MUA

Candles, Clothing and Fashion, Make-up, Nails, Skincare

Accidental May Haul

May 29, 2014

Sometimes you just want to shop. It’s an urge that truly can not be ignored, especially if Gem and I are left alone, unsupervised! This afternoon was definitely one of those times and we ended up going on a completely unplanned spree.

No budget style shop would be complete without a trip to Primark and even though I didn’t -need- anything at all, I still ended up with a bag full of stuff. I absolutely adore giraffes and I squeeled with delight when I found the giraffe print dress and the tote bag. Even though I usually buy matching underwear from La Senza or Ann Summers, I often pick up some cheap briefs when I can for the gym or lounging around, because lets face it, no one wants to spend 30 minutes on a treadmill in lacy briefs. I really couldn’t resist the pack of four Brazilian style briefs which came in red animal print, red lipsticks, red hearts and navy polka dots and the 5 pairs of animal print “shoe liners” or better know to me as … socks I can wear at the gym with my trainers.

Giraffe Dress – £5 – Primark

Giraffe tote bag – £1.50 – Primark

Pack of 4 brazilian briefs – £4.50 – Primark

Animal print shoe liners – £2.50 – Primark

And now the stuff that I really really didn’t need. Another candle to add to my collection from Primark in “red berries & orchid” a beautiful berry candle in a gorgeous purple tin, surely this was meant for my dressing table?

A trip to boots ended up in me picking the Rimmel Scandel Eyes gel eyeliner up, which you can read Gem’s review about here, and also NO7’s Beautiful Skin Day Cream with spf15. This was my primary reason for going into Boots as I had a £5 off No7 skincare voucher and really needed some day moisturiser which had spf in. This was for dry to very dry skin and all the reviews I’ve read about this cream were pretty good, so I’m excited to give it a try when I run out of my current moisturiser.

Despite my worries of going to Superdrug and buying half the store, I was actually very sensible, as it was 3 for 2 on most of their makeup, I did pick up an MUA lip-liner in “Red Drama”, MUA lipstick in “Shade 3” and another MUA power pout in “Crazy in Love” (you can see my review of the MUA power pout in “Runaway” here). I also picked up some Garnier Micellar water, which I really did need and some more deodorant which I’m almost out of.

Lastly, we fell into Poundland where I stupidly decided that I had to have a Revlon nail varnish in “Runway Pearl”, two W7 “rock and roll” eye-shadows in “sage” and “envy”, some zebra pens (I already have a vast collection of these exact pens in my desk drawer!) and some beautiful blue paper, a nice addition to my craft room.

Purple tin candle – £3.50 – Primark

Rimmel Scandel Eyes Gel Eyeliner – 4.99 – Boots (usually £6.99 and also £6.99 in Superdrug)

No 7 Beautiful Skin Day Cream – £12.50 – Boots (only £7.50 with my £5 off voucher)

Nivea deodorant – £2.29 – Superdrug (2 for £3)

MUA Power Pout – £3 – Superdrug

MUA Lip Liner – £1 – Superdrug

MUA Lipstick – £1 – Superdrug (3 for 2 – £4 in total)

Revlon Nail Varnish – £1 – Poundland

Decorative paper – £1 – Poundland

W7 rock and roll eyeshadow – £1 each – Poundland

Zebra animal print pens – £1 – Poundland

I absolutely blame our shop on Lauren over at Lauren Amy Blogs, since I was up late last night reading some of her “Superdrug haul” posts and I had an overwhelming urge to go out and buy things. Despite both Gem and I having a no spending month *cough*, together we are a force that is unstoppable – thankfully we did manage to resist the £5 blow up chairs in Ann Summers complete with built in penis’ – something we thought would be absolutely hilarious to take to our upcoming festivals.

This is definitely my last haul for a while, but if you’ve had a recent haul, please post us your links in the comments below so instead of spending our money we can live precariously through you and your blog posts :o).

Totally hellbent for having an uncontrollable addiction that I thankfully share with my bested friend in the whole world

-Pants

Make-up

MUA Matte Lipsticks Review and Swatches

April 21, 2014

I actually picked these up a while ago, but they’ve sat in my “to be reviewed” pile for far too long so I thought it was finally time to break them out and give them some wear! I picked up all five shades available (l-R) Peachy Keen, Pouty Pink, Totally Nude, Wild Berry & Scarlet Siren, though I’ve seen that there are two more shades floating around now (which of course I will need to find and add to complete the collection!)

