Make-Up Academy haul - finally!

Well, it's been a while! Such is the hectic and giddy life of someone that teaches other people how to be accountants. Anyway, I have finally managed to have a little play with the Make-Up Academy haul that arrived a couple of weeks ago....... thank you MUA, for allowing me to haul so many shiny, pretty things while only requesting the paltry sum of £18 from my bank account.

Anyway, let's have a look at what we've got.....

Firstly, the Glamour Days eyeshadow palette. Had my eye on this one for a while - after having had a brilliant experience with the buttery, shimmery goodness that was the Heaven and Earth palette, I was looking forward to trying some slightly more "outre" shades but not so much that I was stepping too far out of my comfort zone.....! The pretty purples and blues in this palette seemed ideal, and to top it off there are a couple of nice neutrals in there too. A good one for travelling, methinks.

Top row

Bottom row - there is a sixth shade on there, I promise...... it's just coincidentally the same colour as my arm!

Amongst the haul I also got some liners, a mixture both for lips and eyes. Again, wasn't expecting much from these, but the Intense Colour liners were creamy, pigmented and quite a pleasant surprise. Unfortunately, the Intense Glitter ones were a bit hit and miss, but for 75p each (as it worked out after the discount) one cannot really complain, can one? I also got a liquid liner, which so far seems easy to apply and has a fabulous thin brush, but the pigmentation just feels a bit lacking and can apply a little patchy unless you do a couple of coats. Workable though, definitely.

L-R: Intense Colour - Red Drama, Royal Blue; Intense Glitter - Gold Nugget, Silver Glitter, Pink Glitter

Liquid Liner - shade 5

In a slightly different order in this pic, not sure why!!! L-R: Red Drama, Royal Blue, Silver Glitter, Pink Glitter, Gold Nugget, Liquid Liner in Shade 5 (Black)

Next, some single eyeshadows. Unfortunately, buying sight-unseen has been a bit of a gamble in this case, but I seem to have ended up with some decent colours that will make for some fabulous smoke eye looks. The only one that seems to let them down slightly is the black one, as it is more matte than the others is has a slightly chalkier texture and a less potent finish than the others. It'll do nicely for setting the liquid liner, though!

L-R: Shades 3, 11, 12, 15, 30

Same order as above, this time!  :)

Lastly, a bit of a hodge-podge of other random bits and bobs that fell into the online basket - I have this fantastic ability to justify additional purchases if I know I will be getting a discount on the items; and in this case it really made little to no difference seeing as everything is so inexpensive anyway!!!

Top: Lovehearts lip tints; Bottom: Lipsticks in shades 5 and 6, blush in shade 4

L-R: Lipsticks - Shade 5, shade 6; Blush - Shade 4; Lip Tints - Great Lips, Sweet Kiss, Hot Lips

The surprise in this bunch was the blush. Shade 4 looked almost overwhelmingly dark in the pan (in fact, almost the same as Shade 3 which I have already dismissed as making me look too "David Dickinson"), however when swatched, as you can see, it is a lovely gentle shade of subtle coral. It reminds me enormously of NARS Gilda (if anything, the MUA shade lacks the orange intensity of the NARS which, for cack-hands such as myself, is a Very Good Thing), but for a fraction of the price.

I am ever more wowed with the MUA offerings. Although initially I may have been a bit dismissive of the whole "cheapo makeup" thing, thinking it would only appeal to (and benefit) the lowest common denominators of society (snob? Moi?), consider me suitably chastised - I am genuinely impressed with pretty much everything I have come across so far. For the prices, I don't think you can go far wrong and to be honest, even if you do, what's a pound between friends?

MUA is available in various Superdrug stores, and also on their wesbite.

Did anyone else avail themselves of the superb discount.....?

Jen
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Special offer - Make Up Academy

Just a quick whistle-stop post today - for those of you who don't follow MUA on Facebook or Twitter, I just thought I would let you know that they currently have a promotion on - as they have reached 25,000 likes on Facebook (yay!), they are offering 25% off all web orders, as well as free shipping!

Essentially, bargain makeup became that little bit more bargainous. Of course, yours truly could not resist the lure of the even cheaper goodies, and have stocked up on some single eyeshadows (which I have yet to try) as well as the Glamour Days palette that I've had my eye on for a while, a fistful of eyeliners both plain and glitter, a couple of additional lipsticks for the collection as well as some of their oh-so-sweet Loveheart Lipbalms!

Watch this space for more swatches/reviews as and when the parcel of fantabulousness arrives. 

You can take advantage of this brilliant offer by visiting their website, and using promo code MUA25 at checkout.

Time to get stocked up on loads of things - if you were ever tempted to try certain colours but have always held back for some reason, now's the time to try them and experiment! Eyeshadows and lipsticks for 75p? Don't mind if I do!

Jen

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No.7 Perfect Lips Liner

I am a huge Lisa Eldridge fan. Seriously, if you haven’t seen any of her “How To” videos, you are missing a treat. Make-up artist to the stars, she is also a very down-to-earth and honest lady who seems to be entirely humble about her amazing make-up skillz. I also love the fact that she looks like a normal human being without her face on - she has some blotches, spots, bags, dark circles (although she is still gorgeous despite that) - but then takes you through a tutorial which turns her into the epitome of natural (but glamourous) perfection.

As an avid reader of Lisa's blog (and having recreated a few of her “looks” for myself, to varying degrees of success), I do like to try out some of the products that she uses or recommends in her videos. My “want to buy” list currently averages about 100 items, and I would probably attribute at least a third of these to products that I have seen Lisa use to magnificent effect.

