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!
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!
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.
17th July, 2011
First I shared the nails I wore for my visit to Rotterdam, then I showed you the pictures we took and finally today it’s time for my haul! I bought a ton of stuff, since there were sales going on I managed to find so much bargains! I just couldn’t resist. Here’s what I found:
My very first stop when we hit the high street was Kruidvat since number 1 on my wishlist was Essence Circus Confetti (a dupe of Deborah Lippmann’s Happy Birthday). I’ve been craving for it for months and months and was devastated when I found out that Belgian Kruidvat stores weren’t going to stock it. I found a Circus Confetti bottle in the first Kruidvat we entered so I was over the moon. I also picked up four of the Essence Twins, a back-up of the SOS Nail Glue, Cuticle Remover and Lash & Brow gel.
Our second stop was Sephora inside V&D. I picked up an Urban Decay Naked Palette which was second on my wishlist. I’ve been eyeing this baby up for ages so I was extremely happy I was able to find it. Belgium doesn’t sell these so I knew that if they wouldn’t have it in stock I wouldn’t be getting a second opportunity to buy it any time soon. The lady at Sephora told me that these are usually sold out so I was very lucky! They normally go for €47 but with the sales discount I bought it for €39,95. The new UD Naked Palettes come with a brush worth $26 instead of a black/brown double sided eyeliner pencil. I would have preferred the eyeliner since I don’t have a brown one but the brush is really nice! It also came with a mini Urban Decay Primer Potion, squee!
We also went to H&M where I bought these dresses (and the ones below!). I almost solely wear dresses and since I needed a few more I tried on about 20 dresses and found 9 in total that I loved! All of these were 50% or 60% off!
The dress on the far right is my favourite! It looks like a leopard print from a distance but up close they’re lips! In total these 9 dresses would have cost me a whopping €124,55 but with the sales discount they cost me €53. Just over 50 euro for 9 dresses, not bad if you ask me!
Also at H&M I bought these two skirts.
At ICI Paris XL I bought this Party Pack of Lipsmackers! I was hoping to pick up a watermelon Lipsmacker to try out but since they didn’t have separate ones I got this pack of 8. I’ve never used Lipsmackers before so I wasn’t sure if I was going to like them but they all taste and smell lovely. The scents/flavours in this pack are: Cotton Candy, Wild Raspberry, Tropical Punch, Strawberry, Mango, Vanilla, Kiwi and Watermelon. This was €8,99 so just over €1 a piece.
Then finally on the last day we went to Primark! The Primark store in Rotterdam is located just outside of the city so I got my uncle to drive us (thank you Maarten!) so we didn’t have to take the train. It was less busy than the Primark in London but also a lot smaller. They didn’t have as much clothes but since I bought a ton of dresses at H&M I only looked at the accessory and nightwear section. This is a handbag I got for just €13. It’s quite large so when I need a bigger purse I can grab for this one. It’s in the style of old leather schoolbags which I love.
This is a mint green purse I got for €8. It’s more minty green in person, it looks light blue on my screen here. I needed a new purse so I got three, oops! This one’s quite similar in size to my old purse but since it’s such a bright popping colour it makes more of a statement than my black purse.
This I just had to buy! I fell in love with it and even though I might not use it I just had to have it. It’s a box purse, on my bill it says camera box bag. Now I doubt my camera fits in here but it’s just so adorable. It was only €9.
These are ruffle sandals I got for €7. They had these in several colours but obviously I went for these turquoise blue ones. I regret not buying more colours as they’re very comfortable and cheap.
I also got two diadems. One with feathers which I absolutely adore and one with a faux leather bow in a dusty mauve. The feathered diadem looks so pretty. I always loved feather extensions but find they only really work if you have straight hair so this is the perfect alternative. They were €3 and €2.
This is another one of those had-to-buy. It’s too large for me, I tried it on in the shops but since it was stuck to something it seemed like the right size but once I took the packaging off it was too loose. I might attach this to a string and wear it as a necklace. I’m not sure! I’m not really an accessory type of girl but I thought it looked adorable. It was €3.
These are a few clothing items I picked up at Primark. A tank top in a dusty mauve, an oversized tshirt to wear as a pyjama and two pyjama dresses. One for me and one for my mum! I bet you can guess which one’s mine! I thought that bow was just too cute. Both pyjama dresses were €4 which is a steal. They’re very well executed and my mum’s pyjama even came with spare buttons. How they can produce these items and still have profit on them? I have no clue but I doubt I want to know…
And lastly I hauled a cinema ticket! Nah just kidding! This isn’t really part of the haul and should have been in my previous post but oh well. Since it was the premiere of Harry Potter the week we were in Rotterdam we decided to go and see it there. I did some googling and found out that Rotterdam has an IMAX Theatre, something we don’t have in Belgium. I was beyond excited since I’ve never seen a movie in IMAX before. We didn’t have the time to go on Wednesday so on Thursday we got up at 8AM and went to the morning viewing of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II. The morning viewings are €4 a person cheaper so we paid very little money for an IMAX 3D movie! The IMAX screen was a fair amount bigger than what we were used to, the movie was also in 3D which I wasn’t too happy about at first. My first and last experience with 3D was last year when Dries and I went to see Alice In Wonderland. I hated it, it didn’t do any justice to the movie, washed out the colours and it gave me a headache more than anything.
