Makeup Academy (MUA) Pro-Base Complextion Kit in Nude

Hello My beauties How are you all doing?

Today I bring you a requested review on the Makeup Academy Pro-base Complextion Kit in Nude :) 

Alot of you were and are iffy about buying this and are looking for my opinion on this before you buy it which is so sweet that you trust my word on it :) 

To be honest I have a mixed review on this palette and that is due to personal preference rather than anything else so read on to see why and what is my final thought and experiences with this :) 

This is Makeup Academy's latest releases.  This comes in 3 different shades 

Ivory 

Nude 

Mocha 

Which to be honest is a little disappointing because there is alot of different skin tones out there and only having 3 shades to choose from is not great because there is bound to be someone out there disappointed with shades 

I picked nude for my shade because normally Ivory shades in any foundation is too light for me so to be safe I picked the Nude.  

This palette contains a Cream to Powder Foundation which is the biggest part 

A concealer which in on the top left and a highlight which is obviously the bottom left 

There is also a sponge applicator and a brush all for £6 which is pretty darn affordable:) 

Now to be honest I am not a fan of compact cream foundations I never was.  Its just my preference but I dont like the thought of the whole foundation in exposure and dipping into it all the time I prefer the pump as its more hygienic   I have to admit the moment i used this I noticed fluffy from my clothes sticking to the foundation and the only way to take this out is either dig it out with a brush or pick it out with a tweezers mess!!!!!

Anyway alot of you out there do like compact foundations so this is why I got this to review for you :) and for my own curiosity too :) So putting all that hygienic thing aside let me review this for you and tell you about my experiences :) 

So let me start with the foundation:) 

The foundation is 100% yellow base so automatically it was perfect for my complexion as I am yellow toned which would be in the Mac language is a NC.  If you are looking for pink based foundation this is not for you and I have seen reviews on the Ivory shade and heads up about that too as it is also yellow base.  

The texture of this foundation actually surprised me, its very smooth and creamy which leaves applying the foundation a dream in my eyes.  Let me just tell you this shade is a a shade darker than my actual skin tone so this would probably suit someone who is an NC25-30.  This certainly gives good coverage MUA states it gives medium to full coverage.  I would agree on medium but not full !!  Which is not bad for the price your paying.  I found applying this with my usually Blank Canvas cosmetics F20 brush easier than the sponge applicator.  I did notice a little later maybe about few hours later when I was out in the sun that this foundation contains shimmer.  Which is not actually very noticeable unless you had your face right up at the mirror but I think maybe thats why my face looked flawless which I have to admit I loved :)  I am actually quite pleased with the foundation but if you do not like shimmer in foundation this is not for you.  This also photographs really well I even used the flash of my camera and it looks brilliant :)  I found this did last all day on me without having the need to top up.  I did find I had to powder a little after about 5 hours as I started to look a little shiny on my t zone. This is perfect for anyone who wants an affordable everyday foundation for sure and its also perfect for teens I bought one for my 14 year old sister and she loves it :) just remember if you are prone to acne please please wash you sponge after every use 

The concealer 

I have to admit I am not a fan of the concealer.  The texture the feel and the application is the exact same as the foundation I find no difference whatsoever.  Its the exact shade of the foundation 

The Highlighter 

This has a slight pinkish base which is sheer yet does give a little glow to the skin I wouldnt say its a favourite and I certain have better highlighters but for a light highlighter for everyday use its good enough for me :) 

Overall I think this is a good palette for the price you are paying.  If you are only looking for an affordable everyday foundation this will not disappoint you.  The concealer in my eyes is not a concealer but you could use it as a foundation.  

If you suffer with oily skin you might need to carry your powder with you if you are wearing this as it can make you look shiny after a couple of hours.

