In an attempt to cover all my unfinished business before 2012 sadly leaves us...The results of my trip to Westfield all those many moons ago. Et voila.

This five colour palette cost me £23.50. The sales woman was bitchy as well. And Inglot was sold out of many of the things I wanted to purchase. Overall, fairly terrible experience on their part.

 
Still, the mattes are pretty. It ultimately comes down to the product in the end. Does the product deliver? You bet it does.

Unlike most of the other mattes that I own, these don't require a white pencil base to be vibrant - though it does help, I won't lie. But a thick primer and maybe a cream shadow, and these will show up pretty true to colour on the lid with not many passes. They're easily blendable and aren't terrible on the fallout front (though they're not the best, but they're much better than my Sleek shadows, for example).

Would I repurchase? I don't know. I have tonnes of eyeshadow and let's face it, very few people regularly hit pan on eyeshadows unless they're doing makeup professionally. So I tend to spend less on powder eye products anyway. These were quite a steep price compared to my usual choices (Sleek shadows, Urban Decay box sets on promotion etc.) but the quality was quite improved. I'm undecided.

I'm so painfully late with these, I'm embarrassing myself. Oh well. Onwards and upwards, as they say.



Sleek Luminous Face Powder - already repurchsed two more. Until I find a superior pressed powder, this will do. It matches my skin tone well and doesn't mattify my face (I find I can look quite flat with some pressed powders as my skin is very dry) so yeah, winner.

No7 Exceptional Definition Mascara - again, repurchased (see previous post). This, and my L'oreal two-step mascara, are my two favourites that I continually repurchase.

Superdrug Refreshing Toner - this was too drying for me. I wouldn't class it as suitable for sensitive skin (something I have, having had eczema as a child and sometimes getting very rare patches of it even now). I'd cleanse, remove my makeup, and rinse my face, and then use this. It just always felt very astrignent and I'd need to apply plenty of moisturiser before bed. Toner is fairly pointless anyway, so I won't be buying again!

E.L.F All over Cover Stick - I did like this as it was so thick and potent. A dab, with a light dusting of powder over the top, would cover any blemish really well. But it looks quite grey on my skin, and I have three Sleek concealers to get through, so this is on a back burner.

Honorary mention: Lady Diana Papaya Cream. I bought this because they claimed it had skin-evening properties and I'm anxious to be rid of my dark acne scars on my forehead. Pah.
It just dries your skin to oblivion. After a few days of use, I stopped using it on my face and started using it on my legs, wanting to give it another chance. A week later and the skin was literally peeling from my legs as if I'd had a sunburn. It was disgusting. I will never purchase this product ever again.

Still, I think five products is not too shabby for just one month? Pity I have so many others to get through...

Recently, No7 were doing one of their voucher promotions. Mum, knowing that their Exceptional Definition is one of my favourite 'cheap' mascaras, kindly picked one up for me.

I thought it looked different, so compared it to my existing Exceptional Definition mascara. Voila:



I didn't have an issue with the old packaging, and don't mind the new either. Both look good to me. I've noticed the other mascaras in the line up have changed as well, some with pretty drastic colour changes (like bronze to metallic lilac, I think).
The actual product inside seems to be no different, it works just as before. My only question is, does this mean that No7 as a whole is getting a bit of a facelift? I've noticed that Boots' other own makeup brand, 17, has also streamlined the packaging of some of its items (most notably the Mirror Shine lipsticks, which are no longer metallic aqua blue and barrel shaped but black and cuboidal in shape).

If it does mean changes to the brand, I'm all for them. But this is only speculation. I guess we need to wait for 2013 to see if anything will happen!

Am I going mad or has anyone else noticed the packaging changes?

Although MUA's Professional line gets a lot of the glory nowadays, let's not forget that it was the core line that intially drew in the budget hunters and, though it hasn't been expanded into for some time, it's still pretty damn solid. 




Red (Shade 13)


Pink (Shade 2)

 


MUA did add three or four pastel shades for Spring/Summer 2012. I picked up this peach one (Nectar)


The lipsticks are really decent for a quid each. My red lipstick broke during application on the way to college, which I wasn't impressed by, but the pink and the peach are still going strong. One thing I have to say - I've seen many people around the blogosphere claim that the bottom is a lip gloss pot. It's not. It really isn't. It's just soft silicone. Do not apply this to your lips, it smells vile.

That's all. I hope everyone is enjoying their holidays (for those that were lucky enough to get time off).

I tend to wear nude nail shades most often in Autumn, and I decided to pair this one (Barry M, Dusky Mauve) with a glittery Miss Sporty topcoat to give it a feeling of transitioning between Autumn and Winter.




Apologies for the dry hands, Winter seems to just suck all the moisture from them, now we're well and truly in the season.

