  I knew I wanted Tutti Frutti because I love orange coloured lip products (so great for sumemr).  I debated for a while whether I wanted Cherry Tart or Candy Apple and I ended up doing eeny, meeny, miny, moe to decide.  (I've asked my family who are Stateside for Candy Apple.)

The other lipstick I chose was Revlon Moon Drops Frost in Goldmist Bronze.  I'm not entirely sure who named this lipstick, because I don't think it is anyway 'gold' or 'bronze.'  As you can see from the swatch, it is a fairly bright fuchsia, pink.  I think my favourite part about it is the smell.  It reminds me of my grandma's lipsticks and playing with them as a kid.

Swatches, L to R: Colorbust in Rosegold, Liquid Lipstick in Grand Garnet, Lip Butter in Tutti Frutti, Lip Butter in Cherry Tart and Moon Drops in Goldmist Bronze

Have you received any sweet hauls in the post or in-store?  Leave a link, I'd love to check them out!