Beauty Bargain - MUA Starry Night Palette

Yet another bargain from the MUA brand at Superdrug!

I've tried a couple of the MUA single shadows & was impressed with the quality, especially considering they were £1 each. When I was in Superdrug last week, I happened across the new MUA palettes. According to the Superdrug site,  there's six different palettes available. In store, I saw three & there wasn't many of those left, so they seem to be selling well.

The Starry Night palette concentrates on colours to use for a smoky eye look. Black, pink, purple, blue, grey, silver & white are the shades in here. They're all shimmery shadows, some more so than others, so if you're not into shimmery shadows you may not be won over by these.

Nails Inc. - Glitter Crackle

I like Crackle polishes & I love glitter, so when I found out about the Nails Inc. Glitter Crackles, I had to try them out.

There are three shades available - The West End,  blue, The City, purple, & Farringdon, gold. On the whole, I don't wear gold polishes much so I skipped Farringdon & got The West End & The City.

These glitter crackles seem to take a little longer to dry than a regular crackle polish. It's not a ludicrous amount of time, but the crackling starts to show through more slowly than normal crackles.

Another point with these is that the glitter looks quite matte & the crackle effect isn't very apparent until you apply a glossy top coat. 

80's Nails!

Got a bit bored yesterday & decided to do something fun with my nails. It turned into this 80's-inspired mani that I loved once it was done.
Originally, I tried using three colours on each nail but, due to my nails being quite small, it didn't work out.

For this nail look, I used the following:

• China Glaze - Turned Up Turquoise
• China Glaze - Pink Voltage
• China Glaze - In The Lime Light
• China Glaze - Flying Dragon
• Konad plate M57 & black special polish

Definitely one I'd try again, using the same colours & also with different combinations.

MAC - Semi Precious Haul

Just a small haul from this for me, three of the Mineralize Skinfinishes & one shadow.

Semi Precious Pearl MSF

The base shade is a champagne shade whilst the middle is comprised of a mixture of white, plum & bronze. Quite a shimmery one, but it doesn't have glittery chunks. The main colour is a highlight shade, mix it with the the centre colours & it gives a light colour that can work as a shimmery, subtle blush on pale skin.

Semi Precious Pearl 

MAC - Bloggers' Obsession Shadows

Four shadows with this small collection. Since these are limited edition & selling like hotcakes, I had to try them out.

The four shades are Sparkle Neely, Sparkle!, a warm reddish brown with golden shimmer (Velvet), Hocus Pocus, a sooty grey with silver shimmer (Satin), Jealousy Wakes, an emerald green with teal & golden shimmer (Veluxe Pearl), and Parisian Skies, a greyed-blue shade (Satin).

Illamasqua - Skin Base Foundation

Illamasqua's newest foundation, Skin Base, is based upon Asian BB creams. Having tried a couple of BB creams, I decided to give Skin Base a whirl. Upon looking at the Illamasqua site, SB 06 seemed like the best match, as I have fairly neutral undertones. When I went to the counter & said that I used their Rich Liquid foundation in shade 133, the lovely counter staff agreed that SB 06 was the shade I should go for.

Sugarpill - Asylum Chromalust & Sweetheart Palette

My latest Sugarpill haul - Asylum Chromalust & the Sweetheart palette. My collection was missing Midori, Afterparty & Tako, so the Sweetheart palette seemed like the perfect solution, plus there's the amazing Dollipop in there too.

Asylum was also missing from my collection. I really love the Chromalusts & a pretty, sparkly red was just too good to pass up.

Asylum Chromalust

Not as vivid a red as the pressed shadow, Love +, Asylum is still a definite red, no pink tones here. I'm a huge fan of the Chromalusts & this one is no exception. Well pigmented with a soft, fluffy texture that makes it easy to apply & blend, it's bright used dry but both the colour & shimmer absolutely pop when applied with a damp brush.

Left - Asylum, used dry. Right - Asylum used wet.

Swatched straight on to bare skin, no primer used as a base. Asylum turns a slightly brighter red when used wet. Either way you choose to use it, it's a gorgeous colour.