Darling Girl Spring Collection! Swatches and Review

I've got the new Darling Girl spring goodies to show you and I am so excited! Susan took some inspiration from the pantone colors of the season and fancy springtime tea parties and events. I'm working on a special project with these colors so stay tuned ;-).

Susan is opening her new shop soon so keep your eyes peeled here, I'll let you know when it's ready!

There are sixteen eyeshadows and two blushes. Susan also whipped up some new lip products and I have two of them to show you.

Let's start off with the eyeshadows (top pic is natural light, bottom is flash, colors are described from left to right):

Debutante is a rosey mauve pink with blue sparkle.

Bourgeois is a yellow based brown with subtle orange sparkle.

High Society is a pale lilac with pink and gold sparkle.

Scandelous is a gorgeous sunny yellow with sparkle -- hard to tell what, but I would say orange and pale blue.

Belle of the Ball is a cornflower, sorta blurpley color with blue sparkle. Gorgeous!

Beau Monde is an odd shade - it's got a murky grey-green base but has a violet shimmer overlay. I had some minor adherence issues with this one but it's a nice color.

Champagne Wishes is a soft brown nude with subtle silver sparkle. This reminds me of a baby deer!

Hoity Toity is a brick/blood red with slight pinky blue shift. Hard to describe as it's such a complex color.

Socialite is an absolute stunner -- it's a vivid blue with teal and gold shift. Reminds me of mermaids!

Garden Party is a shimmering grass green with gold shift, and blue sparkle.

Jet Set is a satin sky blue with aqua sparkle. This would be great over the new Watercolour she just added!

Party Crasher is a vivid orange with pink shift. I think this would work as a blush too.

High Tea is a grey nude with pinky sparkle. This is similar to Champagne Wishes only more cool-toned. Really lovely and I love the name!

Caviar Dreams is another stunner like Socialite -- very intense olive green with orange and gold shift.

The two new blushes are great additions to her blush lineup.

Cheeky is a satin coral pink. This has very subtle shimmer but it's not going to be over the top on your cheeks. The texture of this is SO soft and finely milled, it blends like a dream.

Bleeding Heart is absolutely AMAZING... it's a berry shade with a strong gold shift. I have to say that this is so unique, and I know that it will be a little dark on my skintone but I love it anyway.

One of the new lip products is a Liquid Kiss Luxe in the new click pen packaging. Susan also sent me a new Kiss You Off Color Rich Balm, in a shade that I requested!

Daring Daffodil is a creamy yellow with strong coral shift.

Her Majesty is a rose pink with a metallic gold overlay.

Daring Daffodil was really difficult to photograph as alone it looked really yellow and strange. The coral shift is much more noticeable in person.

Her Majesty is one of my favorite balms that she's ever done... it's exactly how I imagined it. I had been looking for a rosey pink forever, and all of them were either too neon, too dark or too frosty! This is just perfection.

Last but not least, I got two of the newer shades of Watercolour Paint Pots (I paid for these, fyi). These are cream eyeshadows that are creaseproof and easy to blend. I find that I get 6-8 hours of wear without creasing so I tend to wear a primer underneath these just to make sure they last through my work day.

Kiss My Clover is a pastel mint green which blends out to be much more subtle, with slight gold sparkle.

Peony For Your Thoughts is a pale pink-copper, also with a hint of gold when blended out.

That's all I've got from Darling Girl today... stay tuned as usual for some looks with the products! Do you see anything you have to have? Let me know!

DISCLAIMER: Post contains products sent for review by owner. This does not change my opinion of said products and I received no monetary compensation for this review.

Kohl's/TJMaxx Haul (and try on, as usual!)

Did some shopping over the weekend. Husband enabled me... you know the drill. Fancy french boutique music playing during the try-on so that I can feel like a proper laaaaaady.

Assorted UK Brand makeup swatches (Boots, Barry M, Kiko, etc.)

This is a bit of a swatch dump post but hey, I have pretties and want to share them. Robyn sent me a whopper of a package recently and I was stoked to try everything out.

