So, I’ve come to the end of my second week, both of my spending ban and of ‘shopping my stash’ every week. It’s going better than I expected it to, honestly! I would like to say a quick apology for being a day late with this post, but I’ve had such a busy weekend! As with last week, this will be a post detailing my opinions on the products I’d chosen to use this past week. So let’s get going!

E.L.F. 32 Colour Palette, Everyday

This is actually a really good palette. Okay, some of the colours are damn-near identical to each other, and a few of them aren’t very pigmented at all, but in general it’s a good, everyday, don’t-worry-if-it-gets-a-bit-bashed-about palette with a nice range of wearable colours. I wore this one much more than the MUA shadows this week, even though I think the MUA shadows are much, much better.

See what I mean about pigmentation? The neutrals are really good, though, and actually I think the colourful shades on the bottom row aren’t too bad. But pigmentation is an issue for the lighter colours, and those that are matte rather than shimmer. This is a problem I anticipated, however; we all know mattes are so much harder to get right. All in all, not a bad palette, and certainly enough variety for me to have a good deal of choice.

MUA single eyeshadows in Shades 12, 30 (Pearl) and 17 (Matte)

I love these shadows. I really, really love them. MUA’s formula, colour pay-off, colour range- it’s all just so good, and incredible when you think about each single shadow costing no more than one English pound! Shade 12 is definitely one of my all-time favourite eyeshadows, without a doubt. Even when photographed just in the pan you can’t appreciate how beautiful it is- it looks a pretty ordinary, grey/taupe sort of colour, with a slight hint of the duochrome beauty that lies within, but as soon as it is swatched or applied it takes on another life altogether.

Top to bottom- 12, 30, 17

LOOK AT THAT! It looks like one solid, rusty mahogany brown colour here, but it still has the taupe in it- the duochrome is amazing, and the effect is one of the best I’ve seen. Shade 30 is also good, a solid shimmery bronze, and Shade 17 isn’t bad for a matte. A bit chalky and suffering a little on the pigmentation front, but a good effort none the less.

E.L.F. Shimmer Eyeliner Pencil in Black Bandit, E.L.F. Studio Cream Eyeliner in Black, Boots 17 Blow Out mascara

I’ve spoken many times about how much I like the Blow Out mascara. I’m a fan of huge, fat brushes, which this mascara certainly has! I think they’re the best kinds of mascara for my lashes, which are quite thick, dark and long, so I’ve nothing really bad to say for that. The shimmer eyeliner pencil is a lot subtler, shimmer wise, than I expected. It’s nice and smooth applying, without much drag, and it has quite a consistent, reasonable pigmentation. The Cream Eyeliner… I wasn’t sold when I first got this product. It smudges and goes everywhere, so easily, so it definitely needs careful application and to be set with, or applied over, eyeshadow or another product. However, it’s easy to use, smooth and has a nice, pigmented and creamy consistency.

The huge, fat swatch is from the cream eyeliner! Couldn’t think of any other way than using my finger, so yes! As you can see it’s fairly pigmented, so I’m quite impressed. I also swatched the mascara to show you how nice a colour it is. I think you can see what I meant by ‘subtle’ as far as the pencil goes- there aren’t really any shimmer particles visible at all.

MUA Undress Your Skin Shimmer Highlighter, Benefit Sugarbomb, E.L.F. Studio Golden Bronzer

I really like all of these products. The highlighting powder from MUA is lovely- it looks like a MAC product, which is something lots of bloggers have thought! It goes on so well- it’s soft, and a lovely, oystery colour, though it does live up to its name by being incredibly shimmery! Sugarbomb is fantastic; each of the four sections is just about big enough to be used on their own if you wished to, but swirled together it produces a lovely, peachy sort of colour with a bit of shimmer, and it looks lovely swept over the apples of the cheeks and along the cheek bones. I am so impressed with the E.L.F. bronzer! It’s essentially a bronzer quad, and overall a lovely, warm colour. Again each section of the quad is big enough to be used separately, but when used by swirling a brush over the whole product it makes a really nice, subtle glow. I’ve been using it instead of blusher on a few days this week!

I hope you can see how nice each of these products is! I would thoroughly recommend all of them.

MUA Pressed Powder in Shade 1, Boots Witch Tea Tree & Witch Hazel concealer, Maybelline Dream Matte Mousse in Light Porcelain

These were my face products for this week, and they all did really well. I’m so impressed with the pressed powder- it only cost me £1, and it works on a par with my coveted Max Factor Creme Puff powder! I’ve used it on its own in place of foundation, as well as to set my other products. It matches my skin tone really well. The concealer is a little bit on the dark side, and thanks to the tea tree & witch hazel smells a bit strange and tingles on the skin a bit, but it blends out quite nicely and seems to give a reasonable (if not ideal or perfect) coverage of blemishes. I can’t believe I forgot about the Dream Matte Mousse! It’s such a good product- blendable, buildable coverage, with a lovely texture and finish on the skin, and it’s really nice to apply. I need to use it more often after my spending ban/stash-shopping!

E.L.F. Long Wear Lip Liner in Natural Blush, MUA Lip Gloss in Shade 3, Sleek True Colour lipstick in Naked, Boots 17 Lasting Fix lipstick in Showbiz

First thing I have to say- I am not a fan of this lip gloss. At all. This is on my very small ‘MUA misses’ list. As you can probably tell, I’m normally a big fan of MUA products, but this gloss (which I think is one of the first MUA products I ever bought) is no good, as far as I’m concerned. It’s sticky, it’s thick, the pigmentation is inconsistent, it annoys me when it’s on my lips… Just no. Sorry, MUA! The E.L.F. liner is brilliant, however. Blendable, a nice, rosey nude colour, and soft to apply. Really good! The Sleek lipstick is great- I’m a massive fan of the colour, and it’s ever so slightly sheer so it’s wearable for everyday, yet buildable if you wanted a bigger pop of colour. It’s a brown, almost tan-toned nude, and it goes with my skin tone really well. The 17 lipstick I wasn’t so impressed with, unfortunately. Unlike the Sleek lipstick, this one just wasn’t very moisturising at all, which meant it wasn’t very comfortable to wear. I love the colour- an ever-so slightly blue toned red- but I just don’t like the formula enough. I’m not sure I’d wear it again, which is a shame.

Do you see how pretty the red colour is? It’s beautiful! I’m so sad the formula isn’t better, else I’d wear this one so much.

So, because it’s very late, I’m going to do a quick picture of my ‘shopping the stash’ selection for this week, and post a bit more in depth about the products I’m using tomorrow, as well as a ‘spending ban’ update.

A nice selection! I’m a bit apprehensive about using a full-on liquid foundation without a powder foundation on top, but I will be cheating a little and using either of my two setting powders (ELF Studio HD Powder and Collection 2000 Translucent Powder) on top, so it’ll be a bit of an experiment in itself.

‘Shopping my stash’ every week is really making me appreciate how much make up I have! Hopefully I will be able to whittle away a few products along the way.