A little piece of Heaven (& Earth)

MUA (Make Up Academy)’s Heaven & Earth Palette is, indeed, one of the diamonds as far as their palettes are concerned. 

This was the first “Naturals” Palette that MUA released; comprising 12 gorgeous shades in rich earthy tones that were sure to compliment any eye colour and it was, unsurprisingly, one of their best sellers. 

Top row, shades 1-3
Bottom row, shades 7-9

Top row, shades 4-6
Bottom row, shades 10-12 

All of the shades have a degree of shimmer to them but the highlight shades are by far the most shimmery; the other shades range from the classic mid tones right through to shades that are perfect for contouring. 

The best thing about this palette is that the shades are all incredibly buildable and, as such, can be used to either give a light wash of colour on the lid or can be built up for a more sultry smoky eye. 

Recently this gem of palette has been rather eclipsed by its newer friends; The Undressed Palette and Undress Me Too.  These 2 palettes were, by far, 2 of the most eagerly awaited palettes from MUA as they are hailed as perfect dupes for Urban Decay’s Naked and Naked2 Palettes, but at fraction of the price. 

That said, there was a time when the Heaven & Earth palette was repeatedly sold out both in store and online and one of the most common questions I saw posted to MUA’s Twitter and Facebook feeds was “When will Heaven & Earth be back in stock?” 

I too have been guilty of neglecting Heaven & Earth in favour of the Undressed/Undress Me Too so, today when I was trying to decide what eye look I felt like, I “re-discovered” this little treasure tucked away in my eyeshadow draw and decided that it was time to bring it out and put it to good use. 

Looking at the palette this morning, I remembered why this was the must have palette at one point and, although I didn’t altogether know what look I was going to create today, I went with what felt right and I ended up with the following result:

The beauty of this look is, because it is designed for the colours to merge together, I only used 1 brush for entire thing (MUA’s E3 Blending & Shadow Brush) and achieved the look as follows:

• Work shade 8 all over the eyelid, up to the crease (until desired colour intensity is reached)
• Blend shade 10 through the crease and into the outer contour
• Apply a small amount of shade 4 above the shade 10 and blend up towards the brow
• Pop a small amount of shade 1 directly under the brow and in the inner corner of the eye
• Finally blend the smallest amount of shade 6 over the eyelid to warm the look 
• Line the top lash with a brown eyeliner (MUA do one that would be perfect, see here) and then, with whatever product is left on the brush, work it under the lower lashes 
• Apply 2 coats of your favourite mascara/false lashes
• Finish the look with a slick of white/neutral eyeliner on the waterline (I used MUA’s Intense Colour Eyeliner Pencil in Snow White)

After I posted the picture to my Instagram, Twitter and Facebook Pages I was really surprised at how many likes and positive comments I received.  I was also complimented on my “gorgeous eyes” today too!

Perhaps if you have a Heaven & Earth Palette in your collection that you may have been neglecting lately, go and find it and remind yourself just why it was, at one point, your must have palette!

Until next time, stay beautiful.

~ Gem x 

DISCLAIMER

All of the views expressed within this blog are mine and mine alone. 

I am in no way affiliated or financially involved with MUA, fbBeauty or any of their employees. 

All of the products mentioned within this post are mine and were bought and paid for by me. 

All of the images in this blog are taken by me, unless stated otherwise.  PLEASE DO NOT take, use, edit or otherwise use any of the images herein without my prior knowledge and express written consent. 

Here's LOOK(ing) at You

Today's post is all about nails; specifically Look Beauty!  

I have been playing with their "Winter Brights" Nail Varnish set which contains 3 gorgeously bright polishes; the pink is Shade 22 Prom, Shade 9 Fluro is the orange and Shade 3 Flare is the purple. The fourth shade is Shade 24 Sequin Effect.  

© Gemma Peters - Make-Up Artist 2013

The set is available to buy from their website and retails for £12.00. 

The set is described as follows: 

"Winter is the perfect season to add some colour intensity to your nails and cast away those winter blues. This collection also contains an amazing top coat that transforms any shade into a gorgeously sparkling sequin effect - genius!"

© Gemma Peters - Make-Up Artist 2013

I completely agree with the description. This winter has been especially long and hard, so I am always looking for ways to inject a little colour into my day, either with bright nail colours or through the medium of make up.  

