ANASTASIA BEVERLY HILLS | AMREZY PALETTE - Review & Swatches

Hey there Beauty-Lovers!!

Apologies for being completely AWOL this month! I fell ill at the beginning of the month, and then I've got a very close friends' wedding all month long, like every Saturday there has been something wedding-related! And then on Sundays, one is exhausted, throw in the fact I've got work all week lol. Settling down to photograph products and draft posts has been impossible so far. BUT, the madness settles after this weekend, so I will be back from then on.... Although, I have been updating my Instagram, Twitter and Facebook pages very regularly with new products I have picked up or been sent, so you should follow me on one of those pages, the links will also be provided at the end of this post

Anastasia Beverly Hills 'Amrezy' Palette - N8,500

Babble over, this is a post to share with you guys a makeup palette I canNOT get enough of! So, popular makeup brand, Anastasia Beverly Hills (ABH) decided to release some limited edition eyeshadow palette's in collaboration with a few social media makeup sensations. Honestly, what a GENIUS idea. I happen to follow one of such sensations @Amrezy (on instagram),  and I adore her! Her makeup style is right up my street, OTT Glam! So it was really a no-brainer that her palette would be my fave! Although, I have now got my eye on @DressYourFace's 'Tamanna' palette which is practically sold out everywhere, but I've managed to get myself one! Will definitely share swatches from that when I get it.

Back to the Amrezy palette, This is truly an eyeshadow palette that one can travel with! You honestly do not need anything else, this palette covers it all! I have used it to create multiple looks (which looking back, I should have captured on my camera), from office appropriate, right across to wedding-glam! You get a decent variety of lid colours in 'Glisten', 'Topaz', 'Iridescent Purple' and 'Emerald'. Tearduct and Browbone colours in 'Legend' and 'Vanilla' respectively. Transition/Crease colours in 'Caramel' and 'Morocco' and Outer V or Crease definition colours in 'Deep Plum' and 'LBD'. What more does one need?

Pretty much everything is covered, you've got your 5 matte and 5 frost finishes on deck. Muted, nude colours, transitional crease colours through to two glorious jewel-toned shadows!

I do not have enough words express to how impressed I was with this palette. The colour selection is stunning, it is 10 colours of pure perfection. It also comes with a double-ended brush, which as far as 'brush-in-palettes' quality goes, this is actually really good!

These shadows are buttery-smooth as well as super pigmented! It took me a while to get used to how pigmented these shadows were! ABH did not scrimp on the quality one bit! You truly get your money's worth out of this one, I can guarantee you that.


SWATCHES

So I was very unsure whether or not to share my swatches, because they are a bit pants to be honest. They don't really sell the story I've been telling up there, but please trust me when I say these shades are all super-pigmented and you will have no regrets.

Details
Purchased From: My Makeup Cosmetics (It's still Available!)
Price: N8,500

Anyone else come across the ABH limited editions palettes? Which one's your fave?

Laters,

Ez xxX


Instagram: @BeautyInLagos | Twitter: @BeautyInLagos | Facebook: www.facebook.com/BeautyInLagos

FIRST LOOK | MY MAKEUP COSMETICS - Lip Candy & Discount Code

Hey Everyone!

Feels like it's been ages since I blogged, sheesh! Hope everyone's been well :). Another 'first look' post for you lovelies and I am so excited about this one and you'll see why in a little bit.

My Makeup isn't a stranger on BiL and my love for this online store isn't a secret and it appears they love me too because they have just gone and named a lipstick after yours truly! :D. So this is kind of old gist, because I have posted this on my instagram page (you really should follow me: @BeautyInLagos), but I did not mention the other shades I received and I wanted to do that in this post.

My Makeup Lip Candy - N1,500* each

A few months ago they launched their 'Lip Candy' collection with a total of 13 shades (for now), and you cannot imagine my face when they told me there was a 'Beauty In Lagos' shade in there.

My Makeup Lip Candy L-R: 'Beauty In Lagos', 'Shakara', 'Lekki Babe'

The name 'Lip Candy' is right as these colours in particular remind me of just that and all three shades are very-pigmented.


Swatches

My Makeup Lip Candy in 'Shakara'

I absolutely LOVE this colour. It's a bright coral, very punchy, very playful. I can just imagine this worn against a very flawless base, bare eyes, with just a liner and full lashes. And like I said these lip colours are very pigmented!

My Makeup Lip Candy in 'Lekki Babe'

This shade is just so interesting and mysterious it's a bright lilac shade with blue undertones. I kept looking at myself in the mirror whilst swatching this one. And one minute I'm like 'yeah I can rock this' and then the next I'm thinking 'Oh My God I can't pull this off'. This colour is absolutely wearable in my opinion, but I think it takes a certain type of 'personality' to pull this off. I'd really love to rock this one day!

My Makeup Lip Candy in 'Beauty In Lagos'

And finally... TA-DA! The 'Beauty In Lagos' Lip Candy by My Makeup.

