A couple weeks back I received a lovely package from Sedona Lace with a couple goodies to review. I only ever thought Sedona Lace was an American brand til I realised they shipped to the UK.. woop!

I thought I'd try their 120 Pro Palette and chose the second edition as I have a First Edition Manly palette from eBay (click here for blog post) and have bought a second edition Manly palette too.
They also sent their "Stick It To 'Em" eyeshadow primer which I thought I'd compare to my UDPP. 

120 Pro Palette - Second Edition

Packaging: Compared to the Manly palette, the outer packaging of the Sedona Lace palette has a matte texture and feels sturdier than the shiny plastic with Manly. I once ordered a Manly palette and received it with plastic outer case cracked and a couple shadows broken. The Sedona Lace palette does feel somewhat more durable.
The biggest difference for me as a MUA is the fact that the shadows in this palette are not as delicate as the Manly ones; I tested to see if the eyeshadows would fall out by turning the trays upside down and lightly tapping also and none of them fell out. Big thumbs up for me, as I can't describe how frustrating it is to have shadows fall out if a tray gets knocked over on a job!
Colour & Pigmentation: One thing that was a downer for me about the Manly palette was the inconsistent pigmentation of the shadows.. There were some vibrant and pigmented colours, but a lot of the pastel colours were so poorly pigmented I had to rub quite a few times to get any colour out of them! 
Thankfully, Sedona Lace's palette is consistent with pigmentation; they all have fairly good payoff, although the white isn't as pigmented as my La Femme single white shadow. All in all though, thumbs up for the colour selection as well as the colour payoff.
Texture: The shadows in this palette are less chalkier than in the Manly palette with some shadows feeling quite creamy as opposed to sheer and light.
Longevity: So far I've only tried the Sedona Lace palette for FFF makeup looks and the colours have held pretty well for the duration of doing so. Paired with a good primer I'm sure the shadows would last considerably longer.
Price: For $28.95 (approx £19) it's not a bad investment; of course you could start with the Manly palette or other eBay palettes as I did, but once you realise that some colours are unusable in that palette, I think this is the next step!

FrootiFactor: Overall I'd give the palette a 5/5 because it ticks all my boxes so far!

Stick It To 'Em Eyeshadow Primer

Straight out of the tube

Blended - tried to capture the slight sheen

Packaging: I quite like the packaging of this primer, aside from the metallic red colour I like the fact that its a tube design as with the new UDPPs. I find it much more hygienic than having a wand that goes on the eyelids then back in the tube and also find that the product remains how it's supposed to without constant air being pumped into it. You also get more product out of the packaging with this squeezy tube design.
Colour & Pigmentation: This primer is transparent when blended and has a peachy-pink tone when not, as with the original UDPP. 
Texture: The texture of this primer is much more creamier than the UDPP, which feels lovely, but remains somewhat greasy (as shown above). Compared to UDPP and Too Faced Shadow Insurance, this is different as they are also fairly creamy but dry within seconds so that it's no longer shiny/greasy and a great surface for shadows to stick to.
Longevity: Because of the creamy/greasy texture this primer doesn't seem to last as long as the UDPP which has always been my favourite!
Price: The Stick It To 'Em primer is usually $14.95 (approx £9.60) but currently on sale for $9.95 (approx £6.40). If the primer wasn't so creamy I would have said it's worth it because of the packaging and colour, but unfortunately for me I need to work fast and have a primer that can keep up with drying time and longevity!

FrootiFactor: I'd have to give this primer a 2.5 out of 5 as it doesn't dry as fast as I need to and hasn't proved crease-free yet.

Overall, I'm very happy with the 120 Pro Palette but didn't find the primer was for me. I am however looking to try more Sedona Lace products in the future so keep an eye out for that!
You can purchase the products from the Sedona Lace website, with deliveries to the UK too which is great.

Have you tried any Sedona Lace products? If so, what is your experience and which would you recommend?

