Stop shaming...

*TRIGGER WARNING* I'm going to touch on the subject of rape culture at some point in this post so just a little heads up incase anyone wants to stop reading.

So it's a bit of a serious one today. And it's not all about make-up, although make-up is a part of it. It's something that's been bothering me for a while and after seeing some more of these "hilarious" or "inspirational" memes, I've felt the need to have a wee rant.

My Facebook seems to be plagued with memes regarding women wearing too much make up, men don't like you if you're too fat, men only finding women attractive who are curvy, men don't women who sleep around etc..

So much about this pisses me right off.

I'm going to open this up, not just targeted at men, but the human race in general.

I have full autonomy. My body is my choice, and so is what the hell I want to do with it! If you want to sit and judge me because of how I look, dress or act, then you can turn your ass around and make your way out of my life.

I don't choose my clothing or make-up to please any man or woman. If a man, woman or anyone in  between happens to find me attractive then that's great but none of my choices are made with the sole intention of pleasing a sexual partner or a potential sexual partner.

My choice to wear make-up is for a few reasons, none of which I should justify to anyone but I'm going to go ahead and do it anyway. Make-up is a creative outlet for me, it's a point of self-expression and it gives me a bit more confidence. Not the confidence that comes with looking good for the benefit of other people but using my skills to make something that I feel proud of. Whether that means looking like I've been rubbing my face in a paint box or not, at least I'm happy with the finished product. I won't stop wearing make-up because people find "cake face" unattractive. I love make-up, I can't wear enough of the stuff. It's awesome.

My body is slightly on the chubby side. I'm not going to lose weight just so someone else will want to give me one, if I choose to lose weight, it'll be to look in the mirror and find myself more attractive and give me the confidence I need to walk out the door and feel like a queen.

Now, putting my feelings about myself aside, everyone in the world has beauty and not everyone can see that individual beauty. Whether they choose to wear make-up or not, my hope in the world that the people in question feel happy in their skin. Even if that means using a little bit of make-up here and there or plastering their face full of the stuff, what's important is that they feel happy. Would it be better if I look in the mirror and feel like crap but be grateful that someone might find me more attractive because I'm not covered in make-up? Fuck no it wouldn't. That's not how life is supposed to be. What's the point in living an unhappy life for someone else's benefit?

As for the weight thing, nowadays, I see more body shaming geared towards slimmer women rather than curvier women. In support of the typical 'poking fun at fat people' mindset. Well, let me tell you something, if you feel the need to empower yourself by bringing another woman down, then you're just as bad as the people out there taking the piss out of people like you. Body shaming is not cool in any way, shape or form. I've been attracted to women who are very slim, I have been attracted to women who are very curvy. There is no "perfect" body shape. If you're going to be concerned about anyone's weight, it shouldn't be about how they look, it should be about their health and even at that, it's not your business to raise the issue.

In an ideal world, I'd make myself a few dress sizes smaller and my boobs a few cup sizes smaller but that's my business, that's about how I feel when I look in the mirror. If someone only finds me attractive based on how my face and body looks, well, that's a shallow bastard that I really don't want in my life to begin with.

On to the "slutty" clothing and sleeping around section of my rant. I can wear whatever the hell I want without earning your judgement. If you don't think I look good, then tough titties. I do. If I want to have my cleavage busting out of my top or wearing a skirt which comes just below my arse cheeks because I'm embracing my curves then that's my business, not yours or anyone elses. My clothes are not for you! They are for me. My clothes are not a representation of my virtue, neither are they worn so that you will find me attractive. Whether I want to wear a boob tube or a turtle neck, I'll be wearing it because I feel comfortable and attractive in it. Rape culture & victim blaming has a tendency to become more obvious an issue when it comes to clothing. If a woman is provocatively dressed then they're "asking for it" or should expect some sort of sexual advance. Yeah, you might end up with someone chatting you up but wearing items of clothing doesn't take away your autonomy and your ability to give consent. If you're sitting saying that a woman deserves to be raped or that it's her own fault simply because she's wearing certain clothing, then you're as bad as the rapist involved in the situation. You are sympathising with a rapist. That is the fact of the matter. I AM NOT DRESSING FOR ANOTHER HUMAN BEING! No matter what their intentions.

