Makeup Geek / Beauty Bay / TK Maxx Haul

I don’t know what came over me but on a whim I thought, I’m finally going to order some makeup geek items that I’d been eyeing. 1 eyeshadow turned into 5, 3 makeup brushes and an eyeliner. I tried to pick eyeshadow shades that were more unique to colours that I have in pretty much every palette – whilst not picking some of the really wild shades that I won’t reach for often either.

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Top Row: I’m Peachless (Duochrome), Havoc (Duochrome) Bottom Row: Mezmerised (Foiled), Unexpected (Matte), Cocoa Bear (Matte)

Everytime I’ve gone to look at Makeup Geek online there’s always one pan that I gravitate towards called Havoc, I’m not 100% sure why as I don’t use shades like this often at all – Havoc is a warm orangey brown with a greeny blue duochrome shift, super pretty and I think will make a gorgeous interesting smokey eye.

I barely see a Makeup Geek collection without Cocoa Bear nested somewhere within it, a deep brown matte shade that is exactly the kind of colour I love using in my outer crease, I think I’ll get lots of use out of this one. Another matte shade I picked up was Unexpected which is a dusky pink taupe shade that I thought would make a really sexy transition colour as well as a colour which would look nice all over the lid too – I had a quick look through my palettes and I can’t find anything that’s taupey that’s matte and sits on the pink side.

With the launch of the Too Faced Sweet Peach palette I decided to pick up a similar kind of colour from MUG in I’m Peachless which is a very wearable peach champagne shimmer. I think this will be really pretty coming into summer.

Lastly I wanted to pick up one of their foil formulas (so I had had the full set of different finishes) I chose Mesmerised, I was between this shade and Grandstand but thought this had a bit of a different hue where as Grandstand was less unique to other in my collection (but I can totally see me getting that If I love this one!). Mesmerised is quite cool toned and has a silvery foil finish that in some swatches online can almost catch a bit lilacy.

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Even more whimmy than buying the eyeshadows was deciding to pick up some of the Makeup Geek Brushes, I seem to be perpetually short of brushes to use in the crease at the moment (or I go too long between washes that they all turn the same colour!). These were very affordable at £6.50 each, a fraction of the price of some that I’d considered re-buying from MAC. Left to Right I opted for the Pointed Crease Brush, Outer V Brush and Soft Dome Brush. I didn’t google reviews of these and I don’t think I’ve ever seen them reviewed so I’m going in blind, I’ll report back on whether they’re any good!

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The eyeliner was the most whimish item, I was looking for something really cheap to take me over a spending limit give me a free deluxe sample and free next day delivery. This was the cheapest thing I could find and I’d been wanting to try something from L.A Splash, I picked out their gel glide pencil liner in the shade champagne as I don’t actually have a champagne pencil. I have an eyeshadow stick from Kiko I use all the time as an inner corner highlight but the formulation can go a bit crumbly when wearing in the inner corner after 8 hours or so and the nib is a bit thick – so I thought this would be better for that area in particular and add a brighter pop of colour than a most eyeshadows.

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My free deluxe sample was a Mario Badescu seaweed cleansing soap and cleansing lotion set. I’ve not heard of this brand before so I’m intrigued to give these a go. Whilst being pegged as a soap and cleanser, the soap is a cleanser and the cleanser is a toner… confusing!


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Next I popped back in to my local CCO outlet where I found that MAC Dupe last week as I was doing a little spot of shopping for a swap and I came across this complexion sponge from Brushworks which looked suspiciously like my favourite ever blending sponge from Quo (a canadian – I think!) brand that I received in a giveaway on Stash Matters blog. It’s quickly become my absolute go to for applying foundation and even the colour is identical, I’ve not put them side by side yet, but I’m hoping these are a dead on repackaed version for one another as I can’t get hold of that Quo one here! I’ll put them side by side this week and compare!

stila-espresso-smudgeproof-eyeliner

In that MAC palette dupe review I said that I’d also noticed they’d added a big Stila Stand to the CCO, there was of items there I just wasn’t interested in, and last week I noticed they’re smudgeproof khol eyeliners, I had a black one that I swatched on my hand that seriously didn’t budge all day but there was no black ones there, just lots of weird bright aqua, mint and yellow shades, I had a good route through when I went back and found one lingering normal shade of ‘Espresso’ which is a gorgeous matte brown!


