Highlighter Heaven With The Revolution Ultra Pro Glow Highlighting Palette

Now it's no secret that I haven't been the best blogger lately but I promise I am going to try and make it up to you in the last few months of the year and going forward into 2019. Although posts have been a bit thin on the ground I've still been photographing and thinking about posts and whilst searching through some of the folders on my MacBook recently I found some pictures of a few products that I'd always intended to review and never got round too, and this was one of them

I originally bought this palette way back in 2017 and like the "good blogger" that I am (deep down inside anyways) I photographed it when it was all new and pristine, shared a quick pic on Instagram and then promptly never mentioned it again on social media - slaps wrists! Anyways despite the lack of online love I pretty much started using this palette straight away and despite the ridiculous number of highlighters that I have in my make up collection, I've used it pretty consistently ever since, so I thought that I'd share it with you and tell you just exactly why I love it so much  

I've been a fan of Make Up Revolution, or Revolution as they're now known since day 1, I know they have their critics due to their sometimes blatant copies of higher end products, but you can't deny that they do what they do well. Although there are now some higher priced items in the range they've remained largely affordable, and purse friendly. In my opinion they do a lot of things well but for me the palette is where they truly excel. I love make up generally but palettes just make things easier, colours tend to go together, and you're adding multiple items to your make up collection with just one purchase, I have lots of their eyeshadow palettes, a blush palette or two and of course I have this one, the Ultra Pro Glow Highlighting Palette.

My highlighter collection is pretty ridiculous, I have way more than I could ever wear but I absolutely love them, and the subtle nuances, and variations in each one that I own. I own budget friendly ones, and high end luxury ones, and whilst I love them all I keep coming back to this palette.  The reason is that this particular palette give you pretty much every warm toned shade of highlighter that you could ever need all in one place.

The packaging is basic but the powders inside are anything but, the shades in the palette range from pale yellows, and champagnes, to peaches, a warm peachy pink, and coppery bronzes. All of the shades in the palette are gluten and cruelty free, and they are vegan friendly to boot.

The powders inside are super smooth and they so finely milled that they almost feel like creams rather than powders. They don't feel dry or chalky, and since they are shimmers rather than glitters, the fallout is virtually non existent. 

As you can see from these swatches the pigmentation is superb, and depending on your skin tone, some of the deeper shades would make fabulous shimmery blushers and bronzers. Obviously you can use these as out and out highlighters to emphasise your cheekbones, your cupids bow, your brow bone, and the the bridge of nose, but what I love about this palette is it's versatility as I say you can use some shades are blushers or bronzers, and of course you can use them as eyeshadows too.

We're entering silly lighting season at the moment, so the lighting hasn't really been conducive to decent, natural face shots but I've taken a few in different lighting condition to give you an idea of just how smooth, blendable and wearable this palette actually is.

This first picture is taken with the flash and it's probably one my favourite ways to use the paler colours in this palette. Here I've used one of the pale champagne colours to highlight my brow bone, I've just used it very simply alongside MAC Smoke And Diamonds eyeshadow and a little bit of black mascara, a very easy shimmery eye that works equally well when worn day or night.

Annoyingly this photo that's taken again with the flash didn't come out as well as I'd hoped, but you can just  about see a hint of the warm, shimmery pink shade worn as a blush. On my pale (ish) skin tone it makes a really pretty and subtle cheek colour.

At last we had sunshine so I managed to take a few pictures in natural light. I'm a huge fan of nude, and neutral eyes, my Naked palette is my best friend and I love a bit of shimmer on my eyes so I've had a play or two and some of the bronze, copper shades are pigmented and strong enough to make excellent eye shadows in their own right. Again I've just teamed them up with a coat or two of mascara for a really easy autumnal eye look.