The most frustrating one of all is the sleeping around part. Humans are sexual beings. They want to have sex for pleasure, they want to have sex to procreate. So why is it that men are allowed to sow their seed as they please but women are slut shamed if they enjoy sex and want to have it? I've never understood this frame of mind. If a woman wants to have sex with one man or a hundred men (or of any gender), she has the ultimate right to do so because it's her body and if she wants to go out and get the same pleasure that a man would without being judged for it, then she bloody well should do it. As long as both parties are being safe, why is there an issue here? Again, the rape culture issue comes up in that people have the opinion that if you sleep around a lot then you're fair game. Why can't you see what is wrong with that sentence? If you're one of those people who says these things, you might want to take a seat and have a real think about the sort of person you are and if you really think that you can condone assault of any sort based on a woman's (or man's) appearance or actions. CONSENT IS THE ISSUE HERE, NOT HOW A PERSON LOOKS/APPEARS!

And what the fuck happened to feminism? A lot of these memes are geared towards the male opinion but most of the time, it's women I see sharing them! Why are we bringing other women down? Aren't we all fighting for the same thing? To wear what we want, be equals, look how we want, act how we want? Yet we have women ripping other women to shreds simply to make themselves feel better. Well, I'm sorry but that's not how life works. We're all in this together, we're all beautiful and we should all accept that we have the rights to our own bodies and what we choose to adorn them with or what we choose to do with them.


All human beings are beautiful. Yes, it might be that not everyone finds a certain person attractive, we all have our own tastes, but as long as they see the beauty in themselves than that's what's important here. Attraction is subjective. We like what we like and that's fair enough. But what isn't fair is using our preferences to make other people feel like shit.

I have no idea what the purpose is behind this rant except maybe to get it off my chest and let people sharing these memes see another perspective.

Stop shaming other people guys. Whether it's body shaming, slut shaming or whatever, I don't care, just stop!

Peace and love to everyone. Go look in the mirror and see the beauty in yourself. Embrace that beauty. Do not let anyone else tell you that you have to look different for anyone else's benefit.

x M x

Jeffree Star and Budget Foundations!

Now I've recovered from my complete meltdown over my parcel coming, I feel that I might be composed enough, MIGHT be, to post this....

MY MOTHERFUCKING JEFFREE STAR'S CAME! Scorpio and Gemini were released last weekend on Jeffree's site but the site I order from in the UK didn't receive them in until during the week. I sat refreshing the page for hours and finally they went live. Unfortunately, Gemini wasn't up there so I ordered Scorpio and Dominatrix. They are everything!!

One thing I will say is these photos do not do the shades justice at all. They are much darker in real  life in the natural light. The Dominatrix shade is such a rich chocolate brown and Scorpio, I cannot even begin to describe the colour of it. It's grey but it's purple and it really is so much darker than it looks in the severe light of my bathroom where I took the photo.

I don't have confirmation but I THINK the formulation might have changed slightly because the new shade seems to be even creamier and silky than before. I'm totally beside myself over them. I can't even. I can't. My Zoeve En Taupe palette will be here tomorrow and I can't wait to try it along with the Scorpio. I think they're going to compliment each other really well.

I'm also running a test of budget (ie cheap lol) foundations to see if they really compare at all to mid-range foundations. I always use No7's Beautifully Matte foundation in the shade Calico (£14.50). It's my holy grail. I really love a full coverage foundation and I spend a lot of my time touching my face (don't ask me why, I'm a total freak) so I like something that will stay put through all my constant fingering (let's not lower the tone pmsl!).

This afternoon I bought a selection of low cost foundations, all supposed full coverage to test out and see if they were worth a look.

The first I've tried out is Primark's stick foundation. Now, I used to always use Max Factor's Pan Stick (I paid £6.99 for it in Boots) but stopped when I found out that they weren't cruelty free. The Primark one is £2.00 and doesn't come in very many shades from what I saw. My local Primark isn't particularly big so the larger stores might carry more variety when it comes to shades. The photos above where I'm showing the lipstick shades is where I'm wearing the Primark foundation.

