No7 Poppy King Lip Crayon - Raindrops Collection (Smiling & Skipping)

As suspected, the lure of a 3 for 2 and the No7 £5 off voucher was too much, I had to go back for the other 2 Crayons in the Raindrops collection.  You can see my first post on them here.

This time I picked up Smiling and Skipping; a bright, blue based red and a very sheer berry colour. Skipping is definitely the least pigmented from the collection and leaves just a hint of subtle colour on the lips whereas Smiling is as punchy and bright as the previous 3 I've tried.

Not much more to say on these other than to echo what I said in my last post about them.  I really like the texture and wear of the Crayons and after having tried them out some more over the weekend I am really pleased with them, they're very wearable colours, look great on the lips and last surprisingly well for this sort of product.

Finally, here are a couple of swatches of my two newest editions:

MUA (make up academy) @ Superdrug

The new £1 range of make up at Superdrug, MUA (make up academy) looks, on first inspection, like it could have some potential. The packaging is basic but alright looking, it feels sturdy enough and the products are a good size. None of it looks really cheap, which it is, so a good start.

What immediately drew my attention were the eye shadows, they’re bright, bold colours available in 20 shades, 16 pearl and 4 matt. Over two trips I have managed to collect almost the whole set and I was super impressed with them they are phenomenal! All lovely colours and they go on so well, they are bright, last all day and they blend amazingly well. Also, several of the colours are exactly the same as other, more expensive shades from the bigger brands. So far there is an exact dupe of MAC’s blue brown (shade 12) and Kitschmas (the light lilac pearl )pigment and one which is very similar to a Barry M dazzle dust too (dark bluey purple shot through with pink).



I’m really taken aback by the quality of the eye shadows, they feel fantastic to use and look as good, if not better, than a lot of far more expensive products I own. I’m forever picking up cheapy make up bargains and regretting it later when they just don’t give value for money but the MUA range is definitely not like that at all. The matt colours aren’t quite so bright and vivid as the pearl shades but they still look good and apply well.



I also bought one of the blushes, very highly pigmented, goes on nicely and last really well, so another recommendation there.

However, I tried both the lip gloss products too, the squeezy tube and the wand applicator one and they are both rubbish, they taste weird and are thin and greasy and seem to slip off your lips into your mouth and they make me gag they taste so foul, I threw them both in the bin the day I bought them. So no rave review for them unfortunately.



Overall, I’m amazed at the quality of the eyeshadow, especially given the price and look forward to seeing if Superdrug decide to extend the range of colours, judging by the empty display when I went back in to have another look they won’t have any problem with excess stock in the near future. Go try some!

Eyeliner Swatches - UD vs MAC

Some colour comparisons of the new Pearlglide liners from the MAC Art Supplies collection and Urban Decay’s 24/7 liners.




In my opinion:

Black Line is VERY similar to Stash, it's maybe a tiny touch darker but not so you'd really notice. It may be more obvious on the eye but swatched on the back of my hand it was hard to tell the difference.

Undercurrent is very like Covet, it's a slightly deeper, richer shade and it does have more, but also more subtle, shimmer through it. Too similar to justify a purchase if you already have Covet like I do.

Industrial is totally different from anything UD make, it's a lighter, sparkly more lilac silver blue than an of the other eyeliners I've tried. It definitely take on obvious lilac tones when used with purple eyeshadows but looks more blue when matched with blue shades.

Petrol Blue is much richer and darker than Binge, it's what I hoped binge would be like.

Almost Noir is very similar to 1999, it's slightly darker but not much and there is a more intense quality to the glitter in it, but overall it's too similar to warrant a purchase for me.

Designer Purple is, again, a deeper, richer more glitter filled pencil but it is quite similar to the UD colours I already own. I suspect layering Lust or Ransom over Rockstar would give a very similar effect.

All in all there are really only 2 of the MAC pencils I felt I could justify buying, I would have loved to have all 6 but the other 4 colours felt too much like buying double of what I already own.

For those who don't own the UD dupes / versions of the colours then I would highly recommend the MAC pencils, the colours are really fantastic, bright and very shimmery due to being packed with lots of very fine glitter.

I'll definitely be keeping an eye out for more Pearlglide liners in the future, let's just hope MAC can come up with more colours that aren't already available (and in my collection).

MAC Art Supplies - Pearlglide Intense Eyeliner

MAC’s Art Supplies collection launched at the beginning of April in the UK, I have been very good recently and not really looked into the new collections at all, mainly because I get hideously sucked into the hype and end up feeling like I won’t be complete until I buy it all, so it’s easiest all round if I just stay clear of MAC. This collection was different though, mainly because I saw a review on You Tube of the lip products and decided I had to try them (more on them later). While I was in it would have been rude not to try out the eyeliners, here’s what MAC says:

“Paint it, scribble all over, Art Supplies is everything you need to paint the ultimate self-portrait: Different styles of art pencils create eye looks that are expressive and individual, for a new kind of PowerPoint presentation. The pencil portion of the collection focuses on a Greasepaint Stick in eight fabulous, limitedlife shades… the ultimate inky colour payoff is an homage to the success we had with Style Black and DSquared² last season. Use as a Shadow or Liner: ludicrously long-wearing, transfer – and water-resistant, flexible and five-star comfortable. New Pearlglide Intense Eye Liner with an exciting new shimmering sparkle effect, will also launch in limited-life, featuring six slick, smooth, sextronic shades.”

I tried the Greasepaint sticks and wasn’t too fussed, the colours are all too dark for me and I don’t think I’d get much use out of them, the Pearlglide liners however. :swoon:

I ended up with 2, as I was trying to be good.

* Industrial – A gorgeous blue, grey which takes on iridescent lilac tones in certain lights
* Petrol – Deep dark navy blue with a hint of shimmer



Industrial is like nothing I have tried before and absolutely gorgeous, it’s very versatile and changes colour depending on what you wear it with. I love it! Petrol is what I hope Binge from Urban Decay would be like, a erally dark, proper navy, again I adore it.

I also adored:

* Designer Purple – Dark shimmery violet/purple
* Undercurrent – Blue, green, teal, peacock shimmer

I am still torn over Designer Purple, I love purple on my eyes and it was a gorgeous colour but very similar to a couple of UD liners I have so silly to double up, Undercurrent is the same slightly different from UD’s Covet but not enough to justify the money. The other two Almost Noir and Blackline, cn be duped exactly with UD liners I already have, so silly to buy them. More on the colour comparisons later.

The pencils go on beautifully, really glide on, as the name suggests and the colour lasts brilliantly all day. They remind me a lot of the UD 24/7 pencils which is no bad thing in my book and unfortunately means I may have to check out future collections if they release nice colours that I don’t already have. They are very soft but I don’t find that an issue as I am careful when I sharpen and don’t use pencils if I want an exactly defined perfect line.

As I mentioned, the colours can be duped using Urban Decay pencils so I have done some comparison swatches to show that but I’ll put them in a separate post to keep it neat.

All in all, I really rate the Pearlgide liners and I almost wish the colours were slightly different so I could have more!

Nail Varnish

I used to be very into my nail varnish, but laziness and having short stumpy nails for climbing has put me off in recent years. However, of late, I decided I didn't have enough stuff to spend my hard earned cash on and have become a big fan again.

So hopefully, from now on, I will have lots of lovely nail swatches to add too, for now here are some recent shades: