Mac Pleasureflush dupe alert! Laura Geller Blush n Brighten Boysenberry/Amaretti

My blog gets a number of hits from people searching for images and info on Mac Pleasureflush mineralize skinfinish, so I decided to do a post that is hopefully useful for those wanting to try it this wonderful highlighter. As Pleasureflush was a limited edition in 2004, it is now very hard to find and sells for an absolute fortune on eBay. (There is a used one - and by used I mean not just lightly used, but properly half used up - on eBay at £43 plus shipping right now, I'm very curious to see how much it will sell for eventually! * EDIT: It sold for a whopping £71!) I think I paid around $80 for mine, but they go for as much as $100 new. So I thought I'd show you a very very good dupe I have found for it (it's 98% similar I'd say).

It is Laura Geller Blush n Brighten in Boysenberry Highlighter in Amaretti. I know, this is a blush and therefore not a dupe for Pleasureflush, but take a look at the highlighter section and you will find a beautiful light pink powder with golden veining. Remind you of anything? Let's take a closer look:

Avon Ultra Colour Rich Moisture Seduction Lipstick Review

After seeing these on Musing of a Muse, I've decided to try them out for myself and ordered most colours (there were 10, I didn't bother with Smooth Mocha, not my colour), especially since thanks to Avon's excellent returns policy, I knew if I don't like them, I can just return them. Luckily, that isn't the case.

According to Avon these lipsticks are "rich, ultra-creamy, intertwined with ribbons of hydrating moisture to give you seductively dewy lips". I agree, they are very creamy and moisturising, although to be honest I could do without the "intertwined ribbons" because they make it less easy to get an even colour. You will see below in the swatches what I mean. However, on the lips you can get an even colour by smooshing (is that a word?) your lips together a bit. Also going over the colour once or twice should do the trick too.

I found that the darker shades lasted on me surprisingly well. I normally only get 2 hours wear with normal lipsticks (with some exceptions, Mac Spitfire lipstick lasted on me for 4 hours with eating and drinking!), but I got 3-4 hours of wear out of them, with the lighter ones lasting for about 2. My favourite ones are definitely the darker, brighter shades, but I also like Soft Pink, it's a pretty bubblegum pink shade. I think I will probably return Lilac Shimmer and Silky Peach as they really don't feel at all special to me. These lipsticks are currently retailing for £6 each and you can get them from Avon. Have you tried them yet?

See more photos and swatches after the jump!

Mac Wonder Woman Haul

I was lucky enough to go to London last Sunday and while there I popped into Selfridges to check out the new Mac Wonder Woman collection. I thought I'd show you what I got, since the collection is launching at Mac next week. I apologise for the quality of the photos, I took them in the evening and the lighting wasn't great, but as usual, there are brilliant swatches on Temptalia and Karla Sugar's website, so check them out if you haven't.

I've never heard of Wonder Woman before, so to me the collection wasn't a must have, although I did like the look of a few products, but I didn't buy anything because of the special packaging. In fact, if anything, I was really put off the lipglasses because of the packaging, they are huge and look really ugly to me. I don't mind the lipsticks and blushes, the packaging is alright, although I do feel that the MSFs should've come with a mirror inside, since the red lid isn't that attractive (in my mind, you either have see through lid or mirror inside the lid). Especially for the money these cost!

I have to say that I absolutely adore Spitfire lipstick. It is absolutely beautiful and it lasts for about 4 hours on me, slowly fading away to a pretty stain. I haven't worn the other two, but I suspect Marquise d' won't last too long due to its texture and colour, and I've yet to try Heroine too.

Find out which products I've bought and see pictures and swatches after the jump!

Mac Peacocky Looks Part 2

Sorry it's taken me a while, but finally I've managed to write up this second post with 2 more looks I've done with my Peacocky eyeshadows and Kissable lipcolours.

