Tag Archives: MAC

My MAC Pinks & Purples Palette

March 10, 2014Makeup, SwatchesMACChelle

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This the last of MAC palettes and it contains my pink and purples shadows.

Despite the number of shadows that make up this palette, I’m really not much of a pink eyeshadow wearer. A lot of these shadows were purchased because the makeup artist used them on me at my wedding and I wanted to buy the pans to keep for memories sake.

On with the swatches!

Name: Stars n Rockets
Finish: Veluxe Pearl
Notes: I almost didn’t buy this shade because I thought it would be too similar to Dame’s Desire (below). Thankfully, it’s not. This is a beautiful purply-pink with a darker purple/blue duochrome.

Name: Dame’s Desire
Finish: Frost
Notes: This is a limited edition shade that was re-promoted in the Liberty of London collection, which is when I picked it up. It has a slight edge of blue duochrome, but there’s barely a whisper of it.

Name: Parfait Amour
Finish: Frost
Notes: Oh man this shade. Everyone loves it… except me. This is a purple with pink duochrome and despite it swatching nicely, this applies like an absolute bastard on my lids. Patchy, sheer, just out and out BAD. This is a pretty old shade though, so chances are the formula may be better these days.

Name: Blackberry
Finish: Matte
Notes: Despite looking rather brown in the swatch, this is a matte maroon shade. One of my more recent shades that I got from a Back 2 MAC.

Name: Naked Lunch
Finish: Frost
Notes: Frosty light pink – a cult favourite. Not one I wear too often anymore, but it has lovely colour payoff.

Name: Gleam
Finish: Lustre
Notes: Used on me for my wedding – but I can’t figure out why because this is a glittery mess. It’s a lustre, so it’s chunky, filled with glitter and pretty sheer. If you’re using it, make sure to pack it on. I use this a lot with Coppering.

Name: Paradisco
Finish: Frost
Notes: I was given this by a friend because she couldn’t figure out how to wear it. In the pan it looks orange with a pink duochrome, but it swatches (and wears) more pink with an orange duochrome. I mix this predominantly with teals and it works out pretty well.

Name: Expensive Pink
Finish: Veluxe Pearl
Notes: Another cult favourite and another shade that was used on me for my wedding. Pink with gold duochrome, great colour payoff.

Name: Sushi Flower
Finish: Satin
Notes: Yet another wedding shade (do you see how I ended up with so many pinks now?), although I think the artist used this on my cheeks. I don’t wear this shade that often, but when I do I usually place this in the outer corner and do a thick black winged liner.

Name: All That Glitters
Finish: Veluxe Pearl
Notes: Before the beauty community fell in love with rose-gold, this was THE rose-gold. Applies beautifully.

Name: Swish
Finish: Frost
Notes: Ugh. My younger self didn’t know any better. I bought this in my teens – I think that right there says enough. This is a pink frost that is incredibly sheer and I obviously used a lot of this when I was younger, but it makes me look pretty ill. The only decent combination I’ve found so I can actually wear this in publish is to pair it with Sketch.

Name: Star Violet
Finish: Veluxe Pearl
Notes: This shade looks like nothing in the pan and my swatch isn’t great either, but this is a truly wonderful shade. I love pairing this with seafoamy greens and blues.

Name: Cranberry
Finish: Frost
Notes: This is like a red version of Star Violet. Beautiful shade.

Name: Sketch
Finish: Velvet
Notes: Another shade that looks like nothing, but if I had to recommend any out of this entire post, this would be the one to get. This is a beautiful crease colour and it blends out incredibly smoothly.

