MUA makeup haul

I don't normally do beauty posts, but sometimes I want to rave about new products so here goes!

I think I have a few things from MUA. Nothing of note, maybe a nail varnish or two. Recently though I bought a lip balm and blusher that I have fallen head over heals with. So much so that I went back in for more yesterday! Here is what I got..........

You may have seen the power pout tinted lip balm I was raving about on twitter, but I'm really impressed with the quality of these £3 balms. 

As you can see, I have many coloured balms (this is just one drawer, I have another with smaller ones from Burt's bees etc!), I've been wearing them for over 10 years (Lancome Juicy Crayons started me off really!) so I feel like I know what I'm talking about here. Most make up companies make their own versions now, and I pretty much try every variety. I recently lost my favourite red balm (chit chat 'Firey Red' from Poundland would you believe?!) and I miss it terribly, I just can't find a deep red that compares :(. Anyway, back to the review!

Above is 'crazy in love'. The colour pay off is very good considering they're balms, and after my sad discovery that my new Bourjois coral crayon (basically an identical product but more than twice the price may I add) tastes like antiseptic I'm even more joyous about these. I'll probably end up with every colour variation of them as I collect products like this, which is why I have WAY more than any sane person could actually use! The texture is good (not greasy, not sticky, just balmy!) and there is a very subtle minty smell / taste - it goes away really quickly if that sort of thing bothers you!. It's also easy to apply, and you can build the colours in layers.

I've got the nude balm 'Rendezvous' on above. MUA have succeeded in producing a berry colour and a nude that I can pull off, quite an achievement as I look bloody awful in any lipsticks that have even the slightest hint of red or brown! The nail varnish is MUA 'pistachio ice cream', it comes in a little bottle and only cost £1. I really wanted a pastel mint green and this one is lovely. I'm so bad at putting nail varnish on, so this is 3 coats, but anyone who is better at application would probably only need 2 coats!

Now then. I love the blushers below, but there is something super cringe-worthy about them.... they are MUA's makeup collaboration with One Direction (the boy band who make Take That sound like the Beatles) so they are covered in hideous slogans from the bands dreadful songs. Of course this doesn't change the fact that the product is excellent.

I've tried many blushers, and generally I get on much better with ones that come in stick-form. powders with brushes are fiddly, and I had so many accidents and spills with benetint that I just stopped wearing it! For ages I've been wearing Eyeko fatbalms, but as they're designed for lip & cheek they're a bit sticky. I love them (great for holidays & handbags and come in great shades) but they've been discontinued and besides, I could never get an orange shade. Step in MUA & 1D! 

The creamy (not at all sticky) texture means it goes on and blends really well. the colour is pretty intense so you don't need much if you want it subtle, but if you want mega rosy cheeks then you could easily do it with these!

The first blush I got from this range was the orange / coral one called 'coral cutie'. It is perfect. The colour is lovely, in fact I knew I'd have to go back for the others as soon as I tried it! It's so hard to photograph makeup, but I had coral cutie on yesterday and in the picture above. I'll use this one with orange / coral and terracotta lipsticks, as well as reds with an orange tone.

I hope you can see the diffence in shade / tone. Rose Riot will be the colour I'll use for an everyday rosy cheek when I'm lipstickless or if I want to wear red lippy of pretty much any tone aswell as pinks with an orange / red tone. It probably goes without saying that I'll wear Pink Explosion with bright pink lipsticks.... it has a slightly purple tone which will match perfectly with neon pinks. I'm chuffed about that as I seem to have accumulated more dresses with purple toned pink accents since I got rid of my fire-red hair!

You can't get the One direction range from MUA online for some reason but all MUA products are available in Superdrug stores and superdrug online.

Again, not a sponsored post, I'm just so impressed with the quality and colour pay-off from these relatively cheap make up products. I'm officially a MUA fan now!