Lady Gaga - FAME

FAME launched in the US and UK yesterday, and will be launching worldwide on the 1st September. I'm not going to attempt to describe the scent to you, I wouldn't even know where to begin. I'm not a massive perfume-head so I literally would be the shittest person to "review" this. So, this is the description from The Perfume Shop:

"Lady Gaga Fame is the first ever black Eau de Parfum that sprays clear and becomes invisible once airborne.

The fragrance has a unique structure called the "push-pull technology," where the ingredients interact together to highlight different olfactive aspects of each note at the same time, without any hierarchy.

The scent is built around three main accords: dark, sensual and light.

The dark accord was inspired by Belladonna, the deadly nightshade possessed by haunted beauties since the 18th century.

From this darkness, the fragrance evolves to a sensual accord of opulence, a fusion of dripping honey, saffron and apricot nectar.

And lastly, the light accord whispers magnificence. The rich floral layer of crushed Tiger Orchid and Jasmine Sambac embodies timeless beauty.

The accords work together to create a fragrance of floral and fruity elements, with the star ingredient inspired by Belladonna leveling out the whole fragrance and giving Lady Gaga Fame its signature as a scent"

Yup, it does NOT smell of blood and semen, which I'm slightly thankful for. There are three different sized bottles, a 30ml, 50ml, and a 100ml. The 100ml is labelled as "The Ultimate Masterpiece". The only difference between this version and the others, besides the amount, is that TUM has a metal cap, not plastic. It makes the bottle fairly heavy but it also feels more expensive and luxurious. Safe to say I'm completely in love with this perfume. If you get a chance, head down to your local Perfume Shop, or even Boots/Superdrug and give it a whiff. There's also a shower gel and body lotion, both black liquid, available from the same places. Harrods has the exclusive to the soap, which is of similar shape to the "vessel" (egg) Gaga attended an awards show in.

Swatches - MAC Yellows/Oranges

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Swatches - MAC Nudes/Neutrals

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ck One Cosmetics Powder Eyeshadow Quad - 810 Smoking swatches and review

ck one cosmetics has just launched in the UK. They're stocked in Debenhams, I'm not sure if they're stocked anywhere else. They have pretty much everything - foundations, illuminators, nail polish, shadow quads, pencils, lipsticks, blushes - yeah, they've got it all. I really hope they expand their line though - they cover the basics but I'd love to see them come out with more quads, more blushes, more polishes. Anyways...



The palette I have is 810 Smoking. The packaging for this is really sophisticated and a little cute - the top actually swivels around as opposed to opening or pulling off. There are four good sized shadows inside totalling 4g. To compare, a single MAC shadow contains 1.5g and retails for £12, these quads retail for £25, so not bad really.

In this quad, we have a dusty blue teal with sparkle, a metallic grey taupe with TONS of sparkle, a matte black with perhaps a little bit of a brown undertone, and a slightly frosted off white/ivory. Firstly, I really wish this ivory shade was matte, the frostiness will turn a lot of people off. I originally thought the second shade was just a grey, but there is a hint of something else, which is why I've called it a taupe. The taupe and teal shades felt slightly wet - they almost felt like one of these hybrid shadows alot of brands are now putting out (I'm thinking Chanel Illusion d'Ombres, MAC Electric Cool shadows, those types of things).
The palette as a whole is described as containing powder shadows but these do feel slightly hybrid-ey, which is now a word BTW! The taupe and teal shades swatch fairly sheer but are much better on the eyes. The ivory shade is also sheer, which I'm actually thankful for, as had these been really pigmented it'd be a hot mess. There is also a little fall out from the taupe/teal shades, nothing too bad but it's probably best to do eyes before base, or use tissue/shadow shields when using this quad.

Taupe shade on the inner half of the eye, teal on the outer eye and crease, black on the top lash line, ivory on the brow bone

Favourites - Face + Cheeks!

Yay, more faves!!!

 

This is something I've had for roughly a month now and literally cannot get enough of it. By far the best BB I've come across. It's alot thicker than other BB's with more coverage. It doesn't come off as easy, it has a semi-matte finish and does actually blend into my pale skin very nicely.