There's a fair amount of product for the price first of all, there's a faint scent to it but it's nothing over powering or unpleasant. I bought the ivory shade which was the palest one I could see there. I'm quite yellow toned and it fit me perfectly. The colour match was perfect which is a rarity as I seem to find myself in between shades a lot of the time and either having to mix shades together or adjust with powder or bronzer/blush so was pleasantly surprised.

I primed my face with Nivea Post Shave balm and I applied it as I usually do with stick foundation and just run it over my face a few times and blended it in. I used one of the cheapy oval brushes from eBay and it was so rich and creamy, it just slid right over my skin and blended right in. I used my usual setting powder (MUA Matte Perfect Loose Powder) along with a brush to set it and went over the apples of my cheeks with blush. At first glance, it was perfect. I was really taken aback by how flawless it was. The coverage is amazing and like I said previously, it blends so unbelievably well considering the price. HOWEVER an hour later, it looks a bit cakey around my nose. I'm used to that with stick foundation as the Pan Stik did the same so it might just be my skin type that's the problem. My nose gets a bit oily throughout the day and I just went over it with the brush and it evened itself out again. My only let down is, it seems to take a hell of a lot of powder to set it as it's so creamy. I swiped my finger across my lip when taking off the Scorpio to switch shades and managed to wipe off some of the foundation above my lip. It was still soft to the point it would rub off by hand. I'm going to try it again with different setting powder and squirt some setting spray on there too to see if it makes a difference.

Overall, I'm really impressed. Going to give it a 4.5/5, only losing the half mark over the cakeiness around the nose but it might drop depending on wear time so watch this space.

It's something I would contemplate using again if I can find a way to work with the texture of it once set It'll be perfect for drag looks as I'm not typically in drag make-up for an extended period of time out of the house so cheap and cheerful for that. I am really surprised that it was so good if I'm being completely honest. I'm not a make-up snob by any means but I highly doubted that such a cheap foundation from a store that predominantly sells clothing as opposed to toiletries and cosmetics. I'm going to see how long it holds for and then update (with a photo) of how it held up over the hours. It'll be about 5 hours I'll have been wearing it when I wash off so should give a good indication of staying power.

Tomorrow I'm going to be testing out Essence's 16 hour foundation and reviewing the Zoeva En Taupe palette! Now I'm off to stare at myself in the mirror while alternating between lipsticks until I get sick of my reflection. As if that'll ever happen lol!

x M x

Day 2... where did you learn how to do make-up? Typical make-up look...

Okay, so technically I missed out on two days. In my defense though, I had a show to go to on Friday and was too tired for make-up yesterday as I didn't get home until 3am the night before! A rare occurence for me to be happy to skip doing my face!

Admittedly, I'm pretty knackered today. We've got a poorly 6 year old who has been sick all night and then again this morning but I had to do the school run anyway with the 4 year old so here we are.

Day 2's question is "Where did you learn how to do make-up?"

Growing up, my Mum always wore make-up. No matter where she was going, she had her warpaint on before leaving the house. I remember watching her as a kid in the mirror and seeing what she was doing. It was fascinating for me seeing anyone's transformation when it came to make-up and she always stuck to the same look the whole time since as far back as I remember. It was always a fairly natural look with the eye make-up and either brown toned lipstick or gloss. Recently, I've managed to lure her out of her comfort zone and she's worn different lip colour but that's pretty much as far as I can push her by the looks of things.

When I started wearing make-up to school as a teen, I pretty much followed the same routine, although back then, my eyeliner game was pretty rough so I always skipped it. Different coloured lipsticks creeped in over time and eventually eye shadow. The best piece of advice I ever received from her was probably to blend into my neck and stop going overboard with the bronzer. Looking back at photos of me as a teen, I feel mortified (although was hideously offended at the time) seeing the obvious tide marks and the bright orange cheeks. I was a hot mess.

