Fortune Favours the Brave by Makeup Revolution

Perhaps one of the most exciting and highly coveted products to come from budget cosmetics company Makeup Revolution thus far, comes the Fortune Favours the Brave palette - a palette which is born of a collaboration between Makeup Revolution and British Beauty Blogger and I believe a lot of time and effort was put into providing this palette with just the right shades.  I have to say, even after its' release months ago, it is still highly desirable and seems seems to sell out often which is why it took me quite a few tries before I was able to get my excitable hands on this one.

The beautiful case, complete with my smudges.

Unlike the typical glossy black casing that the typical Makeup Revolution palettes are usually armoured in, this palette is prettily adorned with a hard golden matte plastic case which gives a premium luxurious look to the product - this does not look like a £9.99 palette. Within, you get your typical large crystal clear mirror and the palette boasts 30 varied and interesting shades.  What is so revolutionary about this palette is that several of the shades are veined with contrasting shimmers and pigments that add a dynamic flare to the shadows, giving more dimension and seeming to add strength to the overall pigmentation itself. 

Most of the shades in the palette are focused on a theme - that being Gold!  The shadows range from a few matte base colours in soft light beiges and peach to shimmering rose golds, bronzes, khakis and aubergines.  Several of the colours have gold veins throughout the pigment giving an almost planetary look to the pan (or perhaps reminding you of the way you might see veins of gold appearing through rocks in a mine). The plastic sheet within the palette reveals the shades have equally inventive and interesting names such as "midnight rainbow", "pink diamond" and "lonely planet".  In keeping with the theme, you'll also find three shades known as "fortune", "favour" and "brave".  There was a brush in the palette but it disappeared somewhere never to be recovered - I never did get the chance to test it out but it looked like it might have worked well for blending (I think it was a double ended brush, I could be wrong though).

Blending with these shadows worked like a dream, they go on soft and velvety and brush into each other as long as you use a good soft blending brush (it sometimes helps also to switch to a clean blending brush after adding your darker shades - this is a tip I picked up from famous drag queen "Miss Fame" on Youtube.



Shades I used here were "New World" and "Lonely Planet" with a bit
"The Revolution". "New World" is on glance a white shade with flecks
of gold through it, which comes out beautifully shimmery yet subtle
enough for a daytime look that brightens the eye.

In testing out, I have to say I was definitely impressed with the pigmentation - especially on some of the darker colours. Even without using a primer I was able to achieve some quite intense shades and dramatic looks which blend well with each other (which as is always my unfortunate problem, never shows as well on camera due to me using an iPod touch and iPad for the moment).  Every colour in the set seems to have at least five contrasting shades (if not more) that match it spectacularly - as gold is the theme here, every contrasting shade works with gold bases.  There doesn't seem to be much limitation with this palette, you have everything you need to achieve almost every look you can think of, smokey, sultry, glam, gothic, or nude.  All it takes is skill, patience and a few decent brushes (I use Makeup Revolution's Ultra Metals pointed crease eye brush, FYI).


Here I used a lot of "Lonely Planet". "Winning and "Blacqua".
The application looks a bit sloppy, this was just me quickly
testing the shades out before a bath. Threw on my trademark
wonky lash for effect. 

The dark shades in the palette are all quite interesting and unusual - "Lonely Planet" for example is a deep burgundy shade with copper and red undertones - it isn't too highly shimmery so works well as a crease colour or an all over shade for ultra dramatic night time looks.  Another of my favourite shades in the palette is "Transformer" which is an intense deep forest/teal green with a slight satin finish, it comes out intensely dark but with blending can be very soft and subtle. "Midnight Rainbow" is a satin finish navy that stands out beautifully but comes out dark and sultry while it's sister shade "Skylight" is somewhere in the range of a cobalt blue with golden undertones that make the colour really pop and give it real
dimension and depth.

Shades "Tip Top", "Green Machine" and "Smoothie"
were used here with a tiny bit of "Golden Coins"

What I really do love most about this palette is that every shade is highly wearable - this is akin to having a nudes palette that can double as a varied, diverse and interesting looks palette - what defines how the look comes out is your technique, your blending, the brushes you use and the use of a primer.  Some of the shades I've even used when I couldn't be bothered getting my highlighter palette out ("New world" and "Pink Diamond" do really work nicely in a pinch).  I've provided several photos of the quick looks I was able to achieve with the various shades available in the palette.  My pictures were taken without filters, without fancy lighting and without a good camera - right now I'm working with an iPod Touch (5th generation) and an iPad 2, so the camera quality isn't spectacular. 



