It’s always so exciting when Kat Von D Beauty release new products but when they are limited edition it’s even more special. Kat announced that she was releasing a makeup collection inspired by the one and only drag queen Divine. Divine is one of Kat’s muses and she wanted this palette to be a symbol of individuality, self expression and positivity. Divine was a very inspiring person and always stayed true to himself, he brought hope and inspiration to marginalised subcultures. A fun fact is that Disney’s Ursula was inspired by Divine, how awesome is that! The Kat Von D x Divine collection is super limited edition and has an 8-pan eyeshadow palette and a studded kiss lipstick.

“Dreaming about being an actress, is more exciting than being one” -  Marilyn Monroe

November has been one busy month for me so I've decided to group together my beauty box posts this month, I will still give you a run down of each box and contents. The separate posts will be back to normal next month I hope and you can let me know what you think of my idea to group the box posts this month in the comments below.


The box I received first this month was Birchbox which is usually the box that arrives the earliest between the 2nd and 6th of the month. Birchbox have collaborated with Tatler magazine and created the most gorgeous box ever; with a feather drawer box design in teal, green and blue colours. This has gone straight on my dressing table because it so pretty. My box had 5 items inside, non of which was full size this month and honestly I only liked one item so this was my most disappointing Birchbox to date. A lot of other subscribers received a Wet Brush or an Eco Tools brush which I would of been over the moon with but I guess this just wasn't my month. It hasn't put me off staying a Birchbox subscriber as it the first box I haven't liked and I understand they can't get it right all all time.


SaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSave

As we all know by now, Kat Von D Beauty launched here in the UK last month and opened their first UK beauty counter in Debenhams Oxford Street London on October 5th. I can't wait to get down to London to shop on the counter and get shade matched for the highly recommended 'Lock It' foundation.

Last month Love Me Beauty had KvD Beauty products available, this was before the official launch so it was very exciting to be able to get my hands on some of the products early.
Love Me Beauty is a monthly subscription box that lets you choose your own products so you'll always receive products you want, each month you get 60 credits on your account and can choose from lots of different beauty treats. I tend to always pick up the makeup items but I have had Tangle Teezer hair brushes and Eco tools makeup brushes in the past from this subscription. Each month your items come in a small makeup bag, I received an Aztec printed bag which is big enough to fit lots of makeup in.


Of course I wanted to get my hands on the KvD Beauty products so made my beauty picks as soon as possible, with my 60 credits I was able to get all 3 of the KvD items including; an Ink Liner in shade 'Trooper', an Everlasting Liquid Lipstick in shade 'Outlaw' and a Studded Kiss Lipstick in shade 'Magick'. Each product is a sample sized which are the perfect size for popping in your handbag.


Ink Liner in shade Trooper (black)
In September I also purchased the special edition KvD Beauty London Calling set from Debenhams (read my post here), this set had a Tattoo Liner included which is very very similar to this Ink liner. I was impressed with the high quality of this liner from first application, the calligraphy shaped tip makes applying the product easy and effortless. After just one stroke I was left with a black line on my eye lid that did hold up against my current liner however there was a little shade fading throughout the day which I didn't get with the Tattoo liner. I will continue to use this liner but will probably opt to purchase the Tattoo liner not this Ink Liner in the future.


Everlasting Liquid Lipstick in shade Outlaw
This is a bold and bright red shade which is just gorgeous, I do enjoy wearing a red lip especially when I'm going out. To achieve an amazing red lip look you need a product that's long-lasting, applies smoothly and feels comfortable; this everlasting liquid lipstick does just that! The wand included in the lid gives me smooth application and theres no need for any other tools. I also found I didn't need to use a lip liner when wearing this lipstick although liner is useful it wasn't needed, the liquid lipstick drys within a few seconds leaving a matte finish; my favourite. I can't wait to try other shades in the Everlasting Liquid Lipstick range.


