Youngblood Mineral Cosmetics 'In the Mood for Nude' Collection | New Releases

Mineral cosmetics aren't often something that I often pay much attention to, I have to admit; not for any particular reason, really, other than that, when it comes to minerals, I don't really know where to start.
Youngblood Mineral Cosmetics are a fairly well-known US brand that carry a range of skin make up, eyeshadows, lipsticks, blushers and palettes, all of which are paraben and petroleum-dye free, and upon hearing that their latest collection, 'In the Mood for Nude' is centred around 'amped up nude shades', I knew I had to get my hands on some of the selection available.

Left - 'Moulin Rouge' palette shades, clockwise: Can-Can, Revue, Red Light, Cabaret. Right - The shades swatched, from left to right: Can-Can, Cabarets, Red Light and Revue.

'Moulin Rouge' is the stand-out feature in the collection, for me; a sleek, slimline palette with built in mirror, it carries four bold eyeshadows: Can-Can, a shimmery cinnamon brown; Revue, a warm pearly cream; Red Light, a matte fiery red, and Cabarets, a dusky charcoal with brown undertones. The shades are all vividly intense, and incredibly long-wearing, so I have to admit, I'm incredibly impressed with the formula...and I did have to remind myself once or twice that they were mineral shadows. My only criticism of 'Moulin Rouge' would be that the shades don't necessarily work well together; when I was testing the shades out, I found myself mixing and matching them with shades from my other eyeshadows - it's not the kind of palette you could shove in your overnight bag for a quick look on the go, but the shadows are of incredible quality.

'Barely Nude' is a peachy beige toned lipstick, and comes a close second for me, in the collection; the shade is a little more brown than I would generally gravitate towards, but the formula is actually very sheer, and just slightly less shiny than a lipgloss, and the result is lips with a gorgeously natural, neutral sheen. The lipstick, as with the palette, has a seriously impressive formula with incredible staying power; most shiny lipsticks are gone with the first sip of drink or after an hour or two of laughing with friends, but after checking up on 'Barely Nude' half-way through my day, I was surprised to find it didn't need much of a touch-up, which is everything I love in a lipstick.

Unfortunately, Youngblood Mineral Cosmetics' 'Au Naturel' lip liner pencil was the most disappointing feature in the collection, for me; now, I'll admit I don't generally use a lip liner very often, and the red-brown shade definitely wasn't designed for my pale complexion, but I also found the formula slightly less durable than I'd have liked. After about an hour, my pout just didn't look as defined as it had when I'd first applied the liner, which was a little disappointing.

Overall? The 'In the Mood for Nude Collection' has some gorgeous pieces, and I'd have to recommend the 'Moulin Rouge' palette and 'Barely Nude' lipstick, above everything else; generally, though, I was seriously impressed with the quality of the Youngblood Mineral Cosmetics' range, and I'm dying to get my hands on some more of their products.

The 'Moulin Rouge' palette is available for £32 from the Youngblood Mineral Cosmetics website, here (*); the 'Barely Nude' lipstick is available for £14 from here (*); the 'Au Naturel' lip liner is available for £10 from here (*).