Over time, I managed to improve my skills thankfully. When I discovered YouTube tutorials as an adult, I was already competent at doing my make-up but it was great to see different styles and how to execute them. Particularly with eye make-up as that's my "thing".

I have to thank her for the inspiration growing up, to be honest. Without that introduction to make-up, who knows if I'd have as much interest in it as an adult? My guess is probably yes but who knows. I could still be sitting here an adult looking like I've been tangoed with lines all around my chin. Thank you mother!!

So for the photo challenge, day 2 is "typical make-up look". Well, I don't really have a typical make-up look as I like to try something new every day but I do have a failsafe for any time I'm in a rush and I need to throw on something reliable. So here goes. Basically foundation routine is all the same but instead of some bright eye make-up, it's a natural lid with eyeliner. No matter what I have on my face, I cannot skip the eyeliner!! Coupled with a red lip, it's something that'll fit any occasion and is easy enough just to whack on.

I've used the Urban Decay Vice4 palette. 'Framed' all over the lid, a small amount of 'Bitter' in the crease, a small amount of 'Deadbeat' smudged under the eyes and 'Bones' for the highlight. At the moment eyeliner-wise, I'm using B is for Beautiful gel eyeliner. It seemed awesome at first but I'm starting to wonder if I'd ever buy it again. It seems to dry up pretty quickly even though the lid is screwed tightly shut after every time I use it. Never a good thing. And for the red lip, I either reach for Jeffree Star's Mistletoe or LA Splash's Lip Couture in Poison Apple. Both are liquid matte lipsticks and don't have a tendency to rub off or bleed if I can't find my lipliner (which always seems to disappear). Links below for all products used.

This takes roughly 15-20 minuted depending on what eyeliner I use. This one is particularly hard to work with as it's drying up faster than it should (!) so it takes a bit of fiddling about with to get it just right.

It's something that suits everyday wear but can also work if going out in the evening so it's pretty versatile so a good failsafe!



Nivea for Men Post Shave Balm £5.29
B Flawless Complete Coverage Foundation £5.49 (usually £9.99) I use the colour Rose Ivory which is currently not in stock on the website but can be found instore.
MUA Matte Perfect Loose Powder £3
NYX Powder Blush (Silky Rose) £5.98
MUA Undress Your Skin Highlighting Powder £3.00 (Opalescent Amber)
Urban Decay Vice4 Palette £43
B is for Beautiful B. Precise Gel Eyeliner (currently £3.49)
Freedom Pro Brow Pomade (Ebony Brown) £5

The only thing I can't include on the list is the Jeffree Star liquid lipstick in Mistletoe. Unfortunately, it was part of the limited edition collection that was released around Christmas time. If you search about online, there might be some online stores that still have some stock but it was pretty popular, so there might be a chance that's it's unavailable. They do a similar colour called Unicorn Blood which is similar colourwise but the Mistletoe is more glittery. Alas, it's out of stock on the Cocktail Cosmetics site which is usually where I get my JS lipsticks from but they're always replenishing their stock so keep an eye out. Link to site below.

Cocktail Cosmetics

x M x

Big steps, Freedom London eyebrow pomade review and MUA Liquid Lipstick review...

Well hello, it's been a while...!

A little life update and review seems right about now seeing as how it's been a little too long since I posted last. From then until now I took a massive step in my life. I applied for college. It's pretty scary if I'm being totally honest. My anxiety has held me back for such a long time that now the kids are both going to be at school, I really need to push myself into it before I waste my whole life procrastinating and talking myself out of things that are going to make me happy.

The application was sent a few weeks ago so I probably still have a while to wait before they get to the interview process but I'm making an effort to try and stay positive. Looking at it from the perspective of "Hey, if I do this right now, in 3 years time I could be working as a qualified MUA." has kept me from running away. Keep your eye on the prize and all that jazz.

Onto the review. Took a little trip to Superdrug at the weekend to see what I could find and stumbled across Freedom London's eyebrow pomade (£5). My eyebrows are the bane of my existence, I've tried powders, gels and pencils but they never seem to look how I want them. Due to over plucking and waxing as a teen, my eyebrows don't really have much shape to them and they've become really difficult to grow in so finding the right product to suit me has been a bit of a challenge.

