HAUL: MUFE, MUG, MAC, Catrice and Rimmel

I know you all got the silent treatment these past few weeks but if you think I didn't do any beauty shopping during that time, you're dead wrong.  And I'm ashamed to admit that I've gone a bit overboard the past week as wel, think concealers (two different brands!), moisturizer, some lip colors  and eyeshadowpalettes.  That's right eyeshadowpalettes, as in more than one.  Don't judge,  it's not like I'm hurting anyone here and in my defense the eyeshadowpalettes are limited edition and one of the concealers was restocked after being sold out for a couple of weeks so I had no choice but to buy it now.  You know I'm right about that!

So here's a little* haul with some first impressions and reviews.

First up I ordered some plastic make up bags from Make Up Forever.  Nothing really special about these but I really love plastic make up bags.  I use them when I travel to put in liquids because they are just so easy to clean and if a liquid was to explode the plasic would keep the product inside (as opposed to a cotton makeup bag where all your clothes would be affected).  I ordered 3 because I couldn't make out the size online.  

The material is really sturdy, which isn't a bad thing necessarily because it shows that these aren't made of some crappy cheap plastic but they will take some breaking in to get them more 'easy going'.  The largest one is a different model than the other two and I was hoping that this one was a bit taller and I could put some MUFE Ultra HD foundations in there standing but that's not the case.  

I recently discovered the charms of palettes you can customize.  Buying a prepaid palette is usually a lot cheaper than buying all the colors separately, but there are always a few colors in there that you'll hardly (if ever) use.   Making your own palette is a solution to that.  I bought a large empty Mac palette with the blush insert.  

That's one lonely Sculpting powder in 'Sculpt' you're seeing.  Sad isn't it?  Maybe I should go out and get her a new friend so she's not lonely anymore ;-)

I couldn't just order the makeup bags and in all fairness, I am lacking in the lip pencil department so I bought 2 Make Up Forever Aqua Lip Pencils.  I love these!!  I used them every day when I did my course at MUFE and they are so easy to work with but because they are water resistent they stay on like forever (unless you're eating oily stuff but since oil dissolves all makeup that's normal).  Safe to say I will be getting more of these babies soon!

I got the color 2C Rosewood (top swatch) and 18C Coral (bottom swatch). 

The iconic 5 Camouflage Cream Palette has been on my wish list for a while.  I'm not the biggest fan of camouflage but sometimes you just need a bit extra and this palette provides that.  A very creamy consistency and not tacky at all makes that these are very easy to use (when you know how to use them anyway).

I already said that I would gradually be expanding my Makeupgeek collection and this month these 3 beauties joined the ranks.  

From left to right: Grandstand (foiled), Americano and Beaches & Cream.  Like the other shadows these are great quality.  The foiled eyeshadow really surprised me, so creamy and blendable while being very pigmented.  Nothing but love for these!!

Another lip pencil but by Rimmel this time.  They recently launched new lipsticks and their lip pencils are the same (or almost the same) colors.  I had bought a few before but really wanted this color.  The only bad thing about these lip pencils is that they are really soft and therefor they break easily while applying.  It's a system where you turn and the product comes up and you really have to make sure you don't turn it too high because it will just break off.  But other than that they apply easy and are a great base for your lipstick.  I went out to dinner with this one as a base and the matching lipstick on top and after dinner the lipstick was almost completely gone but the pencil was still there.

I got the color 018 Addiction.

Lastly I got me some Catrice eye pencils.  3 Kohl Kajal colors and one Longlasting eye pencil waterproof.  This may surprise you but I don't have that many eye pencils and I wanted some Kohl pencils to use as a base for a smokey eye.  

From left to right: Longlasting Eye Pencil Waterproof in 100 Pearly Bird, Kohl Kajal in 210 Brownzer, Kohl Kajal in 140 Chocwaves and Kohl Kajal in 010 Ultra Black.  I haven't tried the Longlasting Eye Pencil yet but if it is indeed waterproof I will get some more colors, you can't go wrong for 2,39!  I do have mixed feelings about the Kohl Kajal pencils, they worked great for the smokey eye I had in mind but when I used Bronwzer at the roots of my eyelashes to accentuate them on a normal working, the color didn't stay put at all.  Not even until noon!  I usually wear an Urban Decay 24/7 eye pencil and they stay put all day.  I think I'm going to get a dark brown Longlasting pencil to see how that one holds up.

