MUA - shade 9 and Sinful Colors

Recently I've been re-evaluating my beauty routine. You may not be aware of this, but I really do like make-up.  I go into stores, stare at displays and generally feel overwhelmed when I go anywhere near a MAC counter. I'm just no good at it all. I try to pick lipsticks - but end up buying the same or similar shades all the time. I love eyeshadow and have a few palettes, but I don't wear shadow unless I go 'out'. I tend not to wear anything other than foundation (if my skin starts reverting to it's teenage days), mascara and a bit of blusher if the mood takes me. This year, I have decided to start playing with make up a little more.

Whilst a very pretty YouTube Vlogger was in the process of her 'how-to-define-your-eyebrows' tutorial the other day, rather than concentrating on which brow powder to put where, I was staring at her nails. She was wearing a shiny blue polish which looked quite familiar to me and I was sure I had the same one. I went to the Helmer and plucked out this beauty!

 This is MUA's 'Shade 9'. The label was hanging off so I just got rid of it. Hurrah, another flat brush to make application quick and easy. The consistency was smooth but it was more like a jelly than a cream. It was opaque in two coats.

 This beautiful blue was found at Superdrug and was part of MUA's low priced, high quality range. This cost £1 - right up my alley. If you read my blog regularly, you will also be aware that I use MUA's black shade when I'm stamping. This week MUA also released the Love Heart Collection - pastel polishes and lip glosses. When I pick some up, I'll review them.

After a day of wear, I wanted add a little something extra to my nails, but as I was going to college in a few days, I didn't want to do anything elaborate. So of course, I grabbed some glitter!

 Ah, Sinful Colors 'Hottie' - a blue jelly base with opal/holographic glitter particles.

This would have been perfect to stamp over, but I had no time...or no energy. I'll try to do something a little more exciting next time.

Before I go, is there anything else that you would like to see here on this blog?
Are you interested in more than just what the ends of my fingers look like?
Would you welcome some other 'beauty' posts or would you prefer that I stick to manicures and polish only? I know that it is up to me as to what I want to add to my blog, but your thoughts would still be appreciated :)

Take care all.

xx

xx

My jollies at Collection 2000's new line release party...pic heavy!

Hello friends, hope you are well.

This post will be diverting somewhat from the norm (nails). Why? Well, I was invited by the very lovely Lauren from Collection 2000 PR to attend an evening of cocktails and cosmetics last night.  In honour of the brand I thought I might buy one of their polishes for the first time.

Some of you may be familiar with Collection 2000, a cosmetics line available at...wait for it...Boots AND Superdrug.  If you know me in the flesh, you will be aware that I do not work in retail and my job is FAR removed from the world of beauty. In short, my opinions in this post are mine and no-one has asked me to do anything apart from attend and play with make-up. Larry, one of my everlasting girlfriends, came with me to peruse.

 The new face of Collection 2000's Autumn/Winter line is Diana Vickers, a young singer well known for her successes during X Factor 2008. The products used to style her (all of the below) will be available at Boots and Superdrug from 5th and 25th October respectively.

The soiree was located in Hush, a swanky restaurant fairly near to Claridges in the West End of London and upon arrival I was met with a flutes of champagne and browsing rights. Wanna see what I saw?

A 'Smokey Eyes' palette (£4.99) with 9 individual colours and instructions about how not to make yourself look like a panda, Metallic Cream Eyeshadows (£2.99) which have an applicator like a lip gloss and Luscious Lashes in Natural and Glam Volume (£2.99)

Glam Crystals Dazzling Gel Liner (£2.99)

Nail Smash - in only two colours (£2.99)  I tried this on someone whilst I was there (I didn't want to ruin my own mani!) and I have to say, the white cracked really well.  I can't help thinking that Collection 2000 left it preeetty late to bring out their version of crackle polish.  Other brands have a multitude of colours already...

Now these are cute and right up my alley, lol! Shimmy shake and Scarlet (£1.79 8ml). They are fast dry and I know this because the manicure I wore was the same brand in Fruit Punch.

 Illuminating Touch Concealer (£?), Super Size Fat Lashes (£2.99), Pump up the Volume (£4.99) and Sky Scraper Mascara (£?) These seem to be the tools to use for impact lashes. I only have the Pump up the Volume but I have high hopes for it...I'll review it and get back to you.

 Cream puff lip glosses. I had one of these already and it feels like you are putting a moisturiser on your lips. It does dry matte though...so you may just want to put some other gloss over it if you don't like that effect. Like me. There is also the Lock n Hold lip gloss (which is supposed to last for up to 6 hours and I don't have a price for).

 Lasting Lipsticks at £3.49 I didn't get to look at any of these properly, because the room was low lit.

Lasting Perfection 16 hour wear powder. I don't know how much these are, but they come in fair, medium and um, dark. 
Unfortunately, the powder range is not something that a woman of darker skin tone would be able to wear. I'm a very light skinned black woman and these colours are no good for me.  In the corner there are some Colour Match Foundations (£5.99) which come in five shades...again none of which were appropriate for my skin tone.
There were other powders and polishes hanging around waiting to be played with but as the lighting was quite low, I didn't get an opportunity to get a good look.

My verdict on the new line? I liked what I saw. The nail polishes and eye products looked fantastic, along with the lashes. I'm also pretty eager to see if I can follow the instructions to create a smokey eye! I had a lovely evening and came away with some really nice products.  I also got to browse in Bond Street at 9pm (when I'm usually on my sofa zoning out) and see some stunning sights. Check back for my next blog post to find out more.

Disclaimer time!
I received these items for free and was NOT asked to review them or blog about them at all...although the pictures of Diana were on the cutest little USB stick which was in the goody bag stuffed full of cosmetics and product info...

xx