Daily Make Up/How Much Is My Face Worth?

For the longest time my daily make up was literally just a flick of liquid liner and some mascara but frankly, that wasn't cutting it. I've since upgraded into a full face of make up and love the freedom I have over my look. These are the products that I use pretty much every day for work etc. I don't bother with make up if I'm just nipping out shopping or slumming it around the house so I can give my skin a break.

My base hasn't changed in quite a while. I currently use The Body Shop Moisture Foundation in 03, Lightening Touch Concealer in 01 and All-in-One Face Base in 03. The colour match is essentially perfect for me and I love the included SPF. Check out this post for extra details! Sleek's Face Form (Light) is the most recent addition to my daily make up bag and it's revolutionised my base. I love how transformative it is! I have so much more warmth and definition to my face now and feel much more confident. I tend to always use the contouring powder and highlighter but swap up my blush depending on my mood. For blushes I switch between the blush included (Rose Gold,) TBS Macaroon Blush and Maybelline's Cream Blush in 06 Berry.

I always use some combination of my MUA Undressed Palette, Rimmel Liquid Liner and Illamasqua Sophie pencil for my eyes. As you can see I use every colour in the palette and never wear the same look twice in a row just to make myself experiment more. It's so easy to get stuck in a rut (coming from liner flick and mascara girl, so trust me!) so I love my new philosophy. I don't always wear liner but when I do these are my go to products. The Rimmel liquid is so easy to use and this is my second bottle already, forever repurchase! The Sophie pencil is the blackest of blacks and is really soft and blendable but doesn't smudge when it sets. Pretty much perfection in a pencil. Deborah Milano Mascara is an essential for me; I originally got it  for reviewing purposes but I adore it so it became my daily mascara. I get a ton of volume and length with a couple of coats and it's the perfect finishing touch to every look for me.

For day to day, I just wear a clear balm or lip butter to keep my lips in good condition. That way they're looking gorgeous and smooth for when I go all out with a fabulous bright lip in the evenings. I swear by Nivea Lip Butter for the most kissable lips going!

So how much is my face worth?

Base:

The Body Shop Moisture Foundation SPF 15

£13

The Body Shop Lightening Touch Concealer Pen

£14
The Body Shop All-in-One Face Base

£14

Sleek Face Form in Light

£10

Eyes:

Mua Undressed Palette
£4
Rimmel Exaggerate Liquid Liner in Black
£4.29

Illamasqua S.O.P.H.I.E Pencil
£13
Deborah Milano 24 Ore Absolute Volume Mascara
£9.50

Lips:
Nivea Lip Butter (Not Pictured)
£1.99

Total: £83.78

I so was not expecting it to be that high! I didn't include any of my brushes or moisturiser so that's pretty shocking. I don't even use any high end products aside from the Illamasqua pencil. I guess my only defence is that I've seen worse...? Not very good defence!

Do you use any of the same products as me? What do you think of my philosophy of never wearing the same eye make up twice in a row? And how much is your face worth?! Add it up and let me know!

Lauren

Review: MUA Lip Boom in It's A Situation

I've had this product for a while now and it's taken me a ridiculously long time to get around to reviewing it! MUA is a brand that I can always rely on to make good quality products for very low prices. There are always going to be some hits and misses but I had high hopes for this little duo product because I was so in love with the colour of the lipstick! 

You'll have to excuse the grey smudges every where, the product was taped together and it's made a friggin' mess. It's such a huge turn off for me! That aside, I actually really like the packaging of this product. The cardboard sleeve is neither here nor there for me personally. Alexandra Burke doesn't impinge on my consciousness and I couldn't tell you one of her songs with a gun to my head so I'm not sure why MUA bothered to feature her. They must have had to pay her to "work" with them and I don't think they got their moneys worth. I'm sure she's a lovely person and all but she's not someone that's going to influence what make-up I purchase. Only my fellow beauty bloggers can devastate my bank account like that, and my God I love you for it.