Studded Kiss Lipstick in shade Magick 
This is my favourite product of the 3 I received mainly because of the packaging, usually with mini/sample sized products the packaging is different to the full size items but not with KvD Beauty. This Studded Kiss lipstick is in the same beautiful and edgy packaging as the full size, its complete with a stud-like design all over it and the KvD logo on top of the lid; all the art work for KvD Beauty's products is drawn/designed by Kat Von D herself. As for the shade, it's pinky nude shade which would suit anyone I think, it's an perfect everyday shade because its not an in your face colour. The lipstick has a satin finish and is super easy to apply, actually the size of the lipstick makes it even easier to apply than a full size lipstick so this was an advantage. I will be purchasing a full size lipstick in this shade as soon as this mini has run out.


This month Love Me Beauty have Benefit, Makeup Forever and much more for you to pick from; items range from 10 to 30 credits each and you can always buy add-on credits if you want more beauty treats. Interested? Sign up here.

Last Thursday the 4th of August Urban Decay launched two awesome palettes, one that's exclusive to Debenhams. One of the two palettes is the Moondust palette which I have been really looking forward to getting my hands on. The exclusive to Debenhams palette is the UD XX Vice Ltd Reloaded palette that has shades that span from UD's 20 year history.

Jade from the Wigan UD counter in Debenhams invited me to check out the palettes and have a play with the shades on launch day. I was super excited to see the Moondust palette especially; I arrived after dinner at 1pm and the Moondust palette had already sold out!! I'm not surprised because the hype around this palette was huge online. Jade decided to just have play with the shades and see where we got with them, she used both palettes and some extra UD products on my eyes and even used one of the moondust shades on top of my lipstick.


Firstly Jade used UD's B6 Vitamin-infused complexion Prep Spray £23.00, this is a product I've not heard much about, Jade told me its more of a skin care than a primer when I asked, it preps the skin by absorbing excess oil, minimising pores and reducing redness. I really liked this product on my first impressions and its definitely on the wish list now. Moving on to the purpose of my visit to see the palettes at work, Jade used the new Vice palette first after applying my favourite eye primer the Primer Potion £16.00 to hold any eye products in place.

The UD XX Vice Ltd Reloaded palette £43.00 is made up of 20 shades including vintage and current collection shades all of which make up the perfect palette; theres 5 vintage shades, 5 exclusive shades from past palettes, 7 best sellers from the current collections of single eyeshadows and 3 totally NEW shades. All these shades make creating different looks easy weather its a neutral look or a smokey eye or or even some experimentation with some brighter colours; this palette has it all.


As a base shade Jade applied 'Roadstripe' all over my eye lids focusing on the inside corner, this shade is one of my favourites in the whole palette; it's a iridescent white ice blue colour which is just magical and I've seen nothing like it before. Two purple shades was applied next which I loved because I'm a sucker for anything purple; 'Freakshow' is a satin bright purple shade and 'Asphyxia' is a hyacinth shimmer with a blue shift. Jade applied both of these shades from the outer edge of my eye working them into the crease and also applying them under my bottom lashes. My eyes looked great with just these shades on but we didn't stop there...


Que the Moondust palette £35.00, made up of 8 NEW moondust shades that sparkle, glitter and twinkle like nothing before. Enclosed in a sparkly gun-metal case with mirrored cut-out text on the lid and a full sized mirror on the inside of the lid for applications on the move. This anniversary palette is really special and can create fabulous and sleek glitter filled looks.


'Specter' the lightest shade in the moondust palette was applied first on the inside corner of my eyes, fading into an ombré look. Being the lightest shade in the palette it certainly isn't my favourite, I prefer the brighter shades but for the look we was going for it worked perfectly adding sparkle to the inside corner of my eyes. Jade applied the shade 'Magnetic' all over my lids, this is the purple shade in the palette so matched the purple shades used from the Vice palette; this was applied from the outer corners moving inwards. Just like the purple shades in the Vice palette this Magnetic shade was added to under my bottom lashes as well, creating a sparkly all over look. I was really happy with the application of the moondust shades, they didn't feel heavy on my eyes and did leave a full glitter look with only a little product used.


To add to the glitter filled look Jade decided to use some of the Heavy Metal Glitter Eyeliner's £14.00 to intensify the look we was going for. 'ACDC' is the purple shade in the Heavy Metal collection so worked well with the shades Jade had used on my eyes. 'JunkShow' is an intense pink/purple liner which makes any look pop; I really loved this shade. I've never used these gel liners before so was apprehensive at first thinking they would be heavy on my eyes but wearing them on my lids was just like eyeshadow once they had settled on to my skin. Jade did apply some under my bottom lashes as well just like she did with the eyeshadows.


