Favorite Spring and Summer Nail Polish!

coming soon....

What's your favorite nail polish to wear on sunny days???

MAC Brave New Bronze

PS. Just wanted to say that I found a way to LOVE this!!! I pair it with my L'Oreal Colour Juice Caramel lipgloss and it's nude perfection!!! :)  Gives me a nude with slight peach undertone nude which is wearable even without heavy eyeshadow! (picture coming soon, sorry for delay)

I know this lipstick is limited edition and you can't find it at any MAC Counters, but try your Cosmetic Company Store or try to swap for it on makeupalley.com (this is where I got my hands on one!). 

MAC Pret-a-Papier: My Loves & Review

ok so my last 2 posts are about this collection, but now I will try to do a better review on some of the products I purchased.

B L U S H

Garb- This has replaced my NYC Sunny bronzer.  It has great lasting power, about 6-8 hours or more. Love to use this for contouring my cheeks.  It's natural and doesn't' make for any harsh lines.  Can be used alone, but I like to pair it with a blush. Also, I used this on my mom who is very pale and it looked great! I highly recommend this if you don't already have a favorite contouring product.  (I don't think this would work on you if you are much darker than me, as I have to pack on the color a bit for it to show up on me.)  If I could afford a backup I would get one, but I think this one will make it to the CCO because it's not getting much love.

Instant Chic- This is a nice muted coral to add to my collection.  This is not bright on the cheeks and gives a nice flush of color.  It's a nice blush to have if you don't have many pinks/corals in your collection, otherwise I'd probably skip this.  I wouldn't get a backup because I'm more into peach blushes.  

*Both blushes can be built up in color and not look cakey.  They look natural.  Downsides: not very pigmented and need dense brush to pick up the color better.

L I P S T I C K S

Dressmaker Dressmaker- (lustre) LOVE THIS! My favorite spring/summer lipstick!  It's a great peachy pink color.  Reminds me of Missy slimshine (which is more orange).  Love to use this with L'Oreal Colour Juice berry Burst lipgloss!  I want a backup... If you already have and love MAC Shy Girl, I'd pass on this.  But, since Shy Girl didn't work for me, I love Dressmaker!!

Made to Order- This gives off a color that is "My Lip But Better" for me.  It's a sheer version of MAC Viva Glam Cyndi.  I like this for natural days so it's nice to have, but nothing to really rave about.  Also, the lasting power on this is much shorter than my other lustre lipsticks.

* Both these lipsticks pair beautifully with the blushes from this collection :)

Chromagraphic pencil-  I'm interested in this and want to try the NC15 one.  I keep hearing that people are loving it for their waterline.  I tried the NC30 pencil and it was too yellow.  I didn't even bother trying the other pencil.  

What are your thoughts on this collection??

LOVE MAC Pret-a-Papier!

Don't misjudge MAC Pret-a-Papier til you TRY it on YOUR FACE!! Seriously, the swatches don't do it any justice! 

hmmm yes I LOVE everything I purchased! I can't RAVE enough about it!! Not too brag, but I just think many people are judging it too quickly and not giving it a shot!  It might not make a BOLD statement, but it's lovely :) .  The blushes have lasted for at least 8 hours because it's still on since I tried it on at the counter! If I could afford backups, I would def get garb because I love to contour and I think it's an appropriate daytime contour that's not like "WHAABAAM, that girl gots contour!" haha  I think I am slightly seeing a muted peach/orange tinge to it at times... I guess that's the GOLDEN SUNTAN color, MAC refers to it as.  Well, this will probably hit my local CCO, since it's not popular yet.., so I can get it discounted when it does. :P  I hope I don't tan too much during the summer, or Garb might not work well on me :/.. But, whatevs! I got plenty of bronzers coming my way that'll be for contour! haha Can you tell I love contouring??? :D

MAC Pret-a-Papier: My First Impressions

Let me first say, I been waiting for this collection for maybe 2 months?? I planned on getting Instant Chic blush, Garb blush, Dressmaker lipstick, and Made to Order lipstick and that's exactly what I bought! Here are my thoughts:

I just went this morning to MAC and bought Instant Chic & Garb blushes and Dressmaker & Made to Order l/s. I tried all of these on at the counter as well as the chromagraphic pencil in NC30? on my waterline. I'm not a fan on the pencil, it was too yellow for me and didn't last on my waterline, plus it looked weird that I used that color to line my waterline, I didn't even bother to try the other pencil, o well. The pencil does apply easily and smoothly, pretty creamy!

