April Favourites ♥

Hello lovelies!~ I know this is sort of late >_< but I wanted to share with you the things I've been loving for the month of April! ^-^



Blushes/Bronzer

MAC Immortal Flower, Illamasqua Katie, MAC Refined Golden Bronzer
I've featured Immortal Flower and Katie on my blog before but seriously I've been wearing these two blushes non-stop all month long. Immortal flower is limited edition but Illamasqua's Katie is permanent! I highly recommend you guys to check it out, it's the prettiest baby pink and it just gives your cheeks such a cute glow! I like that it's matte but you can always add a shimmery highlight on top. Super pigmented as well, you need very little on your brush and blends out really nicely. I want to try out the other blushes from Illamasqua, they've got some high quality products! I'm pretty sure Mac's Refined Golden Bronzer is permanent. I've been starting to wear bronzer lately as the weather's been getting really sunny. It's a warm toned brown with some shimmer but the shimmer doesn't really show up that much on the skin. It's nice but I find I have to use a light hand or it can look really dark and orangey on my skin. I like to use this with Katie blush, they look really nice paired together. I'm actually on the look out for a good bronzer, any recommendations? The new Dior bronzers they have out in their summer collecton look promising!


Naruko Narcissus Total Defense Hydrating & Firming Gel

This has been my main moisturizer for about 4-5 months. I've been using it day and night. I have to say, I've been really enjoying this! It's a great light gel moisturizer that doesn't irritate or make my skin break out. I'm actually almost done my jar so I'm going to be doing a review on this that will be up most likely early next week if your interested ^-^.


Etude House Happy Tea Time Peach Tea Cleansing Foam

Etude House always has the cutest packaging ever ^-^. I've been using this foam cleanser for about 2 months now. I love peaches and anything peach scented! The peach scent on this isn't bad but not the best I've smelt. This cleanser leaves my skin feeling super clean. I'll also be doing a review on this as well and that'll be up early next week for those of you who are interested! They've got a couple other tea cleansers in this line that I want to try out. I purchased mine from Gmarket.


Nail Polishes

Essie Play Date, Nicole by OPI "Baby" Blue
These two colors were my favourite among the other polishes I wore in the month of April. Essie's Play Date is absolutely beautiful! It's bright and super flattering on the nails and toes. Really opaque, you only need two coats for perfect coverage. Really recommended! "Baby" Blue is a pretty baby blue lol. They pretty much described it spot on. This one is opaque as well, two coats will give you perfect coverage. Don't mind my chipped nail polish, it was time to take it off but I wanted to show you guys how it looked on the nails ^-^. Received lots of compliments while wearing these colors. Recommended! "Baby" Blue should be available at your local drugstores and Play Date should also be available at local salons or nail supply stores.


MAC Bare Study Paint Pot

I've been really enjoying this paint pot! It's a shimmery champagne that works as a great all over the lid color. Super easy to wear and you don't need to use a primer. You can use a brush but I find it better just applying it to the lids with my fingers. I've just been wearing this all over the lid and then eyeliner for a really simple clean look. Great for if your on the go or on your lazy days ^-^. It is pretty shimmery though so if your not into shimmery eyeshadow, this may not be your thing. If you haven't tried MAC paintpots before, try them out!


Lipsticks/Lipglosses

MAC Frankly Fresh, MAC Watch Me Shimmer, MAC Ever Hip, Revlon Cherry Tart, Revlon Red Velvet, Dior Addict Ultra Gloss Negligee Pink 256, Dior Addict Singuliere 465


MAC Frankly Fresh - A pretty nude shade with with very fine silver shimmer/sheen to it. It's a very wearable color. I like to just wear this by itself or over an overly pale nude lipstick to give it a bit more color. Good everyday lipgloss.


MAC Watch Me Simmer - A bright coral. I've already talked about this lipstick before so I won't go into to much detail. It's such a pretty color and I feel happy when wearing it ^-^. It was released with the Shop Cook collection and then was re-released again recently. I hope you guys were able to get your hands on it!


