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    The violet crease | A quick, easy way to wear colour

    One of my favourite everyday looks (perhaps my top favourite, even) is one that, ironically, I will never be able to wear.

    I’ve always loved the clean simplicity of a light, neutral lid with a soft pop! of colour in the crease – an eye that can be done in under two minutes, but still create a very polished, fresh look. So, to share it with you, I borrowed a friend’s lids (and, er, face)! Everyone, meet Becky. Becky, meet… everyone.

    Hope you enjoy the look :)

    Okay, so, a moment of honesty? These photos are over a year old (I wasn’t kidding when I said that I really do procrastinate a lot), and I’m not completely sure what we used. I’m going to guess the GOSH Golden/Chocolate duo on the lid (Golden as a wash, and Chocolate lightly on the outer 1/3, both on the lid and along the lower lashline), plus a blend of Korres Plum and Annabelle Violet Vibe in the crease.

    With my predictability, I’d say there’s a 90% chance that these guesses are correct :P

    P.S. I’m a huge fan of violet in the crease, but you could really go with anything! Blue, brown (a basic neutral eye), green…. anything. Hit up our colour posts for swatches of some of my favourite colour families.

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    theNotice’s fourth-year celebrations | The Pink Giveaway

    This giveaway includes four tubes of Marcelle Rouge Vitality, one of my all-time favourite lipstick formulas. For everyone who missed out on last week’s nudes, here are some rosier shades to get you going!

    The shades are: 105 Legend, 135 Jazzy, 550 Chiffon, and 560 Flirt. Good luck! :)



    More photos »

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    YOU Fridays: all about eyeliner

    I keep forgetting that YOU Fridays exists/existed, but I’m feeling the need for a resurrection! Here’s a blank for you to fill out in the comments. No worries if there are empty spots; I’d rather hear one or two faves than none at all :o)

    1. Blackest black liner:
    2. Longest wearing pencil liner:
    3. Favourite liquid liner:
    4. Favourite gel liner:
    5. Favourite purple liner:

    My answers…

    1. Blackest black liner: Eep! I don’t know; I’ll have to re-swatch my (disturbingly large) collection of black liners and get back to you.
    2. Longest wearing pencil liner: Marcelle Waterproof Eyeliner, so far – I just wish it would last on my waterline.
    3. Favourite liquid liner: Up until a month or two ago, I would have said Ellis Faas, hands down, but Annabelle’s Liquid Eyeliner is some pretty stiff competition. Factor in that the price and packaging are loads better, and I might just have a new favourite ;)
    4. Favourite gel liner: Still looking for “the one.” I’ll, er, get back to you on that one, too, yeah?
    5. Favourite purple liner: I have a few, but none that are really BAM! violet!, you know? They all seem too blue, or too brown, or just too blah. The upcoming NARS liner sounds great (St. Mark’s Place), but with my luck, it probably won’t last on my lids. Anyone have recommendations?

    Happy Friday, lovelies! Can’t wait to read about all of your liner favourites :o)

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    Sephora Moonshadow palette review, photos, swatches

    The product: Sephora Moonshadow Baked Palette in In The Nude

    Sephora describes this palette as a “collection of glittery baked eyeshadows [in] ten sultry nude shades.” And if that’s not enough to get you going, they add on claims of “a cosmic amount of diamond dust shimmer” and “a super sparkly finish.” I gave it a try assuming that, okay, the palette was going to be shimmery. But like, another glittery nude palette – whatever, right?

    The lesson of the day is that I obviously need to stop being such a cynic, because I keep having to eat my words.

    In my opinion, the top and bottom rows are separated out pretty well. The top ones pack your serious shimmer chunks, while the pigment is mainly found in the bottom shades. On the whole, the palette is really “love it or hate it” – you’re either going to adore the ridiculous (and we mean ridiculous) amounts of shimmer, or it’s going to drive you absolutely insane.

    If you’re going to pick up this palette, or you already have it, you NEED to give foiling a try. I’ve read a few posts where the reviewers were frustrated with the lack of pigment, and I’ll admit, you’re not going to get any colour out of these if you try to apply them with a fluffy brush to a dry lid. They definitely do best applied with a damp, dense brush, and you’ll want to prime first, but I think it’s worth the effort – that is, if you’re a glitter lover, of course!

