Vivo and MUA ♥

Hola Chiquitas! I have recently purchased a couple of items from the much loved brands Vivo and MUA, and thought I would share my thoughts with you! First up is Vivo, I first heard about this brand just over a month or so ago, and it is readily available in larger TESCO stores. It is extremely reasonably priced, and I now have quite a few items. To find my last blog post on Vivo click here. 

So now I have decided to jump on the BB Cream bandwagon, and give it a go. I usually wear a medium coverage foundation, but since I have been on holiday I have had a major freckle outburst, and I am peeling like mad so I haven't worn much foundation. I have been concealing the blemishes and then just going ahead with bronzer etc. So on the days now where I feel I need a little more, but I don't want to do my full on foundation routine, BB cream I feel is the way to go. I got it in the shade light, because although I have a freckly almost-tan, it fades pretty darn quick so I will be a few shades lighter. 

It has quite a thick consistency, and I used the real techniques buffing brush to buff it into my skin. I really could see the difference on the side of my face that I had covered. My skin does get red and blotchy when I have no make up on and the Beauty Balm really did seem to even it out, with still having all my freckles showing through. It was quick and easy to apply, and can also be applied with fingers like a cream, so it's handy to take around with you too. It lasted about 4 hours before it looked like I needed to re-apply, but I do rest my head on my hands for most of the day and touch my face a lot, so that is mostly my own doing. I would definitely recommend this to BB cream beginners, because for £4.00 it's a steal, and I was impressed! 

Secondly is the Shimmer and Shine Lip Gloss in frosted pink. OoO I love this product! I am looking forward to going back to Tesco to get all of them! It is a bargainous £1.50, and I just love it. The colour is a really lovely light pink with a shimmer to it, and reflects light perfectly, leaving your lips all shimmery and shiny. It lasted on my lips for a good couple of hours before re-applying and it isn't too sticky. It has the most AMAZING smell to it like watermelons nom nom nom! It also has a long doe-foot like applicator, so there's no missin' any part of that pout. It is now a staple in my make up bag for work, as it is shimmery, sheer and not too much!

Shimmer and shine lip gloss in Frosted Pink on my lips. Shine-tastic!

The Beauty Balm in shade light. The first swatch is as it comes out of the bottle, and the second is where I have blended it in, but not fully, so you can see it starts to merge into your skin.

Next is MUA. I am sure everybody will of heard of this brand but if you have been living under a rock and somehow haven't, here is the low down! It is a budget make up brand that lives in Superdrug, where all the basic products begin at £1.00. It is fantastic actually, and the majority of products I would re purchase over and over, because they are actually great quality. I decided to try their blushers most recently, so I got them in shade 1 - a baby pink with a light shimmer, and shade 4 - a peachy matte shade. I have tried out both on separate occasions and I don't have a bad word to say. This is a very positive review post day guys!

For one British pound, you get yourself a nice 2.4g of product, in nifty little packaging for your make up bag.  

They are both super pigmented, gorgeous colours which are buildable, so from a light dusting to a heavy colour block, it's up to you how you wear it. Here they both are swatched on my hand. I can't wait to go and get the rest of the collection! My opinions are 100% my own, and I can't give enough love for all the products mentioned in this post, especially because of the price!

I hope this was helpful for those of you that haven't had the pleasure of trying VIVO or MUA yet. If you have a spare couple of quid knocking around, I would go and treat yourself to a few products from these brands because you can really stack up your collection with great quality products! Enjoy, beauty heads!

Ciao for now XxX

Cypriot make up! ♥

Hellooo! As you my know, I went to Cyprus last week, and whilst I was there I wanted to see if there were any cosmetics over there that you can't get in the UK. It's always nice to get something different, however if it is a really great product, it will have to be used sparingly or give me an excuse to go back! 

We found a large supermarket type place in Ayia Napa, which is where I found the cosmetics that I am going to talk about here. They were all unbelievably reasonably priced, and actually great quality products. I can't quite believe the bargains.

To begin, this little beauty was a set of 6 Nail Polishes, for a whole three euros. About £2.30. I know, absolute bargain right? As you would think, my initial thoughts were; 'well they are gonna be a 3 coat disaster', but for the money I thought I would give them a go anyway! The brand name is 'Caerphilly Professional Nail Lacquer', and you also get a whopping 20ml of Polish in these beauties, whereas Barry M for example are half that. I love the packaging, big chunky bottles with a metallic pink lid, and there are some great colours. Here I have a flouro pink, shimmer red, shimmer navy/black, clear topcoat, glitter pink and a glossy white. They were three euros collectively by the way, not each.

Here is an example of the glittery pink nail varnish, and this is a one coat wonder! Hoorahh! It also dries super quick! I really had an absolute bargain with these and wish I had bought more to pass on, or to do as a giveaway. Next time I go I am sure to do so! I did try to find the products online or on Ebay but I can't seem to find them, so if anyone has come across these before, leave a comment! I love getting your comments and will always get back to you.

This was another nail polish I got in a pharmacy in Protaras. This was more expensive than all those nail varnishes above put together! However, I did find this first and it was a brand I hadn't heard of so I thought I would give it a go. For five euros (around £4.15), this is a glitter and polkadot topcoat. It is by S.H.C and is really pretty. I am yet to try it as a polkadot topcoat, to try and get all the black dots out of it is going to be a fun task, but as a glitter topcoat I wouldn't say it is anything special, but nice enough!