My MAC Pinks & Purples Palette – Click to enlarge

Stars n Rockets
Dame’s Desire
Parfait Amour
Blackberry
Naked Lunch
Gleam
Paradisco
Expensive Pink
Sushi Flower
Expensive Pink
Swish
Star Violet
Cranberry
Sketch

That’s it for my MAC palettes! If you’re interested in seeing my other palettes, you can check them out here:

St. Patrick’s Day Makeup Ideas

March 7, 2014Makeup, TutorialsBourjois, CoverGirl, L'Oreal, MAC, Make Up For Ever, Makeup Geek, MUA, NYX, Physicians Formula, Sephora, Sleek, St. Patrick's Day, Tarte, Too Faced, Urban Decay, Wet n WildChelle

Aside from Halloween, St. Patrick’s Day is my absolute favourite “holiday”. I tend to do a lot of green looks in general, but I thought I’d do a few more and compile them together for a post specifically dedicated to the holiday of all things green!

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Dark forest green with a hint of glitter. One of the stronger looks in this post and heck… you really can’t go wrong with glitter!

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Eyes:

I first lined my lower lashline thickly with MAC Feline Kohl Power pencil and smudged it out into a really messy, thick line.
Too Faced Evergreen was placed all over the lid, on top of the black liner.
Sleek Fern in the outer corner.
Makeup Geek Creme Brulee at the top of the crease.

MAC Shroom was used to highlight the browbone. On the lower lashline I smudged Evergreen on the outer half and then used some Too Faced Glitter Glue on the inner half and appliedToo Faced Glamour Dust in Glampire on top of the glue. L’Oreal Voluminous Carbon Black on my lashes.

Rest of the Face

Foundation: Covergirl CC Cream in 110 Classic Ivory and Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum in Shade 51 Light Vanilla mixed together
Bronzer: Physicians Formula Bronze Booster in Light/Medium
Blush: Tarte Blissful
Lips: NYX Butter Gloss in Maple Blondie

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I’m amazed and pleased with just how well this one turned out. Usually I would reverse the colours (gold on the inside, colour on the outside), but I decided I need to actually learn to play with my makeup a little bit more. And I’m happy I did because I think this is really beautiful.

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Eyes:

MUA Shade 26 Pearl all over the lid.
Urban Decay Half Baked in the outer corner and into the crease.
Makeup Geek Creme Brulee through the crease.
Makeup Geek Cocoa Bear barely tapped into the very outer corner to make it a touch bit deeper.

MAC Shroom on the browbone and L’Oreal Voluminous Carbon Black mascara on my lashes.

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This is a bit more “typical” St. Patrick’s Day look for me (gold on the inner lid, green on the outside).

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Eyes:

L’Oreal Infallible in Goldmine on the inner third of the lid.
MAC Golden Olive pigment on the center of the lid.
Makeup Geek Dirty Martini on the outer third of the lid and dragged lightly through the entire crease.
Makeup Geek Creme Brulee at the top of the crease.

MAC Rice Paper to highlight the browbone. On the lower lid, Goldmine on the inner half and Dirty Martini on the outer half. L’Oreal Voluminous Carbon Black mascara on my lashes.

Rest of the Face

Foundation: Covergirl CC Cream in 110 Classic Ivory and Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum in Shade 51 Light Vanilla mixed together
Bronzer: Physicians Formula Bronze Booster in Light/Medium
Blush: MAC Petal Power
Lips: Sephora Color Reveal Balm in Unique Pink

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Even though this showed up pretty vibrantly on camera, I’d recommend using a white base (which I didn’t do) in order to brighten the colours up a bit more. I found the colours faded a bit throughout the day and the white base may help to keep the shadows intact.

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Eyes: (all Makeup Geek)

Fuji all over the lid.
Dirty Martini on the outer corner and through the crease.
Creme Brulee to blend out the crease.

MAC Shroom on the browbone. Dirty Martini smudged very slightly on the outer corner of the lower lashline. Too Faced Better Than Sex mascara on my lashes.

Rest of the Face

Foundation: Covergirl CC Cream in 110 Classic Ivory and Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum in Shade 51 Light Vanilla mixed together
Bronzer: Physicians Formula Bronze Booster in Light/Medium
Highlighter: MAC Silver Dusk
Blush: Joe Fresh Apricot (cream)
Lips: NYX Butter Gloss in Vanilla Cream Pie

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I love this look, but damn does it ever look not great in close ups. You’ll also notice that the liner is completely covered in the eyeshadow… this seemingly can’t be helped whenever I wear shiny liquid liners as it just picks up the shadow from my lid when my eyes are open.