My eyes wouldn't of been finished without some mascara of course so Jade used lashings of 'Subversion' £15.50 to prime my lashes before adding 'Perversion' £17.50 to complete the look. I have this mascara already and use it often, it provides a full, dark black and bigger lash look.

Jade couldn't let me leave the counter without completing the full face look with a lipstick, UD's 100 Vice lipstick collection has so much choice. We went for a purple shade from the sheer shimmer range in shade 'Seismic'. 'Speedball' lipliner was applied first, this added a slight ombré look in my opinion as this liner had a more pinky tone to it than the purple Seismic lipstick. Over the top of both the liner and lipstick Jade finished the lip look off with a press of the 'Magnetic' shade from the Moondust palette on the bulk of the lip. Adding this glitter shadow gave my lips a unique look which matched my eyes really well.

The whole look was set with All Nighter Long-Lasting Makeup Settling Spray £22.00 which is another favourite product of mine because it actually works. I've used a couple of settling sprays as well as this one in the past and never had such good results as when I've used this UD settling spray.
Here's the completed look...


Each time I go to the UD counter in Wigan I have an awesome time, Jade is always friendly and informative which is great for when I have questions on products and makeup looks; she's also an amazing MUA. The counter is always very presentable too with the makeup stands all clean and tidy. I'm sure I'll be back for the next product launches in Autumn including the Razor Sharp Liquid Eyeliners and All Nighter Foundation. I can't wait!!! You can give the Wigan counter a like on Facebook here and keep up with their updates.

I will be reviewing the UD XX Vice Ltd Reloaded palette in full on my blog soon so check back for that post shortly, I'll update my social channels when that post goes live. Once the Moondust palette is back in stock on the counter and I pick one up, I'll be reviewing that in full as well.
SaveSave

This is my first ever competition on my blog and I'm so excited for everyone to get involved! Urban Decay contacted me to ask if I would like to run a completion on Twitter to thank my readers/followers and of course I agreed! What's even more exciting is the prize... a full set of Alice Through the Looking Glass lipsticks that are no longer on sale!!! Amazing right??

So your now thinking well how do I enter this fabulous competition??? Easy... follow @gemsupnorth and @urbandecaycosmetics on twitter, retweet the competition tweet and thats it!

Urban Decay have recently launched their 100 Vice Lipstick collection along with 50 lip liners to match; making this UD's biggest line up ever! The packaging is one of the biggest changes for UD, with making the lipsticks lighter in weight from the Revolution lipstick range, the new packaging features a gun-metal case with a gold base and debossed lettering, the actual lipstick has an embossed UD which is a great feature for any lipstick fan like me. I personally love the new packaging because its lighter and this also makes them cheaper than the Revolution range at just £15.00 per bullet, bargain I'd say.


This collection has a lipstick for everyone with bold brights, dark, sexy shades and super-versatile nudes and 6 finishes including mega matte (super-intense matte), comfort matte (cream matte), cream (original cream), metallized (cream with high level pearl), sheer (sheer shiny finish) and sheer shimmer (transparent with pearl). I was most excited to try the mega matte finish and I was not disappointed when I tried it on launch day when I visited my local UD counter, read about that day here. The lipsticks have super pigmentation, laying down amazing colour on the lips, each shade glides onto the lips effortlessly and nourishes them with aloe vera, jojoba, avocado and babassu oils as ingredients in each bullet.

Last week I received a fabulous parcel from Urban Decay with 5 of the new lipsticks inside, I was so excited and couldn't wait to try them out, thank you so much UD!!
Since then I've been back to my local UD counter to buy 2 lip liners to match 2 of the lipsticks I was sent and along with my lipstick purchase on launch day I have put together a review of the shades here for you guys to read.


