April’s arsenal consisted of two pre-made palettes, two singles in individual packaging and a larger palette containing single pans. Brands included are Urban Decay, Illamasqua, Nabla, Makeup Geek, Emme Cosmetics, MAC and Lethal Cosmetics. A total of 42 individual colours to utilise with a nice balance of mattes and shimmers, neutrals and colours, brights and muted shades.

The Kaleidoscope Dream palette by Urban Decay x Kristen Leanne was purchased in 2018 and has been used quite a bit since then. I was a bit infatuated with it at the time and I’m still attracted to many of the colours. I have no relation to Kristen Leanne, so it was solely the colours that made me buy it in the first place.

1st Row L-R: Embrace Me – Helios – Remission – Habitat – Relapse – Unearthed – Calcination

2nd Row L-R: Dark Brew – Spirit – Defiance – Gingersnap – Fortune Teller – Mesmerized – Glasswork

3rd Row L-R: Tiki Hut – Absinthe – Tribeca – Chemical Bond – Karma

4th Row L-R: Vanilla Bean – Drama Queen – Apricot – Mai Tai – Lemon Tart – Aurum

The singles palette was a mixture of older and newer shadows. The Lethal shades (all of the square pans) are from 2019 and they are the most recent of the lot. Makeup Geek is heavily represented (Fortune Teller, Mesmerized, Tiki Hut, Karma, Vanilla Bean, Drama Queen, Mai Tai) as well as a sprinkle of Nabla (Glasswork, Absinthe, Tribeca, Chemical Bond, Aurum). Then we have some MAC (Embrace Me, Dark Brew, Gingersnap, Lemon Tart) and one by Emme Cosmetics (Apricot).

The Fundamental palette by Illamasqua was picked up back in 2013 and I have almost never used it. A few times at the most. It consists of two matte shades (Hype and Inception) and two creams (Surge and Bedaub).

And lastly we have to single powder shadows by Illamasqua (Apex and Fledgling) that I think are from around 2013 as well. These have been use a bit but I rarely pick them up anymore.

Let’s move on to swatches and my feelings on these products after a month of use.

The Kaleidoscope Dream palette by Urban Decay in collaboration with Kristen Leanne was interesting to audit. I decided quite early on in the month that I have no need to keep this palette intact and that I would prefer to depot the shades I still love. Let’s start with the keepers. Spitfire is a duochrome pink with a blue shift. Very pretty and useful. Stay Gold is a green leaning gold that is very flattering and easy to use. Tajin is another type of shade that I get a lot of use out of and it looks amazing combined with Spitfire. Leo is so stunning, a light sea foam green duochrome. Brixton is not very special but since the shade shares a pan with Leo it stays as well. Lime Time looks a bit dull in the pan but on the eyes it is a very bright and fun shade. Dye was a bit of a surprise as well. I thought to formula would be dry and hard to work with but it was the opposite on the eyes. A very rich and beautiful shade. And then finally Corona, oh Corona. Such an unpleasant name and such a lovely shade. It’s a rosy gold but the cool plum base makes it unlike anything else I have.

Then there are the rest of them, the ones that did not make the cut. 13th Floor seemed to be a great deep black, but it after a little wear time it fell under my eyes and left black smudges no matter how careful I was with my application. TRM is a very pretty blue in theory but very difficult to work with. The blending was a mess, as blues usually are, and it just looked like shit. I have a difficult relationship with blue eye shadow and this was not an exception. I did not even bother to wear LCW to be honest. Not a shade I’m attracted to at all and since I had already made up my mind to depot I sort of just skipped over it.

Let’s move on to the large palette of single pans. And starting with the mattes, all ten of them will be kept for now. Embrace Me (MAC) is a stunning matte hot pink, pigmented and easy to blend. Helios (Lethal) is such a lovely muted light yellow and it works well as an inner corner shade as well. Remission (Lethal) is a firm favourite and a I love using this as a way to lean a crease in the pink direction but the end look is still very muted. It blends well with so many colours. Habitat and Relapse (Lethal) are interesting shades and I do not think I have anything else like them. That is true for many of my Lethal purchases, they create such unique shades of eye shadow.

Unearthed and Calcination (Lethal) are two shades that I should love in theory, but on the eye I just feel that they are ok, nothing more. Not my favourite neutral matte formula these two. But since they are newer I want to keep on using them. Due to being the only mid neutral crease shades this month, I got some good use out of them.

Dark Brew (MAC) was cooler in tone on the eye than it looks in the pan and I found it to very versatile and easy to blend. It was used quite a lot of the course of the month since it was the second darkest matte shadow in the arsenal, and since 13th Floor had a lot of fall out, I opted for Dark Brew whenever I wanted some depth. Tiki Hut (MUG) is a great dark mustard and the formula works very well. And finally we have Vanilla Bean (MUG) a beige that is so close to my skin tone that you can barely see the swatch. I used this to soften or clean up edges and to add something powder yet invisible to my brow bone. A good tool to have.

Spirit (Lethal) is a great bright purple metallic and a keeper. Since it is a newer shadow I only had to wear it once to verify its status. The same for Defiance (Lethal), a vibrant and fiery pinky copper. Gingersnap (MAC) however was a disappointment. It’s a pretty pinky copper, that looks great swatched, but the formula was just not working on the eye. It mainly looked flat and nothing, there was no way to build up the intensity. So Gingersnap will go.

Fortune Teller (MUG) is simply an amazing intense yellow gold. The formula is still creamy and the pigment adheres to the eye in a satisfying way. Mesmerized is also in the Foiled eyeshadow formula by MUG, the same as Fortune Teller, and it’s a very useful mauve. This shadow is also still creamy and looks great on the eye. The shade is not as unique as Fortune Teller but I’m keeping it for now. I love the foiled formula and it is a shame that many of the great shades, including this one, is not around anymore.

Then we have the two Nabla shadows. Glasswork sadly does not work for me. The silver particles does not form the wet shine look on my lids, as the swatch might promise, just a silver glitter mess. If I apply the shadow with a finger on top of a wet primer on my hand it looks good, but the same approach on my eyelid, not so much. A shadow that does not perform well on the eye is worthless, so Glasswork is going. Finally we have Absinthe, a rosy base that shifts from dark pink, to blue to teal. It’s a subtle shift but I enjoy it. Absinthe may stay for now.

Tribeca (Nabla) is a bit dusty and I had no high hopes for it but on the eye it performs very well. It is a cool leaning bronzy brown and it looks amazing with most other colours. Chemical Bond (Nabla) is nice enough and this is a prime example of a shade I have multitudes of and will have to edit more ruthlessly later on in the audit. Right now, this shadow works well and can stay. Karma and Mai Tai (MUG) are old favourites. I love Makeup Geek pressed duochromes and sadly they are not around anymore.

Drama Queen (MUG) is simply difficult to work with. I have more use of a dark shade like this if it is a matte. As a shimmer it is not potent or special enough to have an effect on the lid and it is hard to blend towards the crease. I have no use for this. Apricot (Emme) is a peachy gold that flips rosy. The base is transparent. I wore this mainly as an inner corner highlight but is stunning on the lid as well. It does not look like much in the pan but packed over a tacky primer it really shines.

Lemon Tart (MAC) is a very pale yellow beige and one I’m a bit surprised that I’m keeping. It was very pretty as a neutral yet not boring inner corner highlight. That subtle yellow tone made it look great on the eye. Aurum (Nabla) is one I had to think about for a whole. It’s a very pale green but the cool tone makes it look ethereal on my lid and I loved using it. It’s a type of green that pairs well with many other shades both tapped on the lid or as an inner corner shade.

And the last lot are the Illamasqua shadows. The Fundamental palette consists of two powder shades, Hype (yellow) and Inception (purple), and two creams – Surge (quicksilver) and Bedaub (mint). I love the colour composition of this palette but I must admit that I have only used it a couple of times. I own a full size of Surge and that has limited the use of this palette further. Hype is a stunning yellow but I searched for a dupe in my total arsenal and found it in Chrome Yellow by MAC, a shade that has already come through my audit process. Hype is slightly less intense in colour even and that makes Chrome Yellow a better candidate to keep all in all. So the Fundamental palette will be leaving my collection in its entirety. In retrospect it was a pointless purchase since I have used it so little.

Apex and Fledgling are both great bright shades and I enjoy using both. I’m trying to move away from singles in pots but I love the Illamasqua packaging so I might keep them as they are if they survive round 2 We shall see.

April has not been a great makeup month for me. I’ve been a bit worn out by work and have felt less inclined to spend time having fun with makeup in the mornings and often skipping makeup altogether. A lot of looks have felt bland and uninspiring. I’ve also been in more meetings with external organisations and then I tend to be a bit more subdued and neutral with my makeup than I would have been otherwise. All of these pictures are taken in my day to day life with my iPhone, the same applies every month. I have a ring light and besides that I use whatever daylight that is available. Better settings and photo quality might be something for the future but right now this is what I can manage.

April 1

Eyes: Hype – Surge – Inception – Bedaub – 13th Floor

Cheeks: Rapture (blush, UD) – Silhouette (contour, Illamasqua) – Phee’s original highlighter

Lips: A mix of Velvet Muse and Velvet Fawn lined with Muse lip liner (Lisa Eldridge)

April 16

Eyes: Fortune Teller – Helios – Karma

Cheeks: Stereo Rose (blush, MAC) – Gotham (contour, Nabla)

Lips: A mix of Striking (Revlon) and Noir Moderne (Chanel)

April 18

Eyes: Dye – Spitfire – Apex – Remission – Drama Queen – Vanilla Bean

Cheeks: Breath of Plum (blush, MAC) – Taupe (contour, MAC)

Lips: Rouge Audace (Chanel)

April 21

Eyes: Chemical Bond – Unearthed – Lemon Tart

Cheeks: Legendary (blush, MAC)

Lips: Cream Lip Stain in “16” (Sephora)

April 23

Eyes: Stay Gold Caffeine primer (UD) – Lemon Tart

Cheeks: Sur (blush, MAC)

Lips: A mix of Cream Lips Stains in “17” and “103” (Sephora)

A total of ten shades are leaving my collection at the end of this month’s audit. Small but steady number. At the end of each month I feel like I have gotten to know each shade a little better and I’m so glad when I can weed out another one that is not up to par. I always feel like I want to move on tho the next monthly arsenal about half way into the audit, but the win in using a limited arsenal is that I am forced to be creative when I get bored. New combinations appear out of that boredom. I get more creative with using the other tools I have, like lip products and blush.

Besides evaluating the eye shadows I’m still focusing on wearing as many different cheek and lip product as possible. In April I managed to wear different 20 blushes, 4 contour shades, 9 highlighters, 23 lipsticks, 1 gloss and 3 lip pencils. I’m starting to form some opinions on some highlighters that can possibly go and that feels like true progress.

Thanks for reading!

My monthly arsenal in March was full of neutrals with pops of pinks, oranges and a variety of green. Two pre-made palettes by Sleek Makeup, two smaller compilations of singles (by Nabla, Lethal Cosmetics, Makeup Geek and KvD) and four loose shadows (Bare Minerals and Meow Cosmetics). Not the biggest lineup but a nice variety of options. A total of 45 individual shades.

Top Row L-R: Narciso, Desire, Unrestricted

Bottom Row L-R: Cleo, Mellow, Sugar

In a smaller palette I kept six neutral shadows by Nabla, a brand that I have purchased a lot of singles from and most of these are from 2016. I enjoy them but I tend to reach for the mattes more than the shimmers.

The Garden of Eden palette by Sleek Makeup

I purchased this palette by Sleek Makeup when it was released in 2014. I love the shade selection and the rosy mauve shades have been worn a bit, but it was many many years since I last wore this.