So there you have it.  It turned out to be a bit of a longer blogpost than I anticipated but hey, it is weekend so there's plenty of time to read.  If there's anything you see that you want to know more about just leave a comment.

* little is open for interpretation ;-)

Where to buy:

Make Up Forever: makeupforever.be (or your local MUFE website)

MAC: maccosmetics.be (or your local MAC website)

Makeupgeek: Beautybay.com (Europe) or makeupgeek.com (internationally)

Rimmel: at the local drugstore

Catrice: Kruidvat.be

Makeup Geek: first impression and swatches

I think Makeup Geek was one of the first American makeup blogs that became a regular read for me. I absolutely love Marlena!  She just seems so normal to me, very passionate about makeup and being a makeup artist but not over the top.  The looks she makes are always so wearable and she encourages the use of color in makeup.  I was and am a big fan!!  So when she came out with her own makeup line I was intrigued.  I was really rooting for her and it didn't take long for the positive reviews to fill the net.  Which only made me more curious... You can order all of her products in the Makeup Geek webshop, they ship worldwide, but somehow I never got around to doing that.  And than a few weeks ago I received an email that Beautybay started selling Makeup Geek.  That gave me the tiny push I needed and I ordered my very first Makeup Geek products.  

I went for the more neutral, popular eyeshadows because I wanted to make sure that I would use them.  What's the use in ordering flashy colors when you know you're not going to use them?  I wouldn't be able to test them properly if I don't use them.  Along with the eyeshadows, 2 blushes and 1 contour found their way to my shopping cart.

From left to right:

Peach Smoothie, Crème Brulee, Frappé, 

Barcelona Beach, Cocoa Bear, Cherry Cola

I admit that Cherry Cola might be a bit out of context, it isn't really a neutral but a gorgeous dark reddish brown.  It's unlike any color I've seen before and I love the uniqueness of it!  

The quality of these are great, they are so creamy and smooth and blend so easy.  Especially considering the price of these babies is only €6,30!!  

Spell Bound

Bliss

There's no easy way to swatch blushes but I think these pictures show off the pigmentation perfectly.  One dip of my finger in the blush pan, a smear on my arm and these are the result.  The color payoff is crazy.  

Break Up (cool porcelain contour)

I'm not a big contour person.  I love seeing the instagram pictures with the real hardcore contour but on myself?  Not so much.  I have to admit that I didn't have a real contour color, I used a bronzer to contour ever so lightly.  Before we have this whole discussion about cool and warm tones for contouring, I have to add that my bronzer is actually quite cool toned.  I do believe a contour has to be cool toned, simply because that's what shadows are: cool toned.  And since contouring is mimicking shadows it's only normal that you use cool tones for this.  I have used this powder a few times, not on a daily base but on date nights, and I love it.  The pay off is great but also very easy to blend to end up with a nice natural effect.  My man noticed something different to my face, he couldn't quite say what it was but he liked it and that is the best compliment for me.  People noticing something's different, liking it but not really sure what it is.     That means the effect is there but it is so well blended that it looks natural.

While I was at it, I also bought the XL Z palette to store everything in and as you can tell I still have a lot of space left.  Space that will be filled with more Makeup Geek goodies soon.  I already have my eyes set on some more matt eyeshadows but it won't be long before a least one foiled eyeshadow will find its way to my Z palette.

I really do have to give a shoutout to Beautybay.  This site lost me for a while, they just didn't have anything exciting to offer but all of that has changed over the past few weeks with the arrival of Makeup Geek, Dose of colors, Cover FX, Morphe Brushes, ... I'm a big fan again and am really excited to see what other brands they have coming.

Where to buy:

You can buy everything at Makeupgeek.com but you can also buy them at Beautybay.com.  If you live in Europe ordering from Beautybay will ensure you that no extra duties or taxes will be charged and they offer free shipping on orders over €19.

