MUA: Yay or Ney?

Hey guys..

Apologies it has been a short while since my "proper" blog post. I will be featuring MUA in my cheap and cheerful youtube series but thought I would give you a quick heads up in a blog post beforehand.

I purchased three different types of products from MUA - nail varnish, eye shadow and lipsticks. For anyone who hasn't heard of MUA (Make-up Academy) make-up, it is a brand sold in Superdrug stores and each item is the super affordable price of £1! Who can grumble at a quid?!

I purchased a nail varnish in a beautiful light teal shade. My first impressions were that the bottle was very small compared to other brands such as barry M and when I unscrewed the bottle the applicator/brush seemed very short. On application the varnish seemed very streaky and I thought about giving up and admitting defeat at the first hurdle - however I prospered on AND after 3 coats I got amazing results. I have worn this shade on my nails for the last 5 days and NO CHIPS! I am so impressed with the quality of the end result - I will definitely be adding a few more shades to my collection!

One thing I will say about MUA is.. I don't like the fact that they don't name their shades - they are just numbered. Come on MUA - think of some quirky packaging and catchy names and I will be completely sold!

If my experience with the MUA varnishes was suprisingly productive then my experience with their eyeshadows was a polar opposite. I was initially impressed - the shadows looked big, the packaging sturdy and the shadows themselves fairly pigmented. I took the product home eager to try - I purchased the shadow in shade 16, a pearl brown shade. Within 24 hours of being in my make up bag the shadow had smashed, When I applied the product - it felt quite chalky/powdery and the fallout was HUGE! I wasn't impressed with the pigmentation and hope the other shadow shades deliver better results.

The lipsticks are quite trial and error. I have three different shades. I have a bright pink lipstick in shade 3 which is incredibly pigmented, long lasting and doesn't have a yucky taste associated with some cheaper brand lip products. The only disadvantage of this product is that it can bleed a little so be careful when applying. On the other hand, another shade, a baby pink - is very sheer, doesn't last long and after a couple of applications the product snapped!

I think this brand is trial and error across the board. I am VERY impressed with their nail varnishes and hope to be impressed by more of their line in the future!

Hope this was helpful! ;)