You can't not get excited when MUA [Makeup Academy] announce they are bringing out new products, let alone a whole new range, so when I heard about the release of the LUXE range, it's safe to say I was pretty pumped. The first release had some new lip, eye and brow products, with nail wraps added fairly recently and many new products to come according to the site. MUA products are brilliant and I have items from them that I use on the daily; they are affordable and great quality and they ship all the way from the UK to little ol' NZ.
A couple days after New Years, an email popped into my inbox saying they were offering free international shipping on orders over £20 (approx. NZD $40) so naturally I jumped on and ordered a few things from the LUXE range as well as a few other items which will be featured in a separate post.
001. Velvet Lip Lacquer in Funk // £3.00
The lip lacquer phenomena has hit the makeup industry hard and it seems brands are bringing them out left right and centre. It is good to see a very cheap option and straight off the bat I have gotta say these literally blew my mind. I wore Criminal to work today [see below] and it lasted for about 5 hours with no touch ups and looked exactly the same as when I applied it in the morning (if anything, a little drier). It endured through eating, drinking a couple of coffees and sipping from a water bottle with no colour transfer at all.
The lacquers go on quite wet, extremely opaque (really only needs 2 swipes) and easily with the doe-foot applicator. After a few seconds they are completely dry and won't budge. Funk is a dark pink which lends towards the red spectrum of colour. I love the matte effect, but if you get dry lips these probably wouldn't be great as by the end of a few hours they were feeling pretty dry on the lips and mine don't tend to get dry much at all (thanks Vasaline and Baby Lips!) If you can go without the matte look, throw a gloss over top to give a bit of moisture whilst still getting the incredible opaque colour.
002. Velvet Lip Lacquer in Criminal // £3.00
Of course I gravitated to the hot pink shade as well and it is really eye catching and an amazing colour on the lips. As mentioned above I am super impressed with these and I have already ordered the other 3 colours, because at $6.00 you can't go wrong! I also think the packaging feels a lot more expensive then they are, with the frosted glass tube and matte black simplistic lid - it fits in with the 'Luxe' name very well.
003. Power Brow Shape + Highlight in Fair // £3.00
Along with the lip lacquers it is good to see a cheaper brand do a good brow product with the Power Brow. I got the shade Fair (the lightest available out of 3 choices) and it is a pretty good match for me. One end has a very small pointed nib, which can create strong lines whilst still looking natural and the pencil design makes it easy to control. The other end has a larger rounded cream highlighter product; super easy to swish on the brow bone to help to highlight and give definition. I really like this product as you can go in a draw the shape in lightly and fill in with a powder product - it makes doing your brows much easier I think.
004. Glitter Eye Palette in Diva // £4.00
Lastly I went for one of the glitter eye palettes just for a bit of fun as it is not something I would usually go for, nor is it something I have in my makeup collection. I went for more wearable colours (for me at least) with the grey tones in Diva, the green being a total curve ball. The other glitter palettes are quite bright with oranges and yellows and pinks and purples.
I didn't quite know what to expect with these or how they would work, but the glitter is suspended in a clear gel/wax type product which helps to spread and blend the glitter. It does set seem to set after a minute or so which will help to keep it in place and creates no full out. The glitter is quite sparse through out the clear base but could be built up. I think this will be a lot of fun to play around with for night's out or dress up.
I have got to hand it to MUA for creating yet more products which are just brilliant and super affordable! Shipping to NZ usually is £7.50 (NZD $14 approx.), but keep an eye out on their FB page and their emails as they tend to always have free shipping options every couple of months. I think it is well worth doing an order for the lip lacquers alone and expect a full review with lip swatches and all when the other 3 arrive to complete my collection.
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