Mac Volcanic Ash Exfoliator

Mac has repromoted their (in)famous Volcanic Ash Exfoliator in the Heavenly Creature collection and surprisingly it's still in stock, so I thought I'd review it quickly for those who are still debating whether to get it.

What is it? Volcanic Ash Exfoliator is a coarse black coloured sweet smelling facial scrub/exfoliator that comes in a squeezy tube. It's made mostly of sugar, but it also contains some volcanic ash that gives it it's black colour. It is quite rough, although the sugar crystals do melt when rubbed, but I think those with sensitive skin might want to try it first to see if it's gentle enough for them. For me, this is the best facial scrub I've ever tried, and I also love using it as a lip scrub. It's very effective, it leaves my skin smooth. It's more gentle than St. Ives Apricot Scrub which I also like, but that is admittedly very rough. I use Volcanic Ash Exfoliator probably once or twice a week, depending on whether I remember to do so.

It comes in a 100 ml tube and one tube lasts me about 6 months if not more. You really only need a small amount. Unfortunately it is limited edition again, so if you like it, be sure to stock up on it, you don't know when it'll next come out (if it does). It's silly for skincare to be limited edition in my opinion, but what can you do, that's Mac for you?!

A tube of Volcanic Ash Exfoliator costs £21, which I believe is quite a bit more than what it cost 2 years ago, but I can't remember exactly. This time I only bought 2 tubes because I still have probably 5 or 6 left (I managed to buy 3 in the CCO in Florida last year). Hope they will repromote is again because it is definitely my favourite scrub.

See more pictures after the jump!

My Mac Heavenly Creature Haul Part 3 - Eyeshadows

Here's the final part of my Mac Heavenly Creature haul, this time it's the mineralize eyeshadows. You may know that I'm a massive fan of them and own almost every one Mac has released. (I didn't get two of the Chen Man ones that were exact dupes of some colours that were released earlier, but that's all.) I did a post on my Mac mineralize eyeshadow stash a while ago, but of course I have even more now. And of course I had to buy all 9 eyeshadows in the Heavenly Creature collection too.

I have to add that I have not used them all yet, but I have swatched them and they all seem very nice. Some are more shimmery than others (Invincible Light in particular is rather shimmery and frosty), but some are more satiny than anything. The colour payoff is very good, they are all really nicely pigmented. The ones I wore stayed on without creasing and fading for 10+ hours and there was only very mininmal fallout and that was only during application which is not a big deal for me at all.

The beauty of these mineralized eyeshadows is that you get 3 different colours swirled into one pot and they can create multidimensional colours, and also of course you can use them separately if you get large enough patches. Some of mine have really nice large patches, especially my Water with the big yellow patch in the middle and I've been able to use the separate colours in my Neo Nebula and Bright Moon as well. Of course the swirls also mean they are really pretty and nice to look at.

These Mac mineralize eyeshadows cost £16.50 and you get 2 g which is a bit smaller than some other mineralize eyeshadows (normally 2.2 g), but still rather large and they will last you absolutely forever.

See lots more pictures including swatches and a look I did, after the jump!

My Mac Heavenly Creature Haul Part 2 - Blushes

Here's part 2 of my Mac Heavenly Creature haul, this time it's the mineralize blushes. Don't worry this won't be such a long post as the skinfinishes' was, there are only 4 I've purchased (although I am thinking about going back for a back up for Solar Ray).

The collection includes 4 mineralize blushes, all of them come with a swirl pattern and contain 2 different colours. Some are again more shimmery than others, some just give you a nice sheen. None of them are metallic looking on the skin and all of them are wonderfully pigmented. I have included a picture at the bottom of the post of me wearing Supernova, the bright pink one, and boy it is very bright and extremely easy to overdo. Also Stratus is a very dark shade and need a very light hand if you are on the paler side.

My current favourite is Solar Ray, which is the lightest colour, it's a lovely peachy-pink with gold swirls. The gold is quite shimmery, but the overall effect is rather lovely. Ring Of Saturn is a mix of peachy pink and terracotta and it's another beautiful shade. That one isn't shimmery at all, it just had a lovely sheen. All of the blushes are very smooth and very pigmented.

Mac Mineralize Blushes cost £19 and you get 3.2 g which is once again slightly less than the usual 3.5 g weight. Have you picked up any of these shades? Which one is your favourite?

See more pictures including swatches after the jump!

My Mac Heavenly Creature Haul Part 1 - Skinfinishes

Finally, the long awaited Mac collection, Heavenly Creature has launched in the UK and I have a lot of goodies to show you. I was very excited about all the mineralize products and ended up purchasing all of them, so I will do this haul post in 3 parts. Apart from the mineralize make up, I also bought a couple of tubes of Volcanic Ash Exfoliator which I won't be reviewing just now, but will hopefully get around to doing so sometime soon. So many products, so little time...