The Respect palette by Sleek Makeup

Another Sleek palette is Respect and it appears to be from around 2013-2014 as well. This palette has been used very little but it looks promising.

Top Row L-R: Release, Recluse, Enigma, Cycle

Middle Row L-R: Spawn, Fahrenheit, Vertex, Echo

Bottom Row L-R: Void, Ritzy, Vestment

A few more mattes and a bit more colour in general was added with another selection of singles. The shades from Lethal Cosmetics are newer (2019) but Ritzy (Makeup Geek) and Vestment (depotted KvD) are older.

Top Row L-R: Hallucination, Levitation

Bottom Row L-R: Velvet Lavender, Skeptic

Three loose shadows by Meow Cosmetics (Hallucination, Levitation, Skeptic) and one by Bare Minerals were included to add some lightness and brightness to the mix. All these are from around 2013 I think.

Those were all the shades audited this month. Let’s move on to swatches and my thoughts on each shade after a month of use.

Starting with the Nabla shadows, Narciso is a rosy milk chocolate brown and I used this primarily in the crease. A good work horse this month. Unrestricted is a ruddy plummy brown with gold sparkles. A very pretty all over the lid shade – easy to work with and I have nothing bad to say about it. I’m glad I rediscovered this shade. Desire is also a pretty all over the lid shade. Cleo is a basic antique gold and Sugar is a pretty soft light champagne pink. Neither is very special, but I enjoy wearing them and I generally like Nabla so they can come along to round 2. Mellow is a vey interesting dirty sand and I think it is quite special used all over the lid. So I’m keeping all six of the Nabla shadows.

The Garden of Eden palette by Sleek Makeup

I am so attracted to the shade composition in the Garden of Eden palette (Sleek) – the mauves, lilacs and greens. But after wearing it quite a lot this month I was conflicted. The mattes with glitter, Forbidden and Entwined, are not working very well. Adam’s Apple (pale green) is poorly pigmented and does not turn up on the eye as I would like. The darker mattes, Flora (brown)and Tree of Life (green) work well enough. The standout shade for me is Paradise on Earth, a gorgeous rosy lilac that I really enjoy on the eye. I tried to find another similar shade in my collection but lucked out with the pressed shadows. Initially I was going to depot and keep some shades but after some (a lot) consideration I just decided to let it go.

The Respect palette by Sleek Makeup

I used the Respect palette (Sleek) on two days this month and decided pretty quickly that I have no love for it. There mattes are underwhelming and the shimmers are not special enough to warrant keeping this. The black was used a lot but only because it was my only available dark shade so it did liner duty.

Looking at the last singles palette I feel wow, this array of swatches are really inspiring. Going in to this monthly arsenal I knew that I would keep most of these. I love the matte formula by Lethal Cosmetics and they are all quite new compared to most of my other shadows. Release is a muted purple and Recluse a murky medium green, both unique shades in my arsenal. Cycle is great as a bright crease or as a standalone all over the lid shade. I used Spawn and Fahrenheit as deepening shades for crease and outer corner. Subtle colours that can lean a look in a more brick or pink direction. Void is more of a pastel green and maybe not as useful for me as the other mattes. But I have noticed that I really appreciate having these lighter and brighter colours as accents, usually in the inner eye area, inner corner and above that area up to the brow. There are three shimmers by Lethal here and I really like all three. Enigma and Echo are my favourites but I really appreciate the bright pop of green that Vertex gives. So I am absolutely not giving up any of the Lethal shades. Ritzy by Makeup Geek is gorgeous and it is still lovely despite its age. The only one I’m letting go is Vestment by KvD. It is a very pretty shade but I found it to last poorly on the eye. It creased more than other shades and felt faded after half a day. Other shades do not behave in the same way on my eyes so I do not feel inclined to keep this shadow.

And finally we have the four loose singles. My main issue with Velvet Lavender (Bare Minerals) is the loose format. The shade itself is very nice and used as an inner corner matte highlight it adds brightness and a little something something to for example a more neutral lid look. However I think I will overlook it due to it being a loose shadow so I will let this one go.

Hallucination and Levitation (Meow Cosmetics) are both pretty inner corner highlights but out of the two Hallucination is my favourite. Levitation is not special enough to keep in a loose format.

Sceptic (Meow Cosmetics) is an interesting shade. A pastel purple with pink shimmer. But unfortunately it is not an easy shade to use and the pastel base easily gets a bit patchy when applied. Since it is part of the well loved (by me) Friday the 13th collection by Meow I wanted to keep it despite it being a bit finicky, but after some afterthought I will let this one go as well. That was all of the shades in this month’s arsenal.

So that was the rundown of the products in March’s audit. Below are some of the looks I created with said products. 

March 5

Eyes: Gates of Eden, Eve’s Kiss, Paradise on Earth, Python, Forbidden, Entwined, Count Basi Beige, Roberta Black, Hallucination

Cheeks: Molten (Sleek)

Lips: Striking (Revlon)

March 8

Eyes: Unrestricted, Narciso, Velvet Lavender

Cheeks: Dandelion (Benefit, blush), Taupe (MAC, contour), Perfect Topping (MAC, highlight)

Lips: Cream Lip Stain in “01” (Sephora) and lip pencil in Redd (MAC)

March 11

Eyes: Gates of Eden, FLora, Narciso, Desire

Cheeks: Havtorn (Idun Minerals)

Lips: A mix of Goldstone and Pink Opal (Linda Hallberg)

March 17

Eyes: Eve’s Kiss, Desire, Cleo

Cheeks: The Perfect Cheek (MAC, blush), Next to Skin (MAC, contour), Glow from Filmstar Bronze and Glow (Charlotte Tilbury, highlight)

Lips: Sultry (Revlon)

March 19

Eyes: Fahrenheit, Vestment, Echo, Velvet Lavender

Cheeks: Demerera (Sleek, blush), Sculpt (MAC, countour), Obsexed (Nabla, highlight)

Lips: Mix of Burning Love and Mull it Over (MAC)

March 23

Eyes: Cycle, Spawn, Cleo, Sugar

Cheeks: At Dusk (MAC, blush), Silhouette (Illamasqua, contour), Deity (Illamasqua, highlight)

Lips: Dolce Vita (Nars)

March 25

Eyes: Cycle, Spawn, Fahrenheit, Ritzy, Roberta Black

Cheeks: Pinky Peach (Isadora, blush), Sculpt (MAC, contour), Phantoma (Meow Cosmetics, highlight)

Lips: A mix of Luxurist (H&M), Rouge Feu (Chanel) and L’éxuberante (Chanel) lined with Pillow Talk lip liner (Charlotte Tilbury)

March 29

Eyes: Enigma, Fahrenheit, Echo, Sugar

Cheeks: Sur (MAC, blush), Next to Skin (MAC, contour), Lightscapades (MAC, highlighter)

Lips: Goldstone (Linda Hallberg)

So two fixed palettes and four single shadows are leaving my collection. A total of 28 individual shadows. I’m very glad that I came to the conclusion to let the Sleek palettes go. In this part of my audit process, after a year and a half, I’m realising that most of the Sleek palettes are probably not worth keeping. I know I’ve kept some in the previous months of this audit but the further in I get, the more I feel that I will let most of them go. They had a place in my life many years ago but that time is over. I feel nothing for them at this point.

Beside auditing my eyeshadows, my quest to maximise my usage of my cheek and lip arsenal continues. This month I managed to wear 23 blushes, 5 contour shades, 12 highlighters, 22 lipsticks, 1 gloss and 5 lip liners. I’m starting to form some thoughts on some items that might be let go in the coming months.

I mentioned in last month’s roundup that I’m getting a bit fed up with the first part of the audit and that I’m keen to move on to round 2. But I also firmly believe that a completion of round 1 of this project will make an impact on my decision-making in the audit, and help me let things go, and in the long run as well. It will aid me in deciding on how I want my makeup arsenal to look in the future and to make smart purchases on the occasions that I find something I like. So in order to get a better picture of the remainder of the audit project, a few weeks back I went through all of the remaining items and divided them into future monthly arsenals. Mattes will only last for a few more months and then I can move on with Round 2 of mattes. But in total I have material to continue this audit until February 2022. That is how much stuff I have accumulated over the years. Something to think about.

Thank you for reading!

This months arsenal was actually picked out a few months in advance, when I was beginning to get a bit bored with only choosing Meow shadows. I chose January and February in one go and after that I decided on March and April the same way.

February’s arsenal consisted of four fixed palettes and two quads assembled with single shadows. A lot of colour and shimmer with a solid base of matte neutrals by Urban Decay, Chanel, Illamasqua and MAC.

The Afterdark palette by Urban Decay

The Afterdark palette by Urban Decay was limited edition in 2017 and I was pleasantly surprised when I found it available in Sweden despite hearing rumours that it would not be sold here. So I bought it. The overall colour scheme is very appealing but it was a very long time since I last reached for it.

The Moondust palette by Urban Decay

The Moondust palette, also by Urban Decay, was bought in autumn 2016. I used it for a while and then it was overshadowed by newer items. I have not worn this for many years now.

The Demise palette by Illamasqua

I purchased this quad, the Demise palette by Illamasqua, as part of a bundle in 2018. I was purchasing a number of other products and this bundle consisted of a dark burgundy lipstick (that I never wore and then it expired), this quad (that I’ve never used) and a full size Gel Sculpt in the shade Silhouette. The Gel Sculpt is now my favourite contour and I’m very pleased that this bundle offer made me try it. But….all in all I feel like I might have been a shitty purchase.

The Candeur et Expérience palette by Chanel

This Chanel palette was part of a stunning collection in 2016 fronted by the equally stunning Kristen Stewart. I fell in love with the entire collection and received large parts of it as a gift from my husband. It consists of four warm satin mattes, three brown shades and a red.

Top Row L-R: Strike While Haute, Farasha

Bottom Row L-R: Indian Ink, Vibrant Grape

To add a bit of colourful mattes into the mix I opted for four MAC singles in coral red, pumpkin orange and two shades of violet. These shadows are of varying age and the newest is probably from around 2014. Most of my MAC shades are quite old at this point.

Top Row L-R: Brains & Brawn, Concrete

Bottom Row L-R: Outré, Coquette

Then finally we have another quad of mattes to fill in the colour gaps in the arsenal, some more neutrals including somewhat cooler crease shades. These are also all older MAC shades.

Let’s move on to swatches and my feelings on these products after a month of use.

All of these MAC mattes performed well for me even though I did not wear them as much as I initially thought I would (the warmer neutral shades in the Chanel quad was my primary source of matte crease shades during February). But I wore all of these shades one or twice and liked what I saw. A very pleasant experiment was on February 21st when I used Farasha and Strike While haute on top of a paler glossy lipstick (Luxurist by H&M) and made an amazing fruity lip colour (see look further down in this post). I will definitely use that technique again to customise a lip colour.

The Candeur et Expérience palette by Chanel

I have so many fond memories surrounding this palette and the collection it was part of. An entire collection seldom catch my heart but this one did. The shadows were warmer than I was used to and that warm red was intriguing. Many of my favourite lipsticks were purchased in relation to this collection as well. The shadows in the quad perform well and even though they are not as unique shades in my arsenal anymore I still want to keep it and keep on wearing it just for the nostalgia.

The Demise palette by Illamasqua

I only used this palette once, if we do not count that the black shade did liner duty quite a few times. It became apparent that I have no use for this quad. The cream shade is pretty but it creases on my oily lids and the burgundy is not up up to par quality-wise. The white gold is beautiful, but so is Alter from the Afterdark palette and I have limited use for numerous shades like that. I will let this one go in its entirety.

