Hello everyone, I hope you're all well and had a lovely week! Today I filmed my second YouTube video which was a Primark haul (watch the video HERE) and I thought I would make a post about the makeup I was wearing! If you didn't already know that I've started to make videos on YouTube, you can check out my channel HERE!
I rarely wear this Topshop lipstick, purely because it's such a bright shade of pink and I can only wear it in the Summer. Now that it's getting a bit sunnier and warmer, I thought I would make the most of it and wear this little beauty! As the lipstick is quite bold, I took the opportunity to try out my new eye shadow pigments in Halo and Special Dark by Lumiere Cosmetics. I can already say I absolutely love these eye shadows and you can expect to see a full review in the next week or so!
Click HERE to watch my latest video, please let me know if you watched it in the comments!
Today I have another MUA product from the "Undress" range to review for you! I recently picked up the new highlighter powder after lusting after how beautiful it looked in the pan. I don't have many highlighters in my makeup collection and thought this would be a great piece to add to it!
The Undress Your Skin Highlighter is a lightweight baked powder that is designed to illuminate the skin with a fine layer of shimmer. This highlighter suits all skin tones as it is a natural, pink/ shell shade and looks amazing on the cheek and brown bones. To apply, I swirl my Real Techniques Contour Brush in the powder and apply it to my cheek bones, just above my blusher. I find the pigmentation of this powder is perfect for me as a small amount gives my cheeks a lovely, natural looking glow! You could definitely build the pigmentation up though if you prefer a stronger looking highlight! I find that this highlighter lasts about 4 hours on my skin (with a primer underneath) and then needs a touch up!
I think it was the look of product that sold me on this, it looks stunning in the pan and the detail of the powder is amazing for just £3! I really think MUA have done well with this and makes it look more expensive than it actually is! It also comes in a white, round plastic pot which I do like, but of course, isn't the nicest packaging around.
Overall I think for just £3, this is such a lovely highlighting powder and looks just like a high end product. This is now a part of my everyday makeup and I'm loving it! I'm glad I've managed to pick this up as I've heard it keeps selling out in most Superdrug stores, so is definitely a popular product! At the moment the Undress Your Skin Highlighter is just £2 on the MUA website, so there's no better time like now to pick it up!
Have you tried the Undress Your Skin Highlighter? What are your thoughts on it?
So as you may know, MUA already have an eyeshadow palette called "Undressed" (review HERE) which is meant to be a high street dupe for the Urban Decay Naked palette. Now, there is a second palette that is meant to be the equivalent to the Urban Decay Naked 2 palette called "Undress Me Too". I really liked the original "Undressed" palette, so had high hopes for this one too! Also, as I don't own the Naked 2 palette, I thought this would be the perfect way of creating similar looks, just at the fraction of the price!
The "Undress Me Too" contains 12 neutral eye shadows that range from shimmery champagnes to a matte black, meaning you can create endless amounts of eye looks. Anything from a simple day look to a darker, bronze smokey eye is possible with this palette! I also love how these shadows have names and it makes it so much easier to refer to shades in the palette!
Naked - a matte cream bisque Devotion - a shimmery golden bronze Shy - a shimmery off-white Fiery - a shimmery copper Lavish - a matte taupe Dreamy - a shimmery dark bronze Tranquil - a shimmery golden champagne Exposed - a shimmery light grey/ brown Reveal - a shimmery light silver toned grey/ brown Wink - a shimmery silver bronze Obsessed - a shimmery deep brown Corrupt - a matte black
As you can see from the swatches, the matte shades kind of let this palette down! I know that mattes are usually less pigmented, but I'm so disappointed that Naked didn't even show up on my skin, even after packing on loads of shadow! Luckily, there's only 3 matte shades and I personally prefer to wear shimmers, so I haven't really worn these 3. As for the rest of the shadows, I love the colour selection and how pigmented they are for just £4! I like to wear Tranquil over the lid, then put Dreamy and Obsessed into the crease and then use Reveal as an inner-corner highlight for an everyday look! With an eye shadow primer, these shadows can last all day with little creasing but I find the lighter shades can fade a bit quicker than the others.
