5th April, 2013
A few weeks (months?) ago I noticed MUA was having an amazing 50% off sale and free shipping deal for all their customers. They’re a very affordable UK make-up brand with awesome products. Their prices are already very low so with a 50% off deal you can imagine things went a little crazy during the sale! Their server couldn’t handle all the make-up addicts grabbing anything they could get their hands on. In the end I managed to grab all the items I wanted despite some issues with payment and shipping.
One of the items I was dying to get were the Lip Booms. Created in collaboration with singer Alexandra Burke, these Lip Booms are amazing double-sided matte lipsticks/glittery lipgloss. When deciding which shades I wanted, I came to the conclusion I simply wanted them all! 
These are all 8 shades of Lip Booms. From left to right: OK.COM, OMG, Cheeky, Vibe, Doin’ Good, Bring It, It’s A Situation, LMK.
When you open up the ferrel it reveals the matte lipstick. On the opposite end you can screw it open to reveal the lipgloss with wand applicator. I really love the range of colours! Going from nudes to coral to reds. Every single shade is one I’d love to wear! Admittedly, the darkest one was a gamble, but it looks pretty amazing on the lips. Yay!
F.L.T.R: OK.COM, OMG, Cheeky, Vibe, Doin’ Good, Bring It, It’s A Situation, LMK.
These are all the lipsticks swatched on my arm. I added the lipgloss over the bottom half of each shade. As you can see the gloss is very glittery and shiny. It really plumps up the lips and makes them look nice and full! I hugely love matte finish lipsticks. They can be quite drying, however but I didn’t notice any major issues with these. They felt nice on the lips and the colour payoff was pretty great, as you can see!
You can find these Lip Booms on the MUA website for just £3 a piece. They’re also available at Superdrug in the UK. Have you tried MUA products? Which of these lipstick shades would you wear? Let me know in the comments!
14th February, 2013
I’ve barely found the time to blog this week, I’ve just been so busy! However, I do have some pretty exciting posts to share on here soon, so make sure to watch this space. In the meantime, here’s a recap of a few things I shared on Instagram the past few weeks. There’s also a question for YOU at the bottom of this post. So make sure to leave me your feedback, I’d love to hear your suggestions!
Follow me on Instagram: veryemily.
Left: When I saw this heart at Action for under $2 I simply had to buy it. It was being sold as a display for greeting cards, but in my head I immediately saw my necklaces dangling from the beautiful little hearts. I’m so glad I picked this up! It’s definitely one of my new favourite items in my room. Score!
Right: It’s been a few years since I bought a new duvet cover and I figured it was time for a change. I’ve wanted a Union Jack duvet cover for a while and when I was googling I found that 3SUISSES had the perfect one. I picked this up during their sale, it came in at around $50 including the four pillow covers. I love how it has a different design on the inside!
On 28 January, I had the most epic nail mail day ever! One of my bestest friends Alex (aka Algae Veronica! Please check out her blog, she’s an amazing nail artist) absolutely spoiled me with the most amazing package filled with goodies. I wish I knew what I did to deserve such kindness! My new piCture pOlish shades for my weekly swatchathon also arrived that day. I was, and still am, overwhelmed with all the beautiful polishes I was blessed with that day!
On 1 February my boyfriend and I celebrated our four year anniversary. I’m so blessed to have such an amazing, supportive and awesome boyfriend. I wouldn’t know what to do without him!
MUA Cosmetics was having a sale on their website not too long ago. All of their products were 50% off, and they were having a free international shipping deal. Given their products are so cheap already, this definitely was too good to pass up! So these are the goodies I picked up during the sale. Would anyone like to see reviews on some of these items? Let me know in the comments!
Left: Last weekend I had a haul at Action and Kruidvat. Action is quickly becoming one of my favourite stores, it’s basically like a Poundland or a Dollar Store. Everything is so cheap and the items they sell are awesome! They have a lot of great make-up products and cosmetics too. As you can tell from the duplicates, these goodies are not all for me! I also picked up some items for a few dear friends of mine.
Right: This is the Essence Popul-Art blush from the Vintage District limited edition. It’s so beautiful! I almost don’t want to use it. The gold is an overspray so I haven’t touched it yet. The effect is too pretty to ruin!