The packaging is identical to the usual £1 MUA lipsticks, only the plastic tube is white instead of black which I think I strangely actually prefer. This is my first real foray into matte lipsticks as I’m usually a fan of glossy bold shades, but I have to say I really like them. All five apply really well and give good coverage for a budget brand, however I wouldn’t say they are absolutely true colours on the lips, especially Wild Berry which is unfortunately no-where near as dark on the lips.

All five have a nice creamy consistency and though I was worried they might dry my lips out, they actually made them feel quite moisturised which is a nice perk!

The MUA Matte Lipsticks are a great way to try out the matte finish without splurging on more expensive brands, but I do think they fall down massively in one place and that’s longevity. Without Lipcote (which I almost always use) they barely last an hour without fading, though I do expect a lot from my lipsticks when they have to survive me puffing on my E-Cig and chugging down water constantly. Lipcote however does extend their wear to a good few hours, so if you don’t mind adding another product into the mix you can get a lot more wear out of all the shades.

Overall I think it’s a good range of colours and I’ll likely get wear out of them all except for Totally Nude which I think is a bit “concealer lips” (is that in fashion again?).

At only £1 each you can’t really make too many complaints, and I will be seeking out the two new shades added to the range once they go on sale.

Available from Superdrug.com

Totally hellbent for a purse-friendly fun range of colours!

– Gem

Make-up

A haul full of bargains!

April 15, 2014

I’m always one for a bargain but I think I got some real steals in this haul!

As always this wasn’t planned…I was just going to look! Then suddenly I remembered I had a boots gift voucher and it all got a bit..out of hand. No regrets though as I already love everything I picked up!

My story starts in Superdrug as I decided this would be the day I finally fulfilled my long desire for Sleek’s Rose Gold blusher. Handily enough the Sleek counter faces the MUA counter so it was a no-brainer that I’d turn around and pick something up. I settled on the MUA Luxe Velvet Lip Laquer in Reckless as Amie loves hers in Atomic (reviewed here) and it’s the only thing she’d found that can survive an hour under stage lights!

My next stop was Boots, and how glad was I to have saved my gift voucher from my birthday haul when I spotted the Sanctuary Illumination Moisture Lotion and Soap and Glory CC Superfluid and Sit Tight Intense XS in the clearance section! I also took a swing by the Bourjois counter where I found the light Delice de Poudre (which I’ve been looking for for ages!) and powder blush in 41 Healthy Mix.

I can’t resist the bargains in Poundland, and so picked up a Sally Hansen Magnetic Nail Colour in Silver Elements, Nail Rock Nail Caviar in Acid Caviar and Mars some Deep Heat and Deep Freeze style sprays as I pulled a muscle in my Body Combat class earlier in the day (owie!), a Love Hearts scented candle in Very Vanilla and some bright blue face cloths for my gym bag.

My final stop was Bodycare where I found my favourite nail varnish remover – Sally Hansen Moisturising Polish Remover – for half it’s usual price and then did a little happy dance as the Technic Electric palette was back in stock!

The best part of all was that (with my £25 boots voucher which covered all the purchases there AND gave me some change!) was that all this came to only £21!

Totally hellbent for all the shinies at a fraction of the cost!

– Gem

Make-up

MUA Power Pout in “Runaway” Review

April 13, 2014

This was a sheer accidental purchase. I didn’t need it, but as always when browsing the MUA stand, it slipped and fell into my basket. Well it would be rude not to take it home after all that wouldn’t it?

I chose this because it has a beautiful coral look to it. I didn’t actually realise that this was more of a tinted lip balm until I got home, but I still absolutely love it!

Considering this is just a tinted balm, the pigment is actually pretty amazing and I was really impressed with how it applied. It was easy to use, my lips felt nice and soft afterwards and it gave enough colour to satisfy my inner “coralove”. The longevity was about the same as a usual lip balm, but because of the consistency it applied well enough to top up without a mirror whilst out and about. It was also easy to remove – unlike the MUA Luxe Velvet Lip Lacquer’s that are very unforgiving if you make a mistake during application. This is definitely a new favourite grab and go balm, for when I don’t want to apply lipstick, but fancy a touch of colour in a hurry.

I’m so impressed by this that I’m going to grab a few more next time I’m in Superdrug. For a bargain price of £3.00 you can’t really complain at all. You can grab these from Superdrug online here or in store – next on my purchase list will be the “Broken Hearted” shade.

Have you tried these out yet? If so I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Totally hellbent for surprising balms with a flash of colour

-Pants

Make-up

MUA Mascara shade 3 Review

March 17, 2014

You know how it is when you’re casually browsing the MUA stand and you just can’t help picking up a few bits and pieces even though you promised yourself you wouldn’t? Yeah well, that totally happened to me (oops!) and I ended up with a couple of things, this fabulous shade of mascara being one of them!