The Afterdark palette by Urban Decay

I really like the shade selection in the Afterdark palette (Urban Decay) but several shades perform badly. I do not think they have aged well because I can not remember Backfire and Paralyzed being so bland. The shade that stood out in a positive was Lounge. I tried to find a dupe in my collection but could not so after much consideration I decided to depot that shade and keep it. In doing so I also opened the possibility to keep some more shades. I decided on Supersonic, Sinful and Alter. Vibrant and very useful shades with a good formula. All of the others were poor performers except Scene, but I have no use for another pale gold pink.

The Moondust palette by Urban Decay

I fell in love with the Moondust palette this month. The texture of the shadows is just amazing and my preferred method of application is tapped on with a finger on their own or on top of another shadow as a sparkly transforming shade. I can happily wear all of shades in the palette and I am so glad that I have rediscovered this gem.

So that was the rundown of the products in April’s audit. Let’s have a look at some of the looks I created with said products. 

February 3

Eyes: All four shades from the Chanel quad, Scene, Sinful and the bronze pink from the Illamasqua quad

Cheeks: Bronze and Glow from the Filmstar Bronze & Glow palette (Charlotte Tilbury)

Lips: Sultry (Revlon)

February 6

Eyes: Element, Lightyear, Vega, Galaxy, Brains & Brawn, black by Illamasqua, black cream base by H&M

Cheeks: Stereo Rose (MAC)

Lips: Muse lip pencil and Velvet Blush (Lisa Eldridge)

February 14

Eyes: All four shades in the Illamasqua quad, Outre

Cheeks: Pomegranate (blush, Sleek), Silouhette (gel sculpt, Illamasqua), Phantoma (highlighter, Meow Cosmetics)

Lips: Velvet Decade (Lisa Eldridge)

February 19

Eyes: Lounge, top two shades from the Chanel Quad and the black by Illamasqua

Cheeks: Supernova (MAC)

Lips: Beet lip liner, Burning Love lipstick (MAC)

Februari 21

Eyes: Strike While Haute, Farasha, black by Illamasqua

Cheeks: Spring Flock (MAC)

Lips: Luxurist (H&M) topped with Strike While Haute and Farasha eyeshadows

In this audit I let go of two fixed palettes and a total of 10 individual shades. I’ve also rediscovered a great palette (Moondust), which makes me very pleased. Another focus this month, besides evaluating the eye arsenal, was my effort to wear as many of my cheek and lip products as possible. I actually managed to wear a whopping 19 blushes, 6 contour shades, 14 highlighters, 18 lipsticks, 1 gloss and 3 lip pencils. A damn good job!

I’ve been thinking a lot about my audit project lately. I still think it’s a valuable way to evaluate my large and ageing collection of makeup by wearing things for a month to solidify my opinions on them. The monthly arsenal also gives me a creative push by having only a fixed set of tools to work with. But as I was picking out shades for May the other day I realised just how many shadows I have to go through still and if I keep doing the monthly arsenal the way that I have I will be doing this for way longer than I want to. I am a super keen to move forward to round 2 of the audit, where I compare similar items, but I really want to wear stuff on my eyes before I discard or keep them. A bit of a dilemma.

Another thing I’ve noticed is that I’m running low on mattes. It says a lot that I’ve been able to do this for a year and a half and I’m only now running out of certain basic mattes to form a comprehensive monthly arsenal. I’m not completely settled on how I want to proceed, but I think I will have to switch up my approach in the near future.

Thanks for reading!

Having gone through all of my powder cheek products such as blushers, highlighters and contour shades in previous audits, for January I only had eyeshadows in my monthly arsenal. So when doing my makeup I had my entire cheek arsenal at my disposal.

After a few months with large monthly arsenals full of individual shadows I wanted something “lighter” to audit and chose two fixed palettes that offered a large variety of colours. A massive palette by NYX consisting of 40 shadows of varying finish and a smaller 12 shadow palette from H&M with mainly shimmers/glitters. Together these two palettes offered a plethora of choice with a total of 52 shades with a great variety of mattes, metallics and other textures. My choice to use only these two palettes did limit my possibilities to let things go this month but on the other hand it did provide the opportunity to really get to know two palettes in my arsenal and that is a very good thing.

The Swear By It palette by NYX

The Swear By It palette by NYX is my first and only eye shadow product from the brand. I purchased it in the spring of 2019 after seeing some rave reviews online and finding the colour selection very appealing. The murky mattes (especially 6, 11, 19, 24, 27, 29, 37) combined with some appetising shimmers (such as 12, 21, 28, 32) were the main draw and I felt it would be a nice addition to my arsenal. After starting my audit project in the autumn of the same year I did not touched this palette so it felt really good to give a proper run this past month.

Top Row L-R: A, B, C, D

Middle Row L-R: E, F, G, H

Bottom row L-R: I, J, K, L

The Special FX Eye Colour palette by H&M was a limited edition piece that I purchased in the summer of 2018. It is full of flakie and duochrome goodness. A true little gem of a palette. Since the shades have no names I gave them letters as identifiers just to make it a bit easier when reporting my thoughts on each shade.

Let’s move on the swatches and my thoughts on each shade after using them during the course of January.

Swear By It

First row in the Swear By It palette by NYX

The first row consists of pale and dusty pastels, six mates and two shimmers. 1 is one of those amazingly useful crease shades for me that gets used a lot. I use it as an only crease shade or to blend out other darker shades, such as blues. 2 is a pretty light golden beige that serves as an inner corner highlight on me. It’s one of the few shades in this palette that served that purpose for me. 3 is a warm peachy brown and an overall basic but useful shade. 4 is a pastel peach shade that I found a bit dusty but I think it looked very nice used all over the lid. 5 is a tad to yellow to be a proper brow bone shade or edge diffuser on me, and not dark enough to be a proper crease shade. But I did get some use out of it as a crease diffuser in the inner part of my crease where it also added a tiny bit of depth in the diffusion that I enjoyed. 7 on the lid looks mainly like a light gold albeit a slightly green tinged gold. It works ok as an inner corner highlight as well. 8 is a bit too pale and nothing to be a useful shade on me. One of the proper duds for me.

Second row in the Swear By It palette by NYX

The second row consists of three mattes and five shimmers. 9 is a very stunning muted rusty pink shimmer with a brown base that paired well with 10 for an easy but not boring neutral eye look. I had never worn 11 before this month and I’m so glad I have now discovered it. It’s unlike any of my other yellow shades and very inspiring. A sort of dirty bright. I only managed to use 12 once and 13 was not used at all, but since they are easily some of the most previously used shades in this palette I think nothing of it. Yellow is a colour I wear a lot and this bright yellow is no different. 12 is a stunning dusty pale rose gold and one of my favourite shades before this month. 14 is a nice olive green shimmer, pretty but not too exciting. I do not gravitate towards aqua shades like 15 and I’m not surprised that I never wore it. But I envision that this shade has potential as a topper in the future. 16 is a nice medium gunmetal. Not very exciting but useful.

Third row in the Swear By It palette by NYX

The third row is full of bright yet somewhat muted colours, six mattes or near mattes and two shimmers. 17 is a pretty muted rose that was worn once paired with another more intense shadow from the H&M palette. 18 was a lovely surprise. A stunning slightly muted dark pink and I shade I found was easier to use than anticipated. Easy to blend and build up. 19 and 20 are amazing shades for me to use all over the lid or as a pop of tangerine in the crease. 21 is a beautiful fiery gold shade and very useful for me. 22 was not the easies to blend but the shade is very interesting. It’s not a matte but rather a satin. I did not use 23 and I’m not sure I ever want to. I rather just let it sit there untouched. That type of blue is just not my jam. 24 was a real positive surprise as well. The perfect blue shade on me! I have issues with wearing blue since I often feel it does not go well with my complexion. But as with all colours it is all about finding the perfect shade for me, not that I cannot wear the colour at all. This dusty greyed blue is one of the prettiest blues I’ve worn.

Fourth row in the Swear By It palette by NYX

The fourth row is a bit more neutral. 25 is yet another great crease shade for me. A tad darker and cooler than 1 but both have similar purpose, this one just add more depth. 26 is a pink shimmer with a mauve base, a pretty muted shade that is not done justice in the picture above. 27 is a lovely rosy brown and a fairly unique shade in my arsenal. 28 is a stunning rosy copper and 29 is a dirty tangerine. All beautiful on the eyes. 30 was another surprise. A dark murky green that was lovely to use and added depth and colour to a more smokey look. 31 was never worn but this is one of the blue shades that I actually could see myself liking layered on top of other shadows. 32 is another previous favourite so I’m not too worried that I hardly wore it this month. A beautiful blue duochrome with a ruddy base.

Fifth row in the Swear By It palette by NYX

The final and fifth row consists of primarily darker shades. Only two out of eight are shimmers. 33 is a cool dark purple and 34 is a magnificent cool dark red. 34 especially had beautiful pigmentation and was easy to blend. 35 is a great dark cool brown and despite looking a bit boring in the pan it was beautiful on the eyes. This shade is also great as a base to layer other shifting products over. I can see the green/blue shimmers looking amazing on top of the brown base. 36 was one of my most worn shades of the month as it functioned primarily as a deepening shade for warmer looks as well as a liner. 37 is yet again another muted bright matte – the reason why I love this palette. Such variety in interesting matte shades that are easy to work with. 39 was surprisingly easy to use despite being such a dark shade and I had fun using it. It is a tad redundant to have both 38 and 40 in the same palette, but I did get use out of both.

I have really gotten to know this palette in January and my feelings for it have increased. The Swear By It palette has got a great shade selection for me and it provides endless options. I can use most shades, even several of the blue shades, and the shade variety nicely complements the rest of my makeup collection. The murky mattes and pretty shimmers combine so well and even after using it a whole month, there are still oh so many combinations that I have yet to try. The only negative I can think of with this palette is the cheap and boring packaging. But the insides are a whole lot of fun.

Special FX

The Special FX Eye Colour Palette by H&M – Part 1

The Special FX palette was a perfect companion to the Nyx palette. A is a stunning bright fuchsia with blue and pink glitter particles. I applied this with a finger on top of other pink shades and the look was stunning. B is a lovely molten gold and one I actually did not use this month. I already know it is an easy shade for me to wear so I did not focus on it. C did inner corner duty and did it well, I love a duochrome for that purpose. D was used as a liner but otherwise this shade is a bit of a dud for me. I suppose it has a function in the palette to accompany the other shades but I still need to bring in other mattes for a complete look so I would just prefer if this was another shimmer instead of a matte with glitter. E is a bit tricky to use. The glitter is a bit chunky and I found that the best application method is to pat it on and blend with a finger after I had applied my matte shadows. F was never worn, but not because I’m not attracted to it but rather that I had so many other shades to try and was spoiled with choice.

The Special FX Eye Colour Palette by H&M – Part 2

H is a very shiny silver that reminds me of mercury, it was lovely to use both as a lid shade and as an inner corner shade. J is another blue shade I really enjoy. I paired it with a dark matte red and it looked so good. G, I and K were perfect as inner corner highlights but K was a bit of a weaker performer than the other two. The formula was chunkier and drier. Nothing that will stop me from using it in the future though. L looks boring in the pan but the purple shimmer particles really pop on the eye.

To evaluate the palette as a whole I think it’s a fun and valuable component in my arsenal. The shadows are very beautiful and many of them are unlike anything else I have.

So that was the rundown of the palettes in January’s audit. Let’s move on to some of the looks I created with said products. 

