MAC Glamourdaze and Innocence Lipsticks

I’ve spaced out from most of the MAC collections since summer because if I didn’t I would want way too much from all of them! However, I sneaked a peek at their Holiday collections, the Glamourdaze one in particular. After checking numerous swatches online I decided to get two of the lipsticks – Glamourdaze and Innocence, when I was in Dublin last week. I was in a rush so I didn’t even get a chance to scout out the rest of the collection, I just asked for the what I had planned to get - this was probably the better option for my wallet as well hah!

Glamourdaze and Innocence swatches

Innocence Lipstick

Innocence Lip Swatch

I had fallen in love with Innocence from online swatches and when I saw it in the tube, in person, I had fleeting doubts. Once swatched and applied though, I knew I made the right decision. It’s so much more than just a nude lipstick. It’s a light peach with gold shimmer and it looks amazing on the lips. 

If you find it diffult to wear a nude lip, Innocence just night work for you instead.

Glamourdaze Lipstcik

Glamourdaze Lip Swatch

The second lipstick I got was Glamourdaze, which is a mauve pink and essentially another ‘my lips but better shade’ which quite frankly, I don’t think you can ever have enough of.

Have you tried any of these lipsticks?

Purple Haze E.O.T.D.

I do love wearing a purple eye, so here's a look I've sported a few times recently.

To get this look I used the following products

• I primed with UDPP in Eden.
• I applied NYX Jumbo Pencil in Purple all over the lid.
• (All shadows are MAC) I packed Satellite Dreams all over the lid.
• Placed Blackberry on the outer lid and used Fig.1 in the crease and lower lash line.
• I also ran a little bit of Universal Appeal MES through the crease.
• Trax was packed on inner part of the lid.
• Vanilla was used on both the inner tear duct and brow area.
• Then Shroom was applied in the arch of the brow and Phloof! in the tear duct area.
• Urban Decay 24/7 pencil in Zero was used to tightline and on the lower lash line.
• Essence liquid eyeliner was applied to the upper lash line.
• Finally I applied both Maybelline's Illegal Lengths mascara and Benefit's They're Real.

Do you like to wear purple eyeshadow?

MAC MSF in Superb and Immortal Flower Blush

MAC MSF in Superb and MAC Immortal Flower Blush

This blush and highlighter duo have been a favourite peachy cheek look of mine for a while.   While both items were limited edition products from MAC this year (Immortal Flower from Tres Cheek and Superb from Extra Dimension) Superb is currently been repromoted with the Glamourdaze Holiday collection.

Superb is a strongly pigmented, rose-gold type shade with plenty of peach undertones. A little goes a long way but it gives the most incredible sheen to cheeks, especially layered over a matte peach blush like Immortal Flower.

If you missed out on Superb earlier this year, now is the time to get it!

Superb layered over Immortal Flower

Speaking of the Holiday collections has anybody gotten anything yet? I have my eye on a few lipsticks from Glamourdaze, so many pretty ones! And the lip bag sets are so cute!

Golden Green E.O.T.D.

This is a quick and easy green/gold slightly smoky look that can be easily worn during the day.

To get this look I:

• Applied UDPP in Eden all over the lid.
• Used Maybelline Colour Tattoo in On and On Bronze over 3/4 of the lid.
• Used Catrice eyeshadow pen in Precious Nectar on the inner quarter of the lid.
• Packed No7 Golden Leaf eyeshadow on 3/4 of the lid and up into the crease.
• Placed L'oreal Infallible shadow in Iced Latte on the inner quarter of the lid.
• MAC Mineralized Eyeshadow in Universal Appeal was ran through the crease.
• MAC eyeshadow in Brulé was applied under the brow bone.
• NYX eyeliner in Jewel was used on the lower lash liner and waterline.
• Essence Liquid eyeliner in Black was used to line the upper lash line.
• Finally Benefit's They're Real mascara was applied.

I was really pleased with this eye look, especially as I was trying to use products that have been a bit neglected such as the No7 eyeshadow.

Essence Twilight Breaking Dawn Part 2 Make-up Collection

As I'm going to see the final Twilight film tonight I thought it would be appropriate to show you the make-up I picked up from the Essence Twilight collection!

Although I enjoyed both the Twilight book series and films, I can't say I'm a 'Twihard'. Nonetheless I was looking forward to the release of the Breaking Dawn Part 2 limited edition make-up collection that Essence launched to coincide with the release of the last film in the franchise.

Being me, it was no surprise that what I was most looking forward to was the nail varnishes. 

Jacob's Protection, Alice Had A Vision - Again and Edward's Love

There were four released with the collection and I got 3 of them. Jacob's Protection is a dark blue shimmer, Alice Had A Vision - Again is a dark purple shimmer and Edward's Love is a black shimmer.  The fourth one in the collection was a gold foil style one.

I've never tried any Essence make-up before but I got four items from this collection - a blush, a highlighter, a lipgloss and a glitter eyeliner.

Bella's Secret and Renesmee Red

Bella's Secret is a beautiful golden-beige highlight powder. The blush Renesmee Red, while pigmented is not quite the shocking red it looks to be. A gentle flush is what the swatches bring.

