MUA Blush Review

Hi all, today I am going to be reviewing these

The MUA (Make Up Academy) blushes from superdrug. I own all 6 shades of these and I like all of them.

Top - Bottom: MUA Blush shades 1 - 6. These don't have names just shade numbers.

Top to Bottom: Shades 1-3.

Shade 1 is a light bubblegum pink shade with gold sparkles. The sparkles don't really transfer to the cheeks. This is one of my favourites if i'm doing dramatic eyes.

Shade 2 is a everyday light pinky rose. This is a matte shade. This is one of my favourite blushes for a neutral everyday look.

Shade 3 is a rosy brown shade with very slight shimmer that cannot be seen on the cheeks, almost more of a bronzer than blush shade. I don't find myself reaching for this much.

Top to Bottom: Shades 4 - 6.

Shade 4 is a darker rose shade, very slight shimmer like shade 3 but can't been seen on the cheeks. I don't find myself reaching for this much as it is probably a touch to dark for my skin tone. With a very light hand I can make it work.

Shade 5 is a bright coral with gold pearl. Reminds be a bit of Sleek Rose Gold. This is my favourite of all 6 shades. I do have a bit of a coral blush obsession.

Shade 6 is a mauvey plum shade with gold pearl. I have never seen another blush anything like this. Its so unique. Quite dark and I have to use it sparingly but I do love this.

Top to Bottom: Shades 1 - 6 swatched with flash.

Top to Bottom: Shades 1 - 6 in natural light.

Overall I do love these blushes, they are very pigmented and a little goes a long way. I do find however that these can be quite powdery. I luckily have a very soft blush brush which doesn't kick up to much powder I do find my stiffer Estee Lauder blush brush dents these quite badly. Make sure you have a soft brush to prevent product wasteage. Despite that I don't find I get any fall out on my face, these apply, blend and stay were I apply them. For me wear time is pretty average, nothing special. These cost £1 each but you only get 2g of product. I don't nessacerily find this to be a bad thing though as I rarely finish a blush as I like to switch them around so having 6 small ones in different shades is great for me.

I definately plan to repurchase these and will probably keep back ups of shades 1, 2, 5 and 6 as I love them so much. Of all the blushes I own it tends to be one of these i'll pick over the others (unless its Sleek Pan Tao as its amazing and I haven't yet found a dupe for it).

Thanks for reading!

MUA (Make Up Academy) Immaculate Collection Eyeshadow Palette Review

Hi All!

I used this during weekly make-up shuffle #2. During the week I did several of different looks with this palette, some of which I posted as FOTD's.

I feel this palette deserves a full review as it is truely an amazing palette. I got this palette free with one of my MUA orders but it retails for £8 but I feel it is worth far more.

 Closed

You get 28 shades in the palette; mattes, shimmers and metallics all feature. You have pastels, neutrals and brights and a matte black for deepening the crease are all in there.

 Open

All the shades are really pigmented and although soft aren't powdery and give hardly any fallout. They also blend and layer well (if adding a crease shade over a lid shade the crease shade doesn't get 'diluted' by the lighter shade.

I really enjoyed using this palette for my weekly shuffle and i'm sure it will feature again. This would be a great palette to take away on holiday as its got everything you could possibly need.

Onto the bit you really want to see... Swatches:

 L-R Shades 1 - 8

L-R Shades 9 - 16

L-R Shades 17 - 24

I think I like every shade in this palette but my favourites are 2, 8, 12, 14, 15, 17, 19, 21 and 24.

I have other MUA palettes which I will be reviewing soon and I plan to continue expanding my collection of these palettes, I have my eye on Heaven and Earth, Dusk till Dawn and Glamour Nights (I already have Days).

Thanks for looking!

Smashbox Eye Wish Palette Review

Hi again, this is a review for the palette I have included in this weeks make-up shuffle.

Its the Smashbox Eye Wish Palette from the 2009 holiday collection. It contains 12 Eyeshadows, 4 Eyeliners and a mini Photo Finish Eyeshadow Primer.
Here it is closed:

The main material is a sturdy cardboard and the outside of the palette is covered in a faux leather type material.

and open:

At the top there is a mirror which is good quality but the palette is a bit bulky to hold up when doing my makeup. There is also an Eye Wish Look Book which contains sample eyeshadow looks. I don't tend to use this as i like to create my own looks and i find the techniques in the book aren't ones i would use. For example it shows a classic smokey eye with the lighter colour in the crease and dark color on the lashline, i would place the light colour on my lids and the darkest shade in my crease for a smokey look. The look book does make it a great palette for those new to make-up or eyeshadow as it gives the basics for someone to get started.

