MUA - Testing New Products!

All stock images (credit to MUA & Superdrug)

Hi guys! Today I'm going to be talking about 3 different products, all of which are from the brand: MUA! This is a brand I've loved for a long time, and their quality just keeps getting better and better!

The products I'm going to talk about are:

Burning Embers eyeshadow palette; available here and here (£8)

Ultra-Fine Translucent Loose Setting Powder; available here and here (£4)

Highlighting Powder in Pearlescent Sheen; available here and here (£3)

All of these products are cruelty free, which is amazing!

I'll start off by talking about the Translucent Loose Powder:

This powder is really great in the sense that it's actually a white powder, rather than just being a really pale peach colour like most "translucent" powders are. This is a really new product from MUA, it's only recently been released, and I was so excited as soon as I saw it, I bought it immediately.

However, I find this powder to be a little bit strange.

To start off, it has a very bizarre smell, I can't describe the scent, it's almost a plastic/rubber scent, very artificial, and not in the way makeup usually smells... It's a very strong smell, but luckily, it doesn't linger on the face, so if you endure those initial moments of repulsion, you'll be stellar.

Secondly, the texture of this powder is very weird. It doesn't feel soft and smooth like most loose powders, instead it forms a layer that you can clearly feel, almost like a dusty feeling but also not. It's really difficult to describe, but this texture seems to also make it really difficult to get onto a brush or sponge, it seems to repel brushes of any shape and size, so putting it onto your face is a bit of a fight to really force it onto the brush. I'm really not sure why this is, I've never experienced it with any of my other loose powders.

That being said, once this powder is on your face, it feels very lightweight, it is entirely translucent, and it does a really good job of locking your makeup in place and also minimizing the appearance of pores and imperfections. It gives your skin a really beautiful finish, it's not cakey at all, and it looks very natural. It's actually really good at its job, it's just a shame it's quite difficult to work with. MUA also has this same powder in a pressed form, so perhaps that would be easier to work with, but I always use loose powders so I find it really confusing that I've struggled with this one.

Over-all, I'll give this powder...

4/5 brushes!

The next product I'll be talking about is the Highlighting Powder:

This is a beautiful iridescent highlight that reflects between white, gold, blue and lilac! For only £3, the MUA highlighters are incredible, and this one is no different. I'm absolutely in love with it, the camera doesn't pick up how iridescent this highlighter actually is, which is a shame (it made the lighting turn blue, for some reason.) I would absolutely recommend this highlighter to anyone who loves anything and everything iridescent. It's stunning, the reflects are so pretty and unique, and it's such a lightweight formula, it's easy to apply, it blends like a dream... I honestly can't fault these highlighters at all!

Over-all, I'll give this highlighter...

5/5 brushes!

The final product I'll be talking about is the Burning Embers eyeshadow palette:

First of all, can you see those swatches? I honestly think the swatches speak for themselves. They're gorgeous. I was completely blown away whilst I was swatching this palette, the pigmentation is unbelievable, and for only £8 for 25 highly pigmented shades, that is amazing value for such great quality. I've wanted to get my hands on this palette for a really long time now, it came out just before Christmas if I remember right, but it was sold out constantly, so I knew it was going to be good, but I didn't realise just how beautiful the shades in this palette were going to be!

I'm in love with red-toned shadows at the moment, they're what I wear every single day, so I can't wait to use these on my eyes. MUA has really exceeded expectations with this palette, and I would absolutely recommend this!

The packaging is a little bit simple, but that's MUA's style, it's also how they keep the prices down without affecting the quality of the product, so I'm not bothered about the packaging. I love the arrangement of the colours in this palette, they compliment each-other so well. And the back of the palette shows the names of the shadows. That's right, for maybe the first time in MUA palette history, the shadows have names! I couldn't believe it! And they're nice names, too! I thought that just made the palette seem so much more professional.

I would give this palette...

5/5 brushes!

Thank you all for reading this, I hope it helps you!

I'll see you guys next time!

Girls With Attitude (GWA) - 'Enchanting' Eyeshadow Palette - REVIEW & Swatches!

 Offical stock image (credit to GWA)

Hi guys! Today I'll be talking about the new 'Enchanting' Palette from UK brand: G.W.A. (Girls With Attittude)! This palette contains 12 shades, and retails for £9.99, which I think is pretty good value for money.
The official description for this palette is:

GWA Enchanting Eyeshadow Palette features 12 ultra pigmented matte, metallic and shimmer shadows with rose, gold, cranberry and cocoa hues to craft warm, romantic looks. With a smooth and silky texture for seamless blending, you can mix and match the shades to create your own unique look, for daytime or night time.

 The emphasis for this palette is that it's highly pigmented and easily blend-able, so the performance of these shadows will be the main focus of this review.