Meet my first ever decoden iPhone case! I got it at Born Pretty Store, it comes in a set with a clear iPhone case, large decoden pieces, rhinestones and pearls, glue and a nifty pencil for picking up rhinestones. I also used some other rhinestones I had lying around. I definitely went a bit overboard with the bling. I love it so much though! Especially the little nail polish charm. It’s just the cutest!
Left: Behold my very own OPI Euro Centrale display! When I saw the first previews of Euro Centrale I knew I had to have the full collection. I’ve never bought a full collection before but I simply had to have it, the shades were SO me! My friend Alex was able to hook me up with this, so a huge thanks to her.
Right: A little sneaky peek of my three favourite shades from the Euro Centrale collection. But more on that in my swatch post which should be going up this week or early next week!
And finally, here’s the new Born Pretty Store glitter polishes! I will be swatching these on my blog very soon! But this is where you come in… As they are mostly layering glitters I’ve been debating which colours I should layer them over. As there’s so many, I will only be able to show one layering combination. Either I can use the same colour for all glitters (white or black?) or I can pick a shade that I think works best with each shade. Please let me know what you’d prefer and what you would like to see me do with these!
Hope you enjoyed this post! Thanks for watching and reading!
23rd November, 2012
Today I have a review on these two brush sets by Real Techniques. I’ve been swooning over them for ages now, and when I saw Teri from the blog Bella Chique ordered them on Amazon, I decided to take the plunge and order these with my birthday money! I couldn’t be happier with them. They are simply amazing!
The two sets I got are called the “Core Collection” (on the left) and “Starter Set” (on the right). They come with a multipurpose black brush roll which you can fold so the brushes sit up on your desk as pictured.
The Core Collection set comes with the following full-size brushes:
- Contour Brush: This brush is perfect for applying contouring, blusher, bronzer. It’s super soft! As are all the brushes. They feel amazing on the skin.
- Pointed Foundation Brush: This is a small pointed brush, can be used for foundation but I like to use it for concealer as well.
- Detailer Brush: This detailer brush can be used for applying concealer and lipstick.
- Buffing Brush: This large brush is perfect for buffing in your (powder) foundation or applying setting powder. I simply love this brush! It’s so soft! I really like the shape and size as well, it’s simply perfect.
The Starter Set comes with the following full-size brushes:
- Deluxe Crease Brush: Say hello to the best blending brush I’ve ever laid my hands on! Simply.. Wow! When I first saw this brush I thought it would be too large for my small lids but it’s just perfect! It blends your eyeshadow flawlessly. This is probably my favourite brush out of all of them!
- Base Shadow Brush: This shadow brush is great for applying colour but also for more precise blending.
- Accent Brush: This small brush is great for smudging eyeliner or applying highlight in the inner corners. It’s very precise!
- Pixel-Point Eyeliner Brush: This is the eyeliner brush in the set. I haven’t tried this yet but I might use this for lips as well!
- Brow Brush: This brush is meant for applying eyebrow powder. I am used to using stiffer brushes for eyebrows so I had to get used to using this brush, but the results have been great so I love it!
If you watch make-up tutorials on YouTube I’m certain you’ve come across the girls from Pixiwoo. The brushes were designed by one of the Pixiwoo sisters, Samantha Chapman. She and her sister are both professional make-up artists, they’re probably my favourite YouTubers! They have so many amazing videos and are full of great ideas, creativity and tips. I highly recommend their videos!
I’m so glad I took the plunge and ordered these. They are amazing quality brushes and the price is very reasonable too. I paid £15 per set and got a free shipping deal on the Amazon.co.uk site. My order arrived in just two days!
Have you tried Real Techniques brushes? Let me know in the comments!
29th October, 2012
I’m back today with another post! Apologies for my -longer than usual- absence. I took some time off from blog work this weekend and enjoyed a super lazy weekend with the boyfriend. How was your weekend?
