W7 Makeup ON THE ROCKS eyeshadow palette (swatches + review)

Before I moved to Copenhagen over a year ago, I left all of my makeup home in the States so I could start new here. One of my favorite inexpensive makeup brands here is W7 Makeup. There's a beauty/household item store here called Normal where I buy W7 products. So far, I have five of their palettes, which will be swatched and reviewed soon. I reach for all four of them quite often, but the first palette I bought was the On the Rocks palette. This palette caught my eye because of the tone of the palette and the ease that I could see myself incorporating some color into my normal neutral everyday looks. 

The palette contains a total of 14 shades with 3 shimmer and 11 matte shades. The pan and palette layout style are very much reminiscent of the Anastasia Beverly Hills eyeshadow palettes. 

Description from w7:

W7 On The Rocks is an on-trend eyeshadow palette featuring a range of 14 cool toned shades.

A combination of earthy, natural tones with a punch of creamy golds and deep yellows throughout. The shades within the product are blendable with a high level of pigmentation. This provides the ability for everyone to create soft, natural looks all the way through to striking, bold eyes.

The finishes and textures vary within the palette, with shades ranging from metallic glitters to creamy mattes shades.

Not only does On The Rocks have smooth, highly pigmented mattes, her metallic shades are just as smooth to apply and just as high in quality.

Here are some swatches!

Top row shades:

Sugar Rim is described as a "duo-chrome opalescent pink." (2/5)

Moscato is described as "a matte nude." (4/5)

Martini Olive is described as "a deep peridot." (5/5)

Espresso Martini is described as "a metallic coffee." (4/5)

Maraschino Cherry is described as "a soft burgundy." (5/5)

Cheers is described as "a neutral grey." (5/5)

Caracao is described as "a deep teal." (4.5/5)

Bottom row shades:

Body Shot is described as "a pretty peach." (4/5)

Champagne Toast is described as "a statement gold metallic" (4.5/5)

Bloody Mary is described as "a deep tan." (4/5)
Bellini is described as "a fiery yellow orange." (5/5)
Magnum is described as "pine green." (5/5)
Pina Colada is described as "a nutty mustard." (5/5)
Last Call is described as "a deep purple." (4/5)


I actually reach for this palette quite often. The mattes and shimmers are alike buttery, although the Sugar Rim is a bit difficult to get out of the pan enough to show up on me eye (I tried my finger as well as a brush). The shades I reach the most for are Martini Olive, Maraschino Cherry, Cheers (it's a great transition shade for light/medium skin tones), and Champagne Toast. Overall, this palette is well-worth the money.

Score: 4.35 (our of 5)

The palette is £9.95 and can be purchased from the W7 webstore from this link (non-affiliate, direct link).

Which W7 products would you like me to review next? I have four more eyeshadow palettes to review but I would also love to get my hands on the new Magic Metals Glitter and Glam eyeshadow toppers as well as the Starry Eyes Metallic Jelly Eyeshadows. I'll check my Normal next time I pass one!

Has it really been FIVE years?!

Wow, you guys. It's been five years since I updated this blog. A lot has happened since then - I graduated with my bachelor's and started my masters in Denmark last year! I work a part-time job here, so I actually have some extra money to spend on makeup here so I'll try my best to do some reviews on the decently-priced stuff I've been using here. So far, I'm really loving Makeup Revolution, w7 Makeup and Sleek Makeup and it's all so inexpensive!

In a little over two weeks (October 10 - 14), I'll be travelling to Bucharest, Romania for some much-needed vacation. I've been in the process of researching products to buy from there and I already have my list going! Some reviews on those products will definitely be up in the near future about those items as well.

I have some thesis stuff to work on tonight but if I can get a break, I'll upload something later. Until then!

Mary Kay VoxBox!

So I have a few posts to make, but let me start off first with the Mary Kay VoxBox I received from Influenster a few days ago. I haven't reviewed an Influenster box in quite awhile, so here we go.

DISCLAIMER: All of the items in this review were received for free, but I am not compensated in any way for this review.

Here's what I recieved:

Translucent loose powder

My thoughts: I only used this product once, so I don't know if I can really give an accurate description. It is supposed to get rid of shine, but I didn't really notice any difference with it.

Swatch!

Bronzing powder in Light/Medium

My thoughts: I am so excited to finally have a bronzer! I love the color and I think it does go well with my skin color. I just have to learn how to use it, haha.

Cream eye color in "Apricot Twist"

My thoughts: I love the color! I have it on one eye now and after an hour, no creasing! I have very oily eyelids so this is great. The swatch I did on the top of my hand won't budge when I rub it with my finger. I would probably buy another color of this!

NouriShine Plus Lip Gloss in "Mango Tango"

My thoughts: It feels nice on my lips, but not really my color. I will have to play with it a little bit, I think. It's very pigmented though!

Lash Love Mascara in "I <3 Black"

My thoughts: First of all, please excuse the oiliness and the Brown Forest that is my eyebrow. It's been a rough month. haha. Anyway, I LOVE this mascara. I've worn it a few times and I think it's really good and worth the money. 

My thoughts: It's a really beautiful coral with golden sheen, but I don't wear blush because I have freckles and my cheeks are already always pink.

Gel Eyeliner in "Jet Black"

My thoughts: Don't use the brush. Other than that, I love it. It dries down to a pretty matte soft black. I haven't been able to test the wear yet, but I will soon. Stay tuned!

And now, the brushes.

