Friday, January 14, 2011

MAC Plushglass in Wildy Lush

MAC's Wildly Lush Plushglass is TOTALLY my favorite nude lip gloss for now<333333 This stuff is gorgeoussss... It's a warm light beige nude lipgloss without any shimmer or glitter. It has a very smooth, creamy texture and glosses the lips perfectly, almost giving them a vinyl-like appearance. The texture of this stuff is pretty amazing, it's not as sticky as a regular MAC lipglass and it doesn't make your lips look dry or chapped like some glosses can. MAC's Plushglasses are actually lip plumpers/volumizers because they contain natural plant extracts that help plump up the lips just a bit. I notice my lips do appear to be just a little bit fuller when wearing this stuff :] Wildly Lush is actually a semi-opaque gloss, so I can wear this stuff by itself if I wanted to. It helps nude the lips without giving you the washed-out or corpse look. I wear this stuff on top of my fave nude lipsticks and I find that it helps elongate weartime as well. Anyone else love MAC's Wildly Lush? Is it your HG nude lipgloss? What other Plushglasses do you like? :]

MAC Dazzleglass in Bare Necessity

I've been collecting nude lip glosses for years now... I just love all different kinds of nudes from pale to dark, flat to glittery, sheer to highly pigmented. I was picking some stuff up at the MAC counter when MAC's Dazzleglass in Bare Necessity caught my eye. When I swatched it on the back of my hand, it was so unique that I just had to have it :] It's super sheer, in fact it shows up as clear on my very pigmented lips. I guess I'll just have to wear this stuff on top of some nude lipstick... It has loads of gorgeous microscopic glitter in it, mostly magenta and just a little bit of gold glitter as well. This stuff shines so brilliantly in sunlight, even though I prefer to wear Dazzleglasses at nighttime. I love the consistency of MAC's Dazzleglasses, as they're nowhere near as sticky as regular lipglasses. One thing that I hate, though, is that Dazzleglasses are about $20 after tax and only contain about 2 grams of product. Regular lipglasses are about $16 after tax and contain nearly 5 grams of product. But I guess you have to pay the price for what you want, which is all those beautiful little sparkles :] Does anyone else love Dazzleglasses? What's your favorite one?

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Our Favorite Luxury Brand Cosmetics. Quality or a Gimmick? Tell Me Your Thoughts/I Want Your Opinions!!!!

Okay. How many of you will agree with me that all luxury makeup products are completely over-priced? I can't help but buy as many of these little black compacts as I can. Expensive makeup makes me really happy and I just love the experience of walking into my favorite department store and swatching things and talking to Sales Associates about products. Realistically, however, I know that production costs of my favorite makeup is nowhere near its retail price at all. It's something we're all well aware of but we keep it in the back of our heads. We know we have pay the big bucks for the things we love the most. I guess. Some mineral powder, pigments, glitter and preservatives pressed together in a little black compact. Seems like nothing, right? However, when shopping a brand such as......... NARS, I seem to have no problem spending $25 on a single eyeshadow, or about $30 on a single blush. My favorite NARS powder foundation was about $50. Just yesterday I bought more Chanel makeup, and a simple lip gloss was over $30. It's not all that amazing either. I honestly could've bought one at Wal-Mart for like 5 bucks and gotten the same results. I just really like Chanel's packaging. I want to know what you all think? Are these cosmetics really worth the amount that we pay for them? I'm the first one to throw my money at the lady behind the makeup counter, but I have just recently started thinking... "Are they really worth that much?" I feel like such a sucker sometimes. Another thing that's been annoying me lately is the term "Limited Edition." A lot of us have become panic shoppers because of those two nasty words. I have found myself buying something simply because not many of that product will be made. I read about an amazing item in a new collection coming out and I hear YouTube beauty people rave about it endlessly, so of course I purchase it without even swatching it hahahaha... I also tend to buy multiples/backups of things just in case I really like them and need more after I run out. However, I don't think I've ever really used a cosmetic item in it's entirety in the whole amount of time I've been wearing cosmetics. I also tend to buy lots and lots of products that look exactly the same, but that's a WHOLE other story hahahaha... I've come to the conclusion that cosmetic companies will continue to charge as much as people will pay. So if you want something nice, expect to pay a lot for it. Let me know how you feel about this situation. Are you in the same position as me? Do you find yourself blinded by the glare bouncing off the YSL compact? Or are you a practical shopper that only buys exactly what you need? And lastly, what percentage do you think our favorite makeup products are marked up?

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

The MAC 187: The Duo-Fibre Brush

Stippling brush. Skunk brush. Duo-Fibre brush. It has many names as well as many functions. Highlighting brush. MAC describes their 187 brush as "A large full circular brush used for lightweight application and blending of face powder or pigments." I LOVE THIS THING!!! I usually apply my foundation with the 109 or the 190 but THEN I use the 187 to blend everything together and buff it all into my skin... This does an absolutely amazing job at that :] The synthetic fibers on the end are not very dense at all so they do a good job at blending everything yet not removing what's already been applied to my face. I also like to use MAC's 187 brush for when I want to apply/stipple on a sheer wash of blush or bronzer or highlight or pretty much any other face product. This brush is super soft and only picks up a small amount of product because the fibers are so sparse that they help keep you from over-applying product :] Anyone else MAD over the 187!? Perhaps you may think this brush is over-hyped and quite over-priced at $45!? Lemme know what you think :]

Saturday, January 1, 2011

Blending Your Eyeshadow With MAC's 217 Brush

One thing I cannot stand is un-blended eye makeup. You can't have a sultry, sophisticated smokey eye if there are harsh eyeshadow lines on your eyes. Blending your eye makeup really helps finish your look by smoothing everything out and helping fade the eyeshadow into your face. It also makes your look a lot more natural and just more aesthetically pleasing. I love it when an eye look starts off very dark on the lid then seamlessly fades out in a gradient effect while following the natural contours of your eyes. To do that, I like to use MAC's 217 brush. It's a soft yet firm oval-shaped goat-hair brush that blends shadows effortlessly without completely removing intensity from the look. I also like using the 217 to apply a sheer wash of color over the lid or to sheerly sweep some color over the crease. It's an amazing brush and I use it everytime I apply eye makeup :] Anyone else in love with this brush? What do you think about MAC's 217??