Also… tell me how much you love my shirt. 😉

Eyes: Using the Wet n Wild I Dream of Greenie trio, follow the instructions!

Eyelid shade all over the lid and the inner half of the lower lid.
Crease shade in the outer corner and through the crease and on the outer half of the lower lid.

And, obviously, the Browbone shade to highlight the brow. Make Up For Ever Aqualiner in 13 Black to create the wing (although honestly, I’m so irritated with this liner that I’d recommend using a matte black one that won’t cause so much eyeshadow transfer to the liner). L’Oreal Voluminous Carbon Black mascara on my lashes.

Rest of the Face

Foundation: Covergirl CC Cream in 110 Classic Ivory and Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum in Shade 51 Light Vanilla mixed together
Blush: Illamasqua Hussy
Lips: NYX Butter Gloss in Tiramisu

February 2014 Favourites

March 3, 2014Favourites, MiscellaneousBourjois, CoverGirl, Fortune Cookie Soap, MAC, Make Up For Ever, Urban DecayChelle

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Unfortunately, I didn’t have a whole lot of favourite beauty products this month. While looking through my stash and glancing over the makeup looks I’d done in the last month, there really weren’t a lot of repeat products. There were a few though, so I thought I’d share them with you.

CoverGirl “CC Cream” and Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum

I’ve come to the realization that my face is not as pale as I used to think it is. (I say this every time, but my face is darker than the underside of my arm where I’ve swatched these foundations (above), so don’t use that to judge whether or not they match my face.) I was using Bourjois’ Healthy Mix Serum in 51 Light Vanilla a lot and I started to notice that it was making me look deathly pale. I decided that looking like I’d constantly seen a ghost wasn’t a good thing, and opted to mix it with one of my darker foundations which happens to be Covergirl‘s “CC Cream” in 110 Classic Ivory (which you’ll also see labeled as Tone Rehab 2 in 1). While both foundations smell nice on their own, I prefer the fruity scent of the Bourjois, however the fruity scent gets eaten up by the scent of the Covergirl one (not a bad thing, just disappointing!). Anyway, moving on. I like how they even out to create a better colour for my winter skin tone and they feel really nice combined. No cake face or ghost face either!

As if you need to see more of this palette right? I’ll make it quick! I’m not even a neutral person and yet I love this sucker. I took UD‘s Naked palette with me on vacation to Ottawa this past month and every time I take it somewhere, I remember just how much I love it.

This is my second tube of MAC‘s Viva Glam Cyndi lipstick. It’s no longer available, but back when I got it, I picked up a second tube immediately out of fear that this would no longer be available. And sure enough, this isn’t in the regular Viva Glam line anymore! The colour is a beautiful light raspberry with a lustre finish. Since Cyndi is a lustre, it doesn’t have the best lasting power so use a lip liner to extend the longevity of it.

Make Up For Ever – Aqualiner in 13 Black

Okay, this isn’t technically a favourite, but I did wear it for probably half the days of the month so there’s obviously SOMETHING I like about it.

Allow me to explain.

MUFE‘s Aqualiner has a felt tip (boo) but is utterly waterproof (yay!). This stuff will NOT budge if you get water anywhere near it. But that’s its only redeeming factor. It dries to a very dark black, but it also has a shiny texture which unfortunately seems to pick up every eyeshadow I put on my lid. The end result is a muted liner that no longer looks black but rather green, or silver, or blue, or *whatever* eyeshadow colour I happened to wear that day. It drives me CRAZY! I need to go back to matte black liners because they don’t seem to pick up the shadow on my lids like the shiny ones do.