Again I'm not really that happy about how this one has photographed, because I'm quite pasty in the picture it looks very daring and quite strong but in real life it was definitely a little bit more subtle and wearable. This is lovely almost metallic deep champagne, bronze shade, that just made my face and skin pop. As I say it looked way nicer in real life, but if you have darker or tanned skin then I think this particular shade would be even more beautiful

As I say I've struggled a bit with some of my photographs but hopefully alongside the swatches they give you an idea of both the quality and the pigmentation, and of course the versatility of this palette.

Not only is this palette amazingly versatile but as you would expect from Revolution it's also a bit of a bargain. For just £8 your getting 8 fabulous, versatile and wearable shades, with a total weight of 20g, so that's basically just £1 per shade. Obviously if you're a highlighter obsessive like me then you need this but it you're new to make or to the whole concept of highlighting then this is an excellent product to start with and if your not a fan of cooler toned highlighter then this couple be the only highlighting product that you would ever need. I love and I'm so pleased that I picked it up. If you fancy picking one up for yourself then it's available from Superdrug and from Revolution Beauty. Are you as obsessed as I am with highlighter? Let me know in the comments x

Make Up Revolution 32 Flawless Eyeshadow Palette Winner Revealed

I know that you've been waiting a little while for the post so I'm to stop the waffling for a change and get on with it :)

It's now time to announce the winner of my Make Up Revolution 32 Flawless Eyeshadow Palette. This was my most entered giveaway to date with over 3,000 entries but unfortunately there can be only one winner and the lucky person chosen at random via Rafflecopter is....


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Doreen Lamoureux 

Congratulations Doreen! I'll be emailing you later tonight and your parcel will be winging it's way across the Atlantic later in the week x 

Doreen's winning entry came courtesy of twitter so it's always worth using as many of the entry options as possible to stand a better chance of winning. If you weren't lucky enough to win this time don't worry, my Urban Decay giveaway has another 6 days to go, and I've got some more giveaways coming soon including some more Make Up Revolutions items, some ebay items, and some nail polish so stick around x 

An Introduction To Make Up Revolution Pro Brushes

It's hard to believe that Make Up Revolution have been filling our budget make up fantasies for less than a year but ti's true. The brand have came on leaps and bounds since their launch, and now produce an ever expanding range of eye, lip and face products, as well as skincare items and now make up brushes!

If you're a follower of their instagram page and you've ever read some of the comments on their posts you'll know that what people really wanted to see from the brand was brushes. Well they listened, and after a sneaky peek in some of their Christmas sets, at the end of January they released their range of Pro Brushes.

The line consists of 9, super affordable face and eye brushes which range from £1.50 - £3 each. Despite the low price point these brushes are all made of soft, animal friendly synthetic fibres. They have quite a classic, expensive appearance and they remind me a little bit of the elf Studio brushes. Each brush has a black metal ferrule and a black handle which features the brand name and brush number embossed in gold. Each individual brush also comes in it's own plastic wallet for travel or storage.

Although I have lots and lots of make up brushes already I couldn't resist dipping my toe into the water and on launch day I tried to be restrained and ordered 4 brushes to try

Make Up Revolution Pro F103 Stippling Brush

One of my favourite types of face brush is the stippling brush and although I already have quite a few in my collection from all price points, I couldn't resist picking up another one.

Like the majority of them that I have this one has a flat top,and it has the look of a duo fibre brush with the black and white synthetic hairs.

Coming complete with a plastic brush head cover, this one isn't quite as dense or firm as some of them I own but the fibres are super soft.

Make Up Revolution are marketing this brush as a foundation brush, and whilst I think it it would be good for more prescise application around the eyes, nose and mouth I actually prefer a much bigger brush to apply my foundation. Instead I've been using this mainly with both powder and cream blushers. I also love brushes like this for applying my Chanel Bronze Universal in the summer so I think it's a brush that I will get a lot of use out of all year round. The Make Up Revolution Pro F103 Stippling Brush retails at £3

Make Up Revolution Pro E101 Eyeshadow Brush

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Ah eyeshadow brushes I have so many yet when I come to get one they're all dirty. I've said it before but I'm very much a use it once and wash it girl, so another eyeshadow brush never comes in wrong.

