Yet more MUA Glitter liner swatches...

Yes I bought two more. These are one pound at Superdrug and I loves me some sparkles at this time of year. I’ve actually used all of these more than I anticipated. Here we have shade 8( green sparkles in a clear base) and shade 10 (silver sparkles in a black base). Of all the ones I’ve tried thus far 10 is the only one not in a clear base. I have mixed feelings about this. 

Once again the brushes are long, thin and flexible. I haven’t had any of these splay on me yet. The glitter is fairly dense. I rarely need more than one swipe to get the effect I want though if I want the black base to be super black I do go over the line twice with 10. You can’t deny these look gorgeous.

Whereas with the clear based ones I find the wear to be fantastic (no glitter falling down my face, stays on till I take it off) shade 10 leaves a little to be desired. After about 6-8 hours I noticed that it starts to flake off. I’ve never had a liner flake on me so this took me by surprise. I don’t have particularly oily lids. It’s frustrating as it’s a shade I’d like to be able to wear on a regular basis but the staying power just isn’t there. For £1 though I shan’t complain too much. 

I need ideas for Christmas eye looks. Help please! Xxx

*I bought these myself*

NYX Swatches: Single eyeshadows and Strawberry Milk Jumbo Eye Pencils

You may have spotted these shadows in my MAC Franken Palette. I actually picked these up in the UK at the same outlet shop I got my Angel blush in. From memory they cost about £4 which is more than they do in the US but I suppose I didn’t have to pay shipping. Here we have White Frost (er it’s white and frosty shock horror, Flamingo (shimmery peach which makes quite a nice blush actually) and Tropical (dirty pinkish beige).

All three are soft, pigmented and very easy to work with. These are swatched without a base. I use all my shadows with a primer and I’ve never suffered any fading or creasing. The quality of NYX shadows always impresses me. I need more I tell you! (Left to right White Frost, Flamingo, Tropical)

Just for kicks I’ll throw in a swatch of Strawberry Milk. I can’t for the life of me remember what this cost. The Jumbo Eye pencils make fantastic bases. I personally love using this under Barry M Pink/ Gold dazzle dust. It grabs the loose eyeshadow and sticks it to your lid like glue. The shimmery pink really intensifies any pink shadows you use over it and the creamy formula doesn’t tug on my lid. Love it! Just use a primer under them and a thin layer to prevent creasing.

*I bought all the above products with my own pennies*

MUA Glitter Liners

I’ll be the first to confess that whilst I love glitter liners I have been guilty in the past of spending silly money on them, wearing them once to the office Christmas party and then shoving them to the back of a draw never to be seen again. As much as I may love ‘em it just isn’t something I can normally get away with wearing so this year I said “no Claire. Put the sparkles down and back away. Drop the purse and no one gets hurt”. Until of course I saw that Superdrug had a rainbow of colours from the MUA range for 1 FREAKING POUND! I’ll be honest. I wasn’t expecting much for a quid but I reasoned with myself that even if they were rubbish I could make them work and them not feel guilty I didn’t use them again. 

I originally just picked up two shades; Shade 2 which is a pale gold and Shade 4 which is more of an orange/ copper gold. Both are gorgeous and the swatches below were one swipe. The glitter is fairly dense and suspended in a clear gel making these perfect to layer over normal liners. You need to keep be careful for about 20 seconds after applying as they do take a little while to dry but once they have I’ve experienced no issues with glitter transferring any where it shouldn’t. I’ve already worn these on a night out and they lasted very well. 

The applicator is a thin brush which is surprisingly high quality for the price. I haven’t found that these splay out or make a mess at all. In order to get an evenly pigmented line you may have you make sure there is enough glitter on there or at least do a couple of swipes across the lid. 

I was so pleased with these that I went back and bought another! This is shade 7, a gorgeous purple. I can see this looking rather fab with a silver smokey eye for new years eve. 

I’m giving serious consideration to going back for a green to use with the gold somehow for a mad Christmas eye. I’m sure I’ve seen silver and pink versions too so you could get a whole rainbow of colours for the price of one higher end glitter liner. Love them! X

*I bought these myself*

October Favourites

Happy Halloween everyone! I love October. It’s all snugly jumpers, deep colours and spicy scents. Here’s what I’ve been making dents in throughout the month:

Mememe Boxed Blush in Rouge – a gorgeous reddish pink with subtle gold shimmer. This is the kind of shade that suits me best and I love blushes with a touch of red in them for getting a ‘just in from the cold’ flush. And it’s less than a tenner, score!

Sleek Storm Palette – This is my favourite of all the Sleek palettes. I have a ridiculous amount of eyeshadow and yet I keep coming back to this when I’m rushing to get ready for work. 

Clinique Super balanced Foundation – My skin doesn’t know what’s happening right now. It’s still oily thanks to my two weeks in the sun but the dry patches associated with the colder weather are starting to appear. This foundation works for all areas. This is the lightest shade (Alabaster) and whilst it’s a perfect match for me in the summer it will probably be a touch dark in the winter so I wanted to get as much use out of it while I still can. 

ELF Studio Cream Eyeliner in Golden Olive – less harsh than black, prettier than brown and office friendly. I’ve already made a fair sized dent in this. 

