Sunday, August 30, 2020

Urban Decay Naked Ultraviolet Palette

I received a PR sample of the Urban Decay Naked Ultraviolet Palette back in the middle of July and I've been playing with it a lot since. I wanted to put together a comprehensive review of the palette as makeup testers are not available at the moment so I think reviews on social media are more important than ever before. If you're going to spend €50 on a palette that you can't try out first then I think it's important to be able to have as many photos as possible of looks and swatches of the palette. 

I'm fully aware the blogging isn't what it once was and people now use Instagram a lot more than blogs but when it comes to spending my hard earned money I will always look up blog posts reviewing products in depth as you can't get that kind of detail on Instagram. I wanted to take as many photos and try out lots of different looks so that anyone thinking of spending money on this palette can get a good idea of what it can do. 

There are a LOT of photos in this post so I want to try and keep the text to a minimum, but I do want to share a few thoughts on the palette for anyone who might be interested in buying it. When I first saw this palette I was a bit confused as it felt very different to the other Naked palettes in the Urban Decay repertoire. It seems like half neutral, half colourful and I was trying to imagine the type of makeup lover who would want to buy this. Then I went back through my blog and my Instagram and I realised how many purple eye looks I have posted myself over the past couple of years and it was more than any other "colourful" shade. 

I'm a huge lover of purple eye makeup as I've always found it quite complimentary to green eyes. I've done looks with purple glitter, purple liner, lilac and smoky purple looks. I liked how it was half neutral and more "wearable" shades and then half different shades of purple for anyone who wants to experiment but doesn't want an all colourful palette. 

I loved the look of the palette as I could see straight away so many different looks that I could create with it which isn't always the case with palettes. However admittedly I probably wouldn't have bought it straight away as I already have so many palettes in my collection and my brother just bought me the Huda Beauty Amethyst Obsessions Palette for Christmas which I need to play around with some more. When I received the PR drop though I was obviously delighted as I knew I would definitely get lots of use out of it. I know it's probably quite polarising and you'll either love the purples or you'll know it's not for you and you'd never wear them. 

I love the packaging and the shade selection. I was really drawn to the shade VR, Lucid and Optimized at first. When I really examined the shades I realised they were mostly quite unique in my collection. I swatched it as soon as I had taken photos and I was admittedly a little disappointed with the pay-off from some of the metallic shades. However I would never judge a palette on swatches alone and I'm glad I didn't with this one as once you're willing to play around a bit you can get the shadows to look amazing. I always wear eye primer as I find it just works really well on my eyelids. I know not everyone uses it but I definitely think this is a palette that benefits from using a primer first. I was running out of my Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion and since I've actually never tried any other eye primer I decided to buy the Fenty Beauty Pro Filt'r Amplifying Eye Primer as I had heard great things about it. I find that it makes the mattes blend so easily and makes the colours look much more pigmented. I also used the Urban Decay All Nighter Setting Spray and a flat brush to apply most of the metallic shades and the difference was amazing. It really made the metallics stand out and I even used it to make a liquid liner in the last look you'll see here. I made a paste on the back of my hand and used a thin artist paint brush to create a thin purple liner and because I mixed it with All Nighter it didn't budge. 

Like I said this post is quite photo heavy so I'll let them do the talking. But I think you'll agree that the palette is much more versatile than you might think at first glance and although the shadows are not as easy to work with as the Naked Honey palette, once you put in a bit of effort they really do look incredible. I loved the looks I created so far and I'm so excited to use this palette more especially now that we're all wearing masks, I've been really enjoying playing up my eyes. 

NU6
NU8
NU9
NU10
NU11
NU12
NU15
Without Primer
NU16
With Fenty Beauty Pro Filt'r Amplifying Eye Primer
NU13
NU14
NU20
NU22
NU24
NU4



Good Molecules Silicone Free Priming Moisturizer
*Glossier Futuredew
*Urban Decay Stay Naked Foundation (10NN)
*Urban Decay Stay Naked Concealer (10NN)
Fenty Beauty Match Stix Matte Skinstick (Amber)
Milk Makeup Matte Bronzer (Baked)
Kevyn Aucoin Eyelash Curler
Glossier Brow Flick (Brown)
Soapbrows
Fenty Beauty Pro Filt'r Amplifying Eye Primer
*Urban Decay Naked Ultraviolet Palette (Lucid, Optimized, Warning, Cyber Punk, Euphoric, Purple Dust)
*Glossier Pro Tip
*Clarins Wonder Perfect 4D Waterproof Mascara
Glossier Cloud Paint (*Beam, Dusk and Puff)
Kevyn Aucoin Glass Glow Face (Prism Rose)
Charlotte Tilbury Airbrush Flawless Finish Powder (1 Fair)
Urban Decay All Nighter Setting Spray
Pixi Glow Mist
Charlotte Tilbury K.I.S.S.I.N.G. Lipstick (Bitch Perfect)


