Review: MUA Nail Constellations

Hi,

When I first saw the micro beads trend on nails I thought it look so cool and different but not wanting to pay the hefty price of the Ciate sets I became a bit stuck as to how to achieve the look myself. I tried EBay for a cheaper alternative but besides buying lots of different colours and mixing them myself I thought maybe I will just have to give this trend a miss. However once again one of my favourite drug store brands MUA (make up academy) has come up with a solution, and they have called them their “Nail Constellations”.

Gemini, Leo, Libra, Scopio & Pisces

Pisces, Gemini, Scorpio, Leo & Libra

There are 5 in the shades to choose from in the collection and they are each named after a different star sign. After several trips to Superdrug I now have all 5, from my experience these have been selling very fast so if you like them you had better get your boots on now!

The packaging is very cute but also very practical. The glass bottle in keeps them safe from damage while the rubber funnel on the top makes them very easy to use, as you can slowly pour as much as you want out, but can also be taken off and reversed to aid returning the excess to the bottle. The colours are very different to what I have seen of the Ciate collections, they appear to be staying true to the traditional ideas of the star signs and at the price of £2.99 they are a fraction of the cost.

Gemini: talkative, adaptable, flexible, changeable, responsive, sociable, superficial

Gemini is a very girlie pale mix of colours; it includes baby pink, silver mostly with smaller amounts of purple and teal. I swatched this over Barry M’s fuschia pink and I think it complements the beads perfectly and creates a real feminine, girlie but kick ass feel.

Leo: magnanimous, generous, hospitable, caring, warm,
authoritative, active, open

 

Leo is quite a bold mix made up of mostly purple beads with the occasional teal bead to break it up. To make the intense colours stand out I put this mix on a Barry M’s Gelly Polish in the deep purple colour which is called Blackberry.

 Libra: just, sociable, refined, accommodating, kind, fair,
 diplomatic, likable, indecisive, respectful, artistic

Libra is very similar to Leo in way the colours are mixed but the black and the teal of this shade create a very dark, mysterious look. This colour looks the most like the night sky to me with the teal beads appearing sporadically amongst the black. I swatched this mix over Barry M’s mint green polish, I’m not sure this works too well and would probably look better over a darker colour, as it would make the teal sound out more.

Scorpio: passionate, perceptive, resourceful, possessive, psychological,
 prowling, determined, probing, fixed, focused

 

Scorpio is a beautiful mix of 4 shades that create a warm more autumnal feel to the nails. The only shade to contain gold beads, they are mixed with purple, a deep reddish brown and a dark forest green. I swatched this over Barry M’s Mushroom polish and this works really well at showing off all the gorgeous shades collected in this mix.

 Pisces: intuitive, dreamy, artistic, humane, sympathetic, sensitive, compassionate, perceptive, tender, impressionable

Pisces is a pretty even mix of silver, pale pink and teal. It makes it look very ethereal and sea like so I can see why it is given the name Pisces. I originally thought this would look good over a silver or pale teal colour but on seeing it in real life I have decided to swatch it over Barry M’s Watermelon polish which is from their Gelly polish collection. It really makes the colours pop and adds a sense of depth to the whole mix.

Although you do get a lot of beads for your buck in these little jars (15g to be precise) I still think I will use these on an accent nail rather than all at once. Just because I also think the impact will be higher if it just on my ring finger and/or thumb.

Overall these micro beads are super easy to use and stick really well. I wouldn’t recommend putting a topcoat over them as it may remove the colour from the beads but if you have put a nice thick coat of polish on underneath and patted them into the wet polish firmly enough they should last you at least a few days before they start to come loose.

Have you tried these out yet? Do you like them or any other products from MUA? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below or message me on my facebook page.

See you again soon

Love Jude xxx