REVIEW || PIXI BY PETRA EYE REFLECTIONS EYESHADOW PALETTES & EYE BRUSHES - REFLEX LIGHT AND NATURAL BEAUTY EYESHADOW PALETTES REVIEW

When I came home after a long day last week, my partner told me that I had a parcel delivered earlier that day and I couldn't believe my eyes and screamed when I saw a giant light green box with the label 'Pixi' written across it. Pixi is definitely a brand I love and have wanted to work with for years now! My dear friend Sophie from Life of Little Things introduced me to Pixi's Glow Tonic and I absolutely loved it - I can't wait to get my hands on the other ones, especially the milky lotion.

In the giant box that was delivered, I received two of the new eyeshadow palettes - Reflex Light & Natural Beauty - alongside 3 eyeshadow brushes in a very handy travel case. I have used the two palettes quite a few times since receiving them so have enough knowledge of the products for a full review.

Reflex Light Eyeshadow Palette £24:

This palette is definitely something I would pick up if I was browsing for some new makeup. The shades are gorgeous and very wearable, especially when paired with thick eyeliner, false lashes and a nude glossy lip. The shades swatched beautifully, and I know that a lot of the time an eyeshadow might swatch nicely but look patchy on the eye so I put this palette to a proper test.

My favourite shades have to be 3D Peach, Auburn Blaze, Vintage Gold and Antique Bronze. I found that these eyeshadows applied very easily with a flat shadow brush (I used MAC 248) or if you don’t own a flat brush then I’d suggest using your finger to apply for best results.

One thing this palette is definitely missing are matte shades for blending and transitioning the metallic colours. I do think that the shades will be great for cut creases as the pigmentation is very strong with a lot of shimmer. 

Natural Beauty Eyeshadow Palette £24:

This palette is definitely a great choice for those who prefer a natural eye look. It’ll make a great gift for Mother’s Day along with the brush set. I particularly love the shades Metal Mauve and Rose Clay and use only those two shadows for a natural smokey-eye look for work.

I found that the matte shades in this palette were a little bit powdery and had some fall out so I would recommend either applying the shadows before the base or tap off any excess before blending. The pigmentation is very good, especially in metallic shades. I do think that this palette would be slightly better if it had a neutral transition shade to make blending a little bit easier, but I don’t mind too much as I use MAC’s Brule as a base for all my eyeshadows.

I highly recommend buying this palette if you’re only starting out with makeup and want a bit of everything from your palette. This one has a mixture of mattes, satins and shimmers with one metallic shade so it’s perfect for anyone wanting to learn new looks.

Unfortunately, the brush set isn’t available for sale and I don’t think you can buy the brushes separately at the moment either. I’m hoping that Pixi will bring this set out as I really like the pencil brush (E03) and the fluffy brush (E02) is amazing for applying highlighter. The small eyeshadow brush (E01) is great at applying eyeshadow to the bottom lash line but I find it a little bit too firm to use on my actual eyelid.

Overall, I have been really enjoying wearing these eyeshadows and know for a fact that I'll get much more wear out of them than some of my other palettes (e.g. Urban Decay Naked 2). I hope you've enjoyed my mini review - if you have any questions about these palettes then pop them in the comments section below & I'll get back to you as soon as I can!

*This post includes gifted items and affiliate links.

Have you tried any Pixi makeup products before? Do you have any recommendations?

Lots of love,

Maya xo

5 EYESHADOW BRUSHES YOU NEED IN YOUR LIFE - FOR ONLY £7.99!

I bet you're all wondering what sort of brushes can do the same job as a £19 MAC 217 brush? Well, tune in to hear about a few of my favourites which retail at only £7.99 for 9!

I bought this set with 4 more (face) brushes which cost me £7.99 for the set, however, I've seen just the eyeshadow brush set for just under £5. Of course, the power of how the eyeshadow looks is in the hands of the person applying it, but brushes can speed up the process haha.

I personally love the brush on the far end on the right-hand side the most. It's my ultimate favourite eyeshadow brush and I use it daily without a fail. I've been wanting to get my hands on MAC's 217 for a very long time now but the price has always put me off; now these have gone up by whole £3 which is more than this set of 5 costs?! Absolutely ridiculous if you ask me... (Update 16/02/2021 - I have since bought 2 of the MAC 217 brushes as they are a m a z i n g)

I use the flat brush from this set to either blend out my crease or apply eyeshadow primer with. The pointy one is great for applying dark shadow in the crease as it doesn't let fallout drop everywhere and keeps the shadow in place instead of when using a fluffy brush. The other two - which are slanted, are great for blending shadows together. I personally prefer the 4th one (see the last pic) over the 2nd, but that's a personal preference.

