Sadly, not everything that I bought this year was up to standard...

Urban Decay Loose Pigments in Asphyxia and Graffiti

I'm not as butthurt over these as I would be if I'd bought them at full price, but the applicator that the packaging forces you to use is just so irritating I don't feel like using these that often - which is a shame as the actual eyeshadows are gorgeous and buttery soft! I think Urban Decay is discontinuing these anyway now.

Consider if: You'd use these more to highlight the inner corners than all over the lid.

Chit Chat (Poundland) Concealer Stick in "Dark"

Dark my ass. Please. It's barely a shade darker than their medium and light concealers. It doesn't cover up spots or scars at all, creases like a mofo and is just all around disgusting. It looks beige/brown in the tube but turns an atrocious shade of yellow on the skin.

Consider if: Don't. Unless you want a very, very cheap concealer to do a mediocre job on your under eye circles. It creases as well.

Elizabeth Arden Lengthening Mascara

I don't know the exact name of this mascara as the packaging has worn off...not something that I expect from a high end mascara. It's the formula of the mascara that I hate. It's insanely wet and gets everywhere, including your freshly applied eyeshadow which you then have to reapply or take a cotton bud too. It sucks for the lower lashes as well, and the wand isn't really to my taste but that's quite a personal thing. After a month or so, the formula manages the impossible and stays wet but clumpy? So you have mascara that's wet and gets everywhere and the amount that has managed to stay on your lashes is clumpy. Gross.

Consider if: you're buying it as a present for someone that you don't like very much.

Elizabeth Arden Eye-Fix Primer

I find this product only holds shadow for about eight hours or so, which, while not horrible, isn't anywhere near say Urban Decay Primer Potion's performance and they're around the same price...also, eyeshadow begins fading around the four hour mark.

Consider if: you don't have access to anything better.

So you get two pigments in a glass jar (plastic lid) for one pound. Bargain! I picked up three.
My pretties, all lined up obediently.
The "Eyeshadow Dust" sticker on the top is placed really lopsidedly. Irritates me no end. But the actual colours are alright.
It looks like you get more of some pigments than of others but I think it's something to do with how they settle during transit. The gold and the black at the end are definitely my favourites. I don't know if you can see the gorgeous silver sparkles in the black but it's really something. Would make a good liner shade or blended with the gold as an eyeshadow colour.
Above is a picture of the pigments swatched dry (in the order that they are pictured in in their jars). As you can see, the colour of the green fades away into silver and the purple and the blue also lose some pigmentation. But...
Wet, these babies are gorgeous. Sadly the green remains as a silver but the colours of the other colours really does pop. I think I'll use these foiled over a thin layer of Eye Gloss. As you get quite a bit of pigment in each jar, you could also use them for frankening! Primark do a clear nail varnish (10ml, I think) as part of their Essentials range but you could also use the bottles of MUA clear polish which have surprisingly good lasting time (they're also a pound). It's up to you really.

Hey guys! I heard about this offer through the MartianDelights blog.

http://www.beautyoutletdirect.co.uk/gbu0-prodshow/urban-decay-reader-offer.html

I think this is UK readers only, though. The code is RUD4.

So I ordered mine a couple of days ago, and they came today! (seriously fast postage, nice!)

They have this built in applicator thing. I don't know how I feel about this, really. The way the product is designed doesn't allow me to use my own brushes all that easily. However, the built in brush makes it look oh so sleek and it's quite good, soft and even to use. And the design doesn't allow the pigment to spill (even though my sister accidentally opened it upside down! I almost screamed but thank goodness nothing spilt.)
You're not getting a brush down there. Also, I don't know how many grams there are in this but there doesn't seem to be all that much pigment, really.
I find that if you screw the lid on and lightly shake the tube up and down, you soon have enough pigment to coat the brushes again.
Swatches. Asphyxia on the left, Graffiti on the right.
All in all, I'm pretty pleased with these. There's no need to foil as there is with cheaper pigments (2True, I'm looking at you) and it's gorgeously creamy and easy to use. With the coupon code, you need only pay postage so you're getting an £11.95 value for £2.95.

Over the years last six months (aha, that's when I really got into makeup and nail polish) I've accumalated a few eyeshadows and lipsticks that I simply don't use any more, be it because they are too light, an odd colour or simply weird. So this is what I do with them. Step One:

Find a palette that you don't really use most of the colours. Here's one I got in some set . I use the last four colours because they suit me (gorgeous shimmers and they're dark enough for me) but the rest are too light or not to my taste.
Step Two - identify the unlucky eyeshadow that you want to destroy. Haha, I'm pointing to the one I'm going to use - a brilliant white with silver shimmer. (The nail polish there is a Maybelline Colorama one which I'm going to swatch shortly.)

Step Three - get a bottle of clear nail polish.

These are all the tools you need, plus a small plastic bag. You can do this one of two ways. Either:

a) Scrape out your eyeshadow with the cocktail stick and empty it into a pestle and motar. Grind it finely, then empty it into the plastic bag. Make sure all the pigment is in one corner of the bag, then snip off the end and put it into the clear nail polish.

OR

b) scrape out your eyeshadow into the bag. Use your fingers to crush it then see the last sentance of a).

Perhaps I should have chosen a less suspicious looking eyeshadow, haha.

By crushing eyeshadow in this way you are essentially making a loose pigment of the kind sold by makeup companies like Lime Crime and Aromaleigh. You can then use this to make:

Lip gloss
Blush
Hair colours
Nail polish

It's quite a good way to use up colours you wouldn't use normally :P. How my nail polish turned out:

And a quick swatch:

And there you have it! How to use eyeshadow to make nail polish!
This dries very quickly, but has a matte/satin finish. If you're not a fan of matte/satin finishes then add a topcoat on top.