Here the colours were "Midnight Rainbow", "Skylight" and
"Fortune". I did this without a primer and the shades
did look quite intense and eyecatching.

So...where exactly can you get this incredible revolutionary palette?  I believe Superdrug is selling it, and I've heard from various sources that it can sometimes be found at Ulta depending on availability.  Also, you can always go to Makeup Revolution's portal and find the site for your appropriate country and order straight from there (which I recommend as the palettes usually tend to be more fairly priced directly from the source).  Personally, I highly recommend this palette, it's by far one of my favourite palettes by Makeup Revolution so far (perhaps only seconded by "Eyes like Angels" and "Affirmation", which are two of my go-to palettes by the brand).
If you're looking for a luxury quality product with an affordable price that will give you versatility to play around with, then this is what to go for.   

     

Wearing "Soft", "New World" and "Smoothie".  This was my
subtle serious daytime look for an appointment at the bank.
Trying to look serious while having pink hair is no small feat,
let me tell you.

Mega Last Matte Lip Cover by Wet N Wild

Dark colours aren't usually something someone with thin lips someone of my age can usually pull off, but hey, let's give this a try anyway, right?  I haven't had much good experience with Matte lips, usually they're drying or never do dry and always still have that slightly wet look about them.  That being said, Matte lips seem to be the "in" thing at the moment, I thought why not give it a try.

The colour I have today to review is "Cinnamon Spice" by Wet N Wild (can't say the company name is all that appealing to me, doesn't sound much like a cosmetic's company if you catch my drift!).  This is somewhere between a deep terricota red with slight undertones of brown in. It's a more brick red if you're pale like me and I found it not all that complimentary on small lips.  Probably better for the Kylie Jenners of you out there.

Application is dense and drying, it doesn't feather or bleed
into the skin around the lips, it tends to stay put and not
smear too much thankfully.

First of all, the tube is simple, a thin tube with a clear lid, within, this is your regular twist to apply style lippy with a rather flat head.  Right off the bat, I have to say I really dislike flat-head style lipsticks, I find them difficult to apply as is there isn't a tapered end to give you more definition closer around the edges.  The application of this was a little messy and problematic, I don't have a liner to match it so I can't get the perfect edges that you'd associate with a bold lip but it doesn't bleed or feather a whole lot luckily. The lipstick itself is extremely dense and dry, and it doesn't apply easily, it drags against the lip and does not go on smoothly, it doesn't feel creamy or luxurious, and I found tiny little crumbs had come away from it and gathered into the creases of the lip. The application reminded me of using a very cheap crayon on very rough paper - that's the only way I can find to describe it.

Looked slightly shiny after application, I waited half an hour and it still had that slightly light-reflective quality about it and it didn't set so kiss test on the back of the hand and my cup was poor - lip prints everywhere, back of my hand looked like the Rocky Horror Picture Show logo.  To properly mattify it and set it, I had to seperate the ply of a piece of tissue, press a piece to my lips and dab over it with some setting powder - this is an old trick to mattify most lipsticks without changing the hue too much. It did dull the shade slightly, but after this transfer was fine.  As far as places you could wear this colour to, I'd say most places, it isn't too bold or dark that it could be a night time shade, it'd probably be suitable enough for work wear or a daytime look depending on your style.

No visible staining upon removal, excuse the blurry photo, my iPad
hates me and I don't have a better camera to take macro shots.

As the hours wore on after my first application, I found the lipstick was starting to go patchy slightly in places and kept having to be reapplied to remain uniform so I wouldn't call this a "long lasting" variety.  After removing the lipstick at the end of the day, I saw no visible staining, it removed easily with my usual toner.  However I will note my lips are now horribly dry and feel like they're starting to crack, this might just be specific to me though, who can say.



Big Sloppy Kisses for making it to the end
of this article! xxx

 This lipstick is getting a ton of positive reviews but I found it a bit of a middle ground miss. The shade was nice but the application was difficult and the drying effect it left my lips with loses it some stars.  The lipstick comes in many other shades, but the application tends to be the same with the same issues in my experience.  At the asking price of £5.99, I'm honestly not that impressed. There are far better drugstore/high street lipsticks out there that look far nicer and apply far better. 

