Review | Make Up For Ever Ultra HD Foundation in Y365/123

Hello! This review has been in the pipeline for months, so I'm excited to be sitting down and finally writing it. So this is the second foundation I have purchased from Make Up For Ever, the first was the Face and Body (reviewed here) and I absolutely love it. It's quick to apply, water based and has great longevity. I've always wanted to buy the more famous sister though and when they reformulated it, into an 'Ultra' version of the HD designed for 4K cameras, I jumped at the chance last summer. Whilst I still love the Face and Body, this Ultra HD foundation has seriously impressed me, quickly becoming my go-to foundation. In fact I think I'm down to the last few pumps which never ever happens so quickly as I'm usually always switching between bases.

Packaging

This foundation is packaging in a sleek cylinder bottle, which is made out of plastic, lightweight and great for travelling. I imagine this also makes it great for makeup artist's kits too, as it is a professional brand. The black lid is secure on the bottle and I feel like the silver rim adds a touch of luxe to the otherwise practical bottle. I find each pump releases a decent amount of foundation too, again ever so practical too. The only downside to this bottle is its almost impossible to see how much foundation is left, as I've said I think I'm down to my final few pumps, but I really can't tell based on the bottle!

Price

The MUFU Ultra HD foundation usually costs £29.00 for 30ml, but it's currently on sale at Debenhams for £26.10! I think the price is completely justifiable and a part of me wants to take advantage of the 10% off and purchase another, however I have far too many bases to justify it right now haha.

Formula and Finish

The best way to describe this formula is silky and 'skin like'. As described by MUFE, this is like a second skin with medium coverage. It blends into the skin like a dream and my primary tool to use with this, is a damp beauty blender. A damp sponge is apparently the most recommended too, however I quite liked how it looked with an Artist brush dupe too! The way it looks on the skin, is exactly why I really love this base. It almost melts into the skin, without highlighting any dry patches, sinking into pores or looking cakey in the slightest. It is a truly beautiful foundation and I 100% understand why so many people have loved it for years and why a lot of artists use it on their brides for their wedding.

The finish is a lot less dewy than the Face and Body but not at all matte either, which makes it perfect for day to day use. The Ultra HD formula is designed to make skin look near flawless under 4K cameras and it really does photograph like a dream too. Although it looks great alone, I do find that when I'm wearing it in warmer weather, if I don't set this in place with a powder it will have disappeared in some places on my face (like around my mouth and on my nose). My skin is combination these days, which is probably why it wears differently, however I'm sure oily skinned girls who have worn this will recommend setting it with a powder too.

I don't find this formula to be particularly buildable, so if I'm having a bad skin-day/a breakout, I normally skip this and opt for something fuller coverage such as the NARS Sheer Glow or Dior Skin Star (reviewed).  I also don't think this is super long lasting, unless you're setting your face with powder and using a primer beforehand. If I wear this alone, just over a moisturiser and with no powder, I get about 6-7 hours of good wear before I notice it fading. This is fine for a short shift at work, or lunch with the girls, but for a long day at Uni it's just not ideal. So preparation is key if you are planning on wearing it on a hotter day or longer day.

 

A big reason why I am such a huge fan of this foundation is how close the colour match is. Never ever has a foundation matched me SO perfectly and there is something very satisfying about a shade being bang on. I'm sure we've all had that struggle on trying to lighten a foundation a little, or bronzing up extra because the base is too light...so to find the PERFECT shade match is near enough a miracle! Make Up For Ever have an incredible 40 shades in their line, so although it may be tricky figuring out which shade is best for you, I'm almost certain you'll find a great match too. By the way, I used the great site called findation.com to help me get my correct shade, definitely try it out if you don't live near a counter but still want to take advantage of the offer/pick this up online in the future. 

Here's a slightly blurry swatch, but I thought I'd take advantage of that random spot on my arm to show you the coverage. As you can see the skintone is evened out, but you can still kinda see the spot under the base. Personally for day to day I'm happy with this kind of medium coverage, and unless it's a big nasty spot I won't bother going in with concealer. However for special occasions, if I'm having a good skin day I'll just colour correct a little first and then use this alone on top.

Round Up:

Rating: 8/10

Pros: It looks absolutely beautiful on the skin, it doesn't accentuate any flaws and it photographs amazingly well as the name suggests. I think the packaging is very practical, the shade range is brilliant and I adore the fact that I finally have a bang on shade match too! The finish is lovely, satin/skin-like and for me its the perfect coverage for everyday.

Cons: As I only typically powder under the eyes, I do find it a little annoying that I have to set more of my face to keep this base on for longer. Also being able to see how much product is left would be useful!

