MUA: Make Up Academy: £1 makeup! Swatches and initial review

So today I went to see if my local Superdrug had the new MUA range, where everything is just a quid! Well, they did! I was really excited because I heard they had neon glitter eyeliners, and they do! They have a purple and a highlighter yellow, but unfortunatley the applicators were total horse sh*t. The colours were pretty so I might go back and get them to use as face/body glitter. Anyway, I wasn't expecting to actually like anything after going for those liners first, but I ended up buying five things. I got two lipsticks, one gloss tube and one gloss wand and one pressed eyeshadow.


I was pretty impressed with the eyeshadows. Some were fairly sheer when I swatched them, but there were some nice colours, including a couple of really pretty greens, and I'm sure over a base they'd look great. I only got one shadow because most of the colours were similar to ones I had already. I got shade 9, which is a violet-blue duochrome, and has been compared to MAC Stars and Rockets. Now, I didn't take a picture of this, but Lipglossiping has a great picture of it here as well as her thoughts on the line. Now, I haven't used this shadow yet, but when I swatched it, it felt smooth and looked pigmented, so hopefully it'll blend nicely. You also get 2g of product, which for a pound is excellent. I'll wear the one I bought later, and see how it goes.

Now, onto the lip products. I bought two lipsticks, shade 3:



Shade 3 is a lovely raspberryish colour. This applies quite nicely, and feels ok on the lip. Not too slippery or sheer feeling, but not drying either. Nothing compared to my beloved NYX Round, however. I've only swatched it, so I can't say how long this is going to wear, but I think it'll be okay. This one smells sherberty, which I love, though I know some people will hate it.

And shade 12:




Shade 12 is a gorgeous peachy-pink with glitter shot through it. Gorgeous as it is, it feels horrible on the lips. Not so horrible that I wouldn't wear it, the glitter just feels quite gritty. Its not sharp, however, and I've only ever worn cheap-o glitter lipsticks, and they've all felt gritty. When I first went to apply it, it wouldn't go onto my lips. It was like there was a wierd coating on the lipstick. I rubbed it on my hand and then it applied fairly nicely. I'll bet you my Irregular Choice shoes this lipstick doesn't wear very long at all though. And even though I am in love with this colour, BLURGH. It smells like bloody fibreglass. Rank.




When I first saw these I immediatley though they looked exactly the same as my beloved NYX round lippies, and got super excited in case they were the same with different packaging. Anyway, when I got them home I saw they weren't. Also, the packaging of the MUA is pretty poor quality. One on the inside-twisty-uppy bits, which is silver, slid off, and the bottom part which shows the colour on the other ones kind of turns. Still, the packaging is pretty nice, and I love that I can just store the lippies upside down and grab which shade I want without having to go take all the tops off because the shades are just bloody numbers! (I HATE that, I have no memory for numbers at all.)


Onto the lip glosses:



This is shade 2, which comes with a wand. In the tube, it looks a gorgeous glittery red. I wasn't expecting much pigmentation with this one and I was right. This pic is a little washed out, but not much. Its quite thick and sticky, so it should wear ok. This one smells too, and has a bit of a cheap-makeup-taste, but again, its a personal thing. The packaging for this one is actually really stylish (see link at bottom of this post) and it comes with a doefoot applicator which I really like. You get 2.8ml, which is about standard for this type of packaging, I think.



This is shade 5, which in the tube is a warm bright pink with gold glitters. YOU GET 14ML OF THIS. 14ml for £1! I hate squeezy lip gloss tubes, but I am forgiving this one. Again, the pigmentation isn't amazing, again, it smells. But lookit over the shade 12 lipstick:



That is definitely £2 worth of pretty.



Pros:

-£1!£1!£1!£1!
-Some gorgeous colours
-Some great pigmentation for the price
-Some lovely sweet smells
-Some great looking packaging.

Cons:

-Don't seem to be available in all Superdrugs
-Packaging is of varying quality, also they are sellotaped up like nobodies businnes
-Quality of range varies immensely.
-Some freaking rank smells.

Would I repurchase?:

Overall, this line is a bit hit-and-miss. But, they were a pound, and you get what you pay for. The lipsticks don't compare to my NYX, the glosses don't compare to other glosses I like such as Loreal Glam Shine or Borjouis glosses. Some colours are super pretty, and if you're on a budget its an ideal range. I'm sure I'll be picking a few more bits up, and I'm pleased with what I bought for the price. I'll certainly use everything I got.

If you can't find the range, you can buy online here :) Hope this was helpful to someone!

Love and smelly kisses,

Robyn xxx