Recent Looks: Urban Decay, Femme Fatale, Ardency Inn, Stila, and Colourpop

Hi all. I haven't made one of these posts in a very long time, and that's because, as I've mentioned, I've been recovering from major surgery. It has almost been six weeks since my surgery, and I am just now finally getting back into the swing of things in my life, including putting on makeup and writing these posts. In a few weeks I will have another surgery, so these posts will be on hiatus again. 

What's included here is a mishmash of things I've worn in the last few weeks. To be completely honest, I don't remember exactly when I wore all of these looks, but here they are, all the same. 

Look 1: Urban Decay Jean-Michel Basquiat Palette*

Boom on the lid, Bobbi Brown Camel blended into the crease, and Untitled padded onto the outer corner. Exu, Boom, and Untilted on the lower lash line. 

Look 2: Femme Fatale Watery Grave

Watery Grave (over Pixie Epoxy) on the lid and Costal Scents Fine Wine blended into the crease. 

Look 3: Urban Decay Electric Palette, Colourpop Cannonball, and Kat Von D Pastel Goth

UD Savage on the lid, Colourpop Cannonball blended into the crease, and Kat Von D Star blended over Cannonball. Star, Cannonball, and Savage on the lower lash line. 

Look 4: Colourpop High Strung and The News

(High Strung: Row 3, Column 2; The News: Row 1, Column 4) 

High Strung on the lid and The News blended into the crease. 

Look 5: Ardency Inn Royal and Melt Love Sick

Royal on the lid and Love Sick blended into the crease. 

Look 6: Stila Magnificent Metals Glitter and Glow: Next to Notte

Next to Notte on the lid and Zoeva Substitute for Love, Costal Scents Oktoberfest, and Lime Cime Muse blended into the crease. 

Look 1: Urban Decay Jean-Michel Basquiat Palette

*Upfront, I want to address that there is controversy surrounding this palette and collection from Urban Decay. One controversy is the question of if Basquiat would have been supportive of this kind of a collection. I don't really like it when people speak for someone else, so I am choosing to not offer an opinion of if Basquiat would have approved. I will say, however, as someone who worked in fine art at a major museum, that using artwork for profit feels in line with what a lot of art is. The second controversy, in my opinion, is quite significant. And that is that Urban Decay chose to have Ruby Rose model for the collection instead of a black model. This, I feel, was incredibly tone-deaf on Urban Decay's part. I know this decision disappointed a lot of people, myself included. Separately, I want to add that this palette was given to me as a gift. 

Status: Keep

With all of that said, I did enjoy using this palette, but I have not used it outside of this look. The teal color, Boom, is absolutely gorgeous, and I loved it paired with the navy and lime green. I am not the biggest fan of the quality of Urban Decay palettes, but find I do really enjoy their colorful shadows. I'm interested to see how the rest of the palette performs.

Look 2: Femme Fatale Watery Grave
Status: Keep 

I really enjoyed this shadow, and it reminds me a lot of Fyrinnae Illusionary, but a touch darker. I paired this with Fine Wine from Costal Scents and really enjoyed how it looked. I feel like cooler tones (maybe?) might be the next trend with everyone a little burnt out on all the warm-toned palette releases, and I think purples like this with depth are unique cool tones.

Look 3: Urban Decay Electric Palette, Colourpop Cannonball, and Kat Von D Pastel Goth
Status: Love

This look was entirely inspired by this look from KathleenLights. I'm not a person who watches many tutorials, but I thought this look was just so gorgeous. I wore it on the Fourth of July and I loved it. This was also the first time that I've used Star from the Pastel Goth palette, and I was really pleased with how bright and pigmented it is. (One of my major complains about that palette is that the shadows can be very pale.) Wearing this look reminded me of how much I love color and how much I wish it could be considered work-appropriate. (On a separate note, why the hell is makeup work-approbate or not? I can understand wearing clothing that is not revealing and having some level of decorum, but if I want to wear hot pink eyeshadow, I feel like I should be able to.)

Look 4: Colourpop High Strung and The News
Status: Keep

I really enjoyed this look as a normal, "work-appropriate" look. It's funny. Last year, this would have been a more "out there" look for me, but ever since I discovered color (thanks to my one week, one palette project), these looks are pretty tame for me. Nonetheless, both of these Colourpop shadows were really pretty, blended well, and I enjoyed using them.

Look 5: Ardency Inn Royal and Melt Love Sick
Status: Favorite

Oh, man. I loved this look. Maybe it's obvious to other people, but purple and red is not a color combination that immediately comes to mind for me. The only reason I discovered it in the first place is because of the Melt Love Sick Stack, and during my one week, one palette project, I paired the purple shade from that stack (Promiscuous) with the deep red Love Sick shade. This was my first time wearing Royal, and I have to say that I absolutely love all of my Ardency Inn shadows. I don't know why more people aren't talking about them. Love Sick blended seamlessly into Royal, and I just thought this look was so cool and pretty.

Look 6: Stila Magnificent Metals Glitter and Glow: Next to Notte
Status: Love

My love affair with the Stila Magnificent Metals continues. A glittery red shadow isn't one that I ever thought I would love, but here we are. I've read some reviews of this that say the color is actually purple, but that kind of perplexes me because mine is very red. I paired it with some of my warmer shadows and thought the look came out really pretty. I asked someone today (when I wore this look) if my makeup was "too much," and they said, "Surprisingly, no." That's something that's nice about Next to Notte. I think it packs the same amount of glitter and shine as the other Magnificent Metals, but because the color is so deep and opaque, it doesn't scream, "RED GLITTER!" in your face. Not that I would be opposed to that.