The Lip Booms come in long tubes with a lipstick on one end and a coordinating glittery gloss on the other. I love that the name on the tube is printed in holographic letters. It's sad but it's just so pretty and I definitely wouldn't mind pulling it out of my bag for touch-ups. The rest of the packaging is typical of MUA products, sleek, simple plastic that's either black or clear. It feels really sturdy and the lipstick doesn't slip out of the casing, even when I batter it in my make-up bag. The lipstick itself is a beautiful plummy-wine colour. Very vampy and will suit all skin tones as an evening lipstick or even a deep colour for dark skin tones during the day. It claims to be matte but there's definitely a slight sheen to it. The good news about that is that it doesn't dry out your lips, the bad news is that it doesn't last as long and it transfers very easily. The gloss is a rosy pink that is chock full of glitter. Like ridiculously, massive pieces of glitter. I'll just say straight away that I didn't buy this product for the gloss and I genuinely think that glitter this size shouldn't be anywhere on your face after 2001/the age of 11. It is a pretty colour though and I quite liked the strong sweet vanilla scent though of course it won't be to everyone's taste.

The packaging claims that the product has been designed to be used four ways, as a sheer gloss, full matte colour, colour and gloss or gloss applied to the centre to give the illusion of fuller lips. I honestly think that wearing this gloss in the centre of your lips isn't going to fool anyone. It's glitter for goodness sakes, there's nothing subtle about it. The lipstick is absolutely beautiful though, really creamy and opaque. However, It does cling a little to dry patches. I applied this once and had to take it off and exfoliate my lips before trying again because it just looked awful. It does also feather slightly so it may not be a great one for mature skin without a liner or clear buffer. It lasts a good 2-3 hours or so before fading and requiring touch ups. You absolutely will need to touch up after eating though. It transfers very easily and would need powdering to set it. The gloss isn't overly sticky and doesn't actually look too bad once applied over the lipstick. The only problem is the grittiness and the fact that the glitter clings on long after the lipstick has disappeared, so you end up with a wine coloured stain and bizarre pieces of glitter stuck all over your lips. It's not a good look. I also ended up with glitter on my chin and one of my cheeks and I don't even know how it got there. This product would have been so much better if it had included a sheer gloss in the same colour as the lipstick rather than the glitter. It would have faded much more naturally and looked a heck of a lot more elegant. But, it is only £3, and it's okay for a bit of fun so I can't moan too much!

Final Verdict: A bit "meh" really. I wish MUA had brought out It's A Situation as a regular lipstick in their current line and this could have been a very different review. Nice for younger girls and would make cute party favours.

Have you tried any of the Lip Booms? What's your favourite MUA product?

Lauren

NOTD Barry M Black and MUA Nail Constellation in Libra

I was very lucky recently and won a giveaway from the lovely Jasmine at Oh So Flawless (thank you!) Included was one of the fairly new MUA Nail Constellations which are a high street dupe of the Ciaté Caviar manicures. They come in a few different colour mixes and I got Libra which contains mostly black beads with a few turquoise. I figured that it would look best over a plain black background and I found a Barry M one in my collection that I hadn't tried yet.

The Barry M Black was streaky on the first application but fully opaque on the second coat. It also dried fairly quickly which is great. The Nail Constellation managed to thoroughly confuse me. It literally couldn't figure out how to open the damn thing! I pulled off the tip and nothing came out... turns out I was being an absolute fool. The entire cap comes off (with a bit off effort) and there is a small piece of plastic sheeting covering the beads. Despite there being an applicator tube I decided it would be easiest to go for a dipping method and promptly poured some into a bowl. The hard part came later when I was trying to put the excess back in the bottle!

I decided to opt for an accent nail rather than a full manicure because it just seems so much easier to wear! The beads themselves stuck very well and I loved the black on black. I think the amount of turquoise beads wasn't very well thought out though. It's practically impossible to achieve even spacing so they just look a bit random and out of place. Not that the colour even mattered, because within a couple of hours the turquoise beads had turned silver. As soon as I got them wet the colour disappeared which is a bit disappointing. Despite the issues I actually really did like the look and they lasted much longer than I thought they would. I always imagined caviar manicures to be more of a one night deal but these lasted a good few days until I took them off (because the Barry M polish had chipped.) I did lose a few on the first day when I pulled something out of my pocket but they mostly stayed put when the polish solidified. I think this pot is going to last absolutely ages, you need hardly any for the look. I'm not sure if I'll buy any more though simply because I'm not sure how much I would wear them. I'm very happy that I got the chance to try them out though, thanks again Jasmine!