However this time was completely different! Maybe it was the way it was filmed, maybe it was the quality of the screen or the spectacles that were a lot more comfortable. I’m not sure what it was but the 3D was absolutely stunning. The movie blew me away, I sat there in awe and I cried my eyes out from start to finish. I wish I could go back and see it again and again. It really exceeded my expectations, they did an amazing job. I really feel as though they pulled out all the stops to make this movie the most amazing yet, and it was. I just have no words for how much I loved it. I’m really glad we had the opportunity to make this last Harry Potter movie viewing special, I’m certain we’re never going to forget it.
10th October, 2010
I made a quick hop into Etos, Kruidvat and H&M for a nail polish fix! I have to feed my addiction, obviously…
I read on misslipgloss that Etos’ eyeshadowbase is very comparable to Urban Decay Primer Potion (which I’ve been wanting for ages but haven’t got round to buying; there’s no Sephora in Belgium you see…) so I decided to pick it up as it was only €3,50. I’ll be posting a review once I’ve played around with it enough. I have tried it once so far but didn’t seem very impressed but I’ll do some more thorough testing soon. I’ll let you girls know if it’s any good!
I also went to Kruidvat to look for the colour In the Jungle, an Essence “Show Your Feet” polish but I didn’t seem to find it unfortunately. However whilst I was there I saw that they were having a buy 2 get 1 free action so I decided to pick up a few other polishes instead. I’ve never been a huge fan of Essence I have to admit, their polishes stain so bad! Anyway, I decided to give them another go and picked up a matte top coat, despite not being a fan of matte polish I thought it might come in handy for nail art. I also picked up a lime green called Lime Up! for my mum as it’s her favourite colour, and a teal called Trendsetter.
The other two are from H&M. I went shopping in Antwerp with the boys, i.e. my boyfriend and his brother. I desperately need a new winter coat but didn’t find one I liked so I picked up some nail polish. I couldn’t help myself! I’ve been wanting that blue for ages, it’s called Blue My mind. Of course I had to buy some more “old rose” colours like that one from Guerlain I loved so much, this one is called Get a Rose 4 Me.
Does anyone know why H&M has like 5 different shapes of nail polish bottles? I really don’t get why they keep changing them!
Here are my swatches! From left to right: Essence Lime Up!, Essence Trendsetter, H&M Blue My Mind, Essence Matte topcoat over H&M Blue My Mind and H&M Get a Rose 4 Me.
Get a Rose 4 Me. *adore*
However BEWARE. I’ve never come across a worse formula in my life, these are soooo incredibly thick and gloopy and don’t dry quickly at all, it’s almost as if they’re a few years old. They are a nightmare honestly, it makes me so sad because they always have amazing colours. The brush isn’t worth much either. Adding polish thinner to these is the only way you can make them work.
Blue My Mind. It’s such a vibrant electric blue! It’s amazing. Same story with this one though, I’ve never had such a hard time painting my nails, I felt like crying. 
I’m kinda torn apart by these polishes, on one hand I love the colours but the formula is plain bad. They were €3,95 which isn’t a lot of money but I’d expect a decent quality for it, seeing as Catrice polishes are so amazing for €1,50 less.
26th June, 2010
Yesterday I went to Antwerp with my boyfriend and his brother. It was really hot outside and it was very busy but we had a lot of fun. I shopped a few things at H&M, they have a great discount going on now, if you buy two items with coloured tags both the items are 50% off. The brothers both bought a great suit which would have been €90 but they were able to buy it for €45 instead!
I let myself go a bit, splashed out and got 5 nail polishes cause I loved the colours that much. They’re more vibrant in real life and the purple is more reddish instead of blue.
From left to right, Check Me Out a gorgeous hot pink, Being on the A-List a bright yellow, Pink Mist a nude colour but it’s not very opaque so more suitable for French nails, Bella’s choice which is a great turquoise blue, and Fashionista which is the most gorgeous shimmery purple.
I love the colours but I’m not a big fan of the formula, it takes a long time to dry, besides Pink Mist they’re all pretty opaque though I am wearing white underneath my swatches, they look pretty much the same without and give good coverage after two layers. They do chip really easily unfortunately.
They’re €3,95 each at H&M.
I also bought some sunglasses, I already had the pink one, I bought it a while ago. I saw the mint green one when I bought the pink and I really regretted not buying it at the time. I saw it again yesterday at the separate accessories H&M store on the Meir and I grabbed it instantly. They’re just €4,95!
