I got this free with the purchase of other items in the range, and wouldn't pay for it out of my own pocket to be honest. While the shimmers are pigmented, the mattes are by and large awful and the colour selection seems almost as rushed and mismatched as this post, lol.
Happy last few hours of February the 29th!
The Student's Guide To Nail Polish
So much makeup. Such little student finance. A fight against the draconian makeup policies of a Catholic school. (2013)
Archive for February 2012
MUA Immaculate Collection
M to the Barry and other Excursions to the land of the Superdrug
Primarily for stamping purposes, as they're not the most chip resistant polishes I've ever worn and application is weak. Every brushstroke and minor dent is painfully obvious with this formula. Not for the cackhanded.
The Cosmetic Table of the Elements.
This is me floating a new idea for the blog; Ever since I experienced the joys of a Saturday job (and consequently, disposable income for what feels like the first time in my life) many of the posts on here have been leaning towards hauls rather than the (questionable) nail art and looks this blog used to feature more heavily. The long and short of it is that I feel I should give products that I currently own some more love, as well as rushing to invest in the latest and greatest.
Combining this love (beauty/cosmetic blogging) with just one of my other great loves (science) led me to this, The Cosmetic Table of the Elements. At least wait for me to explain before you click that big red X button!
'Elements' refers to the individual items of makeup that I would wear to give a certain 'look', and the whole name is a play on the Periodic Table, obviously. Call it a Lenten challenge, but if it takes off and I collect enough of these 'sets' I would organise them into some sort of table so that if I were ever stuck for inspiration, I could go and have a look.
It'd run like so: I'd pick a theme, say, 'peachy keen sixth former', and come up with this:
This would include a short description of how they were applied, what inspired me to group that particular collection of products together etc.
At the end of the day, if I wanted a blog with no readers I'd be keeping a diary, which is why I'm asking you guys what you think? Good idea? Leave it? If you would prefer to comment anonymously, feel free! As ever, I don't mind :)
January Empties. Late.
I'm well aware we're nearly finishing February :(
Johnson's Face Cream - already repurchased because it's classy and has SPF in it and it's also very cheap and I like all of those things.
Barry M Base Coat - may repurchased, may not, I liked the fact that I could use it right down to the very last drop and it didn't thicken or anything, but it wasn't great at stopping chips. I'll shop around, see if there is anything better at a similar price point because again, this is very cheap.
MUA Pro 3 in 1 Eye Liner - I used this as a quick and easy eyebrow fill, but don't really like it as an eyeliner - far too soft, and not black enough. Wouldn't spend money on it.
Mirror SHINee
If you were curious, yes the title is a reference to both the sheer lipsticks produced by 17 Cosmetics and also the cute as cute can be Korean five member boyband. Don't judge, non-Kpop lovers. Don't judge.
I've been lusting these for the longest time, ever since the lovely 25fLONDON posted her amazing collection of these lipsticks. Being the cheap cosmetics lover that I am, though, I've always been a bit put off by the price - nearly a fiver for lipsticks that don't actually leave much colour and have the tackiest packaging I've seen in a long time? Not convinced.
Beehive, now sadly ruined after suffering severe squash injuries. It melted and as I tried to applied it the bullet snapped off and I had to fix it back on as best as I could (so not very well).
I asked for one for Christmas and my lovely parents got me Beehive. Hooked, I invested in two more when they were half price on the Boots website. Erm, and then I bought another three. Which equals quite a lot of sheer makeup. Ah well.
Ironically, I appear to be wearing 17's Magnetic Nail Polish in 'Lilac' in these shots. Coincidences!
Left to Right: Plum Perfection, Peace, Hollywood, Purple Haze, Cookie, Beehive (at the bottom)
Lip swatches here.
MUA Pro Plumping Lip Gloss
Now in my defence, these are gorgeous.
MUA have really classed up the packaging for this 'Pro' line. Me gusta.
Left to right: Nude, Pin Up Pink, Sienna, Buff
THE PIGMENT TEST.
Bare lips for you.
(and a poor quality photo)
Buff.
I like the fact they included two nudes in this selection of colours. This one fits me better but the other, 'Nude', isn't too far off so I'll be making good use of them both. Wise colour choice, MUA.
Sienna.
Probably the least pigmented of the bunch, it also has a slightly odd smell that I can't quite place - reminds me of plastic, a little. Not too keen on this one, but I find that orange lip products don't seem to like me much anyway!
Pin Up Pink.
Nice and pigmented, and the colour is perfectly apt for the name. Again, will be using this a lot.
Nude.
On me, this is a little 'ghost lips', but it's the sort of colour that would suit many people because it has such neutral undertones. When I've gone very heavy on the eyes, this is my lip product of choice.
Do they plump? Not on me. Glosses have a natural 'plumping' effect (as in, they make your lips look bigger because they're shiny and the light reflects more off them) and these do that, but they're not actually making my lips bigger, as far as I can tell. I'm thrilled to bits about that as I don't feel my lips need to be any bigger, but the 'plumping' aspect of this might be what has attracted other people to the product, and if so you may well be disappointed if it doesn't work for you.
There is a slight tingling sensation, but it's not too unpleasant - again, something I like because I don't enjoy feeling product on my lips and the better it behaves while it's there, the happier I am.
I would invest in the last two colours if they appealed to me, and if MUA fancies bringing out some more shades (some purples/plums, a red and a brown maybe? Ta.) I'd be all over those like a journalist on a juicy scoop.
I suck.
At blogging. At life. At tweeting and replying to comments.
Especially as it's the month of my blogaversary. Forgive me? I'll attempt to make it up to you in a giveaway format...:)
This was meant to be a three word entry which would look very cool and 'indie' hipster but I suck at coolness too.
fml.