Passion Flower/Purple Tulip makeup look

After seeing the legendary and late Queen B Makeup's "passionflower look" (click here), I just had to replicate it! I loved the purple and rainbow colours and the way they looked together, so I did my own version of it, using similar colours but tailoring it to what I thought suited best. I also wanted to use my NYX San Paulo Matte Lip Cream (MLC), so I did for this look ;)
Here's how my version looked:

And the original look by Alejandra (QueenBMakeup):

For this look I used:

> UD Urban Defense Tinted Moisturiser in Bodyguard
> UDPP
> NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in Milk & Yogurt
> Manly Palette - yellow, orange, red and purple eyeshadows
> MAC studio concealer in NC35
> UD Ink for Eyes in Zero (for liner & brows)
> UD Cannonball mascara
> Khuraira Brow Fix Gel
> UD Glide On Cheek Tint in Score
> Sleek blush in Pomegranate
> NYX Matte Lip Cream (MLC) in San Paulo

After applying UD tinted moisturiser in Bodyguard all over my face, I used UDPP on the eyelids followed by NYX jumbo eye pencil in Milk, blending in with the finger. I followed Queen B's video tutorial for the rest, substituting with eyeshadow colours I thought appropriate from my Manly palette. 
For the cheeks I used UD cream blush in Score followed by Sleek Pomegranate blush.
I used my new NYX MLC in San Paulo for the lips, which I adore!

So here's how the look turned out:
The eyes:

The whole face:

 

I think it turned out pretty well and really love the tropical-ness of it, the colours looked even more amazing in real life =D
What do you think? Also let me know if you have any makeup suggestions you'd like me to try, I'm looking for some inspiration =)

<3

Asian Bridal-esque makeup look

Hello my lovelies, so as aforementioned, I did a makeup look on my cousin on Monday night, it was mainly just to practice applying false lashes, but I thought I may as well go the whole hog and make it a full on makeup look, something that would be more suited to the second day of an Asian wedding.
I used:
> Models Own "white pearl" eyeshadow and 
> Manly palette
> Arabic palette, 
> UD 24/7 eyeliner in Zero
> Eylure Girls Aloud lashes in Nicola
> New CID Baked Duo compact
> OCC lip tar in Anime & Feathered
> Red Herring (Debenhams OB) lipgloss - light pink colour

And here's how it looked:

 

 

And one Bollywood one, showcasing her henna skills:

There's a hint of brown with the pink, an unlikely pair of colours, but very common in asian thread and beadworks for some reason!
What dyu think of the colours? Would you like to see other colour combinations?

<3

Wonder Woman FOTD

Whilst Wonder Woman is still hot, I thought I'd do a makeup look using the signature colours; red, blue & gold, and do a similar (but better!) look to the ones the "wonder women" at the MAC event (here) were sporting. I've ordered the MAC Wonder Woman blush in Mighty Aphrodite and the lipstick in Spitfire, so I'll update you when it arrives!

Here's what was used for this look:
> UDPP
> Manly 120 palette - red, blue, gold & white
> Sleek Ink Pot in black
> UD 24/7 eyeliner in Binge
> Khuraira ACC in Light
> MAC Studio Finish concealer in NC35
> Victoria's Secret blue mascara
> Sleek blush in Scandalous
> OCC Lip Tar in Harlot
> Vaseline


I applied blue to the whole eyelid and to the bottom lashline, whilst using UD's Binge Anniversary eyeliner for the bottom liner. I added yellow gold to the brow bone, blending down into the inner corner of the eyes, whilst adding red above the eye socket/crease, blending upwards into the gold.
For top liner I used the Sleek Ink Pot and after using the Khuraira and MAC concealers under my eyes, I used the Victoria's Secret blue mascara that I had.

 

For the rest of the face I used Sleek blusher in Scandalous (from their Valentine's collection) and for the lips I used a bit of Vaseline before adding OCC Lip Tar in Harlot.

I hope you liked this look, if you have any requests, do let me know =)

Have a lovely weekend!


<3

Funky Arabesque FOTD

So here's the funky arabesque look I did the night of the makeovers, but first let me show you the FOTD before the funky look; Simple black topliner with coloured bottom liner; in this case the Bourjois liner in Bleu Clinquant.

