Urban Decay Full Spectrum Eyeshadow Palette

Editor's note: This article is a piece written by guest writer Amanda. She is going to be reviewing the Urban Decay Full Spectrum Eyeshadow Palette. All views are author's own.

As first impressions go this is a very aesthetically pleasing palette, a black textured box with a beautiful 3D translucent logo with bright merging colours to highlight the type and variety of shades to be discovered when opening the box. “FULL SPECTRUM”, the print name of the palette, is printed in merging colours below the logo. Upon opening the box, you are greeted by the sight of 21 colourful powder shades, brighter and bolder than arguably anything UD has produced in the past (other than perhaps the Electric palette). Each of these shades is subtly infused with glitter. It also comes with a double-ended brush, which is of usual excellent Urban Decay (UD) quality. UD have lived up to the name of the palette and undoubtedly produced a “full spectrum” of colours for the user; they are in 7 columns of 3, the first 6 being 3 different shades of red (seeping into pink) orange, yellow (including gold), green blue and purple. The last column consists of dark grey, silver and white. My current favourite look involves the use of the purple shades “Sketch” and “Faded”, together with the silver shade “Iced” and the white shade “Bump”. After putting on black winged eyeliner, I like to use a medium sized brush to dust “Iced” all over my brow bone. It is a subtle yet iridescent shade, perfect for this area. I then like to put a parallel line of “Faded” just above my eyeliner – a perfect go-between for the intense black of my eyeliner and my dusting of “Iced”. A muted, shimmery shade of purple like this makes way for its slightly darker twin “Sketch”. “Sketch” is a beautiful, intense shade of purple that I put just below my lower eyelashes, to create a bold look. I like to finish this look off with a dab of “Bump” on the inner corners of my eye for brightness. As the Electric Palette is so big, when I go out, I tend to take a smaller albeit cheaper palette to top up the makeup although this isn’t necessary for hours due to the Electric Palette’s long-lasting durability. I have to admit, I am not really an eyeshadow kind of person – my life generally is a hub of activity, and I must admit I don’t really like spending a great deal of time on makeup. However, and although this palette is bold and I still wouldn’t particularly consider using in my day-to-day life, I adore it for nightlife and special occasions. Anyone who knows me knows I am partial to wearing a lot of dark colours/black, and the way some of this eyeshadow can brighten up a night-out outfit is simply electric. Fans of more subtle makeup may prefer to check out UD’s Naked palette. However, it’s not to say this palette is without its criticisms. Due to a lot of the Spectrum colours being glittery or duo chrome, these shadows are very much powder rather than buttery – which can lead to fallout, both on the face and in the pallet. With regard to the face problems, using a primer should eradicate any issues. I’m unsure how to solve the palette problem – possibly something I need to look into? Also, remember the golden rule – never mix powder eyeshadow with cream eyeshadow! I have bought sparingly from Urban Decay over the years, due to my keenness to try other brands and the “broke” stereotype that seems to follow students (unfortunately, its true!). At an eye-watering £43.00 for the Electric Palette, Urban Decay has never pretended to be a cheap alternative. However, what they lack in deals they certainly do not compromise on quality. Overall, an excellent palette. 9/10 from me.

Rating - 9 out of 10.

Lush Gentle Lentil solid shampoo.

I didn't become a Lush fan until around 2010, and when I read back on some of the products that used to be available and have been discontinued before I started to buy from the company, I get jealous when I see something that I think would be perfect for me. While reading tons of (mostly very positive) reviews of this particular product, I was even more eager to try it, and after waiting about a year, it was released in the Lush kitchen- Lush's weekly range of special-edition products released in limited batches. I knew I had to buy it.

This product is the Gentle Lentil solid shampoo bar. Those who have read my reviews of solid haircare, such as Jason and the Argan oil shampoo bar, will know that it doesn't often agree with my dry, easily tangled hair type. But as Gentle lentil is specifically created to be (as the name suggests), a gentle wash for easily tangled hair. It is more geared towards children, but being a child at heart and being a fan of the fragrance of the bar, I was still eager to use it and report back on my results.

