MUA Haul!

As you may know I'm a HUGE fan of Makeup Academy (MUA) and have been for a long time. Their Facebook page has become more and more popular recently meaning that there will be lots of deals and offers to be had on there. If your not familiar with it then here's the deal: 25k = 25% off everything & free shipping, 30k = 3 free products from the Love Hearts Collection, 35k = 35% off everything & free shipping, 40k = 40% off everything & 5 free nail quakes, 45k = special free gift with every order, 50k = 50% off everything & Free Shipping. Wowaahh that was a lot to write out! So in case you haven't already liked their page here's the link : http://www.facebook.com/MUAmakeupacademy?fref=ts . The deals with the line through have already happened and ended so you need to get in there quick before the next one starts. Ordering from their website had never been a problem for me before but when these orders are on their website cant seem to handle all the traffic so beware of that. The MUA team are however very heplfull and didnt start the offer until the website was back up again. So I took advantage of the 35k offer and bought a couple of bits, then went into boots to pick up a few things that had been out of stock.

MUA HAVE HIT 40,000 LIKES, PROMO CODE: mua40

Artiste Palette £6

I've been eyeing up this palette for a while now so when I saw the offer this was the first thing I put in my basket. I was a little bit worried at first that the colours may be a bit wild but they are surprisingly wearable, well all apart from Ice (third from left). As you can see from the swatches very nice pigmentation and I'm in love with the highlighter! It gives a beautiful sheen but I so wish you could buy it out of the palette as I've got a feeling I'm going to use it up far quicker than some of the eye shadows. My heart sank a bit when I noticed how similar the bronzer is to shade 3 which I also bought but it isn't really something to complain about. With all MUA eye shadows a primer is vital in making sure the colour lasts and is more vibrant, that's why I used one for the swatches.

 

 Intense Kisses Lipgloss - Kiss and Tell £3

I'm not usually a lip gloss girl as I find them a bit annoying but I was keen to try these out as the pigmentation looked to die for! I wanted a red but selected the wrong shade to put into my basket so I was a bit disappointed as I don't think I will wear this shade much. However this is a very Intense lip gloss with reasonably good staying power and it isn't sticky! Result! These are very small so perfect for handbags, and the packaging is very nice with a standard doe-foot applicator. (see below for swatch)

Lip Liner - Red Drama £1

Ive never actually used/owned a lip liner before so this is my first. I found the formula very creamy however it does smudge quiet easily. I love how with the MUA pencils they have a sharpener on the lid but my eyeliner one is quiet messy now. I defiantly noticed a difference with using a lip liner with my lipstick as it didn't run. I would defiantly buy more of these lip liners, VERY impressed! (see below for swatch)

 Bronzer - Shade 3 £1

Bronzer, why did pale me buy the darkest shade? Silly I know. I was very impressed by the quality of the packaging for this, it felt like I had spent a bit more money on it which is nice however the sticker on the back was very sloppy but who cares! I like the MUA imprint too, just thought it was cute:)

 Mega Volume Mascara - Black £3

Woop Woop new mascara, I never need a new mascara I always seem to not finish them and they dry up sadly but i'm proud that I have finished up my collection 2000 mascara, along with a few other ones needing to be binned. I'm all for volumising mascaras so when MUA brought this one out I immediately wanted to know more. After hearing mixed views on their older mascaras I was curious to see if this would be any good. It is good it does the job, not as well as my all time fav Max Factor False Lash Effect or as my Skyscraper but If you were on a budget this is a nice mascara. I really like the plastic wand too

 Heaven and Earth  Palette £4

  After using my Undressed Palette non stop since I bought it this palette had a lot to live up too! sadly I am a little mixed on this palette. I just dont think it has the pigmentation or colour choice of the Undressed palette which is a shame as I was looking forward to this very much. It would have been nice to mix it up with a few Matte shadows maybe? If I hadnt have tried any other MUA palettes I would have been very impressed with this just for the same price you can get so much more from the Undressed.

Also has anyone else noticed how like everything is 'new' even though its been out for a year? see the sticker?

Now a few bits I picked up in store:

Lip Stick - Shades 1 & 13 £1 Each

I have always like the MUA lip sticks not really from the lasting power or finish but of a way of seeing which shade suit me before buying a more expensive one. I hate buying a lipstick just to find that even though it looks beautiful swatched it just doesn't suit you. I've been searching for the perfect 'red' lip for a while now as I think its a makeup bag must have. I looked at getting a Mac one but didn't want to risk it not suiting me so I picked up these two. Shade 1 always looks brown to me so I've never been too interested but when swatched it looks more of a red vampy colour. Then I picked up shade 13 which I had attempted to order off the MUA website but they were out of stock.

One thing I noticed when comparing these to my other MUA lipsticks I noticed how they have grown. Literally they have gotten longer, about the size of the coloured end bit longer, which seems strange to me as the amount of lipstick you get is the same and so is the price so why make them longer?

Here are the swatches off all lip products purchased: Lip Liner along top, Lipgloss in middle, then the lipstick at the bottoms (left shade 1, then right 13)

 I noticed how similar Shade 1 is to Rimmel London Kate Moss Matte Lipstick in 107, so I tweeted about it and swatched them together, do you agree they are dupes? MUA Left, Rimmel Right. Obviously the finishes are different...

Mosaic Blush - English Rose £2.50

I had been wanting this for a while and just picked it up randomly after realising that all cosmetics were on 3 for 2 and I needed another product! I do really like the sheen it gives off but not very pink, more a dusty colour.