I looked into pomade a while back when I was contemplating buying the AHB Dipbrow pomade but I figured I didn't want to overspend when there was a chance that it might not work for me so coming across the cheaper version felt like fate. When researching the pomade before, it was recommended that you use a stiffer angled brush to apply it because of the texture but I decided to go for a softer one as I've had no success with a stiff one (oo-er lol) in the past. I picked up a cheap smokey eye Superdrug own-brand brush (£2.99) to try it out.

I have quite dark hair and usually go for a darker brow so I picked up the ebony shade. Use a tester in store if possible because when you open the pots, it looks deceptively lighter than it does when you actually dip your brush in. The pomade is nice and smooth and picks up onto the brush nicely, only use a dab at first. I lined underneath and above the brow and filled in the middle just with the angled end of the brush, I didn't need a spoolie or anything to even it out or brush over the brows but if you have quite unruly thick eyebrows, you might need to give them a brush through before and after applying. It's very pigmented so don't put too much on the brush when first applying because it'll look far darker than what you're trying to achieve. It was really easy to work with as it was so smooth and went on like a dream. I think I've finally found my perfect eyebrow product and I highly recommend it to anyone. The pots are 2.5g but for the amount you need to do both eyebrows, it's definitely going to last a long while. It comes in 11 shades (I think) so whether you're really light or really dark, you'll find something to suit your colour. And it's a definite bargain at £5.

While I was browsing, I picked up an MUA Luxe metallic liquid lipstick (£3 in Superdrug, £4 on MUA Store) in the shade Lustre. Recently, I've gone off a satin or glossy lip so it was the first time I hadn't picked up anything matte. But the shimmer was really eye catching so I thought it was worth a try. It comes with a doe foot applicator so easy to apply (for me anyway, I hate applying liquid lipstick with a brush). They're highly pigmented and very shimmery and you can build up the colour from sheer to more opaque. It smells lovely which was the first thing I noticed when I opened the tube, which I know isn't really that important but I've had some rather unpleasant smelling lipsticks in the past which I find a bit offputting. With regards to wear and tear, as it's non-matte and more of a gloss than a lipstick, it does come off a little while eating or drinking but it's not *that* bad. I timed the length of time between re-application (not including food or drink) and it lasted for a good 3 hours before I felt the need to apply it again and even at that it didn't fully come off. It's nice and smooth and doesn't dry your lips out at all and the colour didn't bleed out so I didn't feel the need to use a lipliner with it. Definitely worth the £3 and I'll be investing in some of the other shades. I'm not 100% sure how many shades there are in total but there are currently 9 live on the Superdrug site but only 4 on the MUA Store.

All in all, I'm going to give the Freedom eyebrow pomade a 5/5 and the MUA Luxe Metallic liquid lipsticks a 4/5, only missing out on the 5 because of the fact I felt it was more of a gloss than a liquid lipstick.

(Links for the eyebrow pomade, liquid lipstick and brush are right down the very bottom.)

Also, I just had to include this photo as my youngest decided he wanted to join in when I was getting ready and take a few photos <3

Hopefully, next time I can come back with some good news about college! <3

Much love!

- x M x

Products used:

Maybelline Dream Satin foundation (using up the last of it as I've stopped buying Maybelline sadly).
MUA Loose Powder in Translucent
NYX Powder Blush in Silky Rose
MUA Highlighter in Amber
Urban Decay eyeshadow primer
Urban Decay Vice 4 palette
Maybelline satin liquid liner (again using up the last of it)
Rimmel Supercurler mascara
Freedom London eyebrow pomade in Ebony
MUA Luxe Liquid Lipstick in Lustre

MUA Metallic Liquid Lipstick - Lustre
Freedom Pro Brow Pomade - Ebony
Superdrug Smokey Eye Brush

MUA Mini Haul/YouTube thoughts/ideas

I'll start with the YouTube thing. I was recently thinking about having my YouTube channel running along with the actual blog. The main reason being, it's easier to follow a tutorial if you're actually watching someone do it instead of reading off a page. So I was thinking maybe keep reviews and stuff on here and just have tutorials on YouTube. I might end up changing the format and just switching everything over to YouTube but I can only film if there's nobody else home or everyone is in bed so it's not always going to be convenient. Also, I'm not sure if there would be many viewers Any suggestions welcome.

