MUA Swatches

I was in Dublin on Thursday for the Best in Beaut.ie Awards (more on that later) and I found a bit of time to go shopping while I was there. Of course I had to head out to Superdrug and pick up some MUA cosmetics. I really wish somewhere in Galway would stock MUA, their products are fantastic and so, so cheap. 

My haul :D 

As always, you can click on the pictures to make them bigger

This is the MUA Professional Palette in Heaven and Earth. It's one of the most versatile palettes I've ever bought. Every eyeshadow in there can be matched with another one to create a full look. It's got lid shades, crease shades and, unlike many palettes, highlight shades. 

Costing a super reasonable €4.75, this palette can easily fit most budgets. I will be stocking up on these next time I'm in a Superdrug, so a warning to my friends: You're all getting these as birthday presents.

Of course I managed to swatch everything upside down. Top row in the palette is the bottom  row of swatches and vice versa. Eyeshadows are swatched over UDPP

I also got the Starry Night palette. I own very few grey eyeshadows, so this is perfect to fill that gap. I can't see myself getting much wear from the pinks and purples in this palette, as they're a little too cool-toned for me, but I love the greys and the shimmery black. 

The colours are a bit more vibrant than this IRL, my flash washed them out a little. 

Superdrug didn't have a great selection of single eyeshadows when I was there, they were sold out of most of them. Therefore the only single I picked up was Shade 8- Pearl. 

The single eyeshadows are €1.05 iirc.

Swatched upside-down again, oops. Shade 8 is tacked on there at the end. 

I'd never tried MUA's lipsticks before so I grabbed a few of those too. 

I think the lipsticks were also €1.05, but I've lost my receipt so I'm probably wrong. 

L-R: Shade 11, Shade 1, Shade 8. 

Lipsticks are swatched over Urban Decays Lip Primer 

Shade 11 is a lovely, creamy nude. I've been looking for a shade like this for ages so I'm glad to have found one, especially one that's so cheap

My lip piercing looks super crooked in these photos. It's not, I just have wonky lips and the bar is too long. 

Shade one is a quite glossy red. I can see this being my go-to red this Autumn

Shade 8 is the final colour I bought. It's a sheer red with gold glitter.

When I swatched this in Superdrug I thought it would be my favourite, but on my lips it doesn't really work at all. The other two applied perfectly, but this one was a pain. It went on patchily and bled a little at the edges of my lips. I'll get some wear out of it, but I won't be reaching for it as often as the others. 

What's everyone else's thoughts on MUA?

Can anyone recommend me any other products to try from them? 

MUA, Urban Decay, Barry M and Penney's GILT swatches

Today I swatched the makeup I got in Dublin along with some things I got from Barry M recently. It was starting to get dark as I was doing these, so they're not as good as I'd like, but most of them are quite true to life. 

Oh, also I got my hair cut last week. In these pictures it isn't styled or anything so it looks a bit crap, but maybe tomorrow I'll stick up some pictures of it when it's looking nice. I'm pretty happy with it, I think it suits me better than my long hair and it's much easier to deal with. I can even comb it now! I haven't been able to comb my hair (without losing half the teeth on the comb) in a long time. The left side needs a bit more shaping, and it's a little too long so once I figure out what I want done over there I'll go and get that fixed up. Best of all, my haircut only cost a tenner (!). I went to the Connacht School of Hairdressing in Galway.

First up are the Barry M swatches. I bought Lip Paint in Marshmallow (lp101) and Glitter Eye Crayon in Black (gc6) along with the Crackle Polish I've already blogged about. I got these on 3 for 2 in Boots. They were €6/€7 each. 

I've worn them both and I'm not too impressed to be honest. The eye crayon looks nice but it doesn't wear well, it goes very smudgy and the glitter really spreads around your face. However I've been wearing it as an eyeshadow base under glittery eyeshadows and it works really well like that.

The lipstick isn't really the right colour for me, but it could suit some people. It's very white and pink toned. The texture is ok, but it's a little drying. I'd recommend wearing it over a lipbalm or moisturising primer. It wears fairly well but you will need to reapply after eating or drinking as it fades out in the middle quite easily. 

I'd say I'll get a bit of wear out of this, sheered out a little it doesn't look so harsh. Also I think it would be nice under a coloured lipgloss. 

Next are the Urban Decay products I got in the discount cosmetics shop on O'Connell st and my new eyeliner from Debenhams. 

