0 MAC pigments -green

I love love love MAC pigments, but unfortunately most of the people around me (both my beauty junkie friends and non beauty junkies) find them a bit messy to use. But wth, the color intensity is much stronger than the normal e/s ... and I find MAC's pigments to be one of the best in the market (the other is MUFE, but I have a problem with some of MUFE's strong pigment colors, they actually stain my eyes, but no such problem with MAC pigments)

What are pigments

Most people would define pigments as loose powder e/s, but actually pigments are pretty versatile. Depending on the color, they could be :

1. mixed with a gloss to become lip color, or 
2. used as highlighting powders / blush colors and
3. they could also be used in bodypainting.
4. Eyelining if mixed with a mixing medium

.So in MAC's website, they are put under Multi-purpose products rather than in any specific one category. They are definitely much more pigmented than your normal eyeshadow.

How to apply pigments

For application of pigments i would recommend using a MAC 242 brush to PAT on the e/s instead of sweeping to prevent fall out. And in order to prevent fall out on all over the face, dust a layer of excess loose powder under the eye area. So after u are done, if there's any fall out u can just dust them away together with the loose powder from the face.And u can either use them wet or dry

As for packaging, I still prefer the old packaging. They are much more stable than the new ones, which are slightly taller and the openings smaller than the old ones. They feel very wobbly to me. Here's the comparison of the old and new packaging of the pigment bottles. And obviously, the old one contains more pigments.

Without further ado, the following are pics and swatches of my green mac pigments

From top to bottom, left to right: Pastorale, Glided green, Spiritualized, Golder's green, Antique gvreen & Nightlight. All LE

From left to right: Pastorale, Glided green, Spiritualized, Golder's green, Antique green & Nightlight

From top to bottom, left to right: Kelly green, Landscape green, Emerald green, True Chartreuse & Teal

Frome left to right: Kelly green, Landscape green, Emerald green, True Chartreuse and Teal

1 MAC Coral blushers - Part II

Here's part II of pics and swatches of my MAC coral blushers. Items denoted with a * are Limited edition and may no longer be available

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Joyous BPB* : Smooth texture, wonderful color that works for all skintones with subtle shimmers that are not very obvious once applied on the face

Overprint (matte)*: Highly pigmented, more for medium to dark skintones. Fair skinned ladies have to be light handed with this one in order not to look like Bozo the clown.

Goddess (Matte)*: Also highly pigmented, more orangey coral than pinkish coral. Reminds me of a more pigmented version of Melba blush or peaches blush

Foolish Me (Sheertone Shimmer): One of my all time favourite blushers from MAC. Suits all skintones. Looks scarily neon orange in the pan but goes on much lighter when applied on the face. Gives a very nice pretty coral pink flush to the cheeks. Highly recommended.

2 MAC Coral blushers - Part I

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Desirious (Velvet)*: Looks very bright in the pan but applies much sheerer on the face, but still a light hand is needed for this color. Texture is very fine and soft. I personally find that coral is a universal shade that suit all skintones.

Fleur power (Matte): Very very very pigmented. Definitely light hand is needed for this. Suitable for darker and as well as sallow skin tones.

Hipness (Frost)*: Being a frost blush, it has a slight sheen to it when swatched heavily on the hand, but the frost finish of this blush is not apparent once applied on the face. Suits all skintones. Darker skinned ladies may need to layer this slightly more for the color to appear. Gives a very nice coral rosy flush he cheeks

Instant Chic (Sheertone): The perfect everyday color that brightens up the skin. It's not too heavily pigmented so it's also good for ladies who are always in a rush for work and don't have to worry about the blusher being over applied.

0 Pictureless FOTD - 17/2/2011

Face

MAC prep plus prime skin base visage

MAC studio sculpt concealer

MAC studio sculpt foundation

MAC lightful powder foundation

YSL Touch eclat  for highlighting

MAC lightscapade msf for highlighting

Eyes

MAC bare study paintpot as base

MAC patina e/s all over lid

MAC romp e/s on outer 1/3 corner and blended into socket area

MAC relaxing e/s as brow bone highlighter

MAC Graphic brown fluidline as eyeliner

MAC opulash mascara

MAC haught n naughty mascara

Cheeks

MAC tenderling blush

MAC pink swoon blush

MAC well dressed blush

Lips

MAC honeylove lipstick

MAC super kissable lipcolor

2 The Faceshop Raspberry Roots sleeping mask

For the benefit of those babes who are not living in asia, The Faceshop is a popular Korean beauty brand sold in most parts of Asia. It is known mostly for their wide range of sheet masks and their most famous skincare product - the Raspberry roots sleeping mask

P/S  This pic is taken from another website and wasn't taken by me. I am too lazy to take a photo of mine :X .... Many apologies.

