My Holy Grail Mascara?

Every once in a while, whilst raking through the aisles of Superdrug, you stumble across a little gem. A little gem that changes your makeup routine, a little gem that is so fantastic that it needs its own post. My little gem that I just so happened to stumble across comes in bright pink packaging and goes by the the title of MUA Mega Volume Mascara. And yes you read the title of this post right, it's my holy grail mascara. I know that term is used loosely quite a lot in the blogging world but this really is holy grail.

If you know me, I'm a mascara junkie. I have far too many mascaras and I say I love them all but this one has topped them all. Yes, that's right, this mascara comes first out of 20+ mascaras. But what makes it so special I hear you ask? Well just take a look at this brush and Bob's your uncle. 

There are NO clumps on this wand. Absolutely none. I almost fainted in the middle of Superdrug. Before you could say 'MUA Mega Volume Mascara' this little tube of amazing-ness was in my basket and promptly made its way to the tills with me.

This mascara promises to 'dramatically thicken lashes with each stroke for mega volume' and I can safely say it does just that. When I took these photos I was having a bad lash day so I haven't quite shown off how amazing it really is, but believe me, it's amazing. 

As you can see above, this mascara really does deliver amazing results. In the photos, I hadn't curled my eyelashes so as well as volumising, it does give your eyelashes some curl. 

I cannot recommend this mascara enough, it's just incredible and it's only £3. That's how much the meal deal at the Co-operative is. I cannot recommend this enough. You can get this mascara direct from the MUA website or from Superdrug (I can't find it on the website but you can definitely get it in-store). 

I hope you've all had a lovely weekend and I'll see you all soon.

What's in my Travel Makeup bag?

As some of you may know, on Saturday I'm going away to Italy for a week. Of course this means that I must let you all know what makeup items I'm taking with me, it's only right.

Makeup bag- Primark

Face

For my face I've only packed the bare minimum. For powder I've packed the Maybelline Matte Maker Pressed Powder, for concealer I've packed the Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer and to add a bit of a glow to my cheekbones (who doesn't want that) I've packed the MUA Undress Your Skin Highlighting Powder.

Eyes/brows

I've tried to pack the bare minimum for my eyes and brows but it's very difficult to choose, any eye makeup obsessive will understand me. To line my eyes I've packed my holy grail (yes I said it, it is my holy grail) Collection Extreme 24hr Felt Tip Liner. I had some difficulty choosing between all of my mascaras (I have far too many) so I ended up deciding on two, the Maybelline Colossal Volum' Express Mascara and the MUA Mega Volume Mascara. To add a bit of colour to my eyes I've chosen to take my Maybelline Colour Tattoo in 'On and On Bronze' as it's really versatile and easy to use. For my brows I'm taking the MUA Intense Colour Eyeliner in 'Rich Brown' and even though it's an eyeliner, I have incredibly dark brows and this is the only pencil that matches, or comes anywhere close for that matter (oh the joys of having dark hair). To set my brows I've taken my MUA Clear Mascara, that isn't so clear anymore. I should probably buy a new one, it looks pretty gross. Finally to curl my little lashes I'm taking my cheap and cheerful Primark Eyelash Curlers as they do the job perfectly.

Lips

This was by far the hardest decision to make. It took me almost half an hour to choose 2 lip products. Knowing me though, by the time this post is up I'll have probably changed my mind again, sigh. The two lip products I've chosen are my MUA Power Pout in 'Runway' and Collection Cream Puff in 'Cotton Candy' (review here).

Brushes

For brushes I've cut it right down, I'm just taking the basics and the ones I will definitely need. For my eyes I'm taking the Real Techniques Deluxe Crease Brush as it's my favourite brush for blending out cream shadows.  For my face I'm taking my Real Techniques Contour Brush for applying highlighter, my Real Techniques Expert Face Brush for blending in concealer and my Real Techniques Powder Brush for, you guessed it, putting on powder.

As you can see I have tried to cut the amount of makeup I take with me down, but being a beauty junkie it's pretty hard. 

I'll be back again, as usual, on Sunday with 'What's In My Travel Skincare Bag' which will be scheduled (ooh er, how fancy) but I will have WiFi in Italy so I will be able to reply to comments in the evenings. I'll probably be a bit quiet on the social media side of things though.

Superdrug and Primark Haul

So I went shopping and I accidentally bought more makeup, oops. But fear not, fear not, it wasn't that much and I got other things too, so overall I think I was pretty controlled. *rewards oneself with a biscuit* I won't be going into too much detail about all the products I got though because there will be individual reviews going up in the (very) near future.