On Beautybay the eyeshadows cost €6,30, the blush and contour pans are €10,20 and the XL Z palette costs €21,90.

HAUL: Boots, Beautybay, Catrice and Essie

Sometimes a girl just has to treat herself and last week was sometimes for me ;-)  Did I go overboard?    I don't think so but I'm sure some people do.  I don't care though, I work full-time so I'm allowed to treat myself from time to time.  Most of the products will be on the blog in a more detailed post but here's a quick overview of what I bought and were I bought it.

Boots

The only reason I ordered at Boots was because I really needed some Indeed Labs Hydraluron Sheet Masks.  I adore these sheet masks and I always take some with me on vacation but I was all out and I was starting to feel really uncomfortable about that.  Boots does charge shipping fees but the promotions they offer more than make up for that.  The Sheet Masks were down to £13,32 from £19,99 so it was the right time to order them.  The Nyx Liquid Suede Cream Lipsticks had been on my wish list for a while and Boots is the only place I could get them so this was the perfect time to order some.  I ordered 3 colors: Soft-spoken, Tea & Cookies and Life's a beach.  I also ordered 2 L'Oreal nail polishes from their new Color Riche L'huile nail polishes.  These will be available soon at the drugstore in Belgium, I've already seen the empty shelves at Kruidvat but since they were empty and I'm impatient, I just had to get some already so Rose Ballet and Cherie Macaron went in the shopping basket.  The last item I bought was the L'Oreal Color Riche La Palette for lips in nude.  I also wanted to get the red palette because they seem so handy for traveling but that one was sold out.  The Soap and Glory Peaches and Clean deep purifying cleanser was a free gift.  It's a full-size bottle and I'm really excited about this.  I've never tried anything from Soap Glory before but I've read so much good about the brand that I can't wait to try this out.

Beautybay

Makeup Geek!!  That should say it all ... I've always wanted to try out the MUG product and even though they do ship to Europe I never ordered from them directly.  I love how more and more American companies are shipping worldwide now but shipping costs and taxes can make that whole experience a lot more expensive than expected.  But now we Europeans can buy the MUG products from Beautybay.  I have to say that Beautybay is really stepping up their game.  MUG, Morphe brushes, Dose of Colors, LA Girl ... they are bringing those hard to get brands to us poor European girls.  If only Colourpop could be next ;-)  

I ordered an Extra Large Z-Palette, 2 MUG blushes (Spell Bound and Bliss), 1 MUG contour powder (Break Up) and 6 MUG eyeshadows (Barcelona Beach, Peach Smoothie, Cocoa Bear, Frappé, Crème Brûlée and Cherry Cola).  The Mario Badescu foaming cleanser and glycolic acid toner were freebies.

Catrice at Kruidvat

The updated Catrice range has launched!!  I was at Kruidvat when the promotion lady was filling the shelves with the new polishes, she wasn't quite finishes yet but I managed to grab a few.  Swatches of these will be on the blog.

Essie at DI

DI has the best promotion this month.  If you hand in an old nail polish, you can buy a new one (any brand) at 50% off.  Perfect timing because Essie just launched 2 (!) new collections: the Retro Revival collection and the Spring collection.  I have enough old polishes to get me these two collections at 50% off, which is great because buying these 12 polishes at full price (€12,49) is just too decadent (even for me) but with the 50% off discount I think I can manage to get them all.  The old polishes I'm handing in (in case you were wondering) are all polishes I got for free at some point. Most of them were a promotion of Kruidvat were you got a free polish with a coupon (but the colors are terrible and so is the quality) and they are now serving a good cause.

I will be posting the 2 collections on the blog but it won't be for this week.  The last color of the Retro Revival collection was sold out and according to the saleslady it could be up to 2 weeks before they restock so that collection might take me a while but the Spring collection should be up next weekend if I manage to get all the colors.

And that's it.  I felt like a kid in the candy store opening everything and I'm ready to start playing with my new stuff.  More detailed blogposts will follow soon!