As some of you know I work at a second hand store a few days a week. I was sorting through the school supplies when I suddenly spotted this gem hidden beneath a pile of watercolour palettes. I almost screamed! It’s KRYOLAN!!! OMG! I’ve dreamt about owning Kryolan products for ages! I mostly blame Youtube Guru xsparkage for that. Kryolan is a famous make-up brand, used a lot in stage make-up, theatre, etc.
The one I got comes with 12 shades, it’s from the Aquacolor line and is called FP. Most shades were gently used apart from the black which sadly just hit pan. You can easily grab refills though. The previous owner didn’t treat this very kindly sadly, but I cleaned and sanitized it as best as I could. The shades are perfect as a base for your eye make up, or for painting the face or body. It’s super smudge-proof and easy to use.
You apply these shades by slightly wetting the pan or brush you will be using. You don’t need a lot of water, less is more! It dries very quickly and the pigmentation is just insane! Look how awesomely pigmented these shades are! Perfect for lovers of bright make-up.
And obviously bright make-up is exactly what I did with my Kryolan palette! I created a fun rainbow eyeliner look. Hope you like it!
Have you ever tried anything by Kryolan? Let me know in the comments below!
15th September, 2012
I have a really cool review for you today! An eyeshadow palette with amazing pigmentation, 12 shades AND priced under $4. Impossible you say? Meet the Technic Electric Beauty eyeshadow palette!
I actually spotted this palette on several Dutch beauty blogs. I read the words “Sleek dupe”, “amazing pigmentation” and “super cheap”. I simply had to get my hands on it! I sent my boyfriend to Bart Smit stores and he grabbed it for me. Thanks man! Seriously that guy deserves the boyfriend-of-the-year award 
Bart Smit stores aren’t the only place that carry these. I had a quick look around and you can actually find this on a few online stores as well as a few UK retailers. Amazon carried it at one point but it seems to be out of stock at this time. In any case you should be able to find this if you are not located in Belgium or The Netherlands.
This is what they look like swatched! Pretty amazing right? I swatched these over my Zoeva Eyeshadow Base. The formula is on the creamier side but they break down a little when you pat your brush inside the pan. Not chalky, but not perfect either. But for under $4, who could complain really?
Here’s the eyeshadow look I created with this palette! I used the yellow on the inner corners, then the teal, blue, and purple blended in the crease. I really love how this looks! I never used to be very adventurous with colourful or bright make-up but my friend Emmie has been constantly inspiring me to go for colour. I have to say I really love it now! I was also quite impressed with the wear, I wore this eye make-up all day and it still looked stunning in the evening.
Overall this palette is a steal for just $4 / €2.99 and I could honestly recommend it to anyone that loves make-up and colour. You could even use these as eyeliners if you used them wet, something I definitely plan on wearing!
16th March, 2012
Last weekend I placed an order at Zoeva. They’re an online store based in Germany, they mostly sell make-up and brushes. I first ordered with Zoeva two years ago, I bought (way too much) make-up palettes and a brush set. Since I have been so pleased with my items and was eyeing up their nude palette I went ahead and finally placed another order.
Look what arrived on my doorstep yesterday! I have to say their packaging (and wrapping) deserves a special mention, everything felt really luxurious even though their items are extremely affordable so I was very happily surprised. There was also plenty of bubble-wrap to go around so the chance of things breaking during shipping is very small. Not unimportant!
Zoeva ships their packages with UPS, which is a little costly but shipping from Germany to Belgium takes 1-3 working days (very fast!) and is €5,50. I placed my order on Sunday and since I didn’t receive my tracking number yet on Tuesday (meaning it hadn’t been shipped) I e-mailed their customer service to inquire if there had been an issue. I was told that since they don’t ship packages out on Friday through Sunday they are sent out starting on Monday in chronological order. This made sense, but it did mean that my package wasn’t sent out until Wednesday. At CS they offered to include a small present for the inconvenience which I thought was a really nice gesture. They replied to me within the hour so another special mention for their very good and quick customer service.
I bought a Nude palette, the Eye Blender brush and the Soft Definer brush. My “small present” was a Pure Glam pigment and their Eye Primer. I was a little amazed when I saw the presents they included since I was only expecting a loose shadow sample. Huge thanks to Jennifer at customer service! I think I am actually more excited about the presents than the items I bought myself, haha!