    Swatched L-R: Cream, Light Bronze, Soft Gold, Peach, and Taupe

    Swatched L-R: Silver, Deep Brown, Honey Brown, Deep Sienna, and Plum

    The verdict?

    This palette wasn’t “made for me,” but I still actually… really like it. Which I didn’t see coming! I’m always drawn toward palettes like this one (nude shades, a hint of colour, and tons of shimmer), but I find that I very rarely actually like them in the long run.

    It would do well to carry more of a pigment punch, but honestly, I find it hard to knock off points for that – they never promised pigment; just tons and tons shimmer. And on that, Sephora definitely delivered.

    If you’re a glitter girl and you love your neutrals, give this one a go!

    Mica, Talc, Ci 77891 (Titanium Dioxide), Ci 77491 (Iron Oxides), Synthetic Fluorphlogopite, Dimethicone, Ci 77499 (Iron Oxides), Isopropyl Palmitate, Polysorbate 20, Acrylamide/Sodium Acryloyldimethyltaurate Copolymer, Magnesium Aluminum Silicate, Octyldodecyl Stearoyl Stearate, Cetearyl Ethylhexanoate, Isohexadecane, Caprylyl Glycol, Sorbitan Stearate, Sodium Dehydroacetate, Phenoxyethanol, Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba) Seed Oil, Ci 77492 (Iron Oxides), Tocopheryl Acetate, Polysorbate 80, Tin Oxide, Hexylene Glycol, Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seed Oil, Nylon-12, Sorbitan Oleate, Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract, Calcium Aluminum Borosilicate, Lauroyl Lysine, Silica, Tocopherol.

    Additional photos and swatches »

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    A fall face of the day (ft. Sephora Moonshadow and Annabelle Muddy)

    It’s only a day late, EVERYBODY CALM DOWN.

    (Read: sorry that it’s a day late! :P Hope you enjoy the FOTD – I just got caught up in all this Thanksgiving business and wasn’t able to find the time to post!)

    Because I had originally put on this look for product testing (rather than to feature as a makeup look), it’s super basic – just a touch of blush, a bit of contour, and a whisper of colour. I found I had troubles getting a lot of pigment out of the Moonshadow palette, but I’ll talk more about that in the review. Primer (which I used) helps a bit, but it really does need to be foiled for that “punch” of pigment.

    Well, then again, I’m fairly certain I chose the most finicky shadow in the palette to work with. Which was totally not my fault; I couldn’t help it! Hand me something sort of mauvey-pink and I’ll fall over my feet trying to get at it, every time.

    The other product I was trying out for the first time was Annabelle Muddy, and I have to say: I’m impressed. For a brown liner, it’s remarkably unboring (shush, it’s totally a word), and the wear time is leaps and bounds better MAC Teddy (my other brown liner love, based on looks alone). The formula’s ridiculously smooth, and I was surprised to like it as much as I did!

    (Which is dumb. Because – when aren’t I surprised by Annabelle? You’d think I’d have gotten over the constant shock by now.)

    (Rae, 0. Lack of response inhibition, 1.)

    Products used and more photos »

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    Open to comment entries | The Nude Giveaway

    Whether you’ve already entered, or you’ve yet to do so, comment entries are now an(other) option for our Nude Giveaway :)

    Enter (or re-enter) here!

    I had meant to open up the comments on Thursday, but completely forgot – so we’ve added another seven days onto this one. (The third giveaway, pink, will open a week delayed.) Good luck! xx

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    Once more, with lid swatches | Our last Clinique Lid Smoothies feature

    Honestly. The last one. I promise! I just – well, to be honest, I am stark raving mad over these, in the best way possible.

    As noted in our review, the Lid Smoothies really just create a “my lids but better” finish, adding just a bit of texture (read: finely-milled shimmer) without imparting a lot of colour. It’s for this reason that I like to think of them as tinted bases, rather than eyeshadows – just enough to add a sheen to the lid if I’m doing a really “nothing” eye, or if I just want to lock down my eyeshadow.

    Born Freesia, my favourite of the five I have, quite literally looks like nothing on the lid – but flashes a delicate lavender. It’s absolutely gorgeous in person (though terribly hard to catch on camera), and would be a great choice for a lash-focused “nothing” eye. I’d recommend it in particular for those who want to get into colour, but aren’t sure how to go about doing it: the extreme sheerness makes it really forgiving, but it still adds a bit of refined oomph to your eyes.