The products:

Shadows: For the most part these are soft and well pigmented but like every other palette I own there always seems to be a couple of shades that aren't as good as the rest. And they do tend to be purple, not sure why but I find purples the most common culprit for having poor colour payoff.
In this palette it is shades 3 and 5 that just don't quite live up to the others. Shade 3 is a pale yellow satin shade, this is quite hard in texture and not very pigmented, in the pan where i have used it it has formed hard lumps of products. Shade 5 is the bright purple shade, also satin. This one just gives no payoff at all, i had to rub by finger in the shade several times to get enough colour to swatch it.
This palette has a good range of neutral and coloured shades in both cool and warms tones meaning there is something for everyone in this palette. I do find that in most of the palettes i like there is one shade that really wows me but this palette just doesn't have that. I like lots of the shades but i just don't love any of them.
I have also noticed using this palette again and trying to create todays FotD is that there are no really deep dark crease shades in here.

Swatches:

L-R: 1 - 12 in natural light.

L-R: 1 - 12 with flash

Liners: There are cream liners, 2 shimmery shades and 2 matte. These aren't the most pigmented cream liners i have used but they do glide on easily without tugging on the lids. I do usually have to go over my line again to get a completely opaque shade. The set does not come with a eyeliner brush and most people who are new to eye make-up (who i feel this palette is aimed at) would not have one. I think this palette might have been better if it just had 16 shadows or possible something more user friendly could have been added instead such as lip glosses or maybe a couple of blushes.

Swatches:

L-R: 13 - 16 with flash to show shimmer.

Photo Finish Lid Primer: Great thing to include, primer is pretty much an essential if you wear eyeshadow so having this one to try out is great. This is a good primer and does work to keep the shadow last longer and look brighter. Though like most of these mini tubes you feel like you are wasting quite alot as you can't get all the product out.

I had a quick play about in my collection and I think I see why I don't use this much. If I wanted a gold i would probably grab my Urban Decay Half Baked (possibly an exact dupe) or Honey rather than Shade 7. Or maybe a magenta shade; UD Fishnet is a much more unique and more pigmented shade than Shade 11. I mentioned Shade 5 having no payoff, so i'd grab UD Flash instead.
Theres no shade in here that makes me reach for this palette, even if it was just one shade as i would find myself using others to go alongside.

Though having done that FoTD #1 I did find I liked shade 1 as a matte highlight, reminds me a bit of MAC's Mylar shadow - will need to check this out next time i'm near a MAC.

Overall: I think this is a good palette but just isn't anything special. The colours are nice but again there is nothing really unique. I'd say this is good for beginners but if you have a lot of shadows already you probably won't find this to be anything amazing.

Thanks for reading!

Smashbox Eye Wish FotD #1

Heres the first look I've done with this weeks make up shuffle.

Eyes:
Primer: Benefit Lemonaid (whoops - i forgot there was one in the palette...)
Lid: Smashbox Shade 7
Outer 1/4 and Crease: Smashbox Shade 10
Outer Crease and Outer V: Smashbox Shade 12
Browbone: Shade 1 (i actually really like this as a highlight)
Upper and Lower Lashline: Smashbox Liner Shade 13
Lashes: Sleek Lash Out Mascara

Face:
Primer: MUA Primer
Foundation: Rimmel Lasting Finish
Powder: Rimmel Stay Matte Pressed Powder
Concealer: Benefit Confessions of a Concealaholic
Bronzer: Constance Carroll Bronzer in Honey Glow
Blush: No7 Cheek Tint in Peach Glow with MUA Mosaic Blush layered over
Highlighter: Hard Candy Baked Bronzer in Tiki
Lipstick: Vivo Lipstick in Very Berry
Lipgloss: Benefit Lipgloss in 24K (yup naughty it wasn't from my shuffle but i knew the gold would bring out the golden shimmer in Very Berry)

Thanks for looking!

Weekly Make-up Shuffle #3

Hi, I have been very busy and haven't done a weekly make-up shuffle for a few weeks. Heres this weeks, i will be using a palette i seem to have neglected for a while.