So onto the make-up. I got an MUA delivery 3 weeks ago. I opened it after a rather traumatic hair experience so there was a lot of distraction that it totally slipped my mind to post on the day. Or that week to be honest. The hair trauma is ongoing, don't get me wrong, but I feel like I can go on lol. Live to see another day and all that jazz. Anyway, I wasn't looking for anything in particular so I just gathered a few bits and pieces together. I ended up with 3 lipsticks, 2 liquid eyeliners, 2 pencil eyeliners and a pressed powder highlighter. All for £10 from Superdrug. Gotta love MUA for value.

I have to say, for anyone who hasn't used MUA before, that in this case the cost doesn't reflect the quality of the product. I love MUA Cosmetics, mainly because it's not a case of low cost, poor quality cosmetics. The products are great quality as well as great value. So here it is:

Please excuse my horrendous photographs, I had limited places available at that given moment and was in a rush.

I got the liquid eyeliner in shades 2 and 3. The liners are really bright and colourful but my only issue is with just how wet they are. It might just be because of the sheer amount of eyeliner that I actually were but I could feel it running as I applied it. The brush is superfine as well which is great for getting up close to the lash line but not so good if you want to go for thick wings at the side. I find the brush is a bit too long and thin to be able to do my wing properly. It stays on all day but washes off really easily when it's time to come off.

Next up was the pencil eyeliners in 'Royal Blue' and 'Turquoise'. What I love about the MUA eyeliner pencils is that they're soft enough that they apply really easily across the lid but they're not that soft that they start to crumble as you use them. Now, I saw something that I've never seen before. I'm not sure if other brands do it but there's a SHARPENER IN THE LID ZOMFGICANTBELIEVEIT!!! Aherm... sorry about that but I totally freaked out when I noticed. Ages spent hunting for sharpeners and giving up because I couldn't find one. NEVER AGAIN!! Like the liquid liners, the colours are so bright and don't rub off too easily.

Now for the lipsticks. MUA lipsticks are £1. Yes, £1. And they're bloody fantastic. There's so many different shades. Matte and shimmery. I got  shades 1, 2 and 15. They're so creamy and shimmery and they look great on. The only thing I have an issue with, and I'm probably being hideously picky, is the packaging. The little coloured bits at the end showing the colour seem to always pop off. I know it's not a an actual issue with the product itself but just be wary that you might need to scramble around on the floor looking for one so be careful when using if you want your packaging in the one piece.

Now, the last, but by no means least is the Undress Your Skin Highlighting Powder in 'Opalescent Amber'. I have never used any sort of highlighter. Cream, powder or otherwise. I just didn't see the point. But I took a chance to test it out. It's only £3 and there's loads of it! Rookie mistake, the first time I tried using it, I put far too much on and ended up looking ridiculous. Being slightly more careful the second time around I just swept a small amount under my eyes, just across the top of my cheekbones. It's such a slight change but the highlight really sets my make up off. There's just enough shimmer there but not too much that I look like I'm at a 90s school disco (Yes it's a good look but there's a time and a place, know what I mean?). I wish you could see from the photograph just how lovely and shimmery it is. I'll get some photos of it on my actual face with some half decent lighting.

As usual MUA is a win. Yay! Links to all the products on Superdrug are below and also, the link to the MUA website.

MUA Liquid Eyeliner - 3/5 simply because of how runny it is (although that's personal preference) and the brush,

MUA Intense Colour Eyeliner Pencil - 5/5

MUA Lipstick - 4.5/5 - Losing a half point as I have to reapply quite often. Although this could be because I eat and talk so much!!

