Me and my MAC makeover

So I went and had my first every MAC makeover the other day. I've tried to get one done before but I always wanted it on a Saturday or Friday before a night out, and they get super booked up in advanced!!

The story goes that me and my friend were actually supposed to be in Ibiza this week. But when it comes to organising stuff we both suck big time. Apparently you cannot book holidays 2 days in advance, especially holidays to Ibiza, as they are all sold out. DOH!

So instead we decided to spend a night in a spa hotel. As we had also left this to the last minute (see a pattern emerging?), choices were limited, but I did manage to find a a deal to the K-West spa in London.

(Image)

If you ever are staying in London around the Shepard's Bush area then I would recommend the K-West 100% - not only is it a 5 minute walk from Westfield shopping centre it is also only a 5 minute taxi ride from trendy Notting Hill, and if you love a cocktail, like myself, then Notting Hill is the place to be. In addition to this the spa is pretty fab, tiny, but fab, and has an actual snow room. Yes, an actual room filled with snow. I thought this was amazing and attempted to get many pictures of it, all of which totally failed. Never have I had so much fun in the snow whilst wearing a bikini!

Apparently some people can take pictures in the snow room! (Image)

I got an hours massage thrown in with the package (my friend had the facial) which was really good, and totally relaxing. Treatments are pretty pricey, I guess that's what you expect in London, but there is a huge range, and when you are away you kinda' want to treat yourself anyway!

Anyway, enough plugging for the hotel - I sound like part of there PR team! They're not paying me for this!

After our treatments we hit Westfield, where I had my MAC makeover done.

This is my honest opinon of the makeover, it's a ramble so you can just skip this part and look at the pretty pictures!!

So I got there on time (go me) and waited for the guy to come out, he sat me down, asked where I was going that night and what I was wearing (coral dress). I told him I liked dark brows and eyes and that I wanted to try the new Everhip lipstick. He suggested smokey eyes with a hint of coral and so I kind of let him do his thing. He spent over an hour on my make-up and was so precise with his application!

I decided that didn't want to look the whole way through and so left it till the end to see the result. Honestly when I looked at myself in the mirror I was a bit horrified, I felt I looked really weird - no disrespect to the guy that did my make-up because his blending skills were amazing and his own make-up was flawless. I guess it's just when your used to doing your make-up all the time yourself, it's a bit of a shock to see what someone else does! I think the fact that I didn't go in with any make-up on at all didn't help, therefore the guy had no idea how much make-up I wore on a daily basis (ALOT!) and he didn't actually ask.

Awkwardly he didn't really speak to me the whole time, and I kind of tried to talk but a. felt like he didn't really want to talk to me, and b. found it difficult to start up full blown conversations when I could barely move my face. I kind of got the impression that he thought I was some idiot who knew nothing about make-up, maybe I'm totally wrong and he was just concentrating on his job, like I said I cannot fault him on his make-up skills, and I am a bit of an awkward person to talk to anyway.

Nevertheless here are the results

Pretty amazing blending right? The make-up photographed beautifully and I felt gorgeous and glowy. I loved the conturing and highlighting he did on my face and the lips and eyes complimented each other so well!

I'll be honest though, I added my own false lashes on (really quickly, hence why they are odd and hanging funny!), darkened my brows (like I said, I like dark brows!), added a bit of bronzer and winged my eyeliner out a little bit.

I would totally have another MAC makeover. I may be complaining alot about it but I was actually super happy with the results after my little tweeks! I think if I went again I'd be a bit more specific on what I wanted, maybe keep my make-up on so they had an idea of what products I used and look in the mirror more so I could get an idea of what he did!

I'll go through what I got with my £25 product wise and explain my hair at a later date!

P.s. if you want to know what products he used I can probably hazard a guess!

OVERDONE ALERT - MAC Wonder Women Collection

The problem is when you read so many blogs is that when a new collection comes out you can bet your bottom dollar that everyone will have swatched/reviewed it.

Therefore my post is very pointless, but I still enjoy swatches and new blog posts. So I will stuff the new Wonder Women collection down your throat once more, just in case you haven't seen enough of it!

Basically I like the packaging, I knew I'd be most upset if I didn't purchase anything from it. Nothing massively stood out to me, but I've been needing a new blush and a new lipgloss for a while....