I also really want to thank everyone who commented on my Spitfire FOTD. Your lovely comments really cheered me up and reminded me that I can do this for fun and when I want to, and not feel bad about it.

First up she sent me the Boots No 7 Vital Enlightening Powder. Lisa Eldridge helped to design this and as I am all over anything she graces, I NEEDED it. The packaging is lovely and the design on the inside is gorgeous.

Up there is also the Barry M Natural Dazzle bronzer. I've worn this a few times and it has a really nice tone for fair skin. It's slightly dusky and mauvey, thus not being too orange.

The highlighter gives such a nice, natural glow and the bronzer actually pairs nicely with it.

Next up she sent me three of the 3 in 1 Contour Liners. These oddly do not have names on the outside of each pencil, so I have to look up the names on the website. She warned me that these were a bit weird but picked a few up on offer.

Left to right is Gunmetal, Auburn and Dark Brown. These are... odd, as Robyn pointed out. They are slightly greasy so they have some coverage issues. Not sure why they are called 3 in 1 but they will definitely make good eyeshadow bases.

She also sent me a load of lip products. Left to right: GOSH Cool Lip Jam, MUA Out There Plumping glosses and Kiko Lipsticks.

On the left is the GOSH Cool Lip Jam in #105. I'm not sure if this has a name. It's a really gorgeous violet with blue shimmer.

The MUA glosses are Sienna in the middle and Shocking Pink on the right. Both of these have really great coverage and are not tacky. I don't get much plumping action from them but they are a really nice medium to full coverage gloss that really sticks around. Loving both colors!

The Kiko lipsticks have a lovely texture and finish. On the left is 59, which is a really fascinating metallic lilac. It's much more flattering on the lips than you think. I wore it with a light lilac eye and black liner and got a ton of compliments. On the right is 11 which is a lovely rosey nude with a little orange undertone as well. This will be great as a 'toss in your bag and go' color.

Overall, really loving what she sent me! I'm so excited because she sent me a load of tights too... already concocting outfit ideas with them.

FOTD: The Games Begin

In light of The Hunger Games coming out tomorrow (technically tonight at midnight), I thought I would use more of the Darling Girl Hunger Games collection. I also did my hair in a braid a la Katniss, and wore a gold bird necklace that looks nothing like a mockingjay but we'll pretend it is.

I really like how this came out but the pictures don't do it justice. The lid looked like all one color unless I tilted the camera flash just right, so I tried to take a bunch of shots so you could see it properly.

FACE:

-Cover Girl Aqua Smoothers Tinted Moisturizer in Fair to Light

- Mac Studio Fix Powder in NC20
- Maybelline SuperStay Concealer in Cream

- Maybelline Dream Mousse Concealer in Light

- Barry M Natural Dazzle Bronzer

- Sleek Blush by 3 in Pumpkin (used Squash)

EYES:

- Too Faced Shadow Insurance

- e.l.f. Cream Eyeshadow in Bronzed (base)

- Darling Girl eyeshadows in Live Wire (inner corner), Mayor's Daughter (inner lid, lower lashline), The Final Gift (center lid, lower lashline) and Fire Inside (outer lid and crease, lower lashline)

- Darling Girl eyeshadow in Survival Instinct (foiled as liner)

- Maybelline Illegal Length mascara

LIPS:

-NYC City Proof gloss in Midnight Rose

FOTD: Spitfire and a little talky-talk-rant

Hey all! I got to visit Kathy this weekend and didn't have a lot of time to do funky makeups but I had some time on Sunday, so I rocked this look. I wasn't really trying to create anything specific, I just had my Inglot palette and rolled with it. I should have used a white base but instead I just did a few layers of each color. The flash shots make the lime green look INSANE but I promise it's not as garish as it looks.

Under the photos there will be a little chatty rant thing, I put it there so that anyone who isn't interested can see the makeup and move on.