The OTHER problem is this one:

Two weeks into owning this liner, the blasted filter got itself stuck in the cap! As the arrow on the left shows, that bumpy part is not supposed to be stuck on the cap, it’s supposed to be on the top of the tube! I’ve pulled it off and put it back on the tube multiple times but it’s super messy and annoying, and no matter what, it still gets itself stuck back in the cap the next time I use it. So at the end of all this, the only redeeming factor this liner has is that it’s waterproof. I wish I’d returned it, but I did wear it a lot in the last month simply because I need something waterproof for the winter months and MAC‘s Blacktrack just couldn’t deliver. If you know of a matte black, waterproof gel or liquid liner, please let me know!

Fortune Cookie Soap – Marshmallow Dreams Cuticle Cream

I received my first Fortune Cookie Soap box midway through February (review/haul on that coming on Wednesday) and loved the pants out of that box. I’m posting the cuticle cream not so much because of the product inside, but primarily for the smell. FCS‘ Marshmallow Dreams scent smells, as they say, like marshmallow fluff (so basically sugar) and I love how sugary-gooey it smells. Unfortunately, it seems that FCS has run out of every product they have in this scent already (within a week!) and I’m unsure if they’ll add more back to the site since every product says “SOLD OUT”. For now, this cuticle butter will last me a while since a little goes an extremely long way.

So not a whole lot, but enough to have had some fun with.

What I Bought This Month – February 2014 Haul

February 26, 2014HaulsLush, MAC, SephoraChelle

Not a whole load of items this month, but still some serious goodies in here!

Spending ban be damned, I was going to have this blush! This stunner (Petal Power) is from MAC‘s A Fantasy of Flowers collection for Spring 2014. It’s one of their mineralize blushes which tends to mean slightly less colour payoff in my books, so I’ll just have to pack this one on. A lot of pictures online of this blush seem to vary in shades and tons, and mine varies from everyone’s as well. I see Petal Power as a coral blush with a golden sheen – It’s not quite rose gold because it’s got too much orange in it.

The next few items were presents from a wonderful friend but I’ve looked up the prices just in case anyone is interested.

Bath Bombs: Space Girl ($5.25 USD) & Lord of Misrule ($5.95 USD)

I don’t usually buy bath bombs from Lush for myself since I find them rather expensive, so receiving them as gifts feel pretty sepcial! The one on the left is Space Girl and I’ve already used this one up – I had thought it was going to be purple, but when it hit the water, the pinky-red bit at the top exploded and turned the bath water dark pink. Lush indicates that this one smells like grapefruit but I can’t say I noticed a ton of grapefruit smell. The green one is Lord of Misrule and I think it was a Halloween special. Lush says it smells of patchouli and black pepper.

Sephora – Color Reveal Balm in Unique Pink ($13 USD)

Now this is really cool. Like one of those pseudo-mood changing rings of yester-year, this balm changes colour based on the heat of your skin. I barely own anything by Sephora‘s own brand so this was really neat to try out. Unique Pink goes on the lips slick and smooth (Sephora says it has a honey flavour, but it smelled generic “sweet” to me)and feels just like any other balm. At first it’ll look like a very pale-tinted pink lip balm (see the bottom right shot of my hand, the swatch on the left is what it looks like right after application) but eventually it turns pinker and pinker (swatch on the right was about five minutes after it had been applied). After multiple applications throughout the day, it eventually made my lips hot pink and definitely stained them which just made it look all the more natural. One thing I will say though is that this has a tendency to bleed outside the liplines over the course of multiple hours, so try not to apply it too often to minimize this.

Sephora – Full Action Extreme Effect Mascara in Purple ($15 USD)

This is AWESOME. I have always wanted to pick up a coloured mascara but could never bring myself to spend the money on something I wouldn’t wear as regularly as black. Once again, this is Sephora‘s own brand and the colour is a beautiful vibrant purple. As my eyelashes are naturally quite pale due to my blonde hair, this shows up exceptionally well on them (I took a few shots but none of them were clear unfortunately).

That’s it for the month of February. You can thank my wonderful friend for getting me a whole stash of stuff otherwise this post would’ve been only that MAC blush! As I’ll be visiting the US mid-March, next month’s haul is going to be an absolute motherload of stuff.