The tube is opaque plastic and not as I thought clear showing the colour inside. The mascara itself is less greeney/turquoise hued and more blue than the tube, but we’re only talking marginally so it’s not really a massive deal.

The wand is pretty standard with fairly short even bristles, it’s not the best by a long shot but it isn’t completely terrible either.

The formula isn’t really anything special either, it wasn’t particularly curling or thickening, however you do have to take into consideration that this is a £1 mascara!

So-so brush and lacklustre formula aside though I actually do really like this mascara. The colour is gorgeous and currently a pretty close match to my hair. It takes a few layers to build up, and you have to be fast because it clumps quite easily, but if you get it right you’re left with a very bold and bright look.

I won’t be reaching for this on a day to day basis but I’ll definitely bust it out when I fancy a little pop of colour!

Available for £1 from Superdrug.com

Totally hellbent for all things turquoise!

– Gem

If you haven’t already don’t forget to enter our competition to win MUA and Etos goodies!

Giveaways, News

100 Bloglovin’ followers giveaway! [Closed]

March 14, 2014

Since starting Hellbent for Lipstick, we have literally been overwhelmed by the response we have had from you all. Not to mention how our eyes have been opened to the wonderful blogging community which has been truly inspirational to meet like minded individuals.

Because of this, we’ve been wanting to launch our first giveaway for a long time, but we both agreed that we would set ourselves a target first. We’d decided on 100 Bloglovin’ followers and low and behold, you wonderful people have helped us reach it! So to give something back to you all, it’s now time for our very first (of many we might add) competition! *Squees*

All you have to do to enter, is complete the steps below:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

When picking our prizes, we really wanted our first giveaway to be something that wholly reflected us both. After a few months of pondering, we finally came up with the perfect products that we hope you will love as much as we do.

Our first competition will be for the following prize:

Two ETOS long lasting nail varnishes – all the way from Rotterdam in our classic “things that look like Gem and Pants” colours – Red and Blue

MUA Luxe Lip Lacquer in Atomic – again, another staple amongst us is a red lipstick and this is one of our new favourites – you can read the review here

MUA Luxe “Pretty Edgy” studded palette – since we are a heavy metal blog, we had to include something leaning towards the heavy metal style and what better than this beautiful studded palette – you can feast your eyes upon our review of this product here and fall in love with the swatches.

Good Luck and we will be announcing our winner shortly after the closing date on 28th March 2014.

Totally hellbent for all our followers and our first ever competition!

– Gem and Pants

Terms and conditions:

No purchase necessary to enter the prize draw
The closing date for the competition is 12:00am on 28th March 2014
Uner 18s must request permission from a parent or guardian
Competition available to International entrants
To enter simply complete the instructions above
The winner will be picked via Rafflecopter and will be notified by the within 48 hours of the closing date – 12:00am on 28th March 2014
The winner must claim their prize within 14 days of being notified or another winner will be picked
For further information or details of the winner after the closing date, please e-mail info@hellbentforlipstick.com

Make-up

MUA “Pretty Edgy Eyeshadow Palette” – The Studded Palette Review

March 13, 2014

When Gem and I had heard MUA had launched a “studded” palette under their Luxe range, our imaginations ran wild with what many delights this could entail, and thankfully a lot of this ran true. As suspected, they had released a beautiful palette, covered in gold studs. What could be more heavy metal than that?

During the festive period, this was sold out everywhere, including direct from the MUA website, but luckily Gem had procured this for my birthday in February – adding to the many many spoils she had already purchased. I was literally overjoyed when I opened this and it looks so amazing with my other palettes.

This palette comes with ten beautifully dark yet neutral shades and rather than the usual circular pans, the shadows span the entirety of the palettes inside. It’s also blessed with a large mirror and the usual rubbish sponge applicator which I doubt will ever be used.

Usually MUA have a habit of giving their products numbers instead of names, so my insides danced a little with excitement when I saw they had named this set.

The top row, from left to right: Antique, Bow, Toile, Ruffle, Flounce and Envy are very shimmery shades and swatched beautifully.

The bottom row, from left to right: Sinful, Gothic, Wrath and Envy are more Matte shades and I was really surprised with how well the pigment came through.

Here are the individual swatches:

My favourites are – Antique a really shimmery pearlesque colour and Lace which has a subtle maroon undertone to it, I also really love Sinful, which is like a very light mauve – I’m really looking forward to experimenting with some of these colours as there is a definite purple hue to some of these, which is not something I’m generally brave enough to try or get away with.

