Review: MUA eyeshadow palettes

Top to bottom: Undressed, Hall of fame, Undress me too and Heaven and Earth on the side

 

MUA eyeshadow palettes

 

 

MUA, where do I start. Affordable products that are great quality. I've tried a couple of their lipsticks that are quite good, I'm a big fan of their eyeshadow brushes but my one true MUA love is the eyeshadow palettes. I own 4, all with nearly exactly the same shades of brown in them (there's no such thing as too many brown eyeshadows) I got my first MUA eyeshadow palette about 2 years ago and since then my little collection has grown. Priced at £4 each, there are 12 eyeshadows in each palette, and there are lots of different ones to choose from with different colours ranging from bright to smokey and more neutral colours too.

 

The more neutral shades are great dupes for the naked palettes. All the shades have great pigmentation. I'm not very brave with my eye makeup and tend to stick with light, natural colours like cream and browns, which these 4 palettes have a lot of but they also have some nice blue and purple shades and the Undressed, Undress me too and Hall of Fame palettes have a black eyeshadow included. They are very blendable and come with a little eyeshadow brush although it is not of great quality and wouldn't be very good for blending, however if you're applying make up on the go it works well enough.

 

Swatches of Hydra and Titan from the Hall of Fame palette (please excuse the marks on my hand, I was swatching other eyeshadows earlier and I couldn't wash them off fully)

 

 

These palettes are sold in Superdrug or on the MUA website 

 

Ali

♥

xxx



Review: Bourjois Delice de Poudre Bronzing Powder

Bourjois Delice de Poudre Bronzing Powder

Bourjois Delice de Poudre Bronzing Powder £6.99

All of the bronzers I've tried before have been very shimmery, and I wanted to buy a matte bronzer for during the day. My friend told me about this bronzer and it looked really good. It's supposed to smell like chocolate but it doesn't really smell like that to me, it still smells nice though. It comes in a flip, book type which I believe has magents in the side or something like that because it doesn't fall open if held upside down. When I first saw the packaging I was disappointed because I thought it would be flimsy and easily damaged but it really isn't. It's quite sturdy, and I've dropped it a lot and the product hasn't been damaged at all. When I first bought it I couldn't see different shades, and my friend who recommended the product couldn't either so we both thought there was just one shade, which I've since found out isn't true, there are different shades and they are actually displayed quite clearly on the front, but I somehow managed to miss that haha. The shade I have is 51 which I believe is one of the lightest. I apply it using a blusher brush and I use the kabuki brush that I use to apply my foundation just to blend it a little bit so it doesn't have any harsh lines. You don't need a lot of product on the brush because it is very pigmented, and as long as you don't get a shade that is way too dark for your skin tone, it's difficult to look orange with this bronzer. 

Overall, I really like this bronzer. I think it's reasonably priced and I will definetly be repurchasing it when it runs out.

Ali

xxx

♥

Empties #1

Empties #1

I don't have a lot of empties because I normally forget to keep the bottle. I know a lot of bloggers do this monthly but I tend to stick to the same facial skincare products because I have sensitive skin and also the same shampoo brands because it works well for me, but often I try out new body butters, bath bits and make-up so I can do posts on them.

Girlz Only Party Nights dry shampoo £1.50 

I bought this from tesco because I tried batiste and I didn't think it was very good (I know a lot of people swear by it but it just didn't seem to do the job for my hair) I like it because its a good price and a nice size, its not one of those mini-travel sizes but it isn't a huge bottle, so it can easily be popped into a handbag. I think it works really well as a dry shampoo, it says on the bottle (or is it a can? Oh, I don't know) that is has a fruity scent. I think I'd disagree with this, it doesn't smell fruity to me, it smells more flowery to me, which isn't a problem it still smells nice! Maybe I just don't notice the smell as much now I've used the product more. I quite like the packaging, I don't normally like metallic pink but it looks nice on this and there are little white flowers to decorate it. Overall, its a good product and it does the job.

