MUA Haul: Lipsticks

Time for the last part of my MUA haul (Part I, Part II). At a very affordable price, 1£ a piece, I could hardly say no these two. The pair are the cheapest lipsticks I own and I dare say the quality is not lacking because of that. I wanted the shade 15 Juicy for a while - well ever since I saw it on Katie's blog. I decided to get shade 13 after researching extensively on the internet what other shades I find appealing. Both are creamy and pigmented, they just glide over the lips. Both last long on the lips, red lasts longer of course, but even the light shade lasted about five hours.The packaging is nice, doesn't feel flimsy like from some others inexpensive brands. The end part can be screwed off and there is more more lipstick inside. While the red felt very photogenic, my camera refused to capture the real beauty of Juicy in the top picture (however, others pictures are very accurate). I found the picture on Beauty Quest Blog here to be the closest.

15 Juicy is a very peachy shade, but with a hint of pink. It's a brighter shade and it does stand out. It's similar to Barry M 147 peachy pink, but perhaps a touch less orange and with a much creamier formula. Since it is a lighter shade, it does emphasize dry patches, so make sure your lips are as smooth as they can be. My lips do get drier with passing hours when I'm wearing it, so dry patches become very apparent and it's doesn't look that nice up close. The colour is still very vivid, though. I do enjoy wearing peach shades and this is definitely one of the prettiest and appropriate for even someone as pale as me, however, my lips have to be  perfect and moisturised to be able to wear it.

13 is an orange based red, very bright, in fact the brightest and lightest red I own so far. Again the formula is very creamy and pigmented. However, since it's a darker shade it lasts longer and nicer on the lips. Even after hours no dry patches appear. It's not that hard to find a cheap red shade of good quality and this one is no exception. It lasts long and wears off nicely leaving a stain behind.  

It's Christmas tomorrow and I've baked a ton of cookies. Inspired by that I dug up my vanilla fragrance from Yves Rocher, because it's the most cookie smelling vanilla I've ever tried and I mix it with Noix de Coco eau de toilette. So now I smell like a pastry shop. Thanks for reading and happy Christmas! 

MUA Haul: Blushes, Eyeliner and Eyeshadows

And now for the second part of the MUA haul. Starting with cream blushes. They are actually bigger than I expected. There is a nice quantity of product and the packaging is big enough to be able to use a blush brush. I picked two colours out of four, Bittersweet (light barbie pink) and Dolly (coral-tan colour). These are very creamy and give a dewy glow to the cheeks, more so than Maybelline's Dream Cream blushes. 

When I first tried Bittersweet, I was shocked to see that there was no pigment whatsoever, just a clear cream. Fortunately, it turned out it was just the very top layer that was like that. It's actually quite pigmented and shows up well on my cheeks (however, I'm very pale). It blends nicely and gives a very lovely kind of barbie/doll pink cheek. Very cute, but I wonder how it would perform on someone darker than me. Surprisingly it lasted a quite a few hours, which is more than I expected from a 2£  blush, especially since it is a pale colour. I apply it with fingers or with a brush (I use a synthetic Real Techniques contour brush).

Dolly is very, very pigmented. I can't apply it with fingers because I always get way to much colour on. I prefer to apply it with my Real Techniques contour brush to get a lighter flush. This shade looks on me almost like a natural slight sunburn or a bit of tan, quite a lovely natural colour. Because it's a more pigmented blush, it lasts very well on the cheeks and fades slowly.  

I got two individual eyeshadows. One is from the pearl line called shade 12, a brown green duochrome colour, the second is matte shade 15, a very light pink. Both are very pigmented and blend nicely. They are soft, the pearl one is almost like a creamy texture and the matte one is more powdery. Both drop a bit because they are so soft.

Shade 12 looks very dark green in the packaging, but applied lightly looks warm brown. When you intensify it with more layers it gets a slight greeny blue sheen. However, it's hard to get so much colour on the lid to see the duochrome effect, also it fades fast, so for the most part it just stays sort of brownish taupe colour. It blends out nicely into a light warm brown shade. I heard it's close to Mac's Club eyeshadow, but I don't have that shade so I can't compare. 

I got shade 15 as an all over colour. I wanted something matte and it was just a pound, so I gave it a go. It's a good brightening shadow because of this pinky hue. I imagine it would work well also as a setting powder under the eyes, but I haven't tried it for that yet.  

Intense glitter eyeliner in Gold Nugget is not exactly gold, but more a copper gold shade. It makes my eyes look more blue than gray. It's more creamy and applies without dragging. It can be used all over the lid as a base for gold eyeshadow to intensify the look. For a pound you can't miss.

I bought Heaven and Earth palette as a Christmas gift for my counsin, hence no swatches. There is a good selection of neutrals, so it's a nice palette to have.

Thanks for reading!

I-Had-40%-Off-on-MUA Haul

I'm sure you've heard of MUA before, but for those of you who haven't, it's a affordable line of makeup based in the UK. I think of it as an equivalent for American E.l.f. or German Essence. Anyway, they had an offer with a code for 40% off entire purchase and I couldn't let it pass. This is my first experience with MUA brand and I must say it's not bad. For one they send me five nail polishes for free, but more on this later. The package arrived quickly, something I wasn't expecting, especially since I was sure they will be swamped with orders because of the offer. I took a lot of pictures of the products and the haul is not that small, therefore I decided to make three separate posts. I hope you don't mind. 

Here is a link to their store and I suggest you like their facebook page to be informed of the offers on time. 

As I said before, I got five nail quake polishes for free. The shades from left to right are: Quiver (cobalt blue), Broken Arrow (purple), Shattered Ice (silver), Shiver (beautiful coral pink) and Jailbreak (black). As a base I have the silver holographic nail polish by Depend, except on my little finger where I have   Essence 63 Purple cherry (discontinued).

I have a confession to make. I dislike crackle polishes. In the last two years that crackle polishes are all the rage, I never even considered trying one. Honestly, I don't find the look of cracked nail polish appealing or pretty at all. I was kind of happy that the crackle craze was finally dying down. But hey, now I have five. And I still haven't changed my mind. However, I do really like the shades they sent. If any of nail polish experts out there is reading this, can you please recommend me dupe shades for regular nail polishes? Mostly I would like to know a dupe for Quiver and Shiver, please.

Quiver

Shiver

Broken Arrow

Thanks for reading!