 

These are a set of lippies I found in the same supermarket as the above nail polish. Found in Cyprus but made in china, as per. So, this was a pack of 12 lipsticks, all reds, pinks and brown shades and this also cost 3 euros for all 12! Again, I thought they are going to have little, if no pigmentation and will need reapplying constantly. I was wrong yet again! The swatch (which is pink not orange) should tell you all you need to know. This brand is called 'Fate of Flower' and is enriched with vitamin E. Nice!

And now for the ultimate bargain. I am loving different eyeshadow palettes at the minute, and always am looking to add to my ever-growing collection. Also in the Ayia Napa supermarkets, I found these eyeshadow palettes. There were three palettes to choose from, so I got all three. I wish I had got more now! These were a shocking 2.60 euros! They are some of the most pigmented shimmer eyeshadows I have seen, and you get quite a lot of product in each section! The name is 'Oumeidie', and I actually felt like I should have paid more as it was such a steal. The colours are beautiful and you can get other sets from this company on Ebay, I had a look for you guys! They are all around the £4.00 mark on there. I am going to do a few make up looks with these soon, just to prove the unbelievable pigmentation for the dosh! This was the bold and brights palette.

Here is the more neutral, natural and highlight palette.

And here is a pastel and khaki palette. They also come with Mahoosive mirrors, and a little applicator.

This was one light stroke in the palette with my finger, and swatched on my hand and that is how bold they are. I would definitely recommend this brand and would certainly re-purchase. So if any of you are heading out to Cyprus, I wouldn't bother looking in the Pharmacies, have a hunt around the supermarkets! There are bargains to be had!

Ciao for now! XxX

Vivo at Tesco ♥

Calling all fellow bargain beauty hunters! A little treat for you! I had been hearing along the ever-growing grapevine about the new Vivo make up range in Tesco, and thought I would give it a go myself. I have 2 Tesco stores near me, and this was only available in the one so I think it is available in selected larger Tesco stores. SO here it is. I got 5 different things across the range to try out just to see if I like it first. I cannot remember the exact prices, but everything is under a tenner, which I think is great value. At the back of the picture is the baked bronzer which I think is around £4, the baked blusher is around £3, the eyeshadow palette is around £6 and the smaller concealer, and eyebrow palettes are around £3. Don't quite me on those but they are AROUND those prices, not much more!

Sorry again for the dodgy pictures, I am too lazy to use my SLR and upload them, it is far quicker on my Iphone. I shall use my SLR very soon for better quality! First up is the marbled eyeshadow and blush palette. I love love LOVE it. They are like little baked galaxies in a box and they are sooo pretty! Shimmery, pigmented and a range of wearable colours. There are a few other palettes, but I thought this would be the most wearable. The palettes don't seem to be named, but I think the packaging is very sleek and sophisticated, and look more expensive than they actually are. 

The colours don't show up very amazingly here but I'll just explain briefly. The blusher is to the left, and is a high pigment baby pink shimmer blush, use sparingly! A light dust on the cheekbone will be plenty, and its shimmery enough to act as a highlight too. The first shadow comes out like a very light sea green, and reminds me of mermaids! How simple am I sounding...Anyway...the second is a taupe to light brown colour and would be more suited to the eyelid than a highlight as it comes out quite dark. The third shade is a light khaki green which is also best for the lid, along with the final shade which is a taupe to mushroom colour - suitable for the inner corners. The palette actually does show on the back where to apply each colour, handy for beginners or young make up artists in the making! 

This is the baked shimmer blusher, in shade 4 'Rouge Shimmer'. It is a warm pink colour which is great, again dusted over the cheekbones. It isn't quite as bright as the blusher that comes with the eyeshadow palette, but it is a lovely more muted version. It doesn't have glittery flecks in or anything, its more of a sheer shimmer. I have used it for the last two days since I had it, and it gets the thumbs up from me!

This is the eye brow palette, with 3 colours to suit every little brow hair out there! These also double up as eyeshadows, come with a brow setting gel, an applicator AND a mirror! What more could you ask for in the bargain world? I actually really like this little compact, great for on the go and you don't have to find everything separate at the bottom of your handbag. For the price, it's a great buy, and one I recommend! There is a light colour for more blonde brows, a light brown that on the skin comes out quite a reddish tone, so more for red hair, and the darker brown for brunettes like moi! Although I have turquoise and black hair...they don't do a kit for that funnily enough.

This is the baked bronzer, which is really lovely! You only need a little bit again, and I would say this is more of a highlight bronze for the cheekbones, rather than a temple/contour/jawline bronzer. It is very bright and shimmery indeed, but nothing that a good blend wouldn't sort. This is shade 2, which is very gold toned. A great bargain, which I think will look great over a tan!

This is the concealer palette, my last product from Vivo. Again, a great little portable compact with 2 concealers and a setting powder, an illuminator pen, an applicator and mirror! Another bargain! This however, I don't think is something I would re-purchase at the moment. I haven't really given it that much of a good go, but that is because I cannot find anything to beat the Collection 2000 lasting perfection! Well, they are called Collection now aren't they? But anyhow, the creamy consistency of the concealers allow them to be used as eyeshadow primers too, but I have yet to try it. I personally think these concealers just sit on top of my skin rather than sinking in, but you can't have it all can you? 

Overall a great new brand, I shall definitely be purchasing some more of their cosmetics in the near future! Hope this helps and if anyone has any questions on these items, be sure to leave a comment and I shall get back to you!

Ciao for now XxX