Notice!

Hi! If you have been wondering why my posts have been up everyday recently, that is the way it is going to be from now on. However, next week I'm going away, so I am going to prepare a couple posts and put them up while I'm there. I'm thinking I'll make 3 to put up so you still have some to read. Okay. Thanks! xox

Review | MUA Brow Kit

Here's my review on the MUA Brow Kit!

Price: £3.50

Shades: 1 Shade Fits All

Pigmentation - High Pigmentation, Easily Dimmed Down.

Places To Buy: Superdrug, MUA Online

 

Packaging: The packaging on this, again, is a standard black plastic, however this feels a lot sturdier. It keeps shut by a magnet at the end of the case, which is a good and bad thing, good because then it is easier to shut, more convenient and it less likely to get stuck, but a bad thing because it makes it easier to open, which means if it's in a bag with other things, then the brow powders could rub against something in your bag and break. It looks very professional, coming with a big mirror on the lid which is very helpful when travelling as you don't need to bring separate mirrors, because you have some in our make-up items. It comes with a pair of tweezers and a double ended brush, which is very helpful and travel friendly. The writing on top of the case is, again, a metallic silver spray on, which has some wear and tear on it. (Scratches through the letters)

 

Texture: The texture of these brow powders are very silky, smooth, they are highly pigmented and have a smooth colour with no patches. However, because they are so pigmented, you do need to use a light hand when applying them to your eyebrows so they look still pretty natural and not too drawn on. You don't need too much of the product to get enough colour to fill in your brows, if these shades are not right for you, because they are so smooth, silky and blendable, it allows you to mix between to shades. The 'Highlighter' shade, for me, is too dark to use as a highlighter, I use it for days when I only want a tiny bit of definition on my brows, I am fair-light skin toned for reference. The Fixing Gel is very effective, I found that it does hold my brows in place very well and is a nice consistency., my friend uses the gel everyday and ran out of it pretty quickly but you could tell she used more than necessary as her brows looked wet. That's not natural!

 

Ways To Apply: The most common way of applying brow powder is with an Angled Brush, Mine is from Smashbox, I did it between the 2 powders to get my perfect shade, starting in the middle of my brow nearer the start, I just follow my natural brow shape, maybe elongating a little bit. You can also use something like a Pointed Eyeliner Brush, Nick from Pixiwoo uses this brush, to create a more natural look as you can create little lines and flicks to look like natural hairs from your brows, making the illusion that you just have naturally full brows.

 

I've Applied Far Too Much Product!: Don't Fret! Take a regular Spoolie Brush, mine is from ELF, and just comb through your brows, this will blend out the colour, taking away some of the pigmentation. Also, taking a clean Tea Towel or Wash Cloth, put your finger inside, then wipe over your brows, this will remove quite a bit of product so you might have to re-apply a bit more powder after.

 

When Do I Apply These?: You can apply your brow powder at any time during your make-up routine, this is probably one of the most versatile things you can do. Personally, for me, I apply my brow powder after my foundation and concealer, before my concealer is blended so it can set a bit and sink in while doing my brows (it boosts the coverage). This also means the brow powder will less likely turn out orange because you can make sure no face make-up gets on your brows and if foundation does, then you can wipe it off with a Wash Cloth before hand.

 

Would I Recommend These?: Yes definitely! I think for the price and how versatile it is from the multiple shades and the fact that it has everything you need for your brows, then I think it's worth the money! I know people who have never tried this before, I used this on them and they thought it was a £10 product.

 

Hope This Helps!

xox

Review | ELF Baked Eyeshadows (Studio)

Here is my review on the ELF Baked Eyeshadows!

Left to right: Burnt Plum, Pixie

Price:£3.75

Shades:6
Pigmentation: Medium-High Pigmentation, Buildable.

Places to buy: ELF Online

 

 

Packaging: The packaging on these shadows, again, are pretty standard and kind of cheapy feeling because of the plastic. However, saying this, the black, back part of the packaging has a nice kind of rubbery, velvet feeling (very similar to the NARS packaging) which to me is a nice chance and makes it feel a lot less cheap and flimsy. I have had these since Christmas and they have not broken, or even scratched in any way. The writing on the top of the clear, plastic covering is very much like the MUA Blush Perfection in the sense that it is a spray. However, the writing on these had not rubbed/come off in anyway, it has held up very well. Now, my only complaint about the packaging is that when I received mine, the sticker on the back only consisted of a number and not a name. This is a bad thing as it means that you will either have to remember the name, or make your own sticker with the name on it and stick it on the back of the casing. 

Texture: The texture of these eyeshadows are very soft and silky, not powdery at all. They apply very evenly to the eye, I don't have a problem with drag marks/the shadow going patchy like I do with some baked shadows that I have owned in the past. They are extremely pigmented shades and you don't need to run your brush over them a lot to get a good colour pay off. The shade Burnt Plum is a nice deep, well, plum shade. The shade pixie, is a light pink colour, almost metallic, with blue and purple shimmers, this particular shade looks amazing over the Maybelline Colour Tattoo in Pink Gold. They are almost creamy in the texture, I know from past experience with baked eyeshadows, that some can tend to be extremely powdery and fly all over the place and translate better on a full swatch on your finger than with a brush on to your eye. This is not the case with these, they are very nice smooth, silky, creamy, richly pigmented shadows.

