Brand Focus | MAC Cosmetics

This idea has been floating around in my blogger notepad for a while and now I’m finally getting round to do it! I thought I would choose a brand and let you know my favourites form their range and what to spend your money on- or what not to spend your money on. I thought I would start with MAC as I feel a lot of people don’t know what to purchase and through my own experiences there are a lot of MAC products I wished I never purchased.

 Lipsticks – Obviously these have to be number one! There are so many different shades and formulas to choose from so whether you like a bright pink or a plum and whether your into glossy lips or super matte there is something for you!

Fix + - This is a product that you’ll use up in no time because there are that many uses for it. This can be used to prep the skin, as a setting spray, a general face mist to freshen up your makeup or to wet your brush when dipping in a foiled shadow or glitter.

  MSF’s – The highlighters you need in your collection! These two are my favourites; Soft & Gentle for those of you who like a beautiful golden highlight and then Lightscapade for those that like the creamier natural highlight. Both of these are gorgeous and seem to last forever too!

   Strobe Cream – If you have dry skin or just like a glowy and dewy base then this is something that will be right up your street! This makes me look so awake and makes my makeup always look so flawless!

 Blushes – Melba is one of my favourite blushes ever, its so pigmented and just a beautiful colour. Just like the lipsticks there are many different shades and formulas to choose from so again there is something for everyone. I also love the Mineralised blushes too, they’re less pigmented but nevertheless they’re still beautiful.

Contour + Highlight Powders – These aren’t really talked about a lot and I'm not sure why! I love how these come in a pan so can just be put in a Z palette meaning you don’t have to carry around 2 bulky compacts. There also is a vary of shades for both highlight/ setting powders and contour powders so you can choose one that suits your skin tone. Both of these powders are so finely milled, aren’t chalky or cakey or muddy for that matter!

Did you like this post? Which other brands would you like me to focus on?

Paige, x

MAC Lipstick Collection

MAC lipsticks are my weakness in life, I'm constantly watching videos and reading blog posts about other girls collections and making a list of everything I want. Once in a while I'll go down my list and make a purchase and its probably one of the most exciting things to do. I mainly own mauve/ pink shades and my favourite finish is either Satin or Matte. 

Flamingo - Lustre

This was bought on a whim as its something very different to what I usually go for. This is definitely more of a 'brave' shade and would only look acceptable in summer or on holiday I personally think! This is a light coral shade verging on orange and is very sheer however when trying to build the colour up it goes patchy and clings to any cracks in the lips.

Pure Zen - Cremesheen

This is a lovely light pink/ nude. It looks great with a brown toned lip liner to create that 90's lip. However like Flamingo this clings to any cracks or dry areas on the lips so cant really be layered. 

Brave - Satin

This is such a wearable shade for everyone, its like your lips but better and isn't too in your face. Although the swatch doesn't show it its actually a very muted pink. 

Faux - Satin

This is very similar to Brave however has a look more of Snob with that blue/ purple undertone. This is still such a lovely wearable shade and isn't too over powering like I find Snob is. 

Twig - Satin

Twig is more of a darker more berry toned pink, like your lips but darker. Its not as bold as a red lip but it still stands out. You can wear this either day or night and it won't look stupid or out of place.

Pink Plaid - Matte 

This has more of a bubblegum pink look, with lots of blue undertones. Pink Plaid is very similar to Snob but sadly this is way too dry for me and I've only worn it a handful of times. 

Whirl - Matte

Whirl is completely different to anything in my collection, it has sort of a brick red appearance yet on the lips its more brown toned. This is extremely wearable and doesn't stand out as much as you'd think making it perfect for everyday wear. 

Velvet Teddy - Matte

The iconic Kylie Jenner shade! This a nude with a hint of orange however it goes on slightly brown on the lips which is so in right now. Suits everyone and every skin colour.

Mehr - Matte

This is very similar to Twig but is more of a bold pink. Although even though this is bold it doesn't look to 'out there' or noticeable. 

Do you have any MAC lipstick recommendations?

Paige, x

Urban Decay Lipsticks

Urban Decay, for me is a brand that I love but I don't have many of their products. Actually thinking about it I've only tried the Naked 2 palette and their setting sprays! I'm not sure why I actually bought  these but I'm honestly so glad I did, they're amazing!