Primark

As lovely as all the new PS Love makeup in Primark looked, there was nothing that I really wanted and the eyeshadow palette that I did want wasn't in stock. I did however pick up a few little bits that I'd say are quite essential, but of course what I think is essential might not be essential to you. (what am I talking about?)

I picked up this little mirror because everyone, I mean everyone, needs a mirror in their bags for touch ups and to check the condition of their makeup. It was only £1 and the pattern is really cute.

I also grabbed these eyelash curlers because my current ones from Superdrug were nearing the final days of eyelash curling. I've already used these every day since I got them and I have to say, they're a lot better than my Superdrug ones, and they're only £1. Oh Primark, I do love you and your incredible bargains.

Whilst strolling through the beauty area, I spotted a pack of 2 tweezers for £1 and I couldn't just leave them hanging on the stand, surely not. So they pottered along to the tills with me in my little basket. 

What really attracted me to these tweezers was that they were both different sizes, one had a thicker end and one had a teensy weensy thin end, perfect for grabbing the tiny little hairs when doing your eyebrows.

The last item that made its way to the tills  with me is this matte top coat. I love painting my nails but I haven't been able to do it much this past year as I've been taking cookery at school but very soon I will no longer be taking it so I'll be able to paint my nails all the time, which makes me very happy indeed. I love how matte nails look and yet again this was only £1 so I'm happy.

Superdrug

Ahhh, good old Superdrug. The place my purse goes to completely empty itself. But on this certain occasion, I left the shop with change still in my purse, I was rather impressed with myself.

As per usual, my feet took me along the shop floor to the Collection stand where I finally got my hands on the little babies I've been lusting after for ages (that sounds a bit creepy, oops). Enter the Cream Puffs.

I got the shades 'Cotton Candy' and 'Fairy Cake' which are both very comfortable to wear and they smell incredible.

There is a full review on these going up in the next 2 weeks so I will leave you all waiting to find out my entire thoughts on these, oooh the suspense. 

 My feet also carried me along to the MUA stand where I was calm and collected and didn't go mental and buy everything. 

My first purchase was the MUA Mega Volume Mascara which I actually bought because I pulled the brush out of the tester and it was completely clump free, I kid you not. There yet again will be a full review of this going up soon(ish) so keep your eyes peeled. It was only £3, the packaging is funky (am I allowed to say that in this day and age?) and so far, I'm lovin' it. This post is not sponsored by McDonald's.

Finally my hands accidentally grabbed one of the MUA Power Pout's in 'Runway' which is a very bright, orange-y pink. I guess you could say it's coral but I like my description better. Another full review of this will be up sometime, not sure when though, so yet again, keep your eyes peeled.

Finally finished hauling so I'm off to spend the rest of the evening watching Frozen, I'm not even sorry. Before I forget, Happy Mother's Day to all you lovely mums out there, I hope you've all been spoilt. I'll be back again tomorrow with my (late) Weekend in Pictures. Enjoy the rest of your Sunday!

Mini MUA Haul

I may have accidentally on purpose gone shopping in Superdrug yesterday, but I was good and I controlled the urge to buy everything I saw *pats back*.

I only picked up 3 things which is pretty good for me *gives self another pat on the back*. 

The first thing I picked up, after 7 months of waiting for it to be restocked in my local Superdrug, was the Heaven and Earth Palette. 

I have spent so long trying to track down this palette. Whenever I've gone into one of the two stores near me or online, it's always been out of stock *cries* but I FINALLY got it *cheers*!

If you're a neutral palette lover then this palette is for you. All shades are shimmery and you can create really nice daytime and nightime looks with this palette. I'm so glad I've finally got it! I'll put up a full review with swatches very soon!

As with all MUA palettes, this one came with one of the pointless sponge applicators, but I just bin these so I'm not going to complain too much! For £4 this palette is an absolute steal and the 7 months of searching was definitely worth it! 

The next item probably won't come as any surprise to anyone who's been reading my blog for a while. I have a weird obsession with berry lipsticks, I now have 3 in almost the same shade, why? 

And the lipstick I'm talking about is the MUA matte lipstick in 'Wild Berry'. In the tube this looks very similar to my beloved Kate Moss lipstick in '107'. But when on the lips it's a more sheer version of it, which is good because it means I can wear berry tinted lips to school (yaaaay!).

