Gem and Jo's Palette Reviews

Welcome, welcome peoples. Today we're talking about the eye shadow palettes that we are always talking about, we just cannot get enough of them! 

Sleek I-Divine palettes are amazing, they are super affordable, great quality and brilliantly pigmented. Today we're taking an in-depth look at the Storm palette which you can get from Boots stores and online at SleekMakeup.com for just €9.99

As you probably know, I-Divine come with 12 shades, some shimmery, some matte. Sleek also do quads though if you're not into having so many shades. But personally these palettes are our favourites. 

The Storm palette comes with a range of beige and blue shades with a couple of pinks and a black shade thrown in to ensure you can create a really huge range of different looks. In the palette you get one of those little sponge applicators and this is probably the only time the two of us differ in opinion. The applicator is one of the better quality ones, with a soft sponge texture. Gem prefers to use the applicator to pat the shimmer shades on and Jo prefers to use a brush to smudge them. Usually we recommend people to throw out the sponge applicators, we find them pretty useless, but with Sleek palettes try the applicator out with the shimmer shades before you decide to chuck it. Try a patting technique and try a blending technique, you gotta give everything a go once! 

If we could, we would use every shade in the Storm palette every day. They're all so pretty! However that is not very practical and the result would probably look a little cray cray. 

Nevertheless we shall share with you our favourite looks created with just this palette. First you want to start with a base colour, a light cream colour is perfect. Then to define the eye you can use Calm Before The Storm or Eye Of The Storm, depending on how dark you want the look. Blend your choice of brown into the crease and last 2/3 of your lid and under your bottom lashes a little, to give your eyes depth. Now comes the tricky part, deciding what shade to use, you can go for a soft pink or neutral look or you can add drama with the blues and greens.
Gem loves to use the pinks and would add Perfect Storm to the lid and then use Snow Storm in the inner corner for a brightening effect.
Jo likes to go for a little drama and uses Blackout by blending it into the last 3rd of the lid and then uses Thunderstorm on the lid and Snow Storm in the inner corner.

Have you used this palette? What look would you create?

Until next time, 

Gem and Jo's Favourite Eyeshadow Palettes

We love eye shadow, we mean who doesn't? And what better way to have eye shadow then in a pretty little palette! Here's are a little round up of the eye shadow palettes that we love.

Gem's Favourites:

Estée Lauder Christmas 2013 Palette

This palette, although extremely difficult to photograph, is gorgeous and is great for creating night or day looks. It contains both shimmer and matte shadows, which makes it one of my go-to palettes most days. The consistency of the powders is really creamy and they are incredibly easy to blend! I cannot speak highly enough of the Estée Lauder eye shadow range!

When I'm travelling I generally only take this palette with me, it literally suits any occasion and you can create so many diverse looks with just a few of these shades. When I'm stuck I even use the matte brown to fill in my eyebrows! I love to use the shimmery grey to create a subtle, day time smoky eye. As you can probably tell, my favourite are the brightest shades at the top of the palette, they are amazing as base colours and to add a bit of brightness to the inner corner of your eye. 

Check out Estée Lauder's website Here

(Keep an eye out for their Christmas gift set for 2014, they are always gorgeous!)

Ted Baker "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" Palette

This palette was a gift from our good friend Chloe last Christmas and I have loved it ever since. Just like the Estée Lauder palette, this one can create so many different looks. It has neutrals and brights which means you could go for a simple day time look or go wild with a deep blue smoky eye. All the shadows in this palette are shimmery and look gorgeous in the sunlight!

The creamy texture of these powders makes them a pleasure to blend, either together or with another brand. I love to use the brown in the crease of my eye and then I use the light pink to give my look a really feminine feel with the lightest shade giving a hint of brightness in the inner corner. The only thing I would change about this palette is the packaging, it's a strong cardboard but I have to be super gentle when I open it so I don't rip it in half. (No I'm not the Hulk, the packaging is just a little soft)

Take a look at the Ted Baker makeup collection at Boots Here

e.l.f. Cosmetics Eye Enhancing Eye shadows

This palette is a lifesaver for those days when you just cannot wake up enough to show it in your eyes. I call it my Monday Palette. Usually when a product says 'eye enhancing' I think "ye right!" but this one does not lie. It seriously makes your eyes seem so much brighter and awake! I love this palette!