This is a basic eyeshadow brush, suitable for both cream and powder eyeshadows. It has rounded, slightly tapered black hairs and it is tiny!

It's a full size brush but the brush head on this is very small, I don't have a lot of lid space and even I needed to double and triple dip to cover my eyelid. For me it's small size, and firm bristles mean that for me this probably more of a detail brush. It would be excellent for applying a small amount of colour to the crease or for more detailed work, or even for smudging out liner. It 's a good brush but for me though it's just not big enough to use over the whole lid. This brush retails at £1.95

Make Up Revolution Pro E102 Eyeshadow Contour Brush

Another eyeshadow brush and this time it's the Eyeshadow Contour Brush. Again made of black fibres this brush features an angled.flat top head.

Unlike the last brush, this one is the perfect size. The angle of the brush fits the contours of the eye perfectly, and this brush is great for applying either a singular colour to the eye or for blending out shades or crease work. It doesn't feel quite as dense as the previous brush but the fibres are soft and it's firm enough to the job perfectly. This brush is also £1.95.

Make Up Revolution E103 Eyeshadow Blending Brush

Out of the 3 eyeshadow brushes that I got this is probably my favourite. It's the archetypal fluffy blending brush, but unlike a lot of them on the market the density and texture of this are spot on.

The black bristles are exactly right, it isn't too fluffy, it's evenly formed with very few splayed hairs, and it's solid enough to blend shadows evenly and without too much pressure. 

I particularly liked using this brush with cream shadows, but thinking outside the box I think this brush would also be good for popping a bit of powder under the eyes and even for buffing in a bit of concealer. It's a really versatile brush and I'm not surprised that it's currently sold out on the Make Up Revolution website. Again it's just £1.95 and it's the sort of brush you would use again and again.

My first dabble into Make Up Revolution's Pro Brush has been largely positive. I do have the odd quirk here and there but I can't argue with the quality. All of the brushes feel nice and soft on the skin and they wash like a dream, in fact in two washes I haven't lost a single hair from any of my brushes. 

I also love the fact that they're synthetic, not only does that mean that they're animal friendly but it also means that the brushes are more versatile and that you can use them with both liquids and powders, without damaging either your products or the brush fibres.

At the moment I think the brushes are just available from the Make Up Revolution website but If you're on a budget and you're looking for some new face and eye brushes I think the Make Up Revolution Pro Brushes are definitely worth a try. 

The individual brush prices are excellent but if your buying for a teen or someone who is relatively new to make up then you can also buy a kit, the Full Pro Brush Collection which contains all 9 brushes for £20 or you could buy a face collection, the Full Pro Face Collection which contains all 5 face brushes for just £14. I really hope that this is just the beginning and that we'll hopefully see some more brushes and accessories from the brand in the future. 

Have you tried any of the Make Up Revolution Pro Brushes yet? 

January 2015 Favourites

I know it's nearly the end of February but I've just got round to uploading my January Favourites video. Slapped wrists I know, but I thought you might like to watch it x 

Product Mentioned 

Collection / Collection 2000 Colour Match Foundation - Ivory 1 

Make Up Revolution I♥MAKEUP  Naked Chocolate Eyeshadow Palette 

(You can read my review here x )

Leighton Denny Crystal Nail File

(My holy grail nail file ! You can read a full review and product rave here)

Elemis Pro Radiance Hand And Nail Cream

*Skin Blossom Therapeutic Bath Soak

(I've reviewed this product too - check my review out here x)

Prada Candy Florale Eau De Toilette 

I've already reviewed the majority of the products in this video for you but if you would like to see a review of either the hand cream or the the foundation then leave me a comment and let me know x 

No reviews of the Prada Candy Florale  though lol if you watch this video you'll know that describing fragrance isn't my strong point ha ha. Fragrance is such a personal thing and it so hard to describe a scent in the majority of cases unless you're an expert but I know I like it and that''s the main thing! 

