Budget Makeup

Lacura Beauty at Aldi

- Vicki 3 Comments

Lacura Beauty Aldi Products

I’ve tried a few beauty products from budget retailer Aldi and on the whole they have impressed me, especially their Argan Oil range. I love finding products that are not only affordable but also good quality. So I was excited to be given the opportunity to test out some new releases from Lacura Beauty.

Lacura Concealer Pen £3.49

This product was the one I was most looking forward to testing. I love using liquid concealers and this comes in a click pen style packaging, much like the cult beauty favourite YSL Touche Le Clait. The Aldi offering has quite a creamy consistency and I found it a little hard to blend under my eyes when using my finger or a brush, I got much better results when I used my beauty blender. It gave a more even coverage and it didn’t look as heavy. I didn’t like this for covering blemishes simply because it was the wrong shade. It was very good as a brightening product, to use under the eye to combat dark circles, down the nose or any other areas you want to reflect the light. I’m impressed with this and although it settled into my fine lines by the end of the day I think if you used a primer & powdered you would see it wearing a little better. I highly recommend testing this out.

Lacura Concealer Pen

Lacura Eyebrow Pencil in Brunette £1.99

I never expect much from a budget eyebrow pencil, simply because they tend to be scratchy and a little dry. This wasn’t the best eyebrow product I have tried, I liked the colour and it worked well for my dark brows. It was a little dry and it took a while to fill my brows in. I like the ease of a product like Benefit Gimme Brow but if you like to use a pencil to fill yours in you might want to pick this up next time you’re in Aldi and let me know what you think. This does have a brush on the other end which was handy. At the moment the eyebrow pencils only come in Blonde and Brunette but fingers crossed they add a few more shades soon.

Lacura Eyeliner in Emerald £1.99

This was in a really pretty emerald green shade and I love wearing green liners. Not 100% sure if that suits brown eyes but I try to rock that look. So the shade is pretty but it has a slight metallic finish – which in my opinion doesn’t leave the most even finish. This has a very creamy formula and would be a great shade if you’re heading to any festivals this year.

Affordable Aldi Makeup

Aldi Lacura Makeup Swatches

Out of the three products I tested, the Concealer Pen, was by far the product that impressed me the most. It was a great colour, consistency and I was not let down by the quality. I am now going to go and buy a few backups because from what I have read these sell out fast and are hard to track down.

Let me know what Lacura Beauty products you have tried from Aldi, I would love to have some recomendations.

These new releases from Aldi’s Lacura Beauty range will be available in Aldi Stores Nationwide from April 17th 2016.

*PR Sample

5 From NYX Cosmetics

- Vicki 9 Comments
5 From NYX Cosmetics

5 From NYX Cosmetics

Up until a couple of years ago NYX was quite hard to get hold of in the UK & we would all see American bloggers rave about their products, I for one was very jealous so when Boots started to stock a selection of their products in their larger stores and we could also order from NYX online in the UK. I was so excited to get hold of a few bits & bobs. I thought I would share with you 5 of my most used NYX products. Let me know what products you use the most from NYX & if you have any recommendations for me to try.

Jumbo Eye Pencil in Sparkle Nude £5.00

I have a number of these Jumbo Pencils and absolutely love them. I am obsessed with cream shadows and find them so easy to apply & blend and they last all day on me so they have fast become my favourite product. NYX have a quite a large selection of colours in these Jumbo Pencils but I have been wearing this Sparkle Nude on all over the lid on its own. It is a pretty champagne bronze with a touch of glitter running through, it brightens up my look & lasts all day. The glitter is quite chunky & not for everyone but I do like to wear a little sparkle on my lids & the colour is just so pretty. Oh & NYX do these pencils in 32 colours!

5 Products From NYX

NYX Illuminator in Narcissistic £9.00

This is a very light champagne highlighter which looks so pretty worn on its own or layered with your blusher to give it a glow. The colour in this highlighter is very subtle and the shimmer is very fine & just catches the light on your cheeks and makes your skin look healthy. The powder is very finely milled and is easy to apply, a little goes a long way so don’t over apply, I like to take this on a duo fibre brush & lightly dust it across my cheekbones. Very pretty for the warmer months.

Powder Blush in Angel £6.00

It’s a peachy pink with a slight golden sheen running though and its one of my favourite blushers. I like that its not too pigmented and you can build it up without looking like Aunt Sally. Its so easy to blend and never looks patchy or cakey. It gives the cheeks a natural flush of colour & when the light hits the pretty gold sheen gives you a glow. Its not a glittery or shimmery finish but a very subtle sheen, I always travel with this & I love it for day or night.

5 From NYX Product Swatches

Roll On Shimmer in Nude £4.25

I quite often pair this with my Jumbo Eye Pencils when I’m going out in the evening. The cream pencils act as a really good base / primer for the colour to really pop & it means these stay put all night long. This is the perfect colour for me as I love anything bronzy on my eyelids and it has the perfect amount of colour & shimmer. These Roll On Shimmers can be used wet for a really intense look that will stay in place without any shimmer ending up all over your face.

Fly With Me Mascara £11.50

This isn’t my favourite Mascara but I do like that it gives my lashes length and holds a curl. Its not as black as I’d hoped but it does make my eyelashes look long and very healthy & I really like that you can remove this with hot water & a flannel so that is convenient. I don’t get any flaking or smudging when I wear this either.

Have you tried any of the NYX products I have mentioned?

MUA Sweet Sheen Lipbalms

- Vicki 6 Comments

MUA Sweet Sheen Lip balms

MUA Sweet Sheen Lipbalms* are part of their new Spring 2015 Collection & I love them. They are available in 6 pretty shades all perfect for Spring. I have 5 of them & they all give the lips a light wash of colour, the darker shades are more pigmented as you would expect. They are all very wearable and it’s nice to finally be wearing some brighter colours after what feels like the longest Winter ever.

MUA Sweet Sheen Collection MUA Sweet Sheen Swatches

All the above swatches are one swipe, I think the colour payoff is quite good bearing in mind these are a tinted lip balm. The colours can be built up – but don’t expect the colours to be bold. They feel very comfortable on the lips and they have a light sweet vanilla scent which I like.

My favourite shades are Cherry Bomb which is a pinky red and French Violet which is a gorgeous lilac. Both are currently in my handbag and I have been loving wearing them. These tinted lip balms make perfect effortless daytime lip colours, subtle but pretty. I like the packaging too and think it is very functional, it’s nice to have a tinted lip balm in a twist up bullet like a lipstick.

Pink Lilly is the lightest shade & is a very light frosted pink colour, it didn’t really show up on my lips. Rouge Rumba is a berry red shade and is one of the most pigmented colour out of the 5 I have tried. Coral Reef is a very pretty peach pink and this looks pretty and fresh on the lips.

At £2 each these are extremely great value and highly recommend getting a few for Spring.

MUA Spring Collection 2015

Let me know if you have treated yourself to anything from MUA recently.

Products that are marked with an * have either been sent to me for my consideration or I’ve received at events. I’m under no obligation to review them on my blog. However if I do, the reviews are 100% my own.