I will come straight out and admit that I picked this up because it looks like the Clinique Chubby Sticks that I'm too cheap to buy. This Revlon sort-of-dupe-but-not-really is around £7, and it was on 3 for 2 which reduced the price further.


Stupid name aside, these balm stains are excellent. Provided my lips are in good condition prior to application, these keep them relatively moisturised all day as well as delivering the promised stain which shows up as a true tropical peach/orange even on my pigmented lips. I like this a lot.



This is easily layered, which is another plus in my book. My only gripe would be that the smell of this particular one is a bit odd. I haven't tried any others from the range so I'm not sure if the scent is a universal thing or specific this colour, but I'm just putting it out there.

Lip swatch:



From what I've seen, the Chubby Sticks aren't staining and are basically moisturising tinted lip balms, whereas these are definitely designed to stain and probably aren't as moisturising or glossy. They are (like the Chubby Sticks) of a twist up design, so you don't waste product sharpening - another plus.
All cosmetics at Superdrug are on 3 for 2 at the moment, so I'll take the opportunity to invest in a few more of these!

 I really haven't used too much up lately, hence the lack of empties posts, but these two items have finally left my service and I think I'll honour them with a quick post.


 

E.L.F High Definition Powder - Will repurchase when I get round to ordering off the E.L.F website again. It buffed in nicely but did leave a bit of a white cast (though that tended to wear off by mid morning). I used it to set my BB Cream when I wore it, and for that purpose it was fine.

Boots No7 Powder Eyeliner - While I've already repurchased this, I'm beginning to wish I hadn't! The amount of fallout from this product is incredible and it tends to run after a long day at college or in a humid environment. I use it to set gel eyeliner and make it more matte in appearance, but cleaning up the fallout afterwards is such a hassle that I tend to avoid using it now.

I don't often do skincare posts. No time like the present, right?



I use a scrub two to three times a week to keep my skin soft. I don't really have a preference, but an Elizabeth Arden facial scrub thing is my all time favourite. Usually I use whatever is in the house, which tends to be some leftover from the Soap and Glory bathcare sets that are released every Christmas, but at the moment I've been using this Cocoa Butter one (pictured) I bought on a trip to London recently. It's quite creamy and not very scrubby, and while my skin doesn't feel particularly dry after use, it doesn't feel amazingly clarified or whatnot either so I probably won't repurchase.

I moisturise my whole body every day, it's pretty much an essential for me. I can't stand dry skin :/

Papaya Body Butter by the Body Shop - These I like, but only buy when they're on promotion. The body butter doesn't feel sticky once applied and they keep my legs and body moisturised all day. Only drawback is the price and the comparatively small price.

Alpha Hydroxy Cleansing Cream - This I like. Now as a Chemistry student I know that acid cleansers don't stay on your skin long enough to make any real difference, but I add a squirt of this to my night moisturiser (E45 cream) every week or so and wake up with really soft skin.  It also removes my makeup fairly well but I'm using a facial wash for that job at the moment.

Superdrug Mud Therapy Face Mask - I bought this for £2.59 a while back (minus a 10% own brand student discount) and it's lasted for ages. It feels nice and cooling on the skin and my skin feels cleansed when I remove it. It might be a bit more helpful for oily skin types than it is on me, however.

Superdrug Foaming Facial Wash - Foaming face washes seem to be all the rage in the blogosphere at the moment, and this one was going incredibly cheap so I picked it up. It does a fantastic job of removing my makeup at the end of the day, but I have dry skin and this can dry it out further. It's fine when used with my usual face moisturiser.

Anyone used any of these products? Opinions?

MUA are probably one of the most prolific beauty brands at the moment (certainly of the budget persuasion.) It feels like every week, a new product is being released. I like it. It keeps the brand fresh in the minds of beauty bloggers/consumers in general, but without feeling tired. Plus, they're scoring hits rather than misses. Take this palette:





I personally prefer this to 'Heaven and Earth', as it feels a little less samey due to the greater variation in colour shades. It still only has one matte, but matte eyeshadows aren't really MUA's strength so I'm not disappointed. At the very least, the fact that MUA possesses not one, but TWO Urban Decay 'Naked' palette dupes in it's line up shows that it sure as hell knows what it's target audience want.

Swatches:



The light brown matte shade (third swatch in from the left) performed better than expectations! If MUA can keep up that sort of formula for future releases, their palettes will officially be on par with Sleek's. Unfortunately, given the horrible matte textures in 'Immaculate Collection' and 'Pretty Pastels' and pretty much MUA palette that I've owned ever, I suspect that the buttery softness of this particular shadow is a one off.


