Biz Time

And now for the second part of the MUA haul. Starting with cream blushes. They are actually bigger than I expected. There is a nice quantity of product and the packaging is big enough to be able to use a blush brush. I picked two colours out of four, Bittersweet (light barbie pink) and Dolly (coral-tan colour). These are very creamy and give a dewy glow to the cheeks, more so than Maybelline's Dream Cream blushes. 

Fortunately, it turned out it was just the very top layer that was like that. It's actually quite pigmented and shows up well on my cheeks (however, I'm very pale). Very cute, but I wonder how it would perform on someone darker than me. Surprisingly it lasted a quite a few hours, which is more than I expected from a 2£  blush, especially since it is a pale colour. I apply it with fingers or with a brush (I use a synthetic Real Techniques contour brush).

Dolly is very, very pigmented. I can't apply it with fingers because I always get way to much colour on. Because it's a more pigmented blush, it lasts very well on the cheeks and fades slowly.  

I got two individual eyeshadows. One is from the pearl line called shade 12, a brown green duochrome colour, the second is matte shade 15, a very light pink. Both are very pigmented and blend nicely. They are soft, the pearl one is almost like a creamy texture and the matte one is more powdery.

Shade 12 looks very dark green in the packaging, but applied lightly looks warm brown. When you intensify it with more layers it gets a slight greeny blue sheen. However, it's hard to get so much colour on the lid to see the duochrome effect, also it fades fast, so for the most part it just stays sort of brownish taupe colour. It blends out nicely into a light warm brown shade. I heard it's close to Mac's Club eyeshadow, but I don't have that shade so I can't compare. 

I wanted something matte and it was just a pound, so I gave it a go. I imagine it would work well also as a setting powder under the eyes, but I haven't tried it for that yet.  

It's more creamy and applies without dragging. For a pound you can't miss.

I bought Heaven and Earth palette as a Christmas gift for my counsin, hence no swatches.

I absolutely adore L'Oreal's Infallible eyeshadows. So naturally, when they released three new shades (at least here in Slovenia), I just couldn't resist buying some more. I already owned three shades, reviews can be found here, here and here. New shades are 21 Sahara Treasure, 24 Bronze Goddess and 27 Goldmine (a true gold shade, I don't own it...yet). These are pretty expensive at 9.5 € per eyeshadow, but they are so worth it. I've already raved so much about them, but they are seriously some of my favourite eyeshadows. They are just so pigmented and soft plus their staying power is brilliant. I find that the best way to apply these is with fingers. I use my ring finger to apply the eyeshadow and then just blend the top with MAC 217.

Now for the actually shades: 

These will probably become my most worn eyeshadows. They are just so easy to work with and have great staying power. I just wish that L'Oreal released some more shades, maybe something less shimmery.

I'm not really that satisfied with the quality of the pictures of swatches (the rest is fine), but it's close enough. Unfortunately my camera absolutely hates the lack of natural daylight, so winter is not the best time for doing swatches.

My friend was kind enough (well lets be honest, she's awesome) to get me some things while she was in London. More detailed reviews will follow, I'm just a little swamped at the moment. But these are the things she got for me:

I was super excited about the new (LE) shades of Essence cream eyeshadows. I've already raved about their Stay All Day cream eyeshadows, which are in my opinion one of the best, if not the best cream eyeshadows (review here). Circus Circus TE included three new shades, I only managed to get a hold of one (for me the prettiest in the bunch) and it is 02 Raise the Curtain for... It's an old gold shade, very similar to my beloved 245 by Artdeco. However, the texture is so different then at the original Stay All Day eyeshadows. It's much more creamy which unfortunately means that the staying power is much, much weaker. I'm really disappointed because of that, since the colour is just gorgeous. Also building the colour up is a bit challenging. 

Since I was very pleased with the quality of the Stay All Day creme eyeshadow in shade 02, I purchased some more shades (and I don't think these will be the only ones in my collection). I bought 01 Copy Right and 06 Rock Chic.

01 Copy Right is a shimmery, warm brown shade, on my skin tone it's actually quite similar to Satin Taupe eyeshadow by MAC.

06 is a black with silver shimmer. It's a great shade if you want quick smokey eyes. All Stay All Day eyeshadows are very shimmery, but they apply very nicely and really stay put all day (click here for my previous review of these eyeshadows).

I also purchased a new tube of L'Oreal Volume Million lashes mascara, but this time the waterproof version. Waterproof mascaras hold the curl a lot better than the ones with a regular formula. This one holds the curl very well. The formula is a bit thicker than the extra black version's. I've raved so much about Million Lashes mascara (extra black version) and this one is basically the same just a bit better, because it holds the curl better. I bought Maybelline's make up remover for waterproof make up as I find that Bioderma doesn't perform well when it comes to waterproof mascara. 

Thanks for reading!

Drugstore brands really stepped up their game recently. After Catrice's Made to Stay longlasting eyeshadow, Essence released Stay All Day longlasting eyeshadow and guess what - they really last a long time on your eyelids.

I own Stay All Day in the shade 02 Glammy Goes to... which is a light gold-champagne color, super shimmery and all-together a very pretty shade for everyday (at least I wear it like that). It's not the creamiest of the creme eyeshadows, but it still blends nicely. I use a synthetic eyeshadow brush (from The Body Shop) to apply it and Mac's 217 to blend it, but you can use fingers. It's very pigmented and it sticks to the lids well. It lasted all day (yes, all day!) and without any base underneath. Didn't even crease. Just brilliant! It almost looked like I just applied it. Luckily, Stay All Day are a addition to the permanent line and come in six colours. I highly recommend these, I'll definitely get more colours  The packaging is a nice, sturdy plastic container with a screw lid.

I have Catrice Made to Stay in a darker shade called 050 Metall of Honor . 050 is a darker bronzy brown shade with shimmer (brilliant shade for lighter eyes). It's creamier than Stay All Day, it blends well and is very pigmented. Again like Essence Stay All Day it lasts all day on the lids. Since it's a darker shade it faded a bit (but really just a bit, a minute difference) and it didn't crease (again without any base). Made to Stay come in six shades. The packaging is a glass container with a screw lid, very posh and pretty. 

Essence Stay All Day contain 5,5 g of product for 2,89 € while Catrice's contain 5 g for 3,79 €, so basically Essence one's are a lot cheaper and quality wise there isn't really any difference between them. Still both are seriously good and affordable, all I can say is give them a go.

I also bought one of the Catrice's powder eyeshadows, just to test their quality. For the price (just under 3€ for 2 g) they perform very well. The shade I own is called 070 Mr. Copper's Field and it's a light gold shade, just a nice neutral, everyday shade. It's very pigmented and it blends well. The selection of shades is really nice, loads of pretty neutral shades, brighter shades, even some (very pigmented) matte shades.