You can buy MUA Nail Constellation at Superdrug or on the MUA website for £3. (Bargain!)

Have you tried these or the Ciate manicures? Would love to know what you think!

Lauren

Purple Duochrome Make Up with the MUA Immaculate Collection Palette

I posted the swatches from this palette here the other day and I absolutely fell in love with the very last shade in the palette.

It's an utterly beautiful purple based duochrome that shines electric blue.  I really hope that MUA decide to release this and some more duochromes in the single shadows. I know I'll be snapping some up! There were a few other colours in the palette that I was really drawn to but none so much as the duochrome. I've never used a shade like this before so of course I immediately had to whip out my makeup bag and start experimenting!

This is definitely more of an evening look but I just love it so so much! The camera isn't picking up the blue shimmer quite so well as I would have liked, this is definitely one that needs to be seen in person. This look was unbelievably simple but it gives such an impact. I think that this will be a go-to look for sudden invitations, it's very quick and perfect for a pop of colour. Ideally I would love to add some dramatic lashes to this, but I didn't have any! Boo.

Products Used:

MUA Immaculate Collection Palette

Soap and Glory Arch de Triumph

e.l.f Eye Brightening Pencil Liner in Black

The Body Shop Super Volume Mascara in Black

Step 1.
Load the purple duochrome onto an eyeshadow brush and gently pat all over the lid. There is a bit of fall out so I do recommend applying your base afterwards or at least using some tissue under the eye to avoid that lovely purple concealer look.

Step 2.

Lightly trace out where you want your wing to be and bring it under the eye in one seamless line. Blend the wing  in towards the lid to connect up the design. 

Step 3.

Take a tiny amount of shade 7 on the same brush and blend very lightly into the crease for definition. 

Step 4.

Take the highlight pencil from the Arch de Triumph and smudge onto the brow bone and into the inner corner. Gently blend the edge of this with the shadow using a clean blending brush. It will create a lilac haze and soften the look.

Step 5.

Apply the liner to the upper lashline. Press the purple duochrome over the top to lightly define. The black alone looked quite harsh.

Step 6.

Add a couple of coats of your favourite mascara!

Et voila, a simple, easy to wear, evening look that can be applied in minutes. And using a super cheap palette! It doesn't get much better than that.

What do you think to this look? Will you be trying it any time soon? Also, I'd love some recommendations for some other cheap duochrome eye shadows!

Lauren

Swatches: MUA Immaculate Collection Palette

I was very lucky and won this from the lovely Misellyre (go check out her blog, it's one of my favourites) a few weeks ago but I've yet to have a proper play with it. I decided to swatch the shades and see what the pigmentation was like since I had so much luck with my e.l.f palette. Could I have yet another bargain gem on my hands?! I had to know.

The Immaculate Collection is currently the largest palette available from MUA. It contains 24 shades of eye shadow in several finishes and has a wide range of colours. The flip-top packaging is neat and secure but nothing special. I do love that it has a clear lid (like all MUA palettes) so that I can quickly see which colours I'm reaching for. It's easy to open and comes with a double ended sponge applicator which I don't tend to use. I keep them for absolute emergencies but they usually end up underneath sofas/beds/up the hoover. Oops. There are a lot of really pretty colours here and I was particularly excited about the various shades of blue because those colours were distinctly lacking in my elf palette. I swatched with no primer along each of the three rows.

 Row 1

Row 2

Row 3

I'm so sorry about my goosebumps. It was literally freezing in my house and I became a chicken the second I pushed my sleeve up. You can see it getting progressively worse with each picture.

But onto more important things... there are actually some really lovely shimmer shades here. I love the cool blues and the last shade is probably my favourite. It's this stunning purple base duochrome that shines electric blue. I can see it working well with a multitude of colours and I'm really excited to use it! The mattes were absolutely dire. Might as well not have been there. They were chalky, had no pigmentation and were impossible to work with. I was so disappointed! I know it's hard to get mattes right but I would have rather just had some more pretty shimmers to work with!  I'm also a little bit confused by the layout of this palette. I know it's a bit anal but I quite like my palettes to have some rhyme and reason and this had none. It's all a bit mishmash and strange. It's not at all bad for £8 though and there's usually some great offers on with MUA or at Superdrug where you can buy this palette. 

