MAC Archie’s Girls Collection…I’m a Betty!

 Due to some unforeseen circumstances (Oh life with kids…), I was unable to make it to my MAC Archie’s Girl appointment at my local MAC counter.  But I was able to stop by and pick up a few things before they sold out. Overall, sadly, I wasn’t too impressed with the collection.  The colors just didn’t really wow me. All the Veronica colors were too cool or bold and some of the Betty colors were just too bright for my taste. Here is a review of what I did purchase, check it out!

Betty Lipglass in Summer Sweetheart $16.50

MAC Summer Sweetheart Lipglass is described as a light peach which is a pretty spot on description. It has a milky peach, creamy consistency and look.  Its looks great on its own (semi-opaque, natural lip comes through) and over top lipstick as well.  Love this color, it’s basic and pretty!

Betty Opulash Optimum Black $17.50

One of my local MAC artists has been trying to get me to try out the Opulash mascara because I always comment on her lashes and it’s the formula she wears. My False Lashes is about to expire so I thought what the hey, I’ll try it out (the cute packaging is a plus).  Opulash delivers even color to every little lash with its large, full applicator brush (LOVE!!). The formula adds both length, volume, separates and is buildable without getting clumpy or making lashes look stiff.  It reminds me a lot of Plushlash, which use to be my favorite MAC mascara for years.  The Optimum Black is a super intense black color, more saturated than the regular Opulash. Overall, love this mascara and it might be my new fav!

Pearlmatte Face Powder in Flatter Me $30.00

MAC Pearlmatte Face Powder combines pearlized and satin shades to achieve an array of looks. I can be used for highlighting and blush effects or as an Eye Shadow with a velvet-smooth finish. Flatter Me is the Betty Pearlmatte Powder of the collection and is described as a “golden peach base with coral hearts.” The main color is a warm peach with a soft, frost finish and the hearts are a medium pinky-coral with a subtle golden sheen. When combined the shade of the colors provides a soft peachy sheen to the cheeks and is certainly buildable in color.  The texture is buttery soft and finely milled. On the skin and blended out, it doesn’t look powdery, and the finish is a soft shimmer-sheen so it doesn’t emphasize the skin’s texture or pores.

swatches



Laura Geller Baked Beginnings Kit

I picked up the Baked Beginnings Kit from Laura Geller because I wanted to try out two other products of hers, Bronze-N-Brighten and Blush-N-Brighten. This kit comes with three mini sized products and a mini kabuki brush. The products include:

• Balance-N-Brighten in Regular
• Bronze-N-Brighten in Regular
• Blush-N-Brighten in Berry


All together this is a nice to kit if you want to try out all of the popular baked face products. It was nice to get the Balance-N-Brighten in Regular to use in the warmer months instead of the fair I already have. It’s not too much deeper than the fair and will be perfect when I get a little color from the sun. I love this powder because it doesn’t feel heavy on my skin.

Bronze-N-Brighten is a matte baked bronzer with bronze, cream and pink rosy colors swirled throughout. I do have to say that this product in this color applies a little heavy and dark for me right now. With a light hand I am able to apply lightly to add some color. This product will be great when I am tan and I can easily pop it into my purse to take anywhere with me.

The only product I was a little leery about was the Blush-N-Brighten in the color berry. In the product photos it looked deeper berry and I thought it might not be a good color for me. I was pleasantly surprised when I saw the color I received had more pink in it than berry. Swirls of shimmery pink, berry and gold mix together to give a healthy glow to the cheeks. Really love the color and is easy to apply with the mini kabuki brush in the kit.

Overall, I am happy with the Laura Geller products I have purchased and can’t wait to see if she introduces some new things for summer.

L to R: Balance-N-Brighten in Regular, Bronze-N-Brighten in Regular, Blush-N-Brighten in Berry

Laura Geller Focus on Favorites 5 piece Starter Set

I first read about Laura Geller’s cosmetic line on Musing of a Muse’s website. I read various reviews about her products and some of them really jump out to me as something I would want to try. SO I popped over to QVC’s website and check out various products and watched a few videos describing the products. I decided to start out with the Focus on Favorites kit, which features five mini size of Laura’s stand out products, perfect for first timers to try out. The kit comes with:

• Spackle tinted primer in Bronze
• Real Deal concealer
• Balance-N-Brighten
• Baked Eyeshadow & Liner duo in Unearthed/Dutch Chocolate
• Shine-N-Shield SPF 15 lipgloss in Fresco Gelato
• Small black faux leather zipper bag

This kit comes in three different shades: Fair, Regular, or Tan in the Balance–N–Brighten (Light, Medium, Medium Deep for the concealer). Of course being the pale one I am right now, I decided to try out the Fair/Light kit. Here is what I thought of each product:

I have been looking for a makeup primer for sometime but haven’t really found one that I liked very much. I found most greasy or drying, so I was please to try out Laura’s primer. When you see it in the tube you almost think it will be to dark in color for fair skin but it’s not at all. This primer subtly brightens the face and feels nice when applied. It’s almost a gel-like consistency which is nice and feels like it hydrates without being overly greasy. This primer is oil free and paraben free.

Primer in Bronze

Real Deal concealer was one of the products I really wanted to try. I love the Vichy Dermablend concealer I just purchased but I wanted to see if I would like this formula better. This concealer claims to cover scars, under eye circles, birthmarks, etc. It’s a silicone based oil-free concealer with super pigmentation; a little goes a long way. Overall I found that I really like the formula and think it is not as drying as and smoother than the Vichy.

Real Deal concealer in Light

Balance-N-Brighten is the other product that I was interested in. The idea of swirling color corrective pigments together to create a unique foundation powder sounded cool. This powder is a correcting and brightening with swirls of soft tans to beiges to help offset ruddiness brighten and balance your complexion. I have to say that this powder is quite impressive. I like the feel, the coverage and the staying power of this product. Mainly I have been using this as a setting powder over my foundation but on the weekends I have been using it with just concealer. Both ways my skin looks evened out and happy! I will definitely be buying this in the full size.

Balance-N-Brighten in Fair

I am no stranger to baked eyeshadows. I have several from MAC and a few from other brands as well. Laura Geller claims to be the first to create baked products, not sure if that claim is true but the majority of her line is now baked products. The Unearthly/Dutch Chocolate duo is an eyeshadow & eyeliner duo. Unearthly is the shadow (can be applied wet or dry) that is a beautiful bronzy gold color. Dutch Chocolate is the liner that is a deep chocolate brown color that can also be used wet or dry. It’s a nice color combo and could see myself using this duo a lot in the summer.

Baked Duo in Unearthly & Dutch Chocolate

L to R: Duo Dry & Duo Wet

The last product is the Shine-N-Shield lipgloss with SPF 15 in the color Fresco Gelato, a warn berry. This gloss is nicely pigmented and applies smoothly to the lips. It hydrates well and contains Vitamin E and cocoa butter. It feels great on my lips and stays on for a decent amount of time. The color is pretty universal and would look great on any skin tone.

Fresh Gelato Swatch

Overall, I am very pleased with the 5 piece Laura Geller starter kit I purchased. In fact I was so impressed that I ordered one for my mother and ordered another kit for myself (Baked Beginnings) that I will be reviewing soon. Definitely go check out Laura Geller on QVC or at Macy’s or LauraGeller.com.