Urban Decay Naked 3 Palette + Swatches

Since the rumours of a Naked 3 palette hit the beauty world by a storm around a month ago, not a beauty related conversation has passed without at least a small mention of the Naked threesome popping up somewhere, and earlier this week I was invited along for a sneak peek at the 12 shadow palette and I can confirm, yes you do need it.

A question that has cropped up a fair few times, is how Urban Decay could make Naked happen again and how a third one would differ so much so that we would need it, and they've done so in a very lovely, beautiful Rose toned fashion. Rose hued as opposed to the previous Naked palettes, Naked 3 consists of 12 new and incredibly pigmented shades in the form of;

Strange- A netural pale Pink matte-satin, Dust- a pale metallic Pink shimmer with iridescent micro glitter, Burnout- a light Rosy Peach satin, Limit- a light dusty Rose matte, Buzz- a metallic Rose shimmer with Silver micro glitter, Trick- a light metallic Pink Copper with a tonal micro sparkle, Nooner- medium Pink Brown matte, Liar- a medium metallic Mauve with shimmer, Factory- a Pink Brown satin, Mugshot- a metallic Taupe shimmer with a touch of Pink, Darkside- a deep Taupe Mauve satin and Blackheart- a smoky Black matte with a Rosy Red micro sparkle.

Certainly one for the lover of a girly Rose toned neutral, the Naked 3 is a perfectly complimentary palette and teamed with a weeks worth of each of Urban Decays Eye Primers as well as the double ended Urban Decay brush, it has endless capabilities to create a range of beautiful looks.

Launching on the 16th December, the Naked 3 will cost the same as the previous two palettes at £37 and is available for pre-order now on Look Fantastic and shortly on Debenhams and House of Fraser.

What do you think of the Naked 3? I would love to know your thoughts on the Naked trio.

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The Body Shop 24 Days of Joy Advent Calendar (includes spoilers)

With only a week left to go until Advent begins, I thought I would share with you this dreamy advent calendar that has been launched by The Body Shop.

24 Days of Joy* is the dreamiest of beauty advent calendars and the perfect festive treat for both home of the beauty minded. Full of The Body Shops current best sellers, for £55.00 there is 24 surprises behind 24 doors, which hold a retail value of £80.00. From lotions to masks and musks to lip balms, this advent calendar has it all and so if you're on the hunt for the perfect calendar, I really can't rave about it highly enough.

Including: Almond Hand & Nail Cream, Vitamin E Moisture Cream, Vitamin E Sink in Moisture Mask, Vitamin E Night Cream, White Musk Smooth Satin Body Lotion, a Facial Brush, Japanese Blossom Body Lotion, Bronze Glimmer Lip & Cheek Stain, Born Lippy Raspberry Lip Balm, Coconut Shower Cream, Mango Body Whip, Moringa Body Milk, Shea Body Butter, Chocomania Soap, Cranberry Joy Soap, Ginger Sparkle Soap, Honeymania Lip Balm, Satsuma Body Puree, Moringa Shower Gel, Born Lippy Strawberry Lip Balm, Strawberry Shower Gel, Shea Shower Cream, Shea Lip Butter and an Ultra Fine White Bath Lily, if this 24 Days of Joy Advent Calendar appeals to you for your advent treat, it's available to buy now in store at The Body Shop for £55.00.

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Bumble and Bumble Colour Minded Range

Since I started to colour my hair again a few months back, my main focus has been trying to keep as many of the tones true and vibrant as possible, whilst preventing as much fading as a product can.

The Bumble and Bumble Colour Minded* range has been my go to when washing and styling my hair and although I've used a couple of the products a little more frequently that others, I've very much enjoyed using the range and have been pretty impressed with the results.

Sulphate free, the Colour Minded Shampoo works to cleanse hair whilst preventing fading and increasing both shine and colour. The smallest coin size amount of product lathered through my hair leaves it feeling and looking incredibly cleansed and sealed in with the Colour Minded Conditioner, which I particularly love using as a more intense 15 minute masque as opposed to a standard conditioner, is left feeling incredibly soft and looking beautifully glossy.

