Eyes to mesmerise: Burberry's Complete Eye Palette in Dark Spice No. 5

Silky soft, buttery, seductive - Burberry's Dark Spice makes everything nice and it's especially easy on the eyes. On the wallet, not so much -- but that's besides the point ;)

The Complete Eye Palette Collection is comprised of six palettes and I went with the palette that made me the most uncomfortable (in a good way). Typically I reach for purples or sandy neutrals, but the juxtaposition of marigold and matte charcoal black had me at hello; the golden brown and chocolatey burnt sienna shades aren't so bad either.

So, what makes this Complete Eye Palette so special? It comes with three bite-size brushes nestled in a black velvet pouch imprinted with the iconic Burberry plaid pattern. Truth be told, the small brushes weren't the selling point -- the opportunity to try new colours with an impeccable formula is what works for me.

The colours are laid within the pan in such a way which proposes its intended use and potential.

Matte Charcoal Black - the smallest of the four, but a little goes a long way. Use it to line and create added depth at the outer corners of your eyes.

Marigold - the second smallest. This canary can carry a tune; it works well on its own and also as a great base for the chocolatey burnt sienna hue. I used this colour to highlight the inner corners of my eyes too.

Golden Brown with a microscopic specks of gold - the smoke starter; lay this colour down third and then blend the black shade in last for a smoky look.

Chocolatey Burnt Sienna - it's a foxy chameleon; blend over Marigold in order to bring out its orange undertones. Or, go for a dark brown look by taking Marigold out of the equation.

Swatches

For the look above I used MAC's Shroom as an all over colour; Trench will also do if you have that in your compilation of colours.

Want to shave off a little time in the morning? I skipped lining my upper lash line thanks to the intensity of Dark Spice.

Oh and word to the wise before departing the counter with your wares. Check the contents of the box to make sure it's what you wanted; the exterior label read Dark Spice, but the compact inside was Mocha. It's nothing the ol' switcheroo can't fix.

The Bagful breakdown:

Total amount for Burberry's Complete Eye Palette in Dark Spice no. 5:

• $85.00 AUS / $59.00 USD

Value for money spent (performance and quality):

• 10 out of 10 bags — Love this palette <3

Likelihood to purchase:

• Mocha no. 2 and Pale Nude no. 3 are nipping at my heels!

Essie's Licorice under Shine of the Times - weekly nail review

Sparkly/shimmery top coats are transformative. If you ever decide to give them a miss, stop yourself and look again. Do you have a plethora of colours and formulas and are just plain bored of grabbing for the same colours? Instead of buying several on trend colours each season, purchase a sparkly top coat or two.

It's a budget-friendly solution that can take you from feeling meh to great!

Just when I thought I was getting tired of Essie's Shine of the Times, I gave it another go last week and had Mira paint it over Licorice. Let's just say we created quite the nail combination.

So, what do you think of these "tortoise shell" effect nails?

In other news: have you seen Essie's repstyle collection?  Oh man!

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The guinea pig diaries: Emjoi's PediSmooth Plus

No one likes snaggle toe, no one. With Winter and Spring in my rearview mirror, my feet have been barking for a little TLC. In between visits to French Pink I try to scrub my feet and keep them hydrated, but my frequent gym sessions often leave my feet parched! We're talking totally toe-up!

Cue Emjoi's PediSmooth Plus!

It's a handy little device with whirring bits and bobs and man does it smooth my soles! This contraption comes with two removable and washable rollers, a protective cover, brush and carry bag. For testing purposes I started off with the light pink roller (intended for coarse skin), whereas the white roller is grittier for tougher/drier feet. Baby steps, people!

Tips for use:

• To start make sure your feet are both clean and dry.
• Choose the appropriate roller for your feet's current state and insert it into the head of the device.
• There are two speed options -- low and high. I opted for the low speed to start and then switched to the higher speed on a couple of trouble spots.
• Once you've reached your desired results, wipe off your feet and sanitise the device.
• Never submerge Emjoi's PediSmooth Plus in water unless you want to say bye bye to this goody.
• Whilst the rollers are washable, it's suggested to rinse these babies off -- these can't be submerged in water either.
• In terms of use, keep your hand moving, don't apply pressure and don't stay on one area for more than 2-3 seconds. PediSmooth Plus primarily needs guidance.

With the last point, it's not an attempt to scare you (and you shouldn't be), it's something to be mindful of when using.

PediSmooth Plus retails for $39.95 AUS and is perfect for people who want quick results with minimal work involved.

I'm sold!

*Beauty Directory and Emjoi provided me with a free PR sample in exchange for this review.  Thoughts and ramblings written here are completely my own.

Makeup Geek Eyeshadow Swatches and Review

Anyone who watches YouTube makeup tutorials should be familiar with Makeup Geek. One of my favourite Makeup Geek videos is "How To: Blend Your Eyeshadow Like a Pro" which I have watched many times to help me with my eyeshadow blending technique. The beautiful and talented CEO, Marlena, has created her own makeup line. At present, it consists of pan and compact eyeshadows, lipsticks, and gel eyeliners. Today I've got some eyeshadow swatches here for you.

I purchased these a while back when Makeup Geek had a 20% off sale (if you follow them on Twitter/Facebook, you should be able to keep an eye out for any future sales). Since I love to experiment with colour but don't want to spend a lot of money on shades I won't use often, I bought mostly bright eyeshadows.

Burlesque - a dark, brownish burgundy with a touch of shimmer. On my skintone it pulls much browner and less red/purple than the swatch on the Makeup Geek site. I still love it, it's great for a warm, smokey brown look.

Razzleberry  - a bright red with gold glitter. I think some people have experienced irritation with red eyeshadows -- this was fine on my sensitive eyes until I forgot I was wearing eye makeup and rubbed my right eye. My left eye (which I didn't touch) was perfectly fine.

Mango Tango - a peachy pink with some gold glitter, noticeably less gold glitter than Razzleberry. This shade is great for summer, it's bright and fun.

Shimmermint - a shimmery, pale green. I love this for a soft, light, spring look.

Sea Mist - a rich teal with gold glitter. I like to use this with light turquoise eyeshadows for an ocean inspired look.

Unexpected - a matte mauve-y brown. I like to use this for blending out looks if I don't want to use a nude brown colour. I've seen it described as a dupe for MAC's Quarry.

Sensuous - a warm purple with gold glitter. A potential dupe for MAC's Trax.

Overall, I'm very impressed with these Makeup Geek eyeshadows. The shades with glitter do have a bit of fallout (I have yet to find a glitter eyeshadow without fallout!) so if you want to make the glitter stick, I suggest using a sticky or creamy base. The eyeshadows are pigmented, easy to apply and blend well. With these I didn't notice much fading or creasing, but it might have something to do with always wearing eyeshadows over a base.

I ordered the pan form which come in a sleeve similar to MAC's eyeshadow pans; they fit into MAC's 4 pan and 15 pan eyeshadow palettes. However, there's a hitch, Makeup Geek pans aren't magnetic -- in order to get around this I stuck small magnets on the back of each pan. If eyeshadow pans aren't your thing, you can also order them in small compacts.

The pans are $5.99USD and compacts are $7.99USD. I ordered these when I lived in the US and shipping was $3.94. They do ship internationally, so I recreated this order, selected Australia as the destination and shipping starts at $5.77USD.

Makeup Geekeyeshadows are cruelty free :)

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