It was by chance that I thought, 'hmmm maybe I'll have a look at the MAC website to see if there is any news on when the new collection drops' - and there it was, good timing! I got all ready to go out to my local MAC (actually not that local, a good 40mins drive) and then decided it would be too dangerous to step foot in MAC for my bank balance so I ordered online. Also, like I blogged about that day, Debenhams online have started doing MAC and were offering a 10% discount, which is amazing considering you never, ever get MAC discounts!

So here are my two products

I must say the packaging is my favourite thing - it has stars on the inside too!

Lipglass in Emancipation and Blush in Amazon Princess

Amazon Princess Blush - Swatches. Top - light section, Middle - dark section, Bottom - mixed 

I really, really wanted Mighty Aphrodite but it was sold out everywhere, and I didn't want to chance going into a MAC and finding both sold out. I almost didn't get this as I was unsure how dark it would be, but I'm pretty pleased I did. It just gives a nice pink blush without being over the top. I needed just a nice everyday blush without any sparkles, although the dark section has a very light shimmer to it. Plus I'm super stoked it has a mirror in! Winner

Lipglass in Emancipation

The size of this Lipglass is absolutely hilarious. I mean what the hell MAC? Why would I need a lipgloss this big? If they wanted to give more product then they could have just made it longer rather than wider. The applicator is huge - I mean look at it on my lip! Still I guess it gives full coverage in one swipe of the lips! Size, aside it is a really nice colour. A neutral pink with a shimmer, the gloss itself lasts 2 hours or so but leaves a lovely shimmer behind which lasted more like 6 hours. Whilst it might not be the most interesting lip colour it is something that I can wear everyday and me confident that it looks good!

So that's it really, too good everyday products from a much hyped collection. I'm glad I joined the hype!

Did you know?

Did you know that.....

• Debenhams online now sell MAC?
• The Wonder Women collection has been released online
• Debenhams are offering 10% off all beauty products.

.......just sayin'

Year of the Brush - February

You can read about my Year of the Brush pledge here!

So the second month in and I've already half failed. I have managed to buy one brush this month, but not the two that I promised at the start of this challange. I'd love to say that it's because I'm being good and saving my money, but it's not. I spent my brush money on a lipgloss. DAMMIT

Next month I'll get back on the wagon (I think) but I still have one brush to show.

Say hello to the 168!

Described as an large angled contour brush for use with application, scupting, shaping and blending with powder products.

It's very soft, perhaps not as large as I would have liked though. Although saying that it does give a very good sculpting line around the cheek bones and is easy to blend in blusher or highlighter. Sadly it's white, which it a error when making a brush MAC! I don't want to have to wash it everyday!

What I like about this brush it the fact that it works really well in building colours up and because it's quite small you can get some really precise contouring going on. I'm defiantly seeing some difference in using this

So should you go buy it?

I don't think it's a brush necessity. It's not a brush that I would use during the day, more for a night out and full face of make-up. In saying that though it does make a difference to my cheekbones! Retailing at £24 it's still pretty pricey. Perhaps not a brush I would say it a must have for a basic brush kit, but if your into contouring then it's pretty darn good.

Confession's Part II

Following on from Friday's Usher extravaganza I stayed up in London for the weekend at my boyfriend's flat.

Now obviously when in London you must spend money, it's an unwritten law. Never mind the fact that I'm up there pretty often!

I guess you could say I was pretty restrained.

We spent Saturday on Tottenham Court Road in all the furniture shops (snooze, this is the kind of things 'grown-ups' do). But luckily for me Tottenham Court Road seems to house the flagship store of Paperchase. Now Paperchase is one of my very favourite shops. I don't need stationary, however I cannot walk past one without going in and buying something I possibly don't need. I just can't help myself, everything has faces drawn on! I love things with faces. Sushi with faces, scribbles with faces, cakes with faces etc.

I mean seriously....look!

Anyway I got this....

Cute, huh? Everybody should love cupcake and cookie. I've been needing a bag like this for a while too!

I also popped into Boots too. Did you know Barry M does a special Boots only colour? Well I didn't, but I do now.

It's a gorgeous pinky purple.

Sorry the lighting is a bit dodgy. It's called Boots limited edition 047 if anyone is interested. I like it and it makes me hopeful for summer!

Saturday night was spent at a restaurant called Tsunami, in the West End. It does gorgeous Japanese food and amazing cocktails. It was mine and my boyfriends 2 year anniversary (collective 'awwww' please! Haha) and as we didn't get to see each other Valentine's day either it was a good excuse for a meal.

