All The Makeup I've Used Up This Year;-

So around this time last year I saw this post on Cosmopolitan's Snapchat story and it really caught my attention. I don't really read empties posts because people tend to chuck everything from makeup to toothpaste into them. This isn't about reviewing the products I just wanted to show all of the makeup I've used this year. The Cosmo Article showed the prices for all of the products, but I'm not too worried about the price as a lot of my makeup is drugstore so I'm purely focusing on the amount of products I've used.

I've been in a bid to downsize my collection and to get rid of non cruelty free items that I have. I also wanted to track how I much I use so I can be more informed with my future makeup purchases. So here is every makeup item I used up in 2018.

Primer - 1
I thought I was really into primer and use it quite often, but to be honest it is the first step out of the window if I'm in a hurry. Most days I'm in a hurry so a lot of the time during the week I don't bother with applying primer, which is the reason I only finished up one primer in the entire year.

The Bodyshop Instablur All In One Primer

Foundation - 3
I wear foundation every time I do my makeup, but I don't really like to wear a thick layer on my skin so I finished up three throughout the year. I tend to only have about three or four foundations in my collection at a time, so I'm pretty happy with the amount I used.

L'oReal Infallible 24-HR Matte Foundation (Not Cruelty Free), Revolution Fast Base Foundation Stick, LUSH Colour Supplement 

Concealer - 4
I used a total of four concealers this year and I'm pretty happy with that number. I was in a bid to use up the concealers in the palette as only three shades matched me so I didn't want the whole palette in my collection. I will definitely never buy another concealer palette, its so unnecessary unless you're a makeup artist. I managed to finish up all three that matched and then the whole bottle from NYX.

Revolution Ultra Cover and Conceal Palette, NYD HD Photogenic Concealer

Powder - 2

I really don't love the feel of powder on my face so I haven't really loved wearing it, I only started wearing it daily in the latter part of this year so I've only finished two, I definitely think I'll use up more in the future.

I also didn't manage to use up a single blush, bronzer or highligher and I've been using the same cheek duo all year. Definitely goes to show that I don't need to be buying a tonne of coloured face products, because they take such a long time to use up.

GOSH Velvet Touch Powder, Unknown (and really old) Avon Powder (Not Cruelty Free)

Setting spray - 2
Setting spray is something I love using, but its another step that goes out of the window whenever I'm in a rush. I've only managed to use two up in the entire year, but I only buy setting sprays when I can see I'm running low on my current bottle.

Revolution Pro Fix Oil Control Fixing Spray, e.l.f. Matte Magic Mist and Setting Spray

Eyeshadow - 6
My eyeshadow collection is something I've been really trying to use up for this year in my 18 Eyeshadows in 2018 project. And even though I have bought less eyeshadow than ever this year, only three palettes (and received another four as gifts from my lovely boyfriend) in terms of individual shadows that's a metric fuck-tonne more than the measly six eyeshadows I used this year. All of the shades I used were neutral shades, but I love experimenting with different eye looks and colours so I like having a lot to play with. My eyeshadow collection is something I want to keep working my way through so I hope I can use up some more next year.

Revolution Iconic 2 (1 Shade), Smashbox Mini Trio, Mac Paintpot in Groundwork (Not Cruelty Free), Mac Quad (1 Shade) (Not Cruelty Free)

Mascara - 4
So at the end of 2017 I had a bit of a situation with Avon mascara that didn't agree with me, which ended in a pretty sore eye infection. I'm now pretty strict and I will only use a mascara for three months and then its dead to me. I used up four mascaras, which is one per quarter of the year.

Benefit They're Real Mascara (Not Cruelty Free), Barry M Showgirl Mascara (x2), Essence Lash Princess Falsh Lash Effect Mascara

Eyeliner - 1
I don't use eyeliner every day, there are some looks that benefit from it, but sometimes I don't want to take up my limited eyelid space with a black line and not beautiful eyeshadow shades. So its no surprise to me that I only finished one this entire year.

Barry M On Point Precision Eyeliner

Lip balm - 1
I have quite the large lip balm collection, its one of those things I seem to receive as gifts or in sets, so I've really been trying to get through the pots I have. This is why I'm so disappointed to say I only used one lip balm this year, this was quite a large pot but I'm hoping I can use more in the future.