I think that bright nails look good at any time of year though. In winter they can brighten your mood; through Spring and Summer it's great to have bright, happy colours to match the weather (hopefully the "Great British Weather" will join in with Summer this year) and in Autumn, I especially love bright oranges, golds and greens.  

© Gemma Peters - Make-Up Artist 2013

I couldn't decide which of these 3 beautiful colours to use so, you probably guess, I decided to use all 3 in an alternating fashion and use the sequin effect polish to accent the ring finger on each hand.  

This is the first time that I have used Look's Nail Pop and I really was very pleased with the coverage.  1 coat of these polishes is more than sufficient to give a perfect, full cover of colour to the nail. The formula goes on smoothly and doesn't have that "sticky" feeling at application.  It also dries very quickly to a glossy, rock hard finish.  

© Gemma Peters - Make-Up Artist 2013

I did apply a second coat of colour to my nails but, in no way, was this needed; it was purely through personal preference

Once I had given the colours sufficient time to dry I went on to apply the sequin top coat.  I love this top coat.  It has a generous amount of green/holographic glitter shards (of different sizes) and applies as well as the colours in the kit.  

When the top coat had had the time to dry it reminded me of an Opal Stone; the way the glitter catches the light and the colours dance is stunning.  I can't wait to try it over different shades of polish.  

The photo doesn't do the top coat the justice it deserves, but I hope you can get an idea of how pretty it is. 

© Gemma Peters - Make-Up Artist 2013

After trying this kit I'll definitely be getting myself a few of the other kits; I rather fancy the look of the "Glitz and Glam" kit and the limited edition single Nail Pop in "Cool Britannia". 

Until next time, 

Stay Beautiful ~ Gem x

DISCLAIMER

All of the views expressed within this blog are mine and mine alone.  

This product was sent to me by Look Beauty for the purpose of this review/blog.
All images in this Blog are taken by me, unless stated otherwise. PLEASE DO NOT take my photos without my express knowledge and consent.

Collection Glitter Gel Eyeliner Review

So, here's my first blog of 2013 and I'll start by wishing you all a happy, healthy and beautiful new year. 

I was out and about in town yesterday to kill some time before the Husband came home from work and, as is usual for me, I found myself in Superdrug wandering up and down the make up aisle, seeing if anything caught my eye.  

I got to the Collection (formerly Collection 2000) stand and was casting my eye over their mascaras when I noticed pretty glittery things out of the corner of my eye. I truly am magpie-like in my love for all things sparkly.  Upon closer inspection I learned that the item in question was "Glam Crystals Dazzling Gel Liner".  The particular branch I was in only had 6 tester shades, of which they had 5 in stock.  

I took a liking to 4 of the shades, but only 3 of them were in stock. I have subsequently ordered the other shade that I wanted from the Collection website.  I will say that the website colour guide & pictures do not fully showcase just how beautiful these liners are.  

There are, in total, 14 shades to chose from so there really is something for everyone. They are, on the Collection website, priced at £2.99 so are not expensive in the least.  You can see the full shade selection here. 

The shades I bought were: 

Shade 8 - Dancing Queen (Holographic Pink) 

Shade 9 - Pow! (Holographic Blue/Green)

Shade 10 - Retro Chic (Holographic Gold)

© Gemma Peters 2013

I don't normally bother with glitter liner as I find them really disappointing. They always offer so much promise when in their tubes but the actual glitter payoff when applied is completely different and, quite frankly, not worth while.  

When I saw these in store I couldn't help but notice how fantastically glittery they looked and vibrant too. I was prepared for disappointment but decided to swatch them anyway.  I was so impressed with the glitter payoff.  1 application gave a nice coverage, though still slightly sparse for my liking - however I thought this would be a good adhesive when I do a full glitter eye look.  I applied again and was so happy with the result.  

WITH FLASH
 © Gemma Peters 2013 

As you can see the gel itself is coloured too, which helps add to the colour intensity but, there is so much glitter in the gel, you can see it sparkle from the moment you apply it.  

It's also not one of those glitters that only looks shiny with a light directly on it, they are also super sparkly in natural light too.  

IN NATURAL LIGHT - NO FLASH
 © Gemma Peters 2013

I will definitely be getting more of these liners directly from Collection as, the one downside of this particular product, is that they are not security/sanitary sealed.  Therefore, buying directly from Collection I could, hopefully, guarantee that the items would not have been opened previously - a risk that I am clearly running by purchasing from a store.    

