Review: MUA Elysium Palette

I was in Superdrug, on a mission to buy cotton pads, when I stumbled across this little beauty on the MUA stand today:

An eyeshadow palette consisting of 10 eyeshadows and a double ended black eyeliner/pale pink highlighter pencil. This retails at just £6. Of course this made its way into my basket! 

Above is a picture of the back of the palette, with the names of the shadows. 

And a picture of the ingredients. As you can see, these shadows do contain parabens, so if you're tempted to buy these then please use a primer (paraben free if possible!) underneath to stop your body from absorbing them. 

I noticed that at least 6 of the colours bore a striking resemblance to 6 of the colours in the Naked 3 palette...

"Air" and "Cherub" look very similar to Naked 3's "Strange" and "Dust".

"Charm" is an amazing dupe for N3's "Limit".

"Refine" is also a great dupe for N3's "Nooner" (one of my fave matte crease/blending colours).

"Adore" is similar to N3's "Blackheart".

"Astral" is a very good dupe for N3's "Buzz".

The other four eyeshadows don't much resemble the Naked 3 palette, but I really love this palette as a cheap dupe. It has 5 metallic colours, four mattes and one black matte with red sparkle (Adore). 

Of course I had to try this palette out (sorry, swatches turned out crap on my phone so I deleted the pics), so I did this look for college today:

For this look I used Charm as a transition/blending colour, then Refine in the crease and lower lash line. I used Cherub on my eyelid, Adore in the outer third of my eyelid and on the outer third of my lower lash line, lined my upper lash line with the black eyeliner pencil and set it with some more Adore. I then used a highlighter around my inner eyes to bring light to this look, lined my waterline with black waterproof gel liner and curled my lashes and added plenty of mascara (around 3/4 coats) to pull the whole look together. 

My thoughts: I absolutely love this palette, it's a fantastic price, the colours are well pigmented (the metallic ones are super creamy and beautiful to wear), has some brilliant Naked 3 palette colour dupes and they apply and blend amazingly well. The only negative thing I can think of (other than the shadows containing parabens) is that the double ended pencil (the size it is now with the lids on both ends) fits perfectly in the palette, but once the pencil is sharpened, it'll be shorter and it won't be able to fit, so will fall out easier and perhaps even get lost. But! That's only a minor negative - I'm sure I can move the pencil to somewhere safer! I will definitely be using this palette a lot in the future and I recommend it to anyone on a budget or that doesn't want to fork out £37 for the Naked 3. 

Hugs x

Review: Little Mix love All About The Eyes Palette

I went to my local Superdrug today. When I saw this cute little eyeshadow palette, at just £2.99 I knew I just had to have it. 

It's a little cardboard palette, just over 4 inches long, 2 & 1/2 inches wide and has 6 beautiful shades of cream, sparkly gold, shimmery brown and black. 

Colours from left to right: 

Feather, Sunkissed, Golden Sand, Dazzling Brown, Cocoa Dream & Blackbird. 

My thoughts: This palette is cute, small and the perfect size for travel (and if its cardboard packaging gets ruined, it only costs £2.99 so it's not the end of the world). The colours are quite creamy and pigmented ('Feather' being the exception, being slightly less pigmented and a little chalkier), apply and blend well and are perfect for natural looks (similar to the look I was sporting above) and darker, smokier looks, thanks to 'Cocoa Dream' and 'Blackbird'. It's a fab palette, and although the eyeshadows contain parabens, I use MAC paint pots as eyeshadow primer, so it's not a problem. Worth the money, for sure. Recommended for anyone wanting a decent eyeshadow palette on a budget! 

Avon 8 in 1 Eyeshadow Palette in The Nudes

Because there seems to be no slowing in my ongoing addiction to makeup, and with my holiday to Ibiza getting ever-closer, I decided to buy this eyeshadow palette from my local Avon Rep.

It's really small and compact, at only 4 and 1/2 inches long (almost 12cm), so this is the perfect size to travel with.

Inside it has an inbuilt mirror inside the lid and two, double ended sponge-tipped applicators for ease of use.

The first four colours close up. There are no names for these eyeshadows, which is a shame.

The same first four colours, swatched on the back of my hand.

The last four colours in the palette...

And again, the last four colours swatched on the back of my hand.

My thoughts: I bought this palette when it cost £7, down from £12, and I'm kind of glad that I didn't pay full price; the colours are a little on the powdery side, and the pigmentation and quality isn't the best. I have MUA palettes that cost £4 that have better colour payoff than these, but I do like how portable this palette is, and I will be taking this abroad with me as it is cheap and the colours are good for everyday use.
Would I repurchase?: No, I don't like the eyeshadow colours enough and there are better palettes out there for cheaper. Despite this, it's not too bad and I will definitely be using it as an everyday eyeshade palette when I go abroad.