Today's post is definitely something different but I like to add in a few lifestyle bits here and there between all the beauty reviews, yeah? I'm doing my first ever book review!

I feel like I have to put a disclaimer here first, though. When I say something is 'strange', I don't necessarily mean it's bad. And anyway, this book that I'm about to talk about isn't really that strange at all. It is a poetry book. I've seen pictures of this circulating around the mystical world of Tumblr but I never expected to see this book in person, let alone read it. It is called Love & Misadventure by Lang Leav. 

Can I start by saying I really like the cover design and graphics? I've always had a thing of this type of art, very A Series Of Unfortunate Events-esque. I adore the little girl that prances around the page before each part and because I like painting with water colour, it really inspires me.

The real magic is the little quotes, though. They aren't exactly the conventional poetry? I don't know, I haven't read much poetry. But it's nothing like I've ever read. Every poem is made of two or three short stanzas (is this what they're called? *desperately tries to recall my literature classes from 2 years ago*) and I feel that every bit is like a little chocolate from a chocolate box. Although they're mostly about love, you just don't know what the sub-theme of next poem is about. Happiness? Sadness? Tragedy? It is actually what prevents me from being bored from reading about love over and over again. 

The poems are short and seemingly abrupt, yet, in my opinion, Lang Leav has captured the brutality and loneliness of heartbreak beautifully. Occasionally, there would be a little short story and that's a joy to read as well.

When someone says the word 'future', what do you think about? I think about how the world is going to sort of look like Disneyland's Tomorrowland, with futuristic-looking metal structures and holograms and all that good stuff. That was the exact vibe I got from Catice's new collection 'Haute Future'. 

The collection features baked eyeshadows, nail polishes, lipsticks, blush pearls, an eyeshadow topper and holographic liners. I managed to pick up the topper and liner from the battered Catrice stand at my local drugstore, though I didn't manage to get the blush pearls (which I wanted really badly) as they were all used or sold out! 

Let's talk about the iridescent topper first. This is essentially a glitter fluid that goes applied over eyeshadow - or anywhere, for that matter - and it adds a layer of sparkle and shine. It is a bit like an eyeshadow topcoat. 

As you can see from the pictures below, it is very watery and if you don't work fast, it's going to drip all over your eye! The thing I absolutely adore about this is that the sparkle bits take on different colours under different lights!

 I spread some on the back of my hand and went out, just to see how well it wears and how it looks like under the sun. I was in an elevator with dim lighting and dark walls, and this (and I'm not even exaggerating) looks you've got the bloody galaxy trapped in your skin or something! It had purple and blue glitter with a silver shimmer, and under sunlight, it is a pinky champagne shimmer that looks equally beautiful! 

Here's a little gif of the two colours it alternates between at different angles and under different lighting! You can see in the picture where it is pink, the 'track' in the middle of the line I was talking about. 

So after months of trying to escape from me, my boyfriend consented and bought me my first Urban Decay Naked Palette! Now I wasn't really sure if I wanted it, because I have my Sleek iStorm palette and that seemed sufficient but I simply couldn't resist going to Sephora to have a swatch! Now, it's gone from the store drawer to my hands, so what do I make of it after using it for three months? 

Of course, you probably already know this but bear with me as I do it for product intro's sake. The suede palette comes with 12 eyeshadows, a nifty dual-ended brush fit snugly into a little pocket at the bottom, and a rather small mirror. 

Left to right: 

Virgin > Sheeny almost-white peach that's great for inner corner and brow bone highlighting

Sin > Muted rose-gold champagne 

Naked > Warm milk-chocolate colour that works as a universal blending/transitional colour

Sidecar > Bronze with very slight red undertones. I find that this is most shimmer/glittery shade

Buck > Warm dark brown. Kind of like the darker version of Naked 

Half-Baked > Warm, muted gold 

Smog > Coppery brown with gold shimmer 

Darkhorse > Dark smokey-brown 

Toasted > Medium to dark pinky brown (a dark rose-gold?)

Hustle > Dark plum-brown 

Creep > Charcoal black with visible (on the eyelid) silver shimmer

Gunmetal > Teal/blue grey 

And here are the swatches up close! 

My favourite shades from the palette are Naked, Buck, Sidecar and Gunmetal, and then there are some shades that I don't often use; Smog, Darkhorse and Creep. Smog and Darkhorse look a bit off on me, and actually make my eyes sort of muddy-looking. Creep is not as pigmented as I would like and goes on a bit chalky if I'm honest. I do like to use it for the smudged liner look sometimes, though! It actually makes it easy to build up the colour because it's so sheer for a black.

As a comparison to the other Naked palettes, I can't say much as I don't own the other 3. However, I can say that from looking at the palettes side by side, Naked runs warmer, while Naked 2 is cooler, and Naked 3 is well... pink! I don't think I would want to get the Basics after owning this first palette, though, it it seems kind of redundant. 

Overall, I really like this palette as I find that I get a lot of use out of it, and despite the hefty SGD$89 price-tag, it is well worth the money! I've been using the Naked shade almost everyday and have barely made a dent in it. It is also great for everyday use as well as a smokin' night time eye. Just pop on a bit of the darker shades on the outer corners and viola!

Left to right: Russian Red, Ruby Woo, See Sheer, Chatterbox, Giddy, Angel