Hi Divas!

Welcome back to my crazy blog. I want to give a huge Diva Shout Out to a very special friend and blogger Kim from A Very Sweet Blog! Last month I was having one of the worst weeks ever as my car broke down and I had to run for the bus in the pouring rain. I snapchatted about my experience and Kim, with her kind sweet heart, gifted me this beautiful palette to brighten my week. I was so super shocked as I did not expect this random act of kindness. She wrote a beautiful piece on her blog as to why she decided to send this palette all the way from the USA to South Africa. Here is an excerpt:  

''A Sweet Surprise! I want to award a Sweet Surprise (Too Faced Sweet Peach Palette) to Desle of Diva Desle Blog. Desle is a theatre actress and beauty blogger from Cape Town, South Africa. Her blog just turned four and it's a fun assortment of all types of beauty product reviews. I've always admired Desle's imaginative spirit & creativity. Her nail designs are the absolute cutest and she loves trying beauty products from around the world! I love her diversity! Desle and I share a love for Too Faced products (especially eye shadow palettes). Even though she is MUCH BETTER with eye shadow than I am. She always creates fabulous looks. I appreciate her sincerity. She communicates with bloggers on social media. She sent me the sweetest post card. We're always communicating on Snapchat. The other day, she was having car problems and had to take the bus BUT WHAT I ADMIRED was she made the best of the situation. Attitude and all! She will take a rainy day and bring sunshine into it. It's hard to get Too Faced products in SA, so I wanted to make sure she got this limited edition palette. So enjoy Desle and thank you for being a wonderful blogger & friend.''

You can read the rest of her review on the palette HERE and subscribe to her blog and social media pages ;-) A huge thank you to Kim for this Sweet Surprise. I will always appreciate her generosity and kindness. I am truly grateful. Xxxx

On To The Review:

The Sweet Peach palette is one of the most major makeup releases for 2016. It is a limited edition palette by Too Faced that has been selling out like hot cakes in stores all over the USA. So what is all the hype about? Well the packaging is one of the prettiest and cutest things that Too Faced as ever put out. Plus there are a whopping 18 eyeshadows that all suppose to smell like juicy peaches. Now I truly love peach anything! Fresh peach fruit, canned peaches with cream, sweet peach juice and peachy lip balms are all my jams! When I had this product in my possession I was dancing in my room like a crazy person. The packaging is absolutely stunning! It comes in a similar case as the other palettes in the Too Faced Chocolate Bar family. I measured it against the original chocolate palette which I own and it is exactly the same size in width and length. The original has 16 eyeshadows and the sweet peach has 18. Unlike the original palettes with the chocolate block engravings, the sweet peach has mini peaches engraved on the palette and a orange colour which fades from coral, to pink to a light peach shade. So super duper cute!

As I said the palette comes with 18 eyeshadows in a variety of colours. There are so many options to choose from ranging from light to dark, matte to shimmer and stunning satin shades. Each eyeshadow has a strong sweet peach scent. It does not smell like the original peach fruit. Rather it smells like a peach sweet or peach bubblegum. I personally love the scent and sniff it at every opportunity I get. Even as you apply the eyeshadows the scent lingers on your makeup brush and I absolutely love it. It makes applying my makeup so much more pleasant. The palette comes with a mirror which would be perfect for travel!I just love the packaging of this palette and it has become my favourite in my makeup collection. It is so pretty to look at and a delight to work with.


There are 6 matte shades which are White Peach, Peaches N' Cream and Georgia in the light coloured family ranging from white to pink. Then there are Puree, Summer Yum and Charmed I'm Sure in the brown colour family which have taupes and copper brown shades which are perfect to use in the crease. There are 8 shimmery shades with a touch of satin texture. These consist of Nectar, Luscious, Cobbler, Just Peachy and Bellini which are in the peach colour family. They have gold and coral tones ranging from light to dark pink. Bless Her Heart which is a gorgeous olive green, Caramelized a warm satin brown and Peach Pit a brown shimmer shade with a hint of warm purple. These 8 eyeshadows are perfect lid colours. The rest of the four shades have a matte finish with speckled gold glitter in them. These are Candied Peach a vibrant coral shade great for the crease, Tempting a dark black, Delectable a dark purple and Talk Derby To Me which is a dark navy blue almost black shade.

