M·A·C Illustrated Face Kit (Nordstrom Exclusive) in Brown Smoke

I love when the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale rolls around each year. They always released exclusive limited edition beauty products from multiple brands.  MAC always delivers a great exclusive collection for Nordstrom and this year was no different.  The theme for the collection is “Illustrated” and each set comes with specially designed packaging featuring exclusive illustrations from fashion designer Rebecca Moses.  I decided to pick up the Illustrated Face Kit ($49.50) in Brown Smoke because it contained a few MAC shades I don’t already have plus some LE shades.

The Kit includes:

- Powder Blush in Melba: a matte soft peach.
- Satin Eyeshadow in Orb: a soft peach.
- Veluxe Pearl Eyeshadow in All That Glitters: beige with gold pearl.
- Satin Eyeshadow in Smoked Sepia: a rich brown.
- Matte Eyeshadow in Showstopper: a dark brown.
- Cremesheen Lipstick in Ravishing: a light peachy coral.
- Satin Lipstick in Myth: a neutral nude.
- Duo brush with 275 SE Medium Angled Shading Brush and 316 SE Lip Brush

Out of the shades in the Brown Smoke kit, the only one I already own is All That Glitters, which is in one of my large MAC palettes. (I should do a post on those sometime in the future…) Overall this is a great neutral palette to create easy everyday looks. I love it and she myself using all the time! Plus I like the fact that there is a cover over the lip products to protect them from powder fallout. Along with this collection, Nordstrom’s website has several MAC face charts showcasing the new exclusive products.  Here is the one using this palette:

I was able to have early access to the Nordstrom’s exclusive because I have a Nordstrom Debit Card (you get points toward Nordstrom Notes and money comes direct from your checking account). I believe the exclusives will be available to everyone as of July 19^th.

Face of the Day

Foundation: Chanel Perfection Lumiere B10 & B20 mixed
Concealer: Cle de Peau (blemishes) Bobbi Brown Correctors in Light Peach & Porcelain Peach (under eyes)
Powder: Rimmel Stay Matte Powder

Eyes: MAC Omega Eyeshadow (brows)
         Benefit Long wear Eyeshadow in Thanks A Latte (lid)
         Urban Decay Naked Basics Palette (Naked 2 in crease & Venus/Foxy on brow bone)
         MAC Teddy Eye Pencil
         MAC Opulash Mascara

Cheeks: smashbox Sunkissed Matte Bronze Lights
             tarte Amazonian Clay Blush in Fearless
             Edward Bess

Lips: Chantecaille Lip Chic in Daphne
        Luminous Gloss in Pink Melon

Face of the Day



Foundation: tarte Amazonian Clay Full Coverage

Concealer: Chanel Correcteur Perfection

Brows: tarte Brow Architect

Eyes: Dior Night Golds Quint

Liner: Stila All Day Liquid Liner in Black

Bronzer: Bobbi Brown Golden Light

Blush: tarte Amazonian Clay in Stellar

Lips: MAC Honeylove & Anatasia Hydrafull Gloss in Sharona

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



MAC Archie's Girls Collection February 2013

I made my appointment, have you??? Should be fun!!

MAC Studio Pro Conceal and Correct Palette

MAC recently released a small collection called Studio containing new shades of Studio Fix Powder and Foundation. The collection also introduced Studio Finish concealer palettes.  Developed with cosmetic professional in mind, the Conceal and Correct Palettes feature four Studio Finish Concealers and two Studio Finish Corrector shades in four shades: Light, Medium, Medium Deep and Dark. I went home with the palette in Light.

The Light Conceal and Correct Palette contains four Studio Finish Concealers in the shades NC15, W10, NC20 and NW20 and two Studio Finish Corrector shades in Pale Yellow and Pale Pink. It comes in a sleek, clear case about the same size as the MAC eyeshadow quads.  The Studio Finish Concealer formula is enriched with antioxidants and suited for all skin types. All of the shades can be used individually or combined to perfectly match any skin tone.  I use the NC shades on skin imperfections, like blemishes or dark spots and the NW shades plus the Pale Pink on my under eye circles. I like to use the Pale Yellow as an eyeshadow base to even out my lid color.

I find this formula to be super lightweight, creamy and easy to blend.  The coverage is pretty opaque (only need a tiny bit) and lasts well through out the day. I like to use this concealer in the fall/winter time when my skin is a little dryer because it is so creamy and moisturizing.  Right now the NC15/20 mixed is the perfect color for me and I have been using the pale yellow under my eyes.  My skin can get very oily in the spring/summer so I mainly just use under my eyes at that time. This is a great palette for travel if you like to use various colors for concealing.

MAC Studio Pro Conceal and Correct Palette is available at MAC freestanding stores and maccosmetics.com.

