My Top Ten Neutral Eyeshadows and Swatches

Hey guys! Hope everyone is doing well. In the beauty world there a ton of different neutral eyeshadow palettes and neutral eyeshadow singles that seem to be a long lasting trend. With so many neutral  color options it can be overwhelming choosing which one you like. Today I want to share my top ten neutral eyeshadows that I often use not only for the color and pigmentation, but how well they blend and their staying power. I hope you enjoy some of my favorite neutral eyeshadows. It was hard to choose. ;) Let get started!

In no particular order we have...

Makeup Geek Cosmetics Vanilla Bean

You might be wondering it is a pretty sheer cream shade. At least that is what I thought when I first purchased and swatched it. When I used it as a highlight for my brow bone it added just enough highlight with out it being stark white. Sometimes a little goes a long way and as you can see this color is well loved. 

Urban Decay Basic Eyeshadow Palette- Skimp

Here is another highlight shade great for the brow bone. Unlike the first highlight shade, this one is more opaque and has a bit of a sheen to it which catches and reflect light adding shimmer and a nice subtle glow to your brow bone. 

Makeup Geek Cosmetics-Latte

This color is a light brown color perfect as a transition shade. I love this color because it is soft and really brings a neutral look together helping blending out harsh lines adding a soft look to your neutral makeup. This color is buttery and blend well.

Make Up For Ever Artist Shadow - #738 

This is not really a shadow but a blush . Most people use it as a shadow and so do I. This color has excellent pigmentation and staying power. I love rusty colored browns to create a warm neutral look. Great color to create a sunset or rusty eye which is what I love and wear the most.  

Too Faced Chocolate Bar Palette-Milk Chocolate

Name of the color is accurate. This color reminds of a milk chocolate bar. Another wonderful transition shade to tie a neutral look together. The eyeshadow is buttery and has great pigmentation. It also smells like chocolate!

Kat Von D Shade and Light Eye Contour Palette-Succumbus

I love burnt brown colors and this one is a nice one to add to any neutral look with out creating an overly warm look. This color is gorgeous! The texture is so velvety and blends well. 

Kat Von D Shade and Light Eye Contour Palette-Sytry

     When It comes to a neutral look it is nice to have mid tone brown to darken things up a bit. You can add this on the outer v area of the eye to add depth to your look. Nice pigmentation and staying power. 

Anastasia Beverly Hill Self Made Palette- Hot Chocolate

This color is a perfect chocolate color. I do not own a brown like this. Such a gorgeous color to own and I have been using this color often. Perfect mid tone brown color that has excellent pigmentation, smooth texture and lasts for most of the day. 

Lorac Pro Eyeshadow Palette- Espresso

This color is perfect for smoking out a brown eye. A little goes a long way when using this eyeshadow. Very pigmented and blends well.

Make Up For Ever Artist Shadow- M600

     Last and certainly not least is this Make Up For Ever Artist Eyeshadow #M600. It is a nice earthy brown great for the lid and crease. It has great pigmentation and blends well. At times I just apply this color to my lid and blend it up to the crease for a simple neutral look.

   Here is what the swatches look like all together. You must of been thinking while scrolling through the swatches that a lot of the brown shades look the same. They are all very different from each other and are my favorite colors to use when doing a neutral makeup look. If I would have to choose one shade that is my absolute fav that would be  Succumbus from the Kat Von D Shade and Light Palette. It is not too orangey or burnt toned which is great to use to add subtle warmth to your neutral makeup.

Hope you enjoyed my top ten neutral eyeshadows. It was definitely hard to choose, but these are what I reach for the most and have awesome texture and blend well.

What are your go to neutral eyeshadow shades? Leave a comment below.

See you in my next blog post!

Maryam ox

Golden Sunset Makeup Ft. ColourPop Super Shock Shadows

 

      Hey guys! The winter cold has finally hit us east coasters and I thought I would warm things up a bit by creating a warm makeup look. To achieve this look I used the colourpop super shock eyeshadows.  They are amazing! I hope to have a review on them in the coming week. Hope you enjoy this pictorial and give this look a try. :)

Pictorial

1. Prime the eye with an eye primer.

*To work with these shadows it is best to use a synthetic brush for better color application.*

2. In the crease I used the color burnt brown color in windshield wiper motions. Blend.

3. I took a cream tone color eyeshadow and applied it to the brown bone. 

4. Next, I applied the dark brown in the outer crease to darken it up just a bit. Blend.

5. On the lid I used the golden color and patted in the lid. 

6 Apply black gel or liquid mascara.

7. Curl Lashes and apply mascara. If you use falsies now is the time to apply them.

8. Apply black eyeliner to your waterline.

9. I took the same dark brown that I used in the crease and applied it below the lower lash line to smoke up the bottom a bit. Blend.