I love the raspberry roots sleeping mask and this is my 2nd bottle. However, I prefer the packagin of the first bottle. Stupid me still cannot figure how to make the pump of this new bottle work to pump out the contents. Looks like i gotta go back to the shop to ask for help :x

Key Ingredients: Soybean extra, Sesame seed extract, Rice bran extract, sunflower seed extract, Castor oil, Raspberry root extract

Benefits: Himalayan Raspberry roots and grain extracts optimize elasticity and tighten pores while thoroughly hydrating and replenishing skin of lost nutrients. Additions of plant extracts promotion natural secretion of pleasure inducing beta endorphins and stimulate the forumlation of collagen for more youthful skin

Comment: Yep yep, it really works. After leaving the mask on overnight, my skin feels much smoother and firmer the next day and highly plumped and hydrated. Although it says it's a sleeping mask, it doesn't feel like your typical mask at all. It feels very comfortable and lightweight on the skin. It also has a very nice light scent to it. Would totally repurchase this again. However, I wished they would change back to the old packaging.

1 MAC Pink / muave blushers - Part III

Part III of my MAC pink / muave blushers swatches. All items denoted with a * are Limited edition  and may no longer available. ** denotes discontinued items.

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Angel ** (Discontinued): Come on MAC! Why did u have to dc this color. The only really light cool pink blush that's left now in the regular collection is well dressed. and although as much as i love well dressed, I love my angel blush as well. It can work well on fair to medium skintones (Well dressed can look a tad unnatural on darker skintones). Pls bring back Angel!!!

Cute** (Discontinued): This is really really light and  work only on fair skintones. On my NC20 skin, I had to swipe this color several times before it appeared on my cheeks. It's a nice baby pink, but I still prefer my well dressed to it as it has better color payoff.

Stray Rose (Matte)*: Has a slightly orangey tone to it. Perfect for ladies who like pink blushers but not overly cool pink. Works well on all skin tones.

Blushbaby (Sheertone): Looks really brownish in the pan, but it ain't look as dark as it is in the pan, comes out more of a brownish pink on the cheeks. May be used as a contouring color for fair skinned ladies and as a blush for medium to darker skintones. Looks very natural on the face. It's nowhere as brown lookin as it looks in the pan

Mocha (Matte): The perfect natural dusty rose pink for darker skinned ladies.Will not turn ashy. Suits fairer skintones as well. This is one  blush that is really universal.

Desert Rose (Matte): Suitable for all skintones, but fair skin ladies have to apply this with a light hand as this is a pretty pigmented color and yes, it may turn out to be as dark as the color in the pan if not used with a light hand.

0 MAC Pink / muave blushers - Part II

Part II of My MAC pink / muavey blushers. All items denoted with a * are Limited edition  and may no longer available. ** denotes discontinued items.

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Well Dressed (Satin): One of my all time favourite pink blushers from MAC, this is the perfect sweet cool toned pink blush for fair skinned ladies with no red or muavey undertone to it. Color intensity is sheer to medium.

Dame (Satin): Also of the same finish as Well dressed, if you find well dressed too light and Pink swoon too bright, I would suggest this shade to u. It may look a bit muavey in the pan, but it goes on a rosy pink on the face and not as muavey as it may look like in the pan.. Suitable for all skin tones

True Romantic (Beauty powder blush)*: Fair skinned ladies have to be light handed with this color as it has quite a lot of muavey undertones to it and over applyin it may give a bruised look. Works very well on medium to dark skintones. Used light handedly, it will give a nice rosy flush on the face minus the muavey color that's pretty obvious in the pan.