Beauty Favorites of 2012

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! 2012 has come and gone…..boy does time fly! It’s been a crazy year for me; I never knew that raising a little kiddo would be so tiring and amazing at the same time. Having a child has changed my spending habits for beauty/fashion items; instead buying lipgloss, I have been buying formula and diapers buy the truck load. I feel like I didn’t purchased as many new products this year but the ones that I did have turned out to be some of my favorite, most used products of the year. So with out further ado, here are my favorite beauty products of 2012!

Skincare

• Peter Thomas Roth Anti-Aging Cleansing Gel ($35) - Contains Glycolic & Salicylic Acid to exfoliate and clarify. It’s oil-free and leaves my skin feeling squeaky clean.

• Ole Henriksen Sheer Transformation Moisturizer ($45) - Lightweight, Oil-Free and melts into to the skin to hydrate beautifully plus contains multiple anti-aging ingredients. Only wished it came in a pump!

 • Caudalie Pulpe Vitaminee Eye & Lip Cream ($49) – I use this morning & night, super lightweight, I feel my dark circles have lighten a bit and definitely feel like I look less fatigued in the eyes.

• Caudalie Pulpe Vitaminee Anti Wrinkle Serum ($62) – I use this a night to give my skin a little moisture before bedtime. Contains Hyaluronic acid and Grape-seed Polyphenols to smooth and correct wrinkles. Got to start early to combat those wrinkles!!

 

Makeup

• Foundation – Chanel Perfection Lumiere ($54) B10/B20 – Love Love Love this foundation! I get even coverage every time and it lasts all day…it really is perfection.

• Concealer – Bobbi Brown Creamy Concealer & Corrector ($23 each) Sand/Light Bisque – Use together really covers my dark circles and other skin imperfections.

• Powder – Rimmel Stay Matte Translucent Powder ($3.99) – Heard about this powder on Pixi2woo’s YouTube channel. Extremely affordable & works great to set my makeup.

• Blush – Tarte Amazonian Clay Blush in Exposed ($25) this is my favorite color currently but I love the formula of this blush and have it in multiple colors. Lasts all day and this is a perfect everyday nude shade.

• Bronzer – Edward Bess Ultra Luminous Bronzer in Daydream ($45) – Been my go to bronzer for about 2 years now. I love it, can’t say anything but good things about it.

• Eyeshadow – (tie) MAC Carine Roitfeld Desert Camouflage Palette ($44) & Urban Decay Naked 2 Palette ($50) – These both are excellent neutral palette perfect for everyday use. You can create tons and tons of look using just these 2 palettes.

• Eyeliner – (tie) Eve Pearl Black Pearl Liquid liner ($29) & MAC Teddy Eye Kohl ($15) I use these separately but also together to get the perfect liner. The EP liquid really gets to the bottom of the lash line to create a really thin line. Teddy is just an overall great everyday liner.

• Mascara – MAC False Lashes ($20) doesn’t clump or flake. It lasts all day and makes my lashes longer and fuller than any other formula I have tried.

• Lip liner – No. 7 Lip liner in Nude ($7.99) best basic lip liner, almost exactly like Sublime Culture from MAC. I use this everyday.

• Lipstick – Burberry Lip Cover in Nude Rose ($30) Great neutral color, I have been using a lot this fall in winter as my go to lipstick for everyday.

• Lipgloss – (tie) Illamasqua Sheer Lipgloss in Intimacy ($22) & Chanel Sweet Beige Glossimer ($29.50) both of these shades look great on their own or over lipstick. Love both formulas.

 

Well there you have it, my favs of 2012. Hope everyone had a safe New Year Holiday and I can’t wait to see what new goodies 2013 will bring! See you next time…

MAC Have a Lovely Day ! Casual Colour Lip & Cheek Colour

MAC Have a Lovely Day! Casual Colour Lip & Cheek Colour ($20) is described by MAC as a neutral nude.  It is definitely a neutral color but I would describe it more as a nude pink.  It’s is a bit rosy, with a little mauve-tone to it.  This product as its name suggests can be used on lips and cheeks.    This is a new and limited edition product.  MAC describes the new formula as a “versatile, lightweight all-in-one colour for cheeks and lips. Creamy, super-blendable, barely there formula. Contains Vitamin E to help keep skin and lips nourished”. 

As a blush this product is quite dewy and definitely adds a nice glow to the skin.  The consistency is soft and creamy so it applies smoothly and evenly to the cheeks. It’s all pretty well pigmented so you don’t need much product to apply.  I prefer to apply cream products with a brush then smooth out with my finger that always seems to work best for me.   It also has a slight vanilla scent that is signature to some MAC products such as lipsticks and lipglasses.  When applied to the lips it seems pretty lightweight and gives a semi-matte natural-look.  I didn’t find it drying and it didn’t make my lips flakey.  I applied a clear lipgloss over top to give a bit more glossiness to the lips. 