It also depends on which eyeshadows you are using when creating a make-up look. I suggest you try these out with trusty shadows to test these out properly! In this post, you can see my Morphe eyeshadow palette which consists of a mixture of Morphe, NYX, and Makeup Geek shadows. You can read my '4 eyeshadow palettes you need in your life' post here.

*This post contains affiliate links.

Have you tried cheap brushes which you swear by? Have you got any recommendations for good, affordable eyeshadow brushes?

Lots of love,

Maya xo

My MAC Make-up Collection

Good Morning Beauties!

I have wanted to share my slowly-growing MAC make-up collection for a while now, baring in mind that I have taken those photos a few days ago and have gotten more things from the store, I still wanted to go through my most loved and least liked MAC products.

MAC Brush Cleanser: I've heard so many good things about this cleanser and wanted to try it out ever since I bought my first make-up brushes, and I finally had the opportunity to buy a bottle from my local MAC store for a whopping price of £11 which is not cheap but totally worth it. It smells of acetone which is not pleasant but it does the job at disinfecting the brushes and getting rid of all the bacteria.

MAC Prep+Prime: I'm pretty sure that every make-up fanatic knows about this primer. I'm a huge primer lover, and needed to buy a new one after running out of my Benefit POREfessional primer, even though I bought the new Instablur primer from The Body Shop and love it so much, I still wanted a new one to try. It is very silky and smooth in touch, a bit thick and creamy like a moisturiser making it easier to apply onto the face. It gives a flawless finish to the skin and looks amazing teamed up with a MAC foundation.

MAC Studio Moisture Fix SPF 15: I'm not the biggest fan of this moisturiser mostly because of the scent. It smells of walnuts and the scent is so strong that it over powers the smell of the rest of my make-up and even my perfume! It's thick and creamy and easy to apply and spread around your face. I don't think I will buy this product again. I'd rather stick to my Boots Essentials Cucumber Moisturiser which only costs me £1.50.

MAC Micronised Airbrush Cleanser: I've bought this product thinking it was a normal face cleanser, but it turned out to be the airbrush gun cleanser instead! Haha, oh dear silly me. However, I do use it to cleanse off any excess make-up off my face as the consistency is just like baby oil to which I am allergic to, but this cleanser is actually really good for taking make-up off and makes my skin feel fresh and soft.

MAC Studio Fix Fluid in NW15: I love this foundation. It really is as good as everyone claims it to be. Unfortunately, the make-up artist that helped me choose the shade was very nice, however she picked the wrong one and it was too yellowy for me and made me look like I was wearing a mask, so serious shading and contouring was needed! I've recently ran out of this foundation after having it since Christmas, so I will be buying a new one very soon! Hopefully this time my colour will be matched perfectly.. I believe that I'm a NW13 shade!!!

MAC Liquid Eye liner in Boot: My favourite liquid eye liner so far, and believe me when I say that I've tried a LOT of them. It's very easy to apply and glides on smoothly. It is a bit sheer so you will have to apply two coats for a darker effect, but it's perfect to use for smokey-eye effect if you don't want the eye-liner to look too bold. A definite 10/10.

MAC 190 Foundation Brush: One of my favourite make-up brushes. I only use this brush for my MAC foundation as it applies it on very smoothly. I recommend it to anyone who uses thick liquid foundation. It is pricey, but oh-so worth it!

MAC Zoom Lash Mascara: I'm going to be honest with you about this product, as I don't like it at all. It makes my eyelashes look very clumpy and it stings so much when it gets in your eye!! It's also really hard to get off, and I need to use waterproof mascara to get it off and it still stays on! This could be a good thing if the mascara wasn't so crap itself.

MAC Eye Kohl in Smolder: I really like this kohl pencil as it glides on smoothly, but it does smudge very easily which can be a good thing if you're opting for a smokey-eye effect.

MAC Clear Lipglass: I love this lipgloss. It is very thick and non-sticky and makes my lips look so delicious! I use it as a top coat for my lipsticks to make my lips stand out a bit more. I recommend this product to every reader!

MAC Lipstick in Brave: My very first MAC item. I love this lipstick and there isn't a day that goes by when I don't want to wear it. It is the perfect nude lip colour and I will definitely purchase another one when I run out of this one! It is a satin finish which looks lovely on my rather large lips, and with a smokey eye it's just perfection.

MAC Lipstick in Rose Lilly: A perfect mix of pink and blue in a lipstick. It is very shimmery and a lustre finish which is the perfect glamorous shade/effect a girl needs on a night out! 