As for the packaging, I like that they've changed it to white and that the "Undress" collection can be identified from the original collection. It's still made from plastic and is quite prone to breaking, but I'm sure if you look after it the palette will last well! Like many MUA palettes, this one also comes with a sponge tip applicator, which I do like to use to put on lighter shades for my inner-corner.
Overall, this is a lovely palette and a brilliant way to try out the Naked 2 shades for just £4! I think I prefer the original "Undressed" palette but I would still recommend this palette to anyone!
February has been a really nice month for me in terms of beauty products. I've tried quite a few new products, but also rekindled my love for some older ones that have been hidden away in my makeup drawers! Now that it's (sort of) making its way to Spring time, I have been using some of the brighter and more colourful products in my collection. This post will show you want products I have been loving and using this month!
This is the foundation I have been reaching for the most this month. In the Winter, I feel that my skin looks dull and pale so I use the Wake Me Up foundation to add a glow to my skin. This foundation has tiny bits of shimmer in to give you a dewy effect to your skin, so is perfect for perking up my dull complexion at this time of year. I also love the medium coverage it gives and how easy it is to blend with my Real Techniques Buffing Brush (these two products were made for each other!). ♥ Urban Decay Naked Skin Beauty Balm* LINK
You may have read the review I recently did of this product and seen how much I enjoy this beauty balm! I've used this nearly everyday for the best part of February as a primer underneath my Wake Me Up foundation. I love these two products together as the Urban Decay balm allows my foundation to apply really well and last all day. You can read my full review of this product HERE.
♥ Barry M Gelly Hi-Shine Nail Paint in Blueberry LINK
When I first tried this nail polish, I was quite disappointed with the formula and how thin it was. However, now that I have learnt to apply it thicker and build up the colour, I absolutely love it and has been the nail polish I've reached for the most this month! Like I've said in many posts, I'm loving blue nails at the moment and this is one of the prettiest shades I own. The main look I've done with this polish is painting all my nails with Blueberry and then using Barry M's Amethyst Glitter on my ring finger. Definitely try that out if you have the polishes!
♥ Makeup Academy Lipstick in Shade 8 LINK
I've been loving wearing lipstick this month! I've featured this lipstick in a favourites post before and I must say, this is one of my favourite lipsticks I own. I love the deep red shade and that it has lots of gold glitter in! This was my staple Christmas time lipstick, but I still enjoy wearing it now. It has great pigmentation and is very comfortable on the lips. I highly recommend MUA lipsticks and you can read my review of them HERE.
♥ Lipstick Queen Butterfly Ball Lipstick in Fly* LINK
Yet another lipstick, but this time, it's pink! I received this lipstick last year but didn't seem to use it that much. However, for February, this has become my every day lipstick! The colour is a sheer bright pink and looks beautiful on the lips. It's such an easy shade to wear with an amazing formula and think it will suit most skin tones. You can read my review and lip look with this lipstick HERE.
Hello everyone! I hope you're having a lovely Monday and that going back to school wasn't too much of a struggle! Throughout half term, I've been popping into town and larger shopping centres and been doing a bit of shopping. Naturally, I bought far too much makeup and beauty bits, but this does mean I can show you a little haul post! Unfortunately this isn't everything, my camera is awful at taking photos of clothes close up, but hopefully I will get back into the swing of making "outfit of the day" posts again!
One of the first shops I went to was Superdrug to look at the MUA stand and see if there was anything new I needed to pick up! I was able to get my hands on the last Undress Me Too palette on the shelf (yay!) which is meant to be a good dupe to the Urban Decay Naked 2 palette. I thought that for £4, I may as well give it a try! I've used it a few times and will be doing a review on it soon. Next I picked up the MUA Undress Your Skin Shimmer Highlighter. I don't actually own very many highlighters at all so I thought this would be a lovely extra to my collection! I also love the embossed pattern which is meant to be quite similar to a MAC highlighter. Finally I picked up a MUA blusher in Shade 5 Dolly. I've been after an orange toned blusher for quite a while and I thought this was a natural shade that I could wear everyday. It's nicely pigmented and builds up well on the cheeks!