This is the nude palette. Comes with 28 shades, the pans are slightly bigger than MAC eyeshadow pans and you get colours ranging from white, brown, mauve to black. Most of them are matte, there’s three shimmery shades and a few mattes with a hint of glitter. They sell this palette for €14,95.
These are three of the eyeshadows from the nude palette swatched. I picked the fourth colour from the fourth row, the sixth colour on the third row and the last from the fourth row. On the top are the shadows swatched without eyeshadow base and the ones below were swatched over the Zoeva Eye Primer. The pigmentation of these colours are not that impressive without a primer but WITH the primer they look really gorgeous!
These are the two brushes I bought. On the left is the Eye Blender brush and on the right is the Soft Definer brush. The Eye Blender brush is more tapered which is perfect for me since I have smaller Asian/hooded lids. The Soft Definer brush is similar to Mac 217 in terms of size. I have to say I really like both of these brushes, to me they feel softer than my Sigma brushes and shed slightly less. Very pleased with these! They are €4,20 each.
This is one of their Pure Glam pigments. The colour they included is one of the new shades, Champagne Beige. I have to say I am not a huge fan of loose shadows but the sifter makes it easy to work with and the pigmentation of this is so impressive, I cannot help but love it! You get 1,1g of product for €3,80.
Look how beautiful the swatch is! On the left I swatched it without shadow base and on the right is with the Zoeva Eye Primer underneath. I have to say I am really blown away. I *need* more shades! I want them all! So beautiful!
This is the Zoeva Eye Primer. It comes in a jar which is not ideal hygiene-wise but you will be able to use up all of the product you get, which is 5g. The primer looks yellow in the jar but it applies clear with a hint of shimmer. I am very impressed with this product, it really makes the colours come to life as you saw with my swatches and in terms of staying power; I applied my make-up at 10AM and it lasted pretty well through-out the day, I had minimal creasing at 7PM. Their Eye Primer is €3,80.
Overall I am very pleased with my items and will definitely place another order soon, I simply have to buy more Pure Glam pigments!
14th January, 2012
One of the things I love most about Born Pretty Store (apart from their amazing items and free shipping) is their points system. If you’ve purchased items you can add a review and pictures to their site to collect points. If you share reviews via the Extended Affiliate program you can earn up to 100 points per review. ($1=100 points)
I always share my pictures and text reviews on their site and since I purchase with them regularly it’s very easy to gather up points. You can redeem $10 worth of points per order so this time I just placed a $10 order of free items! I picked a few accessories for myself and a gift for my mother. There’s loads of things you can buy at their store for under $10 since everything is so cheap. Anyway, take a look at what I purchased with my BPS points.
I simply *HAD* to have this when I saw it. It’s a new item they added to their store only very recently. A cute owl necklace! I think I once came a cross an image on Tumblr that featured this owl and I fell in love with it then, so I was over the moon when I saw this in the Born Pretty “What’s New“-page. It was just $2.83. An absolute bargain!
I absolutely adore feathers in anything and I fell in love with these. I bought feather earrings at Born Pretty a while ago and since I was very happy with the quality I bought these as well, I currently have my eye on a black pair too, whoops! I’m not hugely in love with the pearl that sits above the feathers so I replaced it with a chain instead. Very easy and quick job if you have jewellery pliers. This pair is just $2.50.
This I bought as a gift for my mother. She loves LED lamps and stuff like that so I immediately had to think of her when I saw this in the store. I knew she’d love it! It changes colour if you turn on the switch at the bottom. The batteries come included with the lamp and should last 15 hrs according to the website. This was $4.22 and can be found on the site here.
Thanks to my boyfriend for hand-modelling! This is what it looks like when it turns to red, it also changes to green, yellow, white, blue and purple.
I wanted to share this image as well, my little owl simply loves the camera! ♥
12th January, 2012
I always buy my nail polish remover at Kruidvat. I usually get a big bottle of their non-acetone formula for nail tips and a regular bottle with acetone for normal use. When it was time to buy some new bottles I saw this bottle of remover with a pump. I bought an almost identical bottle a while ago but it was really flimsy and the pump leaked so it ended up at the back of my Helmer drawer. I was really sad it didn’t work any more because, while it did work, I was absolutely in love with it! I decided to give this one a go as well, I really didn’t want to give up on remover pump bottles!