Overall: This is definitely in my top three from the foundations in my collection, with the two mentioned above from NARS and Dior taking up the other two spots (if you'd like a Top Three high end bases post, let me know!). It's the ideal base for every day makeup and occasional makeup too, it looks so flawless on the skin and is a very reliable base, whether my skin has random dry patches or not.

Repurchase? Yes I will be, I just want to get through some of my other bases first!

Have you tried the Ultra HD foundation out? What are your thoughts?

Thank-you for reading ♥

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Review | Make Up For Ever Ultra HD Foundation in Y365/123

Hello! This review has been in the pipeline for months, so I'm excited to be sitting down and finally writing it. So this is the second foundation I have purchased from Make Up For Ever, the first was the Face and Body (reviewed here) and I absolutely love it. It's quick to apply, water based and has great longevity. I've always wanted to buy the more famous sister though and when they reformulated it, into an 'Ultra' version of the HD designed for 4K cameras, I jumped at the chance last summer. Whilst I still love the Face and Body, this Ultra HD foundation has seriously impressed me, quickly becoming my go-to foundation. In fact I think I'm down to the last few pumps which never ever happens so quickly as I'm usually always switching between bases.

My 21st Birthday Sephora Haul!

Hello everybody! Today is my 21st Birthday 🎉 And it's becoming a bit of a tradition to treat myself to one Sephora order a year, in my birthday month. Ordering from Sephora is expensive without a doubt, customs, taxes and shipping in total probably cost me around £36! So now you know why it's more of an annual treat haha. Having said that, like I said last year the way I see it is £36 is a lot cheaper than a ticket to America and hotel costs SOOOO I think all in all, although its a splurge it's rather justifiable ;D. Before we get into this haul, I'd just like to apologise for the lack of consistency with these photos, I was getting brave and shooting in RAW mode...this was my first try and some of them didn't quite come out as I had hoped. ANYWAYS, on to the good stuff!

So starting off with two liquid lipsticks that I've had my eye on for AGES, and these are probably the most talked about and most loved liquid lipsticks of all time: Kat Von D's Everlasting Liquid Lipsticks in Lolita and Double Dare ($20.00 - £13.70). I was extremely excited for Lolita of course, which is described as a chestnut rose. It looks like the most gorgeous mauvey rose shade for medium skintones and I am super excited to try it today. I also purchased Double Dare, which came highly recommend by the lovely Jasmine and is described as 'cocoa blush'. It's pretty much a stunning medium muted pink shade and I think I'll get a lot of wear out of it. I was also planning on purchasing the shade Bow N Arrow which is a nude colour, but then I decided to try out a couple of different formulas and if I love these two, I'll place another order and pick it up next year.

 Talking about other formulas, I simply HAD to purchase at least one of the Anastasia Beverly Hills Liquid lipsticks ($20.00 - £13.70) and as the new shades were new to Sephora, a lot of them were out of stock. I did want to purchase at least one of the pink nude shades and if I like this formula, I'll be purchasing those in the future. However another shade which stood out to me, after watching at least 10 swatch videos, was Ashton. On the Sephora site, it is described as a mid-toned yellow brown, however based on swatches I would call it more of a deeper nude shade, with orange undertones. Actually it does kind of remind me of everything nice (reviewed here) which is a shade I adore, so I'm looking forwards to trying Ashton out! The packaging of the ABH liquid lipsticks are so lovely and luxe too.

The final liquid lipstick formula I purchased is the Sephora collection cream lip stain in 13 - Marvellous Mauve ($14.00 - £9.59). I have seen this doing the rounds on YouTube for months now and after a bit of research, I saw this shade is an almost exact dupe for Stila's Patina! This is £6 cheaper, plus its a whole different formula, so I was very excited to pick it up and give it a go. By the way, I haven't included swatches in this post because I plan to review each and every product individually - but I will be doing comparison swatches and the likes when I get around to writing those posts.

 So you probably know that I have become pretty smitten with single eyeshadows, and the concept of creating my own palette! Being a regular YouTube watcher (have I mentioned that already??), ABH shadows are used so often and recommended a lot. It was really hard to settle on which shades I wanted, because initially I thought I'd be able to get a quad for free to hold them in, BUT FOR SOME REASON SEPHORA DOESN'T SHIP THE CARDBOARD/PLASTIC QUAD PACKAGING TO THE UK -_- It's really not a huge deal, it's just a bit frustrating because I understand why they can't ship nail polishes...but packaging for a quad?? Eh. Anyway what made choosing these shades a little easier was I already had the majority of my MUG shadows, so I could kind of see which shades were missing in my palette - as this whole single shadow palette will be my go-to for years to come!