January 2

Eyes: 2, 8, 39

Cheeks: Sur and Next to Skin (MAC), Filmstar Bronze and Glow highlighter (Charlotte Tilbury)

Lips: Velvet Muse (Lisa Eldridge)

January 4

Eyes: 4, C, 36

Cheeks: Breath of Plum, Next to Skin and Perfect Topping (all by MAC)

Lips: Blush gloss (Lisa Eldridge)

January 9

Eyes: 7, 19, 27, 35, 40, H

Cheeks: Dusty Rose and Nude Blossom (Isadora), Perfect Topping (MAC)

Lips: Velvet Midnight (Lisa Eldridge)

January 11

Eyes: 16, 22, 25, 30, H

Cheeks: Dandelion (Benefit), Lightscapade (MAC)

Lips: Nougatine (H&M)

January 13

Eyes: 4, 26, 27, 29, 36, C

Cheeks: Breath of Plum and Next to Skin (MAC), OMG (Illamasqua)

Lips: Skyscraper Rose (Lisa Eldridge)

January 15

Eyes: 2, 25, 33, 34

Cheeks: Turbinado (Sleek), Here Comes Joy (MAC)

Lips: Blush lip gloss (Lisa Eldridge)

January 17

Eyes: 11, 38, G

Cheeks: Muscavado (Sleek), Taupe and Perfect Topping (MAC)

Lips: Cream Lip Stain “17” (Sephora)

January 18

Eyes: 1, 7, 9, 10, 36

Cheeks: Mocha and Sculpt (MAC), Phee’s original loose highlighter

Lips: Noir Moderne (Chanel)

January 19

Eyes: 28, 29, 36, 37, G

Cheeks: Sur (MAC), purple shade in LE-trio (H&M)

Lips: Velvet Muse and Blush lip gloss (Lisa Eldridge)

January 22

Eyes: 14, 22, 30, K

Cheeks: Kendra and Obsexed (Nabla)

Lips: Burning Love (MAC)

January 25

Eyes: 34, 40, I, J

Cheeks: Demerara (Sleek), Gotham (Nabla), Filmstar Bronze and Glow highlighter (Charlotte Tilbury)

Lips: Velvet Fawn (Lisa Eldridge) and When in Rome (H&M)

January 29

Eyes: 1, 12, 29, 35, 36, 38

Cheeks: Bon Fire (Sleek)

Lips: Muse lipliner and Velvet Muse (Lisa Eldridge)

January 30

Eyes: 18, 25, 32, 34, 39, D, L

Cheeks: At Dusk, Next to Skin and Lightscapade (MAC)

Lips: no notes

This month has not resulted in me letting any products go since both palettes are terrific. But it has solidified these two palettes’ worth to me as part of my possessions and introduced me to the possibilities these shadows give me in terms of creating looks. Both contain a multitude of shades that are unique to my arsenal and I am very happy to have them at hand. I am now better acquainted with most of the shades and a memory of what they can do. There are a few shades in each palette that are not great, but most of them are great.

Thanks for reading!

This December I participated in the tag #redlipsdecember created by @luvanloud on Instagram as I have done for a few years now. The main goal is to wear a red lip on every day of December and I tweaked my ambition slightly so that I at least wore red lips on every day that I wore makeup, which was not everyday by any means. Last year I chose neutral eyeshadows to audit in December to make my job easier when creating looks to go with a red lip. This year I unintentionally chose a different approach. Since I have been going through my seasonally appropriate loose shadow collections by Meow Cosmetics for a few months I had in advance picked what to use for December as well, not even thinking about #redlipsdecember. But I did feel up for the challenge and it turned out to be a fun month creativity-wise.

Besides shadows from several Meow Cosmetics collections (Santa Baby, Ghosts of Xmas Past, 4 Horsemen, End of Days, Xmas Trees, Holiday Wishes, Reindeer), I chose loose pigments by MAC and Bare Minerals, single shadows by Illamasqua, Urban Decay and & Other Stories. In addition I picked one fixed palette by Linda Hallberg and one magnetic palette with singles from brands such as Lethal Cosmetics, Nabla, KvD, Makeup Geek and Neve Cosmetics. A whopping 50 shades for the eyes. Cheeks was not a big category this month since I am currently down to my last two highlighters to audit, both by Phee’s Makeup Tips. This means I can start with round 2 for blush, contour and highlighters in 2021. Not sure exactly how to proceed with that yet, but it should be fun.

Part One – Eyes

Top Row L-R: Quadrifoglio, Hipster, Radikal, Chiaroscuro

Middle Row L-R: Brownie Points, Lotus, Devil, Petra

Bottom Row L-R: Frantic, Cascade, Imago, Delirium, Martyr

Every month need some core shades such as mattes and neutral shades. Some of them were assembled in this magnetic palette. One depotted Neve shadow (Quadrifoglio), two by Makeup Geek (Hipster, Brownie Points), four by Nabla (Radikal, Chiaroscuro, Lotus, Petra), two depotted by KvD (Martyr, Devil) and four from Lethal Cosmetics (Frantic, Cascade, Imago and Delirium). Some colour and some basic neutrals – a good mix.

Top Row L-R: Heroine, Cubica mauve

Bottom Row L-R: Velvet Nude, Smokeout

To complete the core lineup I added some single shadows to cover the holes left by the other palette. Two crease shades, one by Illamasqua (Heroine) and one by & Other Stories (Cubica Mauve), one beige shade by Bare Minerals (Velvet Nude) to use as a diffuser and a satin black by Urban Decay (Smokeout) to use as liner and to darken any eye look.

Metallic Mysteries II by Linda Hallberg

This Linda Hallberg palette is full of typical Christmas shades so I thought it would be appropriate to use it this month. I got this as a gift when it was released two years ago. I’ve worn it a few times but not enough to feel like I’ve had a proper relationship with it, if you know what I mean. A good audit contestant.

Top Row L-R: Basic Red, Kitchmas, Pink Pearl

Bottom Row L-R: Delicate Drift, Stylishly Merry

Some MAC items of varying age were also included due to being very seasonally appropriate. Kitchmas is one of my oldest pigments and it might even have been from when I lived in Brighton in 2000-2001. I’m a little unsure of the exact year but lets just say it is extremely old. Basic Red and Pink Pearl are from between 2012-2014 I think. The two shadows in compacts are newer from the Snow Ball collection from 2017. The are both shifting pink bronzes, a type of shade I am extra drawn to.

Top Row L-R: Duplex, Winter Coat, Grinch

Bottom Row L-R: Ornament, Fa-la-la

Moving on to the Meow Cosmetics collections. Here we have the Santa Baby (Duplex) and Ghosts of Xmas Past (Winter Coat, Grinch, Ornament, Fa-la-la) collections.

Top Row L-R: , Cedar, Spruce, Noble

Bottom Row L-R: Love, Serenity, Peace On Earth

Then we have the collections Xmas Trees (Cedar, Spruce, Noble) and Holiday Wishes (Love, Serenity, Peace On Earth) also from Meow Cosmetics.

Top Row L-R: Death, Famine, Violence, Pestilence

Bottom Row L-R: Dancer, Comet, Donner

Then we have the 4 Horsemen (Death, Famine, Violence, Pestilence) and Reindeer (Dancer, Comet, Donner) collections by Meow Cosmetics.

Top Row L-R: Doomsday, Hysteria, End Game

Bottom Row L-R: Oblivion, Hopeless, Prophecy

And finally we have the End of Days collection from Meow Cosmetics (all of the shadows above). Dark and murky yet colourful goodness.

That was all of the eye products in Decembers arsenal, a hefty number of products. Let’s move on to swatches and a walkthrough of how I felt about each shadow during the course of the month, starting with the magnetic palette with matte singles.

All shades side by side, se names in the next two pictures

Quadrifoglio (Neve Cosmetics) is a shade I depotted from their Scurissimi palette but this shade can be purchased as a single as well. This shadow was fairly easy to use and kept its colour when blended. Even though it might be a shade I wear seldom I want to keep it to se if I can use it more often. Hipster (MUG) has turned a bit dusty over the years and that is one of the reasons I will not be keeping it. The colour was nice to wear but it simply does not have enough impact to be kept when I know I have other similar shades from other brands. Radikal and Lotus (both by Nabla) are beautiful colourful mattes that I want to wear more often in the future. I enjoyed wearing both and they were lovely to work with. Chiaroscuro (Nabla) was mainly used as a liner so I can not say too much on its merits as a smoky shade. The cool tone makes it very versatile for me and I would like to keep using it. The same goes for Brownie Points (MUG). It’s an interesting dusty purple brown that pairs well with other shades.

All of the above shades will be kept. The ruddy pinks from Lethal Cosmetics are amazing to work with – Frantic, Cascade and the lovely Imago. The blend so well and keep their colour. Delirium (Lethal) is a nice shade as well, even though it is not as fun as the other Lethal shades included this month. But it is oh so useful! The Lethal shades are some of my newest eyeshadows (purchased in the Spring 2019) and I did not expect to get rid of any in this audit, but it was lovely to play with them some more. Petra is another Nabla shade and I do enjoy this one a lot. A ruddy brown that I think is rather unique in my total arsenal. Lastly we have two depotted KvD shades from the Sinner & Saint palette, Devil and Martyr. I used them mainly in the crease to add a bit of colour and warmth. They are both pretty and worked well. Both are the type of shade that I probably have ten times over but I will keep them for now.

Heroine (Illamasqua) is a very useful crease shade for me and I really love the brand’s packaging. It is very impractical for me to have such a basic shade in a single compact but I will think about that later. For now I will keep it. Cubica Mauve (& Other Stories) is a shade that my love for has lessened. I have similar shades that I enjoy more so this is a single I’m ready to let go of. Velvet Nude (Bare Minerals) is a beige shade that is a smidge darker than my skin colour when applied to the face. I did use it as a diffuser around the edges of an eye look during this month, but i have no need to keep it in my arsenal. I have similar shades in pans that I prefer using for that specific purpose. Smokeout by Urban Decay is a lovely satin black that I reached for quite a lot. I used it as liner and to darken up the outer corner of my eye. I might depot this in the future but UD singles packaging is so pretty that I am a bit reluctant to disturb it. Out of these four I’m keeping Heroine and Smokeout and letting the other two go.

Metallic Mysteries II by Linda Hallberg

Since this was a gift that I had wished for I feel a bit sentimental towards the Metallic Mysteries II palette but one thing this month has taught me is that I have little feelings towards it other than that. The shades are fine but they are simply not special enough for me to keep this separate little quad. If I could have depotted them I might have considered it but as it is now I am letting the whole thing go.

The image above is just so delicious to me. The shades go so well together. Let’s start with Basic Red (MAC). I used to fantasise about owning this PRO pigment back in the day when that assortment was hard to get a hold of in Sweden. I lusted after it and when I finally bought it many years later, did I ever use it? NO. The swatch above is beautiful but when I used it on the eyes it quickly became such a mess that I had to remove the whole thing. I love red eyeshadow passionately but a matte loose pigment is clearly not for me. The fallout was spreading pigmented stains of red/pink on my cheeks, making the pigment a nightmare to work with. I am glad to let it go. Kitchmas (MAC) on the other hand is a sparkly light silvery pink pigment that I still love. I have very sentimental feelings towards this pigment, since it was purchased at a significant time in my makeup loving life, and the fact that it still is lovely on the eyes make me want to keep it a little longer. Maybe not my most level-headed choice in this audit but I’m clearly not ready to just let it go. Pink Pearl is a beautiful pink shade with a blue shift and i enjoyed wearing it a lot. Keeper. Delicate Drift and Stylishly Merry are stunning shadows. I really enjoy the In Extra Dimension formula from MAC and these are no exception. I need to wear these a lot more often.

Santa Baby and Ghosts of Xmas Past collections by Meow Cosmetics

Duplex is a pretty colour on the eyes but it’s not special enough to keep. If it was a pressed shadow I might reach for it, but in loose form I’m sure it will never be used. Winter Coat is also out due to being a flat and boring shade on the eye. Grinch on the other hand is a magnificent green that I’m very excited to wear again. Ornament and Fa-la-la are both very happy and bright shades. They will go on to round 2 as well. So two out of five are out.