Ever Hip - A beautiful coral pink! One of my favourite coral peachy pinks to wear. I purchased mine when it originally came out in the Liberty of London collection. I`m glad I still have a good chunk of it left. I don`t wear it much during the fall or winter but I love wearing it during the spring and summer! I think it`s such a flattering shade on all skin tones. If I remember correctly, it did get re-released recently. It`s such a popular shade that I`m pretty sure MAC will relaunch it again sooner or later.


Dior Addict Ultra Gloss Negligee Pink 256 - A soft cream pink. This is actually the first and only Dior gloss I own at the moment. I love their lipgloss formula, it applies and feels smooth on the lip, and isn`t sticky. I think most of the shades in this line have tiny shimmers but this one is a cream finish, which I like. It looks nice on its own but looks great over pink lipsticks. If your looking for a neutral pink gloss I`d recommend this shade! I`m excited to try more colors from this line =)


Dior Addict Lipstick Singuliere 465 - An adorable creamsicle pink! One of my all-time favourite lipsticks ever! It looks like a really bright intense pink in the tube but when swatched, it`s actually the most cutest baby pink ever! What`s also neat about this lipstick is that you can layer to build up the color to almost the same shade as in the tube. The formula is excellent, it applies super smoothly to the lips and it feels moisturizing, not drying at all. I actually don`t mind sheer lipsticks as long as the formula is great and the color can be built up. If your looking for a super pigmented lipstick from the get go, then this might not appeal to you. It`s a cream finish. It just makes your lips look really cute, moist, and lush =). Refer to the swatches below to get an idea of what I mean!

Swatches

Dior Singuliere, Dior Negligee Pink, Revlon Red Velvet, Revlon Cherry Tart, MAC Ever Hip, MAC Watch Me Simmer, Mac Frankly Fresh


Arm Candy

I`ve been really into stacking bracelets lately. These are a few I`ve been enjoying wearing together this month! The white pyramid bracelet along with the beaded charm bracelets are all from H&M. The blue bangles are from F21.


EOS Lip Balm

This has been my go to lip balm as of late. When I first bought this, I wasn`t too fond of it to be honest. However, as I began to use it more and more, I grew to love it! ^^! Mine is in the scent Summer Fruit but I really want to try it in the baby pink flavor (I think it`s strawberry). Sadly, I haven`t seen that one anywhere near me.


I hope you enjoyed my April favourites! I promise to post my May favourites on time ^^! I have some reviews and other goods coming up so stay tuned!
Till next time,
♥
Mary

MAC Tres Cheek Collection + Chen Man Collection Swatches

Hello lovelies! ^-^ I've got a quick review and swatches on some of the MAC collections that came out recently: Mac Tres Cheek and MAC Chen Man. I just picked up a couple of products from each collection. The newest MAC collectin coming out this Thursday is the Fashion Sets, where the most popular lipstick colors will be available in limited edition lipglasses and nail polishes. I don't think I'm going to be purchasing anything, I need to save up for MAC's Hey Sailor collection coming out later this month! Super excited about that ^-^. On to the swatches and review!


MAC Tres Cheek Collection Blushes

(L-R:) Immortal Flower, Peony Petal

Immortal Flower is a light peach in a satin finish. I seriously love this color!! I actually don't have any shade like this in my collection. It's a straight up peach, no coral or pink hues to it. This blush is actually deceiving. When I first swatched it on my hand at the MAC store, it was really sheer and honestly didn't look like anything special, but when I applied it to my cheeks, I fell in love! It gives you the most lovely warm peach flush, super flattering! It shows up much better on the cheeks than it does when you swatch it. It blends really nicely and you can easily build up the color. If this is still available at your nearest counter, pick one up! I feel this blush would be super flattering on fair skintones. ^-^
Peony Petal is a cool blue-based pink in a satin finish. This one is really pigmented. It's a really pretty barbie pink but it looks pretty dupable, I feel I have a couple of blushes that are similar. I'm pretty pale so I had to use a light hand when applying the blush but I think this shade would work across all skintones. If your looking for a pretty barbie pink blush then I would check it out if it's still available at your counters. If you already own a lot of bright cool toned pinks then I don't think it's a must have, as you may already own something very similar.