B Skincare Lip Balm

Lip gloss - 1
I like lip gloss, but I don't wear it that often. I only used one this year, but I only ever have one open in my collection at a time.

Avon Clear Lip Gloss (Not Cruelty Free)

Lip liner - 2
My lip colour is something I change it up pretty much every day which is why lip products are always the hardest for me to use up. I have quite the collection of lip liners so I only finished up two lip liners this year.

Essence Lip Liner 'In The Nude', Primark Pink Lip Liner (Not Cruelty Free)

Lipstick - 2
Like I said I love changing up my lip colour so I also only finished up two lipsticks. I have quite a large collection of lipsticks of probably every shade I could ever need so I definitely don't need to be buying any more in the near future.

Ted Baker Nude Lipstick (Not Cruelty Free), Maxfactor Lipstick 'Rosewood' (Not Cruelty Free)

In total this year I used up 29 products this year, which I think is a pretty good amount. Keeping all of my empties throughout the year has definitely taught me a lot and I will be a lot more strict with my future purchases now I've seen how much I can use in a year. If you've never done it I would definitely recommend that you keep all of the items you use over the next year so you can see for yourself!

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Monthly Makeup Buys - What I Bought during Black Friday;-

I decided I wanted to start this little series because I don't buy tonnes of makeup (atleast not in comparison with my-2015-self) and I wanted them to be quick little first impressions of what I've picked up... and then Black Friday happened and suddenly this has turned into one monstrous haul. So I definitely recommend grabbing a hot drink to relax while you read this.

I'm not big into sales if I'm honest, if I love something enough I'm usually happy to pay full price. I used to love a sale, but I'd pick up so much stuff I didn't even like or want just because it was cheap, I've definitely learned a lesson the hard way. This black Friday was a little different, there are a lot of things that have been on my wishlist for a really long time and I've been wanting to branch out and try more brands for quite a while. I need to try some more new things outside of my usual comfort (sorry Revolution, I still love you) and I thought while there were a lot of deals on it would be the perfect time to do this.
I like to do these monthly makeup buy posts once I've tried everything out, which is why they are always super late (a whole month after Black Friday, whoops!) but because I bought so much there are a few things I have only tried once or twice and a couple I haven't tried at all so I will definitely be doing some follow up reviews on some of the products.

First up is my first and very large order from Colourpop. I've been wanting to try some things from Colourpop for a long time, they seem like a very interesting and different brand and every time I've had a nose on their website I've fallen in love with quite a lot of things. They had a 30% off deal and free worldwide shipping over $50.00 so naturally I bought a bit of everything! I will say that it only took 6 days to get here from LA during Black Friday, which is amazing and took the same amount of time as my Beauty Bay order which came from the UK. It also came in an adorable box with this cute little postcard. Colourpop also now add tax charges onto any UK order, so you don't get any sneaky Customs Charge letters.

Colourpop Supershock Shadows in 'I Like You', 'Ripple', 'Sugar' & 'Special Delivery'
The thing I've wanted to try from Colourpop for the longest time is their supershock shadows because they seem really different to anything I own and I have seen a lot of people create really beautiful looks with these. They have a lot of pretty neutral, shimmery shades that I knew I'd get a lot of looks with, but the bright colours stole the show were the brights as I was instantly feeling inspired to pair these with shadows I already own. These have the oddest texture, they feel almost whipped or moussey, not quite cream. These pack a punch in terms of pigment and I've had no problem with creasing, whereas cream shades have a tendency to crease really badly on my lids. I will say that these are super glittery, they have chunky glitter rather than sheen. The shades I picked are all the 'Ultra Glitter' formula so it makes sense. They look beautiful on the eye, but by the evening I find some of the glitter has dropped down onto my face, I think these might benefit from a glitter glue so I think I'll pick one up and test this theory soon.

Colourpop Supershock Cheek in Showtime
Another thing I was eager to try were the Supershock Cheek highlighters as I've heard a lot of people rave about these. I expected this to be the same formula as the shadows, but this is a lot more creamy, it feels cold and wet to the touch, but again seems more moussey than other cream highlighters I've tried. I spent a long time scouring the website for the shade I wanted as a lot of the shades seemed too dark for my ghostly complexion, but its really good for anybody with darker skin. Showtime is a white shade with pink sheen and glitter. Again this is pretty glittery so if you don't like that, this probably isn't for you. I personally like it and I think this is a eye-catching and blinding highlight that I'm loving so far.