Until next time, stay beautiful.  

Gem

DISCLAIMER

All of the views expressed within this blog are mine and mine alone.  

I am in no way affiliated with any of the companies/products mentioned or their employees. 

All of the products mentioned within this post are mine and were bought and paid for by me.
All images in this Blog are taken by me, unless stated otherwise. PLEASE DO NOT take my photos without my express knowledge and consent. 

First Look at FashionistA

Ok, so I am fibbing slightly about it being my "first" look because I already have one of their Magnetized Nail Polishes, but this is my first look at any of their face range.  

I have known of FashionistA for some time (even before I bought the nail varnish), but I had never tried any of their products.  

FashionistA isn't an expensive brand but, for me, the £4.00 that I would spend on one of their solo shadows, I could buy an entire 8 colour MUA Cosmetics Eyeshadow Palette! However, now that I have all of the MUA Palettes I didn't really have an excuse.  

I was having a mooch around Maidstone today and, as is expected (by myself if no one else) I had to go in Superdrug! 

Straight up the make up aisle having a child in a sweet shop moment, I saw the FashionistA stand and decided to have a closer look.  

From what I know of FashionistA they offer a range of solo eyeshadows and blushers which you can "pop" out of their casing to customize your ideal palette, which has room for 4 shadows.  

At £5.00 per empty palette and £4.00 for each eyeshadow/blush I had, as mentioned above, previously passed the FashionistA stand by, despite all of the beautiful colours trying to entice me.  Today however, I decided that I would finally buy at least 1 FashionistA eyeshadow. I then noticed that if you bought the palette and 4 solos to fill it you would save £9!, basically buying 3 solos for £12 and then getting the 4th and the palette free...well how could I possibly pass up such a bargain.  

Now was the difficult bit, deciding which shadows I was going to get...

I decided to opt for 3 eyeshadows to create my preferred dramatic, smokey eye and 1 blush, all to be housed in a shiny black palette with FashionistA written all over the lid in a matted black.

© Gemma Peters 2012

When looking for my shadows I was instantly drawn to the baked ones, which have swirls of glittery colours going through them, so I decided it had to be 3 of them.  

The first one I got, which will act as my highlighter is BELLA. A beautiful, shimmery white with swirls of iridescent white and bronze/gold through it.  This shadow is super shimmery and I can't wait to use it!

© Gemma Peters 2012

The next colour I went for was BEWITCHED, which is a gorgeous mid purple tone with dark purple, pink and silver swirled through it. 

© Gemma Peters 2012

The last eyeshadow I decided to get (today at least) is GLOBE, which is an almost Royal Blue, with light blue, silvers and the same gold/bronze from Bella swirled through it.  

© Gemma Peters 2012

All of the eyeshadows that I picked are super shimmery and, therefore, may not be to everyone's tastes but, that is the beauty of FashionistA; YOU decide what colours you have in there so there is no more buying a palette and only using a few of the colours.  

I decided to make my 4th shade one of their blushers.  I went with Shade 11, GLOWING as it's the one that I think will match my skin tone.  As a rule I use baked/mosaic blush because I find them more adaptive to my skin tone, so I am quite looking forward to seeing how this performs in comparison.  

© Gemma Peters 2012

I am pleased that I have finally bought some FashionistA make up as all I have ever heard about them has been good.  FashionistA is part of the fbBeauty Family and, being an avid lover of MUA, I am expecting great things! 

I swatched the testers of the shades I bought when I was in the store and even from the lightest of touch I ended up with a load of the product on my fingers so I feel that these are going to be real value for money! 

I will of course let you know how I get on when I use the products on my face. 

© Gemma Peters 2012

Until next time, stay beautiful.

Gem xx

Have you used any FashionistA products? 

Do you have a favourite FashionistA eyeshadow? 

Do you have any FashionistA "must buys"? 

DISCLAIMER

All of the views expressed within this blog are mine and mine alone.  

I am in no way affiliated with FashionistA, fbBeauty or any of it's employees. 

All of the products mentioned within this post are mine and were bought and paid for by me. 
All images in this Blog are taken by me, unless stated otherwise. PLEASE DO NOT take my photos without my prior knowledge/consent.