Mini Haul - Budget Buys (MUA & Natural Collection etc.)

It's that time of year again; everyone's a bit strapped for cash (I certainly am) & we all have to watch the pennies. But this doesn't mean we have to stop treating ourselves to new beauty products! With brands such as MUA now on the market, who charge a mere £1 for many of their make-up items we no longer have to feel deprived. I snapped up some little make-up bargains from MUA & Natural Collection this week to keep my inner spending fiend at bay.

I've been needing a new blusher for ages;

MUA Blusher -Shade 2 £1

Natural Collection Blushed Cheeks - Peach Melba £1.99

I am incredibly impressed with both of these blushers; they are both quite subtle but the MUA one is also surprisingly pigmented so could be built up into a deeper shade very easily - it also has rather lovely gold shimmery particles in it. For my skin tone the Natural Collection is more suitable for every day use but I will use them both & can't help thinking that for the price they cost there's no reason for everyone not to have one in their make-up bag!

MUA Lip Gloss - Shade 1 £1

Aww, I love this lip gloss; on first application I thought it was overly glittery but I now think this is perfect for the sparkly Christmas season & it's also very flattering. Being blonde & quite pale I find that lighter, shimmery & very glossy lips suit me 100x more than bright or strong colours. I would say it's quite a heavy gloss but it is not sticky at all - plus it does stay on for a long time unlike other cheaper glosses & it smells DELICIOUS (reminds me of bubblegum) :). Thumbs up.

Natural Collection Juicy Lips - Raspberry Ripple £1.99

Again, so pleasantly surprised by this! At first I was not overly impressed because it comes out  light on the lips (lighter than they actually are - not a good look), BUT I found that as it developed it actually stained my lips to a quite lovely, subtle but bright pink colour. As the day wore on it got stronger. It is not particularly glossy but quite shiny &.... iridescent I suppose could explain it well. Will definitely be trying out other pieces from Natural Collection.

Simple Hydro Mist - RRP £5.99, purchased for £4 on offer

As many people do, I get dry skin during the winter months. It's been driving me insane during the last few weeks; trying to keep it hydrated is such a chore. As the day goes on and I re-do my make-up, it gets dry & my face tends to look more 'powdery' (a look I am not a fan of.)

After seeing this on an advert, it seemed to be exactly I was looking for - a moisturiser you can carry around to spritz on at any time, even over make-up to give you an instant moisture boost. I must say, this is not a miracle product...I am not blown away by it, but it seems to do the job. It's refreshing when sprayed on, light too, & it sinks in fairly quickly. It doesn't smudge make-up and it definitely makes skin look more dewy after it has been applied - not bad!

VO5 Tame & Shine Spray (Price forgotten)

Has anyone else noticed how yummy all VO5 products smell?! I want to eat them. Anyway, I wanted a shine spray to brighten up my dull winter hair & decided to pick this up as I'm quite the fan of V05 & their delicious-smelling products. It certainly does add considerable shine, but you must be careful not to overdo this product or else you hair will just look greasy (a good one spray all over is enough, I would say.) As for the 'taming' effect I don't have much to judge on as my hair doesn't need taming - but that isn't to say that if you have unruly hair it won't help - I just don't know.

Have you used any of these products? What about others from the MUA & Natural Collection ranges? I'm curious! How were they?