THE BUDGET BUY: MUA UNDRESSED PALETTE

I'm sure we have all heard of the Urban Decay Naked Palettes, but the question is, have you heard of the £4 supposed dupes? The MUA Undressed Palette is rumoured to be a dupe for the first installment in Urban Decay's range of palettes, and if the Undress Me Too and Naked 2 comparison of mine is anything to go by, this is a pretty darn good dupe.

Summed up in a sentence, this is a bargain palette of 12 neutral, warm shadows which are perfect for every day looks, but the darker shades allow for something a little more sumptuous and smokey on the lids, with 2 matte shades and the rest shimmery, this is multiple eye looks in one place.

There are no shade names, just numbers in the order that you go along from left to right. My particular favourites are; Shade 2 which is a pale shimmery champagne toned pink, Shade 4 which is a light brown shimmer, Shade 5 which is a warm medium brown matte (perfect for warming up the crease and defining), Shade 7 which is a super pigmented, slightly gold and coppery brown shimmer, Shade 8 which is a stunning olive-brown, and Shade 9 eased me into the red shadow look at the end of last year.

You can see by the swatch just how pigmented these shadows are, and it is especially impressive when you realise that these shadows come to under 35p a pan - bargainous or what?

Maybe not as great quality as the official Naked palettes, but the colours are almost identical from what I know, and the quality is outstanding for the price. When is the Naked 3 dupe coming out then MUA?

HIGH END EYES

When it comes to makeup, I am very much a drugstore/high street kind of a gal, but I think it's safe to say that on the high end front I have the most products which slot into the eye category. I'll talk you through what's in my collection...

Bases: For some odd reason, I love a good base, and I have 2 which I have been loving recently. For a standard primer, there is the Smashbox Photo Finish Lid Primer, which just primes the eye like a dream, and my eyeshadow wears like steel on it. For something more creamy, with a bit of shimmer, is MAC Bare Study Paint Pot. The champagne, shimmery goodness makes me weak at the knees every time I open it.

Shadows: Of course, I have the Urban Decay Naked 2 Palette, which was purchased as a rather large impulse buy at the end of 2012 for my birthday - wild, I know. This is just the perfect palette with endless amounts of looks housed in a travel friendly metal tin, and only writing this has made me realise that I have been neglecting this guy a bit recently. The brush is pretty good too. Next up, I have this Elizabeth Arden Beautiful Color Quad (mini) which I cannot find the name of anywhere, but it contains the shades Seashell, Bronze Lustre, Truffle, and Cinnamon, and this is an eye look in a quad, which I have been reaching for a lot recently. Last on the shadow-front, we have MAC Woodwinked, which is my first MAC Shadow. This bronze, sheeny shadow is perfect all over the lid and feathered out for an effortless approach.

Liners: Strictly speaking, I'm not sure whether Stila is considered high end, but more so somewhere in between, but the quality of the Smudge Stick Liners is good enough to be classified high end in my eyes (excuse the pun). In particular, I have been using Angelfish (the taupe-nude), and Oscar Fish (the chocolate-brown shade) all over the lids and blended, and they don't budge.

Mascara: I never really thought of buying high end mascaras, because I am perfectly satisfied with the drugstore offerings, but when this Too Faced Lash Gasm mascara came in a set, I was shocked at just how good it is. It holds a curl amazingly, lengthens and adds volume, and I just love it. My only fault is that it isn't waterproof. Although, this is being rivalled in my collection by a certain Thick & Fast by Soap and Glory, so we'll see how that goes.

Yet again, another ridiculously long post, but perhaps I have enabled some purchases. Apologies..

BEST 5 OF 2013: EYES

Another 'best of 2013' again today. I promise there is one more to come after this, and that will be the lip installment, and after that, you can escape from me praising categorised products day in, day out.

First up, the ELF Single Eyeshadow in Pebble has been gaining daily wear from me this year, not only for crease definition, but this is the perfect shade for my brows, not too red, not too ashy.

A little cheat here from me, this is MAC Bare Study Paint Pot which I only just bought in the last month of the year on my birthday, but it is just simply too good not to include. It's the perfect base, or the best option to sweep over the lid in a hurry, and it even looks good with the next product on the menu...

Maybelline 24HR Color Tattoo in On and On Bronze. How many times have you hard about this guy over the year. There is even a little bit of pan-hitting going on in this now, and that goes to say something good about a cream eyeshadow. This, just over the lid, with minimal blending, is an entire eye look in a pot, and I blimmin' love the stuff. Expect more praise for this one throughout this year too.

The Urban Decay Naked 2 Palette has been my eye shadow best friend throughout the year. All the prettiest neutrals packed into a sleek palette, buttery soft on the lids, and blendable too, what more could you want? This palette is giving me the itching to buy the first offering of the Naked Palettes and maybe eyen the third... Who knows what this year holds. 

Finally, the Too Faced Lash Gasm Mascara has managed to sneak it's way into this post. I was wanting to include a mascara, and this was the best of the ones I own. My only gripe is that it isn't waterproof, but I can get used to it I guess, because this does some pretty good stuff to my lashes.

