MUA Review & Swatches

Hey guys! As you may or may not know MUA have recently launched their Pro range of makeup and i was lucky enough to be near to one of the two stores in the UK that got the range first! MUA - Makeup Academy are currently in selected Superdrug stores but the entire collection is now available to buy online on Superdrug.co.uk. Superdrug only ship to the UK at the moment but MUA are in the process of launching a website which as far as I'm aware will ship worldwide. I have a mixture of products, some from their normal range which everything is priced at £1 and some of the Pro range which are priced between £2 - £4. The great thing about this brand is that even though they are amazingly inexpensive they do not skimp on quality and things such as the eye shadows could in my opinion rival some higher end products.

Heaven and Earth Eyeshadow Palette - £4

This is probably the stand out product for me, I absolutely adore this palette! Some people have likened it to UD's Naked Palette and there are maybe 2 or 3 shades that are a little similar. But if you are looking for a cheaper alternative this has 12 absolutely gorgeous shimmery neutral shades. I've been reaching for this palette most of the week because they blend nicely and wear all day with UDPP. Even if like me you already have the Naked Palette i still think this is worth picking up! Another plus for me is the packaging, the see through top makes it very easy to grab without having to open to check you've got the right one. It's also slim enough to pop into your handbag or travel with without taking up too much space. I will definitely be picking up a few more of these!

 

Top Row

Bottom Row

Glitter Ball Palette - £4.

 Top Row

Bottom Row

Extreme Metallics Eyeshadow Quads - £3

These also come in six different shades and i can't wait to get my hands on the Smokin' Quad as soon as a manage to find it in stock. Looks and size wise they are similar to the Bobbi Brown Shimmer Brick but again have a clear top which lazy me loves. Just like the regular shadows from the £1 range they are soft and creamy in texture and not at all chalky. I've found they are slightly messier than the other shadows purely because they are in quad form but nothing that would put me off buying more.

Glammed Up

Celebrity

Eyeshadow Trio - Blue Babe - £2.50

Again absolutely gorgeous colours the darker blue being my personal favourite. The packaging for these although a little bulky is mega cute with a little button on the side to open it. It has a highlight, all over lid and a crease colour which complement each other beautifully. I was nicely surprised to find the highlight shade was more of a goldy colour rather than a white as it looks in the packaging. As always with MUA this is phenomenal value. I'm looking forward to getting my hands on the Gold and Green trios soon.

 

Single Eyeshadows - £1 

Excuse the dodgey pictures! I ran out and bought another two after uploading this. I really don't have to say too much about these because i think most people know how awesome these are. 2g of product for £1.. you can't go wrong! These are superbly pigmented and come in either a Pearl or Matte finish. Only thing i can say is that some of them look VERY different in the pan. I intend to depot these and find a palette for them and probably collect them all! There are also some new exciting colours being released very soon.

Shade - 3 Pearl. Shade 12 - Pearl. Shade 13 - Pearl. Shade 20 - Matte.

Shade 2 - Pearl. Shade 6 - Pearl.

Lip Glosses and Lipsticks - £1

Annoyingly i had a bit of a blonde moment and did the swatches in a different order to the pictures. The two wand applicator ones are swatched first. I'll have to go back and redo that picture at some point in the future. The colours of all the lip glosses (and the one lipstick i own) are rather sheer which is a positive for me since i shy away from more opaque colours on my lips. The glosses in tubes oddly smell a lot like redbull but again i weirdly like this! The other two have a slight vanilla smell to them as does the lipstick. I've had shade 1 of the tube gloss in my handbag all week as it is a gorgeous pink/purple shade with a lot of shimmer! Like most lip glosses they do accentuate any dryness on your lips so keeping a good lip scrub close to hand is vital. As far as I'm aware all of the lip glosses and lipsticks are shimmery which may not be for everyone. Again the price is outstanding and are great for just throwing in your handbag.