Renesmee Red and Alice Had A Vision -  Again.

Lastly is the lipgloss and eyeliner. Renesmee Red (They like re-using the names on products!) is a red lipgloss with teeny pieces of gold sparkle. It's not opaque but it does leave a nice, heavily tinted sheen on the lips. I was skeptical of how the formula would be but it surprised me. It's quite a soft and smooth formula and thankfully the gold shimmer pieces were not gritty feeling. It was slightly sticky but not sticky enough for it to be an annoyance. The scent of it is divine.

The purple glitter eyeliner is patchy like nearly all glitter eyeliners. For the price though, it's perfectly fine. I sometimes like to add that hint of sparkle to black eyeliner and this will be perfect for layering over it.

Swatches L-R: Renesmee Red (lipgloss), Alice Had A Vision - Again, Bella's Secret and Renesmee Red (blush).

Did you get anything from this Essence collection?

Maybelline Colour Tattoo in Pink Gold

I've tried a few of the Maybelline Colour Tattoo Cream Eyeshadows since they were released here. I really like them and find them as pigmented and longwearing as the MAC Paint Pots.

I know in the States they have a much wider shade range but I think there are around 6-8 shades available in Ireland/UK. My local Boots never has more than 4 shades on display so I'm not entirely sure! Anyway when I spied Pink Gold for sale I snapped it up straight away. I hadn't heard of this shade previously and there doesn't seem to be a lot of information on it floating around the internet so it must be relatively new. It also doesn't seem to be available in the USA on any of the sites I checked even under a different name as Maybelline seem to like changing the names of the Colour Tattoos as they make their way across the water!

Pink Gold is a very delicate, soft pink with a slight gold shade. It will make a incredible base colour for so many eye looks but here I just used other pink eyeshadows to help create a sweet, light look.

To get this look I:

• Applied UDPP in Eden all over the lid.
• Then applied Maybelline Colour Tattoo in Pink Gold all over the lid area.
• I packed MAC Paradisco eyeshadow over that.
• I used MAC Expensive Pink in the crease.
• MAC Brulé and Shroom were used on the brow bone and as highlights.
• MAC Eyeliner in Handforged was smudged on the lower lash line.
• MAC Eyeliner in NC15/NW20 was used on the lower water line.
• Maybelline Gel Eyeliner was used to line the upper lash line.
• Finally I applied Maybelline Illegal Length mascara.

Have you tried the Maybelline Colour Tattoo Eyeshadows?

Unearthing My Make-Up: Shopping The Stash Vol.3

So what have I unearthed from the stash for this week? 

First up is the Too Faced Romantic Eye palette. I had high hopes for this when I got it and while I found it okay at the time, it wasn't that amazing that I reached for it over and over. I plan to get good use out of it this week!

Also for the eyes is a Benefit Creaseless Cream Shadow in R.S.V.P. This was actually one of my first foray into higher end make-up. 

For the cheeks I have a Bobbi Brown Shimmerbrick in Pink Quartz, which is a beautiful shimmery blush/highlighter/bronzer product. Again this was one of my very first make-up products and I used it so much when I first seriously ventured into make-up. I chose MAC Immortal Flower blush as well, even though I use it quite regularly already as I thought it might go nice with Pink Quartz.

I also want to use more of Benefit's Moon Beam this week, it's definitely been neglected of late.

For lips I intend to try and use MAC's Half n' Half lipstick, Revlon Gold Dust lipgloss and MAC's Strange Potion lipgloss.

Pink Eyeshadow

I was originally going to call this post 'Pink Eye' but then thought better of it!

While doing my first 'shop the stash' post, one of they items I included was a NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in Oyster, a light pink colour. 

With that, I re-disovered my love for wearing pink eyeshadow in general. While it's a look that not everyone will like, I think it is bright, fun and pretty funky! I had no problems wearing this as a daytime look but you could certainly just wear it out at night. 

The main products used - NYX Oyster, MAC Yoghurt, Pink Freeze, Stars n Rockets and Fig.1.

To get this look I:

• Primed with UDPP in Eden
• I applied NYX Jumbo Pencil in Oyster all over lid
• I packed MAC Pink Freeze over Oyster
• I used  MAC Stars n' Rockets on the outer lid and crease
• MAC Fig.1 was blended into the lower lash line
• MAC Yoghurt was used beneath the brow bone
• A dab of Urban Decay's Junkshow (found in the 15 Anniversary palette) was used to deepen the crease
• Maybelline Gel Eyeliner was applied
• The mascara used was Maybelline Illegal Length

I wore this look a few times during the week, trying different comboinations. If you want a softer look, just do a wash of Pink Freeze all over the lid. Junkshow is quite a deep pink and definitely made this a stronger look.

Unearthing My Make-Up: Shopping The Stash Vol.2

I was delighted with how last week's Shop The Stash went. I used some of the products from last weeks post every time I did my make-up, it really is a great way to fall in love with your make-up products all over again.

Now onto this weeks products!

