Maybelline The 24 Karat Nudes Palette & Superstay Matte Ink in Lover Review

The Maybelline 24 Karat Nudes palette has a varied colour selection for a 'nude' palette with khaki green and purple shades as well as the usual beige, gold, copper, brown and black shades. The 'Karat' refers to the glittery, shimmery eye shadows although there are a couple of matte shadows (dark brown, grey and beige.) The shades are mainly warm toned although there are a few cool toned shadows. The majority of the shades are very glittery with some fall out. Because of the shimmery nature of these eye shadows I recommend doing your eye makeup first or use eye shadow shields so that the shimmer doesn't spoil your face make up.

Packaging-wise the matte gold palette is in keeping with the 'karat' look. The palette has twelve eye shadows which you can see through the clear window on the lid. Often the payoff for having a palette with a window to showcase the shadows is not having enough room for a mirror like in this palette. It does come with a two in one brush and eye shadow applicator which I don't use preferring to use my own brushes instead. The palette is pretty compact measuring 12.7 cm x 7.5cm which is about 1cm shorter than my Sleek palettes and MUA Heaven and Earth palette (all contain 12 shadows.) The plastic packaging makes the palette lightweight but it's not as sturdy as Sleek's palettes so while the palette is travel sized be careful carrying it around in a handbag.

Maybelline says this is a '13 looks in one palette' and has diagrams on the back to help with creating different looks using a quad, trio or duo eye shadows. I found this helpful as it meant I wasn't using the same colours all the time. I think the diagrams are useful even if you aren't a beginner with make up.

These eye shadows fade around 5 hours without primer (I have oily eye lids.) The 12 shades include six shimmer shades, three matte shades and three glitter shades. All the shades are described below:

A shimmery peach shade which only lasted 30 minutes before being absorbed by my oily eyelids so a primer is recommended. (The shade actually reminds me of a peach shadow in an ELF palette.)

A matte dark brown shade great for creating a smokey eye look but unfortunately seemed to fade within 30 minutes without primer. However it did stay on and kept my smokey eye makeup together after 5 hours but it was a lot less darker and dramatic after the first 30 minutes.

A white/cream shimmer shade

A pale gold shimmer shade

A  matte beige shadow which is chalky and requires a lot of building up to get any colour on the lids. It's common for palettes to have a matte white/beige eye shadow to use as a brow highlight and I guess it's nice to have that matte shadow in a palette of shimmers but they could have left this one out. I've noticed that matte eye shadows with good colour payoff and that are easy to apply without multiple applications seem to be harder to manufacture.

A yellow gold shimmer shade this was smooth and buttery to swatch.

A shimmery beige shade

A plum purple with light purple and gold glitter shade. Unfortunately it was hard to show up on camera.

A dark khaki olive green with gold glitter shade Again hard to show up on my camera. 

A charcoal grey shade which swatches almost black. It's very pigmented.

A shimmery copper shade. This shade was buttery and easy to swatch.

A Grey with blue glitter shadow

Overall this is a fairly good palette. The  grey and dark brown eye shadows are good for creating smoky eye while some of the glitter shadows are unique (I'm taking about the grey with light blue glitter and the purple with light purple and gold glitter.) The olive green with gold through it is stunning. You can also do lots of light neutral looks, but this would have to be with the shimmery shades. The only disappointment was the pale beige shadow which had poor colour payoff and was chalky but this is not uncommon for pale, matte shades in many eye shadow palettes.

The palette is £11.99 for 12 shades, which roughly works out as just under £1 for each shade. While this palette hasn't blown me away, I have seen really bad reviews of this palette that the colors don't blend and are difficult to work with, which hasn't been my experience at all. The pros of this palette are that it's affordable, there's a mixture of matte, shimmer and glitter finishes, there are a couple of unique shades and I liked the diagrams on the back. The cons include the fact that this often left me with a shimmery face, so do your base last and use eye primer to keep shadow in place and well as making sure the shades last all day. Also the palette is more fragile that it looks so careful travelling with it. Do I recommend you buy this palette?  Yes if you like shimmery, glittery eye shadows and you're on a budget. Or if you are a glitter hoarder after unique glitter shades.

Available at Boots  and Superdug £11.99. Currently on sale at Feel unique £8.35

Maybelline Superstay Matte Ink liquid lipstick in Lover 15

Firstly I shall say that Maybelline's Matte Ink Liquid lipstick smells gorgeous, exactly like pink marshmallows! It also tastes a bit like them too but it's fairly subtle. The oblong tube means it won't be rolling off surfaces and although the packaging is simple, it's quite attractive. Once it's dried down the colour is a dusty, dark pink.  The applicator is shaped like an oval with a inner dent and the point is great for drawing a precise outline. The formula of Maybelline's Matte Ink lipstick is quite thick and it takes a while to dry (15-mins) though it doesn't dry completely so it's a bit tacky to wear on the lips. However it doesn't transfer onto glasses or on a hand kiss test. It also stays on during eating as long as what you're eating isn't too oily. If it is then you will have to reapply a little near the centre of your lips after eating. You can layer Maybelline's Superstay Matte Ink liquid lipstick so you don't have to remove a layer before touching up and it will look perfectly fine. However I have actually found that Maybelline's Superstay 24 Color Dual lipstick in Cherry Pie lasted longer, even through oily meals.

Compared to most brands of matte liquid lipstick (such as Stila) this doesn't feel as drying to wear. However I feel that the formula of Maybelline's Superstay 24hr Color Dual lipstick (in Cherry Pie) is more superior because it drys completely rather than leaving the lips tacky which could annoy some people, it's also thinner so it doesn't take as long to dry. Finally it will last through oily meals which Maybelline Superstay Matte Ink doesn't. Saying that Maybelline's Superstay Matte Ink's are affordable, have a great applicator and smell gorgeous so they're not a bad buy at all. But if you're after a non tacky formula that you can eat through oily meals go for the Maybelline Superstay 24 hour color Dual lipstick in Cherry Pie.

Priced £9.99 Available at Boots,  Superdrug, Feelunique