Although it's been months since they launched I am still not over the fact that I have got a lipstick named after me. Any fellow makeup obsessed person will understand how INSANE that is. And I know I have thanked them a million times and even asked them 'why????'. But I really want to say another Thank You to them and I am really really flattered by this unexpected gesture :D.
And they know me so well, it HAD to be pink ;)


Also as a little treat for you my lovely lovely readers I have got a discount code that you can redeem when you shop on the mymakeup site! At the checkout enter code 'bil4' to receive 15% off your entire purchase.

It'll also be great if you had the 'Beauty In Lagos' Lip Candy in your basket ;)

Website
www.mymakeupng.com

Enjoy your weekend my lovelies!

Laters,

Ez xxX

FIRST LOOK | BH COSMETICS - 'BH Day & Night' Palette

Hello there!

I have decided that, rather than keep you guys waiting for weeks (sometime even months) for a review, I'll give you a 'First Look' post and then maybe follow-up a few weeks down the line with a full review. But the most important thing for me is to share, and with 'First Look' posts it's not like I won't say anything at all on how I feel about the product, I'm saying it just wont be as in-depth, seeing as I haven't actually tried out said product long enough to provide such a review. So clarifications out the way, let's get into this post!

To kick this off I've just got a quick post to share something I recently bought from My Makeup online store

BH Cosmetics 'BH Day & Night' 60 Color Eyeshadow Palette - N4000

I have been meaning to try something from this brand for a while. Initially My Makeup only had the 'Take Me To Brazil' palette available, but I just couldn't see myself wearing a lot the colours in there. So although I really wanted to get a BH Cosmetics palette, I also needed to get one I'd actually use and get my money's worth out of.

Once I saw this palette available on their site, I did some quick check on a few beauty-blogs that had reviewed it and I was sold. Yeah and that's a little tip for you guys, if you see a product you like and you're toying with the idea 'to buy or not to buy', just google and read through a few reviews. My favourite blog to check is temptalia.com. She's almost literally reviewed every covetable makeup product there is!

This palette holds 60 shades and it's split down the middle, with 30 shades geared towards day-time looks and the the other half for night-time looks, hence the name of the palette.

excuse the mess

These colours are on the 'day' section of the palette. It's a a very wearable selection of nudes, pastels and a few bright colours, in a range of matte, frost and metallic finishes.

This is the 'Night' section of the palette. Most of the shadows on this side are frost and metallic finishes. With a lot of vibrant jewel tones, golds, bronze and silvers, as well as a few darker shades to create those smokey-eyes we love to rock on a night-out.


I am really pleased with this palette, the shadows I have tried so far are smooth, the frost-finish shadows are equally as smooth. The pigmentation varies though. I find some shades offer a lot more colour pay-off than others, especially the shadows on the 'Day' side. But because of the texture of these shadows they are easily buildable. Just remember to 'pat' the eyeshadow unto your eye, as opposed to 'swiping'. This gets more product on your lid.  But the pigmentation issue affects less than 20% of the colours in this palette, so it's not really anything to put you off.

So there's my first 'First Look' post on the blog, hope you liked it and I am getting into these rather large palettes. I'm thinking of getting the BH Blush palette next! I am on a roll :D

Any other BH Cosmetics palettes you'd recommend?

Laters,

Ez xxX

MY MAKEUP - Haul

Hi Everyone,

My Makeup is a company that needs no introduction on this blog. I mentioned them earlier this year here. So if at the end of this post you need their contact information, etc. Please check out that post!

I love My Makeup, because you can tell they don't sell makeup just for the sake of it. They are in-tune with beauty trends and stock items that people in the beauty-world refer to as 'Cult-items'. I also love that they re-stock popular/staple items each time they run out. I don't know, they aren't quite Sephora/Boots (YET!), but they definitely know that with makeup it's quality over quantity and it's the fact that they put a lot of thought into what they stock, that makes me love the site even more.

Anyway, on to this post. Weeks ago, My Makeup had a flash sale event at Social Place in Victoria Island and I knew I had to be there. The word 'sale' just felt like I had been given the liberty to pick what ever I wanted :D.. Any excuse, honestly.

But, I didn't get much, just 3 items. *womp*. lol

Real Techniques 'Setting Brush' - N3000*

First item I picked was this Real Techniques 'Setting Brush'. The function of this brush is pretty-much in the name 'setting'. It's used to set your makeup, and what does one use to set makeup in place? Powder! I got this to set my undereye concealer with my MAC prep+prime transparent loose powder, or my ben nye banana powder.