First off, here are the Mineralize Skinfinishes (or MSFs) I bought. There were 4 of them launched in this collection: Light Year, Star Wonder, Center Of The Universe and Earthshine. As I wanted to make sure I ended up with the ones I really wanted, as well as ordering from Debenhams as soon as the collection launched, I also picked up one of each MSF with patterns I really wanted. So all in all I ended up with 8 of them. I was actually very lucky in that the MSFs Debenhams sent me are also very much the colours/swirls I was after, but slightly different from the ones I picked up.

In the picture above the MSFs I picked out myself are in the top row and the ones I ordered from Debenhams are in the bottom row. I particularly wanted a Star Wonder with lots of purple and an Earthshine with very little burgundy. Out of the four Light Year is definitely my favourite, even though I thought it would be Star Wonder. I find Light Year less metallic looking on the skin and it's such a gorgeous peachy pink colour. Eartshine is slightly too dark for me to use as a blush (it looks dirty on my cheeks), but I will find a way of using it for sure. I have not worn Center Of The Universe yet, but it's a nice orange/coral blush and will no doubt work well for my skintone.

The MSFs are all very smooth, not gritty or glittery at all. Yes, there's some shimmer, some finer than other, and some of them, in perticular Star Wonder and Earthshine are quite metallic. I've found Light Year the smoothest and less shimmery. It of course depends on the exact pattern and combination of shades within each MSFs. 

Mac Mineralize Skinfinishes cost £21.50 and you get 7 grams which is actually quite a bit less than the usual weight of MSFs, they are normally 9 or 10 g, not sure why the difference. Have you picked up anything from this collection? Have you got a favourite? Let me know in the comments!

See LOTS more pictures including swatches after the jump!

Mac Heavenly Creature Mineralize Collection July 2012 Promo Pictures and Details

Finally! The Mac mineralize collection I've been waiting for is almost here and now I have the full details and promo pictures to share with you. As a massive mineralize fan, I will be buying every mineralize product from the collection. I am also considering buying a few more of the Volcanic Ash Exfoliators as I really like them, but I still have a good few back ups from two years ago, so we'll see.

I love this promo picture with the products looking like planets, don't you? Will you be getting anything from this collection?

Find out all the details about the collection and see loads more promo pictures after the jump!

Want It: Mac Heavenly Creature Mineralize Collection For Summer 2012

As you know, I love my mineralized make up, so of course I am once again excited about Mac's annual summer mineralize collection. I haven't got any pictures to show you yet, but hopefully I will soon. In the meantime, here are the collection details courtesy of Specktra.

Lipstick

 

Pleasureseeker - Creamy peach (Glaze) (repromote)

Cut a Caper - Mid-tone peachy pink (Lustre) (repromote)

Venus - Sheer yellow pink with pearlized pigments (Lustre)

Fire Sign - Red-pink (Lustre)

Cusp of Dawn - Beige pink (Lustre)

Cremesheen Glass

Celestial Kiss - Pale cool peach

Strictly Plutonic - Mid-tone pink brown

Meteoric - Mid-tone vibrant coral

Astral - Bright yellow pink

Galaxy Rose - Mid-tone violet pink

Mineralize Skinfinish

Earthshine - Tarnished bronze with gold pearlized pigments and pink reflects

Light Year - Peachy pink with gold shimmer

Star Wonder - Plumy pink with multi-dimensional pearlized pigments

Center of the Universe - Coral with gold shimmer

Mineralize Blush

Solar Ray - Peach and gold melange

Ring of Saturn - Terracotta and gold melange

Stratus - Amethyst and golden brown melange

Supernova - Magenta and burnt gold melange

 

187 Brush - Duo fibre face brush

188 Brush - Small duo fibre face brush

Mineralize Eye Shadow - all frost finish

Aurora - Peach, green, and brown melange

Magnetic Attraction - Orange, pink and gold melange

Neo Nebula - Cream, warm amethyst and warm pink melange

Universal Appeal - Gold, bronze and violet melange

Invincible Light - Icy white, lavender and warm gold melange

Earthly - Beige, peach and cool brown melange

Water - Yellow, lime green and blue melange

Bright Moon - Grey, silver and icy green melange

Sky - Green gold, turquoise and cobalt melange

False Lashes 

False Black - Black (Repromote)

286 Brush - Duo fibre tapered blending brush (repromote)

Skincare

Mineralize Volcanic Ash Exfoliator

-foaming, exfoliating scrub made with natural volcanic ash and sugar crystals (repromote)

Mineralize Charged Water Cleanser

-a make up removing "water" that can literally wipe off most types of makeup without scrubbing or massaging. Formulated with M.A.C's exclusive Charged Water technology (repromote)

Mineralize Charged Water Moisture Gel

-An ultra light gel cream that gives intensive hydration and moisture but leaves the skin feeling soft and supple. Infused with M.A.C's exclusive Charged Water technology (repromote)

Mineralize Charged Water Moisture Eye Cream

-A luxuriousand rich eye cream that improves and moisturizes the skin around the eye while reducing the look of dark circles and puffiness. Infused with M.A.C's exclusive Charged Water technology (repromote)