Colourpop No Filter Complexion Sheer Matte Pressed Powder in Fair
The first thing I haven't tried yet is this pressed powder from Colourpop as I'm trying to finish up my Charlotte Tilbury powder before I open this. I bought this in the lightest shade and its a pretty good match from swatching this. I don't really love my Charlotte Tilbury powder at $9.00 (around £7.11) this is a fraction of the price and I'm really excited to try it.

Colourpop Ultra Blotted Lip in Soda Pop
I love pressing a lipstick into my lips for a blotted look because I think it offsets a colour eye look so I was really keen to try a product that is actually designed to wear in that way. This looks like quite a deep pink shade, but as its not completely opaque it just tints my lips a little darker and evens the colour. I really like the shade, but the finish is a little odd. This dries to almost feel like a powder on your lips and I'm not sure if I'm keen on it. I've only worn for a long period of time with a gloss over the top, so I want to have a little more of a play with this to see if I can actually stand the finish.

Colourpop & Kathleen Lights Creme Lux Lipstick in What's Your Sign?
I'm trying to finish my only nude lipstick in my Finish 9 By New Year project, I'm very close to finishing it so I knew I'd need a new one soon. I saw Kathleen Lights announcement video for this collection and remembered how good the shade looks on her and I like her videos so it was nice to show some support. The packaging for this lipstick is beautiful and the star imprints on the bullet is a lovely touch, the packaging is metal and feels luxurious especially for the small price of $7.00 (around £5.50). This shade is a true nude and suits me a lot better than my current nude. This feels soft and again luxurious on the lips. I've only used this a couple of times and I'm looking forward to using it more in the future.

Colourpop & Disney Ultra Glossy Lip in Bobbidi
I try to keep my lip gloss collection pretty small and I tend to only have one open at a time so I haven't used this one yet either. Its a peachy shade, but I'm not sure how opaque it is on the lips. I will need a new gloss soon as my current one is nearly empty and I thought the packaging of this was cute so I thought I'd give this one a whirl.

I want to do a full review of all of my Colourpop goodies when I've had a good play with them with swatches and maybe a look or two.

I headed along to the Beauty Bay website as I know they have an amazing Black Friday sale and at first I had a huge basket full, but products were going out of stock in front of my eyes and I whittled my cart down to just two items. I also took a trip to Bristol and found a massive Revolution stand in Superdrug, so of course it wouldn't be a haul by me without a couple of things.

Ofra Glow Bay, Glow Highlighter in Glazed Donut

I've been lusting after Ofra highlighters for a long time as they seemed to be praised as being the best highlighters by pretty much everybody I watch and read. I picked up mine in the shade Glazed Donut, which I believe is one of Ofra's collabs with Nikkie Tutorials, if I'm honest I don't really watch her a lot and I picked this up because a lot of people have said this is really good for pale skin. This pretty much a white base with a silver-toned sheen, so it definitely one best suited to a pale complexion. I will say that it is beautiful, its shimmery in a metallic and almost reflective way, but with literally zero glitter in it. This is hands down the most blinding highlighter I own and I can see why the Ofra highlighters are so highly praised. I don't think this shade is going to become my favourite, its pretty but as its silver I find it only pairs well with cool toned looks, so I don't think it will be my go-to particularly during the winter months when I tend to wear warm eyeshadow most of the time, but I would be so interested in picking up a more wearable shade in the future.

Wet n Wild Photo Focus Eyeshadow Primer

This is another one of the products I haven't used yet. I never really got along with drugstore eye primers before which is why I've stuck to my beloved Smashbox eyeshadow primer for years, but I've heard really good things about this one so I thought I'd give it a go. I'm currently using up the last of my current tube of my Smashbox eyeshadow primer in my Finish 9 by New Year project, so I'll start testing this once I've finished and then do a follow up review.

Revolution The Mascara Revolution

I knew I was about to run out of the tube of mascara I was using so I decided to pick up this one from Revolution seeing as I love most of the things they put out. This mascara has a huge bristle brush and the mascara is super black. I find the formula to be a little thick, but it lengthens and volumizes my lashes. It can make your lashes a little clumpy though, so if you like defined and separated lashes you probably won't love this. I've had no problem with transferring and it doesn't make my lashes really solid, like some other mascaras (Benefit's They're Real I'm looking at you). This was £8.00 and I'd definitely consider picking this up again when I've finished this tube.

