Make Up Academy Eyeshadow Singles~ Review & Swatches

If you haven't heard of Make Up Academy (short-form MUA) then you're probably not from Britian, lol. MUA is a small new (and by new I mean less than 3 years old) drugstore cosmetics brand that sells their items for a pound (1 GBP) a piece. The only reason I got my hands on these two shadows was because of raves about them on a cosmetics chat I'm on often, a couple rave reviews on youtube and my dad happened to be traveling over to Scotland. I specifically asked him to pick up these two pearl finish eyeshadows and boy are they totally worth more than the one pound price tag!

The two colours are Shade 12 (left in above photo) and Shade 9 (right in above photo). Both are classified as pearl finish and are each 2 grams in size. 

Shade 12 is the Mac Club/ Too Faced Label Whore/ Urban Decay Lounge eyeshadows dupe. It is a reddened brown with heavy green flash to it.

Shade 9 is the Urban Decay Ecstasy dupe. It is a bright red-based purple with intense blue duochrome. 

Here are some swatches!

Sunlight- L: Shade 9, dry, no base R: Shade 9, over Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy (FPE)

Natural indirect light- L: Shade 9, dry, no base; R: Shade 9, over FPE

Natural Indirect light: L-R: Shade 12 wet, no base; Shade 12 dry, no base; Shade 12 over FPE

Sunlight: L-R: Shade 12 wet, no base; Shade 12 dry, no base; Shade 12 over FPE

Shade 12

Shade 9

Both work better over Fyrinnae's Pixie Epoxy (FPE) but Shade 9 is noticeably more pigmented over FPE. I love how pigmented both shades are (even Shade 9 the purple one which is less pigmented than Shade 12). THey both have strong duochrome to them, with a high shimmer finish and good blend-ability. Shade 9 is a favourite of mine for doing a really intense eye-popping cool-toned eye. Both shades make excellent crease shades too.

I do find these a little difficult to get on the brushes sometimes as they are rather hard. Also make sure you don't get them wet! You can see where I accidently wet my Shade 9 and that section hasn't worked very well since. I have to go around it to get colour.

The packaging is nice sturdy plastic and the see-through front makes it easy to identify colours. Not very stackable though.

The back of one of the shades, ingredients list

Overall, for a pound a piece these are fantastic little drugstore gems! However, quite difficult to get ahold of unless you've got a friend in the United Kingdom. Or a willing father who happens to be visiting the country.

Sprite Rating: 7/10- my only issue is availability and the fact that they could be slightly softer/more pigmented.

Would I buy them again? Yes, for the cheap price and excellent colours I'd buy these again. Much better price option than the high-end versions of these colours in my opinion. I'd love to get my hands on more shades from the range to see how they compare.

FOTD: Robot in the Jungle

Yes, I assure you you've read the title correctly. I was invited to a joint birthday party this friday night and that was the theme, and since it was a sort of last minute invitation, I went all out with make-up! I decided by the end of the night I was a type of purple artificial intelligence moss. I used an overload of metallic shimmer finish products, so it's kind of frightening, but tell me what you think!

Kind of scary, aptly named "whore-bot" silly shot

Soft-focus effect so you can see where I added the most silver/white shimmer cream

Grainy day-light pic (before I changed shirts, put on a silver necklace and pulled back my hair :D)

Pore-mania close up (very warm light)

Right eye open

Left eye closed

All Evil Villain looking

Side shot for highlights

Close-up! *shoos hands at pores*

So First off, the reason I don't look so great in these pics is because I ran out of primer, so I've got pores galore at the end of the night especially (which is when the last pictures were taken). I'm getting waiting on some Cargo primer in the mail (which I'll review about later this month), but, ignoring that here's the products I used:

• Estee Lauder Double Wear Light Foundation Intensity 1.0
• The Body Shop Fall Leaves Blush in Berry
• Mac Go For It lipstick
• MUA (Make Up Academy) eyeshadow in shade 9 (all over the lid) (*psst* Urban Decay has an exact dupe of this colour eyeshadow!)
• Mac Vex eyeshadow
• GOSH Waterproof Cream Shadow Stick in Ivory
• Mac Fluidline in Rich Ground
• Clinique Lash Power Mascara in Black Onyx
• Too Faced Shadow Insurance
• Mac Plum Dressing Eyeshadow (Crease)
• Mac Petalscent eyeshadow (one of two highlights)
• Mac Prep and Prime Loose powder
• Laura Mercier Secret Concealer Number 2

If I were to do this look again I think I'd cut out the blush and just use straight silver/ivory all over the cheek instead, I think it would have been more striking and machine-like. 

Thanks for reading! Leave me a comment telling me what you think!