The first shade I decided to go for was Sienna - described as an earth brown. I picked this over morocco, though it was a very close call. I think what helped me decide in the end was literally googling eyeshadow looks with each shade name, and thinking about which ones I could actually see myself using. First impressions are that this is in the same colour family as Cocoa Bear from MUG, which is one of my ultimate favourites!  Peach Sorbet - is described as a metallic sultry rose champagne. I chose it mainly because Katy (Lustrelux) loves this shade, plus I needed a bright pop of colour in my palette, for an intense inner-corner highlight or simply all over the lid. The final shade I purchased was Fawn - described as a neutral olive. I wouldn't quite agree with this description, it's more of a brown and again it's used and recommended so much on YT that I couldn't resist adding to my already pretty extensive collection of neutrals! The ABH shadows are a bit of a splurge, they're $12.00 - £8.22, so they're just a little more expensive than the MUG foiled shadows. Based on the price, of course I have high expectations and I'll be posting reviews for these three shadows separately by the way, as they are more pricey.

AND WE HAVE MORE EYESHADOWS. Lemme explain okay, hear me out - I know I said I've gone off palettes since the decision to create my own using single shadows, but since this beauty was released months ago I was completely smitten. The Tartelette In Bloom Palette ($45.00 - £30.00) is actually available in the UK, from QVC however it was out of stock for a couple of weeks prior to my order so I decided to pick it up from Sephora instead. This is the second version of their palette, the first one was all matte and it didn't really appeal to me. Especially as a LOT of reviews were not so great, so although I was instantly drawn to the in bloom palette, I was kind of glad I was on my spending ban so I could wait and read reviews for this one. I've not come across any negative reviews myself, and although it was smaller than I expected, I am OVER THE MOON. The pigmentation of the shades are stunning, the formula is creamy and I just can't stop admiring this beauty! I couldn't have designed a more beautiful palette myself, from the outer packaging, to the large mirror, to the range of lights to darks with that gorgeous redish shade - yes Tarte, you did SO GOOD.

I've also had my eye on the Tarte Colored Clay CC Undereye Corrector ($24.00 - £16.43) for a while now. I am all about the salmon coloured correctors, I've tried a couple but I'm yet to find one that ticks all my boxes. First impressions are that the shade I purchased - Medium-Tan is probably going to be near perfect, I'm not so sure about the coverage or formula, but I shall be reviewing it soon along with the concealer I picked up LAST year!

And finally one of the funnest things about ordering from Sephora in your birthday month, is the beauty insider birthday gift! Last year it was two decent sized NARS pencils, which I loved. This year they give you a skincare option and a makeup option. Of course, when I saw it was Marc Jacobs, I picked this - a mini lipstick and a pencil eyeliner. Do excuse the quality of this photo (RAW gone wrong🙄), but I'll be doing a post on this very soon to give y'all my two pennies. Regardless though, its a great perk and a lovely free gift from a very luxury brand.

And that is the end of my birthday haul from Sephora! I feel very blessed to have so much beautiful new makeup to play with and I cannot wait to share these things in more detail with you all ^_^

Thank-you for reading ♥

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My 21st Birthday Sephora Haul!

Hello everybody! Today is my 21st Birthday 🎉 And it's becoming a bit of a tradition to treat myself to one Sephora order a year, in my birthday month. Ordering from Sephora is expensive without a doubt, customs, taxes and shipping in total probably cost me around £36! So now you know why it's more of an annual treat haha. Having said that, like I said last year the way I see it is £36 is a lot cheaper than a ticket to America and hotel costs SOOOO I think all in all, although its a splurge it's rather justifiable ;D. Before we get into this haul, I'd just like to apologise for the lack of consistency with these photos, I was getting brave and shooting in RAW mode...this was my first try and some of them didn't quite come out as I had hoped. ANYWAYS, on to the good stuff!

LOTW | Gerard Cosmetics Hydra Matte Lipstick in Everything Nice

Hello everybody! I hope you had a great week. I have really enjoyed this week's LOTW, it's the first one I've tried from Gerard Cosmetics and I featured it in this haul. It's the shade Everything Nice, which I described as one of the most perfect shades for me ever. It's still a tad dark for me to feel comfortable to wear at home, but perhaps that's because I'm so used to wearing lighter nude shades! Anyway it's been great testing out another formula of liquid lipstick and I am a big fan.

Price: I purchased mine from BeautyBay for £9.50, which I think is a great price for a liquid lipstick! However this shade is currently out of stock, thus nowhere to be seen on site. Keep an eye out for it, unless you're really wanting to pick it up, in which case you can purchase it on cocktail cosmetics for £13.00.

