MUA Haul from the 50% Off Sale

I was so excited for the MUA 50% off sale. I know MUA caught a lot of flack for the whole thing though. After the site crashed during the 35% off sale sure they could have been a bit more prepared for the 50% off sale. It was really disgusting to see how upset people got over the whole thing. You're getting already cheap makeup for even less. We're buying makeup here not saving people's lives. Settle down. But enough of being on my soap box., you want to know what I got!

So the deal was 50% a minimum order of £30 to qualify and free shipping (including international shipping yay). 

• Blush Shade #1 Gives a nice peach glow
• Lip Boom  Bring It
• Eyebrow Pencil Brunette
• Intense Colour Eyeliner Royal Blue
• Lashes Glam & Flair
• Matte Perfect Loose Translucent Powder Finely milled. No caking.
• Matte Perfect Shine Control Foundation Fair Sadly a little too dark and too yellow for me.
• Hide & Conceal Coverup Stick  Fair Light enough. yay.
• Nail Varnish Fever Red
• Lipstick Shade #1
• Intense Lip Gloss Shimmer Kisses  Stolen Kisses 
• Gel Eyeliner On the Move
• Mega Volume Mascara
• Extreme Curl Mascara Great curl but for some reason I ordered Black Brown. This would work well if you want a more subtle mascara. I layered it with NYX's Pin Up Tease Mascara for more drama.

So those are my first impressions on the few products I've used already. I also bought a Heaven & Earth palette for a friend of mine. I seem to compulsively put one of those in my cart whenever I order. Overall this was about £15 or $25 after the currency exchange. This was my third order with MUA and they've all arrived in a timely manner and everything survived the journey.

I'm already putting together my wishlist for my next order. I'm curious about their lip stains. Let me know if you've tried them. What are some of your favorites? Did you take advantage of this sale? 

Second MUA Haul

When MUA Cosmetics  had their recent 35% off everything with free shipping sale, I jumped at the chance to get my hands a few products from my wishlist. Not quite as big as my last haul from MUA. Everything was still under $20. YAY

• Blush Perfection Cream Blush in Bittersweet I love cream blushes so I had to snag one of the new ones from MUA. I haven't had a chance to try this out yet.
• Shimmer Kiss Blusher in Pink Shimmer Kisses This gives a very sheer amount of color. This would work well for a highlight or layered a little bit more if you want just a bit of a pink glow to the cheeks.
• Bronzed Perfection I don't attempt to contour much because it's so hard to find a good color for those of us that are pale and cool toned. Hannah over at Midnight Violets  posted a review about this awhile ago. It looked like it might actually work for me. This thing is huge too. 
• Lip Liner in Red Drama I really don't like the red lip liner I have now. I like that this has a sharpener in the lid. I believe I read about this on Midnight Violets as well. 
• Brow Kit I've been slightly obsessed with brow kits and brow products lately. I was so excited when MUA released this. It was at the top of my wishlist. This has three colors and a brow gel. It also features a built in mirror and comes with a small pair of tweezers and a double ended angle brush.  
• Heaven and Earth Palette I already have one of these and I LOVE it! I bought this second one for my upcoming giveaway.

Unfortunately you can't get MUA products in the US. So like them on Facebook and look for sales. I got free shipping on this order but I've priced out orders before and they are still fairly reasonable. It just takes a little bit longer to get here but I haven't had any issues with either of my orders. Not sure what to order? I can't recommend  Midnight Violets  enough. She really is my go to for MUA reviews. Did you pick up anything from the last sale?

August Favorites

The month of August flew by! This month I have been using some new products and some products that have been sitting in my makeup drawer neglected for awhile.

e.l.f. Kabuki Face Brush, UD 24/7 Stray Dog, MUA Heaven & Earth, Macadamia Healing Oil, e.l.f. Makeup Mist & Set

