The Maybelline Blushed Nudes Eyeshadow Palette is relatively new to us Australian's and it's quite exciting because we rarely get pretty looking eyeshadow palettes in the drugstore. Today, I wanted to do a swatch and review post so you can decide whether this palette is for you.



The Maybelline Blushed Nudes Palette* comes with 12 shades. They majority of them have shimmer, whilst a couple are matte. All of the shades look stunning in the pan and most of them swatch lovely too.

However, there are three shades in the top row of this palette that are a little gritty and provide less colour pay off. They are the 2nd, 3rd and 4th colours. The colour I find the most difficult is the silvery, grey shade which as you can see barely shows up on my skin.

When it comes to the bottom row, I personally think that it is almost impossible to flaw. I love all of the colours and the shades are quite smooth. They are also pretty easy to blend. I especially like the first bronzey shade and second last, shimmery maroon shade.

Using this palette to do a complete look is achievable. I like to use the last shade on the top row all over the lid, the second shadow on the second row in my crease and the last shadow on the bottom row to darken up the look. The first shadow in the first row is used right at the end to define underneath my brow and I am all set to go.

Even though I think that some of the shades aren't as pigmented as they should be, I still believe that this palette is pretty good. In Australia, this palette is priced at $25 and it's pretty accessible. If you're someone who loves to create cool toned makeup looks and wants to try a warmer palette, I think it's worth a shot. 9/12 shades are beautiful, so I don't really think that you could go wrong.

If you've been a reader of my blog for a while, you would've seen my review on the original Maybelline Nudes Eyeshadow Palette. You can read that review here. Comparing the two palettes, I think the Blushed Nudes palette is much nicer overall, has less fall out and the shades blend easier.

What do you think of the Maybelline Blushed Nudes palette?
What's your favourite rose gold, warm toned, eyeshadow palette of the moment?

*Products marked with an asterisk have been provided for editorial consideration. For more information, please read my disclaimer.



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It is no longer difficult to find eyeshadow palettes in the drugstore. However, it's definitely still challenging to find a great one. Spoiler alert, I found one and you probably haven't heard about it before. It's the Max Factor Masterpiece Nude Palette in 02 Golden Nudes*.

Months ago I saw this palette floating around my Bloglovin' feed and I think those posts were from a few girls overseas. Online swatches and reviews were fantastic so when I realised I could get my hands on it here in Australia, I knew it had to be mine.


What's so great about this palette? In my opinion, I think that Max Factor was really smart when they designed this palette. The matte shades are the shades that we all scream and beg to be mattes in a palette. We're given a great matte brow bone shade, crease shade and a deeper shade to darken up the look. The shimmers are all diverse and depending on what you're feeling for that day, you could createa goold, champagne, grey, or bronze eyeshadow look. Talk about variety, right!?

I know that in most of my reviews about drugstore eyeshadow palettes one thing I usually say is that they are great for beginners. Well, this one on the other hand I think has a place in your makeup collection. For the price, diverse shades and quality, I think you can't miss it.

The only one downside I can see to the palette is the fact that there isn't a mirror. I would still however say it is a good palette for travel, as long as you can bring a mirror or rely on one in your accomodation.

Have you tried any Max Factor eyeshadow palettes before?
What's your current favourite affordable eyeshadow palette?

*Products marked with an asterisk have been provided for editorial consideration. For more information, please read my disclaimer.



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Today's post is something that I am SUPER excited to share. I had a lot of fun creating this post and I actually found it quite inspiring, in a creative way. I felt like 'hey Katina, you got dis. If you ever wanted to make a palette, gurl dis is IT.'

The Create Your Own Eyeshadow Palette Tag was created by the awesome Kat from Kitsch Snitch. You can read all of the info about the tag and see the palette that she wishes she could personally create, here.