Packaging: The outer packaging I really like, the frosted bottle looks classy and the golden lid looks just as lovely. I also think the box it comes in is pretty nice too (not that you'll keep that for long, but it's worth throwing in the review haha). I like the doefoot, it's small enough to have precision and holds enough product in one 'dip' to cover all my lips. The issue I have with the bottle though, is that it doesn't have any sort of stopper. So when you're pulling out the wand too much product comes out = messsssy. It's not a major issue by any means, but it would be nice if they could sort it out.

L: Natural light R: Flash

Colour: Everything nice is an odd colour to swatch, and an odd colour in general, because it always comes out a lot darker on the skin and can actually change tone too..l.et me explain. So when I purchased this and 1995, I was a kinda disappointed because I swatched them both next to each other and they looked very similar! D: However when applied to the lips, the best description I can give you is that Everything Nice is the perfect neutral mix of brown and peach. It's soft, flattering and suits my warm skintone beautifully. HOWEVER, this is very important to mention here, if you go to reapply this and there is still some of the lipstick left on your lips, the shade that you will get is a good deal darker than the initial shade when first applied. I do find this a bit annoying, because if you're eating oily food and half of it comes off, it's kind of a struggle to reapply the perfect shade that it is. The best thing to do, is remove all of it entirely and then reapply, but all liquid lipsticks require an oil based remover to actually get rid of them completely...I can't be carrying around oil in my bag y'know?!

Formula and Lasting time: The formula is of course that of a liquid lipstick, it isn't as thick or creamy as the Stila formula, however it is just as pigmented which I love. I tend to apply one layer to my bottom lip, press my lips together and then add in the small areas I've missed. This doesn't dry within 10 seconds, I'd say it takes at least 40-50 to properly set and its 90% transfer proof. I find that without eating or drinking heavy oily foods, this will last nicely for about 7 hours before it starts showing signs of wear. When I do have oily food though, it begins disappearing which is normal and expected. I don't find this formula to be very drying, however as with any liquid lipstick formula out there, to a certain extent they will dry out the lips a little. I don't find this sits in the lines on my lips, or accentuates dryness, instead it glides on smoothly, with an opaque finish which looks beautiful.

Favourite way to wear it: I line my lips with Rimmel's Tiramisu, one of my favourite neutral lipliners for sure! I like lining my lips first, so I have a guide on where to apply the liquid lipstick, however I have worn it alone plenty of times, with a fairly neat application. 

Overall: I have had a pretty positive experience with this formula and the shade itself is gorgeous! It's my ideal everyday kind of shade, however I wish the colour would remain consistent instead of changing if reapplied. That is a little frustrating for sure. Because of this I would only wear this out for a shopping trip, or a visit to a family member's house. It's not really something I can keep in my bag and reapply, on a long day out.

Available from: Beautybay and Cocktail cosmetics!

Rating: 7/10 - it would be a 9 if the colour stayed the same ☹️

Repurchase? Despite my annoyance with the colour changing, the shade itself is so beautiful and I do think it's hard to find colours that flatter my skintone alone, without the need to mix a couple together. For that reason I would repurchase - which shows how much I love the colour, because that's not to say I don't have my frustrations with this product. However the colour is just THAT good that I can excuse the reapplication issue. 

Have you tried any of the Gerard Cosmetics Liquid Lipsticks?

Thank-you for reading ♥

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LOTW | Gerard Cosmetics Hydra Matte Lipstick in Everything Nice

Hello everybody! I hope you had a great week. I have really enjoyed this week's LOTW, it's the first one I've tried from Gerard Cosmetics and I featured it in this haul. It's the shade Everything Nice, which I described as one of the most perfect shades for me ever. It's still a tad dark for me to feel comfortable to wear at home, but perhaps that's because I'm so used to wearing lighter nude shades! Anyway it's been great testing out another formula of liquid lipstick and I am a big fan.

Review | Organza Natural Skin Care Silk Cream & Lemon and Blackseed Scrub

Hello everyone, today I'm going to be reviewing two products from an Instagram business. The lovely people at Organza Natural Skin Care, got in contact with me a couple of weeks ago and sent me the Silk Cream* and the Lemon & Blackseed Scrub*. I've been using them both for quite a while, so I'm ready to share my thoughts. You may know that skincare is actually the key to makeup success, as when the initial base is looked after properly, anything you apply over the skin goes on smoother and lasts longer! I don't mind spending a little extra on skincare, sometimes it really is an investment, however aside from the price of the products, one thing I am becoming exceedingly careful about is the ingredients in the products themselves.