The eyeshadows are very pigmented and blend effortlessly on the eyes. There is some fall out which happens in the pan when picking up the pigments with a brush. Although once applied on the lids it never fades or falls away. Too Faced knows how to make beautiful opaque shadows and this palette does not disappoint. What I love most about this palette is that there is so much variety. You will never get bored in creating new looks as the eyeshadow colours are very versatile. In the original chocolate bar palette you are limited to brown and gold looks whereas with this palette you can go crazy with options. With the original chocolate bar there are only 4 proper satin lid colours. In the peach palette there are 8 gorgeous lid shades to choose from. I adore the colour range as the bright corals and warm pinks are right up my alley. Now, I won't be doing any swatches in this blog post as there are a ton of them on YouTube and other websites. Just Google Sweet Peach and the swatches will appear on your screen in a jiffy. Instead I want to show you some looks I did with the palette and how versatile the eyeshadows are. I have created three looks. One ranging from a soft everyday look, to a romantic out the box look and a diva glam night out look.

*****

Everyday Look:

For this everyday bright makeup look I used White peach under my brow bone, the light pink Georgia shade as my transition shade, the deep coral shade Candied Peach in my crease and the copper brown colour Summer Yum on my outer lid corners. For the lids I used the beautiful Nectar shade for soft golden eyes. I did a dramatic wing to add glamour to the look but for a everyday work look you can skip the winged liner and just had mascara.

Soft Out The Box Romantic Look:

For this look I used White Peach under my brow bone, the light skin tone shade Peaches N' Cream as my transition shade and the clay brown Puree in my crease. For my lids I used the shade Bless Her Heart which is a gorgeous olive green satin eyeshadow which is a welcome surprise to the palette. This eye makeup is whimsical and delightful. It would be perfect for a date.

Diva Glam Night Out Look:

This is a ''I am a Diva!'' and ''I Slay All Day!'' look. I used Peaches N' Cream under my brow bone, Georgia and Candied Peach as my transition shade and the deep purple Delectable in my crease. For my lids I vamped it up with the deep navy blue colour called Talk Derby To Me. I dragged Delectable and Talk Derby To Me on my lower lash line as well. I cleaned up the look with concealer and added some winged liner.

*****

I am absolutely in love with this palette. I seriously cannot stop playing with it. I have to tell myself to use other palettes now and again because my hands keep grabbing it. My favourite eyeshadows are Luscious (a light peach shade with golden shimmer), Candied Peach (a vibrant deep coral with a hint of pink), Bellini (a two toned peach and pink shade with gold undertones), Bless Her Heart (a beautiful satin oilve shade) and Summer Yum (a matte brick brown shade). This palette is definitely worth the hype and all the attention it got in my book. I know that there are some people who are not feeling this over all peach theme. I think it depends on your personality and what you like to wear. If you love colour and variety you will surely enjoy this new addition to the Too Faced family. I am obsessed! ;-)




Thank you so much for reading, Beauties!!! 
Let me know which makeup look you liked best in the comment section below. 
Lots of love. Xxxx

Spring Makeup F.O.T.D 

Hi Divas!

Last week I did the Spring Fling tag on the blog which you can read here. This week, I thought I would use some of the products I mentioned in that post and do a fun makeup tutorial. Of cause you don't have to have the exact same products that I have used to create this look.I thought I would get you inspired for spring and you can use whatever is in your makeup bag for a fun bright makeup look. The weather in Cape Town has really been depressing. It has been grey and raining a lot lately. How I wish Cape Town would wake up and smell the flowers! It is Spring people!!!

Makeup Tutorial:

1. Firstly I covered my face with the Guerlain Super Aqua BB Cream. I prefer using BB creams rather than foundations. It gives my face a more natural and glowing appearance.