Xmas Trees and Holiday Wishes collections by Meow Cosmetics

Next we have three green shades. Cedar is a very pretty inner corner shade and Spruce and Noble are beautiful on the lid. I am very fond of green eyeshadow in general so all three can stay for now. Love, Serenity and Peace On Earth were all used as inner corner highlights and there is just something about them that I love. They are all staying as well.

4 Horsemen and Reindeer collections by Meow Cosmetics

Violence and Pestilence are beautiful dark but still colourful lid shades. Famine has a lovely delicate blue sheen not visible in the swatch above. I enjoy all three a lot. Death was the least exciting shade of the bunch, but still nice enough to keep in order to keep the 4 Horsemen collection intact. Moving on to the three reindeer shades, Comet was the only letdown. Somehow it had a weird blue base that came through when blending, a fact I had not noticed before (and I’m quite sure I have used it before this month). That feature made the decision easy since I know that it will keep me from using it in the future. Donner and Dancer are stunning though. Donner is a beautiful inner corner shade and Dancer is stunning all over the lid.

End of Days collection by Meow Cosmetics

I’m very fond of the End of Days collection primarily because of the shades Hysteria and Prophecy that I have use quite a lot over the years. Prophecy is a stunning white gold that is lovely in the inner corner and also as a cheek highlight. Hysteria is a potent molten gold that makes my heart sing. Then we have End Game, a very interesting muted green yellow. A very fun shade. Doomsday is also a hit, a strong popping purple. Oblivion is nice as well. A more muted dark red that I enjoyed pairing with darker pinks with great effect (see look from December 26). The dud of the lot was Hopeless. It has a blue base that makes it difficult to blend and the end result was not a shade that looked very appealing on me.

Part Two – Cheeks

L-R: Cryptic, Lasaia

My last two highlighters are two cool shades by Phee’s Makeup Tips (Cryptic, Lasaia). Since I had no blushes left to audit I picked a selection of previously audited items to complete the cheek arsenal, see my choices below. This is also the last month I will be doing a cheek arsenal since I will have audited all of my blushes, highlighters and contour shades when December is over. In January I will start using all of my cheek products again and evaluate the entirety of my cheek collection simultaneously. Maybe I will let some go, or I will be content with keeping them all. We shall see.

Top Row L-R: Legendary (MAC), Pink Cult (MAC)

Bottom Row L-R: Baby Don’t Go (MAC), Flushed (Sleek Makeup), Rapture (Urban Decay)

I wore each shade only once this month and that was enough to determine that these are not for me. These were too stark for me, I just know I will not reach for them. So both are out.

That was it, the complete rundown of all the products I audited during December. Let’s move on to some of the looks I wore during the month, created with this arsenal. And all of my red lip products! Let’s not forget them.

December 4

Eyes: Pink Pearl, Cascade, Delicate Drift, Chiaroscuro

Cheeks: Baby Don’t Go

Lips: Velvet Dragon (Lisa Eldridge) and lip pencil in Brick (MAC)

December 5

Eyes: Arcturus, Frantic, Imago, Smokeout

Cheeks: Lotus, Rapture, Prophecy

Lips: Rouge Vie (Chanel)

December 8

Eyes: Ornament, Delirium, Love

Cheeks: Flushed

Lips: Rouge Vie (Chanel) and lip pencil in Redd (MAC)

December 9

Eyes: Stylishly Merry, Peace On Earth, Draco, Quadrifoglio

Cheeks: Baby Don’t Go

Lips: Velvet Ribbon (Lisa Eldridge) and lip pencil in Cherry (MAC)

December 11

Eyes: Famine, Donner, Brownie Points, Smokeout

Cheeks: Rapture, Cryptic

Lips: Devoted to Chili (MAC)

December 13

Eyes: Pestilence, Cedar, Imago, Delicate Drift, Chiaroscuro, Smokeout

Cheeks: Pink Cult

Lips: Velvet Jazz (Lisa Eldridge)

December 19

Eyes: Draco, Lotus, Collision, Chiaroscuro

Cheeks: Legendary, Prophecy

Lips: Devoted to Chili (MAC)

December 20

Eyes: Hysteria, Donner, Martyr

Cheeks: Pink Cult

Lips: Velvet Ribbon (Lisa Eldridge) and lip pencil in Cherry (MAC)

December 21

Eyes: Collision, Epsilon, Chiaroscuro

Cheeks: Legendary

Lips: Velvet Dragon (Lisa Eldridge)

December 22

Eyes: Fa-la-la, Doomsday, Prophecy, Hipster, Brownie Points

Cheeks: Pink Cult, Prophecy

Lips: Rouge Feu (Chanel)

December 25

Eyes: Kitchmas, Chiaroscuro

Cheeks: Pink Cult

Lips: Striking (Revlon)

December 26

Eyes: Violence, Oblivion, Lotus, Frantic, Cascade, Chiaroscuro,

Cheeks: Baby Don’t Go

Lips: Fiery (Revlon)

December 29

Eyes: Noble, Devil, Petra, Chiaroscuro

Cheeks: Flushed

Lips: Velvet Dragon (Lisa Eldridge) and lip pencil in Brick (MAC)

All in all I let 11 items go, a total of 14 individual shades. I also felt like I had a very inspired makeup month and it was a fun challenge to do colourful eye looks to go with the red lipsticks. I had 9 lipsticks/crayons and three lip liners to play with and I used them all 2-3 times during the course of the month. It was very satisfying to utilise my red lip products to a maximum and get to know each shade’s potential a little bit more.

Moving on to January I’m not going to continue with choosing Meow Cosmetics collections as such a big part of my monthly arsenal. It was fun to do it for the three months that I did, so that I could use the Halloween and Christmas collections at the “appropriate time”, but now I want to choose differently. I might include one whole Meow collection in future monthly arsenal, but I look forward to choosing a bit more freely from other brands as well in the coming months.

Thanks for reading!

For November I continued with my plan to use seasonally themed collections from my vast Meow Cosmetics arsenal. This month I chose shadows from the collections Something Wicked, X and Asylum. All four had been released as part of Meow’s Halloween lineup.

Two palettes with singles from MAC, Neve, Nabla, MUG and Inglot were picked to accompany the loose pigments from Meow, a total of 33 shades for eyes. For cheeks I only had two products to audit this month, one blush from MAC and one loose highlighter from Phee’s Makeup Tips.

Part One – Eyes

Top Row L-R: Cinnamon, Kids, Poetry, Coconut Milk

Middle Row L-R: Verve, Leon, Chérie Shape, Circle

Bottom row L-R: Paprika, Camelot, Caramel, Fossil

This months core palette was this compilation of mattes by Nabla. I’m a big fan of their single shadows and their mattes are generally amazing.

Top Row L-R: Red Carpet, Cheer Me On, 45

Bottom Row L-R: Blacklight, Shimma Shimma, I’m Peachless

To accompany the Nabla mattes I added two more shades by Neve Cosmetics (Red Carpet) and MAC (Cheer Me On) in a smaller palette and also four inner corner highlights by Inglot (45) and Makeup Geek (Blacklight, Shimma Shimma, I’m Peachless). These two palettes would have to do the work the Meow Cosmetics pigments could not.

Top Row L-R: Valley of the Dead, Tormented, Folie A Deux

Bottom row L-R: Wicked, Nightmare, Wretched Soul

The Something Wicked collection by Meow Cosmetics is compiled of murky golds and greens. Very appealing. I know I have hardly ever worn these shades.

Top Row L-R: Mothman, Wampus Cat

Bottom row L-R: Snipe, Boogie Man

The X collection by Meow is so beautiful and I have worn this quite a lot in previous years. Especially the shades Mothman and Wampus Cat.

Top Row L-R: Sedative, Padded Cell, Electric Shock

Bottom Row L-R: Lobotomy, Basket Case

And finally we have some brighter shades from the Asylum Collection, also by Meow Cosmetics. These have hardly ever been worn.

Let’s go through each shade and see how they fared in the audit.

The Nabla shades were generally lovely to use and fulfilled their purpose during the month. Most worn were Camelot (liner, deepening shade), Coconut Milk (diffuser for edges) and Circle (crease). Leon was a fun crease and slight deepening shade that worked well in many looks. Cinnamon, Kids, Paprika and Caramel are lovely shades too but I guess I looked for cooler matte shades more often to accompany the loose Meow shades. Verve and Poetry were used only once each but they perform very well and the colours are quite rare in my overall collection. All of these are keepers for me. Chérie Shape was not worn at all but I see no point in letting it go. The quality is good, the shadow is fairly new and the colour is unique in my arsenal so it can stay for now. The one let down of the bunch was Fossil, the one shade I should have used a lot due to its versatile colour. But I found that it did not look good on me, weirdly enough, and this type of shade usually does. I wore it twice and came to the same conclusion both times. So Fossil is out.

Red Carpet (Neve) was worn only once but looked great and kept its colour nicely on the lid. I’m always glad to have an array of reds and this deep blood shade is a standout. Cheer Me On (MAC) looks terrible in the swatch but buffed out in the crease it did its job well and added a touch of bright orange. I know I have many oranges but this shade might be special enough and I would like to compare it to others before even thinking about letting it go, so it can stay until round 2. The four shimmers in this palette were used primarily as inner corner highlights and two are standouts. I’m Peachless and Blacklight (both old MUG) are such amazing duochrome shadows. I’m not suprised, I’m Peachless has been one of my favourite and most used shadows for many years now but I’m glad I have rediscovered Blacklight a bit. It’s perfect for layering over darker shadows for that stunning pinky-blue shift. Shimma Shimma (MUG) was pretty but it’s too basic and I have no need for it. 45 (Inglot) is an intense yellow gold highlighter shade and it’s very old. Had it been a more unique shade I would have considered keeping it, but it’s simply not special enough.

Something Wicked collection by Meow Cosmetics

Tormented and Folie a Deux are lovely dark and murky shimmers. They are similar but Tormented is lighter. I loved using them together as well as separate. Valley of the Dead, Wretched Soul and Wicked were very pretty as well. The only shade I do not feel keen to keep is Nightmare. I just know it is a shade I would never reach for.

X collection by Meow Cosmetics

After a bit of debating, I’m keeping all four of these. Mothman is a beautiful duochrome that I adore using, Wampus Cat is a rich green gold and Boogie Man a luscious pale green. Snipe was the one I was on the fence about initially but after using it a second time it won me over. It has a lovely pink shift that I enjoyed wearing.

Asylum collection by Meow Cosmetics

The final shadows this month were some bright and colourful shades from the Asylum collection. Out of these Lobotomy is a clear favourite. A stunning shimmering bright strawberry shade. Electric Shock is a lot of fun and Basket Case, albeit being a tad finicky to use, is such a unique shade of purple. Padded Cell is a bit too pale to be functional for me and Sedative is pretty but not special enough. So those two will be let go.

Part Two – Cheeks

L-R: Magenta, Brimstone

I am down to some of my final cheek products. Magenta by MAC is the last blush to be audited. Brimstone by Phee’s Makeup Tips is one of only three highlighters left.

Top Row L-R: Taupe, Sur, Play It Proper

Bottom Row L-R: At Dusk, Stereo Rose

To have some variety on the cheek front I decided to add in a selection of shades by MAC that I had previously gone through the audit victorious. Three blushes (Stereo Rose, At Dusk and Sur), one highlight (Play It Proper) and one contour (Taupe).

Magenta (MAC) was worn only a total of four times throughout the month. Such a deep pink is not an everyday shade for me. Even though I enjoy wearing it I have already kept similar blush shades that I know I do not need to keep another one. Brimstone (Phee’s) was only used twice and that was enough for me to know that I have no use for it. It’s just not the effect I’m after in a highlighter, this visible green silver sheen. So both cheek products are out.