I think this palette will suit a pretty large range of skin tones, and it really is easy to work with. My criticisms would be that the packaging is quite easily damaged (see the very first picture) and that the absence of a matte black means that my shading options are a little limited if I were using soley this palette, but thats a personal preference. Not everyone likes to darken their crease with a little black shadow, that's just me.

For £4, (but with MUA being constantly on promotion either in-store at Superdrug or on it's website, you may well find it cheaper) I think this is a seriously solid addition to my makeup collection.

Who else has this palette?

I was really excited when the promo pictures for these came out. I like mattes. I like brights. I like darks. Triple crown, right?



Sort of. I like mattes, brights, and darks, but I'm not too keen on Sleek mattes. Historically, they've been incredibly hit and miss for me - even the standard black colour that's included with pretty much every palette ever varies in pigmentation from palette to palette (for example, the one included with my Acid palette is pretty pathetic, but the one in my Circus palette is blacker than your average collapsed megastar). The Bohemian palette is full of mattes with fantastic colour payoff, whereas the Chaos palette, an all matte one, won't give you payoff even if you take a chainsaw to it. This inconsistency is present in almost every palette I own by them, and countless reviews on this here blog of mine attest to that. So I was quite cautious when I decided to invest in these.




As you can see, they look absolutely stunning in the pan.


I'm enjoying the colour choices for the Dark palette. Most of the colours are thoroughly useable, and I have a thing for dark blue/teal/green eyeshadows of which there are plenty here.





Again, I appreciate the colour choices for the Brights palette, though I feel a red wouldn't have gone amiss somewhere here, and the pinks are slightly too similar for my liking. Still, a good effort.



The Darks colours are fine when swatched - less fallout than other Sleek shades I own (I'm handing that to the removal of the waffle thatched pattern from the Sleek eyeshadows, now they resemble the MUA ones) and on the whole, good pigmentation. A couple of shades disappointed me, the white and the grey, but as I wouldn't get a lot of use out of those anyway I'm not going to cry over it.



With flash:



The pigmentation of the greens and the lightish brown are especially good, and this transfers to an ease of use on the eyes, as well. Good job!

Unfortunately, it all comes apart here for the Brights palette. Booooo.


Why do I have one stupidly bright green and a collection of substandard other colours? All the lighter shades are pants, the yellow is about as visible as air, the purple is piss poor and the light blue resembles flour. Judging you, Sleek. Tempted to get a refund...the only colours worth using are the green, the turquoise colour, the orange and the slightly brighter pink. Waste of £7.

Conclusion: Darks = good and bang on trend. Brights = buy some chalk instead, it's x10 more effective.

Fancy housing some of my collection? Much of it is getting very little love, which makes me sad.

Postage:

Domestic postage base rate: £1.00. 30p for each additional item.

European postage base rate: £2.00. 35p for each additional item.

Worldwide: £3.50

Can hold items, but usually first paid, first served :L 
Thank you!


Boots top coat, 50p.


MUA Glitter Crackle Polish, swatched once, £1


Lilac No7 polish, worn four or so times, £1.


Diddy OPI, 60% left, 25p.

 
 Elegant Touch False nails, never opened or worn, £2

 
eBay false lashes, couple of pairs missing, 75p.



W7 Glitter Eyeliner (black) never opened or worn, £1.



Sleek PoutPaint 'Minx', swatched once, £2.50



BeautyUK polish, 50p.



Two 17 polishes, 50p each. Both swatched about twice.


17 Mirror Shine Lipstick in Cookie, worn two, three times on lips. 25p each.



MUA Trios used a couple of times dry, £1 each. Immaculate Collection palette, £1, barely used.
Pretty Pastels palette, 50p, usage as shown.




ASOS Ciate Paints, had for ages and most have like half left (formula is still great though) so the lot for £2 or 60p each, aside from the orange (Olivia) as that has the least so that's 20p.



Kiko nail lacquers, numbers 273 (silver) and 259 (pink), 95% left, £2

Funky Fingers nail paint in Snakeskin, £1

17 Nail Glitter top coat, 75p.

No7 polish, 'Beautifully Black' 90% remaining, £1.

Barry M polish in 'Coral', 85% remaining, £1.

Rimmel 'Lemon Drop' polish, worn once, £2.
 
MUA All in One Beauty Balm in Dark, about half left, £1.50.

 
SunSense, 'Daily Face' SPF 50 Invisible Tint Finish, 70% left, £2.50



Sleek MakeUp Pout Polish in 'Powder Pink' - one single dent in it where I applied it once. £2.50
Sleek MakeUp Pout Paint in 'Minx' - swatched once.

Lip Smacker in Cherry Coca-Cola, used three times on lips, 75p.

 

Unopened and unused, still in original packaging Nails Inc for Fabulous Magazine nail polishes,
£3.

Blistex Lip Brilliance Lip Balm, unopened and unused, £2.