2. I filled in my eyebrows and set them with the Essence Eyebrow Stylist Set and Essence Lash and Brow Gel Mascara. I applied the Nyx Jumbo Eye Pencil in Milk all over my eyelids to prime them and create a white base as I am working with bright colourful eyeshadows.

3. I took the Yardley Suntorini Eyeshadow palette and used the lightest matte brown shade and dusted it all over my eye lids to warm it up.

4. I added a warm shimmery brown shade of the BH Cosmetics That's Heart palette and lightly applied it in my crease just to warm up the eye a little.

5. I then applied the pink shade of the That's heart palette and the deep pink shade of the Yardley Suntorini palette and mixed them together to create a pretty pink eyeshadow on my eyelids. I then blended everything with a fluffy brush.

6. After that I took an angled brush an applied the turquoise eyeshadow of the That's heart palette and glided it across my lower lash line.

7. For eyeliner I used the Nyx Super Fat Marker on my upper lash line and volumised my eye lashes with the Loreal Miss Manga Mascara.

8. For concealer I used the Catrice Coverstick under my eyes and set my face with the Maybelline Clear Smooth powder. To contour my face I applied the blush, bronzer and highlighter using the That's Heart palette.

9.Once that was done I mixed the Etude House Dear My Blooming Lips Talk lipstick in RD304 and Maybelline Fuchsia Flash lipstick for bright pink lips.

Final Thoughts:

If you love colour and not afraid to wear it this would be a great bright spring look to rock. If you want to tone the look down a little bit, you could skip the turquoise eyeshadow under the eyes and apply a pretty pink gloss instead of bright pink lipstick. I really hope you enjoyed this look. Let me know what you like to rock in spring: bright lips, floral accessories or dresses?

Have a fabulous week Divas! Xxxx

Urban Decay Ammo Palette Swatches

Hi Divas!

Hope everyone had a lovely weekend. It was such a scorcher in Cape Town this past week with temperatures reaching 35 degrees Celsius. It was sweltering hot but that did not keep me away from playing with my Urban Decay Ammo palette. I have been having so much fun with this palette, it is crazy. I have been obsessed with it. In my last Ammo palette post, which you can read HERE, I promised swatches and some more eye tutorials. I thought I would do swatches this week and show photo's of how the eyeshadows look directly on my eyes. So here it goes!

HAND SWATCHES

 (From top left to right:)

SMOG: A bronze- brown metallic shade with slight shimmer

MILDEW: A shimmery mossy green shade

OIL SLICK: A dense black eyeshadow with silver shimmer specks

LAST CALL: My favourite shade from the palette. A purple- plum shade with slight shimmer

CHOPPER: A copper shimmery shade

(From bottom left to right:)

MAUI WOWIE: A shimmery glittery gold shade

SHATTERED: A pastel baby blue shimmery shade

POLYESTER BRIDE: A white shimmer shade

GRIFTER: A pastel purple shimmer shade

SIN: My second favourite shade from this palette. A creamy beige shade with slight tones of pink.

EYE SWATCHES

 So, I wanted you to see what the eyeshadows look like like on my eyes. These are three looks that I have created using the Ammo eyeshadows only. In the first look I used Grifter on the inner corners of my eyes and Shattered on the rest of my lid. I then used a mixture of Oil slick, Mildew and Smog in my crease. For the second look I used Chopper as a base all over my lid and topped it up with Maui Wowie for the gold shimmer effect. I then used Oil Slick and Smog in my crease. For my third look I used Polyester bride and Maui Wowie in my inner eye corners, Mildew all over my lid and Smog in my crease.

The eyeshadows are really easy to work with. Some can be a little bit powdery like the baby blue shade Shattered. With the Urban Decay eyeshadow primer potion base these eyeshadows perform very well on the eyes and are long lasting. You can create many different dramatic looks. All the eyeshadows are shimmer shades, with some being glitterier than others. This palette would work best for a evening out or for party looks. I love using this palette for my theatre shows as they give a beautiful bold dramatic finish on the eyes.