Morphe 35M Boss Mood Artistry Palette

As always there's an eyeshadow palette in my haul and this one is a beauty. I don't take a lot of notice of Morphe if I'm honest, back when I first got into makeup I wanted one of their 35 pan palettes because I was just interested in accumulating products, but I feel like they quite often put out similar thing after similar thing. But I loved this palette from the moment I saw this. The greens are completely different to any others I have in my collection and I feel like the colour selection is very different and really inspiring to me. I didn't pick this up straight away because this is huge and I don't need another huge eyeshadow palette and a large portion of the shadows are brown. I own more than enough brown shadows. I would have rather this palette was smaller and cheaper and there wasn't any browns. However, every time I looked at a picture of swatches of the shades I would think up another combination to try that I wouldn't have thought of if all of these shades weren't together in one palette.

I think Morphe had a 20% off so I bit the bullet and picked this up and I'm really glad I did as it is even more beautiful in person. It screams Autumn, Halloween and witchy vibes, it may too late in the year but I love that shit all year round! This swatches beautifully and I was blown away when I first swatched it. Some of the matte shades do take a bit of work to build up and the shimmery shades work better if you apply them with your finger and blend the edges with a brush. But I've really been loving the looks I've created with this so far and I'm working on another 5 Looks 1 Palette post with this soon so watch this space.

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Holiday Anti Haul;-

The holidays are right around the corner I thought it was only fitting to do a Christmas-themed post! Or, more of a scrooge-themed post. I love Christmas, I love buying gifts, spending time with family and eating too much. But Christmas is a big time for mass consumerism and don't the makeup companies know it. There's limited edition gift sets and palettes, some of which are beautiful and I'm sure completely worth it, but I want to share a few of the things I think you can live without.
Usual disclaimer, I haven't tried any of these products so I can't comment on their quality. If you love any of these things, that's amazing for you, makeup is subjective so no product is going to appeal to everybody. I'm not trying to bash brands or products, I just think that I will be saving the money I could spend on these products for something I'd love more and maybe you could too.

Pur Cosmetics and The Grinch Good Enough to Steal Palette

The first thing I will not be buying is the Pur Cosmetics collaboration with the Grinch... I have seen this in more anti-hauls than hauls which says a lot really. My first gripe is with the packaging, this thing is bulky, it has pop ups and the product is in a seperate drawer that has no lid. This palette is clearly meant to be a display piece as well as makeup because this is going to be pain in the arse to store in the same way you would your other palettes. I know a lot of people are not fans of makeup purely for display, but I have no real issue with it, I picked up the Revolution Halloween highlighter purely to put on my vanity and not to use, but this doesn't go with my decor and I don't have anywhere to display this. I also think that the packaging is going to take you a long time to get in and out of so I wouldn't reach for something like this on a daily basis when I'm getting ready for work.

My next issue is the product itself, I believe there is a blush, a highlight and eyeshadows and these all look the same. The shadows are neutral with a pop of green and red which makes sense being that this is Christmas and Grinch inspired, but none of the shades look very vibrant or have a lot of depth. Looking at the shades they don't inspire me and I can see a lot of looks with this palette will look the same. The palette also contains one of those green to pink lipsticks, like the Lipstick Queen one or the Barry M one that's been around for decades. Again, I see why they did this, but I don't like it. I feel like for a lot of people these lipsticks were only good for 'clickbaity' 'OMG I'm testing green lipstick' Youtube videos and not a makeup product that people take seriously. I 

used to own a lipgloss like this and I actually wore it to death, but I think including it in this palette was purely a gimmick, especially when this palette is $42.00 (I can only find it on US websites so may not even be available in the UK) I feel like Pur could have included a high quality lipstick that people would actually wear.

My last issue with this is the premise of the Grinch, I freaking love the old(er) Grinch movie and the story to death and the whole moral of the story is how Christmas is about love and spending time with your family, not about material things... and now there is Grinch shit absolutely everywhere! It kind of defeats the point really, I know that's not Pur's fault they're just taking advantage of an opportunity. I know that Pur and Illumination are trying to promote their brands, and they're companies designed to make money, but it just rubs me up the wrong way and its another reason why I will not be buying this.