Next I went to Boots to pick up a few nail polishes. I've wanted to try Barry M's Blue Moon and Nude for a while and luckily they were on a special offer of buy 2 and get £1 off! I've been really liking blue nail polishes at the moment and I think Blue Moon will be perfect for Spring! Me and my mum also picked up the new L'Oreal Top Coat Confettis to share. It reminded me of Illamasqua's egg shell nail polishes when applied over a pastel polish. I really recommend picking up this polish as it's a great dupe for about £10 less than the Illamasqua ones!
I also picked up an Angelica glitter polish in Crystal 09 from Primark for just £1. I actually use these polishes in my nail kit at college so I know they're really nice quality for such a good price! The glitter in the polish shines all differently pastel colours so I thought this would be lovely to use in the Spring and Summer!
Next, I managed to find a few beauty bargains in Poundland (where else?!) including the Sally Hansen Salon Manicure polish in Lavender Cloud. This is a white polish with a tiny hint of lilac and I think this will be lovely for the Summer when I have more of a tan. I also picked up 2 CoverGirl TrueShine lipsticks in Lavender Shine and Peach Shine. I believe these are discontinued products and as there are so many in my local Poundlands at the moment, I decided to try them out. They don't offer a lot of colour, more of a tinted sheen but they apply really well.
Finally, I picked up a jewellery set from Miss Selfridge, my favourite shop to buy from! I've been trying to find some pretty stud earrings and this set had 3 rings with matching earrings for only £2. I love the bow and rose designs the most!
Have you picked up any of the new MUA makeup recently?
So I recently went to 3 of my favourite shops to pick up some beauty products: Boots, Superdrug and Poundland! I managed to pick up a couple items that I've wanted to try for quite a while plus some extras that "accidentally" fell into my basket.
The first things I picked up was a Revlon Lip Gloss Palette from Poundland. I've never seen this product before but because I like Revlon, I decided to give this a go! This little palette has a mini brush and 5 different lip glosses (there is one underneath which you can just about see) which consist of: a hot pink, a sheer white, a sheer glittery white, a nude/ brown and a vampy purple. The texture of the 4 lip glosses on top are quite gloopy, but once on the lips they blend out nicely and give a hint of colour. The consistency of the purple shade is much drier and harder to blend, which I really don't like. I don't think I'll get much wear out of this palette, but it was quite nice to try out and has a good selection of lip gloss shades.
The next product I bought from Poundland was the Rimmel Lasting Finish Kiss & Stay Lip Gloss in 080 Cherry Blossom. This is one of the nicest lip products I've found in Poundland! This is a combination of a cherry red lip stain and a clear lip gloss. The formula of the lip stain is amazing, it's very pigmented, opaque and creamy to apply. As it dries quite matte, your lips do feel dry but the clear lip gloss gives you the shiny finish. I find the gloss isn't the best in the world, so I usually pair it with a different one like Barry M. This lip stain also lasts a really long time and is actually quite hard to remove so is perfect for a night out as it won't transfer on to your glass or budge when you eat!
Next from Superdrug, I picked up a Makeup Academy Lipstick in Shade 1. You may be able to tell that I'm loving red lips at the moment, so I thought I would pick up yet another one to add to my collection! I love MUA lipsticks (you can read my review of them HERE) and this shade is no exception! The pigmentation is incredible and the formula is so creamy. I haven't bought a MUA lipstick in quite a while, but I'm glad to see they have made the bottom of the lipstick twist off so you have a mini pot of the product to use!
Finally, I was sucked into the 3 for 2 offer on all Barry M products at Boots. I've wanted to try the Gelly Hi-Shine Gel Effect Nail Paints for quite a while so thought this was a good of a time as any to pick some up. I chose Blueberry and Prickly Pear because I think these colours are so pretty for Spring and Summer! I have tried these and, despite the fact the colours are gorgeous, the formula isn't so great! With 1 coat these nail polishes are streaky and thin, so they definitely need 2 coats to make them look decent. As for the free product, I picked up the Basecoat, topcoat & nail hardener in Clear. I've been in need of a new top coat and nail hardener, so thought I would try this out! So far I really like it and has definitely stopped my nails from peeling and breaking as much - finally!