I have a confession to make. I am a die hard for neutral palettes. All of the palettes I used in this tag might look similar to you, but for me, they all have their own special shades that I rock on a regular basis. To create my own 12 eyeshadow palette I used:
- Kat Von D's Shade & Light Contour Kit
- Lorac's Pro Palette (#1)
- Urban Decay's Naked 2 and Naked 3 palettes
- Stila's In The Light Palette




The way that I decided to order my eyeshadows were in the way that I would usually apply them to my lids. I started with my under eyebrow highlight, crease transition shades, moving onto all over the lid, then the darker shades I'd use for stronger definition. I wasn't really thinking about the finishes of the product (eg matte, shimmer, etc), but more so overall looks that I feel comfortable wearing.

Naked 2 Foxy is my favourite colour for putting under my brow bone. I feel like it always ties a look together. I usually use this product as the very first and very last product.

Kat Von D Lucid is what I use to set any eye primer or cream eyeshadow base. It's always the base of my eye look.

Stila in the Light Bliss comes number one when it's time to start my transition shade. It's a lovely, light, neutral, brown.

Naked 3 Limit is also a transition shade that I really like. It's more on the mauve side and brings a bit of warmth and rose to my eye look.

Lorac Pro Mauve is a step up from Limit and is a slightly darker mauve that I occasionally use as a transition shade or I might use it for blending later on in my look

Kat Von D Sombre is a cooler toned brown with a little more depth than Bliss.

Stila in the Light Kitten is my first shade that I love to swipe all over the lid. I use this with my finger because I feel like it has the most impact that way. No matter what eye look I decide to go for, I honestly have to try and drag myself away from this colour because I want to use it every single time. I'm probably addicted to this shade, but I'm not too concerned about that.

Naked 2 Verve was by far my first 'signature' eyeshadow. My friends would always know that if we were going out at night time, this would be on my lids. It lasts so long on my lids and the colour looks amazing in photographs.

Naked 3 Mugshot is a rose gold, mauve, shimmery shade. I use this when I want a nice warm eye look, all over the lid.

Kat Von D Shadowplay is something I love to darken up my look. It's subtle, but I like to build up colour slowly.

Stila in the Light Sandstone is what I use for more depth in the outer corner. It is also my personal favourite when it comes to eyeshadow underneath my lower lash line. This makes my eye look really pop, and adds a bit of edginess to the look.

Naked 2 Blackout is my go to black shade. It's matte, pigmented and really bad ass. I really love using this with Verve.

So there we have my eyeshadow palette!

As I said, I LOVED this tag so I'm definitely tagging some of my favourite blogs to take part. I am therefore tagging quite a few of you: Sarah - morethanadored, Sarah - bowsandpleats, Tahana - tahanalee, Daniela - missnewbeauty, Ash - thebeautycollection, Ashley - ashleymareebeauty,
Loi - loreebloom, Hanni - thehanihanii, & Jess - takenbysurprise.



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Today's post is something that I'm really excited about because I feel like I am definitely sharing a hidden gem with you. One of the most iconic makeup brands of all time, Avon, has released a brand new, luxurious makeup range that you probably haven't of heard of before.

I can 100% say that I never thought I would see myself using Avon products, let alone sharing them here on my blog with you. I thought that it was for women that were older than me and I kind of just blew it off without thinking about it. But then a couple weeks ago I received an email about their new Luxe Range. I saw some gorgeous pictures of the packaging and I thought, why not?

I am so, so, so happy that I said yes to trialling out this range because they've created a few great products.



The 'gold bar' packaging for the Eyeshadows and Blushes in this range is absolutely stunning. However, if you are large collector of makeup with limited space, they are a little bulky and awkward for storage. But I mean, how gorgeous!?

Pigmentation wise, I think the Blush and Eyeshadows are pretty good for their price range. For example, the eyeshadows are priced at $18.95 while a Maybelline Nudes Palette will set you back $25.95. I definitely think that the Avon eyeshadows are smoother than the nudes palette and they're also more pigmented. Out of the two eyeshadow palettes I have, my favourite would be Cocoa Couture.

This range has really taught me to not be so stuck in my thoughts about a makeup brand. There's always great products in every brand and just because I thought it was for another demographic, that shouldn't have stopped me. It also makes me think of other brands I might have just said no to, that I should probably go back and consider.