Now I am still on a quest to discover the best under-eye setting tool for me. I have used, beauty-blenders, concealer brushes, makeup sponges, powder brushes and I am now on to this, the Setting Brush. All these other tools have worked, and I will continue switching back and forth between them, but I feel (for now) I am loving this one. It picks up enough product and give me that light coverage I need for daily use. If I need a heavier coverage for when I'm headed to weddings or events, I use a makeup sponge. All in all, VERY happy with this purchase :)

NYX Lipliner Pencil in 'Coral' - N1000*

This I got because I haven't got a lipliner to go with my peachy/light-orange lipsticks and glosses. I just knew this would compliment my lip-products in this shade. And it does, it blends beautifully and I have even applied it all over my lips, topped-off with some gloss.

The texture is nice and creamy like most NYX lip-liners and very pigmented. Gorgeous shade!

Maybelline New Vivids Lipstick Collection in 'Shocking Coral' - N3000*

This colour just pops! It's not as neon as it looks in these pictures, definitely a very wearable shade.

It's a nice pink-orange shade, with a little more pink than orange. A while back, like early last year, I was looking EVERYWHERE for a lipstick this colour. I picked up MAC's 'Impassioned', which was nice but not quite what I was after. I haven't got round to wearing this yet, so can't really describe what it feels like on. But from my swatching I'd say its a creamy lipstick and not matte (yay). Think I'll incorporate it in a look this weekend! Seeing these swatches just got me all excited again.

Maybelline's 'Shocking Coral' swatched next to NYX's 'Coral'

And that's it on my mini-haul. But....


I was also kindly gifted some Magnolia Pigments to try out

Magnolia Makeup Pigments

I have been playing around with them and trying out different looks. These are loose eyeshadow pigments by the way, if you were wondering. So expect a full review from me on this and all I can say for now is, you really need to have these pigments in your collection. They are super super-pigmented and last allll day long. Keep your eyes peeled for that review coming in a couple weeks.


I wanted to end this post by starting a little debate in my comments section. I have always been confused by what the shade 'Coral' is made up of. I once had a nail polish from Rimmel called Coral and it was a lovely pink-orange. And I've got a lipstick from Revlon called 'Coral' and its a bright red-orange shade. And then the coral shades in this post are both VERY different. So my question is

What colours make up Coral? Pink-Orange or Red-Orange?

Let me know in the comments section please :)

Laters,

Ez xxX

*I got these items on sale but that was weeks ago, so these prices are not Sale prices, but actuals :)

MY MAKEUP COSMETICS & CO - Ben Nye 'Banana' Luxury Powder

Hey Everyone! TGIF!

Now I have always said, you can find nearly ANYTHING you want, in Lagos. Only problem is you need to know where to look, or have someone, who knows someone who knows where to get it! This was one of the major reasons I started this blog a year ago. I would discover some beauty product/item and be like "Oh! They sell this in Lagos?". And I thought why not share these discoveries with people too, you never know who's looking for it, and this brings me to my latest post.

Ben Nye 'Banana' Luxury Powder 1.5oz/42gm:  N3000

Now I want to assume that most of you already know about the amazingness that is the Ben Nye Luxurious Powder range, the most popular being the shade 'Banana'. It was quite possibly (and still is, to be honest) THE most talked about product in the beauty world, especially the blogosphere.

The reason why it is so popular is because it is amazing at preventing that dreaded 'shine' that develops on the face after a while of wearing foundation and we have to whip out our blotting-sheets/powder. It keeps your skin matte for longer and comes highly recommended for those with oily-skin.

Ben Nye products are all specially formulated for theatrical purposes, it's popularly referred to as 'Stage Makeup', and somehow managed to make it into the hands of mainstream makeup artists and enthusiasts. Think this mainly had to do with Kim Kardashian to be honest, her makeup artists uses this on her all the time.

Now I will say for people with darker skin tones, this is popularly used to set the under-eye concealer and give that brighter look  around the area. Ben Nye carry different powders and shades for Olive and Darker skin tones in their Mojave collection (Banana isn't in this range), think these are translucent and so it might be worth looking into those if you are after an all-over-face powder.

I can't give a review at all about this product as I haven't even used it. Was going to do a review and post at the same time, but I posted a picture of it on my Instagram page (Username: @BeautyInLagos) and I have been hounded with questions on where I got it, even had a couple friends send me a messages on BBM, asking to tell them before I told all you guys, haha!

So I will be back with a very detailed review after I have used this a while, so please check back in a few weeks, but for now here are the details on where I got it.

Details
My Makeup Cosmetics & Co
Address: Junior Options, Block A2-15, Shop 193/194 Sangrosse, Lagos Island
Website: www.mymakeupng.com 
Twitter: @MyMakeupNig
Telephone: 08082975242

I placed my order online and paid N1000 for delivery to Victoria Island.

Ps: Remember I mentioned in this post I had discovered some other store that stocked it and the sales-girl said she was going to let me know when they got their new stock in, I haven't heard back from her but when I do I'd be sure to let you all know :)

So, who's been living under a rock and never even heard of the Ben Nye 'Banana' Powder?

Laters,

Ez xxX

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