 

 NARS Sheer Glow in Mont Blanc. Two things I tend to avoid - "Sheer" and "Glow". However, this is my go to foundation. Medium coverage, semi matte, flawless finish.

 

 MAC Prolongwear concealer in NC15. This is about the only thing that will look decent under my eyes. I have very annoying lines under my eyes that every concealer, bar this one, will cake up and crease in. Of course, I still need to set with powder, but it's a great concealer for under the eyes.

 

Illamasqua Loose Powder in 010. Go to setting powder - It's translucent and smells of vanilla. Nom.

 

  

 MAC Surf Baby Skinsheen Bronzer Stick in Tan Tint. On the very, VERY rare occasion I wear bronzer, this is what I prefer to use. It's creamy, dewy, no shimmer bronze-y perfection.

 

 

NARS Mata Hari Blush - This is my go to blush every winter. I love that it's darker and slightly purple-y, gives a lovely deep cheek that I think is perfect for winter.

 

Illamasqua Blush in Lover. A beautiful warm peach and one of the first things I bought from Illamasqua. This became a cult classic not long after and for a while was sold out!

 

 

NARS Orgasm Blush. Peachy pink, I think everyones about seen this one now.

 

 

MAC Stunner blush - a gorgeous soft natural pink coral.

 

MAC Keep It Loose Casual Colour Lip and Cheek cream. A beautiful dewy peach colour.

 

 

 MAC My Paradise Surf Baby blush - As you can see, I haven't used this much, but I love the design more than the colour. Don't get me wrong, it's a very pretty blush but I prefer looking at it than using it.

 

MAC Lightscapade Mineralize Skinfinish. Go to highlighter - shimmery off white, just not scary off white!

Do you have any favourites?

2True Limited Edition Crystal Nail Polishes

I popped into Superdrug yesterday, as I do pretty much every week, looking for new polishes/makeup, and happened to glace over at a stand I've never bothered with before - 2True. I was instantly drawn to three polishes from their Crystal LE collection. These are gorge!


Let me start by saying that 2True is very cheap. Their polishes, and infact everything they sell, is £1.99, or 3 for £5. Not bad eh? I picked up three of the Crystal polishes - Shade 2, Shade 3 and Shade 5. I wish these had names :( These can all be used as layering polishes, on their own, or maybe even part of a jelly sammich!



Shade 2 is a bright red - not too blue or orange, just perfect, with shimmer. This is almost opaque in one coat but I could see a little nail line, so went for two. This pooled a little bit, so be aware how much you have on the brush.

Shade 3 is a teal with teal sparkle. Again, opaque in two coats. This also had some pooling issues.

Shade 5 is perhaps the most beautiful. It's a mix of gold, broze and pink shimmer which gives an overall bronzey/gold feel. It's what I'd describe as a foil. Perfect autumn/fall shade, reminds me of falling leaves. This one was also opaque in two.

Not only did I get these three for £5, you also get a free nail polish from their Glossywear range with any three purchases, so I got this one free! I was torn between this and a stunning shimmery aqua blue, but I figured I had enough blues and very very few shades like this.

Glossywear Shade 45 is a hard colour to describe. I came up with a light olive tinted gold. This was also opaque in two coats!

Overall I'm very impressed with 2True's polishes. I was expecting a massive flop but these are actually really nice. Can't go wrong with them being £1.99 each! Formula's are pretty good and apart from some pooling issues they're great!

Has anyone else ever tried 2True? What did you think?

Favourites: Eyes

More faves! This time eyes;

 

 My baby Z Palette (all MAC shadows) - Early Bird, Omega, Carbon, Naked Lunch, Sumptuous Olive, Copperplate, Vanilla, Satin Taupe, Club. This palette always houses my most used/current faves.

 

MAC Bio Green - Gorgeous sparkly bright green.

 

MAC Surf USA - From Surf Baby, gorgeous shimmery blue teal. 

 

 MAC Painterly Paint Pot - My go to "primer". That actually looks really gross. Think it's about time I got a new one!

