Wednesday, July 29, 2015

theBalm Nude'tude vs Nude Dude Palette

If you've been living under a rock, then you may not know that Nude Eyeshadows are all the rage this decade. I am no exception to this swarm. As a beauty blogger and makeup lover, I just HAD to get my hands on the Nude Palettes by the theBalm.

theBalm Nude'tude vs Nude Dude Eyeshadow Palettes Review

The palettes themselves are well known for having scantily clad women and men illustrations next to the shadows. At first I thought it looked slightly tacky and cheap but as I've gotten to know the brand and the palettes, I've grown really fond of the design.   

I have to make this one tiny point because the feminist inside me would be upset if I didn't. The difference in choices for words for male and female is slightly offensive and playing up to stereotypes. The men have been given adjectives that are mostly positive personality based and the women are portrayed as bitches or sexual objects. SIGH. 

For example, you see Fearless, Faith and Fabulous for males and Stubborn, Selfish and Stand-offish or Sexy and Seductive for the females. This may be down to the lack of adjectives to be found to align with the alliteration, I don't know. Considering the palettes were probably targeted at women more than men, it seems a bit odd to use those choice of words.

theBalm Nude'tude vs Nude Dude Eyeshadow Palettes Review

That being said, the brand has a retro/50's theme running through it so perhaps they were trying to portray women in the same light as they did back in the day. The Nude'tude palette is also a play on the word "attitude" and I suppose some of the adjectives are ones you could describe an attitude. I may be stretching here but hey, I have to justify spending this money somehow!

Anywho regardless of their portrayal of women and men and their standing on social stereotypes, theBalm produced some excellent eyeshadow palettes. The shadows are definitely the most buttery eyeshadows I own. 

Nude'tude

theBalm Nude'tude vs Nude Dude Eyeshadow Palettes Review
theBalm Nude'tude vs Nude Dude Eyeshadow Palettes Review

theBalm Nude'tude vs Nude Dude Eyeshadow Palettes Review

Nude Dude

theBalm Nude'tude vs Nude Dude Eyeshadow Palettes Review
theBalm Nude'tude vs Nude Dude Eyeshadow Palettes Review

theBalm Nude'tude vs Nude Dude Eyeshadow Palettes Review


A Comparison

The two palettes are fairly similar. The two range from light to dark shadows from left to right with a mixture of matte and shimmer shadows. I have found all of the shadows so far to be very easy to blend and very pigmented. Have I mentioned that they're incredibly buttery? There is a little bit of fall out, but by this point I just expect it from eyeshadows. I make sure to use an eye primer and do it before my foundation. 

Flawless & Sultry and Firm & Seductive are the two eyeshadow combinations that I consider to be very similar. Those two colours are probably the most used in my palettes so I suppose it's not the worst idea to have the two in both. It saves people from buying both palettes! Unless you're me who REALLY needs both.

The left hand side of the palettes are easy to wear for daytime makeup and the right hand side are perfect colours for a smokey look. Does anyone else get a bit confused at the fact that there is often a black eyeshadow in a NUDE eyeshadow palette. Not complaining, just saying.

theBalm Nude'tude vs Nude Dude Eyeshadow Palettes Review

Both of the palettes come with a double ended brush, which is pretty much useless to me, and a big mirror which I like. They are both made of cardboard packaging which makes it easy for them to be carried around and they don't take up too much space. They have an inbuilt magnetic system so the palette closes properly and the shadows don't fall out.

Out of the two, I think I would say that Nude Dude is my favourite. Fit and Flirty have to be my favourite colours from the two palettes. I prefer the design on the front of Nude Dude as well. I find the Nude'tude cover is a little bit too busy. 

I hope you enjoyed the post! If you were thinking of getting one of the palettes (it is not possible to have too many nude palettes) then I hope I helped you make a decision. 

What are your favourite eyeshadows? Which one is your favourite palette? And of course, what do you think about the adjectives used? Do you think it is offensive to women? Do you care?

If you do choose to comment, then I look forward to hearing your opinion!

Love G xxx 
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Saturday, July 25, 2015

Blame It On NARS

I've become a little bit obsessed with NARS recently, and when Selfridges bought out their own Limited Edition line, I had to get my hands on a palette. This palette is called Blame It On NARS and it is a Cheek Palette.

NARS Blame it on NARS Cheek Palette Review

The design itself was one of the selling points for me. I'm a big fan of colour and was immediately attracted to the pink purple and yellow design. It's really sleek and it fits in my makeup bag, making it really easy for me to do my makeup on the go! It also has a really big mirror, again perfect for us who aren't exactly "morning people". 

The palette comes with two blushes, a highlighter, bronzer and a mini ITA Kabuki brush.

NARS Blame it on NARS Cheek Palette Review

The two blushes, Day Dream (left) and New Attitude (right) are so pretty and wearable. I've been wearing more of the Day Dream as it's more subtle for day time. New Attitude is a beautiful colour for summer, I will no doubt be wearing it for the next summer party I'll be at! 

Satellite of Love is the highlighter and this is perfect for tanned skin. It is quite glittery but it isn't in your face. It is a slight beige peach colour that gives off a golden shimmer.

NARS Blame it on NARS Cheek Palette Review

The Casino bronzer was the selling point of this palette for me. I had been using Laguna for a while and really loving it but I found I needed something a little bit darker for my more tanned skin. Casino is perfect for that. It is a little bit less blendable than Laguna but it still gives me the desired look. Aka chiselled cheekbones.