Metallized Vice Lipstick in shade Big Bang*
I tried this 'Big Bang' shade on launch day and fell in love with it straight away! I don't usually like pink lipsticks however this is a vivid bright shade that leaves a bold look. The metallized element makes my lips glittery and unique, I really like this shade and didn't think I would. I was worried that the texture of the lipstick would of been uncomfortable because of the metallized element but I was wrong, swiping over my lips was easy and wearing the lipstick was just as comfortable as any other lipstick from UD. I brought the lip liner in 'Big Bang' to apply before the lipstick and I'm glad I did because this shade is so unique I couldnt find a liner at home that matched it and using the liner all over my lips before applying the lipstick made the shade brighter. I was also very impressed with the staying power throughout the day, I applied in the morning and ate lunch/snacks, I didn't reapply until tea time which is amazing for such a bold shade!



Mega Matte Vice Lipstick in shade Pandemonium*
First of all this lipstick is purple so of course its one of my favourites, the purple shade is different to any purple lipstick I've had in the past. The shade isn't a dark purple or a light shade its somewhere in the middle making it so different. Pandemonium has a mega matte finish which I was very excited to try, I love matte shades and wanted to see the difference in the mega matte. The difference I found was the pigmentation was amazing, one coat left a flawless colour on my lips that I couldn't stop looking at. Again the longevity is great just like Big Bang my lipstick lasted all day even after eating and drinking. I also brought the lip liner in Pandemonium again because the shade is so unique so I needed the liner to match perfectly.



Comfort Matte Vice Lipstick in shade 1993
1993 was the shade I brought on launch day, I suppose this is a boring shade for me as I like my bolds, brights and dark shades but I wanted a lipstick that I could wear as an everyday lipstick for work and casual days. This brown comfort matte shade is perfect for what I wanted, the comfort matte finish is very comfortable and matte, exactly what it says it is. I particularly like that '1993' didn't feel dry but felt creamy on my lips, making it very very comfortable to wear. The lip liner helps to darken the shade when I apply liner to my whole lips not just the edges, the liners are as creamy as the lipsticks too, easy to apply and super pigmented. As for staying power, this was up there with the mega matte shades and lasted all day throughout meals too!



Comfort Matte Vice Lipstick in shade Backtalk*
This 'Backtalk' shade looks like a nude shade in the bullet but when swatched and being worn its darker and more pink than a nude in my opinion. I don't wear nude shades as I think they wash out my face a little but this adds a stubble natural look to my lips which is great for everyday wear. The shade is pink with a slight hint of purple which really is an original colour for a lipstick, I like this shade much more than I thought I would. Again with the comfort matte finish I gained my favourite matte finish but with a creamy texture and feel on my lips, I just can't get over how comfortable these comfort matte lipsticks are to wear.



Cream Vice Lipstick in shade Firebird*
Another bright shade that is right up my street, it's a fuchsia and purple shade with a cream finish. The shade is bright and can be applied with another shade for an ombre look easily with being a cream finish, I find that these finishes blend easier. I like the shine I achieve when wearing this shade, it's shine finish gives me a sleek party look thats really noticeable. I did find that 'Firebird' didn't last as long as the matte shades as there was a lot of transfer when eating and drinking but nothing a little lipstick top up couldn't fix.



Mega Matte Vice Lipstick in shade 714*
Bold, bright and mega matte; 714 is the red shade everyone needs. I personally think everyone can rock a red shade weather you think it or not, red lipstick is a go to of mine if I'm undecided or unsure on which shade to choose I always go for a red and you can't go wrong with a red shade. '714' is a cult favourite shade in the vice collection and with it being a mega matte shade its high up on my favourites list. To me this the shade that has the most matte look to it, straight from application you can see the matte finish which stays matte throughout the day, there is no pulling when applying and one stroke is enough to cover the lips in with the bold shade. Ready to rock!


Urban Decay have really outdone themselves with this massive launch, I love the choice of shades, finishes and the new packaging. UD have also launched the Vice Lipstick app where you can try on all the shades, you take a selfie then start swiping across the screen to try on the shades, the shades you like get saved so you can look back at them and see the shade names etc. This was an fantastic idea since there are so many shades to choose from, this helps with the struggle of trying on shades at the counter and getting sore/tinted lips.

I can't wait to see whats next from Urban Decay, we have had a couple of sneak peaks on social media of a Moondust palette (yes you read that right, exciting I know), new all nighter foundation and liquid liners. I can't wait to see them in stores, especially the palette.