Swatches: Front Cover Moonlit Metals Gift Set!

If metals are your thing then this offering from Front Cover is perfect for you. It’s genius, its bang on trend and at £16 it won’t break the bank – not least because it’s currently included in the Boots 3 for 2 Christmas gifts offer (but if you want to buy one to keep for yourself then I won’t judge).

The set includes 6 pigment powders (Dawn Chorus, Cloud Dancer, Nightfall, Deep Lake, Darkly and Prism Violet) and 2 glitters (Sparkler and Moonshine), plus a tube of ‘shadowbase’ and a double ended... application brush!

Without flash (under a day lamp) L-R Sparkler, Dawn Chorus, Darkly, Cloud Dancer:

With flash (under a day lamp):

I have to say, I really like this set as it has such a great mix of colours, all of which are fabulously metallic and perfectly pigmented. The brush included is ok, the smaller end is great for more precise application but I’ve not got on quite as well with the larger end – that could just be because I’m used to my own brushes though.

The ‘Get The Look’ guide (shown above, kind of) is a great addition to the set as it tells you how best to use the products in the set, and also how to achieve the look shown on the box. It does keep going on about a sponge applicator which I don’t understand as both ends of the applicator are brushes!

Without flash (under a day lamp) L-R Nightfall, Deep Lake, Moonshine and Prism Violet:

With flash (under a day lamp):

No flash and slightly dark but I thought it showed the colours quite well, still:

Application is a little trickier because they are powders, and there can be a lot of fall down with most eye shadow powders, but it’s definitely worth spending a little extra time and care as the looks you can achieve are nothing short of amazing.

Also the tip to dab the product on rather than sweep it is one of the most important included in the guide, in my opinion as you get better coverage and a more precise application – I generally do this anyway with powders but it’s always worth noting for those that aren’t used to using them.

With flash:

Without flash:

The ‘shadowbase’ is definitely needed to help the shadows and especially the glitters to adhere better to the skin, and stay where you put them.

I really don’t think I could pick my favourite colour(s) as I think they’re all equally lovely and I am happy to wear all of them (not at once) without hesitation. The glitters are great for party season, I especially like the holographic glitter but I can’t seem to get a photo that shows just how stunning it looks.

My only real issue with this set is that it’s hard to get the plastic inlay out of the pots without splattering product everywhere – in fact it’s a bit messy all round, but again it’s really to be expected with powders and glitter products.

I hope you found the swatches useful; I’ve tried to catch them in different lights and show you in the pictures but I don’t think any amount of pictures can completely capture how brilliant the powders look.

Swatches: Boots No7 'Precious Metals' Mini Nail Polish Set!

Part of the No7 limited edition Christmas range this year is a mini set of nail polishes. They’re 4mls each and there are 4 in the set. I am so impressed with the colours, they are amazing; they do need a few coats to get good coverage (copper and gold especially) but they do apply nicely, not quite on par with Essie but still great for the money.

I've posted a lot of similar pictures due to slight different angles/light showing the details in the polishes (especially the black and copper) and how they look against different backgrounds, so apologies for how picture-heavy the post is. 

Without Flash:

 

 

It’s a real shame they’re only mini bottles as I would happily buy full sized ones of at least 2 of them (but most likely all of them) individually or a gift pack containing them all as full sized products.

My opinion on each of the colours:

Gold – This is a real classy gold – not at all brash and with a satiny metallic effect.

Copper – Love this, it’s also got a slight satiny effect but also has shimmer included which emphasises the metallic finish. The copper colour is also very flattering to skin, something I didn’t think it would be. I’ve been pleasantly surprised here.

Black with gold shimmer – Possibly one of my favourite colours, the black works so well with the gold flecks, they reflect the light beautifully and the black provides the perfect background for them to stand out against.

Deep red-purple – This is the one shade that confused me with this set, as I can’t see the metal reference; am I missing something here? Anyway the colour is lovely regardless of its link to the metal theme. It is almost an exact dupe (but seems a touch darker) against my Essie Velvet Voyeur (autumn 2010 collection) polish.

With Flash:

Anyway, they’re £8 for the set from Boots stores and also online, however they are currently out of stock on the boots.com website; and there appears to be 2 choices of colour available, precious metals as shown here and smoky jewels ('swatch' below from boots website).

This set is perfect for a stocking filler gift, or even a secret santa – but is even more perfect if you want to keep them all to yourself (I don’t blame you at all for this decision).