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Last but not least I popped into TK Maxx this week to start picking up some bits for the new puppy as if you’re willing to keep going back and forth you can get some gorgeous things you just can’t find anywhere else! Whilst in there they’ve put the beauty section right next to the checkout… so you can’t help but look. I spotted a few items from Quo by Orly (that same Makeup brand sponge that we can’t get here) most had been opened, thanks TK Maxx shoppers you little shits, but Smudgefix sounded interesting, It’s designed I think for if you accidentally knock your nails whilst drying to smooth out the knocks. With a dog that runs riot, sometimes whilst I try and take the time, I can’t help but knock my nails whilst they’re drying every now and again so I’ll be interested to see if that works or not!


Swatches

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Left to Right: MUG Cocoa Bear, Unexpected, Mezmerized Havoc, I’m Peachless, Stila Espresso Smudgeproof liner, L.A Girl Glide On Gel Liner in Champagne

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Let me know if you’ve tried any of these products before, I’ll certainly be reporting back on the Makeup Geek items. I hope you’re all having a fabulous weekend, especially if you’re in the UK – happy Bank Holiday, can’t we have one every week!

rachael

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15 Comments

  1. May 1, 2016 / 6:53 am

    Great post! The swatches are beautiful 😊

  2. Kathy
    May 1, 2016 / 7:08 am

    The makeup geek shadows are so nice – especially unexpected, the perfect dusty pink 🙂
    kathy x

  3. May 1, 2016 / 12:02 pm

    Great haul Rachael, I love the MUG shades you have chosen. Cocoa Bear is one of my favourites.
    Lucie xo | lucieleannexo.wordpress.com

  4. redlippedfox
    May 1, 2016 / 4:23 pm

    Hey! I love your blog! I have nominated you for Liebster award 🙂 For more information on the nomination check my blog Can’t wait for your answers! Red kisses 💋

  5. May 1, 2016 / 8:05 pm

    Omg, those MUG eyeshadows look like they are so pigmented. I definitely need to try these xx

  6. May 2, 2016 / 2:44 pm

    Oooh I hope that sponge is a dupe of the Quo one!
    And SO WEIRD to see Quo product being sold at TKMaxx in the UK! Yes, Quo is a Canadian brand – private label to our drugstore chain. The nail products by Orly are just repackaged Orly stuff – that Smudgefix is the same as Orly’s Smudge Fixer, I’d imagine.
    I’ve not seen reviews on MUG brushes either – so I’m interested in hearing your thoughts on them! They look really nice based on your photos.
    And yes, I’ve been wanting to try MUG shadows for ages but have held off – one of these days I will just randomly place an order. I have Mesmerized on my wish list, among about 10 other shades!
    Funny – I just bought my first Mario Badescu item, the rosewater mist. I’ve heard lots of good things about the brand and it’s not too expensive either.

  7. Ahh interesting thanks for the info! I’m pretty sure that sponge is the same used it last night for the first time and the texture feels the same and they’re the same size side by side wet and dry 😊 brushes and a few of the eyeshadows got used last night, mesmerised is unsurprisingly pretty, the surprise shade for me was I’m peachless the swatch doesn’t do it justice but it’s incredibly pretty and unlike anything else I can think of!

  8. May 2, 2016 / 5:34 pm

    I can’t believe Quo by Orly showed up in your UK TKMaxx!!! Ahahahaha 😀

  9. Anne
    May 2, 2016 / 9:11 pm

    Havoc is so pretty. I can totally see why you are attracted to it.
    Would love to hear how the brushes do: they sound very affordable and look great.
    xo Anne

  10. Valerie Nguyen
    May 3, 2016 / 6:25 am

    These all look like great products! x

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