No skincare item is going to claim bad thing y'know? They're all going to promise 'brighter' 'glowing' 'youthful' skin, or something along those lines, but when you turn the product over and check out the ingredients and there are over 20 things there and a handful of items you can't even pronounce HMMMMMM 🤔 that just doesn't sit right with me. So as much as possible, I try to chose brands that cut out the excessive chemicals. The first thing I noticed about the Organza products, is there is no back label with the ingredients on! Both tubs have the ingredients written clearly on the front, and they are indeed all natural which feels great when you're applying products that are totally kind to the skin. That's a big reason why I'm a huge supporter of all natural brands, especially when they're created by individuals who are passionate about delivering skincare suitable for all skintypes.

The Organza Silk Cream (£12.00) contains seven ingredients in total, with the first being shea butter. Shea Butter is well known for it's ability to help heal the skin, reduce itchiness, sun burn, insect bites and blemishes if used regularly. The texture of the silk cream is very different to your standard face cream, it looks very solid in the tub, however when you dip your finger in the cream almost melts onto the skin. It blends easily, however it does leave a bit of a sheen and I've found that for busy mornings it takes a little too long to properly sink into the skin before I apply my makeup. Because of this I've been using this on no-makeup days only and after I've worked it into my skin, my face feels very soft and hydrated. This will soon become my night cream as it is the ideal 'heaviness' I need for the night and I think you get a really good amount of product for the price. Other ingredients in this cream are: Apricot kernel oil, Almond oil, White poppy seed oil, Jojoba oil, Argan Oil and Natural vitamin E.

My favourite product from the two I have though, is the Lemon & Blackseed Scrub (£12.00). As I've mentioned here and there, the stress of third year left my skin in a right state and I just felt very uninspired to bother with makeup when it kept clinging to dry patches, left from blemishes. i don't currently have a facial scrub in my stash, so I was so relieved to remember I had this scrub. The actual exfoliants in this scrub are 'epsom salt' and 'Nigella sativa seeds'. There are a bunch of other natural ingredients used, which actually form and scrub and one of the key ingredients is lemon extract, so it does have a lemony scent. I was a little worried that it would be super messy to use, but you just take a pinch and rub it into damp skin. It is not irritating or rough in the slightest, but to my absolute delight, my skin is left feeling super smooth and soft when rinsed off. I'm used to having my skin looking and feeling a little red after exfoliation, but it must be the natural ingredients which prevent that from happening with this one! Ingredients: Shea Butter, Apricot Kernel oil, Almond Oil, White poppy seed oil, Jojoba oil, Argan oil, Epsom salt, Nigella sativa seeds (blackseeds), Natural vitamin E, Lemon extract and Lemon essence.

Both items are dermatologically approved and I've had good results so far. From the two products, I would definitely repurchase the scrub, it's gentle yet effective treatment is awesome ^_^ If you're interested in purchasing either of these products, or checking out Organza skincare, head over to their Instagram page (here). They are working on a website, but for now you can order by sending them a message, they're super quick to respond. You can either whatsapp them: +44 7932568036, or email them: [email protected].

Have you ever tried all natural skincare? 

Thank-you for reading ♥

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*This post contains PR samples or products gifted to me. All opinions are my own. For more info check my Disclaimer 

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Review | Organza Natural Skin Care Silk Cream & Lemon and Blackseed Scrub

Hello everyone, today I'm going to be reviewing two products from an Instagram business. The lovely people at Organza Natural Skin Care, got in contact with me a couple of weeks ago and sent me the Silk Cream* and the Lemon & Blackseed Scrub*. I've been using them both for quite a while, so I'm ready to share my thoughts. You may know that skincare is actually the key to makeup success, as when the initial base is looked after properly, anything you apply over the skin goes on smoother and lasts longer! I don't mind spending a little extra on skincare, sometimes it really is an investment, however aside from the price of the products, one thing I am becoming exceedingly careful about is the ingredients in the products themselves.

The First Haul After My 7 Month Makeup Challenge!

I had a really hard time naming this post...but yes my makeup buying ban/challenge is over and I am so happy, proud and excited! I actually cut my ban short by a month, it was initially supposed to be 8 months altogether and end on my birthday (25th of May). However I decided to cut it short, mainly due to the sheer amount of stress I was under with University (sometimes the only thing that helps is spending money, we've all been there!). I'm so happy I set myself the challenge and I'm even more happy that I carried it through for so long. Whilst looking back at my posts, there does seem to be this theme of 'spending bans' and 'opps I spent some money' and I realised I'm slightly hard on myself...so Iqra, when you're reading this in the future, remember that  - you work hard, so don't feel so bad about spending your money pls, tysm.

Anyways I'll have a post about this whole not buying makeup thing, up on my blog soon, because as a self-confessed beauty addict and beauty blogger too, of course buying makeup is something I LOVE doing on the regular! However I learnt a lot from this experience and I'm pretty excited to share it with you all too. Yes treat yoself sometimes, but also sometimes just using up the lovely makeup you already own is the better option...Anyways I feel like this is the most rambliest intro ever.. let's get stuck into the first haul of the month!! (and there are a good couple more to come later on hehehe).

