Mac Tropical Taboo Mineralize Collection for Summer 2013 Promo Pictures!

Finally we have promo pictures of the upcoming Mac Tropical Taboo collection. I was loving it before I saw the pictures, but I'm loving it even more so!

Due to be released in July in the US (and I'm guessing August in the UK), here are the collection details:

Mineralize Lipsticks

• Lady at Play – Mid-tone cool tangerine
• Divine Choice – Mid-tone cool pink cream
• Midnight Mambo – Intense violet
• Luxe Naturale – Light beige cream
• Glamour Era – Mid-tone warm brown frost

Cremesheen Glass

• Calypso Beat –Pale neutral pink
• Fever Isle – Bright red coral
• Japanese Spring – Pale mid-tone pink
• Narcissus – Mid-tone eggplant

Lip Pencil

• Hip ‘n’ Happy – Mid-tone blue pink
• Have to Have It – Soft warm beige
• Heroine – Bright purple
• Ablaze – Bright apricot

Mineralize Skinfinish

• Adored – Coral with light beige pearlized pigments
• Rio – Bronze with bright pink pearlized pigments
• Lust – Pale pink with cranberry pearlized pigments
• Soft ‘n Gentle (permanent) – Gilded peach bronze
• Gold Deposit (permanent) – Soft reflective golden bronze

Mineralize Blush

• Sweet Samba –Dark pink with tan pearlized pigments
• Exotic Ember – Orange with bronze pearlized pigments
• Simmer – Burnt rose with peach/gold pearlized pigments

Mineralize Eyeshadow

• Dare to Bare – Light cream with gold pearlized pigments
• Carribean – Rose with pink and red pearlized pigments
• Cha-Cha-Cha – Deep blue green with green pearlized pigments
• Time to Tango – Lavendar with silver pearlized pigments
• Bossa Blue – Royal blue with brown pearlized pigments
• Tropica – Silver blue with purple pearlize pigments

Kohl Power Eye Pencil

• Feline – Rich Black
• Orpheus – Intense black with gold pearlized pigments

Brush

• 187 Brush – Duo fibre face brush
• 159 Brush – Duo fibre face brush
• 287 Brush – Duo fibre eyeshadow brush

In Extreme Dimension Lash

• Black

See lots more promo and individual product pictures after the jump!

Want It! Mac Tropical Taboo Mineralize Collection for Summer 2013

I was so excited to find out about Mac's upcoming mineralize collection, I had to share the news with you straight away! I love mineralize products and this collection has a lot of new goodies for me to look forward to.I'm mostly interested in the mineralize skinfinishes, blushes and eyeshadows, but there are also some mineralize lipsticks, cremesheen glasses, lip pencils and other goodies included in this collection.

Not actual promo picture

Due to be released in July in the US (and I'm guessing August in the UK), here are the collection details:

Mineralize Lipsticks

• Lady at Play – Mid-tone cool tangerine
• Divine Choice – Mid-tone cool pink cream
• Midnight Mambo –Intense violet
• Luxe Naturale – Light beige cream
• Glamour Era – Mid-tone warm brown frost

Cremesheen Glass

• Calypso Beat –Pale neutral pink
• Fever Isle – Bright red coral
• Japanese Spring - Pale mid-tone pink
• Narcissus – Mid-tone eggplant

Lip Pencil

• Hip ‘n’ Happy – Mid-tone blue pink
• Have to Have It – Soft warm beige
• Heroine – Bright purple
• Ablaze – Bright apricot

Mineralize Skinfinish

• Adored – Coral with light beige pearlized pigments
• Rio – Bronze with bright pink pearlized pigments
• Lust – Pale pink with cranberry pearlized pigments
• Soft ‘n Gentle (permanent) – Gilded peach bronze
• Gold Deposit (permanent) – Soft reflective golden bronze

Mineralize Blush

• Sweet Samba –Dark pink with tan pearlized pigments
• Exotic Ember – Orange with bronze pearlized pigments
• Simmer- Burnt rose with peach/gold pearlized pigments

