Tuesday 26 January 2016

Late-Night Swatches : Urban Decay Cosmetics



Urban Decay Cosmetics has been one of those brands, if it were a person, would just be that girl I consistently pass by on my way to class, and we'll say hi - but we just don't hang out. Simply because we just don't "click". It's like having a studio group mate who does his/her job well - but you guys just don't share the same design aesthetic - you know that your approach is totally different, your final boards aren't going to be alike - but I know she's going to get an A, anyway. It's just one of those things. Well, an exaggerated version of it - but you get what I mean. But for tonight's Late-Night Swatch, we are definitely hanging out, and the stellar Urban Decay is going to be swatched, reviewed and appreciated for consistently coveting straight A's for her finals. The two Urban Decay products I have chosen are the Revolution Lipstick in the shade Shame paired with the one and only Urban Decay's Naked 2 palette. 

I got this palette from my friend on my birthday about 3 years back. Yes, its been that long - the lipstick, was purchased over a year ago. I believe that the Revolution line is now split into two - which are the Matte Revolution and the Sheer Revolution. If anything, this lip colour is definitely not matte, so it falls under the sheer category, albeit not being sheer at all. I. With a single swipe, you get a clean opaque film of colour. My first Urban Decay purchase was their Glide-On 24/7 Lip Pencil in Manic (mauve toned) which is somewhere in Bali because I left it at the hotel during a Christmas holiday back in.. I wanna say 2014 (?) I'm not too sure haha. Aiman was not pleased. There wasn't a colour that I gravitated to on the Revolution Lipstick line besides Shame (swatched) and Liar (a browny pink nude). Since I wanted a vampy addition to my small lipstick wardrobe of 3 bullets back then, I opted for the darker colour instead.

Urban Decay currently has opened their independent flagship at KLCC's Centre Court, replacing the Famous Amos outlet (cries). I think they are carrying never-seen before products that wasn't readily available at Sephora, so, check them out! KLCC's Centre Court is now a makeup addict's haven because the whole block is lined with M.A.C., Nars, Urban Decay, Bobbi Brown, Aesop, Dior, Shu Uemura, Sephora, it's ridiculous. Tip : Don't bring people who are going to judge you for always buying makeup hahahaha. Moving on to the deets -


Naked 2 Palette


Price 

Since this was a present, I'm unsure of the exact price tag for this baby. But I think it's along the lines of MYR140- MYR160, I think. For a selection of 12 gorgeous shadows, this palette is definitely a steal. The Naked 2 palette is readily available at Sephora, and if you're a Black Card Sephora member, you can cut down your expenditure with the 10% discount, or you can wait till your birthday month approaches, where you get further discounts! With or without the sale, I think the palette is worth the money, and it comes with a decent double ended brush, too. It was the only eye brush I needed, till I got my M.A.C. 217 lol.

Colour 

The Naked 2 palette consists of a mix of neutrals, cool-toned metallics, bronzes, golds, and rich browns which was honestly one of the best curated palettes by Urban Decay, for me. It has just the right amount of mattes - Foxy (eggshell white), Tease (cool-toned taupe), and Blackout (darkest black). Golden sheens for the pop of colour onto the lid and inner corners - Half-Baked (warm-toned gold), Booty Call (pale pinkish gold), Suspect (cool-toned gold) and Verve (golden-silver half and half). And last but not least, the silvers and the gorgeous bronzes - Chopper (rose gold bronze), Snakebite (deep golden bronze), Pistol (gunmetal metallic grey), YDK (deep copper) and Busted (rich chocolate). The colours mostly are very wearable, even for daytime wear as you can definitely sweep the shadow all over the lid for a sheer colour. The tonal palette on the Naked 2 is very tasteful and straight up gorgeous for a lot of skin tones.



Texture & Finish

The shadows are definitely very buttery and smooth for the 3 matte shadows. Often times, matte shadows can leave the lid looking powdery and cake, but the Urban Decay shadows are definitely cake-free (haha) and applies very smoothly onto the lid. Even with my dark lids, the paler colours definitely packs a lot of pigment for a full-coverage effect, so it saves me from applying concealer beforehand. The metallics and glitters are very full-on and pigmented and applies better with a flat eye brush or the fingers. I believe you can use this wet or dry, but to be safe, add the shadows to your brush first, then wet it with water/setting spray. These shadows have a lot of fall-out but I don't mind it at all, is that weird?

