MUA Makeup Haul

MUA has always held a special place in my heart because it was one of the brands that I bought from when I first started using make-up. As a teenager without much money to spend, I used to be obsessed with their £1 range. I've grown a lot since then and tried so many different brands, but I still always return to MUA when I want some affordable goodies! 

I recently treated myself to a few bits and pieces, so wanted to share them with you. Read on to see what I bought! 

The Artiste Collection

This palette was just too pretty to pass up. It comes with 6 eye-shadows, two blushes, a contour shade and a highlighter. As you can see from the photo, the eye-shadows are 'merged' shadows so as you dip and swirl your brush into them you release bursts of colour from the 'splotches'. It's pretty hard to describe, but hopefully my swatches below will explain this more.

So as you can see, that very first eye-shadow shade on the left appears white with blue patches. When you apply it with a brush, the two colours combine to give you a lovely pastel blue shade. The first two eye-shadow shades are very light - which is perfect for the Spring, but they're not as intense as I would have liked (particularly the second, yellow shade). They do require a bit of layering to get a more opaque look, but for everyday use you can't go wrong. 

The four remaining eyeshadows are by far my favourite. They're highly pigmented and have such a beautiful finish. The blue shade in particular applies so easily - I made the swatch below with just one light swipe! Obviously, the blue and purple are a bit 'out-there', but the two brown shades are ideal for anyone who loves to go for neutral looks. They're both really warm shades and have a stunning satin finish. 

I love palettes that have cheek products as well as eye-shadows, so I was so excited to see that this one had 4! The two blush shades are right up my street - the first is slightly lighter and has more of a coral tone to it, whereas the second is a slightly rosier pink. Both are, again, ideal for the Spring. 

The contour shade is insanely pigmented! I literally just dabbed my finger into the pan every-so-slightly, and that swatch happened! Intensity is a good thing though - I'd much rather just use a little bit of product than have to keep piling it on. This contour blends really nicely, which is just what you want from it. It's a lovely warm, bronzed colour - a good way to hide my winter paleness!

It'll probably be difficult to see my last swatch, which is of the highlighter, because it's very sheer and I didn't use a primer for any of these. This highlighter is perfect for a soft highlight of your cheekbones - it's not too intense, but is definitely noticeable as you move your head. 

All-in-all, I think this is a great palette with beautiful colours.

Glamour Nights Palette

One palette is just never enough... especially when one like this is on sale! This palette also has a counterpart - the 'Glamour Days' palette, but I wanted to be able to make some more intense looks and the shades in this one were a little deeper. 

The palette comes with 12 shadows which are a mix of mattes and shimmers. 

There are some really beautiful colours in this palette: a deep teal (3rd in, top left in the picture above and 4th in from the right in the swatches) which is so dark it actually looks black in the palette, an emerald green (3rd in, bottom left in the picture above and 3rd in from the left in the swatches) and the rich pink (2nd in, bottom right in the picture above and 5th in from the left in the swatches).

These three are my personal favourites!

In terms of pigmentation, I was impressed by all except one shade - the matte white. I was really excited about having the stark white shade to highlight my inner corner, but sadly the pigmentation was rather lacking. You can see it in my swatches, 6 in from the right. To get that swatch I had to layer about 4 times. I'll definitely try it out wet though - might work better that way! 

Like I said, all of the other shades impressed me with their pigmentation - the black is so solid and opaque that it's ideal as a liner and the brightness of the colours really does come through! 

Above is an example of an everyday look I made with this palette. I used the silver shade in the inner corner, the emerald green in the outer half of the eye and blended the two together with a dusting of gold along the midline. To convert this to an evening look, you can just deepen out the green outer corner with a touch of the teal colour! 

Mega Volume Mascara

I'd never actually tried an MUA mascara before, so was really excited when I received this free with one of the palettes.  

Sadly, my memory card lost the pictures I took of the wand so I've had to use a stock photo - but it probably gives you a better view anyway! The bristles are so fine which minimises clumping and gives great length. 

The formulation of the mascara itself is great, too. It wears really well for long periods of time, with no signs of flaking. Just what I need from a mascara! 

Professional Eyes Primer

I'm ashamed to say that I'd never used an eye primer before I bought this. I always thought it was a bit of a gimmick that wouldn't really make any difference - boy, was I wrong! 

The applicator is a doe-foot and the primer itself is a cream-colour, but blends out transparent. It dries quickly and feels so light on your lids. I've definitely noticed that it's prolonged the life of my eye-shadow and reduced creasing! Now I've tried an eye-primer, I definitely won't be applying eyeshadow without it!

Lipstick Shade 12

 I love the £1 lipsticks from MUA. They're creamy and really pigmented - you can't go wrong! I wanted a new pink shade so I picked this one. I bought it online, so I didn't actually realise that this lipstick has a shimmer to it.

I thought that the shimmer wouldn't really work for me, but I actually really liked the way this came out on my lips. The colour is a gorgeous deep pink and the shimmer just gives your lips a glossy look! 

I've really loved using all of these items and I'm already having to restrain myself from buying more from the website! What are your favourite MUA products?