Mac Lipstick in Viva Glam Gaga: Anyone who knows me, will know that I'm a huge Lady Gaga fan. This lipstick it such a beautiful pale pink colour that I enjoy to wear it on it's own on a bare face.It's stylish and sophisticated, just like my favourite gal - Gaga.

MAC Eye shadow in Deep Truth: A lovely deep blue colour. One of my favourites. It's perfect for a night out and great to team up with a matching nail varnish!

MAC Eye shadow in Naked Lunch: Tanya Burr's favourite eye shadow had to be bought. I really like it as it is completely nude and nearly the exact same colour as my eyelids but it is perfect for a nude daily make-up look. Perfect for school or college.

MAC Eye shadow in Era: Like Naked Lunch, this shade is also nude but a little bit more brown. I love to team it up with Naked Lunch and Beauty Marked for a soft smokey eye effect.

MAC Eye shadow in Beauty Marked: I adore this colour. It is a very deep plum/brown shade with tiny glitters inside. I use it to create a smokey eye with a shimmery effect. Every make-up fanatic should own this eye shadow.

MAC Cream Colour Base in Luna: Love the texture of this base, it's very silky and smooth, almost like the Urban Decay eye shadow potion. The colour is very sheer so I can use it as a base under any eye shadow colour.

MAC Mineralize eye shadow in Shimmermint: This minty shade is nice teamed up with Frozen Blue and Deep Truth as it makes blue eyes stand out. I don't really use this shade as it is quite hard to find other shades to combine with this one, but it can be used as a highlighter which can be useful to other make-up artists as I use the High Beam highlighter by Benefit.

MAC Mineralize eye shadow in Frozen blue: Like shimmermint, I don't use this shadow a lot but when I do I like to mix it up with other blue shades or use as a highlighter.

MAC Pro Palette x12 insert: I've wanted to organise my MAC eye shadows for a while now, and I finally can! I will put up an updated picture of what the palette looks like with my eye shadows in very soon!

MAC Pro Palette x4 insert: I bought this quad palette for my fake mac eye shadows. It looks very nice, and obviously real! They eye shadow that's inside the palette is one called Mauve by Coastal Scents and I love it! It looks like NARS Orgasm Blush but in an eye shadow! I love it.

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me!

Lots of love,

Maya xo

Urban Decay Naked 3 Palette

Hey guys!

As you know, my exams start this week hence the lack of blogging recently. I have been deprived of my social life and just sit at home and revise all day for my A-levels. As soon as they are over I promise to blog more recently! I don't want to disappoint any of you because you've been amazing.

As most of you know, I discovered the amazing website Tmart.com through another blogger. I have already bought the Naked 2 palette by Urban Decay and reviewed it here if you wanted to have a look at what I think of it.

Little instagram collage :)

As you can see, the box is a little bit battered, but it looks 100% authentic.

The palette itself looks exactly like the real Naked 3 palette. Even the texture of the metal box is the same.

I know that neither of the pictures is great as they were taken on my phone, but here you can see the colours of the eyeshadows in this palette. They are very pigmented, just like the Naked 2 palette I bought from Tmart. You can buy the Naked 3 palette here, and the Naked 2 palette here.

Here is the back of the packaging. As you can see, it is a little bit torn in a few places, but hey ho, I only care about what's inside!! If you have any questions about this product then don't hesitate to ask me via comment or email :)

Lots of love,

Maya xo

Urban Decay Naked 2 Palette

Good Afternoon Beauties!

So, recently I discovered the amazing Tmart online shopping website and couldn't believe my own eyes over the deals that they have! I've previously read about Tmart on other blogs and thought 'hmm maybe I should try it!'. I wasn't too sure at first whether I could trust the site as it includes ridiculously low prices and the delivery is free?! But I was persuaded by all the amazing reviews I've read online.

I bought quite a few things, but this item was the first to arrive as the rest was shipped from around the world. As you can see below, this looks like the authentic naked 2 palette by Urban Decay which costs around £37. This palette cost me £5.20!!! I was just as shocked as you guys! 

This is the palette in the original box. It looks 100% authentic and nobody would know that this is a dupe. As you can see, the box is a little bit creased on the right hand side and has glue from the promotional code sticker on the front of it from where I tried to scrub it off!

Here is the palette taken out of the box. It has a dint in the top right corner but I'm not too bothered about it as it was so cheap, otherwise I would have sent it back and asked for a new one.

Here's a picture of the eyeshadows. Nearly all are the same shades as the real Naked 2 palette, besides a couple which are slightly different. They all have the same names as the real palette. The brush included in the palette is very soft and firm at the same time. Very good for contouring.

This is the back of the box which shows all the eyeshadow colours, ingredients and the use-by date.

Lots of love,

Maya xo