You can purchase these products from the Avon Website or through any Avon consultants you might know. The prices for this collection range between $14.95 to $22.95

Have you ever used any Avon products before?
What's one brand you thought you wouldn't like but then fell in love with?

*Products marked with an asterisk have been provided for editorial consideration. For more information, please read my disclaimer.



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Today marks the day of a new series here on the blog that I'll be calling Why Does No One Talk About. Basically, I'll be talking about products that honestly deserve way more hype. Barely anyone, or no one really talks about them here in the online beauty bloggersphere. 
First up, we have Bareminerals Eyeshadows. Now, I have actually heard of these before from the lovely Kat from Kitsch Snitch. She was actually the major (only) influence for these purchases. So instead of blaming me if you love these products and want them, I'm sure we can blame her together!
  


Bareminerals Top Shelf and Bareminerals Happy Place need to be spoken about collectively, because they're both amazing and can't be separated.

You know when you buy a palette, quad or duo, some shades are awesome and the rest are meh? These, are not like that at all. Each shadow is gorgeous, smooth, pigmented, easy to blend and last really well on my oily eyelids.

Another great touch is the packaging because even the duo has a mirror. I mean, what kind of duo has a mirror!? That's just super smart and definitely helps form my opinion of Bareminerals eyeshadows being perfect to travel with.

There's heaps of other duos and quads from Bareminerals, so this post is only really scraping the surface. I definitely want to pick up more of them, so definitely keep your eyes peeled!

Have you heard of or used Bareminerals eyeshadows before?
What products do you love that no one else talks about?
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If there's one brand that has taken the makeup world by storm lately, it is Zoeva. They're known for their amazing brush sets, eyeshadow palettes and other makeup goodies too. 
January the 11th 2016 marked another gorgeous release for Zoeva, their Spectrum Collection.
In today's blog post, I'll be sharing my opinions and swatches of two of their palettes from this collection. The two palettes that i'll be talking about are the Warm Spectrum Eyeshadow Palette* & Zoeva Coral Spectrum Blush Palette*

Top to bottom: WR010 | WR020 | WR030

Top to bottom: WR040 | WR050 | WR060

Top to bottom: WR070 | WR080 | WR090

Top to bottom: WR100 | WR110 | WR120

Top to bottom: WR130 | WR140 | WR150

The Warm Spectrum Eyeshadow Palette has matte, satin, duochrome and pearl finishes. As you can see from the above photos, there are many shades, making this palette extremely versatile. I only just received this palette and I've been able to create a few amazing, different looks. 

The absolute majority of these colours wear beautifully. They're pigmented, smooth and buttery - everything you could want in a shadow. A few favourites include the gorgeous bright terracotta colour WR040 and WR050. One definite surprise in the palette is WR010. As you can see, in the pan this colour appears green. Once swatched and applied, it's duochrome magic is revealed. Sometimes it appears green and at other times, bronze. The only colour that I have difficulty using was the matte black WR030. It doesn't swatch easy, but when I use a brush it does apply fairly evenly. I just have to tap off and make sure there isn't any fall out. It's definitely not the most pigmented of blacks, but I'm sure you already have your favourite black that you'd reach for 99.99% of the time, just like me.

Top to bottom: CR010 | CR020 | CR030 | CR040

The Coral Spectrum Blush Palette is so gorgeous. I haven't had a blush palette in so long because I find that blush palettes often have 2 great colours and the rest are rubbish. This time, not the case. Each colour is gorgeous, pigmented and blend out so lovely on the cheeks.My favourite colour is definitely CR030 because I am a sucker for coral and peach blushes. I honestly thing this blush palette is for everyone.

The Zoeva Spectrum Collection has 3 eyeshadow palettes and 3 blush palettes up its sleeve. I really want to check out a couple others!
Both palettes are available from Zoeva's website. Click here for the eyeshadow palette and here for the blush palette. 
Have you used anything from Zoeva before? Would you purchase these palettes?
*Products marked with an asterisk have been provided for editorial consideration. For more information, please read my disclaimer.



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