But firstly, I want to speak a little bit about the packaging. In terms of appearance, this palette slightly resembles the Naked palettes by Urban Decay, for a fraction of the cost. The outer packaging is a soft pink metallic case, with elastic to secure the palette shut when not in use. It features a full-size mirror, which I thought was a nice touch, and it also contains a brush/applicator, although I would actually advise against using the brush end of this, due to it being very brittle and a little bit sharp.

Next, let's move on to the actual range of shades within the palette. In the description, it states "rose, gold, cranberry and cocoa hues", which I would agree with, to an extent. In my opinion, the stock image presents a lot of the shadows as being quite pink-toned, however, in reality, they're very pale and almost white. The first two shades are almost identical in colour, and the three matte 'cocoa' shades are also extremely similar. The 'cranberry' shade is a beautiful colour, it's extremely metallic and I'm in love with it, however, it appears a lot darker in the stock image. I do like the colours in this palette, but I feel like there could be more variation, especially as far as the brown tones are concerned.

Now, I'll be speaking about the performance of these shadows and providing you all with swatches!
I've swatches these shades in the order that they appear in the palette.

I'll agree with the 'ultra pigmented' statement made by GWA for some of the shadows, but definitely not all of them. For example, the lightest shade in the palette doesn't show up at all in swatches, I even layered it 4 times, and you still can't see it. The second matte cocoa shade isn't very pigmented and is also quite patchy. But the rest of the shades, particularly the metallic shades, I thought were very pigmented and smooth to apply.

In the swatches, I found that the cranberry colour appeared very red, almost like a metallic brick red, which I found strange, as it appears the same as in the palette when applied onto the eyes.

In terms of applying these on the eyes, I found that the best method to use in order to get the best pigmentation was to use fluffy eyeshadow brushes, crease brushes and blending brushes for the matte shades, and then use the sponge applicator that came with the palette to apply the metallic shades, as I found this really helped them to keep their shine.

This palette reminds me a lot of the BH Cosmetics 'Shaanxo' collaboration palette (which I own and love to pieces) in terms of the shades, however, the BH Cosmetics palette is also really affordable, and I'd have to recommend the formula of those over these shadows. I don't think this is a bad palette, and the shades are certainly workable, however, for me, £9.99 is a lot to spend on an okay eyeshadow palette when there are palettes from Makeup Revolution and MUA for around £4 that I am absolutely in love with.

I really wanted to like this palette, and I don't exactly hate it, but it definitely didn't grow on me in the way that I was hoping it would, and the pigmentation of the matte shades really disappointed me. I wouldn't really recommend this palette. It has some nice shades, but they're not very unique, and I think you can find very similar shades in palette for a lot less money with better formulation.  

Over-all, I would give this palette...

2/5 brushes!

Although there are some nice shades in this palette, there isn't enough variety and the matte shades aren't pigmented enough to warrant the £9.99 price tag. Sleek palettes cost the same amount of money, and in my opinion, they are far superior. I've given this palette a 2/5 rating because there are some redeeming features, such as the packaging and the metallic shades, however, I couldn't rate it any higher than that because the formula of these really lets this palette down.

Thank you all for reading! I'll see you guys next time!

Testing Drugstore Concealers! (On my dark circles!)

Hi guys! Today I'm going to be comparing 4 drugstore/budget concealers that are all under £5!
I'll be using my intense dark circles under my eyes as the test for the coverage and consistency of these 4 products! I can't wait to share the results with you!

The products I'll be comparing today are:

Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer in Fair 1

Freedom Pro Correct Palette

P.S. Concealer Palette (In stores only)

Collection Cover Up Stick

As I mentioned before, all of these products are under £5, which is a great price, but let's put them to the test and see if they're worth buying!

First... Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer in Fair 1!

This concealer has been raved about by everyone, from NikkiTutorials to your average Joe... But is it really worth the hype? This is one of the more expensive concealers I'll be featuring today, retailing for around £4.99, which is still a great price! People have specifically recommended using this concealer to cover and brighten the under-eye area, so that's why I picked it up... But, does it work?

I'll start off with a swatch of the concealer...

Top: With flash

Bottom: Without Flash

I'm impressed with the pigmentation of this concealer, just one swipe with the applicator gives amazing coverage! I'm excited to see how this works on the eye area...

Here's my eye with absolutely no makeup on it. The dark circles don't translate to photos that well, but trust me, they're there.

Here's me with the concealer applied before blending it in. I'll note here that the consistency of this concealer is very lightweight but the pigmentation is definitely there. I only applied the tiniest bit but the colour payoff it clearly visible! So far, so good...

I used a flat-top blending brush to buff the concealer in and blend it out, and I think this was a really great way of doing it, because the result is this really natural looking finish! As you can see, it's covered my under eye area really well, and I'm so impressed with how lightweight it feels!

I would definitely recommend this concealer for the under eye area, I've found that it doesn't crease at all, it's lightweight and natural looking, and it gives amazing coverage! I'm in love with it!

Brush rating:

Next up is... Freedom Pro Correct Palette!