I wrote the other day about how I couldn't find an Urban Decay counter in Dublin and therefore couldn't buy a new Bourbon liner. (Btw, I'm impressed people actually managed to get through that whole ramble) My mum was in Dublin at the weekend and she was kind enough to pick one up for me. Bourbon is probably my favourite liner ever. Most days when I can't be bothered spending lots of time on my makeup but still want to look presentable I just smudge a little of this around my eyes, throw on a bit of foundation, blusher and mascara and I'm good to go. 

It's the perfect colour for my warm toned skin and sets off my eyes nicely. This liner is available from Debenhams and some Boots and it costs around €15. It's also available in mini form in some of the liner sets.

I had never used an Urban Decay mascara or lipstick before so I was excited to try these. The lipstick is a pinkish red sheen called Gravity. I haven't worn this out yet so I can't speak for the staying power but it applies nicely. In the pictures below it's applied straight from the tube, with no care taken so it does look nicer when applied with a lip brush and blotted. I would recommend a lip liner with this one, I noticed some feathering when I put it on for the swatch. 

The lipstick has a caramel scent which I really like but I'm sure some people will find it overpowering. I like the packaging, it's heavy and feels sturdy. This is on the UD website so I assume it's widely available.

 The mascara is Big Fatty Coloured Mascara in Black Cherry

-The tv's on in the background while I'm writing this, and the Coca Cola Christmas ad just came on! It's the first time I've seen it this year so EXCITEMENT! I'm taking that as a sign that I can now get into the Christmas spirit. Now back to what I was saying...-

Weirdly the mascara and the lipstick are nearly the exact same colour. I've always like the idea of coloured mascaras, but they've never lived up to my expectations. Either they're too pigmented and make me look like I have an eye infection (Barry M Shocking Pink coloured mascara, I'm talking to you) or they're barely pigmented enough to show on my dark lashes. This one hits are fairly good balance. I like it, it shows up as just a hint of a dark cherry colour on the lashes. Only problem with it is it's not a good mascara. Unless you have wonderlashes you will need to wear another mascara under this as it gives no curl or length and only a tiny bit of volume. 

I paid €10 for the two of these, or they're €6 each from the shop I mentioned. 

The M.U.A. products I bought in Superdrug. These are seriously cheap, I think I paid €1.05 per item. I haven't actually used most of these yet so this will be quick. I've also thrown in the GILT eyeshadow I got in Penney's.

I bought three eyeshadows; Shade 18 which is a Matt pink-white, Shade 10 which is a purple Pearl and Shade 12 which is a green-brown Pearl. 

Shade 18 I bought in the hopes it could replace MAC Orb as my eyeshadow for blending out. I use Orb as it's a similar colour to my skin but I've hit the pan on it and would like to find a cheaper alternative. This seems like it will do the job, you can't actually see it in the swatch pictures because it's so similar to the colour of my skin. It's more pink than Orb and I don't know yet how it applied seeing as I haven't worn it yet. The texture seems nice and smooth though. 

Shade 12 is a dark shimmery bluish purple. It's nice, and doesn't seem similar to any other colours I have.

Shade 12 is green with a brown base. This would be a good dupe for MAC Club I think.

Top half of the swatch is over UDPP, bottom half is over Pixie Epoxy.

L-R: Shade 18, 10, 12. You can't see shade 18 due to it being so close to my skincolour

The Penneys GILT Liquid Gold Metallic Cream is the first of the Penneys cosmetics I've tried. I wore it a few days ago and I didn't like it very much. It doesn't show up well on the skin and it doesn't last very long. As an eyeshadow base it works ok but it's not going to become my preferred gold eyeshadow base. It smells plasticy and cheap. It's a pity because I like the packaging and was hoping I'd like the product too. 

I bought the MUA blusher in Shade 3. I haven't worn this yet but it's a good coral colour and the colour payoff seems good. It has a little bit of shimmer so this might have to be a nighttime blusher, I don't like being too much of a glitterbomb in the daylight!

Lastly I got the MUA Liquid Liner in Shade 4, a metallic grey. I love the brush on this, as you can see in the picture it's very thin at the end so it can make a very precise line. I've worn this once and it seems good, it applies smoothly and the colour is nice against my green eyes. It flakes a little if you rub at it.

Ignore the brown line under the liquid liner, it's just the UD liner that I couldn't wipe off

Wait, I lied, that wasn't the last thing. I bought one more product from MUA, the clear mascara. I didn't own clear mascara prior to this so I thought I'd try it since it was so cheap. I've been using it to keep my brows in shape and it's working a treat. Wouldn't advise using it as actual mascara though, it doesn't appear to do anything when I apply it to my lashes.

I think that's everything, I hope this was helpful to someone. Let me know if any of you have tried to products featured here, what did you think of them? Is there any other MUA products I should try?