Gentle Lentil is a little boring-looking, cream-coloured block dotted with brown lentils. Compared to Lush's brightly coloured shampoo bars, this isn't one you'd notice right away. This is probably part of the reason the bar was discontinued, as unless people knew what it was, they would likely walk past it without giving it a second glance, in favour of the more colourful bars and bottles of shampoo. However, sometimes it's the boring-looking products that offer a lot, so I try not to bother too much about what the products look like on the outside.

The bar shares the scent with the Butterball fragrance family from Lush, a cocoa butter and ylang-ylang dominated fragrance. While the butterball bath bomb is mostly dominated by the cocoa butter scent, giving it an almost chocolatey fragrance, the Gentle lentil shampoo bar has the ylang-ylang at the forefront, giving a more floral version of the Butterball scent. Personally, I prefer the bath bomb's fragrance, but they aren't too different, so fans of the bath bomb will appreciate the scent of it's haircare sibling. The Butterball scent is one of my top fragrances from lush, I wish they would bring out a perfume version.

To use a shampoo bar is very simple, but it does take some getting used to if you regularly tend to use a liquid shampoo. All you have to do is wet the bar, and either lather it up in your hair (as I do) or lather it in your hands and then apply the lather to your hair that way. I found that Gentle lentil didn't lather up as well as I am used to with shampoo bars, instead providing a slightly oily foam, which slightly worried me, as I wondered if it would leave my hair greasy instead of cleaned. But after I had conditioned and dried my hair off, I found my hair was very tangled, almost as if I had over-shampooed. This really disappointed me, as I had been hoping for a long time that this particular shampoo bar would work for me.


I gave it another chance, using less than I had before, but again, it made my hair feel dried out and was impossible to brush, even when using an abundance of conditioner after shampooing. The bar of shampoo itself also was reluctant to dry, and you lose a lot of product when it just sits on your bathroom shelf melting. I have honestly come to the conclusion that Lush shampoos, particularly their solid haircare range, just don't work for me, and I am very reluctant to spend money on their expensive haircare again.

So despite looking forward to using Gentle lentil and appreciating the scent (Lush, make it  a perfume!) I won't be repurchasing and I don't recommend it.

Price £5 for 100g

LUSH Sympathy for the Skin hand and body lotion

I find that often I am bad for remembering to moisturise properly. I buy tons of body butters and thick creams because I like the texture, only to find out that they are just too heavy for my skin, especially on my face, and take too long to sink in properly. This causes greasiness. I wanted to try something that was lighter, but would still provide me with enough moisture to combat dry patches.

I had a look on Lush's website and decided to treat myself to something slightly more expensive than I would originally have gone for, but something that I knew would have natural ingredients. After browsing, I chose a pot of Sympathy for the Skin lotion. I vaguely remember having this years ago, but didn't use it enough to build up a proper opinion. All I could remember was the texture was thinner than I tend to buy.

When it arrived, it comes in the traditional lush screw-top black jar packaging. Like all of Lush's other black pots, it's 100% recyclable, and if you take 5 of them back to Lush, they will reward you with a free fresh face mask or fresh hair mask. It's a nice little incentive and generous of lush- a pretty unique offer.

I know many people don't like jars and tubs, who may wish to decant the lotion into a bottle. I don't mind the tub, as it mainly sits on my bathroom counter or on my bedside table, but as the lotion is of a fairly runny consistency, I would probably choose to put it into another container if I was going on holiday. It's also quite a chubby 240g tub, so decanting it would sometimes be a better option, especially if you wanted to use it as your regular hand cream when out and about.

On first sniff, this cream smells like banana. Not fake banana, like the foam sweets- but real, natural, slightly under-ripe banana. It isn't my favourite scent, purely because it still has that slighly soured element when the fruit isn't quite ripe. The vanillary note helps it a little bit, offering a natural but sweet dosage of it. And layered under this you can smell sandalwood notes, which makes it a bit different to any generic vanilla lotion.

The lotion looks just like a fresh, luxury banana custard, an off-white shade, speckled with flecks of vanilla seed and banana seed. Unfortunately these seeds can work to the products disadvantage, as you can find yourself speckled with them on some occasions, which can be annoying if you have your skin on show or opt to use this as a face cream as I do.

When you rub in the lotion, the scent changes from the banana being the strongest scent, to the vanilla taking over and being at the forefront. The warmth of your skin brings out an almost white-chocolate note, and this is when I really started to appreciate the scent that bit more.