Nail Polish - Shade 14 £1

I have never noticed this colour before so when I saw it I immediatly thought CHRISTMAS so of cause I had to buy it...

This is AMAZING, seriously a 1 coat polish for £1 no way? It looks so beautiful and the drying time isnt awful however I wouldn't call it fast drying.

Professionals Eye Primer £2.50

Just a back up to my trusty eye primer, wouldn't ever stray from this gem, worth the £2.50 and I would pay twice the price! If you haven't tried it then what are you doing with your self its AMAZINGG! If you have oily eye lids it will definatly fix your eye shadow all day. Also my last one has lasted me since April and I use it every day

So thats it, hope you enjoyed my rather large MUA haul! There should be a video up soon too but I wanted to blog it aswell:)

Tasha, xx

NOTD - Galaxy Madness!

 So I've been seeing this kind of style of nails going around for a while now and I don't really know what to call it so its being named Galaxy Madness!

The Yin & Yan Nail I have done a tutorial on my YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aeclWYUtdQc&feature=plcp

The Nails Inc Polish in Basil Street (shown in picture) was used as a base for my middle finger then just a black nail art pen for the design. I like the eye shape in the middle as it has a mystical feel. The actually galaxy nails I used so many different colour to make it look this way but i'm still not 100% happy with it so I added a holographic glitter (from H&M) to it which I think adds something extra.

Thanks for reading as always!

Tasha xx

Long time no see?

So then, I know its been quiet a long time since I last posted which is quiet shameful and I was really starting to get into blogging. Basically when I went back to school they decided to give us a piece of homework per lesson per week which sounds strange but basically I had no time at all free! Or if I had like 30 minuets spare I would try to make a video as my YouTube is my main priority.

I can now promise you that I will be uploading more posts this week as I finally have some free time:)

Thanks for reading!

Tasha xx

MUA Undressed Palette Review!

Ever since I heard that MUA was releasing a new palette I've been so excited to get it. When I saw how similar it was to the Naked palette (which has been on my wishlist for quiet some time) I just had to have it. I already have the Immaculate palette which is great quality for just £8, so I knew the eye shadows would be pigmented. It was on offer for £3 (normally £4) which was just a plus.

 The packaging is a look nicer than the Immaculate palette as there are no gaps around the shadows which makes it look more expensive. The simple opening closing clasp isn't very secure as mine has popped open a few times but its not that much of a problem. I like the design of having a little window, It would make it easier to tell which palette is which if you had a few. The back of the palette has a mini master-class, which is a cute idea. The shadow numbers aren't the same as the individual eye shadows which is a shame but is handy if you use it in a tutorial.

I love the shades for the everyday look, you can create so many different looks with this. I always start with the MUA Pro Eye Primer which really makes a difference and boosts the colour. But without they are still great pigmentation for a £4 palette. I have very oily eyelids so they do crease without a primer. Shade 3 & 5 are both Matte and look amazing in the crease. In the picture of the swatches I used my finger to apply but they apply well with brush's too. 

Over all I'm in love with this palette its such an amazing bargain and even though I haven't tried the Naked Palette I think it would be a good dupe. I think its worth every penny and to be honest I would have payed twice the price for it!

DUPES ~ OPI Manicurist of Serville & 17 Ruby Gem

As you may know I love finding 'drugstore' Dupes for High end Polish's. OPI is my FAVORITE polish brand ever so as it breaks my heart to find drugstore dupes I want to share them with you. Manicurest of Seville is actually my Mum's polish but she had it on her toes the other day and It reminded me of 17's Ruby Gem. Ruby Gem is a polish found only In Boots&Boots.com but you may find this little gem on eBay. It retails at just £2.99 compared to OPI's prices of around £12 in the UK this is an amazing deal.

On first coat they both apply well with good coverage, the brushes are very similar too. Drying time is also similar but OPI drys first.

OPI Left, 17 Right

Second coats are again almost identical but OPI is a tiny bit deeper, however it would not be noticeable unless you looked really hard!

OPI Left, 17 Right

If I had to re-purchase one I would choose Ruby Gem as the Price is much more affordable and the quality is just as good.

DUPES ~ OPI Did It on 'em & Collection 2000 Look at me

The Nikki Minaj Collection was one at first I thought would be pretty hard to Dupe but I have been pleasantly surprised finding dupes for two of the colours. The First I have done a whole video on which was Fly duped by Collection 2000 Electric Dreams and now I have found a second dupe for this collection also by Collection 2000. Did it on 'em is a hard shade to describe as its sort of between a green and yellow which is why I thought It would be hard to Dupe. Collection 2000 Look at me has the same 'problem', for just £1.79. 

In the Bottle they both look the same colour. My OPI mini has just 3.75ml on the other hand Look at me has 8ml.

First Coat, both exactly the same coverage. Because Look at me is a fast dry polish it has the advantage  as it obviously drys just a bit faster that the OPI. You could get away with either just on one coat too

OPI Left, Collection 2000 Right

After a second coat is applied it is still hard to tell between the two as the coverage is just identical The brush on Did It on 'em as its a mini is very pathetic but if it was a full sized the brush would be just as good as the wide brush of Look at me.

OPI Left, Collection 2000 Right

If I had to re-purchase one of these it would defiantly be Collection 2000 Look at me, even though I'm absolutely in love with OPI the price difference (£1.79 to £12 for full size) is just too much for a polish which is so easy to dupe.

Link to my Video for the Dupe of Fly - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EHONFlCScM