IN THE MAIL #4 - MakeUp Revolution Haul

Makeup Revolution have built up a well established reputation of great quality makeup at ridiculously low prices in the blogging world. Because of that, their website can be a dangerous one. However, this time I reigned it all in and only ordered TWO things. I'm patting myself on the back right now...

My main objective when visiting the site was to finally get my hands on the Pro Fix Amazing Makeup Fixing Spray. I've read many a rave review on this £5 steal but have never been able to get my hands on it! I check my local Superdrug every time I go past but it's never, ever, ever in stock, and I can't even find it on the Superdrug website any more!

My little travel size of the Urban Decay All Nighter Setting Spray has been getting a lot, a lot* of love recently and my every day usage has left the bottle running dangerously low. Not wanting to splash out £20 on the full size and knowing another travel size just wouldn't cut it I turned to the budget alternative. I'm so excited to give it a try and see how it compares. I have high hopes.

Quite a few other products from the range went in and out of my basket before checkout, but only one made the cut in the end. I've been on a bit of a highlighter kick lately so thought it was time to branch out. I almost went for the standard peach but thought that was a bit safe so instead opted for the Pink Lights highlighter. I read a couple of reviews and it was all positive so I thought at £3, it was worth a shot. It swatched amazingly (I expect no less from MUR), so I can't wait to get it on my face! It's such a gorgeous pigmented lilac shade. I'll keep you updated.

It's been a while since I've gotten my hands on some new MUR stuff. I hope it lives up to the rest!

Have you bought anything online lately? Have you tried either of these?

Tina xx

*(I'm repeating for emphasis...it's not a typo)

IN THE MAIL #3 - ZOEVA BRUSHES

The Zoeva brushes have been all over the beauty blogging world for a while now and although I've tried a couple, I've wanted more for a while. Previously, you had to ship them from Germany but now that they're selling on beautybay.com, it is much easier to pick up one or two as and when you need them. I've been loving my synthetic brushes lately (re. Real Techniques) as they are a doddle to clean so I went for some of Zoeva's synthetic/vegan brushes. I chose the 227 Soft Definer which is one of my favourites, and the 226 Smudger.

I have a couple of the original 227 brushes which serve as my most used blending brushes but are starting to look a little battered, so I wanted to see how the synthetic version compared. It reminds me a lot of my Real Techniques Base Shadow Brush, so if you don't want to fork out for the collection that comes in, this is a good alternative.

I found the differences quite hard to photograph (not including the colour of course), but I think I just about managed it. I've found that synthetic brushes tend to hold their shape a little better than natural haired and you can see above how the bristles of my original 227 have spread out which I actually quite like. I haven't washed the new one yet (obviously) but I imagine it will keep its shape fairly well. This means I can use it for more precise blending - so the two can serve two different purposes.



I have been wanting a short brush just like the 226 for absolutely ages. I am not lacking much in terms of my brush collection but this is a type of brush I've never owned, but have always wanted. I'm hoping that it will be perfect for dragging shadow underneath the lower lash line as the size means it's a little stiffer than a usual shader brush. It's a bit of a niche use, but as a beauty junkie, I'm more than thrilled to add it to my collection.

Both of these brushes were £5.95 from Beauty Bay, which isn't too bad as they are excellent quality. Have you tried anything from Zoeva yet? What did you think?

Tina xx

IN THE MAIL #2 - A SUPERDRUG ORDER

When it comes to ordering drugstore brands online, the Superdrug website is one of my favourites. You only need to spend £10 for free delivery and their points system is pretty awesome as every time you save up 100 points (which happens in no time in my case) you can take £1 off your total. And if that's not enough, they have a bunch of budget brands which you can't really get anywhere else as well as all the usual favourites.

I made a little order recently inspired by this post. As I mentioned, the Rimmel Moisure Renew lipsticks are some of my favourites from the drugstore but I hadn't tried any other nudes as I could only ever find Nude Delight in store. So, I took to the Superdrug website and purchased the only other nude they had in stock which was Notting Hill Nude. Since it was part of a buy one, get one for half price Rimmel offer, I had a look through the brand and finally settled on picking up the new-ish Kate Moss Shadow Stick in Rose Gold which is actually more of an amber than rose gold. I've been sort of the embracing these kinds of shades recently which is unlike me - expect a post soon.

L-R: Rimmel Notting Hill Nude Lipstick,
Rimmel Kate Shadow Stick in Rose Gold

Finally, to make up my £10 for free delivery, I thought I'd try the MakeUp Revolution Focus & Fix Eye Primer. An eyeshadow primer is a critical step in my make-up routine due to my very oily eyelids and I've been wanting to try this budget option for a while to see if it could rival its much more expensive NARS counterpart which I rely on. I chose to get the matte version as I thought this would suit me best - I'll update you with my thoughts.

And that's another In The Mail post done and dusted but expect another soon. Hope you enjoyed this, let me know if you've bought any new drugstore makeup recently!

Tina xx

IN THE MAIL #1

Hello, my name is Tina and I have a blog sale problem. Only joking - sort of. Is it really a problem if I check blog sales every day? ... Naaahhhh. Just grabbing those bargains; totally logical and saving money! #beautybloggermaths (You can feed my addiction by checking out my blog sale here if you like).

Well, today's blog sale purchase is starting off a new feature called "in the mail". I love getting post (who doesn't?), so hopefully you'll love me sharing it with you too! (I considered calling this "in the post" being English and all, but thought mail was a bit more universal. Hope that's okay.) I reckon this is going to be a frequent little feature, as I order things online far too often. A few days ago, a little bit of late night blog sale searching on Twitter led me to Rebecca's blog sale over on lipgloss and lashes, and here's what I got!

- MAC All That Glitters; the mention of this shadow on Twitter is kind of what drew me in to making a purchase. This shadow is massively hyped up in the bloggersphere and I've ummed and ahhed over trying it in the past but was never sure if it would be my thing. It was on sale for £7 so I thought it was worth a shot. I used it today, and I actually quite like it! A nice all-over lid shade which doesn't need much else. It's a pretty rose gold and I'm happy to add it to my MAC eyeshadow collection.

- MAC Prep + Prime Skin Base Sample; this little sample was only £1 so I thought I'd throw it in. Again, I used it today as my choice of primer. I noticed straight away that it has some shimmer in which helped to brighten my complexion (something I've been really into lately). I'm going to need a little extra testing to decide my verdict on this but so far, so good.

- Benefit Hello Flawless Foundation Sample in Champagne; I'm always up for trying a new foundation and even though I had no idea if this shade would match me it was only £3 so I took a chance on this sample, which thankfully paid off. The colour match is actually pretty good and combined with the MAC primer my make-up lasted all day with minimal fading - success! Also, I love the packaging and how you can see exactly how much product you have left (the little bar at the bottom moves up when you pump out the product - genius!).

- Some extras:

• Bioderma Nutri-protective Cleansing Cream; I love cleanser samples and this one is majorly cute. Can't wait to try it.
• Nourish Argan Skin Renew; I'm not 100% sure what this is - ha. Some sort of skin treatment in a cute little pot which will be perfect to keep after I've used it up!
• AVOJO black peel off mask; I haven't tried out too many masks and this one is designed to use over the T-zone to clear out the skin. I'll let you know.

Any feedback you have on this feature would be amazing; I really enjoyed writing it, so hopefully you've enjoyed reading it.

Have you received any post lately? Let me know what you've picked up in the comments! 

Tina xx