That brings me on nicely to my recent purchase – No.7 Perfect Lips lip-liner. Lisa uses the Nude shade frequently in her videos, but I have also recently seen her use Blush – seeing as Boots had a 3 for 2 offer on No. 7 products when I paid a visit, I thought this was the perfect time to try out both shades to no further financial detriment.

Shade 10 – Blush is a softened berry-pink shade. Lisa used it with a feather-light touch and managed to make it look like the most perfect “just-bitten” lip stain. This shade is particularly gorgeous under a light pink lip gloss such as NYX Sweetheart – the lip liner just gives it a bit of depth and oomph.

Shade 20 – Nude initially worried me – the arm swatch looked distinctly brown (which, as we know, suits me NEVER). However, undeterred and having faith in Lisa, I tried it on my lips and lo! Behold! My natural lip colour turns this into a fantastic neutral-toned base, which will literally go with every neutral lip shade I own.

L = 10 Blush, R = 20 Nude. The twist-up mechanical pencil design is one of the best I've found.

L = 10 Blush; R = 20 Nude

10 Blush - shoddy application (my bad)

20 Nude

 

Out of the two colours, Nude is the creamiest and the nicest to wear over longer periods. That’s not to say that Blush is terrible, but it does have a little more tug and pull when applying than Nude. Although I haven’t worn either of them for longer than four hours, I can envisage that I will need a decent dose of Lanolips when I remove the Blush shade, but Nude (although not actively moisturising) didn’t seem drying at all.

No.7 Perfect Lips liners are currently available from Boots for £7.50 each.

Jen

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Clinique Chubby Stick Moisturising Lip Colour Balm

Sometimes, I need to wear lipbalm to soothe my flaky, scabby lips. Those are usually the days when I have an urge to wear lipstick, and unfortunately the two are generally mutually exclusive requirements.

Enter: Clinique Chubby Stick Moisturizing Lip Colour Balm.

The colour I own is shade 13 – Mighty Mimosa, which is one of the new shades recently added to the range. According to their website, it is “…….a lip treatment with sheer colour that relieves dry, cracked lips and provides immediate moisturisation. The unique pencil-style applicator provides easy to apply sheer soft lip colour and rolls up for ease of use”.

I have been using this fairly regularly for a good couple of months now, and I must say it is fabulous. Nice and moisturising, with a lovely sheer wash of colour to give the lips a more polished look than just using a plain balm. This shade was one I received as a present for my birthday, and to be honest was not a colour I perhaps would have chosen myself, but I’m glad I got the chance to try it. It is a soft, subtle baby pink with a lovely sheen, and translates to a healthy brightening effect on the lips.

I'll say this for Clinique - they do "classy yet modern" packaging very well

Left: bare lips for reference        Right: Chubby Stick in Mighty Mimosa

 

Clinique is a brand which I have neglected somewhat of late. I used to use their 3-step skincare religiously for a while, until I realised that it just wasn’t doing my skin any favours – and I adore their High Impact mascara. But lip products aren’t something I would ever immediately think to buy from Clinique.

These Chubby Sticks are a tad on the expensive side - £16 for what is essentially a tinted lip balm might seem a bit too rich for some people’s blood – but you get a fair amount of product for the money (3 grams, which is a little bit less than a “normal” twist-up lip balm, which are normally about 4g). A little of this goes a long way – and the colour can be built up into a pretty intense shade if you want, although that would kind of defeat the object.

I can see me getting a few more of these – there are some gorgeous shades available in the range (eight new ones have recently been added), and I currently have my eye on Chunky Cherry, which looks like a pretty, sassy, sheer red, and a great way to wear a little pop of colour without going too far outside my comfort zone. Bountiful Blush looks like it would be the perfect MLBB shade.

Chubby Sticks are available directly through the Clinique website (which currently has an offer on, whereby you buy two Chubby Sticks and get a free “chubby coloured pouch”, whatever that is!).

Have you tried these? What do you think?

Jen

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NARS sheer lipstick - Tzigane

I love all things NARS. I know, I know, I have expensive taste. I even love the products which perhaps aren’t worth the money……….. (Brightening Serum, I’m looking at you). But if there is one NARS product that is definitely worth a look, it’s their lipsticks.

There are four formulas available – satin, sheer, semi-matte and pure matte, and I love them all. Even the mattes (which I would normally back slowly away from without making eye contact, for fear of my lips flaking just by being in the same room as a matte lipstick).

This is one of my favourites – Tzigane.

One of the sheer formula lipsticks, Tzigane is one of the most moisturising lipsticks that I own, and despite it’s formula title is actually quite an opaque colour on my lips. Staying power is slightly above average for me – a couple of hours (which, considering I am such an inveterate tea drinker, is pretty damn good), but I can eke it out to three hours if I apply a lip-liner underneath (I like NYX Peekaboo Neutral with this one).

NARS describe the colour as a “pink brandy”, which is cute but not entirely correct. It’s a slightly rosy muted brown, leaning slightly warm as it has a hint of peachy undertone. If I recall correctly, this was originally part of the Spring 2011 collection.

The black, rubberised packaging picks up every single fingerprint and speck of dust. Robust, though.

 

Left: bare lips            Right: NARS Tzigane

 

It works fabulously with a simple neutral eye (I usually go for a wash of champagne shimmer on the lid and a mid-taupe blended crease, with lashings of black eyeliner), and the NARS Gilda blush as it suits the undertones of the lipstick perfectly.

My heart tells me I need to get a load more of these lippies, although at £17.50 a pop I may have to take out a third mortgage (I have already got a second mortgage on the go after having bought a couple of NARS blushers…..!).

Next on the list to try – Pago Pago, Dolce Vita, and Outsider.

NARS lipsticks can be purchased directly through their website, or at Space NK. 

Which NARS lipstick formula do you prefer? Or do you think they are overpriced nonsense….?

Jen

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