NOTD: MUA Gemini Nail Constellations

There may have been a lot of drama in the past few months over twitter and people blogging about certain mistakes that MUA have made and the fact that most of their products seem to be copies of other brands products (like Essie style polish bottles, Urban Decay palette dupes, Revlon/Clinique style chubby lip pencils...). To be honest though this isn't something that bothers me too much. I love that MUA allow me to get dupes of much more expensive products at bargain prices and most of their products I have tried so far have been fantastic quality. As for the packaging copies, it isn't the best thing to do but I wouldn't buy a product for its packaging, I would only care about the quality of the product and how it works. Pretty packaging is nice, but doesn't sell a product. 

Anyway, the point of this rant is that MUA may not be perfect but they are pretty amazing when it comes to affordable products. They have quickly become one of my favourite brands and I think now I have more of their products than any other brand. 

One of the first things I tried from MUA was the nail constellations. I had been lusting after Ciate Caviar for ages when I spotted these on offer for £2! The Ciate was far too expensive for me but when I spotted the MUA dupes for £2 I bought 4 different colours. I hadn't used the MUA Constellations for ages and I'd been chatting to some of my new co-workers about them so decided to fish them out and give them another go to show them off. I may have only been there a month now but they are already well aware of my nail obsession (oops). 

I though the Gemini Constellations would look lovely with Barry M Papaya Gelly, my new summer obsession shade. I decided to use Dragon Fruit under the beads though as I do find the base colour can bleed through the gaps and so a paler thinner shade is better. I love how simple the Constellations are to use and although I have used Gemini 3/4 times now, you can see that there is plenty left in the bottle. I always use a little tray to catch the beads so that any overspill isn't wasted and finish it all off with a generous sweep of top coat to keep the beads in place.

Gemini has to be my favourite Constellations shade. Its packed with pastel shades and the mix of colours is lovely. This lasted for 3 days which is pretty good for beads stuck onto your nail. I really love this look and always get lots of compliments so I think I will try to use these more often. I've seen some interesting patterns made with just a few beads so that might be one for me to try next.

Have you tried the MUA Constellations? What do you think of all the MUA drama? Has it put you off them as a brand or like me do you think the products are more important?