Nails and Teapots

First: Urban Decay Naked 2 & 3. Second: Too Faced Chocolate Bar & Natural Eyes. Third: MAC Pro Palette & Warm Neutrals. Fourth: Urban Decay Naked Basic & Charlotte Tilbury Dolce Vita. 

I've been tagged by a number of people to do the The Perfect Palette Tag and I apologise that the reply has been slightly delayed and I am probably the last person to jump on this beauty bandwagon. Even so, I didn't want to miss the opportunity to discuss my favourite palettes with you as they are easily my most favourite purchases and the one I get the most satisfaction from - as sad as that sounds! 

Perfect Palette Tag Questions:

1. Best Packaging 

Even though there are so many palettes out there, that are dressed in gorgeous packaging with rose gold accents (*ahem* Charlotte Tilbury), I actually decided to choose MAC for this answer. I like the ultras slim feel of their palettes and the clear tops, that allow for you to see every colour you own without having to open the actual palette. They are perfect for display purposes and are ultra-versatile due to their removable pans thus allowing you to mix and match your shades and build your perfect palette. 

2. Best Colour Payoff

This has taken me a lot of thought to decide as I usually dabble in the likes of MAC and Urban Decay and both, as you most probably know, have great pigmentation. Yet, I decided to choose the palettes from Charlotte Tilbury mainly due to the loose pigment shade that features in each of her quads. Although, they're glitter pigments the colour pay-off is insane and seriously completes any smokey-eye. Admittedly, I actually purchased both my Tilbury palettes because of this little pan of glitter. There is all review of this palette on my blog which you can check out here. 

3. Most Versatile

Urban Decay are probably one of the most talked about brands when it comes to their eyeshadows. I can guarantee that the majority of the beauty fanatics out there own at least one of their Naked palettes. For most versatile I opted for the Naked 2 as the range of shades allow for a beautiful but simple daytime look yet but also caters for an amped-up evening look due to it's deeper hues, ranging from matte to iridescent formulas. I seriously love this palette.

4. Best for Travelling

Again, from Urban Decay comes the Naked Basics 2. A teeny-tiny all matte palette, that although has only a few shades, can easily cater for pretty much all neutral looks. The cool-toned shadows are incredibly buttery, blend beautifully and last perfectly. If you're just getting in to makeup and want something that's easy to use and easy to wear, I highly recommend this one, or its just as beautiful twin - the original Naked Basics palette. 

5. Biggest Regret

I really struggled with this question as I don't really regret any of my purchases. I obviously have palettes that I don't reach for as much but I don't necessarily regret them. I'm sure there are palettes or shades that I'm not thinking of but for now I'm going to have say none for this question.

6. Best Colour Names

The answer to this question was easily going to be a product from Too Faced as although some of their names can be a little risqué, I love the creativeness behind them. If you own any of the Too Faced palettes, you will know what I mean. The Chocolate Bar palette in particular, I felt really in-cooperated the theme into all the shade names eg. Black Forest Truffle, Milk Chocolate, Amaretto, Salted Caramel etc. Plus the fact that it actually smells of chocolate due to cocoa powder being one of the ingredients, is a serious added bonus! 

7. Least Used

As much as I love my MAC Warm Neutrals palette, I really do not get enough use out of it! I think the range of shades and formulas, is just slightly overwhelming and I never know what shades to pair with what. Nevertheless, I am making a subconscious effort to reach for this palette more as it really is beautiful. 

8. Most Used

This question was easy and the appearance of this palette proves that. My MAC Pro Palette contains shades I picked myself and I have used at least one of these colours almost everyday since purchasing them. The shades featured are probably my all time favourite eyeshadows ever and the ones I find myself reaching for when I want something simple and easy but still pretty. The shades are Naked Lunch, Nylon, Charcoal Brown and Mythology. Review of some of the shades are on my blog here. 

9. Most Loved

Other than the MAC palette I previously mentioned, my other most loved palette has to be the Urban Decay Naked 3 (yes I know, another one from UD). This palette was an unexpected love of mine as admittedly I got this purely because of the hype surrounding it when it was first released. Yet, since then I have found this palette to be amazing when it comes to creating pretty, pink-gold makeup looks that always seem to be the ones I get the most compliments on! 

10. Desert Island

I always find these questions kind of strange as realistically if I was stuck on a Desert Island, makeup would be the last thing I need but I'm probably being really boring! Yet, if for some reason I felt compelled to take one, I would definitely take the Too Faced Natural Eyes palette as I feel the range of shades can be used to create unlimited makeup looks that are more-than-easy to apply. I also love the petite, tin packaging thats surprisingly quite slim. The only thing this palette lacks is a decent mirror!

Firstly, let me apologise for the not-so-subtle Meghan Trainor pun in the title. I seriously could not resist. A flawless base is rule number one for great make up application. Without it, the whole look just falls flat. Yet, luckily there is a huge, huge, huge range of products out there for anyone and everyone to fit particular skin tones, colours, complexions etc - but you don't need me to tell you that. I've tried out a long list of products in the hope of achieving a flawless base for the rest of my make up and although I don't feel like I'm necessarily there in my search, the products I am currently using are definitely helping me on my way. That isn't to say that I love every product I am currently using but instead they're teaching me what types of products work well for my oily-to-combination skin and what products certainly do not. So in order of application...Hourglass Veil Mineral Primer (here): To be very honest with you all, I do not feel this is particularly worth the money. For a minuscule 10ml you have to be willing to fork out £20 which wouldn't be so bad if a little went a long way but instead I find I need at least two pumps per application to achieve the full effects of this product. There are no obvious differences to my skin once applied other then a slightly subtle radiant glow yet that's not to say that this will not work out for everyone. Interestingly, I bought this after receiving a large amount of recommendations. Yet, disappointedly I feel my search for the perfect primer is most definitely not over. Nars Sheer Glow (here): I don't know if I can actually summarise into words how much I love this foundation. I am currently working through my second bottle and still love it just as much as the first. The radiant glow, medium to full coverage and easily buildable formula with not an ounce of 'cakeyness' (is that a word?) in sight. If you are on the hunt for a flawless foundation, you need to try this one! Nars Radiant Creamy Concealer (here): This is one of my all time favourite concealers purely for its immense coverage, creamy consistency and its good application (with a lovely doe foot applicator) for both under the eyes and for concealing pesky blemishes. Although at £22 it is pricey, it does have a lovely performance. The only downside to this product being how quickly it drys out in the bottle. I feel some of my high street alternatives actually have a better competition when it comes to the products formula yet the good qualities weigh out the bad in my eyes so this still currently remains as a staple in my collection. Lastly, to set this all in place, I use the MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural in Light (here): This is my all time favourite powder and pretty much the only one I have used everyday for the past year and a half. I'm currently working through my second one of these and have just hit pan (yay!) which I feel, pretty much proves how much I love this. It's great at mattifying shine, adding a bit of extra coverage but certainly doesn't leave the face looking 'flat'. I can not recommend this powder highly enough!  

Let me know what you think in the comments!

What products do you use for a flawless base?