Final Verdict: A nice addiction to my collection of palettes and there are some gorgeous shimmers! A bit hit and miss.

What do you think to this palette? Do you have a holy grail palette that you recommend?

Lauren

Recent Purchases Haul

Head's up: this is gonna be quite picture heavy!
I've been doing quite a bit of purchasing here and there for various things. Mainly because of all the awesome deals on at the moment, plus I've been buying things for my giveaway! You'll see a couple of the pieces in these pictures. It's not going to be massive, it's just a few bits that I really like and wanted to pass on to one of my lovely followers. Hopefully I'll have that up today or tomorrow so everyone can enter then.
First up:

Masses of beauty booty.

1. Yankee Sampler Candles  

Wild Passion Fruit  

 Pink Dragon Fruit

My very first Yankee candles! I went into Clintons with the intention of having a look at the 50% off Christmas candles but the shelves had been raided and nothing there took my fancy. I started circling the stand and spotted these babies. I love fresh fruity scents and these are utterly divine. I'm going to try and keep them for Spring/Summer and use up the more Wintery themed candles I have in the mean time. Wish me luck.

2. Kiss Me Quick Nice Ice Lip Balm Set

I actually got these as part of my Secret Santa but I think they're so adorable I just wanted to show them off! I'll do a more detailed post on them soon because they're really lovely.

3. MUA

Lip Boom in It's A Situation
Undressed Palette*

The Artiste Collection Palette*

Eye Liner Pencil in Snow White

Have you seen the colour of It's A Situation?! Stunning deep plum. I'm not a massive fan of glittery lipglosses but I'll try it nonetheless. The palettes are for you lovely people! I love my Undressed Palette and the Artiste Collection came free with it so I thought I'd pass on the love. 

4. Collection

Lock 'n' Hold Lip Gloss in Break Dance

24hr Felt Liner in Teal

Bedazzled Nail Effects in Tea at the Glitz*

5. Maybelline

Master Smokey Eye Liner in Smokey Violet

I've read a lot of negative reviews about the product but I don't know what it is... I just wanted it so bad! Luckily the girl working in Superdrug offered me this one for just £1 because it was missing the lid on the smudger. For a £5 saving, I didn't really mind and snapped this up with minimal thought!

6. Soap and Glory

Arch de Triumph in Buff

I b*tch about my brows constantly and never do anything about it. UNTIL NOW! Here's hoping this will give me the definition my heart desires.

7. James Brown

Photo Fabulous High Shine Spray

8. The Body Shop Body Butter

Satsuma

Vineyard Peach

(just seen since I missed them out of my big picture) I used up my 50ml of the Satsuma so fast I had to get another one! Also, if you like the Peach, get it now whilst it's on half price. It's sadly being discontinued since it was only a limited edition scent.

9. Nivea Extreme Resist Glossy

Joli Cherry

Radiant Plum

Pretty Berry

Bright Rose

I know. I went and bought the whole collection! I adore these Poundland bargain gems and was thinking of including a couple in the giveaway, providing they're in stock still. If they are, which colours would you most like? Or do you want them all?

10. Revlon

Lip Butters in:

Raspberry Pie

Macaroon

Peach Parfait 

Berry Smoothie

Balm Stains in:
Honey

Crush

Nail Varnish in:

Sequins

It's the big one. I've gone Revlon crazy recently because they're all on offer and there's so many products I wanted! I got sequins for free with a 3 for 2 offer and then I went back again and the lip butters were £5 each so I bought 3 more. I'm utterly thrilled with these. Here's some close ups to wet your whistle:

Next up is the Soap and Glory Best of All. Everyone and their dog knows about how amazing these are. Particularly when you get them for £27!

Heel Genius, Clean On Me, Smoothie Star (my new favourite, it smells like sweet popcorn!) Peach and Clean, Sugar Crush Body Scrub, The Righteous Butter* Hand Food* Thick and Fast Mascara, Sexy Mother Pucker in Punchbowl. All full size, all fabulous.

And finally something a little bit different...

BOOKS!

I was lucky enough to receive a Waterstones voucher for Christmas so I put it towards these gorgeous specimens. There's quite a bit of variety here and I'm tempted to start doing the occasional book review in 2013 for a bit of variety. Plus I love hearing about books that other people love and can talk for hours about my favourites. And besides, everyone know that smart girls equal sexy girls and girls reading equals smart girls. It's basic beauty math.