First up is a look featuring Dalliance, Odalisque and Peek-at-you and also So Vain lipcolour:

For this look I used: 

Eyes:

Barbara Daly for Tesco eyeshadow primer

Mac Chilled On Ice Paint Pot (Cham Pale collection)

Mac Botanical Blue eyeshadow (from Graphic Garden palette) all over lid and above crease

Mac Odalisque eyeshadow in outer corner and in crease 

Mac Dalliance eyeshadow in inner corner and above crease

Mac Peek-at-You eyeshadow below browbone

Urban Decay 24/7 eye pencil in Flipside on lower lashline

Guerlain Le 2 Mascara in Black

Mac Brow Set in Show Off

Face:

Guerlain Meteorites Pearls face primer

Givenchy Photo'perfection Foundation in #04 Perfect Vanilla

Chantecaille White Tiger face powder

Mac Global Glow MSF

Lips:

Mac So Vain Kissable Lipcolour

See more pictures and find out which products I used for the second look!

Sorry for being AWOL and coming soon...

I'd like to apologise for not posting anything for a week now, but I've been very busy. I had some friends visiting last week and we went to see my favourite band, Europe play at Shepherds Bush in London on Saturday. Then spent the whole day with them in London on Sunday (I bought some nice things while in town, will show you later!) and this week it's half term, so my 3 children are at home with me so it's nearly impossible to find time to take and edit photos and write up posts. (Bring on school I say!) 

But I have a few photos to show you what I've got coming on the blog, so if you like the look of them, do make sure you check back soon!

Estee Lauder Metamorphosis Eyeshadow Palette

I wasn't very excited about Estee Lauder's Wild Violet eyeshadow palette, however, when I first heard about this one, I knew I had to have it. I believe this palette is exclusive to Harvey Nichols in the UK, but luckily I've managed to get one from eBay.

The palette contains 5 eyeshadows: yellow, light purple, bright pink, light blue and black. The black in the middle is a little bit out of place, but I guess it can be used as a liner or to darken the crease. I find pastels alone hard to pull off, so maybe the black is just what I need. All the eyeshadows are shimmery, they are also smooth and easy to apply. I haven't worn them on my eyes yet (I literally just got the palette in the post today), so I can't comment on staying power or blendability, but they did swatch very easily on my arm and weren't chalky at all.

Estee Lauder eyeshadow palettes usually retail for £34 and you get 7.6g for your money. Interestingly you actually get 0.3g more eyeshadow than in the Guerlain palettes despite this only having 5 shades, not 6.

See more pictures and swatches after the jump!

Mac Peacocky Looks Part 1

This week I'm going to show you some looks that I've done using my new Mega Metal eyeshadows from Mac's Peacocky collection. In this first installment I've got two looks, one purple and one pink.

First up is the purple look I created using Mating Call, Plum Noir and Peek-at-You and also Flaunting It Kissable Lipcolour. I wasn't sure how the lips would work with this look, I think I'd prefer light pink lips with it, but this isn't too bad.

To create this look I used:

Eyes:

Barbara Daly for Tesco eyeshadow primer

Mac Mating Call eyeshadow all over lid and above crease

Mac Plum Noir eyeshadow in outer corner and in crease

Mac Peek-at-You eyeshadow below browbone

Urban Decay 24/7 eye pencil in Lust on lower lashline

Guerlain Le 2 Mascara in Black

Mac Brow Set in Show Off

Face:

Guerlain Meteorites Pearls face primer

Givenchy Photo'perfection Foundation in #04 Perfect Vanilla

Chantecaille White Tiger face powder

Mac Azalea Blossom Blush Ombre

Lips:

Mac Flaunting It Kissable Lipcolour

See more photos and the other look I've created after the jump!

Mac Peacocky Haul

I know I'm quite late with this since the collection came out nearly 2 weeks ago and as we all know that means most of it is probably sold out now. But I've finally got around to taking photos and actually doing some looks with the eyeshadows, so I thought I'd post this anyway.

