MAC palette

Top to bottom L-R: Sable, All That Glitters, Espresso, Carbon

This palette made a brief preview in this post and is looking a little worse for wear now after having been on a few trips with me (somehow Sable got smashed but thankfully, I managed to fix it which is why it looks weird in the photo). Having had this little quad for a while, I thought I would share a few of my insights on these shades.

1. All That Glitters

A cult classic amongst MAC fans, this shade is not as glittery as the name states; it's more of a shimmery champagne with a pink undertone. An excellent everyday or wash over the lids shade, this is definitely one of my favourite neutrals.

2. Sable

This is a lovely taupe-y brown that leans slightly reddish and is great for adding a bit of depth when smudged in the outer corners of the eyes. If you've ever used Mulch, this is much more purple-y and leans towards taupe while Mulch is more of a classic shimmery brown.

3. Espresso

A matte brown is always a good basic to have in the average palette, but as I tend to gravitate towards shimmery shadows, this doesn't get used as much as it could or should be.

4. Carbon

As I don't actually own a matte black, I slipped this shade in when constructing my palette and it really doesn't get used very often. Sometimes I'll get a sharp angled liner brush and use this as eyeliner along my top lashline, but that rarely happens these days since I've been leaning to shimmery brown-y neutral shades which are less harsh than black.

current skincare routine: cleansers

Since I seem to have gotten my skincare routine down perfectly and my skin isn't being crazy dry or overly oily, I thought I would take the time to share a little bit about what has been going onto my face in the mornings and evenings. All these items are definitely interchanged, what I use tends to depend on what my skin feels like, what I've been up to that day, etc. but these are the products I have been rotated around within my routine.

To stop this post from getting mid-numbingly long, I've separated it into two sections, so here is the first installment -- cleansers. Stay posted for the second.

1.  Bioderma Hydrabio
Since I previously reviewed this lovely micellar water here, I won't go into too much depth about it. I use this with a cotton pad to remove my makeup before I get into the shower (where I usually wash my face).

2. Bobbi Brown Eye Makeup Remover
For the times that my mascara is being ever so stubborn, I'll dip a cotton bud into this and swipe it over my eyes to remove anything that wouldn't come off with the Bioderma. Unlike oil-based eye makeup removers, this formula contains aloe vera and rosewater extract which is extremely soothing on tired eyes and I've found over multiple times of accidentally stabbing my eyeball with the cotton bud, that it doesn't sting.

3. Clinique Mild Facial Soap

I was given this centuries ago when I had the typical teenage oily skin, hence, I didn't feel like it really cleansed my skin so I put it away in the corner of my bathroom for a while. However, now that anything overly harsh and oil-stripping seems to wreak havoc across my face and leaving me looking awfully blotchy, I've resorted to the 'Mild'-ness of this soap which seems to be doing its job. It leaves my face feeling cleaner but doesn't turn it into a flaking disaster of dryness.

4. St Ives Naturally Clear Blemish and Blackhead Control Apricot Scrub
This will be a little controversial to the skincare-obsessed-nazis out there since it is a very harsh particle-grainy scrub, but I have used this for years and it really makes my skin smoother whilst getting rid of outrageously stubborn flaky bits I tend to get sometimes. I have never used a chemical exfoliator before because I simply have not gotten around to it since I tend to absent-mindedly repurchase this whenever I run out, but perhaps I will venture into one in the near future. 

5. Sebamed Clear Face Active Cleansing Foam

I use this in the mornings since I always do a thorough cleansing at night and there is absolutely no reason to over-cleanse. I like foaming cleansers in the morning because they are quick and easy (awesome for when I'm running late) and this one in particular doesn't seem to make my skin act up. I've been using this for a few years now but I have yet to find another foaming wash that seems to tick all my boxes.

l'oréal infallible 24 hour eye shadow

I'll be honest, this product isn't exactly one of my most regularly used shadows because for some reason, the plastic presser-thingmabob annoys me and I simply can't be bothered to deal with it. But, every single time I use it, I think to myself "why do I not reach for this more often?"

These shadows (I only have this shade but I have swatched all of them) are so, so incredibly pigmented -- a small, gentle swipe of your finger in the pot is all you need. I have noticed they smell distinctly odd, almost a sort of chemical-y, factory-processed scent, it's quite hard to describe and I can't quite pin it down but it's not overly off-putting that I can't use the product. Side note -- I've also noticed that the Giorgio Armani Eyes to Kill shadows smell exactly the same to these (I have wasted many hours milling about aimlessly in Sephora), and considering that both brands are run by the same umbrella company, I'm fairly certain they're the same product in different packaging. Anyway, I bought this shade, Iced Latte, with the intentions of it being mainly an inner corner highlight to brighten up my face a bit. However, with much experimentation and mucking around trying to find what combinations of creams and other powder shadows look good together, I've found that this always creates a bizarrely unique result.

This shade looks quite yellow and champagne-y in the pot but when applied, it looks almost slightly silver-y. In the autumn and winter months, I paired this with the Maybelline Colour Tattoo in Pomegranate Punk and more recently with my much-loved MAC Paint Pot in Indianwood. A dab of this with your ring finger in the middle of the eyelid and gently blended out with a fluffy brush over the base shadow leaves your eyes looking almost ethereal, like you've got a pool of glimmering water over your lids. Glimmering water is really the only way I can think of describing it; it's not iridescent and not quite glittery, just unbelievably shimmery and radiant. It seems to last well on my oily eyelids when combined with some sort of base, but I'm doubtful as to whether it really is a '24 hour' eye shadow per se. Anyway, if you already have this shade, give it a go over a darker cream shadow to give it a bit of depth as it seems to just make everything perfectly glow-y.