So that's my mahoosive beauty booty recent purchases. I hope you liked it! It took me blimmin' ages. Sorry about the bizarre lighting changes. It's so dark that I had to use flash for some pictures.

If there's anything particular you want reviewing quickly, leave me a comment.

Let me know if you'd like any Nivea Extreme Resist Glossy's in my giveaway!

* indicates that it's going to be in the giveaway

Lauren

FOTD: Christmas

 This was actually worn on Christmas Eve. I get way too sleepy and rub my eyes on Christmas Day! Plus even the most long wearing lipstick won't fully survive the turkey onslaught and I don't fancy dragging a make up bag around with me.

I decided to go with some classic Christmas colours of red and gold. Always cheerful and pretty in my opinion.

Here are the ingredients:

Base:

The Body Shop Moisture Foundation in 03

The Body Shop All-In-One Face Base in 03

The Body Shop Lightening Touch Concealer in 03

Collection 2000 Illuminating Touch Concealer in Natural

e.l.f Blush in Twinkle Pink

I love that my Body Shop base is all 03. So much easier when it all matches!

Eyes:

MUA Single Eyeshadow in Shade 30

Rimmel Exaggerate Liquid Liner in Black

The Body Shop Super Volume Mascara in Black

I applied the MUA shadow with a slightly damp brush to get a more intense colour.

Lips:

Nivea Extreme Resist Glossy in Joli Cherry

I have all four shades of these now and I absolutely swear by them. One of my top products of 2012 and only £1 each. I do feel that it leans a little pink - it's not a true red and I certainly wouldn't describe it as cherry red.

I hope you liked my Christmas look! Would love to see some links to what you wore for this season. 

Lauren

December Eye Make-Up Challenge: Day 4 "Shimmer"

I need to own up right now and apologise for this being a day late. I fully intended to do it yesterday but I had a bit of a cold, looked awful and just didn't have the energy! So I'm really sorry for that.
With the shimmer day I wanted to go for pale champagne and gold shimmers. I was looking for something really ethereal and angelic.

This photographed so badly. The lighting is awful and it hasn't really picked up the pigments or the shimmer very well at all. It does not look like this in real life. It's really bright and shimmery and would make a fantastic Christmas look!

This look was created with the fabulous MUA Undressed palette and I have to say, I am seriously impressed. It was a joy to use and I am loving slowly discovering each shade! I must do a full review with swatches soon. These shimmers are beautiful and were really easy to apply and blend.
Mascara here is a single coat of my usual The Body Shop Super Volume Mascara in Black.

I am actually really happy with how this look turned out, and really sad at how the photos turned out! I'd still love to hear what you think though.

Day 1/Day 2/Day 3

Lauren

NOTD: MUA, Plum Noir

I picked this shade up in my fairly recent Superdrug/MUA haul and it was staring at me longingly this morning. I usually try nail varnishes in the order that I buy them, so I'll always wear them at least once, but I put this one off for a bit because honestly I was worried that I would hate it and I didn't want to hate anything from MUA! Luckily this was absolutely not the case and I couldn't be more thrilled with the results!

It's a really beautiful purple magenta and just perfect for this season. I can also see it being a nice Summer colour because of how pink it leans.

£1, MUA website or Superdrug

Ignore the revolting ex-sticker patch. I toyed with trying to edit it out but I'm a complete novice and I'm certain it would have ended up looking even worse!

The thing that I was worried about most with the MUA polishes is that the brush applicator would be of a really low quality. In actual fact, this is my favourite applicator that I've ever used! It's shaped in such a way that it fans out slightly across the nail. I can paint my little finger in one stroke. The formula of this is quite nice too, I'm wearing two coats here and it's mostly opaque - one of my fingers on my right hand just would not even out, even after 3 coats, but I'm pretty sure it was down to my poor application. My only small negative is that the blocky top made it slightly difficult to manoeuvre around my nails, but this is only a little gripe. For just £1 this varnish is fantastic. I'm already on the look out for my next MUA nail purchase.

What do you think of this shade? Which MUA nail varnish should I pick up next? Suggestions please!