MUA Highlighter - 5/5

x M x

MUA Store - Make Up Academy

Superdrug - MUA Liquid Eyeliner

Superdrug - MUA Undressed Highlighting Powder

Superdrug - MUA £1 Lipsticks

Superdrug - MUA Intense Colour Eyeliner Pencils

Mini MUA haul/product review

I've been wanting to get my mitts on one of the new MUA palettes. They're always a winner with me, great value, highly pigmented eyeshadows with a variety of shimmery and matte in each pallete. The palettes range from £4-£8 and I usually buy mine from Superdrug.

Normally I don't have a tendency to buy make-up online so w hen I saw the new 5th Birthday palette, I decided to make my way out to Superdrug. Unfortunately the store closest to me has been closed down so I was gutted to find out I couldn't get one. Luckily, yesterday I was out shopping with friends and happened upon a Superdrug store in Glasgow. Hot footed it to the MUA stand and was absolutely thrilled to see that if you spent £8 on MUA, you got the palette for free (!) and it just so happened that I had run out of primer that morning. So I found a way to make up the £8 (not that it took much persuasion to be fair).

I got this lot for £12. The palette was free since I spent over £8. The concealers were £2 each. Primer was £5. Lip colour was £3. I'll put the link for all the products at the bottom.

The eyeshadows are beautiful in the flesh. There are 6 shimmery colours and 6 matte. Even bought at full price they're fantastic value for money. They're highly pigmented and not chalky like cheaper eyeshadows can be.

The swatches here really don't do them justice. They're gorgeous.

The Undress Your Skin primer was pretty good to. It's not shimmery like the Rimmel Wow primer that I had before, it just glides on clear and does the job well.

I have a palette of concealers I got on eBay. The purple and green were almost done and I didn't want to buy another palette for just two colours so I was chuffed to find I could buy them individually from MUA. Again, they do the job. The purple is much better than the one from the palette. They're quite small though and I use quite a lot of the purple concealer every day but for £2, you can't really complain, can you?

The Power Pout lip colour is very similar to the Bourjois Colour Boost lip crayons that I got for £8 in Boots. They're just as bright and the same creamy texture. I'll definitely be buying more considering it's £5 cheaper than I was planning on paying in Boots for the Bourjois (although I swear by the Red Island Colour Boost so I can't go back on that one!).

So I tried out the full lot together this morning. I used the 'reveal' as a highlight on my brow bone and as a base over the NYX eyeshadow primer. I then used 'taffy' all over my lower lid and 'peach' in the crease. I finished with a little 'obsessed' just in the outer corners of my eyes. Then finished it off with Rimmel Scandaleyes eyeliner and some of the Power Pout lip crayon in Irreplacable.

All in all, it was a roaring success and I highly recommend pretty much anything from the MUA collection!

Primer - 5/5
Lip colour - 5/5
Eyeshadow palette - 5/5
Concealer - 4/5

You can find all the MUA products either on the MUA site or in Superdrug (where you'll get the free palette with an £8 purchase). Both links are below.

x M x

MUA Store

Superdrug - MUA - Make Up Academy

First post...

So I wanted to start a beauty blog. Thought about it, decided it was pointless because there were so many others out there. Why would mine be of interest? Then January 1st rolled around and New Years Resolutions seem quite pointless throughout the rest of the year because I think "Why not just do it now?" Buuuuut this year I thought. I'd go ahead and start the blog anyway.  What have I got to lose?

So a little bit about me. *waves* I'm Marianne, I'm 26 and I live in Scotland. I love make-up, I love experimenting with colour and different styles. I also refuse to spend over the odds for make-up, beauty products etc. Now, that doesn't mean I'm "tight", it simply means I'm sensible (hah!) and prefer to economise. I'm addicted to eyeliner and I'm on the neverending mission to find the perfect eyeliner. Colour is another big thing, I love lots of colour! Whatever I want to go on my face goes on there whenever, wherever!

So this blog will be more about reviewing more budget-friendly products, some make-up tutorials & a little bit of health & fitness squeezed in here and there too. 

So.. that's it I suppose. Enjoy!

- M