(L-R: Rimmel Lasting Finish foundation, Vivo Diamond Sparkle Lipgloss in Raspberry Sorbet, Hard Candy Glossaholic in Fabulous, Coastal Scents Lip Smack in Near Peach, MUA Lip Boom in Vibe (the gloss end is laying across the top), Vivo Lipstick in Very Berry, MUA Lipstick Shade 4, Sleek Lash Out mascara in Black, MUA Mosaic Blush, No7 Cheek Tint in Peach Silk and Smashbox Eye Wish Palette (i think 2009 edition).

Heres what i'm using:
Rimmel Lasting Finish foundation - my shade is 100 Ivory. This foundation is a great match to my warm skin tone. It doesn't go pinky or orange on me. My skin isn't looking great this week so i'm going back to foundation. I usually used a tinted moisturiser, or this year a BB cream, during the summer (whats that?!?!) as its lighter on the skin.

Vivo Diamond Sparkle Lipgloss in Raspberry Sorbet - This is a squeezy tube lipgloss with a brush applicator which i really like. Is a decently pigmented red gloss thats still semi-sheer with some shimmer.

Hard Candy Glossaholic in Fabulous - you might have seen these in my holiday haul, they are on my list to review properly. This one is a light pinky rose with flakie glitter, the base is quite opaque so the effect is quite subtle.

Coastal Scents Lip Smack in Near Peach - a soft peachy color with shimmer (added by me), these are quite thin in texture and not very long wearing but are well pigmented.

MUA Lip Boom in Vibe - A newish product from MUA with a matte lipstick on one end and a complimentry shade of gloss on the other for all over or to highlight the lip. This one is a browny toned neutral.

Vivo Lipstick in Very Berry - this is a reddy/purple berry shade, not too dark with some subtle golden shimmer. This is like a lipstick version of MUA's lipgloss in shade 4 for those who have it.

MUA Lipstick Shade 4 - this looks like an bright pastel pink that would be completely unwearable except thats its almost completely sheer. Gives a lovely pink hint to the lips and is a great everyday shade to brighten up the face.

Sleek Lash Out Mascara - I bought this as it claimed to be a mascara that gives great length and volume in just one stroke... i think i tried it once and it got lost in my makeup collection. Its coming back out this week for a proper test.

MUA Mosaic Blush - for some reason i have never worn this, i think it got overshadowed by my love of the single £1 blushes (especially shades 1,2and5).

No7 Cheek Tint in Peach Silk - this is a more recent purchase with a No7 £5 off voucher so worked out very cheap. Only used once so far and love the peach glow, i think this would look lovely worn layered underneath a shimmer pinky blush.

Smashbox Eye Wish Palette - 12 Eyeshadow shades and 4 Liners. It also contains a mini Photo Finish Eye Primer. I seem to have neglected this palette recently, it has a great combination of neautrals and a few colours making it very versatile. Hopefully I will rediscover my love of this palette this week.

Thanks for reading!

Wet n Wild Santa Baby 'Naughty' Palette FotD.

Hi again, decided to post this seperately as the other post had gotten rather long.

For this FotD I used all the products I possibly could from the palette - Eyeshadow, Blush, Bronzer, Lips and i did try the Mascara... I then added the rest using random products from my collection.

These shades do look a lot deeper and brighter in real life, the natural light in this room has washed me out a bit. The top pic is truer to life.

Eyes:
Primer: MAC paint pot in Soft Ochre
Inner 3rd Lid: Grey/Lilac shade on the Right of the Purple Trio
Outer 2 3rds Lid: Pink/Purple on Left of the Purple Trio
Crease: Plum from Middle of Purple Trio
Above Crease: Pink/Purple on Left of the Purple Trio
Browbone: MAC Shroom
Upper liner: H&M Black Glitter liquid liner
Lower liner: Urban Decay 24/7 Liner in Lust
Waterline: Sephora Flashy Liner in Deep Black
Tearduct: NYX slim eyepencil in Crystal Glitter
Mascara: Mascara from palette with L'Oreal Million Lashes in Black over the top.
Lashes: Cool Flower Lashes in 061 trimmed down to be outer corner accent lashes

Face:
Primer: No7 Airbrush Primer
Foundation: Vivo Cosmetics BB cream in Light
Concealer: Benefit Confessions of a Concealaholic kit
Powder: Revlon Colorstay in Light Medium
Bronzer: Bronzer from palette
Blush: Blush from palette
Highlight: Hard Candy Baked Bronzer in Tiki
Lips: Lipgloss from palette

Thanks for looking!

