Haul via the MUA website

MUA is a comparatively new and extremely affordable makeup brand available from Superdrug and the MUA website. Whilst there are other cheap brands available in Superdrug (like Miss Sporty or NYC) I'd say MUA is by far the best of the high street brands for price as well as quality.

I really liked the Heaven and Earth palette (my review here) and so when I heard a dupe of the Urban Decay Naked palette was going to be released I had to get my hands on it. The Naked palette is my favourite neutral eyeshadow palette of all time so new dupes are always going to interest me. I've got a whole bunch of other neutral palettes too (from self-made Inglot and MAC palettes to the Naked2, thebalm Nude 'Tude and a few others) and since i wear neutral shadows daily I figured one more palette wouldn't go amiss.

Instead of waiting for the palette to be released in my local Superdrug I decided to order from the MUA website because they have often have offers available and I also wanted to try the Going for Gold palette which was a freebie at the time I ordered it. As always I picked up a few extra items to try too.

First up the MUA Undressed palette (even the name is practically the same as Urban Decay's original). Only £4.

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Even right down to the order of colours it's a complete dupe for the Naked palette. Can't wait to try this out.

The Going for Gold palette is also £4. I think it's limited edition, inspired by the Olympics.

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Some of the shades are bordering a little more on orange than gold as you can see here, which isn't my thing but it's always good to have variety in your collection just in case. From initial swatches I did the silvers don't have as strong pigmentation as the golds but overall it's still a great palette. I'm glad I own it but also glad it was a freebie because I can't see myself repurchasing this as the it's not a palette I will use as often as others.

Next: Glamour Days palette (£4).

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Not had a chance to use this one yet but it looks okay.

Overall I'm happy with MUA palettes. They are very affordable (dirt cheap seems like a put-down but they seriously are cheap, £4 for 12 colours that have decent colour pay off is a bargain). And since the website often has freebie palettes getting sent out with purchases there's always the chance to grab a palette for free.

I also picked up some glitter liners which are £1 for 1.6ml. There isn't much product in the tubes at all and I've found the formula isn't the best (the glitter tends to separate from the clear gel which you can see happening already with the silver liner). But for £1 I can't really complain. I think for newbies starting out with makeup, young'uns and those on a budget these are okay but for better quality I prefer the Collection (formerly Collection 2000) glitter eyeliners.

Finally I ordered some Lip Booms which are a new product designed by Alexandra Burke apparently. They have lip stick on one side and lip gloss on the other and are priced at £3.

I am not a fan of the packaging at all as I hate excess paper, cardboard and plastic (which is why I rant at Sigma all the time, I can't forget their enormous cardboard palettes). These Lip Booms seem to do a better job of promoting Alexandra Burke than the lipsticks themselves. They are reasonably priced at £3. I got three: Bring It, Vibe and Doin Good.

 

So far I like the lipsticks but they are quite similar to MUA's £1 range of lipsticks so I'm wondering if I should have just bought those instead. I hate the lip gloss side of these so badly - it's literally chunks of glitter suspended in an average formula. The glitter in Bring It especially is super gritty and unpleasant. The glitter in all the glosses also migrates so you end up with a glittery chin. Urgh, it's just glitter overkill. I'm sure my 8 year old niece would quite like the sparkly effect but for me it's a total miss. As a result I will enjoy using the lipsticks but will not repurchase for the fact that the lip gloss side is a complete fail. 

Overall I am very happy with my order. Not all products were hits but I will still use everything and the price point means I feel I got a lot for my money. The freebie is greatly appreciated and the shipping time was pretty good (took around 4 days). I will definitely be ordering from the MUA site again in future.