• e.l.f. Kabuki Face Brush This brush is so soft! I've been using it lately in place of my Estee Lauder powder brush and I love it. It's only $6 from e.l.f. I picked this up last month when they were having a sale for only $3. I'm really amazed at the quality for the price. This brush is fully synthetic and vegan.
• Urban Decay 24/7 Eyeliner in Stray Dog This was party of the 24/7 Travel Set in Naked. I don't believe this color is part of the permanent range. I picked the set up when it was Hautelook last time. The color is a nice taupe brown. It just happens to go perfectly with the eyeshadow combination I've been using from my MUA palette.
• MUA Heaven & Earth Palette MUA is a UK drugstore brand that lots of bloggers rave about. I finally got my hands on some of their products. Here's my haul post if you missed it. Their products are well priced even with the exchange rate. I'm happy to report that they live up to the hype. This palette is pigmented with a nice texture. I've been creating some really nice smokey daytime looks. I'll try to do a full review soon. 
• Macadamia Healing Oil Treatment This was from my first Beauty Army. This smells amazing and leaves my hair very shiny and soft. I definitely plan on purchasing the full size version in the future. 
• e.l.f. Makeup Mist & Set This is another of those products that I use everyday and tend to take for granted. I really notice a difference in how long my makeup lasts when I don't use it. The ingredients include aloe, green Tea, cucumber and vitamins A, C & E. There are probably better setting sprays out there but for $3 I don't think you can beat this one. It also tends to last. I've had this bottle for awhile and I'm just now getting to the halfway point..

What are your August favorites?

My First MUA Haul!!

I always thought that MUA products were something that I would just have to admire on the pages of the UK beauty bloggers. Late in July when I was deep into my No-Buy, I told myself it wouldn't hurt to see if they shipped internationally. They do! I put a ton of stuff in my cart but didn't checkout. A few weeks later (and in August after my No-Buy was over), MUA hit 25,000 likes on Facebook and released a 25% off coupon with free international shipping. I was all over it!

Heaven & Earth Palette, Starry Night Palette, Nail Polish #1, Lipstick #13, LipBoom LMK, Liquid Liner in Black, 3 in 1 Contour in Smoked Plum, Blush in #4

Everything arrived safely from across the pond! I am so excited I had to make a quick haul post. Full reviews will be upcoming. I got the Heaven & Earth and Starry Night palettes, Nail Polish in Shade #1 which is a dark sparkly blue, Lipstick #13 red!, LipBoom LMK Deep Vampy and sparkly pink gloss, Liquid Liner in Black, 3 in 1 Contour Pen in Smoked Plum, and finally Blush in #4. All of this was a little over £12 with the exchange rate it was a little over $19.

I did this swatches really quickly while I was sitting in my chair catching up on episodes of What Not to Wear.

Liquid Liner, Smoked Plum, LipBoom LMK Pink Gloss, LipBoom LMK Lipstick Side, Lipstick #13

I really can't decide which of these products to try out first! I'm so excited. I plan on doing full reviews with better swatches and all that soon. I have a back log of reviews but these might move to the front of the line.

What are your favorite MUA products? It's never too early to start putting together my next shopping list.

Confession Time: I Don't Love the Naked Palettes

I have a confession to make. I don't love the Naked palettes from Urban Decay. I bought the first palette and found it to be too warm for my complexion. So I sold it and bought the Naked2 because it looked better suited to a cool skin tone. I find myself skipping over this palette in my drawer and reaching for my Inglot palettes instead. Most of the shades are too shimmery for me. Personally, I have a hard time putting together a look that works for me with this palette. I really struggle with it and find that I have to mix in an Inglot or MUG shadow.  There was also more fallout than I anticipated. The flat end of the brush is alright but the blending end sucks. I do like the lip gloss that came with it though.

Urban Decay Naked2 Palette

I just sat down and tried to work with this again. I tried two different looks. Unfortunately, I haven't yet mastered the skill of taking a picture of my own eye yet. So no pics sorry. For the first I used Busted (holy fallout Batman) in the crease, Tease across the lid, and BootyCall under the browbone and the inner corner. It came out way too dark and I felt like I had a black eye. Maybe I was just too heavy handed with it.  For the second look I used Pistol in the crease, Verve across the lid, and BootyCall for the browbone and highlight again. I liked this look and found Pistol and Verve easier to work with than Busted. It came out a light silvery smokey look. I liked it though. I didn't love it.

If I'm doing my everyday neutral or for a quick smokey eye, I reach for one of my Inglot palettes. To be fair though, I did hand select all the colors.

Inglot Palettes

I also started using my Inglot palette long before I bought either of the Naked palettes. Maybe I'm just a creature of habit but I think it has more to do with me preferring matte eyeshadows.