NARS Blame it on NARS Cheek Palette Review

I already had the NARS ITA Kabuki brush and as you can see, the mini version is basically the exact same brush but with a smaller body/handle. If you were thinking of buying the brush but didn't want to fork out the £43 then this palette might be a really good idea for you. At £45, you are getting much more for your money. I have noticed that there was much less moulting with the mini brush as well. I use the ITA brush on my cheekbones and I really like the look it gives. It is a really good combination with Casino.

Here is the Selfridges link: http://www.selfridges.com/en/nars-blame-it-on-nars-cheek-palette_318-2000192-3861/ and this is where I bought mine from. Unfortunately I wasn't able to get any discounts, or even free delivery. Sob.

Apart from not saving any money, I'm really happy with this palette. It's perfect for summer and on the go. I'm looking forward to getting more use out of it this summer!

Lots of G Love xxxx 
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Wednesday, July 22, 2015

Maybelline Lash Sensational Mascara

I've always been a big fan of Maybelline mascaras, from Great Lash and my all time favourite Define-A-Lash. Unfortunately, they discontinued my baby and so I had to delve into finding another mascara just as good. I had seen a couple of reviews on the Lash Sensational mascara so I decided to give it a go. I bought this mascara when I was still in France, hence the french label.

Maybelline Lash Sensational Mascara


Thankfully, I have not been disappointed and have actually been really impressed. It's been my go-to mascara for big events and I even used it for my cousins prom makeup.

The brush itself is plastic and it is curved, with short and long bristles. I tend to only use the short bristles, on the inside of the curve for lengthening my lashes. I wear two layers and curl my lashes before and after my first layer. Depending on the day, I may even put another layer on top of that (hold me back people).

The mascara lengthens my lashes beautifully and each lash is covered evenly. There is very little clumping and it gives me the perfect amount of volume. My eyes are my favourite/most prominent feature on my face, so I always like to make sure that my lashes stand out. This mascara is definitely my favourite for creating this look at the moment.

I haven't found that it smudges throughout the day and my lashes hold all day. I do have naturally quite curled long lashes though. This mascara has definitely helped me with the grieving over the loss of my beloved Define-A-Lash.

Maybelline Lash Sensational Mascara

If you want to see the mascara in action, press play below!



Let me know what you think! Have you used it before?

Love G xxxx
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Wednesday, July 01, 2015

Glastonbury Festival

Hi guys! I spent last weekend at Glastonbury and wanted to write up a short blogpost on my experience there. Unfortunately, I didn't take many photos. I was pretty focused on filming parts of the festival that I forgot to take pictures! Apologies on the lack of good pictures but I will hopefully have a semi decent youtube video up soon.


As you already know, Glastonbury Festival is well known for being one of the best festivals in the world and my weekend definitely did not fail to impress. The weather was beautiful and the atmosphere was so lovely. Everyone was there to have a good time and it was so nice to have been part of it.

Sunset over the festival

The festival site was huge, it could take you a good half an hour to get from one end to the other. Thankfully, it was unlikely that you'd need to walk that far in between sets. It boasts 90 different stages, albeit most were fairly small, covering every type of music you can think of. You could walk past around 10 different songs in just 5 minutes of walking! There were also other types of arts, such as dancing, on as well.

The festival site was divided into loads of sub sites (if that makes any sense..) such as Shangri-La, The Park, The Unfairground, Glasto Latino and so on. They all had their own character and atmosphere. I really enjoyed walking through all of the sites and stopping wherever something caught our eye. The colours were so bright, vivid and colourful all over Glastonbury.

One of my favourite parts were the plethora of different types of food stands. Name a type of food and I can guarantee there is a 90% chance of it being there. There were the standard noodles and burger vans, but also tex mex, paella and chocolate brownie stalls. The only problem we had was choosing what kind of food to get! They all smelt so good. As in Glasto style, there were a lot of vegan/vegetarian food stands as well. I didn't buy anything from them but they smelt beyond delicious. I noticed that a lot of the meat was organic and from the UK as well.



Our camping spot was right next to the Pyramid Stage. We were lucky enough to have my boyfriends friend save us a spot! It was fab, I don't think we could have gotten a better spot. Everything was so close by and we could even watch the sets from our tent!

I listened/watched to quite a few sets, mostly from the Pyramid Stage. I was pretty gutted about the lack of Foos, but was quite happy that The Libertines did a surprise set. I can't say Petes voice is the best live, but I really did enjoy their set. It was shown in black and white on the screens which was a nice addition. Lionel Richie was great as well, the crowd went absolutely nuts for him.

As for Kanye, love him or hate him you can't deny that he creates good music. His set was really good, although there wasn't quite enough of his old music for me. But hey, can't have everything. We thought he had gone off stage in a strop at one stage, just to find him up on a crane to sing Touch the Sky. That was pretty cool to watch. We saw Pharrell before Kanye and I really enjoyed his set, especially as he played NERD tracks as well.

Ben Gibbard melting my heart

My highlight by far was seeing Death Cab for Cutie on Sunday night. I have been obsessed with this band for the best part of four years so as you can imagine, I was in my element. We only had two people in front of us before the barrier so I was actually able to see the band! This is a real rarity at 5 ft nothing. I may or may not have shed a few tears. They were just as good live as they were on record, if not a bit better. Bens voice was on point all the way through and they put on a really good show. I would love to be able to relive that hour again.


There was so much to do and see there that I don't think that 6 days were enough, I will definitely be trying hard to get tickets for next year! It was definitely the best festival I've been to so far and can't wait to see what next year has in store.

Thank you for reading! I'd love to hear your thoughts, feel free to leave a comment.

Lots of G Love xxxxxxx
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