Zoeva En Taupe palette, budget foundation part 2 and Primark foundation update!

Well, the last time I posted, I was praising Primark's £2 stick foundation. I gave it a 4.5/5 and was rather taken aback by how good it was. Well, the phrase "too good to be true" really was apt in this case. I TAKE IT ALL BACK! BURN IT WITH FIRE! In total, I had the foundation on my face for about 6 hours. My face was a greasy mess. There was absolutely no foundation left on either side of my nose and there were actual streaks on my face where you could see the natural skin underneath where the foundation had swiped straight off my face. It was a hot mess. It felt slippery and almost like my face was sweaty. The rating has fallen all the way down to a 2/5. Never again.

On a happier note, my Zoeva
En Taupe palette came yesterday morning! It was £18 from BeautyBay (will pop the link for it at the bottom) and it is absolutely beautiful. Now, neutrals aren't my thing at all. Most of my eyeshadow palettes are either full of brights or darks but I struggle with neutral colours are they never seem to excite me. But my sister had asked me to do a more natural look on her recently and I sort of just stood despairingly in front of my make-up case wondering how in the hell I was going to pull this off but I found a small Freedom palette with some nice pinky neutrals in it that fit the bill. It was obvious, however, that I was going to have to invest in some more muted palettes if I wanted to be able to cater to more people.

I stumbled across the Zoeva palettes when I was flicking through BeautyBay on Thursday and it's a brand I hadn't come across before. I had a look around on YouTube and apparently they're a German make-up brand with some of the most gorgeous palettes I've ever seen. Like I said previously, neutrals don't generally excite me very much but I saw these are fell in love. Being a conscientious shopper, I had a look at some videos on YouTube with people reviewing the palettes and couldn't resist buying one to check out for myself.

I paid £20.50 all in as I paid the extra £2.50 for next day shipping so it wasn't particularly expensive compared to some palettes on the market at the moment considering you're getting 10 reasonably sized eyeshadows in the palette (works out at £1.80 per eyeshadow!).

The packaging is just your standard thick cardboard magnetic palette and it comes in a pretty little cardboard slip cover as well. I know you shouldn't judge a book by it's cover but I'm a sucker for pretty packaging and Zoeva pretty much nail it, all their palettes come in very pretty packaging and I love it!

The eyeshadows themselves are amazing quality. They're so smooth and creamy, not chalky at all. Due to the texture of the eyeshadow they are so easy to blend and you don't get a lot of fall out, even with the darker colours. They are so highly pigmented so combined with the texture, a little goes a long way. It's a perfect addition to anyone's collection if they have a soft spot for neutrals.

Moving on to the budget foundations, this time I tried out the Essence Stay All Day 16hr Long Lasting foundation. Again, Essence wasn't a brand I was familiar with but I had seen it talked about on various make-up groups on Facebook, praised very highly so I thought it was worth including in my venture. I looked into Essence a little bit and they're a European brand, cruelty free and reasonably priced. The only place I've seen them sold in store is in Wilko and I must have passed by them so many times without even noticing they were bloody there! So the 16hr foundation is £3.80 and comes in 3 shades. Looking at the shades available, I think I need to go with Soft Beige but the lightest colour they had in store was Soft Crème. I bought it anyway thinking I could use powder to lighten it slightly if it was too dark.

The texture of the foundation is very smooth, it blends really well and is faintly scented. Now, I have no idea whatsoever what it's SUPPOSED to smell like but it's nice. I don't normally like scented make-up products unless it's lipstick so I was a bit skeptical of a scented foundation.

As I suspected, the colour match was waaaaaaaay far off. It was super orange compared to my own skin tone and I looked like I'd been fucking Tangoed. Even other people were pointing out to me how orange my face was, even after powdering to try and lighten it! But I made the best of it and blended it far down my neck to try and cover up the obvious difference since we were only trying it out anyway. Well, that was until I found out we were actually going out for dinner and I didn't have time to change my make-up!!

TRAGEDY STRIKES! My cheapy oval brush from eBay fucking snapped! The handle snapped clean in two while I was applying my foundation so we had to switch half way through to a Real Techniques face brush which actually seemed to blend in the foundation even better in this instance. It blended in very well and gave a lovely smooth, flawless finish. It's medium to full coverage and I wear two coats of foundation anyway so it covered up any flaws whatsoever.

Staying power-wise, it stayed on all day. I had it on for approximately 9 hours. It would be rare that I would have foundation on for 16 hours anyway so I didn't really get to test it to it's full potential. When I came to wash my face that night, I still had a full face of make-up on, nothing had budged or went cakey in patches. I was really impressed. I felt a bit jaded by the Primark fiasco so I wasn't really expecting much from another cheapy foundation. I really do need to try and get it in my own colour because it truly is a wonderful foundation for the price. It's something I would use every day, it's good quality, my only issue is the lack of variety in shades.

This is the finished product of my endeavours. As you can see, the foundation really did look pretty good so worthy of another try (in my actual colour!!!) And the eyeshadows are just to die for. I was planning on doing a tutorial but there were too many people home and I couldn't sit and film it while everyone was sitting around taking the piss SO, maybe another time. If I can get peace. Unlikely. But I'll give a quick run down of what I did.