10. For the inner tear duct I used the white gold color.

11. Finally apply mascara to your lower lashes.

Look Complete!

You can never go wrong with gold and burnt brown eyeshadows as a nice warm neutral look. I have done this look a few times and I love it! I will be definitely be rocking this look a lot in the spring and summer months.

Colorpop Eyeshadows: 

Crease:Melrose

Innser Crease -Central Perk

Tear Duct- I Love this

Lid- La La 

Hope you enjoyed this pictorial!

Maryam ox

My Beauty Favs of 2015

     Hey guys! I can't believe 2016 is almost here! This year flew by so fast and it has been a great year. I wanted to step away from reviews and makeup looks a bit and bring you my beauty favs of 2015. Some products are from 2015 and others were most used products that I used during the year. I hope you enjoy this post and hope the new year brings you much happiness and success. :)

 ColourPop Super Shock Shadows-  I have seen so many pictures and reviews on these shadows that I had to purchase some. I am soooooooo happy that I did. I do not know what the formula is, but it is amazing!! These eyeshadows are super pigmented. The texture feels wet but drys on the lid. These shadows are $5 each which is super affordable for the quality and pigmentation. If you do not have any of these go get them now. You will not be disappointed. ColourPop did an excellent job with these shadows.

  Colourpop Ultra Matte Lip(liquid Lipstick) in Tulle- If you are looking for an affordable liquid lipstick without leaving a whole in your pocket this is a good alternative. This ColourPop Liquid lipstick in the color Tulle is like a brick brown burgundy colour that is gorgeous! I have worn this color all throughout the fall and will be wearing it during winter aswell. It has great color payoff and last a long time. 

Inglot Gel Liner is #77- Where has this eyeliner been all my life? I have been trying out different brands of gel liners and this one is the best. It is a matte eyeliner and applies so smoothly on the lid and does not budge. I love it and one coat is all you need.

Loreal Voluminous Carbon Black Eyeliner-  Out of all the mascaras this has been my go to for most of the year of 2015. This is a staple in my mascara collection because it give my eyelashes such volume that it looks like I am wearing falsies. This is an old school mascara that will always remain new to me. Love it. This to me is comparable to Too Faced Better Than Sex Mascara.

  Anastasia Beverly Hills Self Made Palette - I chose this for one of the best palettes of the year 2015 because they improved their formula and the pigmentation is great. This palette only costs $35 and has a variety of colors to create many looks from. This won't break the bank and for the price the quality is wonderful.

   Mac Mineralize Moisture Foundation- In love with this foundation! I have tried many foundations this year, but I always go back using this one because it gives my skin such a dewy look and it feels so light weight. I have dry skin and this gives it the moisture it needs making my face look smooth and hydrated without making it look oily. Best investment I made in a foundation.

     Jaclyn Hill Becca Highlighter- This has been my go to highlighter. It compliments my olive skin tone and gives my cheeks a luminous shine that is not overpowering. I will be making future purchases of  more Becca highlighters because their formula is amazing. It is finely milled and does not have any chunky glitter that some highlighters can have.

    Maybelline Baby Lips- This year has been the year of liquid lipsticks. I used this before every liquid lipstick application to provide moisture to my lips so my lips look smooth while wearing the liquid lipsticks. Dry lips and liquid lipstick is no no. The Maybelline baby lips is amazing and made my lips look great while wearing a liquid lipstick and in general for moisturizing the lips. Great for winter.

   Make Up For Ever Step 1 Nourishing Primer- I have tried a few primers and they just didn't work for me. During the sephora vib sale I picked this baby up. All I can say is this is my holy grail primer. It makes my foundation look amazing and last all day. It is worth every penny and if you have dry skin you NEED this in your life. Primer of the year and probably the next few years lol. Love it.

 Kat Von D Liquid Lipstick in Lolita- This to me has to be one of the best formulas in a liquid lipstick. When I tell you it lasts all day it really does. I eat all day and still stays strong on my lips. It is so light weight on my lips that sometimes I forget I have it on.  The color lolita is beautiful and compliments all skin tones. You can wear this color with any look.

    Maybelline Master Conceal Concealer is awesome! The texture is not thick which I love and goes on smoothly and has wonderful coverage. It doesn't crease much or make me look like I have old bags under my eyes. Hands down the best drug store concealer.

  Milani Baked Blush in Luminoso- The best drugstore blush ever! The formula, pigmentation and lasting power is wonderful .This blush is better than some of the high end blushes. If you are looking for an affordable blush this is the one to get. This color goes with every makeup look and gives your cheeks a beautiful peachy pink flush. Love it!