The most expensive concealer option here is the Freedom Pro Correct Palette, which retails for exactly £5! In this palette, you get 6 colours, so the price is well worth it! I know that Freedom actually now makes a 'Pro Conceal' palette and they have several versions for different skin tones, but unfortunately this wasn't around when I picked up this palette, as I've had this for quite a while!

Technically, I already know how this palette performs, but I've never actually tried it specifically as a concealer, I've always used it under my foundation & concealer... So, in that respect, this is kinda a first impression!

Again, I'll do swatches of each colour in the palette first!

Top: Without flash

Bottom: With flash

As you can see, these are all pigmented and the palette even includes a cream highlighter, which I absolutely love because it's really intense! The critique that I have for this palette is that all of these are really oily, like the kind of oily texture you find in a kids makeup set with the 'lipgloss' or something. The texture of these really isn't great, but the positive of this is that they're really lightweight, so it won't weigh down your face using these!

Here is the lightest colour in the palette when it's completely blended out! I forgot to take pictures as I was applying this, but I used the same method as the Collection one, I spread it out into thin lines and then blended it out with a flat-top brush! I'm actually quite impressed with the brightening effect that the palette gives! I've never used the lightest shade before, as I tend to use the salmon colour under my foundation to colour correct my dark circles, but I think this shade could also be quite interesting to use under your concealer as a brightener!

I wouldn't recommend only using this as a concealer, though... Because of how oily it is, it starts to separate and crease after about 10 minutes.

Brush rating:

The next product is... P.S. Concealer Palette!

For those of you who don't know, P.S. is actually the makeup brand owned by Primark! And for those of you who don't know what Primark is, it's an Irish clothing retailer, but they also sell homeware, cosmetics, etc. And they're known for being very inexpensive! Their cosmetics, of course, are hit or miss, as is the case where clothing stores start their own makeup brand. But you can occasionally find something that works really well! (Also, for those of you who are worried, P.S. is actually cruelty free, they don't sell in China either, so you're all good!)

This palette contains 3 cream concealers and a setting powder with light-reflecting particles. It retails for £3.50, which is amazing value!

Let's swatch!

Top: Without flash

Bottom: With flash

What I love about this palette is that I was really expecting it to be oily and greasy like the Freedom palette, but it actually isn't! These shades are really pigmented and have a nice consistency, they're matte when you apply them, and the setting powder is actually really high-quality!

This palette probably wouldn't be amazing for really pale people, as the lightest shade in the palette is still quite salmon-y and isn't the palest concealer out there, but I find it just about works for my skin tone, and I use the two darker shades for cream contouring! I find they blend out really well when used for this, so the whole palette gets used!

Here is me applying the lightest shade to my under eye area, I used a concealer brush to apply the product!  As you can see, the product is matte and has a natural skin-like texture!

I blended the concealer out with my flat-top brush again, and I love the texture of this concealer! It looks so natural, I think this would be a really good concealer if you're not planning on wearing a lot of makeup and you just want to touch up the duller parts of your skin! I didn't set the concealer using the powder, because I wanted to show you what it looks like on its own, but I would recommend using the powder to set it, because it does crease after a while if it's left like this!

Brush rating:

Finally, the Collection Cover Up Stick!

This is the cheapest option, costing only £1 for the tube! (Mine is quite old, so I barely have any left!)

Back when I barely knew anything about concealing dark circles, I just used to chuck this on for school and barely blend it in, not set it, etc. Basically, it was a hot mess! But, that's not to say that this isn't a good product, I just didn't know how to use it back when I first picked it up.

Truthfully, I should probably throw this away, simply because I think it's a bit too old now, but I probably wouldn't use it now anyway, just because I do have better quality concealers at my disposal these days.

One thing I will note about this is the smell. This concealer has a really weird smell, and it isn't pleasant. Most cheap stick concealers have the same sort of smell going on, but I have one from MUA and one from Miss Sporty and neither of these have this weird smell, it's only the Collection one, and their Lasting Perfection Concealer doesn't have it either, so I'm not sure what it is... Either way, I don't like it, it really puts me off using the product.

But anyway, onto the swatches!

As you can see in the swatch, the concealer goes a bit chunky in places, and this makes it quite difficult to blend out, but it isn't oily and it does have a matte effect which is good for such a cheap product.

Again, I forgot to take pictures of me applying this concealer, but I used the exact same method as the P.S. one. I blended it out with my flat-top brush in the top image, and hated the way it looked, so I tried again and blended it out with my finger in the bottom image, which looks slightly better but it's still not really an acceptable texture for an under-eye concealer.

I just wasn't really wowed by this concealer, and I don't know why I used to love it so much (most likely because it was so cheap), but it's just too dry, it's almost impossible to blend, and when you do blend it out it leaves your skin somehow looking older... I'm not really sure how I could make this work, so I think it's time to let him go now.

Brush rating:

So, that concludes my comparison of these 4 budget concealers! I hope you guys found this useful!

Let me know if you want me to do more comparisons like this!

Thanks for reading!