If you are normal/combination skin you will be fine with this and will only need to either soak up the oils on your t zone or powder just to take the shine away 

If you are a dry skin sufferer this is a good foundation for you as there is a little moisture in this foundation and will keep your dryness abay but make sure to moisturise anyway as you should always moisturise before foundation :) 

So here is a photo of what it looks like on and this is just with one layer on and with flash of camera ;) 

I did have to blend it all the way down my neck to make it look a little even but I lightened it up a little using my favourite 6 Pan Palette from Blank Canvas Cosmetics 
So in all its a good product for the price.  Would I purchase it again No I am afraid not only because I am not a fan of compact cream/liquid foundations but if I did like them well maybe I would repurchase because to be honest its not the worst foundation I have ever tried 
Until next time 
Lots of Love Luck and Laughter 

  

I love love love hearing from you all :) I make it my duty to read each and every one of you comments and every time i get a comment from you it highlights my day thanks so so much to you all xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Catrice Limited Edition "Neo Geisha" 2013

Well hello there my beautifuls how are you all doing today :) 

Well it wa my beautiful daughters birthday yesterday she is 11 which I can not believe.  I still remember the moment she was born and the fact that I had only 3 weeks to get it into my head I was expecting her and then have her YES I was 7 months pregnant when I found out I was pregnant with her but thats another story lol 

She has grown to be a fantastic girl and I am so very proud of her :)  Plus all my lovely kiddies are outside as i type this playing in the snow YES you heard again snow and its actually the most snow we have had all year awwwww Lovely Irish weather eh?

Today I am bringing to you The newest Limited Edition from Catrice Cosmetics.  As before I only purchased the Items I knew I would used so if you want to take a look at the whole range Click Here 

Widely popular on the international catwalks: the Asia trend, inspired by the Japanese Geisha look. Red lips and black eyeliner are absolutely essential for the silk kimonos, collarless jackets and spectacular footwear of this trend.
The Limited Edition “Neo Geisha” by CATRICE is a modern interpretation of the traditional Geisha look that unites artistic Japanese elements with facets of the Western World. The colours: red, dark blue and nude are mixed with intensive green, pink and purple. A combination of classical and modern.

So I just had to pick up the eye-shadows The Shades were just calling out to me.

Here is the shades up close :) 

• 01 Japaneyese:  A deep Navy with grey undertones 
• 02 Discreet Artist:  A cream shade with silver shimmers 
• 03 Dance In Gion:  A beautiful blue toned purple 
• 04 Planet Tokyo:  A beautiful lime green shade 
• These eyeshadows surprised me to be honest as I am a fan of Catrice's Absolute Eye shadows I have many in my collection as normally they are highly pigmented but I found these four in particular a little sheer.  With a primer they definitely need building up but once built up they look amazing and last all day.  Each eyeshadow cost me 3.29 euro which is still a brilliant price for what you are getting :) 
• I found the best shades out of the four is "Japaneyese" and "Dance In Gion" :) 

Next up is the Lip/Cheek colours :) 

I was even more excited to try these out as they are not only a cream blush but they are also a lip colour talk about handy for travelling :) :) 

There is only 3 shades available in these and of course i couldnt choose so I bought all 3 shades :) 

01 Discreet Artist:  This is a perfect everyday nude pink shade.  To be honest its very light on my as a cheek shade and it would have been a lovely shade on the lips but i found it to be a little on the greasy side then i found it soaked into every line on my lips so its a no no for me 

02 Picked Cherry Blossoms:  Now this my dears is a more pigmented more exciting shade :)  its a blue toned deep pink shade a perfect cheek and lips shade i have to say i love it :) 

03 Madam Butterfly:  A Blue toned red with pink undertones this is a shade for anyone afraid to wear reds I love this as it works well with my warm complexion

They are very easy to use.  You can either apply these with a stippling brush to your cheeks and apply with a lip brush to your lips or simply used your fingers.  I do find you need to apply a balm to your lips before you use these because they are matte they can dry into your lips.  As for the cheeks i found them lasting 5 to 6 hours before i noticed them wearing off.  

The best thing about these is you cant over do it on your cheeks as they do start off a little bit sheer but are buildable :) 

Lastly is the Kohl Pencil 

The Kohl Kajal in Ultra Black with a soft tip not only ensures an elaborate eyeliner look - the elongated, pointed pencil also serves as a traditional hairpin. With just a few swift movements, you can twist your hair around the pencil and put it up in a bun style: the modern Geisha look in perfection.