If you want to see this on my lips, I'll be putting up a post on Wednesday with this on my lips so keep your eyes peeled for that.  I wasn't expecting great pigmentation because it was only £1 but I'm actually quite impressed! An added bonus with this lipstick is that, like all MUA lipsticks, it comes with a little pot of product at the bottom which is both handy and cute.

The final thing I got was actually free because there was a deal that if you spent £6 or more on MUA makeup then you get a free ColourBlast eye crayon. I got the free crayon because my granny also bought a lipstick.

The colour I chose was 'Unfaithful' which is a grey with silver shimmer running through it. I chose it because I don't really own any greyish eyeshadows and thought I'd step out of my comfort zone a bit. 

This would make a great base colour for a smokey eye and I'm looking forward to using it but if it isn't as good as I hope it is, I won't be too bothered because it was free after all!

That is all for my mini haul (I should be a poet), I'm now away out for a Sunday carvery with my family! I hope you've all had a great weekend!

Also just before I sign off, could you all please go and fill in this quick survey, it would be really fab!

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Top 10 Under £10- Makeup

We've all had times where we're standing in a Boots or Superdrug with money in our pockets and we quite frankly, have no idea what to buy. It can be quite overwhelming sometimes, there's just so much to choose from. You're just left standing there trying to decide between a new mascara, or a new eyeshadow. It's a difficult decision. I have constructed a list of my top 10 makeup products under £10, so that all of you lovely people don't have to go through the 'I don't know what to buy because I want it all but I don't have enough money' dilemma. And if you're a newbie to makeup, this may be quite helpful to you too as I'm sure spending £15 on a MAC lipstick or £22 on a highlighter sounds a teensy bit extreme. It was incredibly difficult narrowing all my favourite products down to only 10, but after lots of um-ing and ah-ing I finally whittled them down.

The first item that has crept its way into my top 10 is the MUA Undress Your Skin Highlighting Powder. Highlighter is something I've just recently been getting into and this has got to be one of the best I've tried. For £3 (yes you read that right), you really can't go wrong. 

I have read a few reviews saying that the packaging is 'tacky' which I 100% disagree on. I think that it's very simple, pretty and sturdy. 

Can we all just take a moment and admire how beautiful this highlighter looks? At a glance, this looks like a MAC highlighter. 

This isn't the most pigmented highlighter ever, but with one swipe you can pick up enough product to make your cheeks all glowy (not vampire glowy) and fabulous. As you only need a small amount of this, I'm sure it will last agesss. It can be a hard to find these in store, it took me 3 weeks to find one *sigh*, but you can get them here from the MUA website.

The second item that has found it's way into my top 10 under £10 is the Barry M Natural Glow Shadow and Blush Palette, here's a challenge, try saying that quickly. I know what you're all thinking, 'Barry M, doing eyeshadow palettes? This can't be true'. Well indeed it is.

This palette, from the outside, looks like a Stila palette *thumbs up* and it is quite sturdy. I really love the big mirror you get inside as it can be used when travelling. 

All the shadows are really nicely pigmented but the blush is hardly pigmented at all. It does however make a really nice highlighter and it's not completely useless (yay!).

At £6.49 this palette is really good value for money and it has a really good range of colours. 

The third item that has sneaked it's way onto my list is the Maybelline Colossal Volum' Express Mascara. This is (dare I say it?) my holy grail mascara. As I have naturally quite long eyelashes, I always go for mascaras that promise to volumise your eyelashes. This mascara promises '9x the volume'. Now I wouldn't say it gives quite that much volume but it definitely makes a dramatic difference and creates the effect of fuller lashes. It doesn't flake or smudge during the day and my eyelashes look the same at the end of the day as they do when I first apply this mascara.

The tube makes it really easy to find in the mornings when I'm still half asleep and raking through my ridiculous stash of mascaras. 

In terms of the brush size, it's not massive but it's not tiny. It's, as Goldilocks would say, just right! For £7.99 this mascara will remain a staple in my makeup bag, unless I find a better one.

Lipstick was a hard one to choose, but in the end I just went for my favourite lipstick of the moment which is the Kate Moss Matte Lipstick in Shade 107. I'm not going to speak about this too much as I did a full review on it here.

It's so beautiful. Don't you agree?

No matter how many times I swatch this, I'll never get over how pigmented it is!