MAC Hey Sailor Pro Longwear Bronzer in Nude on Board

The last product that I picked up from the MAC Hey, Sailor! collection is Pro Longwear Bronzing Powder in Nude on Board ($28).  MAC describes the new Pro Longwear Bronzer formula as “Combining comfort, flawless sheer-low transparent coverage and long wear; this is bronze with a fully dimensional yet natural finish.” Both shades of Pro Longwear Bronzer are limited edition. 

Nude on Board is described as bronzy, yellow tone on the MAC website.  When swatched on my skin (NC15/20) it is a soft medium tan with a very subtle sheen.  It gives warmth to my skin without looking too orange or overly bronze.  This shade is perfect for light to medium skin tones.  The formula is soft and smooth to the touch, not chalky or dry.  I find that this bronzer is more pigmented than other MAC bronzers that I own.  Even though it is richly pigmented, it can be applied lightly for a soft glow or heavier for a contoured bronze look. I did find that this formula is in fact quite long wearing.  I normally have to touch up my face mid-day but when I used this bronzer, I felt the color last much longer.  I am excited about using this product more over the next couple of weeks when the weather warms up to really test its staying power. 

MAC Hey, Sailor Blush in Launch Away!

Another item I picked up from MAC’s Hey, Sailor Collection is the powder blush in Launch Away!  It is described as a “true peach” with a satin finish.  In the pot it looks like a light peach but when I swatched, it turned surprisingly pink on my skin.  I was actually pleased with the pinker color because I was afraid that the light peach my get washed out with my skin tone. 

The powder has a soft feel and applies smoothly. The color builds up easily and gave my cheeks a sweet pink flush.  I really like MAC blushes with the satin finish; they always apply with great color payoff and have just a subtle sheen to them.  I am not a fan of shimmer blush, so this formula and finish is right up my alley.  I own quite a few MAC blushes and most are the satin finish.  Overall, this is a great color for summer to add a subtle pop of pink to the cheeks.

MAC Hey, Sailor Suntints

I only picked up a few items from the newly released Summer collection from MAC Cosmetics entitled Hey, Sailor. I wasn’t super impressed with this collection but I did want to get a few things, mainly because the packaging is too cute! I picked up two of the three Limited Edition Suntints Liquid Lip Balm ($16) that was released with this collection, Abalone and Au Rose.

 Abalone in the tube is a see-through hot pink with no shimmer. It has cool undertones and just barely gives my already pigmented lips a slight tint. Au Rose is a medium pink with subtle gold shimmer. It is much more pigmented that Abalone but still pretty sheer. I prefer this shade or Abalone just because it adds a touch more color to the lips and brightens them up a bit more.

Left: Abalone Right: Au Rose

This formula does add a lot of shine to the lips and I didn’t find the balm to be overly sticky. I think that it moisturizes pretty well and lasts a decent amount of time on the lips. They do contain an SPF 20 which is nice to have in a balm for the summer. Overall this is a nice product to take to the pool or beach to protect and hydrate your lips and get a touch of color.

MAC Cremesheen Glass in Private Screening

Cremesheen Glasses ($19.50) are becoming my favorite glosses offered by MAC.  I love the consistency and the pigmentation they have.  The formula is lightweight, creamy, and non-sticky compared to the regular MAC lipglass.  The colors have no shimmer and deliver a light wash of color.  MAC’s new collection Reel Sexy offers up three new shades of Cremesheen glasses and I picked up one, Private Screening. 

MAC describes Private Screening as a mid-toned peach, but to me it has a little more pink than peach.  It gives a sheer milky finish that adds just a touch of color to my lips.  This color works brilliantly over top of most of my lipsticks, which is what I normally look for in a gloss. Overall, love this color! Glad it has made its way into my handbag.

MAC Wonder Woman Collection: Emancipation & Marquis D’

 I wasn’t super impressed with MAC’s Wonder Woman collection. The packaging seemed too childlike and overdone; the colors in the collection didn’t seem to mesh to me. Overall, not my favorite and I was planning to skip it entirely but I did decide to get two products: Emancipation lipglass and Marquis D’ lipstick. I thought it would be nice to just have a few products from this limited edition launch.

Emancipation lipglass is a limited edition sheer champagne pink with subtle shimmer. It’s a beautiful everyday color and that is why I picked it up. The lipglasses in this collection are super-sized and cost a little more than normal lipglasses at $19.50. You do get a lot more product for your money.

Marquis D’ is a sheer nude pink with a slight gold sheen. It’s a lustre finish lipstick and is a repromote from Blond, Brunette, Redhead (2009). Not sure why I didn’t pick this color up then but I really like it.

Left to Right: Emancipation, Marquis D'

Overall, the Wonder Woman collection was a real let down for me. Unless you are a fan of the superhero theme of it all, I would skip this collection. I was hoping for more metallics but what can you do. Hopefully MAC will make up for it in their summer collections.