Now I have often put my hair up using a pen as a quick up-style when i am in the kitchen cooking or preparing food after all my hair is quite long but going to the extent of using my eyeliner as a hair accessory hmmmmm dont think so but if i ever have to I will surely let you know but that is why the eyeliner is in the shade it is :) 

As for performance and pigmentation.  This eyeliner is surely pigmented black as black could be.  Not very good in the water line and surely doesnt do well when tight lining but it does work well for that smoked out eyeliner look :)  It also works will as a base :) 

So that is all I got from the collection.  I wasn't pushed about buying the Patch Eye liners because they looked too fake and to be honest I don't see them lasting very long on the eyes if you have oily lids I could see them falling off 

The Nail Polishes did look lovely but i have so many in my collection and so many new ones to try out that i just had to say no 

And lastly the lip brush is the same as any other lip brush in my eyes so I passed on that too 

As for the items i did get there is nothing I am disappointed with apart from the lighter shade in the eye-shadow and lip/cheek colour.  

Have you tried these out yet 

Is there anything here that catches your eyes :) 

Until Next time 

Lots of Love Luck and Laughter 

I love love love hearing from you all :) I make it my duty to read each and every one of you comments and every time i get a comment from you it highlights my day thanks so so much to you all xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

#28 Days of Kisses *Day 18 Lipstick Tag

Hello my wonderful readers how are you all doing today 

Awwwww the sun is shining today and its so so great to see it.  The coldest is going slowly and its beginning to feel like the summer is coming in I love it.  My little twinnies even got out to play today which is great I love to see them getting out for fresh air.  

So today's Lips of the day of course has to be bright and cheery to copy my mood thanks to this fine day :) 

I have already posted up my picture of my FOTD with the famous lips and I have to say surprisingly I got really really great feedback so finally I can expose whats on my lips.  

The lip product i chose for todays lips is one of my all time favourite products and I mean all time.  This or should I say these lip products were actually near enough the first blog post post I reviewed Oh lordy when I look back at the blog post its a shame in a way as my photos arent what they are like now :( so if you would like me to update with better photos let me know but half of them are gone now but I plan to stock up on more shades and more of them.  

So the Lip product I am on about is ........

The NYX Mega Shine Lip Gloss 

Awwwww do not get me started on these little beauties.  They are amazing and always will be a favourite of mine.  I love absolutely everything about these glosses and I have not one bad thing to say.  Everything I said in my last blog post i still stick to today.

So the shade i chose for today is "French Kiss" and let me tell you if you havent tried these before and want to try a shade or too prepare to be overwhelmed because there is about 60 shades to choose from :) :) exciting eh?

The price range varies on these depending on where you get them :) 

They cost $5.50 from the American website 

They are on offer at $4.20 from Cherry Culture 

Or you can get really good deals on ebay for multi buys of them here is a link to all of the top rated sellers who sell them for you 

So back to "French Kiss" this shade is stunning a perfect Spring/Summer shade.  This is a stunning medium pinky shade with a frosty finish.  Normally I dont like frosty lip product but I love how this looks on my lips as it works with my skin tone and I just love it.  

 So so pretty 
So in all to cut a long story short 
If you are looking for a lipgloss with unbelievable pigmentation
Thats none sticky or gloopy 
Thick enough to stay on your lips for more than 2 to 3 hours
jazzes up lipsticks amazingly 
Has an amazing sweet but not overpowering sweet scent 
NYX Megashine Lip Glosses are the one to go for :) 

This is my FOTD :) 
Well have you every tried these?  If not "Why havent you" lol

Keep safe and happy and healthy and enjoy the day no matter what you are doing for the day and night 

Check out the ladies who have also taken part in #28Kisses posts you might see something you want to try out for yourself :)

Nykki-talks-beauty

Emily Nailed It 

Kaka Beauty Blog

Face Value Blog

FashionCHICsta

NykkeyB

Aglaia Beauty

Maria Sparkle

Pixie Dust and Fairytales

Pretty, Posh, Oh My Gosh!

