Three things you should try from MUA

It’s nearly a year since I went cruelty-free now, and although I’ve tried loads of stuff that I’ve really liked, I haven’t become anywhere near as much of a cruelty-free make up expert as I was expecting in that time. There are quite a few things like blush, eyeshadows, bronzers, etc, that last ages, and in general I just replace the essentials like concealer or mascara when I need to, so I haven’t really tried multiple versions of each item in my make up routine to be able to compare.

That said, I do like to pick up a few new bits every couple of months, and over the course of the year and multiple Superdrug trips I’ve been dipping in and out of the brand MUA. The draw of MUA is kind of obvious – it’s dirt cheap, and I am nothing if not a dirty cheapskate, so it’s been nice to try a couple of things when I’m not feeling all that spendy.

Of the products I’ve tried, several kind of sucked, obviously; their £1.50 concealer (don’t know what I was expecting, but I picked it up in a hurry when the lady at the till said it was buy two, get a third free and there was a queue and I felt pressured), a lipstick that I tried and have since thrown away, and a couple of others. There are three though, that I liked a LOT. So, I figured I would stick them in a post incase anyone else has ever thought about trying the brand but wasn’t sure where to begin.

MUA Rusted Wonders palette, £3.50

I am nothing short of gobsmacked at the quality of this palette for the price. No okay, that’s a bit extreme, but I’m bloody impressed and very surprised. The shades are gorgeous; there’s an amazing reddish colour, a browny bronze, two gold/copper colours, a champagne and a pearly cream. They are shimmers so if that’s not your thing perhaps not one for you, and almost metallic on the eyelids.

The staying power is fab – I can’t say all day because I haven’t tried a morning-evening situation – and they apply beautifully. Pigmentation is good on all of them bar the palest shade, where it’s just okay, but that will be my least used one anyway so I don’t mind that. I’m completely in love with the russet combined with the copper and feel like it’ll be a go-to in the evenings for me for a while now.

Side note; I bought this then absolutely freaked out that it wouldn’t be vegan because of the red shade. I don’t want to be putting crushed beetles on my eyelids. I emailed them to check because I felt so guilty, and they replied to say that it was in fact vegan, so YAY.

MUA Luxe Precision High Definition Liner, £4

I went all out here and got the ‘MUA Luxe’ liner instead of the standard MUA one. Big spender, I know, because it was four whole pounds. This is one of my favourite eyeliners I’ve ever used actually – the tip is exactly the kind I like. It’s felt tip style, not too rigid but not too flexible either (or I end up unable to control it even more than usual) and is a perfect point.

Again, the lasting power on this is great – it can handle a day in the office and then a gym class and still be going strong when I get home in the evening. I’ll repurchase this for sure.

MUA Undress Your Skin Highlighting Powder, £3

For a good few months I’ve been using the Barry M Strobe Cream as my go-to highlighter (as mentioned in this post here) but I decided I wanted to try a powder that I could dust on with a brush I already owned that seemed the perfect size for such a job but which I never used. I’ve got the shade ‘Pink Shimmer’, which works nicely on my skin tone and isn’t too pink, but there are loads of other shades I’m keen to try too – I’m going to pick up a goldish one next.

You have to swirl the brush around a few times in the pan on the first use to sort of loosen it up a little and break through the surface, and once you’ve done this it’s beautifully pigmented and glowy. The packaging is pretty budget but for three quid I’m not complaining.

Also, just thought of this as I was typing, but I think altogether these three will make a perfect Christmas party make up look – metallic eyes, glowy cheekbones, and a slick of black liner sounds pretty good to me. Maybe if I shoot some kind of partywear look I’ll pop on these products so you can see!

Have you tried anything from MUA before – are there any other gems I should pick up?

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