Overall I am mega impressed with the swatches and colours. Honestly – I didn’t even want the palette for the colours when I first cast my eyes upon it, the magpie in me was completely drawn to the packaging and it could have been filled with “My First Corpsepaint” for all I cared so I’m really glad I have another palette that I am going to love and use adoringly.

If you want to get your hands on one of these superb palettes, you can buy them here from Superdrug for £8 – slightly more expensive than their normal palette range, but definitely worth every penny. Be warned though – they sell out fast!

What are your thoughts on the new Luxe range by MUA? We’d love to hear your thoughts down below.

Totally hellbent for heavy metal make-up

Pants

Make-up, News

MUA LUXE Velvet Lip Lacquer Review

March 12, 2014

I’ve seen a host of reviews on this product all talking about how amazing it is and with the temptation of the shade “Atomic” (you’ve guessed it, a bright red) being too much for me to resist, I ended up buying this a few weeks ago. Usually not being a fan of wand style lip applications, I was sceptical to begin with.

I tried it out the day I bought it and slapped it on quickly, whilst running late for a meal with friends. Wondering if I’d made the right decision to indulge in a red lip shortly before stuffing my face I can safely say it was probably -the- best choice I could have made. During application, I ended up with a rich, yet bright full bodied red with a matte finish. This dried in less than a minute and didn’t rub off onto my wine glass during the evening. I also remembered when getting home, that I had swatched this on my hand with a tester in Superdrug and it remained there even after scrubbing it in the shower – however this seemed to come off pretty easily at the end of the night with my trusty micellar water.

The next test was during our last gig – with more time to apply this evenly and with two coats – this remained absolutely perfect after a half hour set on a very hot stage and even survived further on into the night after Gem and I ditched the venue for a slightly stranger environment – a 90’s esque bar, for our friends birthday.

Here’s me rocking the new MUA Luxe Lip Lacquer in “Atomic” on stage last week. Photo Copyright our lovely live photographer Tony Gaskin at Stagedive Photography. (Sporting the mouth wide open and sweating like a mofo look)

I am absolutely over the moon with this purchase, I really hope MUA release some more neutral “everyday” shades since this red is going to be reserved for less ordinary days and I can see myself getting a lot of use out of it. And if the product itself wasn’t enough – it comes with a purse friendly price tag of only £3.00 and you can find it here at Superdrug. My next purchase is definitely going to be “reckless” which is a much darker red.

Have you tried this out yet? What were your thoughts?

Totally hellbent for lipstick that stays put until the end of a very sweaty night!

-Pants

Make-up

MUA Undress Your Skin Shimmer Highlighter

March 10, 2014

I’ve been trying to get my hands on one of these for absolutely ages and now suddenly they are everywhere!

When it comes to highlighter I am a firm fan of Benefit Highbeam, so much so I’ve barely tried any powder highlighters – this might be the one to change my mind though!

The Undress Your Skin Shimmer Highlighter has a gorgeous peachy colour with a -lot- of shimmer, I really wasn’t expecting so much pigment but really I would be happy with the pay-off from this on a much higher priced product. The fact this costs only £3 makes it all the more sweeter.

With a very light hand you can achieve a subtle day-time friendly look that isn’t loaded with glittery shimmer, but it’s very build-able for those times when you want a little more of a dazzle to your cheeks. The powder is easy to pick up with a brush and has surprisingly little fall-out, so I expect it will last a really long time considering how little you need to make a even a more striking look.

The packaging is as simple and plain as most of the MUA range but the actual pan is a gorgeous swirly design that might just be inspired (borrowed shamelessly!) from some of MAC’s much higher end powder products! It gives it the sort of elegance that makes you proud to pull it out of your make-up bag in public though, and you don’t often get that with budget drugstore brands, so props to MUA for giving a little bit of class!

Overall you really really can’t go wrong with a product this beautiful for only £3.00!

Available from Superdrug.com

Totally hellbent for gorgeous design on budget products

– Gem

Make-up

MUA Starry Night Eyeshadow Palette Review and Swatches

November 22, 2013

MUA have a great range of eyeshadow palettes, but I always seem to have trouble with their matte shades. This gorgeous silver toned collection however is all shimmer finish, making every single shade a winner.

Starry Night has twelve shades in total, but as with all the older MUA lines they are not named (or even numbered – a big gripe of mine!).

As with all cheaper eyeshadows a primer is an absolute necessity, and for these swatches I’ve used the MUA Professional Primer for some brand continuity!

There’s enough variation in this relativly colour restricted palette to create a number of looks, and with the right blending I reckon there are some amazing smoky silver looks coming my way.

Available for £4.00 from Superdrug.com

Totally hellbent for an all shimmer MUA palette!

– Gem