Pleasureflush

Monday, 28 February 2011

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!

Wednesday, 16 February 2011

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