    Purity Made Simple One Step Facial Cleaner- I grabbed this gem on the sephora vib sale.I wanted to try this since so many  have raved about this cleanser. Worth the rave and lives up to the hype. If your looking for a cleaner that does it all. This is the one.  It takes off the makeup so well from your face and leaves it feeling so soft and radiant. I can't believe it took me so long to try this. I won't go without this ever again. I use this every day and night. 

     There you have it guys! My beauty favs of 2015. New and old products that I used most of the year. Hope you enjoyed this post and decide to pick some of these products up and give it a try. I always love reading these types of blogposts to see what is worth buying.

Do you own any of these? Leave a comment. If you have a beauty favs post of the year or a monthly favs, leave a comment so I can check it out. :)

Have a great day and see you next year! :)

Maryam ox

Urban Decay Gwen Stefani Eyeshadow Palette- Review and Swatches

     Hey Guys! Today I am reviewing the most wanted eyeshadow palette of the year and that is the Urban Decay Gwen Stefani Eyeshadow Palette. I remember when the news hit everyone was so excited to get their hands on it. At first I was on the fence as to whether I should purchase it because of many mixed reviews. Most people said it wasn't exciting and expected the palette to be more colorful instead of mostly neutral. Gwen Stefani's style as far as her makeup goes is very simple so it makes sense that she chose the colors she wears on a daily basis. After much consideration, I decided to purchase the Gwen Stefani Eyeshadow Palette. One because it is Gwen Stefani and two because the packaging is lovely and the colors as well. Hope you enjoy my review!

The Urban Decay Gwen Stefani Eyeshadow Palette retails at $58.00 and contains 15 eyeshadows (12 are new) containing mostly neutral shades with a few pops of color.

I really love the packaging. I love the gold and white cut out detail in the middle overlaying the black giving it a 3D effect. It has a little weight to it and it's smaller than the vice palettes, but has similar packaging and a magnetic closure.

The Palette also comes with Gwen Stefani Lipstick samples. The lipsticks will release in Spring 2016.

Look at how beautiful these colors are. The color Danger is gorgeous!

My Fav Shades:

Steady

Serious

Baby

Pop

Zone

Danger

Least Favorite:

Pop

Repeat Shades:

Skimp

Stark

Blackout

Over All,  I am happy that I purchased the Urban Decay Gwen Stefani Eyeshadow Palette. I was afraid I might return it because of the many neutral shades that are dupable, but the pigmentation of  most of the eyeshadows especially the matte shades won me over. The matte shades are very smooth and buttery and blend very well as well as the shimmer shades with the exception of the color Pop. That color is terrible. There is no base color. It is like a sheer glittery shade that has a lot of fall out. The pigmentation is very poor. I would replace this shade with a nice purple shade since there are already a few shades in the same color family. A purple shade would have been awesome in this palette. Other wise great pigmentation and they blend very well. The eyeshadows lasted for 7 hours and still were going strong and they didn't crease. I was also afraid some of the shades would not show up on my skin, but surprisingly they do and I am quite pleased. If you do not own any Urban Decay Naked palettes then the Urban Decay Gwen Stefani Eyeshadow Palette would be great to own. 

You can purchase The Urban Decay Gwen Stefani Eyeshadow Eyeshadow Palette at :

Sephora

Ulta

Hope you enjoyed this review and found it helpful!

Stay safe everyone!

Maryam ox

*Products purchased by me*

Blue And Burgundy Makeup Look Ft. Make Up For Ever and Mac Cosmetics

     Hey guys! As promised today I am bringing you a pictorial mainly using the Make Up For Ever 15 Artist  Shadow Palette that I reviewed on my previous blog post which you can check out here. In this pictorial, I also used two eyeshadows from the Mac Warm Neutral Palette.  I really love how the blue and burgundy compliment each other. I hope you enjoy this pictorial and give it a try. :)

Pictorial

1. As you know before I do any makeup look I prime my eyes most of the time with Urban Decay Eye Primer.

2. I apply eyeshadow in the crease first using the color Saddle from the Mac Warm Neutral Palette as a transition shade. (The Mufe 15 Artist Shadow Palette does not have any transition shades or matte shades to work with.) BLEND

3. I then took the color Brule and I applied it to my brown bone to give it a little highlight. BLEND.

4. Next I took the Burgundy color and applied it to my inner crease and blended it out.

5. I went in using the color next to the burgundy and applied to the outer v part of my eye. Blend.

*If at any point during your makeup look the colors get washed out because of blending you can alway go back and touch it up to get the desired intensity of color that you want.*

6. For the Lid I used the Colbalt blue shadow color.

7.Take you favorite black liquid liner and apply it to your lid.

8. Once the liquid eyeliner dried I used a lash curler to curl my lashes and applied three coats of my  black favorite mascara.