Consistency wise, it is fairly thin, and absorbs easily. It still leaves a light glisten on your skin, and you definitely feel moisturised, which I think is better than a cream absorbing too quickly and feeling like you have not even applied it in the first place. My skin felt soothed, and in a couple of days, the dry patches on my skin had almost all cleared up. My facial skin is combination/sensitive, and it didn't break me out in the slightest either. I would probably have to wait a bit before I applied makeup over this, but I still haven't trialled that out yet, as I don't tend to moisturise under my makeup.


Overall, I have enjoyed using this cream and would definitely recommend it to people who want a light face and body moisturiser, that does it's job wonderfully. If you want to have soft skin and smell like banana cream custard, give this a try!


8/10


Julia xx

Palmers Cocoa Butter Formula Swivel Stick

Even though the new year has begun, we are still in the middle of winter which, for our skin, is one of the worst times for dryness. My lips are often dried out, which is due to a combination of the weather, and the fact I tend to wear a lot of lipstick and gloss throughout the year as part of my regular makeup routine. I have tried a LOT of lip balms over the years, ranging from very cheap drugstore brands to more luxury expensive ones which claim to banish wrinkles as well as soothe dry skin. This one I am going to write about today, however, is part of a cult-classic range of moisturising products that don't cost the earth.

Palmers cocoa butter formula is a popular brand which specialize in body lotions and moisturisers. They have also branched out to different products, including pregnancy (stretch mark) creams, tanning creams, hair care and lip balms. Some of their products are harder to find than others in stores, but all are readily available online.

Palmers swivel stick is a multitasking product, which makes it ideal for travelling. It is a heavy-duty moisturising balm stick, large enough to use on areas such as elbows and knees, but still a convienent size for popping in your handbag. It's also a good alternative to taking a bottle of lotion on holiday, as it won't spill. Although, I would be careful what temperature of the place you keep this product in, as the buttery, waxy consistency I feel would melt easily if exposed to too high a heat.


To use, although not the most flattering description, you wind it up as if a glue stick (The name of the product itself suggests this), and apply wherever needed. The formula itself smells delicious- a really chocolatey, buttery scent with a hint of nuttiness that reminds me of freshly made chocolate truffles. Be careful when applying it on your lips especially that you don't start eating it- it really does smell that good. However, if you aren't keen on chocolate or 'flavoured', heavily-scented balms, you will probably not like this- it has the kind of heavy scent which really does hang around a while. I adore the scent, so I was really glad it stuck around.

This is an extremely moisturising product, which means you do have to wait a while for it to settle into your skin and lips, so it's maybe more ideal as a night treatment. Be careful about how much you apply too, as too much can cause an unwanted greasiness. Start off with a minimal amount and build up as you go along to get the best out of your Palmers swivel stick. I tend to use this only on patches of very dry skin (which I get frequently), and my lips, which are often really chapped.

You do get a lot of product for your money here, and it lasts a long time. So for the price, I think it's a great product to test out and if you have dry skin- give it a go. I was really pleased with it and I'm sure you will be, too.

Thanks for reading

Overall: A good little multitasking product at an excellent price

Rating: 8.5/10

2016 Price: £2.50

Stockists, Ebay, Amazon, Tesco, Superdrug, Boots

Apologies for the delay...

...new reviews are coming very soon. Thank you for your patience.

Julia x

Treacle Moon hand and body lotion - The Honeycomb Secret

Sometimes products I haven't heard much about before can really surprise me, and when I saw Treacle Moon cosmetics in one of my local supermarkets, I decided to have a further look, as a lot of their unusual scents in their range appeal to me. I tried out a Treacle moon shower gel earlier on in the year, and got on quite well with it, so I decided to try one of their many hand and body lotions,  as with the cold weather approaching, my skin is getting dryer and I wanted a lotion that didn't take ages to sink in.

As I have mentioned, I have tried out Treacle Moon products before, and I have always wondered if their packaging was a dupe of high-end brand Philosophy. However, I am not really bothered about whether something is a dupe or not- if a product is good quality, a good price and works well for me, I will buy it, regardless of whether it was inspired by a higher end, more expensive product. This has been proven in reviews on products such as the Revolution redemption eye palette, which is a dupe of Urban Decay's Naked1 palette.