I ended up buying 9 of the eyeshadows and 4 Kissable Lipcolours. It's not too bad by my standards, but since the eyeshadows are a larger size (like the mineralize ones or the Tartan Tale ones were) they cost a lot more than normal eyeshadows, and also the lipcolours aren't cheap at £16 each. So it all adds up. Anyway...

Find out which ones I bought and see another photo after the jump!

Is this really necessary?

I ordered these from Debenhams the other day:

And they arrived in these:

I am all in favour of receiving my order in one piece, but surely a small padded envelope and some bubble wrap would have done a sufficient job? Instead they wrapped them in one of the envelopes, then put them in the other envelope and then into the plastic bag. In this day and age when we're all trying to do our bits for the environment, do retailers need to be this wasteful? Lucky I was in as well, because the postman couldn't fit the massive package through my postbox, so if I'd missed him, I would've had to drive to the post office to pick it up, so I would've wasted some petrol as well. 

Really not impressed. I used to think Mac was wasteful sending my 3-4 pieces in giant black boxes padded with loads of black paper, but I have to say, Debenhams has done even worse. Also makes me wonder how much this is costing them, since it was free delivery as well. 

Which stores/companies have you come across as being wasteful in their packaging methods? Let me know in the comments!

I'm excited about... Mac Quite Cute Collection

Due out in April (May in the UK?) is a gorgeous girly collection, Quite Cute, with lots of pinks and purples that are right up my alley. I'm really wanting the mineralize blushes and the eyeshadow quad, but will possibly end up buying some of the lipsticks and lipglosses too. Anything catching your eye?

Collection details:

Lipstick $14.50 USD / $17.50 CDN
Playing Koi - Creamy white peach pink (Satin)
Saint Germain - Pastel pink (Amplified)
Candy Yum-Yum - Neon pink (Matte)
Quite Cute - Bright whitened lavender (Cremesheen)
Play Time - Intense violet (Cremesheen)

Plushglass $18.50 USD / $22.00 CDN
Fashion Fanatic - Creamy pale pink
Bubble Tea - Creamy pale nude
Girl ♥ Boy - Bright light blue pink
I ♥ U - Creamy mid-tone purple

Lip Pencil $13.00 USD / $15.50 CDN
In Synch - Bright yellow pink
Naked Liner - Light neutral
Boldly Bare - Mid-tone red brown

Eye shadow x 4 $36.00 USD / $43.00 CDN
CUTiE
Moshi! Moshi! - Pale white green gold (Frost)
Goody Goody Gum Drop - Light white pink (Satin)
Boycrazy - Pale lavender with silver pearlized pigments (Lustre)
Azuki Bean - Mid-tone violet (Frost)

Mineralize Blush US.$23.00 / CDN $27.50
Giggly - Light pink with a pearly plum heart (Frost)
Sakura - Lavender with pearly deep magenta heart (Frost)
Miss Behave - Light beige with a pearly mint green heart (Frost)

Nail Lacquer US $14.00/ CDN $17.00
Ice Cream Cake - Creamy blue pink (Cream)
Little Girl Type - Creamy pale lavender (Cream)
Mischievous - Creamy pale blue mint (Cream)

Penultimate Eye Liner $17.50 USD / $21.00 CDN
Rapidblack - True Black

Zoom Lash $14.00 USD / $17.00 CDN
Zoomblack - Rich black

Loud Lash [Asia Only] $14.00 USD / $17.00 CDN
Noisy Black - Black

False Lashes $14.00 USD / $17.00 CDN
7 Lash - Spikey, slightly seperated, high glam lash

See the official collection images after the jump!

Finished! The January edition

You might recall that I started this series last month when I managed to finish several beauty products (which doesn't happen very often, I'm telling you!) and to my surprise I'm back with another post of yet more finished products. I don't want to include basics like shampoo, conditioner and shower gel in this as I always go through those, will just stick to skincare, make up and fragrances.