 

Chanel Emerville. My go to eyeshadow when I can't be arsed. This is just gorgeous though.

 

Bourjois 02 (I think, will have to check!). It's a bit sheer so has to be built up, but it's still a fun spring colour.

 

Eyeko Skinny Liner - no idea what colour it is, but it's pretty much my go to liner since I only break out the black liners in winter. It takes the pink out of my waterline.

 

MAC Undercurrent. Vibrant shimmery teal. I prefer using this as a base rather than a liner.

 

MAC Liquid last liner in Aqualine. This is a ridiculously pretty turquoise. MAC got rid of their Liquidlast range though, and this is the only one I have. This takes a shit load of effort to get off aswell.

 

 Lime Crime uniliner in Citreuse. Like the most perfect chartreuse colour ever. I favour coloured liquid liners over black because I find they can be more forgiving - you don't have to be so precise.

What's your favourite eye products?

Favourites: Lipsticks + Glosses

A series of favourites posts, starting with lippies as they seem to be the least work given it's 1am!

 

 MAC Summer Shower - Part of the Fashion Flower collection last spring. It's basically a really sheer blue with blue/teal shimmer. Adds nothing but shimmer but I loves it.

 

MAC Fabby. It's a kind of mauve-y pink with shimmer. An odd colour really but very nice when on. Has a slightly frosted finish but nothing OTT.

 

 MAC Watch Me Simmer - Released twice this year already, a bright pink coral.

 

MAC Costa Chic. My go to coral. Frosted finish, again nothing OTT. Coral perfection!

 

MAC Angel. This is my second tube of this, it's my go to pink.

 

MAC Oh, Oh, Oh. Looks really scary in the tube, but when worn it's a really nice muted purple-pink with gold shimmer.

 

 MAC Whirls and Twirls - Last holiday collection. A really frosted barely there warm pink. Doesn't really add colour, just shimmer, but looks lovely in winter for frosted pink lips.

 

MAC Viva Glam Gaga. This pink is too blue on me, I know that, yet I still wear it purely because it's a Gaga. I actually have three of these, this one being the second tube I used. I have an unused tube that will remain unused!

 

MAC Viva Glam Gaga 2, I also have three tubes of this (and yes, one will remain unused!). A medium nude, not too pink, not too yellow.

 

Illamasqua Apocolips. No, I don't wear this on a daily basis :P But it's teal and I love teal, so there!

 

Chanel Chance. Light yellow pink. Perfect for a "I can't be bothered" lip (plus, the perfume smells fab).

 

Dior Zinnia Red. I think this might be my perfect red. Medium dark, blue based. Nom.

 

Benefit *forgets name*. Basically just gold shimmer, nothing more. Lovely on it's own or layered.

 

Maybelline Cherry Pop. One of the new candy lipsticks. I swear, this smells EXACTLY like cherry lollies. The temptation to take a bite is just too much at times. It looks red but it actually comes out a shade of orange. At least on my hand, on lips it isn't as...odd.

 

MAC Strange Potion. Originally launched with Venomous Villians, re-launched with Surf Baby (which, to this day is still my favourite MAC collection). A slightly shimmery coral.

 

MAC Pink Lemonade. Pinky coral.

 

MAC Richer, Lusher. Pinky coral with barely-there white shimmer. Have you noticed that I love corals yet?

 

MAC Narcissus. A strangely beautiful semi-sheer medium purple. 

 

MAC Pleasure Principal. Pink/teal glitter, no colour.

 

 MAC *minds drawn a blank - will so need to update this in the morning*. Sheer pink with teal/pink sparkle.

Summer Shower, Fabby, Watch Me Simmer, Costa Chic, Angel, Oh Oh Oh, Whirls and Twirls, Viva Glam Gaga, Viva Glam Gaga 2

Illamasqua Apocalips,Chanel Chance, Dior Zinnia Red, Benefit *, Maybelline Cherry Pop

Strange Potion, Pink Lemonade, Richer Lusher, Narcissus, Pleasure Principal, *

So, what are your favourite lipsticks?