URBAN DECAY NAKED 2 DUPE | MUA UNDRESS ME TOO

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My love for MUA is ever growing, alongside Collection 2000, it is quickly becoming one of my favourite affordable high street beauty brands. After loving their £1 nail polish, (which really does work) I tried their £4 eye shadow palette in Undress Me Too. The palette consists of 12 eye shadows, each one a dupe for the corresponding one in Naked 2. I didn’t realise when I first got it, but it really is such an amazing dupe for Urban Decay’s Naked 2, at an unbelievably cheap price.

Here are some swatches below:

Some are very slightly off, but mostly the colours are exactly the same.The only difference I would say is the quality, with MUA’s shadows having slightly grainier texture and UDN2 being a lot smoother and pigmented. But this is expected considering the price difference. Other than that – if you love the colours in UD and don’t want to spend £36 this is such a good option at a fraction of the price!

Overall I’m glad I have this product – even if I have an almost identical palette, as I get so protective over my Naked palettes when I travel – that this is the perfect travelling alternative.

Do you know any dupes? I want to know! Tweet me: @making___up

AUTUMN/WINTER’13 LIPS

It’s common beauty world knowledge that as you move into Autumn/Winter, the dark shades of your eye and lip palette emerge and this is my favourite time of year because of that. So I was more than happy to embrace the trend a little bit early for my 19th birthday which was in early September.

I was persuaded to get my makeup done professionally at MAC for my birthday evening, and I’m relatively pleased I did…. The lady got the dark lip and eyeliner spot on, but my foundation, contour and eyebrows is another story  ……

However all in all I am pleased I had it done as I have found my favourite eyeliner and lipstick of this season. So in light of this, I have focused on finding you the perfect lip shades for this autumn/winter and here they are:

Firstly I have the lipstick that they used on me, and that I then bought, in MAC. It is from their  Viva Glam range and is number III. This is described as a ‘muted brownish plum’ on their website, which to me is off putting when I hear the word brown. But it is a very beautiful muted plum colour.

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One thing I have to say though, it is very matte. I found on the first time that I wore it, that after a few hours it would become a bit crumbly.. I tried different techniques however, and mixing a slight bit of lip balm and putting it on with a lip brush instead of straight from the lipstick made it better.

The second lipstick I have is of a completely different consistency. Glossy and silky; this deep pink-plum will give you a complete full coverage with your first application. The Bare Minerals Lipstick from their Marvelous Moxie Lipstick range and is in the colour Live Large. It is a lovely creamy formula that looks like you are wearing a clear gloss over the top of your lipstick.

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Definitely more day time friendly than the MAC lipstick, but still a good option for the evening. Live Large is a ‘rosy-plum’ that is not as deep of a purple as Viva Glam is, as it has an underlying red tone.

A similar lipstick in consistency, is from the brand Catrice. And no, I didn’t know that brand existed until I found this lipstick either! I found this lipstick in a drugstore/ pharmacy in Ireland a couple of years ago and it’s stuck with me ever since. It is from their Ultimate Colour range, which promises ‘highly-pigmented, rich shades with perfect coverage and shine’ and it doesn’t let you down. The only negative I would give this lipstick is that it is very watery based, so be careful when you apply as it can easily go outside your lip lines.

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Similarly to the Bare Minerals lipstick, one coat and you get a full application and glossy finish. The main difference between the two lipsticks is the slight differ in colour, as Catrice offers you a plum/purple undertone, rather than a red/rosy undertone like the Bare Minerals. I don’t think they do the exact colour I have any more, which is 160 – Tell Me a Berry-Tale, but the closest one to it is probably 030 Ginger and Fred.

Finally! My last lipstick swatch is from the Collection 2000 Lasting Colour range and is probably the more daring lip colour, because simply it is purple. This lipstick gives opaque coverage, with a natural finish and is perfect for a pop of colour in the day or night. I really really like lilac shades for the day with a very simple eye and I find using a lip brush and lip balm tones the colour down to something slightly more wearable. This lipstick is long-lasting and I even found it a challenge to take off with my Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish which usually can remove anything without a struggle. This lipstick is also the cheapest of them all, retailing at £2.99, and the shade is  no. 10 – Berry Blast.

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Sorry that this post is so wordy – but I really hope it helped introduce you to some new colours for this season.

Let me know what other colours you have found for this Autumn and Winter!!

MUA

After my Nails Inc disaster I was reluctant to try another nail varnish because I thought I was just going to get even more pissed off. But I had seen a couple of good reviews about this particular nail polish, so I thought I’d give it a try and oh my god….

Amazing. Just amazing. Everything I could ask for in a nail polish, it passes all my tests. It’s called Make Up Academy (MUA) and it’s from Superdrug.

1)      After two coats it is completely opaque

2)      It dries super fast

3)      It dries without getting those annoying imprints on the top of the nail

4)      And most importantly, it passes the 2-3 day chip.

I applied this nail polish on Thursday afternoon, and by Sunday I still have absolutely no chips.

But if that wasn’t enough, let me just let you know how much this amazing nail polish cost… £1!! Yes… ONE POUND.

I’m really surprised as to how long this lasted and how professional looking it stayed for days so I would 100% recommend this! It was so hard to photograph the nails and get the true colour. Although the colour is called.. I see it as a baby pink with a lilac undertone, but definitely more pink than lilac despite what these photos look like.

What’s a cheap beauty product that you’ve been surprised about!?