Product Review #2 'Urban Decay Alice in Wonderland Book of Shadows'

A few weeks back I was simply browsing in the new Debenhams in town when the girl on Urban Decay invited me over to take a look at their new products, one was the highly sort after Alice in Wonderland Book of Shadows. I'd seen it going on ebay for £50+ and I had promised myself I wouldn't buy it as I had a MAC shadow pallet already. However when I saw the beautiful colours I couldn't resist. I vowed when I got home I'd sell the MAC colours I didn't use much to pay for the pallet. I've recently been severely disappointed by MAC and I've moved from there to Nars and Benefit instead so it wasn't too much of a push to sell enough eyeshadows to make by the £28 I was paying for the Urban Decay pallet and now after 3 or 4 weeks I am so glad I did!

Since buying the pallet myself I've read some mixed reviews about it but personally I love it. It's completely converted my to Urban Decay colours and I know I'll be buying Book of Shadows Volume Two as soon as I have some spare cash. The eyeshadows last on my eyes all day, including nights out and a long day at work. My old MAC ones always rubbed off half way through the day, especially any bright colours I wore leaving my eyes looking dull and tired. I don't particularly like the glitter based ones for the only reason that if you're not careful while applying some of the glitter can fall on your face. Luckily I found it pretty easy to dab the spare bits of glitter up but I can understand that it is a nusence. My favourite colours are Drink Me, Eat Me, Vorpal, Jabberwocky, Mushroom & Mad Hatter. Jabberwocky teamed with Vorpal gives a delicious smokey effect but it also looks great in the creases with any number of colours, my favourite so far has been with Queen and can just be seen in yesterdays post on my third outfit down. My other favourite combination is Mushroom with Wonderland over the top, it makes a beautiful antique gold colour.

I was pleasantly surprised by the 24/7 eye pencils. For some reason I've never experimented with Urban Decay eye pencils even though I am on the hunt for the perfect long lasting eyeliner. I always always wear black eyeliner on my water line, I think my eyes look awful without the definition of it the 24/7 pencil last quite a long time, I only needed to apply it once while at work for 10 hours which is pretty impressive. It's excellent for smudging on the lid for the smokey eye effect. The only problem is it does go down fast I've had to sharpen it once already, I'm sure this is only because it's a gel liner as this seems to be the case with most other gel liners (such as Bad Gals Waterproof Eyeliner). I loved the blue colour you get with it. It looks excellent around the whole eye and really brightens the blue in my eyes. Both pencils also go on smoothly which is a good in my book.

My least favourite product in the Book of Shadows is the eye shadow primer. I had heard people rave about this stuff but I just can't get away with it. I find it really watery and it takes forever to dry which is useless if you're in a hurry. It's also really hard to get it on evenly. I much prefer my MAC painterly paint pot as a base.

Over all, I love it and I do think it was worth getting since it is a bit of a collectors item. And like I've said many many times I'm a sucker for all things Alice.

Product: Urban Decay;'s Alice in Wonderland Book of Shadows
Price: £28
From: Debenhams
Buy it again? I would if I could

Product Review #1 'Paul & Joe Primer'

I have been using Paul & Joe Primer for a few weeks now as I wanted to give it a fair trial run before reviewing it. I wanted to wear it on a night out, for a long shift at work and every day, now that I've worn it for all three I feel I can give it a fair review.

For a long time I never bothered to wear primer for the main fact that it's only over the last year I've started to wear foundation, prior to that I only wore concealer and powder. Last year I bought two bottle of the That Gal Primer by Benefit and I loved it, it smelt good and it gave my skin a nice dewy look but at £20.50 a pop I was struggling to buy it on a regular basis, especially since it hardly lasted a month! While browsing the Paul & Joe make up on ASOS I came across this Primer, it has SPF 40 and was only £15.75 which is quite reasonable for a primer (even high street brands such as GOSH charge at least £12 for their primer). I'd never read any reviews on this particular product but I'd heard great stuff about Paul & Joe as a brand so I thought I'd give it a try. I used ASOS's super saver delivery for £1.95 which was excellent value for money and it arrived within a week.

The primer itself is foundation coloured, which did worry me at first as it was a darker colour than my skin but once I'd applied it (with my fingers) it didn't change my skin any which I was pleased about. Unlike the Benefit primer, the Paul & Joe stuff goes a long way. I only use a tiny bit to cover my whole face and it doesn't feel heavy of grease but just gives my face a nice matte base for me to apply my foundation over. It also had a really nice smell to it, which I really liked, very floral.

I tested out the primer, as I said in three different circumstances. Firstly I wore it all day under full make up when I was at my parents. It lasted well, kept my face moisturised and of course with the SPF 40 it was excellent for my skin anyway. My make up stayed put all day. Again, when I wore it for a 10 hour shift at work, it held my make up well, I only had to touch up my concealer over a few spots and re-do my eyeliner but that has nothing to do with my primer. the final test for the primer was how well it lasted on a night out on the town. And it did really well, unfortunately I woke up the next morning with all my make up still on and what wasn't on my face was on my pillow, which again I don't think it was anything to do with the primer!

All in all, I completely recommend this product to anyone looking for a primer. The only disappointing thing is once again it comes in a small tube and I doubt it'll last long if I wear it every day (so I'll admit that i've been rationing it). But apart from that, it's one of the best make up products I've ever used and I can't wait to get my hands on some more of their beauty range.

Product: Paul & Joe SPF 40 Primer
Price: £15.75
From: ASOS
Buy it again? Yes