Swatches








MAC Chen Man Collection

(L-R): Budding Love lipstick, Force of Love lipglass



Budding Love is a light lilac pink in a lustre finish. A really cute girly color. I find most lilac/lavender colors hard to pull off but this one works because it's more of a pink with lilac undertones. It's sheer at first but you can build up the pigmentation easily by applying more layers.


Force of Love is a bright warm pink with silver shimmer. It's so pigmented that I can easily wear it alone. The color is gorgeous and would look lovely in the summer. It's a shade that I think would look good across all skintones.


Swatches



I hoped you enjoyed the swatches + reviews ^-^. Next up will be a review on April's Topbox, a monthly beauty box subscription available in Canada.
Till next time,
♥
Mary

MAC Warehouse Sale (March 2012) Haul

Bonjour lovelies♥! I've missed you guys!! ^-^ My apologies for the lack of updates, I have really missed blogging and will try posting on a more regular basis! I hope everyone's been well ^-^!

Last month I attended the MAC/Estee Lauder warehouse sale held in Markham, Ontario. They have these sales four times a year (September, December, March, June) in Canada. I believe they have it in one of the states in the U.S. It's basically a Estee Lauder warehouse sale where they sell brands such as MAC, Bobbi Brown, Origins, DKNY, Clinique, etc., for a discounted price (usually at least 40-60% off). The tickets are hard to get, as it is a private sale available to Estee Lauder company employees and certain other affiliated companies. They receive the tickets and then give them to family and friends, so if you don't know someone who works for Estee Lauder then it's pretty hard to get tickets for free. You can buy them online on Ebay, Kijiji, etc.

I've been to the sale a handful of times and usually I've had to buy tickets. Luckily this time a friend was kind enough to give me a pair of tickets because she wasn't going to attend. The sale goes on for 3 days (fri, sat, sun) and I went on a Saturday. My friend and I got there around the time the doors opened and there was a pretty big line to get in. I'll give a quick rundown on some of the prices (all MAC items): lipsticks were $10 each, eyeshadow/pigments were either $9 or $12 each, blushes/powders were I believe either $12 or $15, foundation/concealers were $9, and there was a $4 section with lashes, eyeshadow pans, and some other mini items. There are a lot more things but I can't remember the prices off by heart, sorry!

I didn't get as much stuff as I have previous months. I feel like the prices increase every sale (lipstick/glosses used to be 2 for $10!!) but the products are still significantly cheaper than retail price. I did get some things I really needed as well as some products I've always wanted to try ^-^.


MAC Complete Comfort Cream - $20 (reg. $38.50CA)

MAC describes this as: "A moisturizer formulated to instantly rehydrate the skin and provide immediate and ongoing relief from redness and irritation. Ultra-creamy, provides high-comfort wear while providing sensitive skin with the soothing benefits associated with its calming plant-and marine-based formula"

I ran out of moisturizer and desperately needed a new one! I've been using the MAC moisturelush creme, which I love, but is sadly discontinued :(. Since I loved the moisturelush, I figured I'd give this comfort creme a try. The texture is really soft and creamy, and it doesn't feel sticky on the skin. It seems to absorb into the skin quickly. It has a nice, very light fresh scent. I have dry skin and this creme is on the thicker side, so I think it would be suited best for those with normal to dry skin. I'll let you know what I think about it once I try it out. The moisturelush never broke me out so lets hope this doesn't either! ^-^


MAC Lightful Softening Lotion - $20 (reg. $36CA)

Mac describes this as: "Infused with the active high power impact of our Marine-Bright complex, this softening lotion conditions the skin for a smoother, more radiant look and feel. Impact increases over time"

This is an interesting product because it looks like a toner but is suppose to be a lotion. It also has a light fresh scent. I'll have to try this one out before letting you guys know how I feel about it.