Using a combination of nearly all the shadows, I love to create a really bright, yet natural, look that turns my Monday morning gloominess around. The hint of shimmer in each shadow really lifts and opens your eyes to make you seem more awake, even if you are falling asleep in that 9am lecture! I especially love the packaging of this palette, it's sleek, small and sturdy which makes it perfect for in your on the go makeup bag! 

Check out e.l.f. cosmetic's website Here

Jo's Favourites:

 Stila Natural Beauty Eye Shadow Palette

Who doesn't love a neutral eye? It's one of the easiest things to wear and to create and goes with just about everything. I absolutely love this palette and it's one of my go to palettes for an everyday natural eye. It's super rare that you find an eye shadow palette where every eye shadow is actually usable but this one is like a diamond in the rough. Every eye shadow in this palette looks great either by itself or paired together and it contains both matte and shimmer eye shadows. 

The shadows themselves are super pigmented and last a long time on the eye, especially when paired over a eye primer. It's great for travel too, as its super slim and you can create tonnes of looks with it. Seriously just love it. Check Stila's website out here.

Sleek Cosmetic's I-Divine Eye shadow Palette in Au Naturel

I may have a slight problem when it comes neutral eye shadow palettes, but I mean who doesn't need like a dozen? This palette is one of my favourites. The shadows are super de duperly pigmented and really show up on the eye. The palette has great lighter and darker neutrals that can be paired together to create some really great looks. 

This palette also has a variety of matte and shimmer eye shadows and has a great base colour and a matte black colour which would be great to use as an eye liner. Oh and I haven't told you the best thing about this palette. It's only €9.99! I know what you're thinking, "what Jo? All this for only €9.99?". Yes that's right all this for just €9.99 (yeah I know I sound like a crazy television shopping advert). 

 Sleek Cosmetic's I-Divine Eye Shadow Palette in Vintage Romance

After a good ole neutral eye, I loves me a pop of purple and this palette delivers on both the neutral and the purple. This palette has some lovely golden shades and some really great purple shades. Most of the shadows in this palette are shimmery and make for a great glam or night time look. The Palette also has a great matte brownie colour with is great in the crease. 

The shadows in this palette are super pigmented and really last. This is my go to palette when I want to either add a pop of colour to my normal neutral look or when I want to step it up a notch and go for an intense night time look. And..... (drum roll please)... You can get this palette for only €9.99 as well. Check out Sleek's website here. You can also Find Sleek cosmetics on Cloud10beauty.com also from every order placed with Cloud 10 beauty this month, €1 will be donated to the Irish Cancer Society. This way you can get yourself lots of pretty beauty items, and help a good cause all at the same time. Can't get much better than that if you ask us. 

So there you have it, our favourite eye shadow palettes. We'd love to know what you're favourite eye shadow palettes are and if you have any of the ones above. Hope you enjoyed this post and as always thanks for reading.

Until next time, 

Click this ribbon to see

why we've gone pink > 

Gem and Jo and The W7 Eyeshadow Palette

Now everyone has heard of the Urban Decay Naked palettes and if you haven't then you've probably been living under an eyeshadow-less rock for the last few years. As beautiful and pretty as they are, the Naked palettes can be kinda expensive, even the mini ones! However do not fret lovelies, there is an alternative to spending all yo money! 

Drum roll...... 

                 

Ladies and Gentlemen, the W7 'In The Nude' eyeshadow palette. This palette is practically identical to Urban Decay's Naked 3! 

You may now bow in thanks for this wonderous product!

The palette contains some mattes, some shimmers and some that are more on the glitzy side which means it practically covers you for all occasions! 

The texture of the shadows is really soft and silky, almost a creamy feel and even though this isn't a well known cosmetic brand, their brush seems to be really good! This definitely surprised us as some times eyeshadow palettes don't come with the best brushes, only those spongy ones that we personally never use. 

The last shade seen in the picture above, Fashionista, is very similar to MAC's Knight Divine and is gorgeous for a special occasion as it has little pink sparkles in it!!  In fact every shade in this palette could be used for a special occasion as they are all beautiful and have amazing staying power! 

We love to use 'Latte' as a base colour and 'Angel' for a hint of shimmer in our inner eye to make our eyes pop! 
'Alice' and 'Tokyo' can be used for shading in the crease of your eye and 'Bad Manners' can be added to the eye lid for a glizty, glam look!  

And so we ask you, which palette do you prefer? The Naked or the W7? 
Let us know in the comments! 
Until Next Time,