NYX In Next!

So this is my last post in my mini beauty haul series (is it really a series I'm not sure...we'll just go with it). Personally this is the post I'm the most excited about, you may not be and that's ok we're all different people in this world but still...I think it's pretty exciting!

So if you are like me and are in the UK you may have seen other beauty bloggers, youtubers etc talking about the US based makeup brand NYX with the little green goblin of envy in your eyes as they talked about how amazing the blushes are and casually discussed the many colours they own of the very affordable Jumbo Eye Pencils. You may have then gone home and cried into your pillow about how unfair life is and consolidated yourself with the fact that they do have an online shop (although the 'very affordable' prices seem somewhat less affordable when you have to pay £5 delivery). Well no more!

I was walking around the Metrocentre at home (it's in Gateshead near Newcastle) and I was looking for a few odds and ends after having just been to Boots and Superdrug and bought my Real Techniques Duo Fibre Brushes and my MUA Pretty Edgy Palette and decided to pop into Next to have a look at their jeans (which I love by the way) and their shoes. I was walking around at the back of the shop near the shoe section when all of a sudden I noticed a randomly placed new display with the big letters NYX on the top! It wasn't there last time I was home (as far as I know) and I haven't seen one in any other Next shop so I don't know if it's being rolled out across all stores but it was there!

I won't lie to you all the display wasn't huge and there wasn't as much of a range of colours as there are online but they sold the blushes, the Jumbo Eye Pencils, their matte lipsticks, lip glosses (I think they were megashine but I could be wrong) and a bunch of other stuff I can't quite remember.

I did get (possibly a little bit too) excited and there was one point where I had about 6 different products in my hands but then I decided to be a little more restrained and I ended up picking up a Jumbo Eye Pencil in the colour 620 Bronze and one of their matte lipsticks (which as far as I can tell are called matte lipsticks) in the colour Bloody Mary. Very restrained (pats self on back).

The matte lipstick is really nice and I really like it! Firstly (as always) the packaging is really cool (my boyfriend says it looks like a nuclear power cell and I'm inclined to agree), it is very sleek and kinda space-age looking and strangely expensive looking for a drugstore priced lipstick. It applies quite smoothly which is nice and is very creamy for a matte lip. I love the colour which is a rich red with pinky undertones and I like the way it looks on the lips.

Although the formula is supposed to be matte I've found it to have a slight sheen in the light, I mean to say it definitely isn't glossy but it isn't quite fully matte either its more of a happy medium. It does transfer quite easily though and (not exactly being the most graceful/elegant/poised of people) I get it all over my hands, drinks, clothes, everywhere! However despite this it does manage to stay on your lips for quite some time (no I don't understand it either) though you would probably want to top it up for good measure anyway.

The Jumbo Eye Pencils...what can I say? I'm sold! I love love love it! For those of you who may not have used this or pencil eyeshadows shadows before this works in that you apply the shadow to your eyelids much like you would draw with a pencil and then once applied the shadow is slightly more creamy than a regular pressed powder eyeshadow, slightly less creamy than a cream eyeshadow (another happy medium). 

I bought this colour because I really wanted to try a coppery toned/bronzey colour and this fit the bill. It is very pigmented and quite orangey toned (probably more than I would have preferred) but you can put it on then blend it out with your fingers or a brush to mute the colour somewhat but my favourite way is to apply Downtown from the Kat Von D True Romance Eyeshadow Palette over the top because that shadow is a rose gold/coppery shade anyway and when applied over the top of this it really brings out the bronzy/copper undertones.

Now I'll be honest I always apply this with a primer underneath because I've heard it creases like hell and (I'm a terrible beauty reviewer I know) I haven't had a day yet since buying this where I am prepared to test out the theory with the possibility of becoming crease-zilla. But with a primer this works amazingly and stays all day which is awesome and doesn't crease leaving me looking fabulous all day.

Have you tried any NYX products?? I loved these so I really want to try some more so if you could leave me some recommendations I'll love you forever! 

Tell Me About It Stud - MUA Pretty Edgy Palette

I realised today that I forgot to tell you in my last post (ironically) that I'm back at uni! It's nice to be back and seeing everyone again plus the weather here is soooo much nicer than it was when I was back home! It does, however, make this MUA Pretty Edgy Palette that I bought on a windy, rainy day back home seem a little bit unseasonal but I'll soldier on all in the name of beauty blogging (cry me a river right?).

Top Row L-R: Antique, Bow, Toile, Ruffle, Flounce, Lace
Bottom Row L-R: Sinful, Gothic, Wrath, Envy

Lots of people talk about MUA products but I've never really been that drawn to them...I had a red lipstick of theirs years and years ago that I loved (but I used to get it all over my face) and I have another eyeshadow palette that I bought instead of their Heaven and Earth Palettes (which are supposedly Naked palette dupes) because I already had the real Urban Decay Naked palette so instead I bought this other MUA palette with a ton of blue shades which (obviously) I never use.

However all that being said I was browsing the super drug website ages ago one evening (yes some people have crack, I have online makeup shops) and saw they were advertising the release of their new MUA Pretty Edgy Palette and (I'm not gunna lie to you) the packaging drew me in in much the same way it did with my Kat Von D Palette. The packaging is much swankier than previous MUA palettes; it comes in a black case with a huge mirror on the inside of the lid, the shadows are square not round (try to contain your shock please) and, the bit that got me the most excited, the lid is covered with studs!