Now for the blushes! LOVE! If you are into the NATURAL look. Both these blushes were hard to get a good swatch of and seemed not very pigmented, but before I said forget it, I tried it on with MAC brush 116 which picks up the color better than my finger! Garb works as a great natural contour. I'm medium skin (prolly NC40 on lighter side) with yellow undertones. Took me a bit to get Garb to show up but it's very natural and light so it's nothing obvious. Shows up as a light tan color, no orange tone on me or peach.

INSTANT CHIC swatched powdery/cakey and ehh not pleasing when swatched. But, I didn't want to give up on it, so with same brush I brushed it on my cheeks! It's a nice muted coral pink, doesn't look anything like the swatch on my hand (swatch was lighter). Was not powdery at all on my cheeks.

First picture is me with both blushes on and second picture is with Dressmaker lipstick.

I got 2 l/s: Dressmaker and Made to Order. Both l/s are creamy and pigmented enough to cover my berry pigmented lips. Dressmaker, I guess has a slight orange undertone, but I like to think it's more peach :) , almost similar to Missy slimshine (which has more orange undertone). Made to Order is like MLBB, it brightens my lips.

Also, I tried Fold & Tuck lipglass, which is very pigmented and looked great on the Sales Associate but I wasn't a fan. I'm not a fan of the way MAC lipglasses look on me in general because they really show that they settle into the lines of my lips. But, this is a great color for spring/summer if you like lipglasses!

Coral Crepe paintpot is nice if you are going to use it. I tried it on my lids, but wasn't blown away simply because I rarely wear e/s anyway. I think those with darker skintones won't like the blushes as I don't think they will show up as well.. Garb barely showed on me and I had to pack it on a bit. Hope this helps you all! Let me know if you are convinced! haha :P

and REMEMBER... this collection is more NATURAL! I didn't bother with the eyeshadows because I rarely use them in general and per Temptalia's site, they weren't anything amazing.

PS. Temptalia's site has wonderful swatches and more information! Here's links (click on text):

-pics of products

-blush swatches (when I swatched Garb it looked different from Temptalia..)

-lipstick swatches

- eyeshadow swatches

- lipglasses

- chromagraphic pencils & paintpots

- how she used Coral Crepe paintpot

- her overall review of must-haves

New Found Love

Hii!

I'm soo sleeeeppy!! I'm going to have to do this blog entry tom.. sorry :/  But, to let you in on my new found love...........it is........... MAC Siss lipstick!!  I received it in a swap on makeupalley and to my surprise I'm loving it. It's a great nude for me.  *I'll go into further details and post pictures tomorrow!  

Stay tuned

I'M BAACK...Now... onto business.. 

Note: Click on pictures for larger view

L-R: MAC Jubilee & MAC Siss

Top-Bottom: MAC Jubilee & MAC Siss

I took a picture of both these lipsticks because on my lips they are very similar in color.  This is probably because some of my natural lip color is shown through MAC Siss at times.  From the swatches, MAC Jubilee has a sheen/slight glossy texture whereas Siss has none.  Jubilee is a lustre and Siss is a satin.  Siss can be drying so I moisturize my lips beforehand and I always top this lipstick with a gloss (I'm loving it with L'Oreal Colour Juice Berry Burst).  I wouldn't wear Siss by itself because it's not very attractive that way and it does somewhat look like concealer on my lips.  Once gloss is applied the magic happens! See for yourself!