This pump definitely seems a lot better in quality than the previous one I tried. It feels a lot less flimsy and the cap closes properly unlike the other one I have. I’ve tried it several times and it works really great! You simply grab a cotton pad and push down on the pump which then releases the perfect amount of polish remover onto your pad. Easy!
However, the non-acetone remover that’s inside the bottle is very heavily scented with what I can only describe as headache-in-a-bottle . It’s a really strong perfume that is just really not my cup of tea. The formula itself I have no issues with, it removes polish like other non-acetone remover I tried but it left my nails reeking of perfume for hours. Even after washing my hands and generously smearing lotion on them. I really cannot use it… What a waste!
When I let my mum smell my fingers she absolutely loved the perfume! What?! Just goes to show how personal tastes are. I like my remover to have a subtle scent that isn’t too overpowering which I think this is. I’m going to pour the remover in a different bottle for my mum to use, wash it out and refill with something I do like. Saved by my mother!
The bottle is quite pricey compared to their other removers since you mainly pay for packaging. It was €2,99 I believe for a bottle of 175ml.
What sort of remover do you like to use? Do you get acetone or non-acetone formula? Do you go for the cheapest remover you can find or don’t you mind paying a bit more? Let me know!
9th November, 2011
Another post about Born Pretty Store today! Hope you’re not growing tired of reading about them. This time I purchased a few items I have been eyeing up for ages and I bought a few gifts as well since the holidays are coming up. I really have to urge myself not to order with them every week, there’s just so much awesome stuff! Must own it all! Anyway, this is a picture heavy post so get ready!
Here’s a list of what I got:
- 10 Empty Nail Wheel Boxes – $9,76
- Half Pearls Pinks/Purples – $3,55
- Half Pearls Yellows/Greens – $3,55
- Elliptic Shaped Rhinestones – $2,92
- Coloured Steel Balls – $3,33
- 12 Different Coloured Mylar Sheets – $6,48
- 4 Nail Art Brushes – $3,51
- Cuticle Pusher – $1,89
- Hair Bumpits – $3,10
- Feather Earrings – $2,02
- Bow Hairpin – $2,09
- Peacock Hairpin – $5,09
- Antique Look Hairpin – $4,50
- Black Hairpin – $5,59
I purchased 100 fimo canes from Born Pretty a while ago and that set came with 2 wheels. Not nearly enough to have all my fimo canes sliced up and on display so I purchased these. Now I can continue slicing up my fimo canes and store them in these wheels. I have my work cut out for me! Pun intended!
Two wheels with 2mm half pearls. In one wheel I have purple, pink, blue and white and in the other there’s yellow, orange, pink, green and white. I love using these, they’re really pretty and easy to use. I already had a half pearl wheel with 3 different sizes but they’re all white so I’m glad to add some coloured half pearls to my collection!
These are steel balls. I have these in gold and silver from Born Pretty too, I thought these would be the same size but they are definitely smaller. They are so tiny they got stuck inbetween the wheel itself and they got mixed up a little bit too. They definitely seem harder to work with than the other steel balls I have. Haven’t tried yet but we’ll see!
These are elliptic shaped rhinestones. I loved the other rhinestones I got from Born Pretty and since I didn’t have this shape yet I thought I’d get them too since they were such a bargain. They are very pretty and I honestly can’t wait to use them!
A cuticle pusher and a set of 4 nail art brushes. Close-ups below!
These are the brushes. They come in size 0#, 00#, 000# and 0000#. I purchased a set of nail art brushes on eBay last year and the thin brushes weren’t great quality. These are so much better! I can honestly recommend them if you need new nail art brushes. They are really thin and are so easy to work with! These made my life so much easier and they were less than $1 a piece. Amazing!
Close-up of the cuticle pusher. One side you have the cuticle pusher itself, the other is used to clean and remove excess skin. I read a review on this over at Cosmetic Cupcake (check her blog out she’s awesome!) and she stated it didn’t work for her because the pusher wasn’t curved enough for her nails. I have to say I didn’t experience this issue, fortunately for me it worked!