Lauren

P.S. Hello to all my new followers!

December Eye Make-Up Challenge: Introduction and Day 1 "Something Natural"

I recently came across a really interesting idea for a month-long eye make-up challenge at Beth's blog All Things Beautiful.  Unfortunately it was for October so I thought that I wouldn't be able to enter the competition that she had created around it. However, I wanted to do it so much that decided to email Beth and see if she would allow me to slightly adapt her competition into a personal December challenge. Being the lovely person that she is, she told me that she was fine with letting me do it and would even allow me to enter my creations into her competition for a chance at the prize! Needless to say I'm thrilled as this is just a wonderful perk to my original goal of getting outside my comfort zone and practising my skills. Thank you Beth. So here is my slightly different version:

I'm going to do a look every other day starting today. You can find all the information about Beth's original challenge here. Make sure you have a look around and see what other people have done!

So without further ado, here is my "Natural" offering for December 3rd:

I used my MUA Undressed Palette Exclusively to create this look! I even used the included sponge applicator to see if I could make it look good. I don't think it did too bad a job at all, proof that you don't need expensive brushes to create a nice natural eye look!

This is how I used my palette. Lots of blending later and I'm quite happy with the result! I also added a single layer of mascara using my Body Shop Super Volume Mascara in Black. I realise that it could have been a lot more natural (for example just mascara) but I really wanted to push myself by combining some neutral eye shadows. I hope you like my interpretation.

So that's challenge number 1! The competition is still open at Beth's blog for her original challenge so get entering if it's something you fancy doing. I would love to see some more of these looks!

What do you think of my natural look?

Lauren

£5 and Under Christmas Gifts

1/2/3/4/5/6/7

I'm not sure if any one has noticed the stark absence of Christmas themed posts on my blog, but I certainly have. The reason for this is that this is the first time I've really sat down and thought hard about Christmas presents. This is a rather packed 7 day period for me as I have my long-suffering boyfriends birthday on 28th November, my father's birthday on 3rd December and my anniversary (4 years! eep) on the 4th December. So, finally, now I know that everything has been done and sorted for those, I can have a good old trawl through the internet and pick out some presents! 

1. A Book. The picture and link here are representative. 

I honestly believe that giving a book as a gift is more than just giving a present. You are handing someone the gift of an experience. A book is one of the most amazing things that you can possibly give to someone. I chose Life of Pi because it is an experience that I loved. Truly loved. I read this last year and I still think about it, particularly since the film adaptation is soon to be released (who's excited?!) You can always find books cheaply, you just have to have a good shop around. No, you are not going to walk out of Waterstones with a bestseller for £3, it's a sad fact, but it's true. I actually found my copy of Life of Pi in a charity shop for £1.50 and I love that it has signs of wear on it. It's a book that has clearly been loved. Pass on your favourite this Christmas, and talk about it excitedly in January!

2. Glass Bauble Shaped Candle Holder £2.99

I love candles and I think that this holder is Christmassy enough to classed as "themed" but simple and clean and elegant enough to use all year round. It's a serious bargain that leaves you with change from your fiver to buy some tea lights!

3. Soap and Glory Mini's £2.50 each currently on a 3 for 2 deal

Who doesn't love Soap and Glory? I've tried all of the products that I chose and they are all of fantastic quality and smell amazing. Get them whilst they're on offer!

4. The Body Shop Mini's Currently on a 5 for £5 deal

I've tried most of the products included and as always with The Body Shop, they are really wonderful products. If you've been reading my blog for more than five minutes you know I'm a total Body Shop fangirl. I would be thrilled to receive a cute mix bag of mini's!

5. MUA Eyeshadow Palette £4

Featured here is the Undressed Palette, currently the only one I own. Everybody and their mother knows about these bargain gems. They make perfect stocking fillers and there's a good range to choose from. Ideal for any beauty loving girl.

6. The Body Shop Mini Manicure Kit £5

A super cute Christmas themed manicure kit to get your nails perfect and polish-ready. I love the classy packaging on this and a need some new nail scissors... hint hint Santa. 