Treacle Moon hand and body lotion comes in a 350ml pump dispenser bottle, which isn't particularly ideal for travelling, but makes a nice product to keep on your bathroom shelf. Although I generally prefer jars and tubes over pump dispensers, this provides the ideal amount of product to use at the one time without over-doing it, and is also a more hygienic way of dispensing the product inside.

The lotion is a smooth, silky, non-greasy consistency, and seems to strike the ideal balance between thin and thick. It feels luxurious and moisturising, but absorbs easily and within a couple of minutes you are just left with beautifully-scented  and soft skin. 

The Honeycomb scent of this lotion is amazing- I am starting to wish Treacle Moon did perfumes as I would buy up hundreds of bottles if it were available in this scent!  I was expecting a generic honey scent, but this is so sugary and sweet- it reminds me of the gloriously rich and sugary inside of a Crunchie bar, and transports me to an autumnal night at a fairground with the scent of caramel-apples, doughnuts and bags of fresh cinder toffee from the stalls. It really is a beautifully sweet and sumptuous scent, and lasts for ages on your skin. So much so that I think this could be worn as a stand-alone fragrance and would receive lots of compliments. It is a strong smell, so if you aren't a fan of foodie scents, you may not like this- but I am definitely a huge fan. 

The scent is available in a lotion (£2.99), a shower gel (£2.99) and a body butter (£3.99) , so for those who are fans, you can collect the whole scent collection for around £10. I will definitely be doing this and stocking up incase the company decide to discontinue the scent (which they have done with some of their other scents in the past) as it seems quite an autumnal scent, and I'm unsure if it's a limited edition.

Overall, I am a fan of this product and would recommend it to those who want a beautifully moisturising product, with a cozy, mouthwatering scent to boot.

8/10

Soft Coeur Massage Bar

Out of all the products sold by Lush, the massage bar is probably my favourite. Whenever I go to a store or place a Lush order online, I tend to always add a massage bar into my basket. Usually I go for a Wiccy Magic Muscle bar, but after reading other people's reviews of Soft Coeur massage bar, I decided to try it out as the scent sounded like something I would really enjoy.

Massage bars are a block of solidified oils and butters, designed for body massage or alternatively for use as a heavy-duty moisturiser- which is what I use them for. They're much more portable than a bottle of massage oil, but you have to be careful keeping them in warm places, as they do have a tendency to melt easily. To use them, all you have to do is swipe the bar a few times over warm skin, then rub the melted oils in.

Soft Coeur is a little different from the other massage bars Lush offer, as it's presented as a small heart shape, and has a centre of honey and cocoa powder, which is also designed to melt on your skin. I'm not sure whether Lush released this as part of a Valentines day range and decided to keep it as part of the permanent range, but as it's also known as The Honeymooner massage bar, its obvious that this bar has been designed for couples.

The scent of Soft Coeur is a rich, honey-toffee one, very similar to the popular Honey, I washed the kids soap. But the slightly bitter-sweet cocoa powder core of the bar slightly tones down the sweet and sickly scent of the bar and helps to add a chocolatey undertone. I quite like the scent, it's definitely one for fans of foodie and sweet smells. It's quite strong and I also find it lasts a long time on the skin, so I think if you wanted to use it as a scent, you could apply a bit of the bar to your wrists as an alternative to a solid perfume.


When you are applying Soft Coeur, although it's not the most easily-melting massage bar from Lush that I have used, it does leave a fair amount of oil on your skin that is massaged in easily. I found that the first 3 or 4 uses of the bar were chocolate-core free, then after that the centre also began to melt, leaving streaks that could also be rubbed in with a bit more effort. I've heard a lot of complaints from people about the streaks from cocoa centre, however I didn't find it was too bad and it wouldn't stop me from enjoying the bar.

I found that although the bar didn't release oils as easily as the others, it didn't last as many uses and was halved in size by the 6th use. It is one of Lush's cheaper and smaller bars, but if I bought it again it would probably be reserved for the occasional use rather than a regular used product, as it proves quite an expensive alternative to a moisturiser.

For me, this wasn't the most hydrating of Lush's massage bars, but I did enjoy it. I have other favourites that I would generally pick over Soft Coeur massage bar, but I am glad I've tried it out and would probably buy it again if I was in the mood for a very sweet smelling massage bar.


6/10