I am insanely excited about everything in this haul, because after not buying makeup for such a long time, of course new makeup is SUPER CALA-FRAGALISTICALLY-EXCITING. However my new (and almost finish collection) of Makeup Geek shadows definitely tops the list. Since purchasing the first six shadows back in March, from my work gift card (post here) I have fully understood the hype behind the brand. Of course once you purchase more than a couple of shadows it does add up, and I never thought I'd start my own collection of single shadows because of this, but the quality is SO good. I will say now that they aren't all a solid 5/5, but they're all between a 4-5/5 from what I have tried so far and that is incredible!! There is something very satisfying about selecting colours you want for your own palette, especially as the majority of palettes I've purchased have a couple of shades I just don't bother using, or there are are one or two dud shades which aren't on par with the others. I am in LOVE with my MUG palette, srsly one of my newest hobbies is propping the palette open and just gazing at it haha. Once I've got the last of the shades filled up, I'll be doing a massive post with swatches and reviews. I purchased the rest of the shadows in multiple orders, but for one of the larger orders I actually got In the spotlight for free. This was such a lovely perk, especially since it's a foiled shadow and costs £7.95, plus the formula and shine is SO BEAUTIFUL! The standard eyeshadows costs £4.95 per pan and contain 1.8g of eyeshadow.

Here are a couple of swatches, Frappe is this beautiful soft medium brown which blends soo beautifully with all the warmer shades! I love the slight pink tinge to the colour. Tuscan sun, Tiki Hut and Venom are all from the newest spring/summer range and I am obsessed with the three of them. Tuscan sun is so gorgeous, I've been adding a tiny bit of this in my crease, with tiki hut as the crease shade itself - look at how beautiful they look together!

And lets just take a moment for VENOM, the only non-matte shade from these four and that swatch up there, is only one swipe how utterly gorgeous. A khaki shade (which is my favourite colour of LIFE) mixed with the flecks of gold...from the moment I saw Marlena swatch this in her video, I knew it had to be mine and for real you guys..it's everything I wanted it to be and more. The formula of ALL of these are amazing, MUG do mattes so well, not just shimmer/sheen/non-mattes. Since purchasing these eyeshadows, I've been comparing them to other palette's I have, especially the high end ones and the matte shades from makeup geek, blow palette mattes out of the water. I am so thrilled, which you might be able to tell already from the amount I own!

I also purchased the Large MUFE Empty Metal Palette (£8.00) after I had ordered a couple more shades. I've had my Z palette for almost two years and it's looking pretty battered. Although I liked the clear window on that palette, firstly it didn't fit enough shades and secondly I just didn't think it was secure enough to hold my precious shadows. Yes, I said precious haha, I just couldn't risk dropping the palette and having them all shattered to smithereens, so after doing a bit of research I found the MUFE one, which is not only larger but cheaper too. This palette fits 32 shadows in...for a moment I was tempted to purchase the extra large one, but realistically I only want 32 single shadows and I certainly don't need more than that, so this size was precautionary haha. You can get smaller sizes of this palette too, in case you don't want quite as many as I do. Another thing I love about this palette aside from the value for money, is the fact that it comes with a thick layer of a foam sheet which goes just over the shadows and literally cushions them from any falls. The magnet is extremely strong, which is mostly a good thing, but you do need to be careful when lifting up the pans as my finger slipped trying to lift up that gorgeous pink shade (Tuscan Sun) and made a dent in it *overly dramatic sad moment here please* Despite this sad situation it could be worse but still, I'd much rather have a strong makeup palette which I can trust to hold a hefty amount of shadows, than a weak flimsy one. Anyway if you're starting your own MUG collection of shadows, I highly recommend you pick on of these up! MUFE Palette > Z Palette for sure.

As I have gotten into eyeshadows SOOO much, I thought it was only fitting to purchase a couple more brushes. I did want to purchase a Zoeva brush set, but personally I don't have the money to blow on one since their large price increase (£65 in one go, for some eyeshadow brushes is just not cool, maybe when I get my first real adult job salary then I'll be able to justify it). I opted for morphe brushes instead and the Morphe M330 is what I purchased first - I 10000% recommend this to you all! I actully haven't photographed it here, it was hiding in my room somewhere, but seriously It is one of the best blending brushes out there and I'll be picking up a couple more. The others I own are: E18, M135, M139, E21 and the MB23. I won't go into these here as I'm planning on doing a full post just focused on these brushes so keep an eye out for that.