I firstly picked up the Sheer lipstick in the shade Liar which is a super glossy pinky nude colour. It's not sticky and just glides on the lips so smoothly. This doesn't stick to all the cracks in your lips either which I was sort of expecting it to do. This is such a me colour as its perfect for every day wear. It looks great on its own or paired with a lip liner. 

Seen as though I loved it so much I wanted to get another lipstick from Urban Decay, this time I opted for the regular Revolution Lipstick and I got the shade Naked. I didn't know what to expect with the formulation for this, whether it would be matte or more of a satin finish. Its quite similar to the Sheer lipstick but is just a little more pigmented. This colour is extremely similar to Faux from MAC and has that element of a bubblegum pink colour in it. This is still super glossy which I really like however this sadly does stick to the cracks on your lips but not too much so its not too noticeable.  

Lastly lets talk about the packaging and I absolutely love the packaging for these lipsticks! I like the shade of the actual lipstick and how its like the YSL ones. The only thing is I keep putting the lid on and accidental indenting the lipstick! I love how the different lipsticks come in different coloured packing- sheer being purple and the original revolution being gun mental grey. This makes it easy to tell them apart, especially if you had a wide collection of them. 

Have you ever tried Urban Decay lipsticks?

Paige, x

Cheap Treat Tuesday

I absolutely love eye shadow and especially single pan ones however when looking on the MAC website and seeing how extortionate the prices are for the palettes I decided to turn elsewhere to see if I could find anything cheaper. I came across this empty palette on eBay for only £1.78!

As you can see the MAC shadows fit in fine, they slide about a little but nothing major. The quality of the palette is basic but it does the job and saved me a lot of money. The 15 space palette if you bought it from MAC would be £15 and then you even need to buy the inserts to keep the shadows in. 

I think this is great, it does the job and keeps all my eye shadow pans in a neat and organised space! You could even write on the underneath of the palette what all the shades are, just a handy tip!

And don't worry if you want to know what shadows I have there will be a post all about that in the up and coming weeks. 

Paige, x

A treat from MAC

Last month I completed my first year at University (or so I hope!!) so I convinced myself this would be a good reason for me to treat myself to some new make up goodies.

I've been lusting after the Face and Body foundation for so long and after Sarah -blog here- told me about the Findation website where you can find your shade without actually having to go into a shop, I decided to purchase it. After browsing on Pinterest I made a spur of the moment decision to get the ever famous Paint Pot in Painterly. I love cream eye shadows but as most of mine are a foil finish I wanted something that dried matte. I also wanted a sort of skin colour shade but slightly more white/ cream if that makes any sense. 

As I've mentioned before my skin is so dry and nothing ever seems to make it any better. Matte foundations aren't for me and after constantly hearing good things about this Face and Body foundation I finally decided to treat myself and pick it up. I got this in the shade C3 and its perfect, its a bit on the tan side which is great as it provides some warmth to my complexion but its not too dark that it doesn't match my body. 

This foundation is so dewy and glowy and it makes my skin look better than any foundation ever has done. Its extremely runny which is why its always best to shake before use. It blends so well into the skin and as you can see from the swatch its very light coverage, I personally prefer two layers however I mainly apply the second layer to areas were I feel I need more coverage such as my cheeks and forehead. All that's left to say is that I absolutely love this foundation and can see myself repurchasing it again and again.

As this product was a spur of the moment purchase I was very excited for this to arrive, after looking at swatches I was mentally creating eye looks in my head that I could soon recreate. When it came it looked absolutely gorgeous however when I swatched it it appeared quite orange/ brown and I was so disappointed. Although saying this it wasn't the actual product that I didn't like, just the colour. It was so creamy and blendable and when it dried matte it was a soft finish and wasn't dry and didn't crack.

I thought I would try to make this work somehow and to my surprise when I applied it on my eyes it came out completely different to when I swatched it. It was the exact colour I was hoping for and I felt so relieved. I used a Real Techniques Deluxe Crease Brush and placed it all over my lid and blended. The first thing I noticed was how easily it applied, as its cream it just glided over my skin and hardly took any time to blend. I used MAC's Mulch in my crease and my eye make up was complete. I felt like this was such a gorgeous, put together look and it seemed like I had took so much time and thought into doing it when it only took me 2 minutes! 

Paige, x