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*

Budget Brows

I’m a huge fan of my Benefit Browzings but I’m an even bigger fan of a bargain. On the days when I can’t be faffed with gel and powder  I usually slick some clear mascara through my brows in order to stop my brows looking like they are trying to escape. A bit of colour and definition doesn’t hurt either. These are the bargain beauty products that I’m currently using. 

MUA mascara in shade 1. I’m said this before about the MUA range but I’ll say it again, ONE FREAKING POUND! What can I say about it? It’s clear, doesn’t leave my brows feeling crispy or tacky and does a decent job of keeping them neat. Not as good as the Browzings but not bad at all. Mental note to stock up on these. I just don’t see the point in spending any more on a clear mascara that I’ll only ever use on my eye brows. 

Then we have the Sleek Brow Pencil in Brown. Again this falls neatly in the budget category  costing just £2.49. Oddly they only do two shades, Brown and Black. Brown is a pretty dark colour too so those with fair hair aren’t catered for which seems odd. Now Sleek claim that this is a ‘creamy formula’ that will resist smudging or flaking. I wouldn’t call it creamy. In fact I find the pencil quite hard. If it were an eyeliner it would be too hard however it isn’t and I like it. I’ve swatched it here heavily and more lightly.

The hardness means it’s easy to do light feathery strokes rather than depositing too much colour and leaving me with Jordan brows. 

DO NOT WANT. So there are my brow products for groomed (but not scary) brows for less than a fiver. What do you use on your brows? Let me know in the comments xxx

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*

MUA Lipstick in Shade 3

The MUA range at Superdrug has proved a roaring success with beauty bloggers and I can’t wait to check out their new ‘pro’ range. I couldn’t resist picking up one of their lipsticks. After all, if it turned out to be rubbish who cares. It was only £1! I wasn’t expecting much to it was a very pleasant surprise when I discovered that it is actually a very lovely lippie. 

The silver and black packaging doesn’t look cheap and I love that it has a colour guide on the end so you can spot it in your collection. This particular shade is a very bright cool pink. Although there looks like there is some shimmer in the tube on the lips it just translates as a very high gloss finish. It is so glossy I never feel the urge to put gloss on top of it. The colour is very saturated  and the texture is creamy and moisturising on the lips. Because of the texture it doesn’t last very long on me, maybe 2 hours on average, but I’d rather have a moisturising lipstick that I have to reapply than Sahara lips. 

Yes the packaging doesn’t feel as luxurious as more expensive lipsticks but who cares. It’s cheap, it works and I’m going back for more x

*Bought by me*

MUA Heaven & Earth

£4 for the one of the years most talked about neutrals palettes? Frankly I’d be mad not too! 12 shades with a net weight of 9.6g for that price makes you think  that something must be amiss. I’m pleased to say thought that the palette is worth every  penny and then some.

The packaging betrays the budget somewhat. The plastic is a bit cheap feeling and the label on the back on mine is all wrinkled and wonky. Frankly I couldn’t care less. The shadows themselves are fantastic. Pigmented and creamy without being powdery. You get a good mix of highlight shades, lid colours and deeper crease shades.

The only downside that I can see is the mix of finishes i.e. there is none. It’s shimmery or nothing. I would have loved to see a couple of matte shades.

I  have been asked to compare this to the Sleek Au Naturel palette. Obviously that has the upper hand in terms of finishes with a range of matte, satin and shimmery shades. It also has a wider colour range. It costs around another £3. Personally I think that the two are different and cheap enough to justify having both but then I’m a beauty addict. If I could only have one I’d erm.... still buy both! X

*Bought by me*

MUA Eyeshadows (aka welcome to the bandwagon)

Ooh makeup for £1? Yes please and thank you! I have seen these on countless blogs but since when has that stopped me talking about a product? The £1/ item Make Up Academy (MUA) line that recently launched at Superdrug has been a big hit with preteens and bargain hunting makeup addicts alike. Many of the products have been called as misses but the eyeshadows have gained a bit of a following. Here we have 18 – a matte bright purple, 11 – a pearl brownish taupe and 16 – a matte peachy pink.
What first struck me about these shadows it how big they are for the price. You get a full 2g so you are getting a lot of product for very few pennies. The packaging is surprisingly nice too. Yes it doesn’t look especially sleek or luxe but the logo is actually printed on rather than a sticker and it doesn’t look as cheap as it is.



The swatches tell the whole story though. Number 11 is smooth, creamy and pigmented. The two matte colours however are chalky and hard to work with. The peachy pink is better than the purple but still not a patch on the pearl shade. Using a base does help, especially if you use a slightly sticky/ creamy one. Much as I love the colours I wouldn’t repurchase the mattes. If you are thinking of getting some get the pearl shades.

All in all I think Superdrug have done well here. There are some other bits and bobs in the liner I might check out and in these times of economic (and political) uncertainty a budget makeup line is sure to be a winner. Have you tried anything else from the line? What do you think I should pick up next? xx (And have a picture of Tazzybear playing with makeup too...)