I'm a bit of a fragrance junkie though so I'm thinking of doing an updated perfume collection video x Don''t worry though I will do my research this time round haha x Let me know if that is something that you would like to watch and of course don't forget to subscribe to my You Tube channel for more inane ramblings x 

Thanks for reading and watching and I'll see you tomorrow with a review xx

(*Sample) 

Some New Releases From Make Up Revolution And A Giveaway - Closed

Another week and yet more new releases from Make Up Revolution. Every time I log onto their site lately there seem to be more pretties to look at and to lust over. This week saw the appearance of their Too Faced Melted Lipsticks, alikes Lip Lava and two new Flawless palettes.

At the moment I can just about take or leave lip products but the words neutral eyeshadows make my heart sing. The first new palette is the Ultra 32 Shade Eyeshadow Palette in Beyond Flawless. This is an extension of the original Flawless palette and contains 32 new neutral matte and shimmery eyeshadows.

I'm not the biggest fan of matte eyeshadows but Make Up Revolution are one of the few brands that seems to get it right. More often than not matte eyeshadows are chalky and lack pigment but not Make Up Revolutions. Theirs are silky soft, blendable and packed full of pigment. so it makes sense that they've launched a palette for all you matte lovers out there. The Ultra 32 Shade Eyeshadow Palette in Flawless Matte contains every neutral toned shadow that you could ever want all in Make Up Revolutions matte formulation.

Although I haven't tried these palettes myself I've seen enough to know that they of the quality that we've come to expect this brand. Each palette retails at £8 from the Make Up Revolution website which is pretty amazing for 32 high quality eyeshadows.

Try as I might though I can't justify clicking the place order button, I have so many neutral eyeshadows and I really need to get some more of them used. If you're looking for an affordable neutral palette though then Make Up Revolution really are your brand and either of these palettes, the iconic palettes, the Naked Chocolate palette and the original Flawless palette are worth a look.

 

To celebrate the launch of  the two new Flawless palettes I'm giving one of the original Ultra 32 Shade Eyeshadow Palettes in Flawless.

I've done a full review of this palette here and it really is a beauty, so if you want to win one just fill in the Rafflecopter form below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This giveaway is open worldwide, and will end on the 28th February 2015 x Thanks to Make Up Revolution for the use of the new product images and if you have any questions please leave me a comment below x Good Luck x 

Make Up Revolution I♥MAKEUP Naked Chocolate Palette - Swatches And Initial Impressions

Those naughty people at Make Up Revolution have done it again, more new releases means more orders and slap wrists I've placed two orders in the less than a fortnight. I'm still waiting for one of them but I couldn't resist showing you one of the items that I received in my first order - the Make Up Revolution I♥MAKEUP Naked Chocolate Palette.

I already have the I Heart Chocolate Palette (read my review here) and I was so impressed with both the packaging and the contents that I couldn't resist buying this white chocolate themed version.

I know I said no more neutral eyeshadow palettes but this one was just two pretty to turn down. Packaged in sturdy plastic packaging that resembles a chunky, melting bar of white chocolate, this palette is potentially one of the prettiest that I own.

Again containing a mixture of mattes and shimmer, this is a neutral palette with the volume turned up. If creams, coppers, taupes, gold  and browns are your thing, then this is the palette for you. As we've come to expect from Make Up Revolution all of the shadows are silky smooth, and blendable and the pigmentation on both the mattes and the shimmers are superb. I think I've said it before but this brand really knows what it's doing when it comes to matte eyeshadows - they're silky smooth, and without even the tiniest hint of dryness or chalkiness