L'Oreal Elvive Nutri-Gloss Shine Shampoo 

I tried this shampoo when it was on offer, I've been devoted to herbal essences for a very long time but for some reason I fancied a change and this shampoo and conditioner was half price so I bought them instead. I did have the conditioner but I always run out of conditioner before shampoo and I think I must have thrown the empty conditioner bottle away. I don't think it made my hair particularly shiny or glossy, it did make it softer though. I like the shampoo it cleaned my hair well and it had a nice scent to it (as did the conditioner) however I don't think I'd buy it again just because it didn't make my hair very glossy and I think I prefer herbal essences.

The Body Shop Dreams Unlimited Shower Gel

I got this as part of a set and it came with the dreams unlimited perfume and the dreams unlimited body lotion. I love the smell of this and I found that it made my skin feel really soft. The packaging is nice, its quite simple but pretty and again, its a good size to take with you (although its not travel size its not a huge bottle of shower gel) I can't find this on the body shop website so I can't tell you how much it is but it should be available in the body shop stores.

Body Butters

I now have quite a collection of these. It should be made illegal to own this many body butters!

Primark Strawberry Body Butter

I got given a strawberry bath/shower set a year ago at christmas and I've never used it until recently. This body butter is travel sized (50ml), and I really like the packaging I think its very cute and cartoon like. I love the smell of strawberry but I'm not a huge fan of the smell of this body butter, it doesn't smell bad but it smells very fake, I know obviously its not real strawberry but you know how some products really smell like real strawberrys and some just don't? It's kind of like strawberry laces, it does smell a bit strawberry like but not really. That probably didn't make any sense whatsoever haha sorry. As I said though, its not a bad scent. The body butter itself is a nice pale pink colour, and it absorbs into the skin quickly which is great because I hate body butters which just sit on your skin for ages. It left my skin feeling soft but that didn't last too long. It's not great for really dry skin, as it doesn't seem to make a lot of different to that but then it is a body butter and not a heavy moisturiser so I wasn't really expecting that from it. I think it's a pretty good product.

Soap & Glory The Righteous Butter

This is the travel size of the soap & glory the righteous butter. It is 50ml and although it has the same amount of product as the primark body butter, it has slightly taller and thinner packaging and I think I prefer that shape of packaging because it would make it easier to find in a bag when travelling. The first thing I noticed was the smell, it smells really nice, more perfume like then skin care, this could irritate sensitive skin though. I only seem to have sensitive skin on my face so it didn't irritate my skin. I really liked this product and I think I'm going to buy the full sized tub of body butter in the future.

Ali

xxx

♥

Seven Deadly Beauty Sins

Photo from http://www.amazon.com

Most inexpensive and expensive product?

Most inexpensive are my MUA mascara and eyeshadow, both £1 each. My most expensive product is my bareMinerals foundation which was £25. (I have sensitive skin and if I try other foundations it protests by going a nice shade of tomato, which isn't a great look haha) 

What products do you have a love/hate relationship with?

Eyelashes, the amount of times I've only used them a few times and have managed to glue my eye shut every time. I'm really not very good at that. 

What has been hardest to find?

I mostly shop in boots and superdrug, or online like elf and MUA so I haven't really had any problems getting products because so far I've only really bought from the UK.

What are your most delicious beauty products?

Borjouis delice de poudre bronzer, it has a chocolate scent to it and smells amazing. Also, I'm not sure if its really a beauty product or more of a skin care product but The Body Shop Mango body butter. I love the smell. 

What beauty product do you neglect due to laziness?

Probably lipstick/gloss. I work in a kitchen so don't really wear a lot of make-up to work, and at college we're working with animals so I keep my make-up simple and neutral for there too, so I only really wear lipstick when I'm going out, so if I'm having a lazy day or not doing very much I won't bother with lipstick.

What beauty product gives you most confidence?

Mascara, I feel much more confident if I've got mascara. I think it makes me look more awake and without it I think I look quite a bit younger than I am. 

What attributes do you find most attractive in the opposite sex?

A good sense of humour is very important and also height, I'm quite tall (5ft 9) and I feel a bit self conscious about it sometimes so I think it would bother me if I was with a man who was shorter, thats just my insecurities though and I'm sure if I met a lovely person with a great personality I'd get over the height issue. 

What item would you most like to receive as a gift?