I Heart Revolution Chocolate Vault

I feel like every time I talk about Revolution I need to point out that they are my favourite brand and I definitely don't want to bash them, but they sure go hard at Christmas. Revolution have a tonne of different gift sets and calendars and I think its pretty great. If you have a makeup lover in the family it means you can get them a good quality gift set for a pretty reasonable price. I won't be buying or receiving any of the sets, but purely because I own pretty much everything I want from Revolution.

One thing I just don't get though, is this Chocolate Vault gift set. This has a whole six eyeshadow palettes from Revolution's Chocolate Bar palettes, along with two face palettes and three lip glosses all for a pretty penny of £60.00

This collection began as Revolution's dupe of the Too Faced palettes but Revolution have put their own spin on it and they now have a tonne of different variations. The collection is mostly neutral palettes with a few different pops of colour in each palette. The collection has four palettes that you can pick up separately and two 'exclusive' palettes, which from reviews I've seen they don't look particularly exciting.

I just don't get who this is for. If you're a lover of this collection of palettes, its a waste of money to pick this up to get two new palettes when you probably already own some if not all of the palettes that already exist and I think there should be the option to purchase the exclusive palettes separately. I don't own any of the Revolution Chocolate Bar Palettes, but I already have a lot of eyeshadow and I don't think these six palettes would add a great deal of variety to what I own. I also don't think this is suited for somebody just getting into makeup because its just too much! I feel like Revolution should have bought out a set with one of the Chocolate Bar eyeshadow palettes, one face palette and the glosses for a price a lot less than £60.00 and it would be perfect for the teen in your family who's just starting to experiment with makeup!

 I feel like Makeup Vaults have their place for brands like Urban Decay because you can actually make a saving on the palettes, or buy it as a luxury gift to really treat a special person in your life, but I don't think this is the place for it... sorry Revolution!

Ted Baker All Eyes On Ted Gift Set

Something I definitely won't be picking up is this or any of the makeup sets from Ted Baker. I think I'm right in saying that Ted Baker only sell makeup in gift sets at Christmas, that or nobody speaks about it.
The packaging of the Ted Baker sets always looks amazing so I picked up three sets a couple of years ago and trust me when I say absolutely everything was trash. All of the eye products creased, the eyeliner smudged, the brow pencil was dry, cheek products were all glitter with nothing else and the lipsticks smelled like cheap plastic. Nearly all of it went in the bin (I'm just forcing myself to finish the last nude lipstick in my Finish 9 by New Year project) and I wasted quite a bit of money on the sets, but I still found myself looking at this collection in Boots because it looks so pretty! I've learned my lesson though, so if you see any Ted Baker makeup trust me and walk straight past it.

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Finish 9 By New Year, Update 2;-

Another month has passed which means I am here with my last update before my finale for this project! I'm glad to have a couple more things out of my collection so I can enter the new year with a little less clutter, but there are some products I've definitely have realizations about, here's my progress.

 1 - Vaseline Lip Therapy Aloe Vera (Not Cruelty Free)

The same as last month I've definitely made noticeable progress in the last month. I'm definitely not going to finish this by the end of the year, but I'm glad to be making progress so I can make a dent in my rather large lip balm collection. I'll definitely continue to finish this up hopefully in the early part of next year.

2- Smashbox Eyeshadow Primer (Cruelty Free)

I'm not surprised that this product is barely showing any progress. One of the reasons I've loved this primer for so long is that a little bit does the job. Last month the product was in line with the words 'PHOTO FINISH' and I'm now up to 'SHADOW PRIMER', so its definitely moving but not very quickly. I think its a very slim chance of my finishing this before the end of my project, but a lot of air bubbles come out every time I use it, so by some miracle I may still do it. I'm not too discouraged because I do completely love this primer, but I picked up a Wet'n'Wild primer in the Black Friday sales and I really want to start trying it out.

3 - Revolution Fast Base Stick (Cruelty-Free)

I only added this foundation stick during last month's update and I've made such a huge amount of progress on this. I will say that if you want to pick a foundation in your collection to use up quickly, then pick a foundation stick as it seems to be really easy to finish. I think that there is around enough product left for another week's worth of use before its completely gone. I don't dislike this foundation, but I think that the finish of this is too dewy and it breaks down quite quickly on my skin so I'm happy to be whittling down my foundation collections to the ones I love most.