Set of 12 mylar sheets. These jars make me so happy! I love looking at all the colours. I’m not sure what I’m going to use them for exactly but I cannot wait to try them. I was thinking franken topcoat? Who knows!
These are called bumpits. You can create a hairbump with these, either at the back of your head or at the front. I’ve not been able to try this yet but they look like they could work well. I also absolutely loved the plastic bag it came in! Isn’t it cute?
I thought these feather earrings were really cute and cheap so I couldn’t resist. They sell them in many colours but I chose brown/orange since they would blend with my hair. They look really cute on!
Isn’t this hairpin the most beautiful thing you have ever seen? I cannot get over it honestly! Unfortunately it will only be in my possession for a few more weeks because this is a New Years gift for my grandmother. We share the same favourite animals, owls and peacocks! I’m sure she will treasure and love this as much as I do.
This pin is also a gift for my grandmother. I have to say the quality of these pins is astonishing. They are heavy and really well made. They have this pin in different colours. You just state which one you want in the order comments when checking out. I am slightly disappointed the larger rhinestones are plastic instead of clear orange as the picture on the website but it looks nice nonetheless.
This is a gift for my mum. Even though it’s a hairpin she will probably use this to pin her scarf together or to wear it as a brooch. She’s absolutely in love with it so mission accomplished!
This was a gift to myself! I got all these hair accessories on sale a few weeks ago and this beautiful little thing was half off at $1!!! I don’t wear hairpins often but I simply couldn’t resist when I saw this cute little bow. Only downside is you can see the pin itself if you don’t tuck it under your hair properly.
Lastly these were two gifts they added to my order! I suspect because I ordered my items during their one year anniversary celebration! The keychain light is really awesome and it’s super bright! The lace nail stickers are very cute as well. Thanks so much Born Pretty!
I’m honestly very happy with all my items. I had a feeling things would go wrong with this order but all the items arrived in perfect order. I did experience some difficulty with shipping, it took a month to get here whereas the previous times I receive my item within 2 weeks. They lost my $3 tracking number due to computer error so they offered to refund it. I e-mailed with Sophia from Customer Service and she was very helpful and friendly so that’s definitely worth mentioning I think.
If you would like to place an order with Born Pretty Store don’t forget to use my coupon codes to receive a discount! You can either use the code EMILYJ61 to receive 10% off your entire order or EMILYL73 to receive $4 off if your order $30 or more.
14th October, 2011
I hauled these polishes a few weeks ago but never got around to posting them. Most of them are part of the new core range of Essence and Catrice.
From left to right and top to bottom:
- Essence Nail Art Cracking Top Coat in Crack Me Blue
- Essence Colour & Go in Be Optimistic
- Essence Colour & Go in Make It Golden
- Essence Colour & Go in Blue Addicted
- Catrice in After Eight
- Catrice in Marilyn & Me
- Catrice in Rusty But Sexy
- Catrice in Bye, Bye Birdy
- Catrice in Jade Is Not My Name
- Catrice in It’s Rambo No.5
From left to right: Marilyn & me, Be Optimistic, Rusty But Sexy, Make It Golden, Bye Bye Birdy, It’s Rambo No.5, Jade Is Not My Name, After Eight, Blue Addicted and Crack Me Blue over Gosh Lavender Love.
I love the combination of Gosh Lavender Love and the Essence Crack Me Blue crackle. Even though I’m not hugely excited by crackle polishes I really like how these two look together. Essence Blue Addicted is really nice as well, it’s a close dupe of Deborah Lippmann Across The Universe. I accidentally bought two very similar colours, the rusty oranges. Neither of them look good on me so they were definitely a fail! I think Catrice Marilyn & Me might be based on China Glaze Ruby Pumps, I’m not sure it’s a dupe but in the bottle it looked similar. Overall really nice colours, I love Catrice Jade Is Not My Name but I wish they wouldn’t have replaced it with my all time favourite, Sold Out For Ever. Sad times! 
Did you buy anything from the new colours? Let me know in the comments below!
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