£13.02 Make Up Challenge

I have always wanted to try a budget make-up challenge and have seen the $20 make-up challenge everywhere, but being in the UK, I don't have $20, so instead I got the currency converter out and am limiting myself to £13.02 (odd I know...but bare with me).

What did I manage to get?

Concealer | Makeup Revolution Liquid Concealer, Natural, £1.50 ($2.31)

Foundation | Collection Naturally Matt Foundation, Ivory, £2.99 ($4.62)

Blusher | Makeup Revolution Powder Blusher, Sugar, £1.00 ($1.54)

Contouring | MUA Blusher, Lolly, £1.00 ($1.54)

Eye Shadow | NYC HD Quattro Eye Shadow Palette, Fashion Boot Camp, £2.99 ($4.62)

Eyeliner & Brows | MUA Eyebrow Pencil, Brunette, £1.00 ($1.54)

Lashes | Hello Kitty False Lashes, £0.52 ($0.74)

Lips | MUA Lipstick, Nectar 16, £1.00 ($1.54)

Nails | MUA Nail Polish, Pistachio Ice Cream, £1.00 ($1.54)

TOTAL SPEND: £13.01 ($19.99)

EXCHANGE RATES ARE CORRECT AT THE TIME OF PURCHASING PRODUCTS (EXCHANGE RATES MAY HAVE CHANGED)

I didn't want to get stuff that was on offer or things that were in a sale, so I ventured into one of my favourite, cheaper makeup high street stores where I was certain I could find everything I needed for a complete look. I started off looking in Boots, but soon realised that having just £13 to spend was going to be a bit of a nightmare, so off to Superdrug I went. I'm a massive fan of Superdrug for things you need in a hurry of if you just need a few cheap things to take with you somewhere you don't mind losing them or leaving them behind - like when I went to Reading Festival!

Let's Create a Look

So, I couldn't afford any makeup brushes, other than the small eye shadow brush that came included in the NYC quad palette, so it was finger using time. I usually don't like using my fingers, as I have quite dry skin, and I find if I use my fingers, I tend to get patches in my foundation, but I just had to make do, and ended up using the concealer much more than the foundation. I was quite impressed by the Makeup Revolution Liquid Concealer, as it went of well and gave ok coverage for the price you pay for it, but I found the Collection Naturally Matt Foundation a little too watery for my skin and it wasn't able to give me the coverage I would like, but for more moisturised skin types, I could see it giving a beautiful natural look for a good price.

Blush was probably one of the harder things to do in this look, as I didn't have any brushes budgeted for, other than the small eyeshadow brush from the NYC palette. So, finger time again. I've never actually attempted to use my fingers to do blush, and it's certainly not an experience I want again. I didn't put on anywhere near as much blush as I intended to and the spacing was a lot bigger than I had planned, but by using the darker shade of blush by Revolution as a contour and the MUA blush as a highlighter, I think it turned out pretty well considering. My fingers were pink for about an hour though! I really liked the MUA blush as the colour was really vibrant and it blended really well (considering I was using my fingers). The Revolution blush, however, was a little more difficult to work with as it didn't spread and blend as well as I would have liked.

I tried to create a simple, natural eyeshadow look (you can see in this picture closer up the beautiful colour of the MUA blush!) by using the golden tone as an all over eyeshadow colour. I then took the cream colour and dabbed it, using my little finger, into the inside crease of my eye and underneath my brown line as a highlighter. I then used my index finger to take the lighter green colour and used it on the outer half of my eyelid, blending it with the gold. I then took the small eyeshadow brush and used the darker green-grey colour in the outer crease of my eyelid and along my lash line for a bit of definition as I had a brown colour to use for my eyeliner. I really love the eathy tones in his palette, while not natural summery colours, I think the undertone of glitter makes them glamorous whilst still being subtle and will go really well with staple oranges, bronzes and whites in the summer.

I then moved on to my brows, as I was using the same MUA eyebrow pencil in brunette to do my eyeliner (killing to birds with one stone #win). I really liked this eyebrow pencil, as it had the brush on the end of the pencil, and it has really good coverage, so you only need to use it very lightly! It also makes a really nice eyeliner too as it's not as harsh as black, which I love in the summer. I used it on my lower lash line three-quarters of the way across from the outside of my eye, and along the top three-quarters of my upper lash line in the same way.

I had a mega amount of difficulty with the eyelashes, but then again, what did I expect from a Hello Kitty brand (budget prevailed!). Eventually, by having to use my own spare glue rather than their glue, which was ok for taking photographs, but came off after about ten minutes, I got then stuck on and looking pretty natural. The good thing about these lashes is they are designed for the younger generation, therefore are short and look a lot more natural than some of the other eyelash brands out there. They do look a lot like a thick splash on mascara, but I noticed that without being able to afford mascara, I was left with a few stray lashes here and there, though they weren't noticeable unless I had my face up against my makeup mirror.

The MUA lipstick was possibly one of my favourite products in this look, as it's a beautiful coral colour, with tints of both pink and orange. It's also incredibly moisturising and has a little bit of a lip gloss shine to it. I've tried one or two MUA lipsticks in the past, and they are not where near as good as their new range of colours. It's such a summery colour I can see myself wearing this very often in the next few months. I think it really gave the look a little extra, as I was quite natural on the eyeshadow and blush - it also goes really well with the green and gold tints of the eyeshadow look I did.

Nails were the final thing I did, choosing this beautiful pale aqua colour from MUA. I really like this nail varnish, although I did need to do at least two coats (three one some nails) to get the colour to the vibrancy that I wanted. It's a little bit watery, but such a beautiful colour. The small size bottle is also really handy to take around with you if you need a top up or if you're wanting to take it with you when travelling. I think the colour went really well as it blended with the green tones of my look, but gave a whole separate summery feel to the look too.

And the final look is...

I hope you like this summery look, it was incredibly difficult to decide what I wanted to buy for just over £13 ($20), but I think most of the products I will be using again! Let me know what you think and comment your links if you have done this challenge too! It will be interesting to see what budget makeup brands are available in other countries, as I know a lot of the ones here such as MUA and Revolution are available in many other places!