Although I haven't been using them as frequently as the Shampoo and Conditioner, the Styling Balm and UV Protective Polish are the accompanying styling products in the range, which add a perfect finish to the hair with heat and element protection in the form of UV filters. The Styling Balm which adds a subtle amount of hold and texture perfect for styling and the UV Protective Polish which adds a further finish of shine and protection from heat and elements are both perfectly suitable for hair that both has and hasn't been chemically coloured.

Costing £23.00 Colour Minded Sulphate Free Shampoo/ £25.00 Colour Minded Conditioner/ £25.50 Colour Minded UV Protective Styling Balm/ £25.50 Colour Minded UV Polish and available to buy on Bumbles online store and in Boots and Selfridges, this Colour Minded range is perfect if you're looking for a caring, protective hair range for your newly coloured hair.

Have you tried anything Colour Minded? I'd love to know your thoughts.

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Vidal Sassoon Infra Radiance Dryer

Vidal Sassoon is a household name when it comes to haircare, but it isn't until now that I have indulged in any heated tools from the iconic brand. 

Similar to other products in the Infra Radiance range, this Vidal Sassoon Infra Radiance Dryer* offers a gentle infrared heat along with the standard heated air flow to ensure an even dry, whilst preventing over drying of the hair and in turn, helping to maintain the hairs natural moisture, reducing frizz to ensure the hair is left as smooth as possible. Teamed with a 2000W speed, I have found this hairdryer to dry my incredibly hard to dry hair in pretty good time and with a blast of the cool shot afterwards, my hair is dried with a nice shine. An added bonus is that the unit itself is quite light, in fact substantially lighter than other dryers I have tried in the past, reducing the inevitable arm ache that comes with blowdrying my hair, which will always be a good thing.

With two heat settings along with two different speeds, I'm really pleased with this Vidal Sassoon Infra Radiance Dryer and if you're on the market for a new one, you can pick one up for £49.99 in Boots and Argos, where I believe they currently have £20 off (10/11/2013).

Have you tried anything from the Vidal Sassoon Infra Radiance range? Are you on the market for a new hairdryer? 

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Current Christmas Wish List

Coming up to Christmas, it's the time of the year when all of the fabulous gift sets and beautiful palettes start to take place on the shelves ready for the beauty minded like us to covet and whilst I'm on somewhat of a spending ban at the moment, I thought I would put together a wish list come gift guide of the best beauty finds that I've come across whilst browsing one of my new favourite online stores, the Urban Retreat Beautique.

Laura Mercier Shimmer Effects Mini Caviar Stick Collection- £28.00, Nars Ride Up To The Moon Palette- £32.00, Laura Mercier Colour To Go Natural Nudes- £31.00

Emma Hardie Facial Starter Kit- £32.00, Diptique Figuier Candle- £40.00, Clarisonic Plus Sonic Skin Cleansing System- £179.00

Nars Daydream Blush- £21.50, Laura Mericer Mini Lip Glace Set Bold Brights- £31.00, Nars Guy Bourdin Crime of Passion Face Kit- £35.00

 Sensing a definite Nars and Laura Mercier theme running here, it's clear to see what' top of my wish list at the moment and what I'll be crossing my fingers for come Christmas morning. Do any of these products scream must have to you? 

I would love to hear what's on your Urban Retreat Beautique wish list.

*This post is in collaboration with the Urban Retreat Beautique, who very kindly allowed me to use their stock images.

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Sleek Blush- Rose Gold

Sleeks Rose Gold* is one of those blushes that I have heard people raving about for years but due to it being Rose hued rather than my typical Peachy tone, I'd never really considered picking it up, which now I am absolutely kicking myself for.

Very similar to the likes of Sleek Guipure though slightly darker and similarly a great dupe for Nars Orgasm, Sleeks Rose Gold is a deep Pink tone that has an amazing Gold Shimmer that runs through it. Not my normal kind of shade, I've surprisingly been really enjoying a light dusting of this on my cheeks, for a really subtle Pink glow and find it completes my look perfectly.