Petalpoint (Frost)* : Looks lighter on the face when applied than in the hand. But being a frost blush, it may look very frosty on the face if over applied. Will not recommend ladies with oily skin this one, as the frostiness in the blush is pretty obvious even if used with a light hand.

Coygirl (Sheertone)*: Looks very muavey and dark in the pan, but when applied, it gives a very nice rosy color to the cheers. Suitable for most skintones.

0 MAC Pink / muave blushers - Part I

All items denoted with a * are Limited edition  and may no longer available. ** denotes discontinued items.



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Don't Be Shy (Satin)*: Slightly darker than Pink Swoon and with subtle pearly sheen to it, this pink blush suits most skintones from fair to medium dark and helps to brighten up the complexion without being overly shimmery. LE from Barbie Loves MAC

Pink Swoon (sheertone): Looks a bright pink in the pan, but goes on more sheerer onto the face. Highly recommended for fair to medium dark skintones. It's one of MAC's best selling pink blushers other than dollymix. 

Smile (Matte)*: It looks bright in the pan and will apply exactly as the same color as in the pan as it's a matte blush and extremely pigmented. Only a light swipe is needed  for this color to appear

Sweetness (Beauty powder blush)*: Looks very similar to Don't be shy blush when swatched on the hand, it's just the tiniest bit darker than DBS.

Fashion Frenzy (Satin)*: This has a slight muavey undertone to it. It's somewhat of an in between color between Pink Swoon and Coygirl. It's also pretty pigmented for a Satin blush, a light hand is needed for this. Suits most skintones.

0 Pictureless FOTD - 14/2/2011

Sorry babes, I've haven had the time to update my blog for quite sometime, but I promise to update it soon on my off day (haven had an off day for more than a week for now) with more pics and swatches of my make up - both MAC and non MAC.

In the meantime, this is my pictureless fotd for today which i did (sorry, no full face pic here as I am kinda a private person but still I would like to share with u girls about what i used for my make up). I haven't been doin colorful eye make up for quite sometime, so this was what I did today - a pastel, colorful kinda look for the eyes

FACE - BASE

MAC prep plus prime skin base visage

MAC studio sculpt concealer

MAC Lightful powder foundation

EYES

MAC Aquadisiac e/s (All over lid)

MAC Fresh green mix MES (inner corner of eyelid)

MAC Bang on blue e/s (outer 1/3 corner of eye)

MAC beautiful iris e/s (over bang on blue e/s and blended up into socket area)

MAC Pink freeze e/s (brow bone highlighter)

MAC non conformist fluidline

MAC opulash mascara

CHEEKS

MAC angel blush

MAC azalea blossom blush ombre

MAC perfect topping msf - as cheek bone highlighter

LIPS

MAC gaga lipstick

MAC right image cremesheen glass

0 MAC mineralized blushers - Reds

Part III of my MAC mineralized blush collection. All MBs in this post are also Limited edition as well.

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IMHO, New Vibe and Bi-tone are almost dupes of each other. The color looks almost identical in the pan and when swatched (only the design is different), So if u have one you won't need the other, unless u are a blush addict like me who likes to collect blushers even though they look very similar =)

0 MAC mineralized blushers - Peach / Bronzes

Part II of my MAC mineralied blushers. All Limited edition. For babes who like the healthy sunkissed look, you'll probably like these peachy toned mineralized blushers. My favourite of the lot has to be Happy Together MB, it looks really light and "blah" in the pan but gives a very nice natural subtle peachy glow to the face and it's not overly shimmery nor frosty which some MBs can be.

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0 MAC mineralized blushers - Pink

Comments on MAC's mineralized blushers in general

Texture: I find most of the solid colors to be more pigmented and not as shimmery/frosty as the mineralized blushers with swirly patterns in them.

Usage: For those mineralized blushers that has 2 colors in them, I usually use the darker side as a blush and the lighter side as highlighting color. Otherwise, sometimes i would swirl and mix the 2 colors together, but that would mess out the nice color in the pan though.

Pics and swatches of my pink mineralized blushers from MAC (All are limited edition).

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2 NARS Blushers

Over in my country we do not have NARS. So I only can buy my Nars products when I go overseas and hence I only have 4 NARS blushers currently - Orgasm (Refer to a earlier post for pic n swatch on orgasm), Deep Throat, Torrid and Desire.