NU24-2
NU26
NU25-2
NU2

Good Molecules Silicone Free Priming Moisturizer
*Glossier Futuredew
Estée Lauder Futurist Hydra Rescue Moisturizing Makeup (1N0 Porcelain)
Uoma Beauty Stay Woke Concealer (White Pearl T1)
YSL Beauty Touche Éclat Illuminating Pen (1 Rose Lumiere)
Fenty Beauty Match Stix Matte Skinstick (Amber)
Milk Makeup Matte Bronzer (Baked)
Kevyn Aucoin Eyelash Curler
*Urban Decay Brow Beater (Dark Drapes)
Glossier Boy Brow (Brown)
Fenty Beauty Prop Filt'r Amplifying Eye Primer
*Urban Decay Naked Ultraviolet Palette (Trippin, Mind Slip, Dazed)
*Clarins Wonder Perfect 4D Waterproof Mascara
Glossier Cloud Paint (*Beam and Dusk)
Kevyn Aucoin Glass Glow Face (Prism Rose)
Charlotte Tilbury Airbrush Flawless Finish Powder (1 Fair)
Urban Decay All Nighter Setting Spray
Pixi Glow Mist
*Urban Decay Vice Lip Chemistry (Low Key)


NU34
NU35
NU31
NU37.1
NU3

Good Molecules Silicone Free Priming Moisturizer
Glossier Mango Balm Dotcom
*Glossier Futuredew
Estée Lauder Futurist Hydra Rescue Moisturizing Makeup (1N0 Porcelain)
Uoma Beauty Stay Woke Concealer (White Pearl T1)
YSL Beauty Touche Éclat Illuminating Pen (1 Rose Lumiere)
Fenty Beauty Match Stix Matte Skinstick (Amber)
Milk Makeup Matte Bronzer (Baked)
Kevyn Aucoin Eyelash Curler
*Urban Decay Brow Beater (Dark Drapes)
Glossier Boy Brow (Brown)
Fenty Beauty Prop Filt'r Amplifying Eye Primer
*Urban Decay Naked Ultraviolet Palette (Trippin, Hacked, VR, Lucid)
*Glossier Pro Tip
Glossier Colorslide Eye Pencil (Pretty Penny)
*Urban Decay Lash Freak Mascara
Glossier Cloud Paint (*Beam and Dusk)
Kevyn Aucoin Glass Glow Face (Prism Rose)
Charlotte Tilbury Airbrush Flawless Finish Powder (1 Fair)
Urban Decay All Nighter Setting Spray
Pixi Glow Mist
Charlotte Tilbury Lip Cheat (Pillow Talk)
Beauty Bakerie Lip Whip Gloss (Drive Me Glazy)




NU43
NU41
NU47
NU39
NU52
NU40
NU51
NU1

Farsáli Unicorn Essence
Beauty Bakerie Wake and Bake Baking Oil
Shiseido Synchro Skin Self-Refreshing Foundation (160 Shell)
Uoma Beauty Stay Woke Concealer (White Pearl T1)
Fenty Beauty Match Stix Matte Skinstick (Amber)
Milk Makeup Matte Bronzer (Baked)
Kevyn Aucoin Eyelash Curler
Glossier Brow Flick (Brown)
Soapbrows
Fenty Beauty Prop Filt'r Amplifying Eye Primer
*Urban Decay Naked Ultraviolet Palette (Cyber Punk, Euphoric, Purple Dust)
Glossier Glitter Gelée (Phantasm) Discontinued
Lemonhead LA Spacepaste (Houdini)
*Urban Decay Lash Freak Mascara
Glossier Cloud Paint (*Beam, Dusk and Puff)
Kevyn Aucoin Glass Glow Face (Prism Rose)
Charlotte Tilbury Airbrush Flawless Finish Powder (1 Fair)
Urban Decay All Nighter Setting Spray
Pixi Glow Mist
Charlotte Tilbury Lip Cheat (Pillow Talk)
Lisa Eldridge True Velvet Lip Colour (Velvet Fawn)
Nude By Nature Moisture Infusion Lipgloss (7 Dusk)

What do you think of Naked Ultraviolet? Would you wear these shades? What's your favourite eyeshadow palette, Urban Decay or otherwise?

Emma x


*PR Samples


**Glossier products are affiliate links, if you choose to shop via those links I will receive a small percentage of the sale but it won't cost you anything extra.