At an incredible £4.49 for 8g of product, if you're on the hunt for a Nars Orgasm dupe or if you simply just want a Rosy glow to your cheeks, Rose Gold is a dream and can be purchased in Superdrug. 

Have you tried Sleeks Rose Gold? Do you have any Sleek recommendations?

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MAC Pigment in Copper Sparkle

Pigments are a product that up until recently, I hadn't used since way back in my teenage days when a dusting of Barry M Dazzle Dusts played a frequent part in my weekend makeup. 

Loose powder colour and highly pigmented, pigments can be used for both subtle and more dramatic looks and recently I have been absolutely loving wearing this MAC Pigment in Copper Sparkle*, blended into a smokey eye to add a further Copper toned dimension and shimmer.

Applied with a flat eyeshadow brush and blended out with a blending brush, I find I achieve a really nice soft effect that is incredibly wearable, although if I want to create something a little more intense, I find applying it with a brush that has been spritzed with a bit of MAC Fix + or applied with a little bit of MAC Mixing Medium* works fantastically well. 

Leaving the nicest true Copper tone underneath the high shimmer, I absolutely love this MAC Pigment in Copper Sparkle and think it's the perfect toned Autumnal product.

Available at MAC Stores and at counters in Selfridges, House of Fraser and Debenhams, MAC Pigments cost £17 for 4.5g of product.  

Are you a fan of MAC Pigments? Do you have any shade recommendations?

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Maybelline Brow Drama Sculpting Brow Mascara

I'm all about the brows and although I normally like to wear quite a strong full brow, I've recently been wearing a more natural looking, structured brow and have been loving adding a tint of colour and hold with Maybellines Brow Drama Sculpting Brow Mascara.

As I try to grow them out, my brows are in somewhat of a state at the moment but I've kind of been embracing them and enjoying wearing more of a bushy, messy with purpose brow. Normally one to fill in every single gap, I've quite enjoyed just coating my brows with a few coats of the Brow Mascara in Dark Brown to give a them more of naturally defined look rather than too filled in. I'm not too crazy about being really tidy with it either and quite like that the brush coats a few of the surrounding hairs too, although this may just be whilst I'm going through the messy brow stage- finding myself brushing them up more than usual á la Cara Delevingne.

Before realising that I really enjoyed using it on it's own, I found the Medium Brown shade the perfect shade to wear on top of my filled in brow, as a brow set gel. The product gives a reasonable amount of hold, without leaving the hairs feeling too dry and crispy and is the perfect price point in comparison to other tinted gels on the market. 

Available in three shades, I'm really pleased with my drugstore finds and priced at just £4.99 and easily accessible in Superdrug and Boots, can see that these Maybelline Brow Drama Sculpting Mascaras will have a place in my make up collection for some time. 

Have you tried these Sculpting Mascaras? I'd love to know your thoughts.

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MAC Eyeshadow Quad- Nylon, Ricepaper, Wedge, Mulch

A while back I decided to put together a MAC palette of four easy to wear, day to night shades and whilst the MAC counter is extremely overwhelming when it comes to eyeshadows, I managed to pick out four shades with the help of some fellow bloggers.

Consisting of Nylon- a light Gold with a Frost finish, Ricepaper- a soft, warm Yellow Champagne with a Frost finish, Wedge- a Matte finish warm toned medium Brown and Mulch- a Red toned Bronze Brown with a Velvet finish, my quad is the perfect palette to pop in my makeup bag to achieve a day to night look.

Ricepaper washed all over the lower lid with Wedge run through the crease works perfectly for a subtle daytime look, whilst Mulch added into the outer corner and Nylon in the inner corner and along the brow bone as a highlight adds the perfect finish for a smokier night time look.

Perfectly pigmented and easy to wear, I'm really pleased with the four shades I picked out. What four MAC shades would make up your perfect day to night palette?

All permanent MAC shades, Nylon, Ricepaper, Wedge and Mulch can all be purchased for a singular price of £12.50 each with quad palettes costing £6.50 at MAC stores and counters in Selfridges, Debenhams and House of Fraser. 

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