Pics and swatches of Deep Throat, Torrid and Desire

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Desire blush. Click for enlarged pic

From left to right: Deep Throat, Torrid & Desire

Deep Throat: A peachy pink color that's similar to orgasm but with significantly less golden shimmers, if u like the color of orgasm but u don't like the shimmers in it, U can consider getting Deep  Throat.

Torrid: Works on all skintone. Reminds me of MAC's Sunbasque blush. For fair skinned ladies, use this with a light hand. This gives a very nice sunkissed bronzy look to the skin. But if over applied, Might look sunburnt instead of sunkissed LOL

Desire: A hot pink shade of blush. Much brighter than MAC's pink swoon but isn't as fuschia toned as MAC's azalea blush

Packaging: 2.5 ( I don't like the rubber packaging of the products, turns sticky after a while even if i keep it properly in a drawer)

Price: 3.5 (More expensive than MAC's blushers, but still worth buying as they can last a very long time as only a little is needed on the face)

Quality: 4.5 (Love Nars blushers, they are highly pigmented and yet smooth and blendable)

Would I repurchase again: Yep. Definitely.

0 Lunsol Star Shower eyes palettes

I bought only 3 of the palettes from the Star Shower series - namely Medium Night, Close of night and Dazzling night. As this series is a autumn collection, most of the colors in it are on the darker and more smoky side. And I would say that this series of palettes has to be one of the more pigmented ones from Lunasol. Although, the shadows are still shimmery, but it's not as glittery as the Nature series palette or the sheer contrast eyes series. If u like doing soft smokey looks, these palettes will probably appeal to you.

P/S In case if u have not read my earlier post about other lunasol palettes, Lunasol is a Japanese cosmetics brand that's under Kanebo and only available in Asian countries.

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0 Shu uemura blushers

I am a blush addict and most of my friends know that. Other than MAC's blushers, another of my favourite brand for blushers is Shu Uemura. Their blushers are smooth and long lasting. The main difference between MAC's and Shu's blushers is that Shu's blushers is somewhat more soft in color and gives a natural sweet / dolly kinda look.

To be honest, most of the lighter pinks and peaches are probably too light to be used on ladies with darker skins (NC42 and above) For darker skin ladies, I would still recommend blushers from MAC / Bobbi Brown / Nars as they would appear on more on darker skin ladies. I personally find that Japanese brand blushers tend to be more sheer and less pigmented than Western brands and mainly cater to ladies with fair to medium skintone.

Below are the pics of Shu's blushers which I currently own. My favourite has to be Sakura, a very nice natural dolly pink. But unfortunately that's Limited edition. So i'm trying not to use it too often :X

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Amongst the 4 pink shades here, P Pink 30 and Antique Pink are the only ones which will appear on most skin tones. M Pink 33E and Sakura are really nice as well, but imho only will appear on lighter skins

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I think Shu Uemura makes really good peach blushers. They are very natural and soft in color and does NOT turn orange on me at all unlike some peach blushers I have tried. Although they call P Pink 36D a pink, but I find  that it's leaning more towards the peach side rather than pink even though it has some pink undertones in it.

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My overall rating for Shu's blushers?

Price: 3.5 (Expensive but I like the colors )

Packaging: 4 (I like the clear plastic packaging, It's compact and easy to bring out)

Quality: 4

Would I repurchase again: Yep...definitely yes. If u like the natural sweet flush kinda cheek color, You'll probably like shu's blushers





0 "No Brand" eyeshadow palette II

This is the 2nd " brand" eyeshadow palette which I bought from my friend. This palette consists all of neutrals and brown e/s and are mostly of a satin, frost or metallic finish which applies on very smoothly and pigmented. All e/s swatches are swatched without a e/s base. What you see in the picture is what you will get on your eye.

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As with the earlier colorful matte e/s palette I posted, this comes with 5 blush colors. The blushers feel a bit powdery and chalky, but no complaints as the good quality  of ALL the e/s in this palette makes up for the not-so-good quality of the blush colors.

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This is definitely Value for money! For 27USD, I get 21 beautiful, good quality eyeshadows and 5 blushers (though I'm not wowed by the blushers but still this is a good set to buy.