Confessions of a Make-up Addict

The Glamourous life of a French House Wife

Beauti by Jinjer

Beauty Passionista

All Made up 21

Nina's Bargain Beauty

Epiphannie A

Lacey Smiles 84

Until next Time 

Lots of Love Luck and Laughter 

I love love love hearing from you all :) I make it my duty to read each and every one of you comments and every time i get a comment from you it highlights my day thanks so so much to you all xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

MUA BB All in One Beauty Balm

Hey my beauties I hope you are all well :) 

Ok me and BB creams so far have not had a great relationship so far.  I only ever tried 2 BB creams in my life and both were very disappointing especially in the shade department as my face would come out look like one of Willy Wonka's oompa loompa's. 

In the summer though i was looking for something lighter than my foundation as even though the weather wasn't exactly our ideal summer, we did have days where the heat was nearly unbearable .  It would be clammy and heavy and not ideal for wearing foundation.  

So i was browsing the MUA Store one day and came across the BB cream and decided to give it a go as it did only cost £4.  I also remember coming across The Sunday Girls review about it and was chatting with her on twitter one day and she recommended that i try it.  

There was only 3 shades to choose from Light, Medium and Dark.  I went with medium as i thought Light would have been too light for me. 

I was very excited to try this out :) The packaging is a squeezable black tube which is small enough to carry in her travel/handbag.  You are getting 30 mls per tube for £4 which is reasonable for the price i have to say :) :) 
As i stated i got this in Medium as i am more Fair to medium and as i got a wee bit of colour in the summer (i don't know how) safely of course i was ranging more medium skin tone so i had everything crossed that this would not be too dark on me.  I would prefer it been a little too light than dark. 

So this is a swatch of it on my hand as you can see its a little lighter than my tanned hands but not too light.  This cream smells lovely it smells a little like moisturiser a very light scent.  
According to MUA this bb cream is supposed to prime, smooth and conceal.  Also as The Sunday Girl mentioned to me there is no SPF in it unlike some bb creams you get but hey that can be sorted with a little SPF of your own before hand.  
What I found with this while squeezing it out that it was like i had been using it for a while no product came out until i went 3/4 's way down the tube so just be cautious of that.  

In this photo you will see it blended out on my not so tanned (inside) arm :) you can see it does give a little colour to my poor pale arm.   
I mentioned before on facebook i sort of had a love/hate relationship with a particular product well this is the product. 
I first applied this bb cream on my face without a primer as i thought with it been quite thick and moisturising that i wouldn't need anything like that but i was wrong i was having a dry spell around the time i first tried it so i found it soaked into my dry lines and seem to highlight my dry patches around my mouth area.  
So the next time i applied it i applied my Catrice Prime and Fine Primer before and wow such a difference i loved the finish.  Apart from it been a little light for my i was pleased with how well it looked on my face.  With it been too light a little bronzer would sort that out.  
I found this extremely moisturising and feels really smooth on the skin.  If you are oily i will advise to have a compact or blotting paper with you throughout the day as it can get a little shiny after a few hours if you are oily.  I did find it a little greasier than a normal foundation i think that is why i wasn't sure about it at first but a little of this goes a long way and if you do use it lightly it doesn't look greasy.  

Does it conceal?  Yes i actually found this great to conceal my dark lids and dark circles like you could really get away with just wearing this and walking out the door without having to conceal anywhere.  I would have to say that this gives medium coverage for sure as it didn't entirely conceal my freckles but it did make them look less visible.  I also suffer with dark spots and this cream covered them up nicely.  I am going to show you a picture of just how much of a difference it makes with a before (oh god i hate the before pictures) and after pictures of the bb cream with a little bronzer all over does :) 

Over all i am very very pleased with MUA's BB cream and i would recommend it to everyone especially first time makeup wearers to try it out :) :) The best way to apply this is with your fingers i found.  I am now on my 2nd tube and this will be perfect for days I want to take a break from my foundation. 
You can buy online or in Superdrug 
:) 
So have you tried this BB's.  What's your Favourite BB Cream 
Until Next Time Take Care
Lots of Love Luck & Laughter 

I love love love hearing from you all :) I make it my duty to read each and every one of you comments and every time i get a comment from you it highlights my day thanks so so much to you all xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx