eyeshadow palette

Thursday 21 March 2019

REVIEW || PIXI BY PETRA EYE REFLECTIONS EYESHADOW PALETTES & EYE BRUSHES - REFLEX LIGHT AND NATURAL BEAUTY EYESHADOW PALETTES REVIEW




When I came home after a long day last week, my partner told me that I had a parcel delivered earlier that day and I couldn't believe my eyes and screamed when I saw a giant light green box with the label 'Pixi' written across it. Pixi is definitely a brand I love and have wanted to work with for years now! My dear friend Sophie from Life of Little Things introduced me to Pixi's Glow Tonic and I absolutely loved it - I can't wait to get my hands on the other ones, especially the milky lotion.



In the giant box that was delivered, I received two of the new eyeshadow palettes - Reflex Light & Natural Beauty - alongside 3 eyeshadow brushes in a very handy travel case. I have used the two palettes quite a few times since receiving them so have enough knowledge of the products for a full review.



This palette is definitely something I would pick up if I was browsing for some new makeup. The shades are gorgeous and very wearable, especially when paired with thick eyeliner, false lashes and a nude glossy lip. The shades swatched beautifully, and I know that a lot of the time an eyeshadow might swatch nicely but look patchy on the eye so I put this palette to a proper test.





My favourite shades have to be 3D Peach, Auburn Blaze, Vintage Gold and Antique Bronze. I found that these eyeshadows applied very easily with a flat shadow brush (I used MAC 248) or if you don’t own a flat brush then I’d suggest using your finger to apply for best results.

One thing this palette is definitely missing are matte shades for blending and transitioning the metallic colours. I do think that the shades will be great for cut creases as the pigmentation is very strong with a lot of shimmer. 



This palette is definitely a great choice for those who prefer a natural eye look. It’ll make a great gift for Mother’s Day along with the brush set. I particularly love the shades Metal Mauve and Rose Clay and use only those two shadows for a natural smokey-eye look for work.





I found that the matte shades in this palette were a little bit powdery and had some fall out so I would recommend either applying the shadows before the base or tap off any excess before blending. The pigmentation is very good, especially in metallic shades. I do think that this palette would be slightly better if it had a neutral transition shade to make blending a little bit easier, but I don’t mind too much as I use MAC’s Brule as a base for all my eyeshadows.

I highly recommend buying this palette if you’re only starting out with makeup and want a bit of everything from your palette. This one has a mixture of mattes, satins and shimmers with one metallic shade so it’s perfect for anyone wanting to learn new looks.




Unfortunately, the brush set isn’t available for sale and I don’t think you can buy the brushes separately at the moment either. I’m hoping that Pixi will bring this set out as I really like the pencil brush (E03) and the fluffy brush (E02) is amazing for applying highlighter. The small eyeshadow brush (E01) is great at applying eyeshadow to the bottom lash line but I find it a little bit too firm to use on my actual eyelid.

Overall, I have been really enjoying wearing these eyeshadows and know for a fact that I'll get much more wear out of them than some of my other palettes (e.g. Urban Decay Naked 2). I hope you've enjoyed my mini review - if you have any questions about these palettes then pop them in the comments section below & I'll get back to you as soon as I can!

*This post includes gifted items and affiliate links.

Have you tried any Pixi makeup products before? Do you have any recommendations?

Lots of love,
Maya xo

Friday 4 August 2017

REVIEW || ARE THE URBAN DECAY NAKED PALETTES WORTH YOUR MONEY?


The Urban Decay Naked eyeshadow palettes have been a big hit since the first one came out in 2010, but now with so many amazing and more affordable palettes out there, are they really worth their price tag? I can finally say that I own the first 3 naked palettes and have put them to the test. After lusting over them (especially the first one due to the packaging) for years now, my wishes came true and the makeup fairy gifted me with these three beauties - in this case, my mum turned out to be the fairy.


The packaging:
Like I've mentioned above, I love the packaging of the first palette. It's very unique and you can actually open it all the way around so it's great for travelling. The only thing that annoys me about this one is the size of the mirror  - it's pathetic. I'm the type of girl who uses her palette mirror on-the-go, but using this one I can only touch up my lipstick if I hold it close enough to my mouth! 
On the other hand, the Naked 2 & 3 palettes come in a metal packaging which I really dislike. It reminds me of a very cheap palette that you could buy in like corner shops or something, but they do come with a large mirror and the metal case protects the palette from breaking while you're travelling.


Naked:
I feel like the shades in this palette are great for people of all skin tones and ages. It has a variety of subtle matte shades as well as pigmented shimmers. My favourite shades from this palette are 'Buck' and 'Toasted', which you can use to create a full eye-makeup look using just these two shades. Even though this palette was the first one to come out, it's one of my favourites and was actually my latest addition.


Naked 2:
The Naked 2 palette is a cool-toned shadow lovers' dream. The shade 'Tease' was literally created for me... it's a beautiful transition shade for all skin tones and looks lovely on its own too. I enjoy using this palette but I don't reach for it as much as I'd like to, so I would definitely suggest that you try the colours out in store before deciding on which one to buy.

Naked 3:
Now, I feel like this palette is very girly and versatile. It's great for every-day use, and the shades compliment each other very well. It has a lot of pinks in it, so if you're not a big fan of pink shadows then stay clear from this one as you might not like it. I think the shades 'Blackheart' and 'Trick' are my favourite as they're very pigmented.

If you're interested in more affordable dupes for these then I suggest the W7 palettes or the 'eBay' alternative 1 and 2.


^swatches from the Naked palette.


^swatches from the Naked 2 palette.


^swatches from the Naked 3 palette.


Overall, I found it hard to decide which palette I liked and used the most out the three, but I chose the first original Naked palette. I chose this one because I thought it suited me the most as there are 10 nude shades and 2 silver shades which make smokey eyes a lot easier to create. However, the price tag of £39.50 is way too high for what these palettes have to offer, but I will probably buy the Heat palette as I've heard lots of great reviews of it.

Do you own any of the Urban Decay Naked palettes? If so, what do you think of them?

Lots of love,
Maya xo
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