High end make-up brands don't interest me much, I think just because there's so much and so many different things available from the high street brands that I'm still interested in those, and the products I want to buy change so often that vouchers for Boots or Superdrug would be a great gift for me.

I saw the Seven Deadly Sins Tag on Just Me, Leah's blog, check it out here: http://justmeleah.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/seven-deadly-beauty-sins.html

Ali

xxx

♥

MUA and Elf haul

Hello!
I recently discovered Elf and MUA after reading about some of their products on some other blogs and I am so glad I did. The prices are great and the majority of the products that I've tried have been good quality for the price.
Elf: http://eyeslipsface.co.uk/
MUA http://www.muastore.co.uk/ (MUA is also available in Superdrug)

From Elf I bought a primer and a mascara and from MUA I bought three lipsticks, two eyelash sets, an eyeshadow and a mascara. I've never used fake lashes before because my eye lashes are quite long and I didn't think I'd be able to put them on very easily because they're fiddly! (I was right, I glued my finger to my eye and glued my eye shut whilst practicing. I fail miserably at all things girly haha) I bought these things a couple of months ago now so wanted to do a review on them (I know every post so far has been a review I really need to sort it out so its not all samey and boring, sorry about that!) 

MUA

MUA Pearl Eyeshadow Shade 30 £1

I love this eyeshadow, it is a bit darker than what I was expecting (but to be honest the photo on the website looks pretty much the same colour so I'm not sure what I was expecting, I think I thought it would be more gold but its more bronze) its still a lovely colour and I'm glad it wasn't what I was expecting because I probably wouldn't have bought it otherwise, as it's a lot darker than the eyeshadows I normally wear (I'm a neutral person, not really brave enough to try brighter/bolder colours yet but I will hopefully soon!) I haven't used it as an eyeshadow on its own at the moment because its quite dark and so for me I wouldn't use it for everyday use (I'm sure it would look great during daytime but as I said before, I'm not very brave with my make-up and tend to stick to neutral make-up especially in daytime) I have however used it in the crease and loved it, its very glittery which I don't normally like in eyeshadows but it really looks good with this eyeshadow. The pigment is amazing, and for the price this really is a fantastic eyeshadow. I will definitely be purchasing some more MUA eyeshadows.

MUA Lipsticks (from L-R) Shade 15 Juicy, Shade 16 Nectar &  Shade 7 £1 each

Another great product, these lipsticks are very pigmented and last a fairly long time before I need to reapply it. They aren't too drying on the lips, either, I normally put some lip balm on my lips before putting lipstick on, but there have been a few times when I've just put the lipstick straight on without lip balm first and it hasn't dried my lips out. They don't smell too great, it's a bit of a chemical sort of smell but that doesn't bother me really and the smell's not too strong so I don't really notice once I've put the lipstick on. The only thing I didn't like was Shade 15 Juicy looks very pink on the MUA website and on the photo on this blog but is more orangey than pink, I don't wear a lot of orange toned lipsticks normally although I have worn it a few times just to test it out, but you never know it might get me into other coloured lipsticks, I tend to stick to pink and red lipstick (not at the same time, that would look weird) just because it's the colours I've always used, I really need to get out of my comfort zone and try new things, I really want to so I could start with lipsticks. When I bought these lipsticks MUA had a smaller range available, but they now have a wider range of colours available on their website so I will definetely be buying some more. Another brand that do lipsticks that are a similar price is Natural collection (£1.99 for lipsticks if I remember right) I would say in comparison to my Natural Collection lipsticks, MUA's are better in my opinion. The packaging is also great and I think it makes the lipsticks look more expensive than they are, they don't look or feel like cheap lipsticks, overall they are great quality at a fantastic price.

MUA Mascara Shade 5 £1

I wasn't a very big fan of this mascara to be honest. When it arrived the lid was open a little bit so it had dried out quite a lot. I found that it was a bit hit and miss as to whether it would work well, I think its better for volume rather than length, and sometimes I thought that it gave my lashes a good amount of volume and sometimes it just went clumpy, this may be because it had dried out a bit, I don't know. I can't really complain though, for £1, it wasn't terrible!