First up are my beauty basics:

Mac Brow Set in Show Off is the only thing I use on my brows as I don't like brow pencils (too harsh) or powders (too obvious). This is a brown shade that just gives a bit more definition to my brows and holds them in place. I came across this product when Blonde, Brunette, Redhead collection came out in 2009 and I have loved it ever since! I actually think this was my original one, so it lasted me over a year, although I did move it to my downstairs cloakroom a while ago as it was running low (that's where I keep my emergency make up items for day when I have no time to apply my make up in my bedroom), so I guess I hadn't been using it so regularly lately ( have a new one in my bedroom). It never dried up though, just ran out. I love this stuff and have already repurchased it and will continue to do so. £11.50 from maccosmetics.co.uk.

Continue reading to see what other products I've finished last month!

Face of the Day with Chanel Regard Perle Eyeshadow Palette

I did a quick and easy look with the new Chanel Regard Perle eyeshadow palette that I really liked, so I thought I'd share it with you. I wanted something easy and neutral, but I also wanted to use that gorgeous dark green shade, so I decided to use it wet as a liner. You can;t see the sparkles very well in the pictures, but that green shade is extremely pretty and has gorgeous shimmer to it when used wet. I also tried out the new Nakkar Glossimer which compliments the look very well.

Here's what I used to create this look: 

Eyes:

Barbara Daly for Tesco eyeshadow primer

Chanel Regard Perle eyeshadow palette pink shade all over lid, blended into crease

Chanel Regard Perle eyeshadow palette champagne gold shade above crease

Chanel Regard Perle eyeshadow palette dark green shade (wet) on upper lashline

Mac Undercurrent Pearlglide on lower lashline

Givenchy Phenomen'eyes Mascara in Black

Mac Brow Set in Show Off

Face:

Guerlain Meteorites Pearls face primer

Givenchy Photo'perfection Foundation in #04 Perfect Vanilla

Chantecaille White Tiger face powder

Chanel Tweed Effect Blush in Tweed Rose

Lips:

Chanel Nakkar Glossimer

See more photos after the jump!

Ombres Perlees de Chanel Review, Swatches and FOTD

I was very excited about the whole Chanel spring collection, but possibly most excited about this gorgeous five colour palette. I managed to grab one last week and finally tested it out yesterday. Unfortunately it didn't live up to my expectations.

The palette contains 5 creamy, shimmery eyeshadows, a white one, a champagne pink one, a purple one, a greenish grey one and a dark grey one. The colours look very pretty in the pan and they are nicely pigmented, they go on smoothly and blend really well, BUT they did crease on me in only a couple of hours. I always use a primer, and it's a good one, so I don't normally have problems with creasing. In the end, I set it with shadows from my Enigma quad and that seemed to stop the creasing, although the whole eye make up melted off my eyes by about 8 pm (I applied my make up at 7.30 am - yawn - and set it with Enigma around 1 pm). I guess that's not too bad, but the fact that they creased within 2 hours is. Not much point in spending £40 on a palette that you then have to set with another £35 palette.

It's very pretty though and the consistency of the shadows is lovely. Reminds me a bit of Bobbi Brown's and Laura Mercier's Sparkle eyeshadows, only those didn't crease on me at all.

See below for more photos, swatches and the look I created with them!

And the winner of my "guess how many lipglosses" giveaway is....

...perfumeorpoison with a very good guess of 502. 

I actually have 493 lipglosses. (To those who asked yes, I did count them!) :)

To answer another question, I don't really pay attention to the 6 month expiration rule, I only throw away lipglosses (or make up in general) if they smell or taste bad, or their consistency changes. I did actually chuck out 10 lipglosses the other day, most of them were around 5-6 years old.

Congratulations perfumeorpoison, your prize will be posted to you as soon as possible! Thanks to everyone for taking part, hope you enjoyed it. If you haven't seen the video of my lipgloss collection yet, you can check it out here.

Urban Decay 15-year Anniversary Set Is Online at Debenhams.com!

A big thank you to the lovely Charlotte for letting us know. You can also find lots of photos and swatches on her website. The set costs £60 and is available HERE.

What's in my bathroom?

A quick video to show you what kind of beauty products there are in my bathroom. Enjoy!