4 & 5 - Collection Contour Kit (Not Cruelty Free) 

So once again I've made progress this month, but not a lot. I wanted to finish the bottom corner of the highlight, so I have now hit my goal on this. But I haven't yet hit the bottom of the bronzer and I'm not sure if I will. I'm definitely in it for the long haul to finish this up, but I do hope to eventually. I am still liking both of the these products and I use them every day so I don't mind too much.

6 - Stila Eyeliner in Starfish (Cruelty Free) 

I still can't tell how much progress I've made on this because I can't roll it back down if I roll it up. I have used this quite a bit and I think I've had to roll it up further 2 or 3 times which is good. But this eyeliner has a lot of glitter in it and I don't like it, whether or not I finish it, it is going in the bin at the end of this year.

7 - Ted Baker Nude Lipstick (Not Cruelty Free)

I've finally done it, I finished up the last of this lipstick just this week and I'm so happy. I fucking hate this lipstick, the shade is not good for me and never has been. The only way I've managed to use it is by layering over darker colours or wearing it under a gloss. I'm glad I did use this as it did show me how I can make a product I don't like work for me, but it was a bit of a fuss. I've now picked up another nude from Colourpop that suits me much better.

8 - Revlon Lip Butter in Strawberry Shortcake (Not Cruelty Free)

I've made pretty good progress on this lipstick too, I think I've used about half of what is left. Most of the progress has probably been in the last week as I've been wearing cool toned eye looks, which this lipstick pairs well with. I think I should be able to finish this by the end of the year, I will definitely focusing on this one more now I've finished the Ted Baker lipstick.

9 - Essence Lip Liner in Wish Me A Rose (Cruelty Free)

So I'm definitely not going to finish this lip liner by the end of the year, I've only sharpened this once in the last month. I'm hoping now that I'm using my lip butter more often I will also be using this more too. Although I'm not going to finish this yet I want to make a little more progress because my lip liner collection is something I need to work on.

Is there anything your looking to finish by the end of the year?

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18 Eyeshadows in 2018, Update 7;-

We've made it to December, which means that this is my penultimate update on my 18 Eyeshadows in 2018 project. I feel like I can see some light at the end of the tunnel and I'm also feeling really motivated to try and meet some more goals.

I feel like I've learned a lot in partaking in this project and I'll share some of my thoughts in my finale post at the beginning of the new year. I'm really glad I decided to do this, but I'm already thinking ahead to next year and I don't think I'll be doing this project again. I've definitely missed using the rest of my collection as much so I think next year I'm more likely to do a '1 Month 1 Palette' kind of thing and creating more '5 Looks 1 Palette' posts I'm already planning my next one with the Morphe 35m palette which I just picked up. 

Here is this month's progress.

Smashbox Mini Trio - all shades left (1 done)  

After months and months of not a lot of progress, I'm almost done with this. It was the same with the other shades in this palette, as soon as you hit major side pan the shadow gets really crumbly and chunks fall out every time I use it. There is a tiny amount left that is right in the corners, but I imagine its only enough for one or two more uses. So I'm definitely going to hit my goal on this shadow and I will have a whole (albeit mini) palette out of my collection for good. I'm also excited to use my brow pomade that has been sitting around unused! 

Mac Quad - Shades 1(done), 2 & 3 

My goal was to hit pan on the shades, which I have so I haven't really used this a lot this month. But I do want to use this a bit more in the next month. When I put this in this project it was because I never reaching for this so I wanted to give it one last whirl before I threw it out. After using it more in this project I've grown to really like these shades. The pink shade is perfect for both a face highlight and for my inner corner as its really reflective but not full of glitter, I prefer this to the pink I've been using from my Freedom shadows. I also know that I can use the taupe shade in a lot of different ways and I enjoy it. I'm going to try to use it a little more for my last month so I can come to a decision about keeping this palette or not.

