Review? Zoeva Cosmetics~

… well, sort of. As mentioned in my eyeshadow palettes post (from like a million years ago…), I really wanted to get some Zoeva palettes to add to my collection, and so I did! However, I sadly haven’t really had many occasions to test these lovelies out so can’t really give a fair review, BUT, will show some swatches and a brief rundown on my opinions so far on the palettes and all that jazz… so yeah!

Zoeva En Taupe palette - £17.50 / £18.00 - available from the Zoeva website and Beauty Bay respectively

The first palette I got my hands on was the En Taupe palette. It’s a very light, cool-tone, almost girly palette (at least in my opinion) and I like it for really subtle, everyday semi-smokey looks. I was a bit unsure about whether or not to get this palette at first, as it’s cute, but didn’t really stand out to me, but I’m so glad I did, as out of the three it’s definitely the one I use the most! The matte transition colours are very soft and easy to build up and the metallics are really buttery and pigmented, so yes, very happy with this one.

Zoeva Mixed Metals palette - £17.50 / £18.00 - available from the Zoeva website and Beauty Bay respectively

I fell in love with this palette as soon as I saw the swatches online as OHMYGAH the pigmentation is amazing! I will say, I definitely use this palette the least as it is all metallics, apart from that black eyeshadow which is matte, so unless I have time on my hands, I don’t really use this much as it requires me to pull shadows from other palettes too. I can say first-hand though, that the pigmentation is wonderful and this is my go-to palette for big pops of colour.

Zoeva Smoky palette - £17.50 / 18.00 - available from the Zoeva website and Beauty Bay respectively

This is the palette that first really caught my eye (as who doesn’t love a good smokey palette?!), but I was hesitant to buy as, really, did I really need another smokey palette? And the answer was yes, I did! It is a mostly matte palette, which is already a win for me, but in particular I love that slightly metallic dark olive green colour which really did seal the deal for me. As it is the newest of the three for me, I really haven’t used it at all, but let me tell you I am excited to and will definitely do so as soon as any somewhat relevant occasion arises!

… and that’s everything! Like I said, while I haven’t used these palettes that much yet, I am so far loving what I’m touching and seeing and if nothing else I do LOVE the packaging (even if there is no mirror included) as it is very lightweight, easy to identify at a glance and easy to travel with!

Right, so that concludes another post! As always, sorry for the long gaps, I just suck like that I guess! xP

Philippa. x

Miss A Mini Haul! (and review?)~

Being as poor as I am, I don’t get to shop all that often. So instead I choose to live vicariously through others on YouTube posting their many haul videos and THUS, I discovered the gem that is shopmissa.com!

(sorry for the rubbish glare in the pic, but i really wanted to show off what little packaging i had left and there is next-to-no lighting in my room so flash was sadly a must!)

The real treasure about Miss A (particularly if you live in the US) is that everything, and I mean everything (well, sort of…) is $1! Oh my gah WHAT!? But that’s not all! According to the many review videos I have watched, the products, despite their unbelievable price point, are pretty damn decent too! Can this be true?! I decided to make a little purchase to find out for myself!

As you can see I only bought 5 items totalling at $5 (roughly £3.90) and at a glance they all look pretty promising…

AOA Scrubby Facial Cleansing Pad - $1 - available from Miss A (also available in other colours!)

AOA Brush Cleaning Egg - $1 - available from Miss A (also available in other colours!

AOA Hand Mirror - $1 - available from Miss A

While I haven't fully utilised these yet, I can say from at least playing around with the ‘tools’ (and by playing i mean touching and rubbing them…), the quality is really quite amazing for being so cheap - the hand mirror in particular - and while I have yet to use the face scrubby or the brush cleaner I have poked at more expensive equivalents in shops and these feel pretty darn comparable to those, especially the brush cleaner. One thing for sure is that they don't feel cheap.

AOA Wonder Metal Liquid Lipstick (in ‘Sleek’) - $1 - available from Miss A

AOA Wonder Matte Liquid Lipstick (in ‘Tease’) - $1 - available from Miss A

These beauties, however, I have already used and tested and they are the BOMB! Lame I used that terminology, but seriously, they’re great! I’m really sad I only bought two (and i will elaborate on why in a bit) but am really quite happy with the ones I did get so far. 

The metallic one is the slightly less awesome of the two, as it requires a little bit of work to get the coverage full and even, but is still a great colour, very metallic and does dry down completely matte! The other one however… ugh! I love it so much! The colour is absolutely gorgeous and despite looking more pink in the tube, once it fully dries down is more purplish in colour, which is right up my alley! The pigmentation and coverage is great, really easy to work with and again, this dries down matte and is completely budge-proof.

All in all, Miss A is one heck of a remarkable discovery and I am so happy to have found it! Not only are their products pretty darn decent*, but there’s tons of them too! From socks to hair accessories to brushes to individual eyeshadows, they have them all!

Now for the boring (but important) bit of this post. The reason I only bought 5 things, despite them all being so cheap and there being soooo much to choose from, is because of shipping. Miss A’s international shipping is a flat rate of £9.95, which is pretty fair for something coming from the US. But then there’s customs and sadly, the limit before having to pay customs (which in my experience so far has totalled in at between £8 and £25) is currently £15. However, that being said, I honestly don’t mind making a few small orders of just under £15 just avoid potentially painful and unpredictable customs charges, as in the end the value of everything, including postage, is still a really decent price. So yeah, just a bit of a warning for those of you looking into doing a bit of a shop with Miss A!

And on that note, I shall end this post! Hope you liked it and see you in like 4 months time when I next post! xD

Philippa. x

*Miss A carries their own brands AOA and a2o, as well as other brands like Elf, Kleancolor, LA Color, Beauty Treats, etc. Obviously the quality of the products will vary from brand to brand, but I only purchased from the AOA line, so my comments on how AMAZING everything is is, for now, exclusive to that line.