MAC Paintpot in Bare Study - $12 (reg. $21CA)

I've always wanted to try this paintpot (along with painterly and soft ochre)! It's a really pretty shimmery champagne color. I've been using it and I like to pop it in the inner corners for some brightness and also just as a sheer wash of color on the lids ^-^.


Mac Eyeshadow Pans in Satin Taupe and Naked Lunch - $4 each (reg. $14CA)


Satin taupe! Need I say more? lol. Yes it's sad but true... I've never owned the infamous satin taupe till now. It's such a pretty smoky taupe color that is so versatile. I'm in love <3. I'm so happy I got it for only 4 bucks ^____^! Naked lunch is a really sheer nude champagne shade. It's pretty but I wish it was more pigmented. I find it works to use it as a inner corner highlight color.




Before you leave the sale, there's a section next to the exit where they sell $5 charity bags. The charity bags are basically goodie bags for $5 each filled with different MAC products! They're all full sized products, which is amazing! The proceeds go to charity which is also awesome ^-^. They usually have different bags and the max you can spend is $20. This year they were selling the MAC ornament packs of cremesheens/lipglasses and crushed metallic pigment stacks from this past holiday collection. $5 each for each of these ornaments is amazing! I only got 2, I regret not getting all the ornaments for $20 >_

Dazzlesphere! Pink Ornament Dazzleglasses/Cremesheen Glasses - $5

(T-B): Rags to Riches, Like Venus, Fashion Scoop, Petite Indulgence

Rags to Riches Dazzleglass is a sheer pink that leans slightly mauve with multicolored sparkles. It's very pretty and sparkly, and I think it looks better layered with another lipstick. The one thing I'm not too fond of is the formula. Dazzleglasses tend to be really sticky.

Like Venus Dazzleglass is a sheer cool toned, blue based pink with silver and pink sparkles. Also very pretty, I think it would look great over pink lipsticks.

Fashion Scoop Cremesheen Glass is a milky baby pink with some silver shimmer. Really cute, I love these baby pink shades. Cremesheen glasses are one of my favourite lipglosses from MAC. I love the formula and it's not as sticky as dazzleglasses or regular mac lipglasses. Mind you, cremesheens are generally pretty sheer so if your not into sheer glosses, they might not be your thing. Personally I don't mind the sheerness of cremesheens and I quite like the feel and and look of them on my lips ^-^

Petite Indulgence Cremesheen Glass is a bright fuchsia pink. It's a cream finish with no sparkle. It's the most pigmented of the bunch and you can probably wear this on its own. A really fun, girly color ^-^


Swatches




Dazzlesphere! Smoky Berry Ornament Crushed Metallic Pigment Stacks - $5

(L-R): Spicy Smoke, Roasted Chestnut, Pearl, Rose Light

Spicy Smoke is a rich cranberry red. This shade is beautiful and actually reminds me of red velvet cake ^-^ YUM! These crushed metallic pigments are awesome, all of them are super pigmented!

Roasted Chestnut is a rich chocolate brown. Why does this remind me of chocolate brownies?

Pearl is a shimmery champagne off-white with a slight pink tinge. I think this would be a great color on the inner corners and on the lower water line for a pop of brightness.

Rose Lightis a beautiful rosy pink. So pretty and girly, makes me think of crushed fairy dust ^-^


Swatches




Before you exit the sale, you hand in your ticket to the guards and they give you a free gift. We got a pair of lashes. These ones are the #42 lashes. I've gotten eyeshadows, nail polishes, and even a full size msf during previous sales.



Overall, if you are able to get your hands on some tickets, I'd recommend you guys to check out the sale! Although prices have gone up, they're still very much discounted than retail price. It's also a fun experience for those who have never gone before ^-^. If I'm able to attend the next sale (June), I may purchase some goodies for future giveaways ^-^! I hope you enjoyed this haul!
till next time,
♥
Mary