Word on the street, is that Rubybox has been selling these palettes in South Africa on their online shopping website. Browse around HERE and see if you can find any. It would really be an investment for someone who loves wearing bold colourful eyeshadows. Let me know below if you would like me to another in depth eyeshadow tutorial look.

Lots of Divalicious kisses

Xxxx

Hi Divas!

I have a jam packed review and tutorial for you this week. I am featuring one of the iconic Urban Decay Eyeshadow Palettes in Ammo. I bought this at Sephora on my last trip to Doha and have only recently started playing around with it. The palette comes with 10 eyeshadows that are a favourite in the Urban Decay range. With the palette is a mini eyeshadow brush and travel size Eyeshadow Primer Potion. The palette is encased in a really pretty metallic grey and purple casing. It is the size of a small pocket book and can be easily tucked away in your handbag or makeup bag. The palette opens up like a book to reveal the 10 bold eyeshadows and mirror which is a perfect size to do makeup on the go.

 I was very excited to use the Eyeshadow Primer Potion for the first time as many beauty vloggers have been raving about this gem on YouTube. The primer potion I have comes in a little 11ml tube, but a little really goes along way. I squeezed a tiny bit onto my fingers and rubbed the primer all over my eyelids. The consistency of the primer is creamy and spreads effortlessly across the eyelid. Only a tiny amount is needed to prep your eyes for makeup. I used 5 out of the 10 eyeshadows to create the look down below.

I don't even know what to call this eyeshadow look I did. I was inspired by Arabian makeup on YouTube and Pinterest and decided to do my own Diva Desle version of it. Firstly I prepped my eyes with the primer potion to make the eyeshadows pop and last longer.

1. I used the lightest shade of the palette called Polyester Bride, which is a white glittery shade, and swept it across the inner corners of my eyes and brushing outwards all over the rest of my lids. This will brighten your eyes and make them seem big bold and beautiful.

2. I took my base colour which is Last Call and brushed it all over my eyelids. The eyeshadow is a glittery purple and plum shade. I love this colour as the glitter is not very shimmery. It is just enough to give my eyes a pretty glow. As you can see in the pictures above it looks really great on my eyelids.

3. I then applied a metallic gold shade called Copper to the inner crease of my eyelid and blended it out really well with the Last Call shade. The key to making your eyeshadow look beautiful and natural is the blending. Always make sure that you blend your colours well into each other. Harsh eyeshadow lines look terrible and unprofessional. When in doubt just blend!

4. Once everything is blended in, I lightly applied the black eyeshadow called Oil Slick to the outer corners of my eyes in a V- shape. This is just to create a little bit of shadow and depth on the eye lid. The black eyeshadow has tiny particles of glitter in it but it is more matte than the rest of the eyeshadows so it's great to line your eyes with as well.

5. I used my finger and rubbed a little Polyester Bride, which is the glittery white colour to my brow bone. This is a great way to highlight your eyes and again make them stand out and look bold.

6. I applied black eyeliner to the bottom and upper part of my eyes. The line on the top is much thicker than the bottom. I tend to freestyle when it comes to applying eyeliner. I like to follow the pencil with my lash line and as I get to the end of my eye I make the line a little thicker. On the bottom of my eyes I applied a thin line of eyeliner to my water line.

7. To round it off I coated my lashes in tons of my favourite mascara. Right now I am loving Lancome Hypnose Drama Mascara. It elongates my lashes and gives it lots of volume without drying it out.

8. Lastly, I lightly dusted the purple/plum shade of Last Call at the bottom of my eyelashes just to keep the base colour as the centre of attraction.

 Voila! All done. :-)

So this is the end result of my Urban Decay Eyeshadow Palette. I am very happy with this little palette. The 5 colours that I have used so far have really proved to be excellent quality in pigment and are long lasting. I would recommend using this palette at night or when you are going to a party or special occasion. The colours are very bold and pigmented with some glittery shimmer. It is really great to use when you want big bold and dramatic eyes.

 I am not done playing around with this gorgeous palette yet. I will do another eyeshadow tutorial soon and include swatches of all the eyeshadow colours in the palette.

Thanks for reading ladies!

Divaliscious kisses. 

Xxxx