Siss alone

Siss with gloss :)

I think Siss will be my HG nude lip from MAC!! It's a great nude color because it doesn't completely wash me out or make my face look...dare I say it.. PLAIN!  This lipstick works great with a bronzed look.. I paired it with NYC Sunny bronzer for contour and MAC Cheeky Bronze on cheeks.  Of course it will look great with many other looks like a dark smokey eye or whatever you want a nude lip for!  I think Siss would look great on light medium to dark tan skin! For reference, I'm a medium tan in Bare Essentials and about MAC NC40 (I don't use MAC foundation but last time I went in to try one on that's what they told me). I have naturally berry rose lips with some pink. 

Lastly, the only negative I see with Siss is that I can't quickly apply it on the go or without a mirror.  I apply the lipstick then add gloss with a lip brush, so in my opinion it's a bit high maintenance.  It does settle into my fine lines on my lip :( .  So, when I smile you see lines with the color.... BUT!! I still love it :)  Just gota wear it CONFIDENTLY!  For me, all light colored lipsticks are obvious when they settle into my lines when I smile.. If I have time I would add a nude lipliner to mute out my entire lip color then add the lipstick, this way my fine lines shouldn't be as obvious... IF you don't want to deal with all these extras to get this color on your lips, then get MAC Jubilee! MAC Jubilee is a great on the go lipstick and no need for a mirror!

Siss + gloss + SMILE!

I want to share one other thing which is from my most recent makeupalley swap! I finally got my hands on MAC Brave New Bronze (BNB) lipstick!!! The lipstick everyone raves about for a nude lip!  I love the packaging as does everyone else.  BUT, I'm not sure if this lipstick deserves all the hype it has received...... On me it's definitely not a nude lip!  Not like Siss... It's more of a pink on me. I don't really see any brown undertones.. maybe slight peach color but barely!  Take a look.. 

MAC Brave New Bronze swatch

MAC BNB alone

MAC BNB + L'Oreal Colour Juice Berry Burst

Just showing you the lipstick and my lip combo from above together. :)

Lip combo + NYC Sunny for contour + MAC Warm Soul on cheeks

I will keep MAC Brave New Bronze in my collection though :) .  I'm not too in love with it right now, but I can see it being used this Spring and Summer!  It is the best pink lipstick on me that I have compared to my other pink lipsticks.  It's not too flashy and gives you some color.  If I bought this when the collection came out, I don't think I would have purchased a backup. But, still it's a pretty lipstick!

UPDATE! Blog makeover!

Hi!!

Wow, so it's been a few weeks since I blogged... Sorry! I been busy studying and had to avoid clouding my memory with MAKEUP MAKEUP MAKEUP... But I'm BAACK!! 

As you can see, I'm trying a new background... What do you think?? or should I revert back to the white background?? I tried to find something fun and colorful but I couldn't find anything.  I googled free blog backgrounds and finally came to this.  To see more blog backgrounds from this creator, click the text on the left corner "I love my blog makeover!".

Besides that, I am going to try to blog more often.  I accumulated more makeup so I have more to talk about! Also, I'll try to take clearer pictures, but usually I just find it faster to use my cell phone camera.  I forgot to mention in my previous blogs that you can click on the pictures, which will open it in a separate window and you'll see the picture clearer.  When I post pictures on my blog they may seem unclear because I uploaded them to be somewhat transparent on my page so the colors are not as vivid.  So, please click on the pictures for a better view. :)

My last update is that I have been swapping on makeupalley and so far I'm having all great experiences!! Swapping is trading makeup or other goodies with other members on makeupalley.  I'm loving it and getting kind of addicted.... It's a great way to find limited edition makeup and try to swap for it!  I'm really excited to receive some swap items in the mail this coming week because they are limited edition makeup that came out last year!! I missed out on them because I wasn't into makeup then... But, now I been actively finding who has the makeup I missed out on that I really want to try on makeupalley!  Members post makeup and other goodies that they have up for swap and members also have a wishlist of items they would want. Some are wishlist only whereas others don't mind looking at the swap items you have to see if there's anything that interests them to swap for the item you want!  I'm enjoying it and I even made my first makeupalley friend!!! :)  She is soo sweet and awesome!! 

Ok, well this is it for tonight.  I will post again tomorrow, "My new found loves"!  Stay tuned!