ELF

elf Mineral Infused Face Primer - £6 (sorry there's not an individual picture I can't find the photo and at the moment I don't have access to a camera) 

I have a mixed review for this product. I so wanted to like it and in some ways I did and some ways I didn't. I have sensitive skin and wanted a primer to put underneath my make-up to control the shine and make it easier to apply foundation, but I thought finding one that was suitable for sensitive skin would be expensive, but then I found this primer on elf. It's a great price and the bottle is a good size to put in my little make-up bag. The first few times I used it I had no problems, it worked as a great base for make-up, my foundation's quite long lasting anyway so I didn't really notice much of a change in how long it lasted, but it did make my foundation go on a lot smoother, I use a mineral powder and I think it just made my face look more made-up and it looked like it had blended better and it generally just looked better. It also helped with shine (I have dry skin but for some reason get very shiny cheeks in some lighting, but the foundation I use is quite a dewy foundation so its probably because of that) However, after using it daily for about 3 weeks, the pump stopped working and just spat out small bits of the product, and the amount of product that would come out the pump was very dry and when I tried to put some on my face it just seperated and crumbled away. I'm really disappointed and won't be buying this product again, which is a shame because the product worked so well at first, and I believe its just a packaging problem. 

elf Lash Extending Mascara £3.75

I love this mascara! I change my mascaras regularly because when they run out I like to try different ones, but I have been a loyal fan of Rimmel Scandal Eyes mascara for a while now and its been the only mascara that I've repurchased. I prefer longer lashes so I tend to chose mascaras that are for lengthening rather than volume, and this mascara is great for making lashes appear longer. It has a different wand to the MUA mascara, it is more comb-like and has smaller bristles (they aren't really bristles because they are a lot thinner but its the only word I can think of to describe them) on one side, with longer ones on the other. I used the smaller side to do my bottom lashes and the longer ones to do my top lashes. This is now my go-to mascara that I am using daily, my poor Scandal eyes has been replaced, although I do still get bored and use my other mascaras once in a while. I also love the packaging, its simple but looks good. I like the thin-tube container, most mascaras I've used in the past have had big packaging, but this one is thin and fits easily into my make-up bag.

I will do a seperate review on the eyelashes because I have only used them a few times so haven't really used them enough to do a review on them.

Ali

xxx

♥

Review: Herbal Essences Hair Masks

Herbal Essences Hair Masks

I love these! I have always used the herbal essences shampoos and conditioners, and I never stick to one, I like to try all the different ones. I've seen the hair masks before but never bought one until about a year ago when there was a 3 for 2 deal on herbal essences, so I bought a shampoo, conditioner and a hair mask. The first one I bought was the beautiful ends hair mask. I have since tried the tousle me softly mask, the dazzling shine mask (I can't find this on the boots or superdrug websites but it is the one in the green pot) and the hello hydration mask (I can't find this either, me and technology don't get on.) I love them and think they are great, as they are the only hair masks I have tried I don't have anything to compare them too, but I will try some more in the future. Hello hydration is my favourite, it left my hair feeling so soft and my hair felt a lot more hydrated. I use heat on my hair a lot, so my hair gets very dry and this mask really helps. They smell amazing too. I'd definetly recommend them, as I think they work very well and are well priced. 

Ali

xxx

♥

Review: Simple purifying cleansing lotion

Simple Cleansing Lotion

(I apologize for the rubbish photo, I'm not sure what happened there I'm just not great with cameras!)

I only really got into simple products recently, I noticed a few months ago that my skin went very red and I changed a lot of the products I used to help my sensitive skin, and simple is great for sensitive skin, as it contains no perfume or colour it is very natural and doesn't irritate my skin. I have used this for a few months now and I really like it, I normally take my make-up off with a make-up wipe then use this before using a face wash and the cleansing lotion gets the rest of my make-up off. It feels like a moisturiser it is quite thick and you don't need a lot on your skin. I like this and will buy it again, I would definetly recommend this for those with sensitive skin, as its not too expensive and is a good cleansing lotion. I bought it in Boots for £2.99 (for a 200ml bottle, I'm not sure if there are other sizes available) It is also available in superdrug and some supermarkets.

Ali

xxx

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