Shade 1 & 2 (Wand applicator) - Shade 1, 2 & 3 (Sqeezable tubes). Lipstick - Shade 7

 Extreme Felt Liner - £2.  3 in 1 Eye Contour Pen - £1.50. Intense Glitter Eyeliner - Starry Night. Glitter Eyeliner - Shade 4 - £1.

Lets start off with my favourite of the four things, the Felt Liner. When i first bought this mine had dried out but MUA were nice enough to send me a replacement. I've been using the Smashbox felt liner religiously until somehow i misplaced it and was thrilled to try this one. I actually prefer this to my Smashbox one as i feel you can get a more defined line with it. It lasts all day and doesn't budge, its got to be one of my favourites. The Eye contour Pen baffles me a little bit im unsure really how I'm supposed to use it but when i work this out I'll put up a little review. The glitter liner... Its so so so pretty swatched on my hand and has a gorgeous creamy consistency although i can't get it to stay put on my eye. For me it smudges all over the place which is a big shame since i really love it! I'd use it on my waterline was it not for the glitter. And lastly the Glitter Liner, for the price its a bit of fun. Takes a little while to build up a solid line of glitter but it does stay put a lot longer than the god awful E.l.f glitter liner. I love the colour so I'm determined to make it work for me!

Extreme Felt Liner - Eye Contour Pen - Intense Glitter Eyeliner - Glitter Eyeliner.

 Mosiac Blush - English Rose. Mosiac Bronzer - Natural Glow. £2.50

These aren't overly pigmented which in my opinion isn't always a bad thing when it comes to blush and especially for me with bronzer. The English rose shade is a gorgeous rose pink colour which for me being super pale looks wonderful on the skin. I've been meaning to try contouring with this bronzer as it looks like it may not be too dark for me and has as far as i can tell very little to no shimmer in it. I'm relatively new wearing bronzers and this would only be my second but i shall let you know how i get on with it!

 Primer - £4. Matte Foundation Shade 1 - £2.

Brush On Concealer Shade 1 - £2.

Firstly, i was amazed to find a face primer for such a small price tag. I'm used to using the Smashbox Photo Finish and this is nothing like it. This has a smooth watery consistency which is not oily or slippery at all. Saying this i really do like this primer, i find it even outs my skin tone and leaves a lovely base for foundation. It's not drying at all either but it would probably depend on which foundation I'm using to whether i use it. The foundation is simply far too dark for me. It comes in 3 shades so if you fit one of those this may work for you but sadly it was a little too orange for my super pale skin. Same for the concealer as you can see from the picture, even darker than the foundation just isn't a colour match for me. They do have testers Superdrug so i suggest you go check them out before you buy.

 

Extreme Curl Mascara. Extreme Volume Mascara. - £2

For some reason i just couldn't get these to work for me. I love having thick maybe a little over the top lashes and this just didn't do that. The curling one does slightly curl my lashes but mine aren't overly straight to begin with. But this is just my opinion and these may work great for you!

Nail Polish - Shade 12 and 14 - £1. Nail Quake - Shattered Ice, Shockwaves, Shiver and Quiver - £2.99.

Sadly i can't wear nail varnish to work so i haven't had a lot of time to try these out yet. But when i do I'll be sure to update this with pictures and opinions. But i was happy to see an alternative to the Barry M and OPI shatter polishes on the high street.

Overall i think MUA offers mostly extremely good products at bargain prices. Like i said earlier i think most of the shadows are up there with higher end brands and proves that buying cheap products doesn't mean you should loose quality. I love the range of colours they do especially the eyeshadows but in the future I'd love the see more matte colours. If you haven't seen any of these before check if your nearest Superdrug stocks them as they are definitely worth a look. I will in future be purchasing quite a bit more from them and i look forward to seeing what products they come out with in the future. MUA are probably one of the brands that recently that stopped me being a bit of a label snob, and me and my bank balance are happy for it!

You can check out all the MUA products out online here.

Thanks for reading guys! 

xx