I decided to purchase the Morphe E6 (£11.95) brush too, as I had watched a couple of videos and people said it's a great brush for the bases you don't use a beauty blender with. So the more water based or lower coverage foundations. This has been described as similar to the famous Sigma F80, (which is double the price!) but just a little smaller. I've been using it for about a week consistently and I do like it, but I'm such a beauty-blender lover that it's just a little odd to be using a brush again.

Moving on to lips, let me just give you a heads up readers, I am FINALLY able to jump on the liquid lipstick bandwagon and the excitement is very real! I was actually lucky enough to receive one of the Stila mini xmas gift sets back in December and I LOVED the formula so much. I reviewed the shade Baci (here) and I recently picked up the shade Caramello (£16.00) when ASOS had a 20% student discount running - I'm not sure if I'll be getting another year of discounts so I took advantage heh. The formula of the Stila LLs are very creamy and quite thick. I don't LOVE the shade Caramello, which I have swatched below, I was hoping it would be the ideal nude liquid lipstick for me, however it does wash me out. So I've been using it with deeper lipliners or mixing it with other colours.

I also purchased two of the new shades from the Gerard Cosmetics hydra matte liquid lipstick line (£9.50), which is a totally new brand to me. Of course I had seen all the hype of the 1995 lipstick a couple of years back, but the brand was a hassle to get a hold of. Thank goodness for beautybay because we have so many more brands, accessible from one easy place yaaaas. Anyway I picked up 'Everything Nice' which is literally the most perfect shade for me EVER. I feel like they bottled my perfect colour and I will 100% be picking up a back up or two when it's back in stock. I do wish it wouldn't dry darker than it does when first applied, but still it's a beautifully flattering colour which I just can't explain so I hope the swatch does the talking. I've been reaching for 'everything nice' almost everyday - obsessed. The second shade I picked up is '1995' which is the liquid version of their famous lipstick. If you didn't know, I was actually born in 1995 so I simply had to have this shade - especially when I saw how beautiful it was for the colder months. So far I really like the formula of these liquid lipsticks, they're lightweight, fairly pigmented and not super drying either. Look out for them in future LOTW posts!

1995 hasn't quite come out as accurately as I had hoped! It doesn't look this red in real life, more of a maroon shade...google is, hopefully there are better shades out there ^_^

I am a big Katy (Lustrelux) fan, since following her on snapchat I have really clicked with her sense of humour and picked up her lingo too #zooooeIjussssssstTYSM. Plus her false lashes game is always on point, so when I realised I could ship Queen B's from Koko lashes to the UK, I ordered without a second thought (sorry bank account!). I purchased two pairs of Queen Bs and one pair of Goddess lashes. This brand is so affordable, yet such high quality, I always see people use it on youtube and they literally make the whole look so I had to get my hands on a few. Each of these lashes cost only $6.99 = £4.87 which is awesome, however the international shipping cost is not so great ($12.99 = £9.05). Luckily I didn't get charged customs, as the total came to £23.65...which isn't too bad for three pairs of high quality beautiful lashes. Especially when you compare this to pricer brands, such as Huda Beauty and Velour lashes which cost around that much for one pair! These lashes will last me a while, but I would totally order again from LadyMoss.com, although it would be lovely if Koko lashes find an official retailer for their brand here in the UK. (Beautybay could jump on this, I'd be down for that *cough*).

Also from the U.S I did a little shopping on my favourite online site, where I always purchase my L.A girl concealers - some of my favourites! The site is BeautyJoint and as long as I spend less than £20 I never get charged customs. I picked up the Coty Airspun powder in Translucent ($8.99) after seeing it on a couple of YouTube videos. I was hoping to purchase the RMCA No Colour Powder, but alas twas out of stock, when I picked up the MUFE palette. So instead I purchased this and it certainly does have a strong scent, however first impressions are fantastic! It really is translucent and keeps my concealer from creasing too (although remember, if you have fine lines, your concealer will always crease a little regardless!). I also picked up the L.A Girl Pro Conceal Concealer in 'Pure Beige' ($2.99) which is my closest match to my skin-tone. I use the shade creamy beige for brightening up the area by the way - reviewed here. I also purchased the Milani Nude Primer ($6.99), and although I've not had the chance to try it on the lids yet, swatching it on my hand and comparing without and with - it is AMAZING! I've heard that this is a dupe for the urban decay and too faced versions, just a lot cheaper and I have a feeling I'll be loving this and mentioning it in several posts. Especially with my new eyeshadow obsession, I know having a primer this good will go a long way.