Let’s move on to some of the looks I wore during the month…

November 5

Eyes: Wampus Cat, Leon, Padded Cell, Camelot

Cheeks: Sur, Play It Proper

Lips: Velvet Muse lipstick and lip pencil (Lisa Eldridge)

November 7

Eyes: Sedative, I’m Peachless, Red Carpet

Cheeks: At Dusk

Lips: Don’t remember

November 9

Eyes: Cheer Me On, I’m Peachless, Lobotomy,

Cheeks: Sur, Brimstone

Lips: Velvet Muse mixed with Velvet Blush (Lisa Eldridge)

November 10

Eyes: Boogie Man, Folie a Deux, 45, Leon, Camelot

Cheeks: Magenta, Brimstone

Lips: Muse gloss (Lisa Eldridge)

November 17

Eyes: Kids, Padded Cell, Coconut Milk

Cheeks: Sur, Play It Proper

Lips: Rouge Feu (Chanel)

November 18

Eyes: Shimma Shimma, Padded Cell, Kids, Coconut Milk, Leon

Cheeks: Magenta

Lips: Velvet Muse (Lisa Eldridge)

November 21

Eyes: Electric Shock, 45, Verve

Cheeks: no notes

Lips: Velvet Decade (Lisa Eldridge)

November 25

Eyes: Wicked, I’m Peachless, Circle,

Cheeks: Taupe

Lips: Velvet Muse mixed with Velvet Blush (Lisa Eldridge)

November 27

Eyes: Blacklight, Tormented, Folie a Deux, Cinnamon

Cheeks: Velvet Dragon lipstick by Lisa Eldridge

Lips: Velvet Dragon (Lisa Eldridge)

As you probably can tell November was the month when my order from Lisa Eldridge arrived. I purchased quite a few shades both from her new and old lineup. Other than being excited for the new lip shades at my disposal I had a pretty uninspired makeup month. The audit itself went just fine but I spent so much energy at work that I had little time to be creative and play around with shades. Autumn has been like that I notice, I said the same thing in last months roundup. Being able to work from home during this pandemic has been a privilege but I’m beginning to notice that it takes its toll as well. Meeting after meeting, with little time for natural breaks and room to “breathe”.

To conclude this audit I started with 33 shades for eyes and out of those I will let go of six. Both cheek items will go as well so that is a total of eight items.

Thanks for reading!

During 2013 I was infatuated with the indie brand Meow Cosmetics. They did and still do loose mineral eyeshadows in beautiful and fun collections. No new collections have been created for quite some time as far as I can see, but most of the older (and stunning) collections are still available.

For a while I was collecting their shadows and I have oh so many. Meow used to open up their Halloween shop in the Autumn and made some special collections available for a limited time only. The same collections would appear every year and sometimes new shades were added. The same approach was applied for Christmas, Summer and Friday the 13th. I bought the Halloween shades for a few years before I had snagged what I wanted. Very satisfying.

To honor my vast Meow stash I have decided, starting in October, to base my monthly eye arsenal heavily on season appropriate Meow collections. I will keep this approach for a few months at least, until I get bored I presume. For October I’ve picked all the shadows I own, and have yet to audit, from the Zombie Apocalypse, Dance of Death, Scary Ghost Stories and Halloween Zombies collections. A total of 21 shades.

The October arsenal

To accompany these loose shimmer/metallic shadows I picked some mattes in the form of mixed singles and a fixed palette by Sleek Makeup, ending up with a total tally of 45 shades. Other brands included are Nabla, MAC, Makeup Geek, Illamasqua and Inglot. To accompany the eye team we have five cheek products – four blushes and one highlighter. But more on cheeks later, lets start with the eyes.

Part One – Eyes

Top Row L-R: Uninterrupted, Confection, Tuscan Sun, Blackberry, Brun

Middle Row L-R: Feint, Black Tied, Early Bird, Morocco, Wild Side

Bottom Row L-R: 304, 370

This palette includes mainly matte shades of varying age from MAC (Uninterrupted, Blackberry, Brun, Black Tied), Makeup Geek (Confection, Tuscan Sun, Early Bird, Morocco), Nabla (Wild Side), Illamasqua (Feint) and Inglot (304, 370).

Force of Nature palette

This Sleek palette was released 2015-2016 and is an all matte palette. Just looking at it I am drawn to the colour scheme but I have used it very infrequently over the years.

Top Row L-R: Brains Over Beauty, Living Dead, Post Mortem

Bottom Row L-R: Tetrodotoxin, Datura, Sepulchre, Infection

For loose shadows we can start off with seven shades from the Zombie Apocalypse collection by Meow Cosmetics. Muted shimmer shades with lovely names like Infection and Post Mortem.

Top Row L-R: Present, Past

Bottom Row L-R: Eerie, Necromancer, Cadaver, Spellbinding

Next up we have four shades from the Dance of Death collection by Meow Cosmetics and two from the Scary Ghost Stories collection (Past, Present). Past, Present and Eerie are the ones I’ve used the most previously.

Top Row L-R: Full Moon, Skelecat, Witch’s Brew, Spider Web

Bottom Row L-R: Jack O Lantern, Ghoul, Omen, Banshee

Finally we have eight shades from the Halloween Zombies collection by Meow Cosmetics. A bit more bright and colourful shades compared to the other collections.

Let’s move on to swatches of each shade and a rundown of how they fared in the audit starting with the matte singles palette.

These mattes were workhorse shades in varying degrees over the course of the month. Black Tied (MAC) and Wild Side (Nabla) were used the most followed by Uninterrupted (MAC) and Confection (MUG). All four performed well and will be kept. Blackberry and Brun (both by MAC) also work well and are useful albeit maybe not very exciting. Tuscan Sun, Morocco and Early Bird (all by MUG) were fun matte additions due to their more colourful nature. Another beautiful and rather unique shade for me is Feint, a depotted shade from a face palette by Illamasqua that I had to get rid of due to cream products that had gone off. 304 by Inglot was only used once but worked nicely and will be kept for now. The one shade that did not strike my fancy was surprisingly enough the bright yellow shade 370 (Inglot). This specific shade of yellow did not look good on me. I would describe is as a garish light banana shade. I love using yellow and enjoy most yellow shades that I come across but this was simply not for me. So it will leave my collection.

Force of Nature palette – Sleek Makeup

The Force of Nature palette (Sleek Makeup) was a bit of a surprise for me. I really thought I would enjoy using the purple shades but they just did not entice me when wearing them. The more neutral shades were ok but they are not worth keeping on their own. So this palette will be let go in its entirety.

Zombie Apocalypse collection – Meow Cosmetics

One thing to note is that these shadows are generally hard to get nice swatches of. If swatched without a wet base of some kind they look lackluster and if used with a primer they tend to come out patchy. But used on the eyes with a primer they usually work well and fulfill their potential. Out of the seven shades from the Zombie Apocalypse collection by Meow Cosmetics I have decided to keep Brains Over Beauty, Tetrodotoxin, Post Mortem, Sepulchre and Infection. Not all of them might not survive a round 2 of this audit, but they tickle my fancy enough to be kept for now. Living Dead is a pretty gunmetal shade but not special enough to warrant med to keep it as a single shadow. Silver shades is something I wear quite infrequently and I see no point in having too many options on hand. Datura was used on the lid and as an inner corner highlight. It is very pale green but it is so light in its effect that I see no point in keeping it.

Scary Ghost Stories and Dance of Death collections – Meow Cosmetics

Present and Past from the Scary Ghost Stories collection are very pretty in different ways. Present is a delicate shade with a soft shift that I like to wear as a topper or an inner corner shade. Past is a potent lid shade. Moving on to the Dance of Death collection, Eerie is a stunning purple with a blue sparkle throughout. Very unique. Cadaver is a beautiful green gold and Spellbinding is an intense white with a slight pink shift and pink sparkle. I used this one as a cheek highlighter as well. Those three are keepers. The only let down of the bunch was Necromancer. It has a black base that unfortunately made it difficult to blend and not fun to work with.

Halloween Zombies collection – Meow Cosmetics

Last of the eye products are from the Halloween Zombies collection by Meow Cosmetics. Full Moon is a very intense white gold and very pretty. Skelecat however is a bit too slight in its effect. In the jar it has a lovely green tinge but on the eye that was sadly not visible. I used it primarily as an inner corner highlight and it was just not potent enough for me for that purpose. Witch’s Brew, Spider Web and Jack O Lantern are all fun pops of brighter colour and Ghoul is a dirty neutral that was anything but boring to wear. Omen and Banshee are maybe less wearable for me, but unique and beautiful enough to keep. So out of this lot the only one I’m not keeping is Skelecat.

Part Two – Cheeks

Top Row L-R: Autoerotique, Melba, Fever

Bottom Row L-R: Here Comes Joy, Regal Mauve

When it comes to cheek products I have managed to near the end of my collection. I only own three more blushes and two of those are quite deeply pigmented so I saved one shade for November. To have a little more variety I chose to add two more shades, shades that have already been through round 1 of the audit in previous months (Autoerotique and Melba by MAC). I know I own some loose highlighters that I could have included this month but forgot about them, so instead I did a repeat of a pressed one from MAC (Here Comes Joy). In total four blushes and one highlight were picked for this arsenal but Regal Mauve by Nabla and Fever by MAC are the only ones being audited.

Top Row L-R: Autoerotique, Melba, Fever

Bottom row L-R: Here Comes Joy, Regal Mauve

Fever (MAC) is one of those deeply pigmented and bright shades that I rarely reach for on a daily basis, and that is a shame. It’s a bit tricky to use but I find that if I only pat off the blush in the palm of my hand before applying I can control the intensity a lot more easily. Fever is a very pretty shade and it deserves to be kept for round 2. Regal Mauve (Nabla) is another cool toned shade and I enjoy it a lot. It’s very versatile and easy to use. So both cheek shades are being kept for the time being.

Moving on to some of the looks I wore during the month…

October 2

Eyes: Spider Web, Skelecat, Uninterrupted on top of Primer Potion in Caffeine (Urban Decay)

Cheeks: Fever

Lips: Noir Moderne (Chanel)

October 5

Eyes: Dawn, Moonbeam, Twilight, Lightning, Sandstorm, Skelecat, Brains over Beauty

Cheeks: Regal Mauve

Lips: A mix of Noir Moderne (Chanel) and Dolce Vita (Nars)

October 12

Eyes: Tetrodotoxin, Skelecat, Wild Side

Cheeks: Fever, Here Comes Joy

Lips: A mix of Mull it Over (MAC) and Devoted to Chili (MAC)

October 13

Eyes: Banshee, Ghoul, Datura over Cream Fusion Eye Colour in The New Noir (H&M)

Cheeks: I have no notes on this

Lips: nothing

October 14

Eyes: Wild Side

Cheeks: Fever, Spellbinding

Lips: Burning Love (MAC)

October 15

Eyes: Spider Web, Tuscan Sun, Full Moon

Cheeks: Autoerotique

Lips: Velvet Ribbon (Lisa Eldridge)

October 17

Eyes: Cadaver, Uninterrupted, Black Tied

Cheeks: Autoerotique, Here Comes Joy

Lips: Burning Love (MAC) and Nougatine (H&M)

October 20

Eyes: Omen, Necromancer, Morocco, Spellbinding

Cheeks: Regal Mauve, Spellbindning

Lips: Rouge Audace (Chanel)

October 21

Eyes: Witch’s Brew, Datura, Early Bird, Black Tied

Cheeks: Regal Mauve

Lips: Love of My Life (Lisa Eldridge)

To conclude this month a total of seven items were let go consisting of 16 unique eye shadow shades. This month was not a very creative makeup month for me and I was quite uninspired most days. I think it was due to having a very hectic month at work. I went without makeup a lot and when I did do my makeup I often had little time to play. But doing this project is still a lot of fun and I always look forward to the next monthly arsenal.