So this is palette did not live up to the hype for me. I love UD lipglosses and eyeliners. I have a cheek highlighter that I don't use often but I do like. Maybe UD eyeshadows just aren't for me or I just haven't found the right ones yet. For those of you that love this palette, what are your go to looks? I'd love to hear from you.  I'd especially love to hear from any other really fair cool toned ladies.

March Favorites

I mixed up my usual makeup quite a bit in March. I've been really trying out some new products this month.

• Inglot Eye Shadows In love with the smokey eye palette I put together from my Inglot Mini Haul. Cool toned grays look great with my blue eyes and cool toned fair skin.
• e.l.f. Stipple Brush I've been using this for applying cream blush and I love the amount of control I have. I can go subtle or really build up layers for a bolder look. Soft synthetic bristles.
• Benefit POREfessional Primer My new favorite primer. It really minimizes the appearance of pores and is long lasting. If only it were unscented it would be the best primer ever.
• NYX Extreme Lip Cream in Bonfire I'm a big fan of this formula. This is a nice bright fuchsia for Spring.
• NYX Cream Blush in Boho Chic Applied lightly is a nice pink glow. Builds up nicely. Smooth and creamy. It lasts about eight hours before it starts to fade.

e.l.f Haul and Leap Year Mystery Bag

e.l.f. was offering a Mystery Bag on Leap day valued at $20 with any purchase of $20 or more. Even though I was technically cut off for the rest of the month of February I let this one slide.  I mean it was Leap Day so really it was more like March anyway. Besides $20 of e.l.f products goes a long way! Some e.l.f products are really great finds and others are pretty much worth the $1-$3.

So first the stuff I bought:

Lip Tint in Berry $3
Contouring Blush & Bronzer Powder I don't contour or use bronzer but it's something I'm curious about. For $3 I can afford to experiment.
Makeup Mist and Set  $3 Can this live up to the standard set by my MAC Fix +?
Nourishing Cuticle Pen My cuticles aren't as bad now that I don't work with my hands everyday but they still need some lovin'. $1
Eyebrow Lifter & Filler in Ivory/Medium  I really don't pay as much attention to my brows as I should other than keeping a basic shape.$3
Studio Stipple Brush I don't have a stipple brush. $3
Mineral Angled Blush Brush No angled blush brush either. This is the big ticket item in my order...$5

Now the free stuff! So much stuff I wasn't quite sure how to arrange it to get it all in the picture.

Shimmer Palette These are all creams so you can use them on the eyes, lips or face. Retail value $3
Silver Box Duo Eyeshadow Collection  Four duo eyeshadows plus a brush. These look like some good color combos.Greenish Silver/Purple. Matte brown/bronze. Shimmer Pink/Matte Light Gray. Sparkly Black/Matte Silver Gray. Retail value $5
Minty Lip Gloss In Miami. This definitely smells minty. Retail value $3
Single Eyeshadow  in Butter Cream  This reminds me of a color I have but I can't quite put my finger on it right now.  Retail value $3
Mineral Concealer Brush  Feels soft Retail value $5
Hypershine Lip Gloss  in Sugar Plum Looks like a nice plum color. I'm not really into brush applicator lip glosses. Retail Value $1

So quite the mountain of stuff. I'm not even really sure where to start! e.l.f. usually has some good deals. It's worth it to sign up for their emails.

Inglot Mini Haul

I bought an Inglot five slot palette on sale during Black Friday and then I was sick most of the winter so I never made it over to Town Square to pick out my shadows.  As much as I love Inglot products, their website sucks. So I'd much rather shop in person...even if it means going to Town Square.  It beats having to go the the Forum Shops or Fashion Show though.  Not that local Las Vegans don't like tourists. We appreciate your support of our economy. We just don't want to be anywhere near you or have to drive on the Strip more than absolutely necessary.

From Left to Right:

#324 M  Very light gray matte finish
AMC Shine #36 Medium gray sparkly
#387M Medium gray matte finish
#348M Dark gray matte finish
#391 black matte finish

These are 2.3g and retail for $5 each. You heard me right. $5 for a richly pigmented, great quality shadow. I'll try to swatch these at some point.

I love how the Inglot palette lids click on magnetically. They hold together tightly. I've traveled with my smaller three slot palette a lot and it has never shifted around.  I can't wait to use these shadows.  It was difficult but I managed not to buy anything else while I was in the store. It is dangerously close to my office though and there's a Sephora right around the corner!

Town Square Las Vegas

Inglot USA

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