One of my cheapest but best hauls yet! - Makeup Revolution

This has got to be the cheapest yet one of the best hauls I've ever done! I had been seeing so many bloggers raving about the quality of the new Makeup Revolution brand for the crazily low price and I finally gave in last week and ordered some of their products. Those that I were really interested in were the eyeshadow palettes as I had heard of them being compared to Urban Decay and other great brands, so I got 4 of their palettes and then 4 of their single eyeshadow compacts. All this for just £20! True bargain!! And because my order was for over £10, delivery was free.

Firstly, the eyeshadow singles. From left to right - In The Deep (a navy shimmer), Acid! (a bright, matte yellow), Temptress (a dark green shimmer), Pink is It! (a bright matte pink).

As you can see from the swatches the blue, green and pink shadows have great pigmentation and show up beautifully on the skin. Sadly the yellow wasn't as pigmented (although it does appear less visible in the picture than it does in person) but could be good for if you are aiming for very subtle colour. I find mattes are often hit and miss when it comes to pigmentation though, they just don't show up as brilliantly as shimmer. For just £1 each though I don't think you could go wrong. I chose these colours more to experiment with coloured eyeliner on the top lid (especially those brights, I think they'll look fantastic!) so I shall do a post in the near future of this look done with them.

The first of the palettes is this amazing brights palette - Redemption Palette Matte Brights. This just instantly caught my eye and I new I had to have it. Again, this one was more for experimenting with coloured eyeliner looks as I don't think I'm confident enough to wear these brights over the entire lid. The orange, both pinks, peach, both greens and dark blue are pigmented and look great on the skin. Sadly the others were not so much. Each palette is only £4 though so I don't see it as a great loss for those 7 shades that are brilliant, over half the palette.

This palette is my absolute favourite and is often stated to be a dupe for one of the Urban Decay palettes - Redemption Palette Iconic 3. The shades are a beautiful array of nudes and can be used together to create really nice smokey eye looks, which I have already used this for twice since it arrived. The shimmers are brilliant pigment and of really great quality, the 3 matte's not as much but are still pretty good for matte shadows (some of the best mattes I've seen).

Redemption Palette Essential Day to Night - I loved the shades in this palette and the fact that the colours are all so versatile. They are all shimmer shadows (ranging in level of shimmer) and are all gorgeously pigmented. I will definitely be using this a lot for nights out as the shades compliment each other perfectly.

Redemption palette hot smoked - Again, I just loved the colours in this palette. It is made up of 5 matte shadows and the rest are shimmer. The shimmers are well pigmented and so are the darker mattes, the lighter ones are just about pigmented enough to be visible on the skin as well.

And that's all of my haul! It was a bit hit and miss in places but I think for the price I paid it is really good, definitely worth getting, especially if you are on a budget. I'd probably steer clear of the matte singles (mainly the lighter shades) as the colour pay off isn't brilliant but I would seriously recommend the palettes, especially the Redemption Palette Iconic 3 as it is by far my favourite. I will be heading back to order some of their lipsticks and blushers soon!

Have you tried anything from Makeup Revolution? What are your favourites, any recommendations? All comments are very welcome :)

Amazing perfume dupes at Next!

I was very lucky recently to receive two perfumes from Next. At first I wasn't ridiculously fussed, I'm a lover of all perfumes but did not think they would be anything special, but how wrong I was! The ones that I got are Define and Sparkle.

When I first tried these I was left with that 'where do I know this from?' feeling, and then it clicked! These smell pretty much exactly like a couple of expensive (to me) brand perfumes, very good dupes for a LOT smaller price tag.

Sparkle: I thought I would begin with this one as it is my favourite of the two. This to me smells just like Dolce and Gabbanna The One. It's lovely!! And I was even more surprised by the fact that it is incredibly durable to go with it. I often put this on in the morning before work and I can still smell it on me when I get home. The bottle and packaging is very cute and sparkly, looks very nice and feminine on display. All this and it's only £12 for 100ml. I don't think you could ever justify it not being worth having.

Define: Again, this left me trying to work out where I have smelt this before. It took me a bit longer to work out then with Sparkle but it did finally dawn on me. This smells just like Armani She, a scent that reminds me of my best friend as it's one of her go to favourites, and that's the only reason I managed to work it out! The bottle isn't as pretty as that of Sparkle but it is still very nice and, in my opinion, quite dramatic and classy. This perfume also lasts all day at a mere price tag of £12 for 100ml PLUS you get a Body Lotion thrown in too, perfect!

I have also heard that a lot of the other perfumes there smell like very good high end dupes, one even smells like Coco Chanel apparently. I must get my hands on that!

Do you know of any other brilliant dupes that are available? I love a good perfume, and if I can get one for a significant difference in price that still has the same strength and longevity then I really am interested!! I'll try and pick up some of the others that they have in Next to try them out too and work out what their 'smells like' are for you :)

Also, I know that Next also sell men's aftershave, I'm very interested to get these (for my boyfriend, not me!) to see if they also smell like expensive brand smells.