This is another winner for a brand that continue to just grow and grow, it hard to believe how far they've come in such a short space of time. Make Up Revolution have a lot of neutral eyeshadow palettes in their range but in my opinion this has to be one of best. The packaging is cute and quirky and the colours and the formulations are spot on. There is only one problem with this palette - it's making me crave white chocolate, Aldi Choceur Smooth White Chocolate, the nicest white chocolate ever, to be exact, but I'm sure a clementine will suffice for now x Make Up Revolution I♥MAKEUP Naked Chocolate Palette retails at £7.99 from the Make Up Revolution website but in the future I'm sure it will be available from the Superdrug website and selected Superdrug stores x  Are you as obsessed with neutral eyeshadow palettes as I am? Let me know x

My Christmas Day - Outfit, Nails Of The Day And Some Of The Things I Got For Christmas

For my last post of 2014 I thought I'd reflect, not on the year gone by but on the magical day that seems to flash by in the blink of an eye - I'm talking of course about Christmas Day!.

I don't know about you but Christmas for me really starts on Christmas Eve. Muppets Christmas Carol, mince pie making, mulled wine and new PJ's really get me in the mood for the day to come. This years festive pj's from Mummy Lou weren't that festive but they were something that I'd been after a long while.

Minions of course, I think I've gone Despicable Me daft this year, it just makes me smile no matter what, it's just so silly. As much as I would have loved to lounge around in my PJ's all day Christmas Day, we have a sort of dressing for dinner thing going on in my family so I got my legs out and donned a frock.

What I Wore

Burgundy / Wine Tunic Dress With Puffed Sleeves - Primark

Gold Tone Chunky Crystal Necklace  - Next 

Gold Tone Chunky Crystal Stud Earrings  - H&M

Black 100 Denier Tights - George At Asda

I'm sorry for the in the mirror selfies but Mummy Lou had more important things to attend to like the stuffing and the gravy. Since I was making lunch with her I had to be super quick getting ready so no pics I'm afraid but I used a bit of tinted moisturiser, and bit of blush, mascara, and a tiny touch of Beauty Marked and Cranberry eyeshadows by MAC which toned in with my dress. Thankfully I'd done my nails the night before so I wasn't in too much of a rush. I went for an oldie but a goodie, and again something that toned in with my dress.

From around 2003, OPI - Fee Fi Fo Plum, is still in perfect condition. It's a gorgeous slightly shimmery and metallic, wine / plum shade. This is two coats but you could even go to 3 to get a much deeper, richer finish.

Wear time wasn't amazing but that was more down to my lack of top coat and battling with sellotape rather than the age or the quality of the polish. 

I have to say I did spend a lot of time ripping off sellotape on Christmas Day x I was a very, very lucky girl. I know I complain a lot about my life and my illness, but I do have an amazing family, and a small but precious group of friends and for that I am eternally grateful. They are there for me even on my darkest days and they make me who I am, my happiness is their happiness and as a result I was well and truly spoilt on Christmas Day. I know some of you aren't fans of gift hauls and view them in a negative, show off way so if that's how you feel please take your negativity elsewhere, don't read and don't comment, 

Quite a few friends, and some family read my blog now and this is my way of expressing my gratitude. I'm not going to go into much detail the pictures should speak for themselves xx 

As well as the presents from my friends and family I also got a little present from The Body Shop in my goodie bag from the recent bloggers event. I was a good girl and saved mine for the big day. Inside my pressie I was lucky enough to get a 50ml Strawberry Body Butter, a bright green bath lily, and a Glazed Apple 60ml Shower Gel

There are a few bits here including some permanent Make Up Revolution items, some New CID items and a Bare Minerals palette that I will review for you, and of course I will also be reviewing my Mad Millie Cheese Making Kit which I can't wait to try x I received so many lovely things and I'm fully aware of how grateful I am so I'd just like to say a huge thank you to all of my friends and family x 

I also received two other very special, large presents from my amazing mummy which you may have already seen on my instagram, both of these things are related to tomorrows post, I'll show you them tomorrow x Till then thanks for reading and I hope that you all have an enjoyable and safe New Years Eve x