Freedom single shadows - all shades 

I manged to finally hit pan in the middle red shade, which I really enjoy. I'm glad to finally see these shades moving. Now I'm using the right red shade in the same way to try and hit pan on this one also. I want to eventually use up one of these shades, because they are pretty similar and I definitely don't need both.
I've been using the light pink as an inner corner highlight a lot and I hope to atleast see a dip soon, but I'm not really loving this shade as its not very reflective, but has a lot of chunky glitter so its not really perfect for the inner corner.
I've been doing a look with the shimmery brown on the lid and the matte purple on the lower lash line. I'm hoping to see a dip in the purple shade soon, I also want to finish up the shimmery brown eventually as I have decided that the money I've putting away every time I hit pan or finish a shadow on single eyeshadows and I'll need space in this palette first. 

Revolution Iconic 2  Palette - Shades 1-5 

As you can see I only have a little bit of the matte cream shade left at the top and bottom, so I think I should be able to finish this in the next month. I'm a little unsure of what I want to do with this palette once I finish this shade as I didn't really have a goal for these shades when I put them in the project. I do reach for this a lot, but I didn't for a long time and I feel like the only reason I'm using this is because its in my hand when I'm setting my primer with the cream shade. I'm hoping I can come to a decision with this palette over the last month.

I haven't used the gold or champagne shades a lot in the last month but I can imagine I'll be grabbing for the gold a lot over December as I love a gold eye and a red lip over the Christmas period. I've been making a lot of use of the copper shade by using it with a very warm, almost orange, brown from my Revolution Iconic Division palette in the crease. I really like this look for work and I'm hoping soon I might see a little bit of progress in this shade soon, but I think I've hit a bit of hard pan on this shade.

I've also expanded the pan in the matte brown, I use this all the time in the crease and its a nice shade. I hope I can reach a little side pan on the left during my last month of this project.

Are there any products you're trying to use before the new year?

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5 Looks 1 Palette - "The Wants";-

This palette has garnered more controversy than I think I've ever seen, it is of course the Revolution and Emily Noel Collaboration, The Emily Edit "The Wants" palette. There have been reports of mould in the shade 'laughcry' and it was given an awful review by Tati. Which lead to more controversy after further reviews surfaced bashing Tati and questioning her integrity. Since I picked this up I've been eager to review it and do a whole post with looks I've created, but it has now been removed from Revolution's website, Revolution tweeted weeks ago that it would be back after reformulation, but its still not available. I wanted to post this when the reformulation had taken place, but I still don't know when that will be and I worked really hard on this post and I want it to see the light of day. The palette is still available on the Superdrug website if you want to get your hands on it.

In my experience, I had absolutely zero mould on my palette. I don't think the palette is complete crap, or patchy like Tati's review, but seeing as a number of people have had mouldy palettes and I haven't maybe not all of these Emily Edit palette's are made equal.

I have to admit I don't watch every Emily Noel video, I do think she is a really honest beauty Youtuber and she gives really detailed and full reviews. But mine and Emily's tastes in makeup are quite different so she's not always reviewing products that I'm interested in. But I was really drawn to this palette as soon as I saw it. I then watched Emily's video announcement for this, and I absolutely loved it. This is quite clearly something that Emily has put a lot of thought and hard work into. She also gives the best review of this product and all of her comments reign true, you can really tell that this is something very personal to her and not a product she has just stuck her name on, which makes me really happy that I can also support her when buying this palette. The thing I really love about this palette is that there is a big selection of different colours, but they're also really wearable and mesh well together so I don't find it overwhelming. There isn't a single shade in here that I couldn't create a look with just using this palette. I really love colourful eyeshadow, but I'm not brave enough to wear a bright green eye to work. For me this is the perfect work palette because I don't have to stick to neutrals, but the colours aren't luminous or in your face. I think this palette is perfect for colourful eyeshadow lovers who want something softer, or for people who want to get into colour but aren't quite ready for something really bright. I feel like this palette will please a lot of people but isn't the same as every other one on the market.

The palette is a nudey pink shade with Emily's gold signature across the front, I really love the colour because I have a tonne of Revolution palettes that look very similar and this stands out. Lots of people have said it, but this is massive, I think its the same size as the large Morphe palettes but it has less shades. It also has an enormous mirror which I love, it makes it the perfect travel palette for me as even though it is really big I know I will have a mirror big enough for my entire face and I can put it wherever the lighting is best. The shade names are also printed along the palette which I absolutely love because it means I could throw out the little plastic sheet that came with this. My only gripe (and its only small) is that there is quite a bit of space between the shades and I feel like they could have made them a little closer and saved on space.

In terms of the shadows themselves these are unlike Revolution's other eyeshadows and I think Emily's review best describes them.