Benefit Browzings – I find this holds my unruly brows in place far better than even my beloved clear mascara so whenever I have time to use this in the morning I do. Also as I recently dyed my hair darker and redder I’ve been doing a stronger brow and loving it.

No7 Moisture Drench Lipstick in Pink Crush – I actually got this free in one of their gift with purchase sets. I love the formula which is completely none drying and the sheer deep pink shade is a wearable introduction to a slightly berry lip. I’ve been wearing it under...

 Lippie on the bottom, gloss on the top ^

Revlon Super Lustrous Lip Gloss in Frankly Flirty – I think this has been discontinued unfortunately. I got it at an outlet shop ages ago and haven’t seen it anywhere else. It’s a gorgeous berry shade. In the tube it has micro fine silver glitter but it doesn’t really look shimmery on the lips at all. If you see it snap it up! (Or if it’s not discontinued let me know ;-) 

If you’ve done a monthly favourites post please leave a link in the comments. I love reading them x

*I bought all the above products myself*

No7 Freebie

I’m so late to this party everyone else has passed out. On the off chance that you haven’t seen this I’m posting it anyway. At the moment if you buy one of the No7 Exceptional Definition Mascara (normally £12 but use your £5 off voucher!) you get a free eyeshadow palette. Here is the mascara.

I haven’t tried it yet, I’m hoping for that price it’s pretty damn good though! And here is the palette. 

I love these colours. Here they are swatched without a base but a sticky primer makes them pop a fair bit more. I kind of like the fact they are a bit sheer though. They are nice and subtle for an autumnal office look. All four shades are shimmery and the green and burgundy shades are especially beautiful. The compact itself feels sleek and heavy duty with a good sized mirror. I’d happily have paid for this so I’m doubly thrilled to have gotten it for free. 

This offer has been on for a while and I’m not sure when it finishes so if I were you I’d move pretty quickly x

*I bought the mascara myself*

ELF Studio Cream Eyeliners (Yes... plural... I shopped)

Having long been a fan of the black liner I decided to pick up a few more. Three of these, Gunmetal (silvery grey), Metallic Olive (a golden... erm... olive) and Purple and brand new shades. Coffee (a deep brown) is not new but I picked it up instead of the other new shade (Copper) because I’m unhappy with my Urban Decay brown gel liner. These come in heavy duty plastic jars and the barginous sum of £3.50 gets you 4.7g of product. Pretty no?

I love the black on for its deep pigmentation and impeccable wear. I had high hopes for these. I was interested to see that these now come with brushes but as with most free brushes they aren’t all that great. The brush itself is fine but the handle is too short to be of any use. I have these swatched alongside the original black one so you can compare them all. 

The three new shades are shimmery but not overly so. I like them but they fall ever so slightly short of the black shade. Metallic Olive is the most pigmented. It goes perfectly with a neutral brown eye. I’ve actually been using this in place of Coffee which can go on slightly patchy. Coffee, Purple and Gunmetal are gorgeous but need a couple of swipes to get up to full pigmentation. Gunmetal has seen some use as a softer alternative to black with a grey smokey eye and I’m sure I’ll be using it under solver glitter liner in a few months time! 

Staying power is good, they get through a work day no problem, but not quite as invincible as the black. I do like them a lot though. You just can’t buy better liners for this price. Cream/ Gel eyeliners at drugstore prices aren’t as common in the UK as in the US and you certainly don’t get this colour range for this price anywhere else. I’d give ELF an A- on these (more pigmentation please!) and I’m already eyeing up the Ivory, Midnight and Copper colours x

*I bought these*

GOSH Let’s Twist Eyeliner in Blue Grass

I’m a huge fan of the normal GOSH Pencil liners so I thought I should probably try the twist up version too. These are quite inexpensive at £5.70 each and come in a whole range of funky colours. As they twist up you negate the need for a sharpener and the site proclaims that they are waterproof. This is important to me as I use pencil liners exclusively on the water line or smudged under the lower lash line and I would rather not have them running half way down my face by the end of the day. 

The colour Blue Grass is a shimmery teal which leans more blue than green. Although it benefits from being warmed up on the back of your hand for a few seconds it transfers easily onto the waterline. Once it’s on it stays put. I get at least 6 hours wear out of it which is pretty damn impressive. 

I find that the GOSH liners are at least as good as the more expensive Urban Decay 24/7 liners and the colour range is just as wide. I’m eyeing up the colour Hot Flamingo (bright pink) already! X

*Bought by me*

Calvin Klein Gel Eyeliner

Please correct me if I’m wrong but I think this little pot of horror was part of CKs last attempt at a successful line of cosmetics. They haven’t had much luck and this is a shining example why. I got this at an outlet store down South for about £7 thinking that it had to be a rival for my beloved ELF cream liner. ELF, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have strayed.

You get 31g in a plastic pot. It’s a packaging fail. Cheap to the touch and when you remove the seal you are left with sticky glue residue around the edges which ruins any high end feel CK may have been aiming for. This is shade 302 Black Ice.

The texture is firm but not as firm as the ELF liner. I could forgive it all its packaging foibles if it was a decent product but as the swatch shows it’s patchy and lacking in pigmentation. It fades before the end of the day too.

Normally I try and state the positives and negatives of each product I review but honestly I’m filled with disappointment every time I see this in the draw. Every time I reach for the ELF. Better luck next time CK...

*I bought this*