My eyeshadow base of choice is going to be Urban Decay Primer Potion in Sin. It's a great base but I often pass it over in favour of the Original or Eden.  I also want to get some more use out of MAC Paintpot in Genuine Treasure. It can be a bit patchy and does require a little effort so that's why it is often forgotten about. Eyeshadow wise, I am solely going to use the Urban Decay Naked Palette. I have a wonderful neutral MAC palette which I tend to grab instead of this. Also when I lived in America last summer, this palette contained the only eyeshadows I had with me so after such continuous use I think I just automatically go for other shadows now for a change!  I have chosen to use my Urban Decay 24/7 Liner in Bourbon. A fabulous colour but I nearly always end up going for black. Definitely need to mix it up a bit!

Cheek wise I want to use MAC Creme Blush in Ladyblush. It was my first ever MAC blush but I've leaned towards powder blush as of late. I also want to use MAC Crew Powder, I haven't used it nearly enough.

On the lips is going to be Revlon Colourburst Lipgloss in Strawberry, it's definitely pigmented enough to wear alone. YSL Rouge Volupte in Lingerie Pink and NARS Turkish Delight Lipgloss.

And that's this weeks stash picks!

Chanel Illusion d'Ombre in Émerveillé

This year was the year I started the slippery slope of purchasing Chanel make-up. So far I’ve tried nail varnishes, lipstick, lipgloss and powder.

I haven’t tried any of their powdered eyeshadows yet but I’ve heard quite a bit about the Illusion d’Ombres since their release last year I believe.

According to Chanel, the Illusion d’Ombres are ‘cream powder eyeshadows’ and ‘long wear luminous eyeshadows’.

When purchasing my first one a few days ago I decided to go the safe route of Émerveillé, a very pretty neutral which is the one I have read the most about online.

Émerveillé is a dark peachy-melony shade. To me, the consistency of the product is kind of spongy and gel-like more so than creamy.

Top: Blended out swatch. Bottom: Heavy Swatch

A little brush comes with the eyeshadow and I found it quite good to work with and it is what I used to apply the shadow in the photos.

I found it to be quite long lasting. I applied it around 10am and removed it around 11pm. It was a bit faded by the end of the day but still quite evident on my eyes.

What I wore

UDPP in Eden

Chanel Illusion d’Ombre in Émerveille

MAC Vanilla under brow

Maybelline Gel Eyeliner

YSL Faux Cils mascara

I just wore it alone, I wanted to test it’s lasting power and also just to see if it was wearable by itself. It’s a yes on both counts.

I have to say I absolutely adore this, both the product and the colour. I will certainly use it by itself but I’m looking forward to experimenting with it and other eyeshadows.

The bad news? Now I want more Illusion d’Ombres!!

Unearthing My Make-Up: Shopping The Stash Vol.1

I have read quite a few Shopping The Stash blog posts recently (Emma over at Fluff and Fripperies is one of my favs) and I decided it was something worth doing. I certainly have a decent amount of make-up and it is inevitable that some things get forgotten about. 

Each week I am going to choose a few items that I haven't worn a lot recently and make the effort to use them in the upcoming week. I will keep the items near hand, in a little drawer unit on my make-up table so that I don't forget to use them! Oh, and the chosen items aren't going to be the only items I use for the week, I just want to filter them into my routine.

I don't think I'm going to confine myself to any particular categories just whatever products I feel I have neglected.

Right, let's see what's in the stash for this week!

First up is Benefit's Dandelion blush. It's a lovely light pink blush that I have been neglecting in favour of darker pink or peach blushes. I also have been ignoring my NARS Orgasm Illuminator. It should go nicely with Dandelion.

Lip products for the week will include a Philosophy lip gloss in Tinsel Town which is a highly pigmented red lipgloss. I am also going to be using my 17 lipstick in Beehive and Stila Lipglaze in Grapefruit.

For the eyes I will be using the Benefit Eye Bright pencil as well as 2 NYX Jumbo Pencils in the shades Oyster and Slate which I haven't used in such a long time. I will also use the Bare Minerals Well-Dressed powder under-eye concealer.

So that's it for this week, looking forward to rooting out more for next week!

MAC Heavenly Creature Collection: Lips - Pictures and Swatches

There were a number of lipsticks and lipglosses released with the Heavenly Creature collection. Two of the lipstick stood out to me as did one of the glosses.

Cut a Caper, Venus

Meteoric

Meteoric, Venus, Cut a Caper

Cut a Caper

Cut a Caper lipstick is a peachy pink lipstick. Extremely wearable.

Venus

Venus lipstick is the most perfect lipstick. I love it. It is a sheerish pink/red and just glistens on the lips.

Meteoric lipgloss over Cut a Caper

Meteoric lipgloss over Venus

Meteoric lipgloss is a coral pink with golden shimmer. It is quite pigmented so it does end up creating nearly the same look over both Cut a Caper and Venus lipsticks. It makes a lovely combination over both of them. It was my first time using a MAC lipgloss of the Cremesheen Glass formula and I have to say it is a lovely formula. Very moisturising and not at all sticky.