Have you tried the Barry M Gelly Hi-Shine Gel Effect Nail Paints?
Dodgy winter lighting makes my pictures look so weird!
Today is the 1st of December, which means Christmas is literally days away! I'm so excited! I love spending the day with my family, eating good food and swapping gifts with everyone. But saying that, where has the year gone?! I remember last Christmas as if it was yesterday and can't believe we're going into 2013 in a few weeks.
I have been enjoying a few products this month, so I thought I would share them with you.
♥ Batiste Lace Dry Shampoo - I picked this up a while ago in a haul and said how nice it smelt and that I'd used it a couple times. I use this everyday that i haven't washed my hair and it leaves it smelling fresh, grease free and with lots of volume at the roots. I never used to be a huge fan of Batiste but now I can't get enough!
♥ 2True Liquid Eyeliner in 01 Black - I've been into very clean makeup this month where I do a nude lip and thick eyeliner. This is the best liquid liner I have used and it only costs £1.99 from Superdrug! It's so easy to apply, is very pigmented and stays on my eyes all day. Can't fault this product, I love it!
♥ Superdrug's Vitamin E Skin Care Nourishing Night Cream - I've never bothered with night creams and usually used my day moisturiser at night. But I saw this in Superdrug for £2.99 and decided to give it a go because I had seen good things about other products in this line. At first when I used it, I thought I'd had an allergic reaction, but I think I narrowed it down to a different cleanser I had used the same day as my skin is perfectly fine now. It's super nourishing and hydrating so you only need a little bit. It's full of vitamins A, B, E, F and H as well as antioxidants which are great for the skin. My skin's been feeling extra soft and hydrated since buying this so would definitely recommend it for people with dry skins!
♥ Makeup Academy Lipstick in Shade 15 Juicy - This is the lipstick I always use to create a nude lip (I think the lighting was weird when I took the picture, so it isn't as orange in real life). It's an orange toned nude which I think suits me well. I do find this lipstick a little dry, but I always pair it with the Barry M lip gloss in this picture. I'm a huge fan of MUA's lipsticks, and I have a review post about them HERE.
♥ Barry M Limited Edition Lip gloss - This lip gloss came free with an Impulse body spray, so doesn't actually have a name. It's a standard nude coloured gloss with no shimmer in, so is perfect for an everyday look. The best thing about this lip gloss is that it smells of caramel! It's amazing! I highly recommend Barry M lip glosses!
Oh yes, it's that time again! Time for another giveaway, and this time it's for Christmas!
This time of year is about giving to those you love and mean something to you. You guys all mean something to me as you have supported me and my blog over the past few months. Even if you don't celebrate Christmas, this is a little something I want to give back to you to say thank you.
This giveaway will be running for 1 month from Monday 5th November 2012 12:01am EST to Wednesday 5th December 2012 12:01am EST (this is 5:01am GMT time). This way I will have time to send your prizes to you near Christmas time.
The Prizes
You may use this photo if you create a blog post about this giveaway. Please link it back to my blog.
Nails inc. London nail polish in Glamour Glitter Revlon Nail Enamel in 120 Hushed Blush Revlon Nail Enamel in 762 Plum Attraction Sally Hansen Salon Effects Nail Strips in 110 Cry Baby Makeup Academy Lipstick in Shade 8 Sweet & Snuggles Chocolate Vanilla hand cream A reindeer shaped shower gel 2 Montagne Jennesse face masques
The Rules
There are 3 simple rules about this giveaway and entering it!
1. This giveaway is for UK residents only.
2. Be a public GFC follower of my blog. Any new followers and entrants are welcome!
3. Leave a comment on this blog telling me what you would like for Christmas! I think it's nice to see what others are hoping to get!
Please can you also leave either your Twitter or email address in the comment so I can contact you if you win.
Extra Entries
The next options will allow you extra entries to the giveaway!
I've seen this tag post on quite a few blogs and I wanted to see how much my face makeup was worth. I did this on a day where I wasn't planning to make this post, so is genuinely what I would wear if I was going out in the day. Just so you know, my eyebrows aren't as weird as they look in the picture, it's just the dodgy lighting!