Now I have a love-hate relationship with this next item. I used to hate it but now I love it, but then some days I hate it again. It's very strange. But when I love it, I really really love it, which is why I've decided to put it in this post. It's the oh so famous Rimmel Stay Matte. This has got to be the most hyped up powder ever. Everyone and their mothers talk about it. If you haven't heard of it, then where the heck have you been!?

Apologies for the battered packaging, this little guy has been everywhere with me, hence the reason it is no longer 'Stay Matte' but 'Sta Matte'. 

I have the shade '001 Transparent' which I feel is the best shade as you can build it up as much as you like without it going cakey. This keeps me matte for around 4 hours before I have to touch up but so far, this is the longest any powder has kept me matte.

It lasts ages, I've had this for about 8/9 months and I've only just hit pan, anyone else get really excited when they hit pan? Or just me? Probably just me. 
Anyways, even though I sometimes hate this powder, the majority of the time I love it, so if you want to hop on the bandwagon (if you haven't already) then go out and get this, go on, I dare you;)it's only £3.99 after all.

The sixth item is a very predictable one. If you haven't heard of this, then I think you need to come out from that rock you've been living under because I genuinely do not know one person that hasn't talked about this concealer. And, if you haven't already guessed (and seen the photos) it's the Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer.

This concealer is just the best concealer ever. It covers spots, under eye circles and redness perfectly. One tube lasts AGES, and it just seems never ending! 

 I have managed to preserve this tube and prevent the writing being rubbed off (yay me) but be warned, the writing does rub off and does ruin the inside of makeup bags.

I have the shade 'Fair' which is the lightest shade there is. In summer I'm the next shade up but in winter I turn into a vampire, and this matches perfectly. 

As you're all probably very well aware, this concealer has a doe foot applicator. It can be a little unhygenic but I wash mine every so often so I'm not spreading bacteria around my face (anyone else?). I'd recommend this concealer to anyone and I don't know how I survived without it before. And it's only £4.19, what's not to love?

Staying on the 'facial area' my next item is a blusher. Now I'm not usually one for blusher, I'm quite often very heavy handed and end up making myself look like a clown but Natural Collection's Blush in 'Peach Melba' is perfect for me.

In the pan, this blusher looks quite brown toned, but on your cheeks it gives such a natural rosy flush.

This blush isn't insanely pigmented, but I find that to be a good thing as I can't really apply too much and make myself look like a clown. The pot is also a really nice size for travelling. This blush was only £1.99 and I'll definitely be going back to Boots and seeing what other shades are on offer.

We're getting there(finally). My 8th item of choice is the Maybelline Colour Tattoo in 'On and On Bronze'.

This is yet again another incredibly hyped up product in the beauty blogging and YouTube world. This is just the perfect eyeshadow, in terms of lasting power and colour. One quick swipe is all it takes to tranform your eyelids from dull and dreary, to glittery and gorgeous! 

Well hello there fantastic pigmentation, how you doin'?

These are perfect for throwing on in a morning when you have very little time to get ready and also for parties or meals out etc. Sometimes I like to apply this all over my lid and then blend out the edges with my Real Techniques Deluxe Crease Brush to create a (sort of) smokey eye.

You really cannot go wrong with these and I can't recommend them enough!

If you've been following my blog for a while, you'll probably already know what eyeliner I'm going to recommend, it's my holy grail eyeliner and I've just recently purchased my 5th one. That's how much I love it.

It's the Collection Extreme 24hr Felt Tip Liner. When I first got this it was by accident and I'd actually meant to pick up a pencil liner, but that mistake was one of the best mistakes I've made before. This baby doesn't smudge at all, stays in place all day and is as black as anything. 

 

I've spoken about this so many times before, so instead of rambling on about it, I suggest that if you're a liquid eyeliner wearer, like myself, you should go out and get this! Go on, you won't regret it!

The final item in my top 10 under £10 is the Real Techniques Expert Face Brush.

 Sooo many people have hyped this brush up, and being my usual curious self, I finally gave into the hype and asked for it for my Christmas. This brush is everything I expected it to be and more. 

As you can see, the bristles are very dense and this results in you getting a very flawless finish. This brush is so so so so soft (not got quite enough so's) and it's my go-to brush for applying foundation. It literally gives you the most perfect, airbrushed finish ever and I cannot describe my love for this. And for £8.99, you can't say no!

And finally you have reached the end of this post! I hope it wasn't too long (although it was rather lengthy) and it helped some of you in some way! If you've tried any of the products mentioned in this post please let me know your thoughts on them!