Mineralize Eyeshadow

• Dare to Bare – Light cream with gold pearlized pigments
• Carribean –Rose with pink and red pearlized pigments
• Cha-Cha-Cha – Deep blue green with green pearlized pigments
• Time to Tango- Lavendar with silver pearlized pigments
• Bossa Blue – Royal blue with brown pearlized pigments
• Tropica - Silver blue with purple pearlize pigments

Kohl Power Eye Pencil

• Feline – Rich Black
• Orpheus – Intense black with gold pearlized pigments

Brush

• 187 Brush – Duo fibre face brush
• 159 Brush - Duo fibre face brush
• 287 Brush - Duo fibre eyeshadow brush

In Extreme Dimension Lash

• Black

Credit goes to Maneater Makeup

ArtDeco Dita Von Teese Illuminating Baked Powder Review and Swatches

I wasn't going to get this, I swear. I have plenty enough highlighters, I did not need another one. I certainly wasn't going to get this for £30. But then I saw it, swatched it, realised I had £15 on my Debenhams Beauty Reward Card and there was a 10% off event, and somehow this little beauty came home with me.

I have to admit, I don't know much about Dita Von Teese, other than that she always looks glamorous and gorgeous. I also didn't own many Art Deco products (until now), in fact I think I only had 2 or 3 eyeshadow palettes I've never used (they were too pretty). Until recently this brand wasn't easy to come by in the UK, but since Debenhams and BeautyBay started stocking it, I've been paying a lot more attention.

Hopefully you have seen my review of the Glam Deluxe Collection (if not, click here to read it), and there's even more gorgeousness to come, but for now, check out this beautiful highlighter. This is what Mac Lightscapade MSF should've looked like when it was re-released last year (?). The powder is a blend of beige, pink, blue, orange, yellow and mixed together you get a very fine slightly shimmery pastel highlighter. The effect is very similar to Lightscapade, but the powder is even prettier to look at. It also comes in a shiny black compact with a mirror in the lid, something Mac MSFs lack.

The powder is so soft and finely milled, but not powdery, it melts into your skin like butter. You get a whopping 15 g which should last a few lifetimes for £30, although currently you get 10% off at Debenhams. I believe this is a limited edition product, but unlike Mac MSFs, ArtDece seemed to have made plenty as it has been around for a few weeks now and is still in stock. It's really lovely and actually it's not that expensive considering its size, so pick it up while you can!

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!

Lightscapade, Lightscapade, What Has Happened To You?

When I first heard about Lightscapade MSF being repromoted, I was very excited, because as you know, I love my MSFs and my highlighters and Lightscapade is one of my prettiest MSFs. It was first released in 2006 with the Danse collection and I was lucky enough to buy it a couple of years ago for not too crazy money. My old Lightscapade is a mix of pink, blue, yellow, orange and cream, the colours are quite vivid, but still give a very subtle colour making it one of the prettiest highlighters I own. So I was very excited to purchase some back ups when Mac's Fall Collection came out last week.

Unfortunately, it seems that this time around Mac didn't manage to produce the same powder. I ordered 2 from Debenhams online and then went to my local counter to see if I can pick out one with more colourful veining, but as you can see from the picture above, I didn't really succeed. The powder on the top is the one I hand picked and possibly has the most colour, but still is mainly beige and the veining is very pale. I literally looked through several Lightscapades at the counter and they all looked like the ones above. Quite disappointed really.

You can see in the picture below how much more colourful my old Lightscapade is (the one in the top right corner in case you haven't guessed). Fortunately I still have plenty of left of my old Lightscapade and despite the new ones looking quite disappointing, they swatch quite similarly, so the overall highlighting effect isn't that different. I've included a swatch picture at the bottom of the post, so make sure you scroll down all the way.

All in all, I am pretty disappointed not to have been able to buy another pretty colourful Lightscapade, but at least I have managed to pick up some which was already quite a big achievement considering how quickly it had sold out online. All in all, it's still a lovely highlighter and I hope everyone who wanted it managed to pick up one (or two).