I primed my eyes with MUA eyeshadow primer. Using a soft brush, I covered my whole lid in the shade Stitch by Stitch (pale creamy shade) and then applied 'Gallery' all over my lower lid. Using a fluffy shading brush, I started working 'Outline' into the crease and blending slightly upwards towards the brow, and the shadows were so soft they just blended right up seamlessly. So be careful if you're using them that you don't just blend everything away LOL!. Then I went into 'Exquisitve' with the same fluffy brush and started working it into the outer crease into a 'V' leading down to the outer corner of my eye. Just a small amount to add a bit of definition. When working with pale neutrals, I love just popping in a wee bit of colour because sometimes, it can just end up looking quite flat and boring. My personal opinion, I'm not saying anyone else looks boring, I just find it hard to stay interested in my reflection at times without looking like a unicorn has done it's business all over my face. Anyway, using a smaller brush, I put a little more of the 'Exquisitve' shade under neath my eye close to the lash line. I then popped a little bit of 'Sheers and Voiles' as a highlight just at the brow bone and dabbed just the tiniest amount of 'Gallery' onto the brush to go into my crease again just a TINY little bit. Finished it all off with a little KIKO Gel Eyeliner and Essence's Lash Princess mascara. Not forgetting to finish off my face with my new joint favourite lipstick, Scorpio.

TA DA!!!!

So tomorrow, it's another budget foundation review. One I can guarantee 100% will not be the same colour as my natural skin tone so that'll be fun. And possibly discussing my lust over the new Urban Decay palette coming out next month that I HAVE to get my grubby little hands on!

x M x

Beauty Bay - Zoeva En Taupe palette

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

Maybelline Superstay 24 Hour Lip Colour review

Wow, been a bit busy lately with the kids all on holiday from school that I almost forgot about the blog. Bought make-up to review and a mini-haul still to post. So I thought I'd start with the quickest first and it's a review of the Maybelline Superstay 24 Hour Dual Ended Lip Colour. Links to the Maybelline website and Superdrug will be down at the bottom of the page.

I'll start by saying that I hate longwear lipstick. It dries your lips out, most of the time I find it tastes funny and it never really lasts the length of time promised. But as Maybelline is one of my favourite brands, I thought the Superstay was worth trying. I got mine from Superdrug and it was £8.99. They have an offer on at the moment on Maybelline, buy one get one half price. I opted for the colourway Absolute Plum.

It's a double ended lip colour (well, you can tell that from the name lol) with the colour at one end (which has a stander gloss wand applicator) and the other is a glossy moisturising balm. Their site boasts that the 24 Superstay lasts UP TO 24 hours, doesn't crumble, fade, transfer, smudge and is is non-drying. It comes in 18 (lovely) colours so there's quite a bit of variety there. Although Maybelline is one of my favourite brands, seeing as I'm not keen on longwear, I was still a bit skeptical.

Set up is obvious, apply colour and allow it to dry a little and then apply the balm over the top of it. Pretty simple. I was expecting it to be pretty dry before applying the balm but was pleasantly surprised to find that it didn't. I only needed one coat of the colour and it dried within a few seconds and then applied the balm which was really moisturising and left a lovely sheen. Then came the waiting. Now, I applied it straight onto my natural lip, normally I would be putting over foundation and powder. I figured I can wash my face around my lips and go to bed with it on to test the full 24 hours.

After 2 hours, the colour had stayed put, there was absolutely no fading and my lips still felt quite soft.

After 6 hours, still no fading. I had already eaten lunch and dinner plus brushed my teeth again.

At the 12 hour mark, it STILL looked almost fresh. I had been snacking and had a few drinks at this point.

At 18 hours, you could see that it was starting to fade but not by much (the lighting didn't help at this point as it was dark so I wasn't in natural light anymore so it looked darker than it does in the photograph), colour was still there on my lips. So I went to bed at this point.

At the 24 hour mark, the lipcolour had pretty much gone *but* there *was* still colour around the outside of my lips so it would've been interesting to see just how it would've faded had I not brushed my teeth again and gone to bed.

Overall, considering there was still colour around the outsides of my lips the lipcolour DOES last 24 hours. Admittedly, there was a lot of fading post 18 hours but realistically, it's not really likely that you're going to be awake for 24 hours straight and expect your make-up to stay 100% the whole time. I applied the balm at the 2, 6 and 18 hour mark, more out of habit as I was checking my make-up in the mirror than because it was drying my lips out.

The next day, I put the colour on with full make-up and the colour held even better throughout the course of the day. I'm really impressed and will definitely be buying in more colours. It's a great lipcolour to use if you're going out to work our on a day or night out and you don't want to be reapplying your lipstick every 2-3 hours (even less depending on the brand) and don't want your lips to end up really dry.

Pros

Colour lasts all day.
Doesn't dry out.
Doesn't smear or transfer onto clothes or skin.
No bleeding so no need to use lipliner.

Cons

None

Overall, I'm giving the 24 Hour Superstay Lip Colour a 5/5

x M x

MUA mini-haul to follow at some point tomorrow. Also, I've been thinking of starting a vlog on YouTube alongside the blog but still working on it as the house is so busy all the time, I don't know if it's feasible.

Maybelline UK - Superstay 24 Hour Lipcolor

Superdrug - Maybelline Superstay 24 Hour Lipcolour

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