FACE:

- Missha Perfect Cover BB Cream in #23

- Mac MSF Natural in Light Medium
- Maybelline SuperStay Concealer in Cream

- Maybelline Dream Mousse Concealer in Light

- Avon Be Blushed Stick in Golden Rose

EYES:

- Too Faced Shadow Insurance

-Inglot eyeshadow in 60 (inner corner), 412 (inner lid and lower lashline), 59 (crease), 385 (middle lid and lower lashline), 504 (outer crease) and 395 (inner corner)

- Mac Pearlglide liner in Black Line

- Maybelline Illegal Length mascara

LIPS:

- Mac lipstick in Spitfire (THANKS KATHY :D)

 
As for the rant, it's related to blogging so at least semi relevant. In recent months, I've lost a lot of the passion I had for blogging. There's multiple reasons and I guess I should go into them. For one, last summer there was a lot of drama that cropped up around me because of a single action, and it really made me start to dislike the community as a whole. I also felt that my blog traffic significantly decreased as sides were chosen and trust was lost. I don't feel that my emotional connection to doing this was ever restored and I often struggle with posting anything. The drama has died down but I think the effects are still present.

Second, I don't really know what to post most of the time. It's partially because I don't feel like my makeup is all that interesting anymore as I don't do much in the way of dramatic or even fun, most of the time. I got a lot of comments via Facebook/Twitter/my blog asking me to post more outfits and then when I did last fall/winter, and even did a few videos, they didn't seem to get many comments. That seems to happen a lot though; I get requests to do hauls and such and no one really comments. Or maybe they watch and don't have time/want to comment? I don't know. I do have a YouTube channel and I post things but putting them here on the blog merits little to no response. It leaves me a bit frustrated and confused as to what my readers want to see. 

Lastly, I haven't done video tutorials or much blogging because my camera is difficult. It's nearly 3 years old at this point and it was older model when I purchased it anyway. I don't really want to spend the cash on something else but I do like swatching for you guys. I do the best I can.

I don't really know the whole point of that rant but it felt good to get it out. I've considered not blogging anymore but I'm not sure what I want to do.

Sleek Blush By 3 Palette Swatches (and other Sleek blush swatches!)

Helllloooo again! I have more swatches for you today, in particular, a new item from Sleek. One of their revered items is their blush and they have come out with a palette that contains 3 colors. These retail for £9.99 and come in 5 different shade combinations. Robyn picked up 'Pumpkin' for me, which is a gorgeous array of a shimmery red, a blue-pink and an orange.

The packaging is similar to their single blushes, only the pan is wider (I'd say it's about 1.5 times as wide as the regular) and the inside is divided into 3 sections. There's a large mirror in the top and as usual, the packaging is sturdy and hard plastic.

These blushes are incredibly pigmented and soft but blend so easily. I think that the shades in this particular set would most suit a medium or darker skin, but with a lighter hand, a fair skinned gal could pull these off.

Top is Lantern, which is a shimmery orangey red.

Middle is Squash, which is a cool-toned medium pink with blue shift. This is similar to Flamingo but more blue toned.

Bottom is P Pie which is a bright yellow orange. This may be similar to the blush that came out in the Aruba collection, I don't have it to compare.

My personal favorite is actually Lantern, even though it would make my naturally red cheeks look awful. I think I could pop some highlighter over top and make it work though!

All of them together so that you can see the color range. For me this will be great for my freelance kit, especially since the blushes will be perfect on most skin tones. Space saver!

Robyn also sent me 3 blushes from their permanent line to help round out my freelance kit. I don't have many blushes for darker skintones as I'm so fair that I tend to avoid anything super pigmented. She sent Flushed, Coral and Sunrise. All three are stunning.

Top is Sunrise, middle is Coral and the bottom is Flushed.

(Left) Sunrise is a deep berry with strong gold shimmer. This has the same finish as the famous Rose Gold.

(Middle) Coral is a medium soft coral with a hint of brown. This is mostly matte.

(Right) Flushed is a red berry with the same finish as Coral.

Overall, I love Sleek's blushes, I think they are one of the best products they do, next to their eyeshadow palettes. I'm so excited to have some new shades for my kit!

See anything you like? Let me know!