 

As requested, I did the lips with the Pixi Lip Blush in Desire (purple stain) and a bit of Vaseline. My lips are quite pigmented, so the true colours don't show up, but it suits me just fine! For the cheeks I used Sleek Pomegranate cos I wanted to use purple and turquoise (as I love these two colours together).

As for the funky/arabesque look, here's a list of what was used:
> UDPP
> Manly 120 palette - turquoises and purples and pink
> UD 24/7 eyeliner in Zero
> Sleek Ink Pot
> Bourjois metallic eyeliner in Bleu Clinquant
> Khuraira Age Control Concealer in Light
> MAC moisturecover concealer in NC35
> Dior Show mascara (black)
> Sleek Pomegranate blush
> Sleek Pout Polish in Raspberry Souffle (on top of Pixi Desire)

To start I primed the eye with UDPP, then applied turquoise eyeshadow all over the eyelid, followed by purple in the socket, up to the eyebrow, blending upwards but not using too much purple. I added light pink to the browbone, blending down into the purple, and then blending the purple and turquoise in the crease.
For the bottom liner, I used the Bourjois metallic eyeliner, followed by Sleek Ink Pot under it, following the Bourjois line carefully and bringing it up at the outer corner of the eye. For the topliner I also used Sleek Ink Pot, with UD Zero liner inside the eyelid at the top.
To finish the eyes, I used Dior Mascara after adding Khuraira & MAC concealer under the eyes (the Khuraira is so thick and disguises the dark circles so good!).

For the cheeks & lips I used Sleek; Pomegranate blush as it's a shade of purple and Raspberry Souffle Pout Polish as its a pink-purple tone that I love!

So here's my two looks, it's my treat for not posting as frequent as I'd like to!
Hope you like, let me know if you have any requests!


<3

Romantic Red FOTD

I haven't been able to do makeup looks much lately, simply because I haven't had the time! I've done some face painting on children, my normal nutrition sessions and quite a few dinners (mainly birthday ones). I did however manage to take a couple pictures of a leaving dinner I went to where I wore a lovely velvet wine coloured red dress. 

Here's the dress I wore: 

 

The dress is by Red Herring and I wore it with leggings; lovely and warm! It's now on sale here if you're interested, I love it =D

Although the occasion wasn't actually romantic, I decided to use it as a possible Valentine's look seeing as it had red in it and the dress is pretty romantic!

Anyway, the makeup I used for this was:

> UDPP
> Manly 120 palette
> Khuraira Age Control Concealer in light
> MAC moisturecover concealer in NC35
> Sleek blush in Sunrise
> Sleek Pout Polish in Scandal
> Dior Show mascara

I pretty much used the same format as my Christmassy look (here), but instead of green I used black eyeshadow for the outer corner and more yellow-gold.
So here's the eyes:

And the rest of the face:

Hope you like the look, I'll try doing more Valentine's looks where poss, but these looks I've done are pretty and suitable for Valentine's too: Simple Touch of Magic, gold eyes & red lips, neutral/brown look, or a pink-purple look.

Also, if anyone's going to the London IMATS this weekend, let me know! I'll be going this Sunday.. I'm super excited!


<3

Makeovers

As promised, here's the makeup looks I did last week whilst I had my inlaws around. I'm going to use the same names that I used from my last post of sleepover makeup (here); Exhibit 1 (cousin J) wanted natural/neutrals, exhibit 2 (cousin Z) wanted a smokey look with brown, and exhibit 3 (sister in law Y), wanted to try pink/purple.
I used the Manly 120 palette for all three looks, if you would like to know which exact colours I used I'll try my best to remember!
Exhibit 1:

This was the look I did on the night of the Sleepover, however the pictures didn't come out that great on my screen so the next day I did a toned down version of this look (neutral/browns) and here's how it looked:

 

Exhibit 2 (cousin Z) - smokey look with brown:

 

And finally, exhibit 3 (sis in law Y) - pink/purple look:

 

 

Here's Exhibit 2 & 3 together aswell (I had to black out the background and hair sorry if it looks weird!!):

 

Which is your favourite? Also, with smokey eyes, what do you think is a good lip colour and cheek colour?

<3