Application & Wear-Time

Despite what Urban Decay tells you, you don't really need the Primer Potion to amp up the pigment or the wear-time - the quality of the shadows is perfectly fine to last you the day. I mean, you're probably going to be wearing eye makeup for 12 hours at most and these shadows will definitely last . These shadows are best applied over a fine layer of translucent powder (especially if your lids are oily/over-moisturised) so you get a smooth canvas but other than that, it's really a fuss-free product. If you are already so used to using an eye primer, by all means go ahead - I'm just saying, you won't be needing it with these shadows.


L to R : Foxy, Half-Baked, Booty Call, Chopper, Tease, Snakebite, Suspect, Pistol, Verve, YDK, Busted

Revolution Lipstick in Shame

Price 

I believe I had bought this at MYR78 maybe (?) It was such a long time ago, pre-GST, so it might be slightly more expensive now. In comparison to other brands of lipstick that I own, the Urban Decay price range is not too outrageously expensive. Don't get me wrong, it still doesn't justify the amount of money that is being spent on a lipstick, cause you can just get a Wet N Wild lipstick for MYR20 and call it a day. I usually justify my spendings based on Aiman's expenditure *talk about unhealthy*. Since his car costs about MYR200 for a full tank, I can spend MYR78 for a lipstick. 

Colour

Shame is a deep, rich, blue-based berry which comes off as a really beautiful wine colour on my medium skin tone. Even though it is a very deep colour, it doesn't wash me out too much and I don't necessarily need to add a blush on when I use this colour. For paler skin tones, maybe just a touch - but I really like the idea of having a clean skin to be paired with Shame. I think this would fair well with all skin tones, really and there are so many different ways of using this one lipstick, so get creative!! I really like the colour of the lipstick, basically.




Texture & Finish

This lippie is super creamy and glides on like a dream. It feels very moisturising without feeling overly thick and textured, which is great but it does cling on to any dry patches on my lips, unfortunately. So, do use a proper lip treatment and scrub off any dead skin with a cotton bud and lip butters. It has a satin finish, which I don't really like for deeper colours, I'd rather a matte but this can easily be resolved with a pat of powder to top off the product for a matte finish. I love that this doesn't feel heavy on the lips because in warm weather, anything lightweight is heavily appreciated (lol see what I did there).

Application & Wear-Time

Urban Decay's Shame wears quite well on the longer days at the studio, to my surprise. I just need a few touch-ups after lunch break around the inner parts of the lips is just about it and for me, that is not quite high maintenance yet. But that's just me. I like that the lipstick packaging is quite weighted and sturdy so I know that it's safe in my bag pack and the lid is not going to come off and I'd get lipstick stain everywhere, the horror

I've had this lipstick for quite sometime - back when I was in Semester 1. I got so much wear out of it since I only had 2 or 3 lipsticks at hand (I had a Dior, a Givenchy and that's about it). I wasn't buying as much lipstick as compared to lip liners ,which I had a bunch of and was obsessed with. And I would use Boldly Bare by M.A.C. every single day, topped with a lip moisturiser. Anyway, I got this colour at Sephora KLCC which was the first ever Sephora I've been to and it's still my favourite, despite having so many products out of stock (sigh). I tried it on, and this colour looks so flattering that I just had to get it.

I've used this throughout the semester till I got sick of it. I've worn this during the daytime to class (how appropriate hahaha), I've worn this for dinners, this lipstick has been through it all. My studio mates (the girls, of course) told me this colour looks so great against my skin. I got to start wearing this again, because I've gone on a dark lip hiatus for close to a year now. 



I think it took me quite a while to get used to the grunge-punk-chic aesthetic that they have, with the names of the products and the packaging, in general. I mean, quality is still quality so don't judge a makeup by it's packaging, ok folks? Lesson learnt. Overall, my feelings towards Urban Decay has totally blossomed over the course of time, but I still don't know what to try next, so leave me a suggestion! What are your favourite Urban Decay products?







X FARAH A.



No comments:

Post a Comment