Thanks for reading!

I remember sitting on the floor close to my makeup storage and choosing what to wear for September. I had difficult time narrowing it down and I was quite inspired both to wear a ton of more murky shades for Autumn, but also to dig deep into my stash and audit some old treasures. I ended up with products from Anastasia Beverly Hills, Inglot, Neve Cosmetics, KvD, Makeup Geek, MAC, Meow Cosmetics, Urban Decay, Nabla and Sleek Makeup.

The chosen eye arsenal consisted of five fixed palettes and six singles. I must admit a total of 74 eyeshadows was a bit much to take on in month. But I ran with the feeling when I had it. For cheeks I settled on a total of five products – one contour, two highlighters and two blushes. A bit more sensible but not due to my choosing. I have almost gone through all of my cheek products and I have not got much too choose from when kitting my next arsenal.

Let’s start with going through the eye products as usual.

I picked up the KvD Metal Mattes palette in store at Sephora in Gothenburg in 2016. I was so excited because the mattes shades were unlike anything I had at the time. But when I started using the palette the metallics were so boring that I soon stopped experimenting with it and therefore ended up using the mattes a lot less than I expected.

The Supreme palette by Sleek Makeup has not been used much since being purchased in 2014 and feel that half of this palette does not even appeal to me. I am mainly attracted to the yellows and greens.

Modern Renaissance – Anastasia Beverly Hills

Another purchase from 2016. Viola aka Killer Colours made such a beautiful review of this palette that I was sold. Modern Renaissance was also my first ever purchase from Anastasia Beverly Hills. I still adore the general aesthetics of the design and colours included.

The Electric palette by Urban Decay was one of my first bright palettes and I have fond memories in relation to some of these shades. I bought it in Edinburgh 2014 on a very special trip and I remember being so excited to own it. It has gotten some love over the years, and especially the shade Slowburn.

Top row L-R: Pioggia Acida, Utopia, Fenice, Chimera, Twilight Bottom row L-R: Mela Stregata, Abracadabra, Polline, Veleno, Mezza Estate

This Duochrome palette by Neve Cosmetics was also purchased in 2016 and was a natural progression in my love and search for duochrome shadows. It contains some solid favourites but I think depotting it would garner some more use of these shades.

Top row L-R: Rapture, Relic, Faux Fur, 433

Bottom row L-R: Creative Copper, 419

On top of all those palettes I added a selection of singles from KvD (Rapture, Relic), Makeup Geek (Faux Fur), MAC (Creative Copper) and Inglot (433 and 419). Both the MAC and KvD shadows were depotted from fixed palettes.

That was an introduction to all of the shades. Let’s see how they fared in the audit starting with the KvD palette.

As mentioned I never held these metallics from the Metal Mattes palette in high regard. Using them this month just solidified that standpoint. I used Synergy, Volt, Twinkle and Tinsel and then I was so bored and stopped even considering these metallics as an option when doing my makeup.

I quickly decided that I was never going to keep this palette intact so I started evaluating the shadows more on an individual basis and I did manage to use all of the matte shades except Linen and Velour. I learned that I have no warm and fuzzy feelings for any of these shades. The mattes are good, but not unique enough for me to depot the thing. My final verdict – I will let the entire palette go.

The Supreme palette by Sleek however is going to get the honors of being depotted. The shades P-Funk, Al Green and Delfonic were amazing and are quite unique for me. I might keep Grand Master Flash or Commodores Cream as well. The rest will be let go since I could not even be bothered to use most them during the audit.

Oh Modern Renaissance, how you entice me. I still love using this palette and enjoy most of the shades. Vermeer and Primavera are stunning inner corner highlighters and Golden Ochre, Buon Fresco, Raw Sienna, Burnt Orange and Warm Taupe are such versatile lid and crease shades. Love Letter, Red Ochre, Venetian Red and Realgar are lovely for a deeper pop of colour and Cyprus Umber is ok as a deepening shade. The bummer of the bunch is Antique Bronze. It simply does not perform well anymore and I dislike using it. Time has not treated it well because I do remember loving that shade when I first got the palette. I am definitely keeping this palette and used it extensively during the month.

I’ve been so conflicted over the Electric palette. I still love using Slowburn and Thrash. Savage is ok but stained my lids badly and the formula was quite dusty. And I know I have another similar bright pink shade that is new and that I would prefer using. Revolt and Freak are not special enough and I have no intention of using Gonzo, Fringe or Chaos. Urban is pretty but not unique enough and Jilted was lovely but I’m sure I can live without it. My initial plan was to depot this palette and keep 3-4 shades. But would I wear them often enough to warrant the effort? UD palettes are a lot of work to depot and I learned that the hard way whilst depotting my Naked palettes. I’m sure I have something else to do the same job as Thrash and Slowburn, the two shades that makes this a tough decision. Let it go Sofia!

The Duochrome palette by Neve Cosmetics on the other hand was super easy to dismantle. The foam tray around the shades was easy to lift and under that all of the shades were labelled singles on a magnetic mat. So easy to take out. If I had known that I would have tossed the packaging way sooner. This palette contains some real gems and my favourites are Fenice, Mela Stregata, Polline, Veleno and Mezza Estate. Pioggia Acida is nice enough to stay but the others are either lackluster or not my jam colour-wise.

Rapture and Relic are from the Saint & Sinner palette by KvD that I decided to depot a while back. It had some interesting shades that I wanted to give a fair chance before letting them go. These two are lovely. Relic is an intense melted gold and Rapture is a reddy pink topper shade. Fun to use since I have them. Faux Fur (MUG) on the other hand was an epic fail. Dusty and very hard to work with. Not keeping that one. 433 and 419 are old, a bit smelly and not unique enough to keep. Creative Copper (MAC) was part of a larger fixed palette that I depotted and this was my first and last time using it. A poor performer for sure.

That was all of the eyeshadows. Let’s move on to the much smaller assortment of cheek products in this month’s arsenal.

Top row L-R: Next to Skin, Apple Red

Bottom row L-R: Kendra, Chameleon, Superb

As mentioned I have audited most of my cheek products already and therefore I have less to choose from. This month we have three MAC products , a contour (Next to Skin), a popping blush (Apple Red) and a highlighter (Superb). A Nabla blush (Kendra) and highlighter from Meow Cosmetics (Chameleon) rounded everything off. Having only two blushes was a bit restricting, if I can say so myself, but it made it a bit of a challenge too.

As you can see in the swatch, Next to Skin (MAC) is very close to my skin tone. But it did its job as a cheek contour beautifully. Very lightly pigmented and easy to use on an everyday basis. Apple Red (MAC) looks scary in the pan but was a lot easier to use than one might expect. It was not as pigmented as many of its counterparts in my collection and that made it easier to apply. Kendra (Nabla) is a shade that makes me a bit confused. Sometimes it looks amazing but sometimes is emulates the natural redness of my skin a bit too much. It sort of picks up the redness in places where I have tried to neutralize it with my base products such as foundation and concealer. I love adding blush but I want the flush to be placed exactly where I want it. Anyway, I have no reason to get rid of Kendra right now but I will keep an eye out and see how our relationship evolves.

Chameleon (Meow Cosmetics) is a loose pale white gold shade and it works well as a cheek highlighter as well as an inner corner eye shade. Superb (MAC) on the other hand does not really work as a cheek highlighter for me, it is simply too dark. I enjoy the formula but I have no reason to keep it.

That completes the rundown of the products worn in September. Let’s have a look at a few of the looks I wore during the month. It was a really boring makeup month for me and I felt very uninspired. I did however manage to make notes on what I wore on my lip on most days.

September 1

Eyes: Volt, Silk, Fringe, Twinkle

Cheeks: Apple Red, Superb

Lips: Sultry by Revlon

September 3

Eyes: Golden Ochre, Burnt Orange, Primavera, Cyprus Umber

Cheeks: Kendra, Next to Skin, Chameleon

Lips: Goldstone mixed with Pink Opal by Linda Hallberg

September 7

Eyes: P-Funk, Delfonic, Commodores Cream

Cheeks: Kendra

Lips: When in Rome by H&M

September 9

Eyes: Creative Copper, Rapture, Mezza Estate, Suede, Oak

Cheeks: Apple Red

Lips: Rouge Audace by Chanel

September 10

Eyes: Antique Bronze, Buon Fresco, Burnt Orange, Chameleon

Cheeks: Apple Red

Lips: Mull it Over mixed with Devoted to Chili by MAC

September 11

Eyes: Mela Stregata, Twilight, Pioggia Acida, Feather, Moss, Stone

Cheeks: Kendra

Lips: When in Rome by H&M

September 14

Eyes: Utopia, Buon Fresco, Vermeer, Jet

Cheeks: Kendra

Lips: Goldstone mixed with Pink Opal by Linda Hallberg

September 16

Eyes: Mela Stregata, Raw Sienna, Vermeer

Cheeks: Kendra

September 19

Eyes: Slowburn, Savage, Rapture, Relic

Cheeks: Kendra

September 21

Eyes: Jilted, Fringe, Mezza Estate

Cheeks: Kendra

September 22

Eyes: Polline, Buon Fresco, Thrash, Bronx Black

Cheeks: Apple Red, Next to Skin

September 25

Eyes: Fenice, Raw Sienna, Mezza Estate

Cheeks: Kendra, Next to Skin

September 29

Eyes: Pioggia Acida on top of Caffeine primer by Urban Decay, Vermeer

Cheeks: Next to Skin

Looking at these pictures make me feel like I had a better makeup month than it felt whilst it was happening. During it felt like most makeup looks ended up on the uninspired spectrum and I had quite a few days when I felt it looked crap. I thought I would end up with just a handful of pictures to post but here I am with quite a few.

To conclude this month I decided to let two fixed palettes go and two will be depotted. All in all 45 eye shades will leave my collection and 26 will be kept. All cheek shades will go into round two except the one (Superb). Quite an effective month I must say.

Thanks for reading!

August is just over and the weather is starting to signal Autumn here in Sweden. Chillier winds, a lower general temperature and more rain. In general I really prefer this weather to summer. When the sun is shining you can be outside in normal clothes and a light jacket. No sweat and sunburn, just crisp air and nature is so stunning right now.

The August arsenal was significantly smaller than the previous month. In July I had the selection of 66 eyeshadows to choose from – this month I had 31. The cheek selection was more or less the same, a total of six shades. Brands included are Inglot, MAC, KvD, H&M, Urban Decay, Phee’s Makeup Tips and Nabla. Let’s start with the eye team first as usual.

Top Row L-R: 343, 292, 390, 287, 360

Bottom row L-R: 302, 348, 293, 326, 384

I chose two Inglot palettes as my main palettes, just because I’ve not shown them as much love as they deserve over the years. I made one with only mattes and one with mainly shimmers. Most of these are from 2013 but a few mattes are newer and from 2016-2017.

Top Row L-R: 461, 434, 26, 420, 44

Bottom row L-R: 153, 430, 446, 470, 25

Many of the shimmer shades smell quite a bit and even though I remember them doing that even when they were new, it does not feel too good seven years on. They are old and I’m sure some of them should be thrown out.

Top Row L-R: Pitch Black, Artemisia

Bottom row L-R: Capsize, White Truffle

To fill in some gaps in the arsenal I chose four Nabla shadows to complete the matte eyeshadow team. These are fairly new (2018) and I highly doubt that these will be anything other than winners.

The Alchemist palette adds some duochrome action to the arsenal. I remember loving this KvD palette when it launched, it was the greatest thing. But I do not reach for it any longer and it’s time to evaluate what it really means to me.

