June Blog Hop - Bows Bangles & Bakes

Hope everyone is having a fabulous weekend! I know the weather couldn't be any more perfect in NC this weekend and we've been able to enjoy it with some great friends!

Today I am introducing you to Jen from Bows, Bangles and Bakes. Jen and I are participating in the Blog Hop over at Eat. Enjoy. Live. Helen is interested in hosting more blog hops so stay tuned for future dates!

I am so lucky to have met Jen through this hop because she is a fabulous girl who loves all the same things I do! Since Jen lives in the UK, she is going to give us a unique review of a British Beauty product. I love learning about new products I haven't been able to get my hands on yet! Thank you so much Jen for hanging out here today!

Hi! I'm Jenni from Bows Bangles & Bakes. I thought I would share with you a beauty review of a British Beauty Brand product. This brand has very much been doing the blogger rounds over here in the UK, but it doesn't seem to have reached the USA with quite the same level of vengance just yet, although the products are available online with international shipping.
Whetted your appetite yet? I'll crack on then!

A bit of background first. The brand in question is called MUA, which stands for Make-Up Academy, not the most original of names really. MUA sell exclusively in Superdrug, a UK based drugstore/pharmacy that sells various make up brands, perfumes, shampoos, conditioners, nail files - all your basic beauty essentials and more. MUA do not test their ingredients or their finished products on animals, and the best bit, everything (more or less) is only a £1!! (About $2-3 I believe depending on exchange rate.) MUA have two ranges, their ordinary basic range, where everything is £1, no more no less, and their pro-range, where the items are slightly pricer, but not by much.

So why am I reviewing a cheapo drug store brand? What's all the blog hype about? It really is the quality of the products, by which I mean the pigmentation! The pigmentation in these products certainly rivals its higher priced sisters, and is unheard of in any range within MUA's price bracket.

This is the MUA Immaculate Collection Palette containing 24 eyeshadow shades - costing.......(wait for it............

A whole £8!! (or approx $15) This is the most expensive product MUA product (I know!) as it is from their pro-range,

For the quality of these shadows this is super super cheap! The actual compact itself, I'm not going to lie to you, it's not fantastic quality and the packaging isn't exactly going to give you palpitations, but hey, its what it looks like on your eyes right, not in your make up drawer, that's important, and it does the job.

The palette is a mixture of matte and shimmer shades, so there's enough to satisfy everyone, with a few good neutral shades thrown in, for blending, highlighting and creating that sort-after smoky eye effect. It comes with the usual double ended padded 'brush' but to be quite honest I bin these straight away and dive in there with my brushes instead.

Swatches - see what I mean about the pigmentation. I literally lightly rubbed my finger over the top - I wasn't swirling it around for 20 minutes, no siree! This was a light touch job and it comes away with THAT much colour!! Honestly! I'm not lying to you!

You can see here that the top black shade is a matte colour, whereas the other three are shimmer shades. These were just four shades I selected out of the palette at random, but each shade is equally as full of beautiful gorgeous pigment.

I recently went a little bit mad, and had myself an MUA haul. Now imagine, how much this amount of make up would cost you at somewhere like MAC or Benefit.

This little lot came to a grand total of (drum roll please) £27! Sounds alot but that's the price of one MAC foundation!


If by this time you are just dying to have yourself a bit of MUA, I would seriously recommend the Heaven and Earth palette. At £4, this palette is being heralded as a dupe for Urban Decay's Naked palette at a fraction of the price.

Heaven & Earth

Personally I think the new undressed palette is closer in terms of colour range, but I haven't actually seen one in real life so I'm not completely 100% on this on yet, but if the others are anything to go by, it will be spot on too! 

Undressed

I hope you've enjoyed my little review of the MUA Immaculate palette and have enjoyed little a little more about a fairly new British cosmetic brand! Thanks for reading!

Jenni xx

Jenni blogs at Bows Bangles & Bakes, covering all aspects of her lifestyle, including beauty reviews, fashion and style posts, all sprinkled with a light dusty of baking and cooking, and well who knows what else my find its way in there!