Wet n Wild Santa Baby 'Naughty' Palette Review

Hi All!

Almost a month with no posts... need to do something about that. This is a review of a Wet n Wild Christmas edition palette that I had managed to get hold of on Ebay. Probably not the most useful of posts as it was limited edition and no longer avaliable but I thought i'd show it to you anyway.

The palette is shiny black plastic with a stylised snow flake (at least thats what i think it is) in silver on the front.
Inside you get 4 trios of eyeshadows (12 total), a bronzer, a blush, a lipgloss and a mascara. I mainly bought this for the eyeshadows as i had heard how amazing the quality of the Wet n Wild shadows are for the price. This palette cost me £6.99.

Pretty....
And lovely quality too. There was only one shadow that did disappoint slightly when i swatched which was the dark plum shade from the middle of the purple trio. However when worn it seems to work quite well i just had to build the colour slightly. Otherwise the shadows were soft and pigmented with little fallout. The plum is the only matte in the palette, all the rest are shimmers.

Natural Light

With Flash
(L-R: Green Trio, Purple Trio (you can see what i meant about the plum), Bright n Brown Trio (the green and the blue are much brighter in real life, they seem to be a bit camera shy), Smokey Trio (that black is gorgeous and the white has some gold duochrome))
Overall i am very pleased with the shadows, i do tend to do looks with them as they are in thier trios but its great to mix and match them too.

The blush and bronzer are great too but they need a VERY light touch. These are easily as pigmented as the eyeshadows and even softer. The blush is a matte berry pink and the bronzer is exactly that, bronze and shimmery.

Natural Light

With Flash
(L-R: Blush swatched, Blush semi blended, Bronzer swatched and Bronzer semi blended)

I do like these, especially the glow i get from the bronzer but they are not the sort of products i can grab if i'm in a rush. I need time to apply them carefully and make sure they are will blended.

The lipgloss suprised me, when i saw the colour i thought i wouldn't like it and have never worn it. Then i put it on for the purpose of the review and i love the shade, perfect for a bronzed summer look and looks great with the plum smokey look i did. Lesson learnt - don't judge a product based on what it looks like in the tube. Like everything else in the palette this is very pigmented and is shimmery as well. Is a touch sticky so those who don't like that sort of texture may not like this. I find the stickyness does make it a bit more long wearing than the average lip gloss.

 Umm the mascara... this is rubbish i'm afraid. The brush is small with hardly any bristles, the formula is thick and sticky and errr grey?!?!?! Does nothing for my lashes at all, it clumped them and added no colour at all. I did try wearing it for the FOTD i did to go with this review but i ended up grabbing my L'Oreal Million Lashes to go over the top.

I was going to post the FOTD here but i think this post is long enough as it is so if you want to see the look i did with this palette go to the next post.

Thanks for reading!

Physicians Formula Gel Eyeliner Review

Hi again, today I'm reviewing the Physicians Formula Shimmers Strips Gel Liner set for brown eyes. This set comes with 3 stackable liner shades in Espresso (a dark brown), Purple (med-dark purple with slight shimmer) and Black and Purple Shimmer (though I can't see any shimmer in this, it just looks like a straight black when worn).
The stacking feature of the pots is pretty useless in my opinion. Once the pots have been opened the lids no longer line up once tightened so if I stack them its all wonky.

Heres what the pots look like:

and more importantly... open:

(L-R: Black with Purple Shimmer, Purple and Espresso)

The liners themselves are good. The brown and black have excellent pigmentation and are smooth and easy to apply. The purple is less pigmented and I find I have to go over my line to get it looking good.

 (L-R: Espresso, Black with Purple Shimmer (the shimmer is just visible in the flash), Purple)

The staying power of all 3 shades is amazing. The box claims they are water resistant and have a 24hr wear time. They do... I slept in the liner as a test for both the above (i get quite watery eyes at night). When I woke up in the morning the liner was still perfect, I could have got up and gone out without any touch ups.

The liners come with a brush which is ok - and works fine if you buy them and then realise you didn't bring your liner brush with you. It's far better than most brushes you tend to get in kits.

I paid $9.63 for these - about £6 which makes them good value for 3 shades.

Overall I would buy these again and probably try the other sets which have different shades in them. The staying power of these definately makes these a winner for me.