Top: Artisan Copper

Bottom L-R: Stargazer, Fireball

Lastly we have three singles full of shimmering goodness. Stargazer by Urban Decay is in the Moondust formula. Fireball by the same brand is a regular shadow and both of these were purchased in 2016. Then we have a limited edition shadow by H&M Beauty (Artisan Copper) which I think is even newer.

Moving on to swatches and a rundown of what my final opinions are of each eye product in the audit.

One thing this audit project has told me that I seem to really enjoy Inglot mattes. Very few of the ones I have are being discarded and most of them perform beautifully. 343 and 287 are solid brights and very useful to me. 292 is that lovely brown mustard type of shade that I adore. 390 is a great soft crease diffuser on me and 360 is a good mid neutral brown. 302 and 293 are very unique shades in my collection and 326 is a generally versatile shade. 384 was the one hanging a bit loose but is given a pass until further notice because I enjoyed this specific shade of green on me. However it’s the kind of shade I use very rarely so it has to be pitted against anything remotely similar in Round 2. The sole loser in the matte bunch is 348, the grey. I have no feelings for it whatsoever.

I really enjoy the Inglot shimmers as well. The fact that they smell is a big turn off though. 461 is a lovely sand matte with slight shimmer and it looks amazing on the eye. 434 was a surprise favourite for me. It’s a gorgeous dark purple grey and I have nothing else like it. Despite being a bit old this one stays until Round 2. 26 and 420 were lovely as well but less unique so they will have to go. 44 however is another surprise. It’s a forest green with an ethereal green shimmer running through it and it looks amazing on its own or on top of other shadows. I fell in love with this shade and cannot find anything similar in my collection. So it stays. The taupe silver 153 also gets to stay despite its age (and smell). I really enjoyed using this on the lid but also as an interesting inner corner highlight. 430 and 25 are pretty but nothing special so they can go. 446 is pretty enough but too dry for me to ever reach for it again. And the last one is 470, a lovely light coral shimmer that was a joy to use. So a total of five discards from this palette.

All four Nabla shadows are great and are staying. No contest.

The Alchemist palette (KvD) is in theory perfect for me. But during the month I’ve realized that most of the shades have a bit too much of a white base to really be what I want this type of shifting shadow to be. That base makes them less ideal to layer over other shadows because it dims the base shadow. They work ok as inner corner highlights but I still prefer to use other shadows for the job. I feel no need to keep this.

Stargazer, Artisan Copper and Fireball are all unique in their own way and all three are solid keepers.

Moving on to cheek products…

Top Row L-R: A Little Lusty, Phee’s Glow

Bottom row L-R: Gotham, Habana, Coralia, Obsexed

For cheeks I assembled four of my Nabla single pans in a palette – one contour (Gotham), two blushes (Habana, Coralia) and one highlighter (Obsexed). To this I added a MAC blush (A Little Lusty) and a loose highlighter by Phee’s Makeup Tips (Glow Highlight Powder).

I really enjoyed using this month’s blush selection. A nice late summer palette with a bit more muted shades. I have no reason to let any of the Nabla products go. I rarely wear contour nowadays but Gotham works well as that and as a blush. Coralia and Habana are nice blush shades and Obsexed is a fun duochrome pink gold shade that is quite wearable. Not quite as wearable was A Little Lusty (MAC) due to its deep pigmentation, but the colour is so gorgeous. Simply stunning. Tapping into the pan with a light hand and then swirling the brush in the palm of my hand prior to applying it to my cheeks made the application process less daunting. Finally we have the loose highlighter with no name, the original Glow Highlight Powder shade by Phee’s Makeup Tips, a pale white gold with quite a significant sheen. Initially I deemed this too glittery for my taste and that I would not continue to reach for a highlighter in loose form. But as the month progressed and I kept using it I learned that I really enjoy it. Applied lightly it gives a stunning glow and I would love to keep using it.

That completes the rundown of the products I used in August. Let’s have a look at a few of the looks I wore during the month.

August 1

Eyes: 25, 470, 343

Cheeks: Coralia, Obsexed

August 11

Eyes: 44, 293, 26

Cheeks: Coralia, Obsexed

August 14

Eyes: Artisan Copper, 430, 292

Cheeks: A Little Lusty, Gotham, Phee’s Glow

August 24

Eyes: 420, 434, 348, 343, 390, 360, Pitch Black

Cheeks: Habana, Obsexed

August 26

Eyes: 434, 461, 26, 360, 302

Cheeks: Gotham, Obsexed

August 28

Eyes: 470, 420, Emerald, Saphyre, Amethyst, Opal, Pitch Black

Cheeks: Coralia

This was a fun month. The arsenal felt reasonable in size and I managed to get quite a lot of use out of each shade. Out of a total of 31 eye shades and 6 cheek shades I am letting go of 10 of those shades in total. I’m glad some of the old Inglot shades are getting some love and that some of them are weeded out.

Thank you for reading!

July is the month were I usually take my summer vacation and this year it was no different. Four weeks off work and a chance to recuperate a bit after a very hectic Spring.

This month’s arsenal consisted of a total of 13 items with four palettes, three single shadows and five cheek products. 66 individual eyeshadows. A wide variety of brands including MAC, Nabla, Benefit, NYX, IsaDora, Sleek Makeup, Illamasqua and Meow Cosmetics.

For eyes I did not really have a main palette this month but instead opted for four pre-made palettes that included a multitude of neutrals and colours both in a matte and shimmer/metallic formula.

The Dreamy palette by Nabla was released in late 2017. It gained some rave reviews in the online beauty community here in Sweden and I became intrigued. When getting it though I was not really enamored. It was merely ok. I’m generally a big fan of Nabla shadows but this is my one and only pre-made palette by them.

The Del Mar palette by Sleek was purchased in 2014 and has been used sparingly. The mattes in this palette are very unique in their shades and deserve to be used more.

The Showstoppers palette by Sleek came out in 2013 and I must have purchased it around that time. It’s a collection of popular shadows from other Sleek palettes. This one has also been used sparingly. This palette added some neutral shimmer and a matte black to this month’s arsenal.

Last up we have the Celestial palette also released by Sleek in 2013 and I do not think I have used this more than once prior to this month.

L-R: Telekenesis, Astral Projection, Telepathy

Finally for eyes we have three duochrome loose shadows from the Supernaturals collection by Meow Cosmetics. I adore these and they are some of my favourite inner corner highlighters. I bought these in 2013.

Let’s go through some swatches and a rundown of what the audit told me about these eye products.

I must say the quality of the shadows in the Dreamy palette (Nabla) is great with the exception of Delirium, which is a really crappy shadow. Sadly it is also one of the first I want to reach for whenever I use this palette. Using this palette over the course of the month made me realize what a reliable basic palette it is. Nothing overly exciting but very useful and easy to use. I have no reason not to keep it at this point.

The Del Mar palette (Sleek) is filled with so many cool mattes and a few satins and shimmers. Paradise is a fun shade that is unlike anything else I own. Feel Euphoric and On the Rocks have a slight sheen to them that added a lovely soft juicy feeling. Very summery. Opening Party had a gorgeous purple sheen and Ambiance and Sunset Strip were lovely muted brights. I wore all shades at least once and even though some of them might not get a lot of use moving forward I have decided to keep this palette. All Sleek palettes are most likely going to be depotted so that I can more easily see what I have.

The Showstoppers palette (Sleek) is a mixed bag. I am very attracted to the shades Bad Girl, Sunset, Graphite and Bohemian. The others are meh. I considered if this would be a depotting candidate just for those four shades but have come to the conclusion that those shades are not unique enough for the hassle. I should just let it go. It took me a while to reach that point, but that is also the beauty of this audit. Having a whole month to evaluate every item’s worth to me.

I have a similar feeling about the Galactic palette (Sleek) as with the Showstopper one. A few shades are really appealing (Stargaze, Saturn’s Ring, Meteoric, Terrestrial) but I can not bring myself to keep the entire thing and depotting it for those four shades. Even though I have nothing like those specific shades I am sure I have other things I could use instead. If I continue to crave a pale minty green, maybe I can purchase it as a single in the future.

Behold the stunning magical sheen that is the Supernaturals from Meow Cosmetics! All three of these shades are beautiful and I love wearing them. I only used two of them this month and only once each but it does not matter. I have no plans of letting these go if I do not have to.

That was all of the eyeshadows – moving on to cheek products..

Top Row L-R: Dandelion, OMG, Taupe

Bottom row L-R: Pinky Peach, Light Year, Oh My!

Three blushes, two highlighters and one contour. Dandelion by Benefit is the most ancient specimen of the lot. I have no idea of how old it is but it’s more than ten years old. I even purchased a backup of this way back when Benefit was hard to get a hold of in Sweden and that has been sitting in my drawers for many many years. Then we have two more recent blush shades by IsaDora (Pinky Peach) and MAC (Oh My!). By recent I mean 2016. One of my favourite highlighters by Illamasqua (OMG) is in here together with a darker shimmering product by MAC (Light Year). A Mineralize Skinfinish with a marbled effect that on the skin turn out darker than my skin tone. And lastly we have Taupe by NYX, a blush that I have mainly used as a contour.

Dandelion (Benefit) is almost not a blush, more of a breath of pink powder on the cheeks. And that is why I like it. I have some strong makeup memories connected to this blush and will keep the backup I have and start using it. The old treasured box will go to makeup heaven. Pinky Peach (IsaDora) and Oh My! (MAC) were both lovely to use and will stay for now. Light Year (MAC) is stunning in the pan and I tend to forget that I have no use what so ever for this product. It’s too dark to be a highlighter on me. It could work like a blush topper, a product category I do not use, but it’s way too shiny to work as a blush on me. OMG (Illamasqua) on the other hand is a stunning peachy gold highlighter and it suits my skin tone very well so it is a firm keeper. The finally cheek item this month was Taupe (NYX), a taupe blush with just enough of a cool tone that made it perfect to contour on my skin tone. This shade works equally well as a blush on me too. But it is old and I have other products I can use that are newer and that I prefer if I want to contour, so there is no point in keeping this. It has served a purpose in my collection, but it’s time to say goodbye. Dandelion (the old one), Light Year and Taupe are exiting my collection.

That was all of the products in July’s audit. Let’s finish off with some of the looks I created over the course of the month.

July 5

Eyes: Au Natural, Talahanca, Feel Euphoric, Paradise

Cheeks: Dandelion

July 6

Eyes: Sunset, Lounge Lovers, Sunset Strip

Cheeks: Oh My!

July 6:2

Eyes: Sunset, Lounge Lovers, Sunset Strip, Paradise, Opening Party, On the Rocks

Cheeks: Oh My!

July 12

Eyes: Bad Girl, Paraguaya, Bohemian, Storm, Terrestrial, Illusion, Sistina, Dogma

Cheeks: Oh My!, Pinky Peach

July 14

Eyes: Astral Blue, Saturns Ring, Ambience, Opening Party, Paradise, Astral Projection

Cheeks: Taupe, Light Year, OMG

July 17

Eyes: Stargaze, Meteoric, Solar, Sistina, Ultra Mattes V2

Cheeks: Pinky Peach, OMG

July 18

Eyes: Poolside, Ambience, Paradise, On the Rocks, Ultra Mattes V2

Cheeks: Taupe, OMG

July 20

Eyes: Saturns Ring, Meteoric, Terrestrial, Telepathy

Cheeks: Taupe, OMG

July 29

Eyes: Paradise, Ambience, Talahanca, Lounge Lovers

Cheeks: Oh My!

To conclude July’s audit I am letting four items go, but a total of 26 individual shades. The Dandelion blush is replaced by my backup so it does not count really. I’m very pleased that I decided to let the two Sleek palettes go.

Makeup-wise I’ve had an inspired month and worn a lot of colour. The looks I’ve created have been different to what I usually do, and that was definitely down to the product choices at hand.

Thank you for reading!