What have your lids been sporting this year?

 

THE BEST OF 2013 - BLOG POSTS

It is very quickly coming to the end of what was a great year for myself and especially my blog. Today, I will be going through the 5 most popular posts from this year here on my blog, and do not fret, I have some beauty installments of this coming soon too. 

So, please beware of the awful photography (maybe this was a bad idea), I mean the 3rd most popular post on here was the first post I wrote on this blog, so that could be embarrassing. 

#1: ELLE MAGAZINE FREE BENEFIT LIP GLOSS MINI
So, this was a post where I got a little excited that in ELLE Magazine you got a free Benefit lipgloss, and you lot seemed to enjoy that post thoroughly too, coming in at the most popular post of all time on this blog.

#2: URBAN DECAY NAKED 2 PALETTE
You all just seemed to love this post, and it comes in at the second most popular post here on the blog. I still cringe at the fact that I put 'Ooh, Eyeshadows' as the caption on one of the pictures, but lets pretend that isn't there.

#3 MUA PRO BASE EYE PRIMER REVIEW
This was a bad idea, the centred writing and the small picture makes me want to vomit. But, we can accept that this was my first ever post, and since it was posted, I have realised how large pictures, and left-aligned writing really polish off the post.  

#4: DAINTY DOLL CONCEALER - ABRACADABRA (03)
When I posted this, I wasn't expecting it to be in the top 5 of my posts, but apparently so. Just to let you know, I never use this concealer, but somehow I was singing its praises in the post. Maybe I hadn't realised that radiance existed...

#5: PRIMARK DISCO PANTS
This was one of those posts that I thought a lot of you would enjoy reading, because who would pass up a pair of disco pants for £16?! Since this post, I have bought a pair of burgundy disco pants from TkMaxx, and they are a lot softer and less baggy, but these Primark ones still have a good place in my wardrobe. 

Those were the most popular posts on the blog this year (which I started on March 4th, and I cannot believe how fast it has grown!). If you are interested, coming in a 6th place is the AUTUMNAL OUTFIT post. Keep your eyes peeled for the skin, nails, and makeup versions of this post in the next few days. 

 

MUA Undress Me Too Palette

Hi guys!

Everyone loves a good bargain, and when that bargain is a dupe for a high end product, it's even better. 

We all get very excited about the MUA Undressed Palette, which is an exact UD Naked Palette dupe, but I never got round to buying it. Even weirder, I got the Undress Me Too, which is a dupe for the Naken 2, which I already own. I guess I just wanted a backup, as I wasn't prepared to buy another £36 palette. 

It is safe to say that it is pretty much an  exact dupe, as I have made a comparison and I may be posting that in the future. I would say that this one has near enough the same lasting time, if anything a tiny bit less time if you don't wear a primer. 

Here you can see all the amazing colours in the palette. There are 3 mattes and the rest are shimmers, but I really would like to buy some more matte shadows as I am growing to love them more and more. This palette is £4, which is about 30p an eyeshadow - such a great deal!

The first 6 colours are (top 3): Naked, Devotion, Shy, (bottom 3): Tranquil, Exposed, Reveal.

Then once again: (Top 3): Fiery, Lavish, Creamy. (Bottom 3): Wink, Obsessed, Corrupt. 

So they are all the colours, and as you can see they are really familiar to the UD ones. 

Now, I seem to have lost the swatches of this palette, but you shall see them when I do the comparison post, so I am very sorry about that guys, I will do better next time. 

Thanks for reading, and don't forget to follow, if possible via Bloglovin' because GFC is packing its bags in about a weeks time, and I really do not want any of my hard earned followers to loose out :(

Lauren x

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Urban Decay Naked 2 Palette

Hi everyone!

Why haven't I blogged about this product sooner. Why. Why. WHY. It's incredible, and it really lives up the the hype it gets on the internet. 12 shades, of beautiful, highly pigmented, neutral (high end) eyeshadows, in one place, all in lovely packaging for £36. For a high end palette, that totals up to be £3 per eyeshadow. Better than MAC, and quite a few drugstore brands too!

So, I am just going to show you some images of the palette, and then I will have swatches of each colour too.

Super Sleek Packaging 

Ooh, eye shadows!

These are all such wearable shades, which is why I like it so much. I have become attached to neutral shadows, and I find that I can get many looks out of this one palette.

L-R (top and bottom pics): Foxy, Half Baked, Bootycall. Chopper, Tease, Snakebite

On these swatches, I literally swiped my finger once or twice over the pan, and this shows how good the pigmentation is.

L-R (top and bottom pictures) - Suspect, Pistol, Verve, YDK, Busted, Blackout.

My favourite shades are YDK, Bootycall, and Suspect, and I also love Tease for the crease, and it also is pretty good in my eyebrows!

What are your favourite shades if you have this or the Naked 1, I would love to know!

Thanks for reading, don't forget to follow and comment!

Lauren x