See lots more pictures including a swatch picture after the jump!

Laura Geller Baked Marble Eyeshadow/Eye Rimz in Cinnamon Swirl/Mint Chocolate Chip + FOTD

Bit of a mouthful, huh? Anyway, this is my newest Laura Geller baked eyeshadow, it cam out in the same (Vanilla Nudes) collection as the Baked Dreams Cheek Highlighter and Blush I told you about the other day.

What you have hereis basically a baked eyeshadow duo. On the left you get a mixture of autumnal shades: orange, brown and khaki swirled together. On the right you have a very shimmery blackened green eyeshadow that can also be used as a highlighter. I have found that it is best used wet because otherwise it's a bit chalky and the shimmers get lost when applied to the eyelids dry. I used it wet as an eyeliner and it is gorgeous. The left side of the eyeshadow is slightly larger and has good chunks of separate colours, so I managed to pick out the orange and khaki (but there's a nice big brown patch too) to create the look you can see at the bottom of the post. The left side is perfectly good applied dry, in fact I never even tried it wet.

I used my Barbara Daly eyeshadow primer under this and the shadows didn't crease at all and still looked the same 10+ hours later. There was minimal fallout during application, but nothing afterwards. The compact is 1.8 g, so pretty much standard baked eyeshadow size. As it was part of a set, I haven't got a price for this, I don't think it's available to puchase on its own anyway.

Make sure you go all the way down to the bottom of this post as I have a look I've created with this eyeshadow duo which I think turned out really well actually. There are also swatches after the jump.

Blue-Teal Look Featuring Urban Decay 15 Year Anniversary Eyeshadow Collection

Here's another look I created using my new Urban Decay palette, this time it's a bright one. I love blues and teals, so I thought I'd use those. I also added Kiddie Pool eyeshadow (mine is in the Sustainable palette, but it is a permanent single eyeshadow) and Vanilla to highlight. Let me know how you like it!

To create this look I used the following:

Eyes:
Urban Decay Primer Potion (original)
Urban Decay Kiddie Pool eyeshadow (Sustainable palette) inner half of lid
Urban Decay Deep End eyeshadow (15 palette) in outer half of lid, above crease and on lower lashline
Urban Decay Evidence eyeshadow (15 palette) in crease
Urban Decay Vanilla eyeshadow (15 palette) in inner corner and on browbone to highlight
Urban Decay 24/7 eyeliner pencil in Flipside on lower lashline and waterline
Givenchy Phenomen'eyes mascara in Black
Mac Brow Set in Show Off

Face:
Guerlain Lingerie de Peau foundation in 03 Beige Naturel
Mac Magically Cool Liquid Powder in Truth & Light
Mac Goldstone Mineralize Skinfinish

Lips:
Guerlain Automatique lipstick in 140 Mitsuko

See more pictures after the jump!

My Mac Mineralize Skinfinish (MSF) Collection

As promised in my Semi-Precious Mineralize Skinfinish and Blush Swatch post here are some pictures of my entire Mac MSF collection. I believe I own every MSF ever released except for Comfort which really didn't appeal to me in the slightest, it was just too orange for me. Admittedly some of these are actually way too dark for me, but since they are all limited edition, I can't bare the thought of getting rid of them. Some are also too glittery, mainly the older ones like Naked You and Northern Light, but since I have almost every one of them, I might as well keep them now. I know, I'm crazy...

I didn't realise how many I actually had, but with my newest 4 it adds up to 36! Since there's so many, I'm not going to swatch them all this time, but if there are any requests, let me know in the comments and I'll see what I can do.

I do want to highlight the ones that I love and use the most, which are - in no particular order - Light Flush, Lightscapade (which I believe will be re-released in the autumn!), Stereo Rose, Pleasureflush (naturally), Perfect Topping, Petticoat and the newest one, Rose Quartz. These are all lovely highlighters, and on the case of Petticoat, Stereo Rose and Rose Quartz, very nice blushes.