The shades aren't the most pigmented, but they are true to the colour in the pan. They're not patchy and are buildable so that you can get a bright and pigmented. I think it makes the shades really easy to work with and gives a really soft look. The shimmer shades aren't super metallic, but I think that goes with the soft matte shades. I've used a couple of the shimmers with a setting spray which helps them really pack a punch. I will say that there is quite a bit of fall out with most of these shades, but I find this is common with Revolution eyeshadow palettes. I find its something I can easily work around and it doesn't mean I like the shadows any less.
And here are the looks I created with the palette...

I was really eager to try the shade 'family' and the shade 'pizzazz' and I haven't seen anyone else use these together so I decided I would. I first went in with 'prayer' which is a pinky brown shade, I used this as a transition shade as I thought it would be a good shade to blend 'family' into my natural lid colour. I next went with 'pizzazz' all over the lid, this is a sort-of dusty pink shade with pink shimmer, this is super glitter and had a more subtle sheen. I then took 'family' into the crease and under the bottom lash line. I really like this shade as it a true to colour dark purple, which I'm really impressed with as I've tried other purples from Revolution (I'm looking at you Iconic Smokey) that have just been a muddy mess, but this shade isn't that. I then popped 'cupcake' which is a subtle pink shimmery shade, into the inner corner to highlight the look. I really like these shades together as I think they blend really nicely. I also used a little pencil eyeliner and a nude gloss to finish off the look.

For my second look I decided I needed to play with the dark green and the gold shade in the palette because they both look beautiful. I went straight in with 'corduroy', the beautiful dark green shade, in my crease. This applied really evenly but softly and I had to build it up to get a brighter shade. I blended the edges out with 'honestly', which is a very yellow-toned light brown. I then took 'top story', a dark gold, all over the lid, this did have a little bit of fall out. I finally took 'side hustle' which is a shimmery khaki green and I blended the edges of 'top story' and 'cordoroy' together. I also applied this all along my lower lash line. I applied a very thin line of liquid eyeliner and paired the look with a berry lip. I think this is a lovely autumnal look and I can see myself getting a lot of looks out of these shades.

For my next look I really wanted to use the shade 'belle violet', this is a shimmery lilac shade which is one of the first shades that drew me to the palette in the first place. This shade is a little sheer when used dry so I used it here with a little setting spray to make the shade a little more foiled and bright. I've only seen tutorials people using this shade with the shade 'family' so I wanted to try something a different. I took the shade 'love tons' which is a darker matte pink and I blended this through my crease and under my lower lash line. I then took the shade 'pi phi', which is a matte wine colour and I used this darked up my outer v. I used a light pink highlighter into my inner corner. I paired this look with a bright pink lip. I really like that I could create quite a bright, colourful look even with these soft shades.

This day I was wearing a new Gryffindor jumper so I wanted to match my eyeshadow to my house colours. I started this look by taking the shade 'cheer', the matte dark red shade, and I used this in my crease. I then took the shade 'laughcry' on the outer and inner parts of my lid, this is a more orange lighter red. I then mapped out the center of my lid with concealer to create a halo eye. In the center I used the shade 'top story' again. To blend 'top story' into the red I took the shade 'good vibes', which is a shimmery red shade. I then repeated the shade order of shades on my lower lash line and I applied 'top story' to my inner corner. I finished of the look with a very heavy liquid eyeliner, mostly by accident.

For my final look I decided I wanted to go for something a little lighter and show that you can create a range of different kinds of looks with this palette. I started the look by using the shade 'dues paid', this is a super warm medium brown, I used this as a transition shade. I then took the shade 'love tons' again and I used this on the outer third of my eye lid. I then used the shade 'eve rose', which is a super cool shade that looks light pink in the pan, but has gold glitter that shows through in different lights. I used 'eve rose' on the rest of my lid all the way to my inner corner. I added a little definition to my lower lash line with the shade 'capricorn' which is a shimmer dark brown. I decided that I wanted to keep this look light and rosey so I didn't use any eyeliner.

Please let me know what you think of this post, as it took a lot of effort, but I really enjoyed creating the looks. I really want to start doing more of these posts with palettes I already own. I'm not sure whether I should post a seperate review, or just list the shades I used as this post got very long, very quickly and I'd appreciate your thoughts!

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