The studded lid in all it's glory!

When I first went to get the palette it was sold out because it had just been released and then after a while I just forgot about it and moved on. Then when I was home at Easter I saw it and I was immediately like 'I have to have it!'. The colours in this are really pretty too and since I've tended to err on the neutral side of eyeshadows I figured I could justify (in my head at least) buying this largely purple toned palette (plus it was really affordable so I figured what the hell!).

The shadows themselves are on the dryer side which makes them a little more difficult to work with and there is some fall out too, so you would probably want to use a primer and do your foundation, concealer etc after you've finished your eyes. However the colour selection is really nice and the combination of shimmers (top row) and mattes (bottom row) is very complimentary.

L-R: Antique, Bow, Toile, Ruffle, Flounce, Lace

The colour pay off of the shadows is really nice too, although I would say they don't look exactly like how they do in the pan when you apply them, which is a little bit of a shame as I was really excited about some of them, particularly lace which I have all over my lid in the picture above. They are really long wearing with a primer (I haven't tried them without yet) and I was impressed that even the matte black shadow, Envy (which I used as like a smoky eyeliner and comes out slightly more browney than it looks) had really nice pigmentation as I've tried a few matte shadows from the drugstore which were pretty much invisible once applied.

T-B: Sinful, Gothic, Wrath, Envy

Overall I would say I'm not hugely blown away by this palette in that I will obsessively use it every day but I think it is a nice addition to my collection and will be used. For the price point I think it's worth the money and taking a punt on as the shadows are nice but I can't lie and say I'm not disappointed that they don't swatch as the same beautiful colours they look in the pan.

Have you tried out this palette yet?? Let me know what you think in the comments! Oh and by the way I joined Pinterest recently so if you want to follow me there you can here. Keep an eye out for my next post about what I bought in my mini haul!

I'm Back! - Real Techniques Duo Fibre Set

As you may have guessed from the title (and the fact that you're reading a new post from me) I'm back! I'm sorry it's been so long since I've posted. I was working on a new blog design and I was waiting for that to be finished before I posted again but then it all went horribly wrong (photoshop and I are no longer friends) and I didn't get it to look how I wanted so I never got it finished and it turned into a vicious cycle of me not posting but not getting the re-design finished and...long story short I'm back and my blog is just gunna have to keep looking like this for a while until I am willing to start on that long long long road again.

However just because I wasn't here don't think I wasn't thinking about you guys! I went to Boots and used some vouchers I had and did a bit of shopping (all for you guys of course) and I've got a couple of new things to review on here this week!

T-B: Duo Fibre Eye Brush, Duo-Fibre Contour Brush, Duo Fibre Face Brush

This post is about one of the things I got which I have been wanting for so, so, so long; the Real Techniques Duo Fibre Collection. Now if I'm honest I'm a huge believer in applying makeup with your hands (just make sure to wash them after otherwise you'll get weird thumb prints all over your phone as I found out this morning) but there are some things I like a good brush for. Recently I've been trying (and, if I'm being 100% honest here, not really succeeding) to master contouring, but the brushes I was using were way to big so I was having to try and squash them into a contouring type shape and then try and apply the bronzer to my face in a way that didn't make me look like I had 2 o'clock shadow, in other words it wasn't the best. Because of this I've been looking for a contouring brush and a brush to blend all the strange contouring lines into my face a little better than my hands can.

I also absolutely love creating new eyeshadow looks but the brushes I use for putting colour into the crease and blending are pretty old now, and kind of scratchy (but have held up very well considering I bought them for £1 about four years ago) so I figured I should treat myself to a new blending brush too. Thus this set was perfect because it covered all the bases really; the contour brush for...well contouring, the face brush for blending and the eye brush for blending out the crease.

The first thing I noticed about these is just how gorgeously soft they are! I mean before I even did my makeup with them I just sat for like 5 mins rubbing them against my face because they just feel so lovely to use. I have only ever used the expert face brush from Real Techniques before which is very dense and therefore doesn't feel as soft so I don't know if its the 'Duo Fibres' that make them so soft or just Real Techniques brushes in general but whatever it is it works.

Getting over the softness to how well they actually work I've got to say I really like them. The contouring brush makes life so much easier than me (I'm still not brilliant but at least now I can't blame the tools). It allows me to apply the colour really precisely and is the perfect size to create and work within hollows of the cheeks (of which I sadly have none naturally).

The face brush too is really lovely. It blends my contouring out nicely and something I really like about it is how light it is for such a huge brush considering both my expert face brush and Ecotools blusher brushes are both smaller and comparatively heavier.

I do really like the eye brush as well. It is the perfect size to fit perfectly into the crease and it blends out colour beautifully. The only thing is I'm not as in love with this one as I was with the others because I am adjusting to a new eye makeup application routine and it is a very different brush from the ones I used for so long and it's a bit like a break-up; I'm just finding it hard to move on with my new, better brush when the old one keeps calling me back with open arms.

However my personal brush problems aside I think these brushes are just awesome! The fact that they are white on the end is nice for cleaning because you can actually see when they're clean and (according to Boots online) the bristles are hand-cut and 100% cruelty free which is great. They are limited edition though so I don't know how much longer they'll be available for so if you're interested hurry!

Let me know if you guys have tried these before and keep an eye out for my posts reviewing the rest of my mini makeup haul!