    (Obviously, I really love it with a soft red lip! Just enough to keep your lids looking polished, rather than neglected, but not so much it takes away from the look.)

    Sorry, no mascara (or lash curling) on this one! I’d used it as a base to test wear time, so I didn’t do my lashes until later.

    Obviously, this is more than just Lid Smoothies (that’s Marcelle Waterproof Eyeliner in Taupe smudges along the lashline), but hopefully the lighting helps show the sheen that these cream eyeshadows impart. It’s really quite pretty, and makes the mossy green Cute-Cumber so very much LESS intimidating to work with! :P

    I wanted to swatch Currant Affair and compare it to a bare lid, so that’s what the above picture is of! Yes, it’s quite sheer, and no, it doesn’t really “pop” on its own – but it definitely does impart enough colour to notice.

    And here it is in an eye look…

    I used less of Current Affair with this one (which in retrospect was a bad decision; sorry!), pairing it with a flick of mascara and a touch of Bit O’ Honey. If you’re wondering which of the Lid Smoothies is your best bet to use as a primer, Bit O’ Honey is the one to go with! It’s the most sheer, and there isn’t any duochrome to the finish – which means it’ll interfere the least with product(s) layered on top of it.

    More Lid Smoothies…

    P.S.

    It’s worth noting that I’ve only tried and swatched five of the shades – Karla has the rest of them swatched here, and by the looks of things, there are a couple that are more pigmented! Sassy-fras, Lick-orice, Currant Affair (which I do have & love) and Salt and Pepper look like your best bets for something a smidgen less sheer.

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    A quick, kitschy balm review | Anatomicals Never Lose Your Cherry SPF 15 lip balm review, photos, swatches

    So, it hit me today – aside from September’s Black Honey feature, we haven’t reviewed a lip product in… god, forever. August 9th, to be precise – Ellis L108.

    What even happened?! I mean, I still have lips. I still wear lipstick. But for whatever reason, I just haven’t fallen head over heels for anything! (Clearly, the solution is that I need to acquire new lip- what? Don’t look at me like that. Of course I need new lipstick.)

    Anyhow. I don’t have any recent lip loves, and I’m at a loss for lipstick photos (or the sunlight with which to acquire them in), so:

    The product: Anatomicals Never Lose Your Cherry lip balm + SPF 15

    The packaging: Let’s start with the good stuff, shall we? Like all Anatomicals products, this balm comes in a brightly coloured, extremely cheeky tube. It’s simple, lightweight, great to throw in your bag – but unlike a lot of cheap products, it’s still well-made. The applicator tip is fairly unique; it’s a slanted tip (which is quite common) but it’s not quite the same shape as what we’re used to seeing, and it’s rather comfortable to use.

    The finish: See? I told you we’d start with all the good stuff. Never Lose Your Cherry goes on sheer and glossy – think of it like a gloss and balm in one, I suppose, but minus the typical sticky feeling of a cheap gloss. You can definitely feel that you’re wearing something on your lips, but it’s neither gloopy nor gooey.

    The SPF 15 is the cherry on top (har har, see what I did there?) but overall, this balm isn’t moisturizing enough for my super-dry lips.

    (Honestly, though, very few products are.)

    The scent: Aaaand this is where things go downhill. Points for no sunscreen smell and no taste (always nice to have!) but the cherry fragrance? Way too agressive. I quite literally have to store this wrapped up in tissue and in a bag if I don’t want it to fragrance the entire drawer, and it really hangs around!

    That said, though, the scent itself hits the nail on the head. You know those sour cherry candies that you ate as a child? This is a dead ringer for them, and I love it! I just… don’t love it so much that I want my entire makeup stash to smell like it.

    The verdict?

    For £2.99 (or $4.61 CAD, on Asos), I’d say it’s a good buy – but only for a very specific consumer. If you like fun, kitschy balms (think chocolate-bar tubes of Chapstick) and you don’t have super dry lips, give it a go. Cherries! SPF! Nonsticky glossiness! It’s all lovely.

    But if not? Eeeh, save your five bucks and treat yourself to a latté instead :P

    Skin swatch and ingredients »

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