MUA Smokin' Palette

If you have seen my Beauty Haul video you would have seen me rave about this palette!

The new MUA Smokin Palette is a stunning 10 eyeshadow, 1 eye pencil palette made for those of us who love smokey eyes.

The palette holds 4 mattes (Glory, Boudoir, Fantasy and Mythical) 6 Shimmers (Ghost, Broken, Icon, Unleash, Chaos, Wicked) and one khol eye pencil (Black Smoke)

The colours payoff in this palette is TO DIE FOR! 

The swatches below are without any primer!

They show up so well on my skin tone, I am very impressed!

I couldn't wait to use these gorgeous jewelled eyeshadows to test out their longeviity as well as see how they look on me.

I used a thin layer of ELF's mineral eyeshadow primer, then I applied a thin layer of NYX Jumbo Pencil in Black Bean.

I then applied Chaos liberally over the lid. Whilst applying I found out that I experienced some creasing, this can be solved by using a bit more primer than I did.

I followed my applying a bit of the Black Smoke pencil on my outer V and then went over that with Mythical, making sure I blended well.

I reapplied more of Chaos (to get rid of the creasing) and added some of Makeup Geek's Corrupt E/S in my outer V as I found that Mythical wasn't dark enough for me.

Next I moved onto the waterline.

I applied Unleash carefully onto my waterline.

I loveeeed the contrast of colour however I went in with my Barry M Bold Blue eyeliner just to up the colour payoff.

Last but not least I applied Glory to my brow bone for a subtle highlight colour and voila!

You get the look below!

Look how stunning these colours are!
I'm just blow away!

The creasing was a bit of a problem but I think this could be remedied by using a more effective primer (Lime Crime Eyeshadow Helper is fab!) I also don't like that the Black Smoke eye pencil does not come with a lid, it is so soft it really needs one!

Besides that I am in love with this palette.

For ONLY £6 you cannot go wrong AT ALL!

I've also heard that this is a great dupe for the Urban Decay Smoked Palette.

The Smokin' Palette can be found at the MUA site HERE.

What do you think about this palette?
Are you tempted to pick it up?
What other MUA products do you like?

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NYX The Smokey Shadow Palette and NYX Girls Polish

September is here.

This means the summer is over people!!

No more heat until next July so what can we do?

Embrace the winter months, that's what!

I like to do this by changing up my make up look, I stick to the vampy, dark colours because let's face it, winter is slightly depressing.

So how do I reflect winter in my make up?

With the help of NYX of course.

(All you summer lovers don't fret, click HERE for my last NYX review on how to achieve an easy summer look)

First let's talk about how to do this via eyeshadow.

The Smokey Shadow Palette - £8.00*

Another one of NYX newest products.

The Smokey Shadow Palette contains 6 complimentary eyeshadows for the easiest of smokey eyes.

Funnily enough, although I'm a makeup lover, I really am more about my lipsticks then my eyeshadows, if I do use eyeshadows I stick to bronzes and golds, so this palette was something very new to me.

I tend to shy away from smokey palettes due to an inherent fear that I will end up looking more like a sad panda then a smouldering vixen but when I received this palette I gave myself a pep talk and began experimenting.

I was actually surprised at how easy it was to create a smokey eye with this palette, as all the colours are complimentary you can't go wrong with any two or three of the six shadows you choose.

I started off by applying the matte black shade all over my lid, then I layered the metallic purple over it and then the glitter slate colours for some sparkle, I then added the white shade on my brow bone, the smallest bit of the beige gold on my inner tear duct and the dark blue on my lower line.

The result...

I think this gave me a great beginners smokey eye! 

For the more intermediate of eyeshadow wearers this may be a bit basic for you, but for those of us who wouldn't know where to start with smokey eyes, this palette is PERFECT!

All the work is done for you, all you need to do is blend which is super easy because of the soft formula of the eyeshadows!

What I would say is definitely use a primer with these shadows to get the best bang for your buck but I have to admit, I'm quite pleased with the result!

Don't forget to add lashes for more oomph!

So now we have the face down, what next?

Let's move onto nails!

NYX Girls Polish in Fig - £3.00*

Now I have to admit, I normally only wear two types of nail colours either nudes or darks, so Fig was right up my street.

A deep blue purple with the subtlest of silver flecks.

You get 12ml of product with these nail varnish (10ml with Barry M and 7ml with Maybelline Color Show) which is quite a lot for £3.00.

The brush is skinny which I thought would initially be a problem but this allowed for a less messier (than normal) application for me.

I only needed to apply two coats of this for opaque colour which is also impressive!

These varnishes come in a staggering array of shades so for those of you who aren't too down with dark nails in the winter, do not fret, NYX hold a shade for you!

All in all I have loved using these products that NYX sent me, for such an inexpensive brand their products are really something to sing about, from their bronzers and lipsticks to their eyeshadows and eye pencils!

I have several products from NYX including lipglosses, lipsticks, correctors and blushes and I can say that I adore them all!

If you haven't ever tried any of NYX products I definitely hope I've given you something to think about and if you have then you already know why I feel so privileged to have won the opportunity to be NYX Cosmetics UK Blogger of The Month!

Thanks NYX Cosmetics!

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