What’s On My Face – Volume 11

February 24, 2014Makeup, TutorialsBourjois, Cargo, Illamasqua, L'Oreal, Laura Mercier, MAC, Make Up For Ever, Makeup Geek, MUA, Physicians Formula, Revlon, Tarte, Urban DecayChelle

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I hadn’t used MAC‘s Club in a really long time, and when I do, I tend to use it just in the crease which honestly doesn’t really show off just how awesome the shade is. So I decided to try something different and use it all over the lid.

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Eyes: Primed with Urban Decay Primer Potion in Original (this is the day when this primer suddenly stopped working on me and this entire eye look ended up a creased mess by the end of the day!), then:

MAC Club all over the entire lid right up and over the crease.
Makeup Geek Creme Brulee at the top of the crease to blend out the edges of Club.

MAC Brule was used to highlight the brow with L’Oreal Voluminous Carbon Black on my lashes.

Rest of the Face

Foundation: MUA Matte in Shade 1 Soft Sand
Concealer: MAC Select Cover-up in NW20
Bronzer: Physicians Formula Bronze Booster in Light/Medium
Blush: Cargo Medocino
Lips: Revlon Just Bitten Balm + Stain in Twilight

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My eye makeup matched my shirt. That’s pretty much the only logic I applied here!

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Eyes: NARS Pro Primer eye primer, then:

MAC Crystal Avalanche all over the lid.
MAC Print in the outer corner.
Makeup Geek Creme Brulee to blend out the upper crease.

MAC Brule to highlight the brow and L’Oreal Voluminous Carbon Black on my upper and lower lashes. Make Up For Ever Aqualiner in 13 Black to create the wing.

Rest of the Face

Foundation: Revlon Colorstay (Combination/Oily) in Buff
Bronzer: Revlon Photoready in Bronzed & Chic
Concealer: MAC Select Cover-up in NW20
Blush: MAC Warm Soul
Lips: Revlon Fire and Ice

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Although I tend to think of the Laura Mercier Artist 2 palette as predominantly purple, there are a lot of neutral shades in there that need recognition too!

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Eyes: Urban Decay Primer Potion in Eden all over the lid, then:

(all Laura Mercier) Sparkling Dew all over the lid.
Bamboo through the crease.
Truffle to darker up the outer corner.

MAC Brule on the browbone, Make Up For Ever Aqualiner in 13 Black for the winged linger and L’Oreal Voluminous Carbon Black mascara on my upper lashes.

Rest of the Face

Foundation: Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum in Shade 51 Light Vanilla
Bronzer: Physicians Formula Bronze Booster in Light/Medium
Blush: Illamasqua Hussy
Lips: MAC Russian Red lipstick with Brick lip pencil

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This one showed up decently in pictures, but I can’t say I really liked the end result. The blue shade (Illamasqua‘s Imagine) was sheer, powdery, patchy and just flat out miserable to apply. It needed a insane amount of layers AND it faded throughout the day.

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Eyes: NARS Pro Prime all over the lids, then:

Urban Decay Virgin on the inner two-thirds of the lid.
Urban Decay Gunmetal in sort of an angular stripe at the outer corner.
Illamasqua Imagine at the outer corner and blended into the crease.

Urban Decay Virgin to highlight the brow, Make Up Forever Aqua Liner in 13 Black for the wing and Too Faced Better Than Sex mascara on my upper lashes.

Rest of the Face

Foundation: none
Bronzer: Tarte Park Ave. Princess
Blush: Tarte Crave
Lips: nothing

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Super quick one while I was on vacation.

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Eyes: NARS Pro Prime all over the lid, then:

(all Urban Decay) Sin all over the lid.
Creep in the outer corner.

Virgin to highlight the brow and Too Faced Better Than Sex mascara on my lashes.

Rest of the Face

Foundation: nothing
Bronzer: Tarte Park Ave. Princess
Blush: Tarte Crave
Lips: nothing