What I am wearing:
Rimmel Fix & Perfect primer in 002 - £6.99 (review HERE)
Max Factor Xperience foundation in Raw Silk 45 - £9.99
Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection concealer in light 2 - £4.19
Stila Angel Light powder in Shade B - £1
Bloom Pure Mineral blush in Rosie - £2.99
Benefit Sha La Lovely brown eyeshadow for my brows - Gift
Maybelline Colossal Volume Express mascara in Glam Black - £7.99
Benefit Bad Gal Lash mascara - £2
Makeup Academy lipstick in Shade 8 - £1 (review HERE)
Barry M limited edition lip gloss - £4.49 (review HERE)
Total: £81.13
That's not as bad as some other posts I have seen! Rather pleased with myself. To be honest, I do use a lot of magazine freebies and Poundland products, so I haven't used the RRPs of them! I also haven't included brushes, but if you would like a post about my daily makeup brushes or any reviews then do leave a comment.
I can't believe how quick this year is going! Also, this November my blog will be 5 months old! It's gone so fast and I'd like to thank all of you for helping my blog to be how it is. As it's the end of October, I'm going to be sharing the products I've been enjoying this month with you.
Glade Warm Orange & Spice candle - I picked this up this month because it was half price and I've wanted a Christmas scented candle to burn in my room. I've really enjoyed this! The smell is really strong so lingers in the room for ages, it also say it lasts for 30 hours and I actually agree because it burns slowly. I also like the little jar it comes in!
Rimmel Fix & Perfect Pro Primer in 002 (review HERE) - I never thought I would rely on a face primer but ever since starting my beauty course, I've needed that extra something to keep my makeup looking fresh all day. This primer is soft to apply, keeps my skin smooth and my makeup looking nice. This has been a real life saver this month!
Vera Wang Princess Eau de Toilette - I finally picked this perfume up this month (read the haul HERE) and have used it pretty much every day. It has a sweet, girly and floral scent to it which I love. It stays on my skin for a long time and I always use the roller ball that came with it for touch ups throughout the day. This is definitely my favourite perfume at the moment!
Bloom Cosmetics Pure Mineral Radiant Touch Blush in Rosie - I never used to wear blusher every day, but ever since buying this, I've used it almost daily. It gives a natural pink glow to the cheeks which I love for this time of year.
Makeup Academy Lipstick in Shade 8 (review HERE) - I really can't get enough of this lipstick! It's a deep red colour, which comes out a little bit pinker on the lips, with lots of gold glitter in. It's basically Christmas in a tube! I'll have a post (HERE) up of me wearing it soon.
Red nail polish - Ever since practising manicures at college, I've loved having bright red nails. I've never really been a huge fan of it, but recently it's all I want to wear! I used 17's High Gloss Nail Polish in Risky Red as an example in the picture.
Pink rose earrings - these are some pretty stud earrings that I wear practically everyday to college. I think they're from Miss Selfridge years ago.
Ellie Goulding - Anything Could Happen
I love Ellie's music and can listen to her on repeat for hours! I really like this single and can't wait to get her new CD for Christmas.
I'm so sorry I haven't been posting regularly, I've been busy with work and have had no time over the weekend to blog. So I'm here with my August favourites!
♥ Makeup Academy 'Undressed' Eyeshadow Palette - this has been amazing! I've used it everyday to wear for work as it gives you a lovely selection of neutral colours that are so easy to work with. I especially like Shade 4 and 7 from this palette. I have a full review of this product HERE if you would like to know some more information on it!
♥ Makeup Academy Lipstick in Shade 16 'Nectar' - if you're a regular reader of my blog, you know that I absolutely love orange! This lipstick is a subtle splash of colour to your lips that could be worn for any occasion. I love the consistency of these lipstick as they're so soft, creamy and smell nice considering they're only £1! I've worn this almost everyday and lives in my handbag more than my makeup bag because I wear it so often. I have a review on MUA lipsticks HERE if you want to know more!
♥ Miss Selfridge Gold Bow Earrings - I bought these earrings ages ago (or they might even have been a present!) but only started to wear them more this month. I like how simple they are, but are bigger than normal studs so can be worn to college/ work or even on a night out.