See more detailed pictures of my collection after the jump!

Mac Semi-Precious Mineralize Skinfinish and Blush Swatches

Sorry this has taken me this long, but I finally have the Semi-Precious Mineralize Skinfinish (MSF) and Blush swatches to show you. As you know I have purchased all of the MSFs and 2 blushes, I did skip Pressed Amber as it just seemed a bit too muddy and boring (I'm not that into browns), but to be honest, there is such a variety with the MSFs being 2 colours already, I don't think I'll miss it. I really like the two blushes I got, Feeling Flush is nice girly and pink, and Warmth of Coral is a nice peachy colour (not so much coral though). I love the MSFs, especially Rose Quartz which is a lovely pink with amazing multicolour highlighter in the middle. For pictures of all products, please check out my Semi-Precious haul post as I will not include them in here too.

Also, would you like to see photos of my entire MSF collection? I will try to take pictures in the next few days. I last did it over 2 years ago and I have plenty more now, so it's about time I think!

Anyway, here are the swatches!

Rose Quartz (outer ring, inner ring, mixed), Crystal Pink (outer ring, inner ring, mixed) with flash

See more pictures of swatches after the jump!

Mac Semi-Precious is now online at Debenhams.com!

Yes, you heard it right! Mac Semi-Precious is now up on Debenhams.com! It's due to launch at counters on Thursday, but Debenhams have already put the collection up on their website (Mac hasn't yet got it by the way). So hurry, place your orders and tell me in the comments what you got!

EDIT: Now the collection is also available at Maccosmetics.co.uk!

PS. Fashion Flower is now also available at Debenhams.com and Maccosmetics.co.uk!

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:

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!

Sneak peak: Mac In The Groove collection eyeshadow in Style Influencer

I don't know about you, but I've been majorly excited about the new summer collection by Mac called In The Groove. As I am really into Mac's mineralize products (you can see photos of my Mineralize Skinfinish collection from last summer here) I cannot wait to purchase pretty much everything from this new collection. It's due out on 1st July in the UK, so not long to wait now. Collection details and product pictures can be found here. I was lucky enough to find one of the new eyeshadows on eBay, and I have to say I am very pleased with it. The texture of it is really smooth and buttery, not gritty or chalky at all, which have been the complaint about past mineralize eyeshadows Mac have released. I like all mine, but i have to say these are even better. The shade I bought is Style Influencer which has 3 colours: Satin silver, Pearly deep blue, Satin deep mauve brown (according to Mac), although I'd say the lightest shade is more white than silver, but it does have a silvery sheen. See swatches after the jump (now I've figured out how to do this! yay!)...

Face of the day

After my big Colour Craft haul yesterday, I felt like using some of the products to create my look today. So I used Smooth Merge MSF as a blush and Eclectic Edge lipglass. On my eyes I used RMK eyeshadows in purple and pink to create this purple look. What do you think?

My Colour Craft haul

Everybody is posting about their Colour Craft hauls, so I couldn't be left out either. I was very upset yesterday when I looked on Mac's UK website and there was no sign of Colour Craft. I phoned my local Mac counter and a very confused MA told me that it was going to be out on the 15th. I later looked again on the website among the Mineralized producst and found the MSFs and blushes up already. Called another counter and was told (by a lot more clued up MA) that although it was going live on the website, CC would not be in the stores until Monday (that's the 13th). I then phoned Mac and asked if they were actually sending the orders out before Monday, was told yes, and if I order before noon, I can have it today. So.... I did, and here is what I got:

I didn't get Porcelain Pink as I already own it, but couldn't resist all the lovely MSFs. I also didn't get Style demon blush because I thought it might be too dark, but I will go to the Mac counter on Wednesday to check it out in person. I didn't get any of the lipsticks (will see in person, right now I'm thinking I'll might get Trimming talk and Madly creative), and also didn't get Pretty pattern and Nice mix up lipglasses as I wasn't sure about them, but having seen some swatches, I'm pretty sure I'll get Nice mix up on Wednesday. Not Pretty pattern as it looks too brown and boring to me. I got all 6 eyeshadows and they all look so pretty, can't wait to use them.

