MUA Paint Box Beige Nudes & Honey Browns Review!

Recently, MUA have released a new range of products, one of these new products is lip palettes. When I first seen them I wasn't sure if I was going to get them. I've never really understood the hype around lip palettes and prefer to just carry a lipstick. However, temptation got the better of me and I decided to bite the bullet and try one and I'm a convert!

They currently have three Paint Box lip palettes (one is limited edition) to choose from and I choose the Paint Box Lip Palette Beige Nudes & Honey Browns as I prefer to wear a nude lipstick day to day and thought I would get the most use out of this one.

 

First, I was really impressed with the packaging. I think it looks very professional and very sleek. Its a nice size too and fits easily in my makeup bag. I wasn't too shocked to see that the lipsticks don't have a name on the back of the packaging but its not a big deal.

 

 

The palette contains a mix of matte and gloss lipsticks, but to me the only one which is really glossy is number 3.

All of the lipsticks are very pigmented and easy to apply. They last quite well throughout the day but need reapplied after food, as with most lipsticks. It is also very easy to mix the shades together to achieve a custom shade. I have yet to try it, but I think with the colours in this palette you could create a really nice ombre lip too!


The palette comes with two small brushes. For first application I would recommend a lip brush, such as MUA's L1 Lip Brush, just to make application a little bit easier. The cool thing about this lip brush is it comes with a cap so you can take it with you in your make up bag for re-application and not worry about it getting ruined. However, the larger of the two brushes that comes with this palette is absolutely fine to use for any re-application required.


Overall, despite my initial hesitance, I'm glad I decided to try this palette out. At only £4 I think this is an absolute steal for great quality lipsticks. It would be ideal for weekends away as you have 5 options (plus customs) to pick from so could save you packing 3/4 lipsticks!
I would highly recommend this if you like nudes tones or aren't sure if a lip palette is for you, I'm sure this one will convert you!

xoxo

Easy Gelish Nail Art!

A few days ago I created this very simple nail art design using a stamping plate and decided to share it with you!

 

I used gelish to create the base for my design but of course this could easily be done using normal nail polishes also.

 

 

I prepped my nails using the SensatioNail cleanser followed by their Base Primer. I also used their top and base coat for this design.

 

For the colour base of the design, I used two thin coats Cool Breeze by SensatioNail on all fingers. Once cured, I then put a thin layer of CH17 by BlueSky on the middle nail and cured.

 

 

I really love Cool Breeze and think it looks so nice on its own and with the BlueSky glitter too! However, I recently got a new stamping plate and thought one of the images would look nice on top of this colour.

 

The plate I used was BP-L007 by Born Pretty and I used the first image on the second row of the plate.

To stamp, I used a Creative Shop stamper and scraper and MoYou London stamping polish in black. Once the image was stamped I cleaned around the nail using a clean up brush and acetone, top coated and cured the design.

 

 

 

 Here is a better close up of the image I stamped

 



xox

MUA Rhapsody Palette Review

I am a huge fan of MUA products! I've been using them daily for many years and always recommend them to others and I'm so glad to see them expanding and gaining more support.

If you have been living under a rock and don't know who MUA are here's a bit about them: MUA (Make Up Academy) offer affordable but great quality makeup. They do everything from eyelashes to skin bases to £1 (yes £1!) lipsticks. They can be found online and are exclusive to Superdrug.

I recently purchased the Rhapsody palette from my local Superdrug after weeks of debating if I actually needed it. I own a few of their neutral palettes and I honestly wasn't sure I needed a new warm-toned palette. However, after my other half saying "what's one more" I thought why not! (I'm so easily persuaded when it comes to make up!)

Here is the palette:

 

 

The palette cost £5 and comes with 10 eye shadow shades and 2 iridescent metallic creams. It also comes with a small brush but honestly, I only kept the brush to show in the pictures and I haven't used it once. 

 

 

 

 

 

For the sake of swatches I decided to swatch the metallic creams first, followed by the four shades next to the creams going from top to bottom and lastly the remaining shades going from top to bottom (L-R). I took a picture of each swatch in natural light and with a flash.

All swatches were done without the use of any primer and were done in one swipe to show the colour payoff. 

 

 

 



 

As you can see the creams are highly pigmented and you can really see the lovely iridescence when the flash is on. I have been using the lighter shade as a highlight recently and have been loving it!

 

 

 



 Again, as you can see the shades are very pigmented with only one swipe. They do look matte without the flash but the first two shades definitely have iridescence to them.

 

 Here, again you can see all the eye shadows have a great colour payoff.


The palette does contain a good mixture of matte, stain, frost and pearl textures. I would have liked to have had one or two more matte colours in the palette, but that's just being picky!

Overall the quality you get in this palette is outstanding given the price. I have been using this on a daily basis now for the past two weeks and I honestly have no complaints. The amount of looks you can create using this one palette is incredible. I have done toned down day looks, dark, dramatic looks and even a smoky eye or two.

You can find the palette here. MUA also have a YouTube channel where their make up artist has uploaded a tutorial using this palette, which can be found here.

xoxo