♥ Nivea Creme - I received this in a giveaway (along with the Soap & Glory body butter in the picture) and I think it's a really nice product. I use this on the driest parts of my body, i.e. my elbows and knees as it is such a rich and thick moisturiser. I love the smell of this too, but I can't quite work out what it smells like! I think I have seen this product in Poundland, so will be cheap to replace when it's run out!
♥ Soap & Glory Travel Size Righteous Butter Body Butter - this body butter is amazing! I love everything about it: the smell, the consistency and the fact it sinks into my skin really well. I like using this all over my body after exfoliating with the body scrub by Soap & Glory. I will definitely be buying the bigger version of this very soon!
After a long time of wanting to buy this palette, I was able to find a Superdrug that stocked it whilst it was on offer for just £3! This is a 12 shadow palette, that some have said is very similar to the Urban Decay Naked palette, which I have also reviewed HERE! (Do leave a comment if you would like me to do a comparison post!)
This palette offers a range of neutral shades that can give you subtle day looks using the first 6 shades, or much darker, smokier looks using the last 6 shades. There are so many possible eye looks with this palette! You get 2 matte shades (shades 3 and 5) and the rest either shimmery or glittery. I find that the matte shades aren't as pigmented as the other shades, but do give you a good base colour. These shadows are very soft, easy to blend and majority pigmented which makes this palette great value for money. This palette offers you a range of warm golds, browns and pinks and a cooler black and grey. I find the warmer colours much more wearable on my eyes, but the black and grey are too harsh for me.
Along side the shadows, like the Heaven & Earth palette I reviewed HERE, it comes with a double sided sponge tip applicator. I like to use this with shade 1 and an inner-corner highlight as it picks up a lot of colour and gives me a pretty pink toned highlight. They may not be the most hygienic but I think they can be put to good use!
The packaging is also consistent through the palettes, where it's black plastic with a clear top so that you can see the shadows easily. This means it's prone to breaking, but you are getting what you pay for.
Overall, I really like this palette! I always try and use it daily because the colours are so versatile, pretty and natural looking. It's definitely a palette everyone needs in their collection, and whilst it's on offer on the MUA website, it's a great time to pick it up! You can purchase this palette from Superdrug stores, the website and MUA's website!
Hope you find this review useful! Have you tried this palette yet?
Last week I finally got round to ordering the MUA Heaven & Earth palette off of Superdrug's website when they had a free delivery on all orders weekend! I've been meaning to get this palette for so long but just never seemed to pick it up. But now I have these 12 fabulous eyeshadows to play around with and I have been enjoying them a lot!
So as you may know, this palette consists of 12 neutral coloured eyeshadows ranging from whites, pinks, golds and browns. The eyeshadows don't have names, so for the purpose of this post I have put them in number order. Every shadow in this palette is either shimmery or glittery, so there are no matte shades available, but I would say shades 4 and 8 are the colours with the least shimmer in. The quality of these shadows is amazing, for £4 you are getting 12 soft, blendable and pigmented eyeshadows that can be comparable to higher end brands.
Along with the palette, you also get a double ended sponge tip applicator. Many people would discard this because they're not the most hygienic tool or are easy to blend with. However, I really enjoy using this to apply my inner-corner highlight colour (usually shade 1) as it picks up a lot of product and applies it well to the eyelid. Also I think these sponge tip applicators are much better quality than you may think at first, they're soft and feel much more durable than the ones you can get in other cheap eyeshadow palettes.
The packaging of this palette may not be the best out there, you're getting what you paid for! I do like this fact you can see the eyeshadows through the palette and the plastic means it's easier to clean. However, it's definitely prone to breaking and I have seen from other reviews that the hinges get a bit dodgy after a while.
I absolutely love this palette and has become a new favourite for my everyday makeup routine! I would completely recommend this palette to anyone as the shadows are great and it's so inexpensive! You can pick up your own Makeup Academy palette from most Superdrug stores, their online website and now Makeup Academy's online site.
Have you got any Makeup Academy eyeshadow palettes? Do you love the Heaven & Earth one too?
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