Here's a picture and some swatches of the lovely MSFs:

My favourite MSFs are Cheeky Bronze and Smooth Merge, and I also love Porcelain Pink, it's such a gorgeous soft pink colour. Also loving Hand finish and Daft pink blushes, they feel more like mini-MSFs to me, especially Hand finish.

I will also check out the Naked Honey collection on Wednesday, although I'm really only planning on getting the lighter shade of the highlighting powders.

No Colour Craft today :(

Despite being told by the girls at my local Mac counter that Colour Craft was coming out in the UK today, it's not. :( I checked the website this morning and there was no sign of any new collections, so I e-mailed them and was told CC is coming out next Thursday. So yet another week to wait. Very disappointed.

Stereo Rose!!!

I am now the proud owner of a gorgeous, very hard to find, limited edition Stereo Rose MSF. I got it from a lady on MUA and I am so happy I did. To be honest with you, I meainly got it because I collect MSFs and I'd heard that this one is a really lovely one, although I had seen pictures, I never really understood as it looks a bit "dirty" to me. What I mean is that it doesn't have that pretty veining some of the other MSFs like Petticoat and Glissade have, so for a while I wasn't sure I wanted it. But as this was pretty much the only one missing from my collection (as well as a few dark ones like Brunette, Metal Rock, Gold Deposit that don't suit me at all), I gave in and tracked it down. And boy am I glad I did. When I tested it on my hands I couldn't believe my eyes, it is just the most perfect pink I've ever seen! Absolutely gorgeous. So I am very happy I now own it and this brings my collection of MSFs to 22. Until Friday that is, because I was told at my local Mac counter that Colour Craft is out tomorrow (a week earlier than in the US), so I'll be going shopping on Friday and will be buying 5 new MSFs! (I already own a Porcelain Pink MSF.) I will post about my haul later this week as well as update my MSF collection photo if I get the chance. But for now, here's a picture of my lovely new Stereo Rose and a swatch that doesn't quite do it justice, but gives an idea of the colour anyway.

MSF love

I've recently acquired two new MSFs, thanks to some lovely ladies on MUA. My new additions are Shooting Star and Naked You. I'd already had a Naked You, but it arrived broken in the post, so I needed to get a new one. :)

Naked You MSF

Shooting Star MSF

And this is my MSF collection to date. I am still missing Stereo Rose, and I have a couple of back-ups (the broken Naked You, another Light Flush - my favourite MSF) and a New Vegas which I want to swap as I don't use it that much). If anyone out there has a Stereo Rose they don't want, please let me know! :)

Edited to add: My new Soft and Gentle MSF came in the post today (sorry, no picture) and I've managed to buy a Stereo Rose MSF from a lady on MUA, so eagerly awaiting its arrival. I will update my collection picture when it arrives. :)

Pleasureflush - my new addition

Okay, so where shall I start? The reason why I named my blog Pleasureflush is that recently I've had the opportunity to purchase a brand new Pleasureflush MSF (by Mac) and I love it. :) I only got into Mac a year or so ago, I think the first product that caught my eye was the Petticoat MSF, and then there were the Electroflash mineralize eyeshadow duos, and the rest is history. :) I've already had several MSFs (I think I have 18 altogether), mostly thanks to eBay (I am a huge eBay addict) and always heard about how fantastic Pleasureflush was, so when I saw that someone was selling them on eBay, I snatched one up. It cost A LOT (I won't admit how much I spent on it, although nowhere near as much as some people claim it's worth), but it really is lovely. I got a brand new one, so it will last me forever and there is no way I'm using it up anyway! :)

I shall leave you with a couple of pictures of my lovely new Pleasureflush. It is my son's birthday tomorrow and I need to ice his birthday cake and wrap up his birthday presents, so I'm going to be busy for the rest of the evening.

If anyone's reading this, I would really appreciate if you could leave me a comment just so I know I'm not typing all this for the void. :)