 

Ways To Apply: I mainly apply these with a soft bristled brush with the lighter colour and place it all over my lid, then use a slightly stiffer brush and black the Burnt Plum shade on my outer corner and crease (I also use a smudge brush to mirror that on my bottom lash line). Really, the only ways you can apply these shadows are with a brush or with your fingers. With a brush you are going to get a ore precise look and you are going to have more control with where the product goes and where you blend it out. With your fingers you are going to get a more quick, messy look. This doesn't always look terrible, it just depends how you work with it. Don't attempt to apply the colour into the crease with your fingers, stick with all over the lid and the outer corner, so you can still maintain control and a look like you have spent more time on it rather than like you have stamped the eyeshadow colour on your eyes!

 

I've Applied Far Too Much Product!: Don't worry! I'm here to help! Basically, the most obvious way of fixing it is just keep blending out the shadow with a blending brush, until you get it to the right amount of colour that you want. Another way that I have found out, when I have applied a mountain of product (which is quite often!) is to get a Q-Tip (Cotton Bud) and just wipe it over, the bud will remove some of the product, meaning you can either build on top of that if it has taken off too much, or just leave it if it took off the perfect amount and just blend out the edges.

 

When Do I Apply These?: Personally, I apply these after foundation and when I have done my eyebrows, before I have done concealer, powder etc... mainly because, then you don't have to worry too much about fall out. It is easier to fix when it has landed on foundation rather than layers of your face makeup. The reason being is that you can just run your foundation brush under your eyes and remove any fall out, without removing a big patch of your face makeup.

 

Would I Recommend These?: Of course! I love these shadows and for the price that they are, they are an amazing deal. The quality is there, they are by no means like cheap eyeshadows, the packaging is quite sturdy and holds up well. I haven't took these on holiday yet so I don't know how well they hold up on the plane, if they will crack or anything, but if they do, I will update this post with the results and some pictures.

 

 

Hope This Helps!

xox

Review | MUA Blush Perfection Cream Blushers.

Hiya! Sorry for the stingy posts, I've been busy with school but I'm back!

 

Left to Right: Dolly, Yummy, Bittersweet.

 

 

Price: £2.00

Available at: Superdrug, MUA online website

 Pigmentation: High colour pay-off

Shades: 4

 

 

Packaging: The packaging is pretty standard. It has a regular plastic container. The writing on the front telling you the name of the product is originally a silver spray on, there is no picture of the front as the writing rubbed off so I thought it was useless to add in a picture. So far the packaging has been quite sturdy, I have had no breaking or cracking, it has held up pretty well. The casing snaps shut well, this is important as it is a cream product so it won't dry out. It is pretty cheap, standard packaging but for the price, it's what you would expect.

 

Texture: The texture is very creamy, however when it is not used for a while then you got a dry top layer, all you need to do to get it back creamy is just run over it with your finger to warm up the product again and bring it back to it's original state. It is very easily blendable, but with all cream blushers you obviously can get some ways are easier to blend it out than others and also you can apply it patchy if you don't spend as much time on it.

 

Different ways to apply: Brush - I personally prefer this way of applying any cream blush as it gives me more control of the blending and the placement of the product. I use the Elf Small Stipple Brush, I just dip it into the product, tap some off on the back of my hand so I can start with little and work on it from there and add more if needed as it is easier to add product than take away so definitely start with less than you think you need. You can also use brushes like the Sigma Kabuki Brushes to apply it, however those brushes are not the most affordable, and I am happy with my stippling brush.

Fingers - Also, there is the option of using your fingers to apply the colour. Simply by getting a little bit of product of your finger tip, starting in the back/the apple of your cheek, place the colour gently and make sure to blend until you are happy with the amount that it's blended, and the amount of colour you have on your cheeks.

 

I've applied far too much product!: Don't worry! Either take your foundation brush, don't add any more product on to it, just use whats left, and go over where you have but the blush. This will cover up some of the pigmentation, making it more subtle on your cheeks. You can also do the exact same thing but with your powder brush.

 

When do I apply it?: You can apply these before or after your powder, I find that it works better before but it does apply completely fine after. Personally, like I said, I prefer to apply it before my powder, as I feel like it gives a better finish because you are applying a cream product on top of another cream product rather than on top of a powder. However, it does apply completely fine after powder as well, those are just my personal preferences.

 

Would I recommend these?: Yes I would! I think they are amazing quality for the price, they apply great, the pigmentation is amazing, they are so creamy which makes them a dream to work with. As cream blushers go, I definitely think these are worth every single penny.

 

Hope this helps!

xox