Seventeen Cosmetics // Honest Review and Swatches

A little while back, I was invited to the Seventeen Cosmetics bloggers event in London. After a mammoth journey into town (quietly cursing the London Underground system to hell and back) I finally arrived at a wonderfully dazzling bloggers event near Soho. 

Can I start by saying how friendly the team are at Seventeen? They were so warm and welcoming. Top marks for putting on a really fantastic event.

Upon leaving the event we were given some products to sample and if I'm honest, I don't think I've ever been so excited to slather my face in a brands products before.

If you're unaware, I'm a gal of the alternative kind. I like bold lips, winged eyeliner and a perfected arched brow that could bring a grown man to tears. The eyeshadow palette I was gifted called 'Easy on the Eyes - The Big Smoke' which was bold, dark and moody, whilst the lipsticks were an assortment of colours that could get me through any season throughout the year. What can I say ladies and gents, I was smitten.

Lets start off with the Matte lipsticks. I haven't worn gloss on my lips since the early noughties and for good reasons. Does any one really enjoy having their hair stuck specifically to their mouth for 90% of the day? No. No they do not.

Matte lipsticks are my bread and butter, so I'd like to think I know a good matte lippy when I get my grubby mitts on one.

Upon first application, the lipsticks (especially 'I Lilac it a lot, Violet Summer and Orange your Gorgeous) were more on the opaque side. However, after a second coat (which is what you can see in the below picture) the coverage was more than adequate. 

Some matte lipsticks tend to ball up after a while or even feel heavy on the skin but not these beauties. They're very light, buttery and truly a dream to wear.

Unlike most people, I love a grey eyeshadow on my eye. I feel as if I can channel my inner Morticia Addams with this colour, so I was more than eager to try 'The Big Smoke' palette out. My go to palette is the Sleek palette 'Bad Girl', which has amazing pigmentation and selection of matte and shimmer shadows.

Alas, the Big Smoke was a big wash out. The shadows lacked pigmentation and they were a bit of a pain to blend. I think if I was going for more of a subtle look, I would definitely use this palette but I'm not sure if it would cut the mustard for my bold looks. One redeeming factor to this palette is the brushes that comes with it. It has one applicator with brushes on either end, one of which is a blending brush. They're a nice quality and definitely not one of those weird, spongey, eyeshadow applicator things you usually get with eyeshadows quads or palettes (Can those things all just burn in hell?).

All in all I would definitely recommend the lipsticks but for me, the palette did not live up to it's name. Have any of you tried Seventeen Cosmetics before? Let me know what you think!