Monday, August 10, 2020

Clarins Matte Lips- The New Velvet Lip Perfectors and Joli Rouge Crayons

If you saw my last blog post you'll have seen me wearing the new Clarins Joli Rouge Crayon in the shade Soft Berry. It's part of the new Matte Lips Collection which includes the Joli Rouge Velvet Lipsticks, the Velvet Lip Perfectors as well as the Joli Rouge Crayons. I've been a huge fan of Clarins lip products for years. My love started with the Colour Quench Lip Balms when I was a teenager until they were sadly discontinued. I then fell in love with the Instant Light Natural Lip Perfectors, the Instant Light Lip Comfort Oils (which I've repurchased multiple times), one of my favourite lipstick formulas of recent years, the Joli Rouge Lip Lacquers and more recently the Hydra-Essentiel Moisture Replenishing Lip Balm (which I've just repurchased) and the Intense Lip Comfort Oils (I bought a second one after receiving a PR sample because I loved it so much). So as you can imagine I had high hopes for these new products. 

I haven't tried the Joli Rouge Velvet Lipsticks yet (although I have just placed an order for one as I have been wanting to try them for ages). They come in 23 shades including the four new ones, 706V Fig, 733V Soft Plum, 753V Pink Ginger and 751V Tea Rose. I was sent PR samples of two of the Velvet Lip Perfectors and two of the Joli Rouge Crayons and all four shades are beautiful. 

The Velvet Lip Perfector is a new take on the Clarins classic, the Instant Light Natural Lip Perfector. It's the same packaging but the formula inside is matte. It's unlike any matte lip formula I've ever tried because it's so lightweight and creamy and it gives a soft focus matte finish. I love this formula because it's so light and comfortable to wear, it's enriched with shea butter to nourish your lips so it doesn't feel drying unlike so many other matte liquid lipsticks I've tried. It's so creamy and easy to apply too. If I want it to look a little more effortless (or I just can't be bothered with precision) I'll take some on my finger and just pat it in and it leaves you with a powdery, blurred lip effect. The Velvet Lip Perfectors come in the shades 01 Velvet Nude, 02 Velvet Rosewood, 03 Velvet Red and 04 Velvet Raspberry.

The Joli Rouge Crayon is such a clever 2-in-1 product. It's ideal for anyone who likes the look of lined lips but hates fiddling around with a separate liner and lipstick or just wants to apply their lipstick quickly. It's a thin, pointed lip crayon with a built in sharpener on the end that allows you to both define and then fill in your lips. You can also pair this with either of the above products, I've used mine with the Velvet Lip Perfectors on top and it works really well and makes everything even more long-lasting. They come in four shades 705C Soft Berry, 742C Joli Rouge, 744C Plum and 757C Nude Brick. 

The Velvet Lip Perfectors and Joli Rouge Crayons are €21 and the Joli Rouge Velvet Lipsticks are €24. 

CML3
CML4
CML5
Velvet Nude, Velvet Rosewood, Soft Berry, Soft Plum
CMLC2
CML9
Velvet Nude
CML7-2
CML14
Velvet Rosewood
CML12
CML1
CML19-2
Soft Berry
CML17
CML23
Soft Plum
CML20


*Clarins Dry Touch Facial Sunscreen SPF 30
Clarins Hydra-Essentiel Moisture Replenishing Lip Balm
Clarins Beauty Flash Balm
*Clarins Skin Illusion Natural Hydrating Foundation (101 Linen)
Uoma Beauty Stay Woke Concealer (White Pearl T1)
*Clarins Glow 2 Go Blush & Highlighter Duo Stick (02 Golden Peach)
Fenty Beauty Match Stix Matte Skinstick (Amber)
Kevyn Aucoin Eyelash Curler
Fenty Beauty Pro Filt'r Amplifying Eye Primer
*Clarins Ready in a Flash Palette (Review here)
*Clarins Wonder Perfect 4D Mascara Waterproof
*Clarins Twist to Glow Healthy Glow Powder 2-in-1 Eyes & Cheeks (02 Radiant Pink)
*Glossier Pro Tip
Glossier Brow Flick (Brown)
Soapbrows Brow Kit
Kevyn Aucoin Glass Glow Face (Prism Rose)
Charlotte Tilbury Airbrush Flawless Finish Powder (1 Fair)
Urban Decay All Nighter Setting Spray
Pixi Glow Mist
*Clarins Joli Rouge Crayon (Soft Berry and Soft Plum)
*Clarins Velvet Lip Perfector (Velvet Nude and Velvet Rosewood)

What do you think of the new Clarins lip products? Are there any that you'd like to try?

Emma x

*PR Samples
**Glossier products are affiliate links, if you choose to shop via those links I will receive a small percentage of the sale but it won't cost you anything extra.