There was a powder brush and a creme eyecolor/concealer brush. I didn't really care for either of them, to be honest. They felt kind of cheap, especially the powder brush. 

Overall, I would say my favorite products were the mascara, the creme eye color, and the bronzing powder. I am sure I will like the eyeliner too once I get to try it. My MAC version just recently dried up almost completely, so this is perfect timing. :)

Have you purchased from Mary Kay before? What are your favorite products? I would like to try more if I can!

I've been chosen!! Mary Kay VoxBox

So it looks like I will be making a swatch/review post soon! I qualified for Influenster's Mary Kay VoxBox and I am actually pretty excited about it! I've never tried Mary Kay cosmetics because I always thought they were a little expensive. It's always nice to try new makeup brands, especially legendary ones . :)

Stay tuned!

It's been a long time!

I know I have really been neglecting this blog and I am sorry for that! I hadn't really been buying anything for awhile, but I finally broke down and made some pretty significant purchases. Hopefully I will be able to review what I bought once the goodies arrive!

I recently went to Ulta for the first time and bought the Naked 3 palette. There are a ton of swatch reviews out there, but once I have the time, I will try to swatch that. I barely had time to open it and look at it (I work and I'm in school now).

Then tonight I made a pretty big purchase from Sleek. I bought:
- i-Divine eyeshadow palettes: Oh So Special, Au Naturale, Original, i-Candy, Vintage Romance, Lagoon, Garden of Eden, and Del Mar Vol. 1
- Matte Me lipgloss in Party Pink
- Face Contour Kit in Light

I also bought from Glamour Doll Cosmetics (they were having a 35% off sale), Shiro Cosmetics (Intertubes are being discontinued, so I picked up Why Not Zoidberg? and Smashing as well as a few Detrivore matte shadows), and Darling Girl Cosmetics.

Also, I bought Lime Crime's Velveteens in Suedeberry and Pink Velvet from someone I know on Facebook.

Whew!

I'll try my best to get those swatches up on here. I am really going to be seeing my mailman a lot this  week. :)

Indie Spotlight: Dawn Eyes Cosmetics (Swatches)

I think I've had these pigments for over six months now and I never really got the chance to play with them until now. One night, the girls in the indie makeup group I am in decided to make orders with Dawn Eyes Cosmetics after seeing a blog post of swatches on one of the members Emily's blog. I'd heard of Dawn Eyes before, but I never bought from her simply because of the website. It's a little difficult to navigate, but the shadows are worth it!

All swatches are over Pixie Epoxy. I usually provide links to the colors, but the site doesn't have separate pages for them.

Copper Fog: "Why a copper in the purples? Well, it's really a purple, kind of…It has a strong coppery pinkish undertone and a smoky heart, it looks orange in the jar and is strongly sprinkled with blue sparks." (Clearance)

Fantasy Flowers: "A bright medium purple with a blue undertone over primer and drenched in pink, teal, and silver glitter." (Clearance)

Caramel Truffle: "A deep chocolate/golden brown, satiny and loaded with golden sparkle and the occasional flash of a pink gleam! It looks good enough to eat!" (The Sweets Collection)

Plum Pudding: "Rich brown base with a delicate burgundy satin overlay, naturally shimmery but no sparkle."

(The Autumn Tease Collection)

Paleflower: "A lovely tea rose with a shift to a golden coral, decorated with color shifting glitter that runs pink to gold and sprinkled with silver stars!" (The Sunrise Valley Collection)

Nearly Neutral: "Lovely pink/beige loaded with golden glitter." (Office Hours Collection)

Fleeting Flame: "Metallic pink copper with a shift to a rich golden copper, glitters with pink, gold, and copper sparkle in addition to a pink to gold color-shifting glitter! Dancing like a romantic fire on a chilly night!"

I loved all of these and I love Dawn Eyes! My favorites were Copper Fog, Plum Pudding, and Nearly Neutral. 

More swatches to come!

Indie Spotlight: Innocent + Twisted Alchemy (Swatches)

Awhile back, maybe at the end of last year or beginning of this year, I made a purchase from an indie brand called Innocent + Twisted Alchemy I had really never heard of until I joined an indie-loving makeup group on Facebook. The owner, Linda, is in the group and she is super sweet and super awesome! Anyway, I made my purchase awhile back when I was ordering a ton of eyeshadows and fell way behind on my swatching. I really loved her shadows, so I decided to make another purchase with her.

 I will be swatching the shades I got before eventually, but for now here's what I purchased. All swatches are over Fyrinnae's Pixie Epoxy.

Contaminated Wastelands (LE): "silvery-brown with a slight green sheen and shimmers" - from the

Draugr (LE): "dirty white with a dirty green undertone" 

Caviar & Foie Gras: "silver-y brown with blue sparkles" 

Little Crush (not listed on site)

with flash:

Lost in Dispair: "cool toned brown with red and turquoise sparkles"

Fragile Dream: "purple with a turquoise duochrome and light blue sparkles"

Acqua Mirror (not listed on site)

No Fairytale (not listed on site)

Aren't they beautiful?! I can't even pick a favorite! I am on a neutrals kick right now, but wow, I love Acqua Mirror! I don't own anything like this and I can't wait to figure out how to wear this and still have my makeup be work-safe. :)

 When I first ordered from i+ta, I only ordered samples. I was so impressed that this time I decided to order some full sizes (which I rarely do for any company) and I was definitely not disappointed! I can't wait to make another purchase with her! <3

What do you think? Have you tried i+ta?