9. For my waterline I used black eyeliner pencil.

10. I took the burgundy color again and applied it below my lash line. Make sure you blend to diffuse the color.

11. Finally I took the whitest color and applied it to my inner tear duct to brighten up the look a bit.

Done!

Finished Look

I really loved how this look came out. The burgundy and blue colors really compliment each other. I know for some wearing blue eyeshadow can be intimidating but if you pair it with a neutral or toned down shade like burgundy. The blue is a nice pop of color without over powering the look. 

Close Up

The transition shade Saddle which is in the Mac Neutral Warm Palette diffuses the burgundy color and blends it out nicely. The white in the inner tear duct brightens up the look.

Hope you enjoyed this pictorial and see you guys in my next blog post!

Maryam ox

Make Up For Ever 15 Artist Shadow Palette: Review & Swatches

     Hey everyone! Hope all is well! Today I will be reviewing the Make Up Forever 15 Shadow Palette. If you are looking for quality eyeshadows that give you amazing pigmentation and lasting power then you might want to hurry and grab this eyeshadow palette. This is the second purchase of Make Up Forever Eyeshadows and let's just say they are worth every penny. For more on this review and swatches please scroll down. Hope you enjoy! 

The Make Up For Ever 15 Artist Shadow Palette retails for $59.00  and comes with 15 that contain neutral and bold colors.

I absolutely love the  sleek bright orange glittery packaging .

If you do not want to purchase the entire palette, you can purchase them as singles. Here are the names.

The purple eyeshadow is an eye catcher.

My favs:

Burgundy shade(D 826)

Bright Purple (l 922)

Rich cobalt blue(Me 216)

Swatch Time!

     Over All I am in love with the Make Up For Ever 15 Artist Shadow Palette. The eyeshadows have great pigmentation with the exception of a few. Some colors you really have to take the time and pack on. Once the color is on they really adhere to the lid and do not fade. For the more vibrant colors, my advice is to use a black or white base to make the color more vibrant. The eyeshadows blend wonderful together and lasted on my eyes all day. My only complaint is there is no matte shadows in this palette so you can't use just this palette to create a  complete look. The shadows come in iridescent, diamond and metallic finishes. You would have to go through your other eyeshadow palettes for that transition and highlight shade . Do I recommend this palette! Yes. 15 eyeshadows for $59.00 is a great deal. Individual eyeshadows cost $21 each and the pigmentation is the same as the individual eyeshadows. If you are looking to start up your makeup up forever collection, this is a good way to start. 

You can purchase the Make Up For Ever 15 Artist Shadow Palette at Sephora and the Make Up Forever website.

Hope you found this review helpful and stay tuned for a pictorial using the Make Up For Ever 15 Artist Palette.

Maryam ox

Laura Mercier Artist Eyeshadow Palette- Review and Swatches

Hey guys ! Hope everyone is doing well. Today I am reviewing the Laura Mercier Artist Eyeshadow Palette. This palette came out originally in 2013 or 2014 and was limited edition. It was so popular and in demand that Laura Mercier decided to bring the palette back.  I can now understand what all the fuss is about. Scroll down for my full review.  

     The Laura Mercier Palette retails for $ 55.00 and comes with 12 shades ranging from cool to warm tones shades with a mix of matte and shimmer finishes. 

I love the packaging and I think it is elegant. I love the plum color  black accents. It has a plushy feel when u press on the packaging and it is sleek and travel friendly.

I love the range in colors. You have your warm and cool tones eyeshadows which makes this palette versatile. You can create both day and night time looks.

Swatch Time!

My standout shades:

My favorite colors are African Violet which is a beautiful shimmery soft purple color. 

Plum Smoke is a nice transition shade if you are just working with the purple tone colors.

Kir Royal which is another beautiful purple shade deeper than African Violet.

Fresco another beautiful transition shade. 

Truffle a beautiful chocolate brown shade.

Over all The Laura Mercier Artist Palette is a surprise hit with me. I never tried this brand before and they are not known for their eyeshadows. I gave into the hype of the palette and glad I did. The eyeshadow pigmentation is fantastic and blends amazing. The formula of the matte shades is not chalky or powdery. They did a great job. I wore the shadows for 7 hours and it did not fade or crease. I love the fact the first row is cool toned and the bottom row is warm making this palette very versatile. The packaging is sleek and of travel friendly. I highly recommend the Laura Mercier Artist Eyeshadow Palette and I also picked this palette because I do not own many of these tones . I think the shades are beautiful and can be worn for your every day makeup look.

You can find the Laura Mercier Artist Eyeshadow Palette at Sephora.

Hope enjoyed this review and stay tuned for a pictorial using this palette. :)

Maryam ox

*Product purchased by me*