7. M&S Beauty Gifts at 50% off. 

Shown here: Alice + Eliza Winter Berry Lip Balm £1.25 Alice +Eliza Nail Polish Giftset £3

I've linked to the whole lot that they have available at the moment. There are also some men's toiletries available. I've never actually tried anything from Alice + Eliza but I really loved the packaging and colours available in these two products and thought they would be great bought together. Take a peek whilst they're on offer!

I hope you liked my idea and got a bit of festive inspiration! I'd love to see some similar gift lists so feel free to leave links.

Will you be taking advantage of any of these offers this year?

Lauren

Review: MUA Single Shadows in Shade 28 and Shade 30

As most of you know I picked up a few MUA goodies in a recent haul. I've since reviewed the lipsticks (fantastic, in case you were wondering) and now I wanted to give my two eye shadows a thorough examination.

First up! The packaging isn't anything to rave about, although I do appreciate the clear lid. I hate when I can't quickly see which colour I'm grabbing. There's no apparent scent and to be honest I wouldn't expect one from eyeshadows.
These colours are beautiful. Extremely soft and buttery. There is a fair bit of fall out when picking these up on a brush and you do have to rub them in a little to get a smooth application.

You can see here that the particles can be a little bit patchy, more so in Shade 30 (Gold) and a few have settled on places other than the swatch! However, it's when these shadows are applied with a damp brush that they really come to life for me.

It's literally like painting on liquid metal. It's so so so beautiful !I couldn't get over it. These would look amazing used as chunky eyeliner.

Sadly I couldn't get as good a picture of the gold shade, but you can see how beautifully it catches the light.

I have to say, I love this brand. The cosmetics are of amazing quality, particularly when you consider that most of the range is just £1 and there are often deals such as 3 for 2. MUA have recently released a line of make up brushes which I would be very interested in knowing more about! Let me know if you're tried them. I really can't wait to pick up some more of these shadows and I know that they are soon to become a firm favourite in my make up case.

What do you think of these shades? Which ones should I get next?

Lauren

Yet Another Mini Haul: Bargains Galore!

I got paid on Monday which meant that it was time to stock up on essentials (and a few non-essentials.)
Heres what I managed to grab:

My first stop was Boots to check out the haircare. I was actually looking for Tresemme dry shampoo since I had seen it reviewed and recommended recently by Harriet here. But it just so happened that all the VO5 products were a 3rd off there. I ended up picking VO5 dry shampoo (usually £3.49) simply because I love a bargain! There was a volumising version but it claimed to be for fine hair so I'm not sure it would have done anything for me. Best to keep it simple.

 I also picked up the "treat me right" intensive conditioning mask. (usually £4.39)

This looks like just the thing to treat my Winter hair. Herbal Essences shampoo and conditioner (£3.79 each) was also on buy one get one free, and I'm nearing the end of my current Tresemme bottles. I picked up the "Hello Hydration" set which smells absolutely beautiful. I love coconut scents as they always remind me of being on holiday!

Also on offer was cotton wool, cotton pads and buds at buy one get one half price. I use the pads all the time for cleansing, toning and nail varnish removal, so I may as well stock up whilst they're cheap! (£1.39 for pads)

At Superdrug the first thing I saw was my all time favourite deodorant, Dove Cucumber and Green Tea, on better than half price so I immediately put one in my basket. I've recently tried two different Sure deodorants (thinking that a different scent would be better than the first one) and I was so disappointed. I'll never cheat on Dove again, it wasn't worth it.

With the 3 for 2's still on at Superdrug I picked up two new Barry M varnishes. (£2.99 each)

I picked "Black" because I wanted to try out a galaxy manicure and I'm hoping this will make the ideal base. "Nude" was chosen because I wanted a pale neutral base to try out Jasmine's marble nail art tutorial that you can view here. My third item was the much talked about Undressed palette from MUA (£4):

I was a bit torn between this and Heaven and Earth, but the matte shades won me over. I have no matte eyeshadows! Really excited to start using this. Just as I was trying to leave the store an eyelash curler caught my eye. I've actually never used one before and since I've started blogging I've seen no end of talk about the Shu Uemura Eyelash Curler and thought that maybe a curler was something worth investing in.

This beauty from classic, cosmetic power-house Revlon was £2 off and I really couldn't say no to £3.99!

Have you taken advantage of any of these offers? Have you tried any of the products I picked up? Let me know your opinion in the comments.

Lauren