This can be purchased from Amazon, Walgreens, Drugstore, and a variety of other retailers online. 

   

 

Makeup Geek by I Heart Makeup

Makeup Geek by I Heart Makeup is one of the most varied and versatile palettes I've had in my hands for a good while - I honestly could not wait to see what I could do with the interesting vivid shades in this palette. Normally retailing at £7.99 from Makeup Revolution's online store, I managed to snatch this up for the bargain price of £3.99 during their half price sale and I can say it is definitely worth every penny.

A fairly large palette, this boasts a nice big mirror and 36 highly pigmented in your face eyeshadows.  The front casing has a funky varsity style holographic logo, the inside has a plastic protection sheet boasting the words "All the Shades. Every Look. I Am A Geek"...and I felt a little bit of pride as that slogan resonated with the geek in me - it was like the makeup mothership calling me home.  The palette was larger than I had honestly imagined it would be - each pan with its shadow I'd say roughly measures over a centimetre wide, so there's a lot of room for your big fluffy eye brushes.  This has the weight and solid feel of something far more expensive and luxurious than it's price suggests.

If you need just one palette to provide you with a multitude of possibilities as far as looks are concerned, then this is going to be it. The eyeshadows here are a mix of satin, shimmer and matte finishes, and range from nude neutrals, warm golds, shimmering bronzes to super cobalt blue and emerald green. The silvery and black shades are exceptional, the pinks are super bright and the Orange is very warm and pigmented - especially with the use of a primer.   As far as blending goes, they work fantastically together and the edges are seamless giving a lovely gradient.  To the touch the shadows are soft and velvety, some of the satin shades have a soft buttery feel about them.  I didn't experience any fallout during application and I found the vivid shades really made my eye colour pop, which I find difficult with conventional neutrals.

The 80s Unicorn - a throw back to the glory
days I never had.

I've put together three quick looks to demonstrate just how pigmented these shadows are and how versatile the looks you can achieve are.  For the first look, I did a little look I named "80s Unicorn", I used the darkest pink softened out, a blend of the cobalt blue, the  royal purple, and a touch of orange on the inside, the liner is also by Makeup Revolution in the shade "Bad Girl Blue" (£1).

The Tin WoMan - When I'm just screaming
for a look that has a bit of Lady Gaga drama
that lacks the talent or beauty to match it.

The silver metallic look I've named the "Tin WoMan" (hey, I never claimed to be creative) is a blend of the four grey to black shades. To get the intense silver satin finish I wet my brush with a little bit of my favourite face toner and dabbed it into the silver shade to get more of a metallic cream application than powder. The final look which I'll call "Sloppy 60s", uses the graphite grey and the beige gold shade.  With each of these looks I applied over a layer of my budget eye primer by W7  - nothing premium or expensive.

The Sloppy 60s.  Even Twiggy would be appalled
at how lazy my blending was here. Perfectionists
need not apply.

 

Overall verdict is that if you're looking for a budget palette that blends nicely but has a dramatic variation of fun bright colours that are outside the box of your typical barely there nudes and general smokey eye, then this is the one to go for.

Not only is it affordable and versatile but it is wonderful value for money and well worth having in your collection.  Buy this and I guarantee people will be thinking this was far more expensive than it is - it has the look and feel of a product worth far more - I'd compare it to many premium eyeshadow palettes if I wasn't poor and could actually afford them *shakes fist at Urban Decay and MAC*.   You can do anything from a subtle daytime look to a "holy crap I'm a drag queen!" look with this, and that makes it definitely worth every penny. 

If you want to purchase this in the UK you can get this at Superdrug.  As for the US, I know Ulta does sell limited Makeup Revolution Products and I Heart Makeup products but I haven't been able to locate one that sells this palette.  A little research and looking around may be in order, or you may have to bite the bullet and order online from Makeup Revolution - at this gateway you should be able to find the appropriate site for your country to order from. 

Disclaimer:  I am making NO money from this blog, I did not receive any of the products mentioned in this post free to review, nor am I earning any advertisement money or money from linking any of the companies mentioned.  I am not being sponsored by any company mentioned here to blog - any opinion I give is my honest and real review of the product.  I simply love makeup and want to share my views on certain products (that will most likely be ALL drug store and affordable brands).