Sunday 26 February 2012

Bargain alert! MUA Professional eyeshadow palettes in Heaven and Earth and Dusk til Dawn, plus 3 in 1 eXtreme Contour Liner and Lip Gloss

I love nothing more than a bargain, and having heard such great things about the MUA Make Up Academy cosmetics range I had to take a little trip to Superdrug to check it out for myself... 


And I am so impressed! Great quality products for such small prices; on average most items cost well under £5. I decided to purchase two MUA eyeshadow palettes, a steal at £3 each on offer (usually £4- still a bargain!) a 3 in 1 eXtreme Contour Liner for £1.50, and a lip gloss for £1. See pictures and swatches below! 


Professional eyeshadow palettes in 'Heaven and Earth' & 'Dusk til Dawn' 
Each palette comes with 12 shadows; the Heaven & Earth collection is a palette of neutral colours, perfect for everyday wear, whereas the Dusk til Dawn palette houses a selection of bright and dark colours, brilliant for creating intense evening looks.


Heaven and Earth 
I love neutral colours and my make-up bag is bulging with different golds and browns, so I was very excited to find the Heaven and Earth palette- 12 neutrals in one handy slim-line compact. My favourites so far are the pale shimmery pink-gold (1st top row), the darker gold (3rd top row), the browny-aubergine (4th bottom row- it doesn't come out too well on camera, but it's a lovely shade) and the darker purpley-brown (6th bottom row). 


Swatches of Heaven and Earth- colours match palette layout


I was pleasantly surprised at the strength of the pigmentation of the shadows, as I thought they might be lacking in colour, considering the bargain price tag. Alas, I was wrong, and each shadow shows up very well on the skin. 


Dusk til Dawn 
I picked up the Dusk til Dawn palette on a bit of a whim, as it occurred to me that I always rely on neutrals and rarely branch out into other colours. I'm hoping this gorgeous selection will help! I do like a smoky eye occasionally, so the greys and silvers appealed, and I'd like to try plum and purple. My favourites are the dark grey silver (2nd top row), the dark purple-pink & lighter shimmery pink (5th and 6th top row), the inky dark blue (5th bottom row) and the very dark charcoal-silver (6th bottom row).  


Dusk til Dawn- colours match palette layout 
Again I was so impressed with the pigmentation, especially of the turquoise and blue colours which I feared would be a bit wishy-washy on application, but which are in fact very intense! Which means a little goes a long way, making it even better value for money. 


I chose shade 5 'Auburn' for the 3 in 1 eXtreme Contour Liner, as I was looking for a brown liner to use alongside the Heaven and Earth palette. 




3 in 1 eXtreme Contour liner 
The USP for the liner is that it can be used in three ways: according to the packaging, you can use the widest part of the nib to create 'Dramatic' eyes; the mid part to create a good smoky 'Glamorous' eye; and the tip of the nib to create a precise 'Ultra Chic' eye. It comes with little illustrations to aid you in your application, which is handy.  


Angled liner nib 
The liner feels very soft on contact with the skin, which limits tugging and pulling, making it easy to apply. 'Auburn' is a mid-brown colour. 


Auburn 3 in 1 eXtreme Contour Liner 
Just what I was looking for, and at only £1.50 a pop! 


Lastly, an MUA lipgloss in shade 5, a sheer peachy-pink. 



Lip gloss shade 5 
As far as gloss goes, this is pretty fab- it's not too sticky, the colour comes out sheer and shimmery, and it lasts for a good hour or so before re-application is needed. For £1, there really isn't anything to complain about! 


Wand applicator 
The colour upon application is pretty much what you can see on the wand- a sheer peachy pink. It also has a nice sweet smell. 


So there you go; a make-up bag revamp costing a bargain grand total of £8.50. Although I am tempted to go back and grab more MUA goodies to add to my collection...


Have you tried any MUA cosmetics? I'd love to know what you think :) 


MUA Make Up Academy official on-line shop

MUA products can be found in Superdrug stores. 




14 comments :

  1. Thanks for the follow, I followed you back hun :) The lipgloss in shade 5 looks gorgeous!xxxxx

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    1. Thanks for following :) and the lipgloss only costs £1! I'm so proud of my bargain, haha xx

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  2. I think I might grab that Heaven and Earth set, cheers honey. When I was in sixth form I remember I constantly used this beige eyeshadow for everyday wear and kinda miss it. You are my hero!

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    1. It's such a nice selection of neutrals. Have you hunted down the Soap & Glory Daily Double I told you about? Lovely product xx

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  3. I love the heaven and earth palette, it looks amazing! xx

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    1. It's my new favourite! Especially because I have a *slight* obsession with neutrals :p xx

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  4. I've seen these palettes and thought they were a huge bargain! Seeing the swatches is tempting me even more - thanks! :) x

    www.lottys-luxuries.blogspot.com

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    1. Glad you liked! Can't believe how inexpensive they are! xx

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  5. I haven't been tempted by MUA until now I thought they would be cheap and nasty but now seeing your swatches I will definitely be adding some of their products to my collection x

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    1. I know what you mean, I had my doubts about the brand but thought I'd see what it was like, especially as they've built up such a good reputation :) xx

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  6. These are the exact two palettes i have bought for my very first gieaway! i LOVE the shades in Dusk till Dawn especially. They are just so pretty!

    www.zainabismbar.blogspot.com

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    1. Great minds think alike! :p such pretty colours, I'm going to have to start experimenting! xx

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  7. Hay sweetie

    I think your blog is great and I have nominated you for a versatile blogger award. check out my page to see the link.

    http://lovemakeupfashionlife.blogspot.com/2012/03/thank-you-so-muchlizabellafor-versatile.html

    take care xx

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    1. Thank you so much! :D That's awesome, I'm going to check it out right now :) xx

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