Last but certainly not least, I purchased the NARS Velvet Matte Skin Tint in Stromboli (£30.00) again in the 20% ASOS sale - such a bargain! Since my dissertation and exam stress, my skin has been an absolute mess, breakouts, dry patches, the whole shebang. However I was desperate to try this base and first impressions are, the staying power is fantastic, but it's better for normal/oily skin as it does highlight and cling to dry patches. I am slowly healing my skin back to normal now, so I will keep you posted!

And that is the end of my first haul, I have to admit I've really missed sharing my new purchases...and purchasing new makeup full stop haha! It's inspired me to write a bunch of new posts and I hope to get back to a consistent amount now I have more spare time. ^_^

Thank-you for reading ♥

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The First Haul After My 7 Month Makeup Challenge!

I had a really hard time naming this post...but yes my makeup buying ban/challenge is over and I am so happy, proud and excited! I actually cut my ban short by a month, it was initially supposed to be 8 months altogether and end on my birthday (25th of May). However I decided to cut it short, mainly due to the sheer amount of stress I was under with University (sometimes the only thing that helps is spending money, we've all been there!). I'm so happy I set myself the challenge and I'm even more happy that I carried it through for so long. Whilst looking back at my posts, there does seem to be this theme of 'spending bans' and 'opps I spent some money' and I realised I'm slightly hard on myself...so Iqra, when you're reading this in the future, remember that  - you work hard, so don't feel so bad about spending your money pls, tysm.

Anyways I'll have a post about this whole not buying makeup thing, up on my blog soon, because as a self-confessed beauty addict and beauty blogger too, of course buying makeup is something I LOVE doing on the regular! However I learnt a lot from this experience and I'm pretty excited to share it with you all too. Yes treat yoself sometimes, but also sometimes just using up the lovely makeup you already own is the better option...Anyways I feel like this is the most rambliest intro ever.. let's get stuck into the first haul of the month!! (and there are a good couple more to come later on hehehe).

LOTW | IMAN Cosmetics Luxury Lipstick in Babydoll

Hello everyone! I hope you've all had a great week. I've spent most of mine at work, trying to catch up on the hours I missed during all the stress that was third year! My lipstick of the week was one mentioned in this haul, the IMAN Luxury Moisturising Lipstick in Baby Doll* which I actually picked out myself. I can't believe how perfect this shade is, yaaaaaaaaaas!

Price: £12.99 This is a very mid ranged lipstick and I think it is priced just right. The formula, as well as the unique and very flattering nude shade makes it worth the money and I will definitely be repurchasing.

Colour: This is the most perfect nude shade I have ever come across for my medium skin tone! I am generally a fan of pinkier shades for nude lipsticks, as the more orange coloured ones tend to look odd against my light brown skin - they normally clash! In the swatch below, it's coming out a little more orange than it appears on my lips - I think that's because my lips are pretty pigmented. ‘Babydoll’ is the perfect mix of nude/peach and brown, which looks so flattering on my medium skin and it doesn’t wash me out in the slightest. I normally wear it with Rimmel’s Tiramisu lip liner and it’s the perfect shade for everyday, going to work, popping to the shops, or even pairing with more of a smokey eye. I am such a huge fan of this shade and could not be happier to have it in my collection.

Formula and Lasting time: The formula is satin/creamy and glides on like a dream! One swipe is also enough pigmentation for me, which I'm a huge fan of, although you can build it up for a more opaque look. This lipstick is so comfortable to wear, it feels almost like a balm and I have to say after wearing liquid lipsticks for a while I've missed wearing something so light and comfy! Lasting time is pretty standard for a lippie with this formula, it's around 2.5 hours before it's faded.

Favourite way to wear it: I like lining my lips with a neautral lip liner, usually the Rimmel Tiramisu and then I apply this, one layer for medium coverage, two for fuller coverage. Finally a colour and lipstick I can just wear ALONE without mixing!

Overall: I am so glad I picked this lipstick up! Finally I have a nude shade for my complexion which I don't need to mix up with other shades. The packaging is stunning, black and gold, with a clear screen on the lid. The lid is also very secure and I think this lipstick is fantastic value for money. As IMAN Cosmetics is a brand specifically created for women of colour, you can really see that they have put a lot of thought into the shades and I only wish I had discovered this sooner! 

Available from: the UK Iman website here or currently on sale on feelunique here!

Rating: 9/10 - I just wish these lipsticks were easily available in stores so I could swatch the other shades rather than relying on online swatches.

Repurchase? Yes 100%! I know I was gifted this, but that's when you know that a product is really great - when you know you're gonna have to repurchase!

Have you tried this range of lipsticks? Have you found the perfect nude lippie for you? 

Thank-you for reading ♥

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*This post contains PR samples or products gifted to me. All opinions are my own. For more info check my Disclaimer 

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