Here is a sneaky picture of my boyfriend!

Very lovely night indeed. We went for gelato afterwards in Gelupo in Soho - best gelato ever. Hazelnut and chocolate brownie tastes like bloody Ferrero Rocher - absolutely fabulous.

Image

Sunday saw us taking a trip to Harrods - I needed some new heel bits for my Louboutin's. Accidentally I checked out the new S/S range and fell in love with these babies 

WANT WANT WANT - but cannot have. Boo. I also pawed this matching bag, damn you Christian - why are you doing this too me?

What I did do though, was stumble across MAC. I've said before that when I'm with my boyfriend I always must impulse buy.  I picked up a brush for my Year of The Brush (more blogging about that later) and I was surprised to see they still had some Peacocky bits left. 

I was still pining after Woo Me, unfortunately that was sold out, but En-chantee was another colour I'd liked so I snatched it up as quickly as I could. 

 I'm glad I did, it really gives an impression of fuller lips and although the gloss doesn't last very long the actually colour stays around for a while. I've been wearing it daily since I got it. 

Two items from MAC cost me £40!!!!!! The weekend spending we pretty restrained until MAC sucked me in.  But all in all I had a lovely weekend. 

This post is actually about last weekend, not the one just gone! But still did you all have lovely weekend?

Guilty as charged - MAC Prep+Prime Skin Brightening Serum

Suspected detained on grounds of shiny face offences

Looks innocent, huh?

Well believe me it's not.

I purchase this around a month ago, I vaguely remember hearing something about the Prep+Prime range being good and I never say no to a serum. The word serum makes me think that is doing my skin good and I do enjoy a bit of skin brightening, especially as I cake so much make-up on. It also claims to 'strengthen the skin against UV-related damage, while M∙A∙C Charged Water ensures deep, long-lasting hydration'.

Lovely, I thought, I could do with a new primer. So I purchased. I believe it was around £28, which I think is pretty pricey for 30mls, but then I didn't know the price until I paid. This was partly due to the fact that my wonderful boyfriend had decided it was appropriate to wear a 'hoodie' with the hood up to a shopping trip around Covent Garden. Which meant that I was not only dragging my boyfriend around MAC but the security guard (who obviously did not like people in 'hoodies' being in his shop) was also trailing around after us. My own little entourage......ay? Neither were very helpful though, haha. Which is probably why I came out with this bloody thing!

Once I got my new little purchase home I decided that being small and expensive I would only use it for special occasions, which for me counts as any day that I'm not actually at work.

So fast forward to the first day I wasn't at work and me therefore using the serum.

The serum is a milky colour - as you can kind of see in the above picture. It's quite wet to touch but goes on easily and dries quickly, it don't think that it feels particularly smooth on, but it is very lightweight and smells nice. On bare skin I find that to me this makes absolutely no difference at all. But I was still hopeful for its brightening  power under my make up.

The results? Utter rubbish....

This only really dawned on my yesterday, but I've being noticing that for a while I've been getting a very shiny forehead, like really, really greasy looking. I didn't really think much of it and just presumed that it was down to my working hard or me being hot, plus I only noticed when I got home and by that point it didn't matter anyway. The serum doesn't make any difference under make-up at first.

However, yesterday I had a study day at work, I've started a new course and it basically meant me sitting in a lecture theatre for 6 hours. Taxing on the mind, not so much on the body though (or the forehead, to be precise) so why when I got home did my forehead look like it had a done a marathon, a sweaty, sweaty, marathon? Because, do you know what? The day before I worked a 14 and 1/2 hour shift, I work a job that's pretty active I guess, but when I got home my face and forehead was shine free.

The penny dropped, I don't use my serum for work, but I did use it for the study day. And do you know what? All those days I've been getting a sweaty spam head, I seem to remember using my Skin Brightening Serum. So I'm pretty sure I've found the culprit.

Maybe it's me? Maybe you've used the stuff and loved it. Maybe it looks lovely on clear skin, and maybe it is protecting me from evil UV rays.

But personally? So sorry MAC, I still love you, but you can keep your Skin Brightening Serum

OOTD and Peacocky

I went shopping today and this was my outfit

Jumper - Topshop 
Jeans - Topshop 
Shoes - River Island
Hat - Miss Selfridge
Mulberry Bayswater

Comfy and warm (by my standards). Except these jeans and jumper love each other. I find that black jeans cling onto fluff like crazy and this jumper gives off said fluff like nobodies business. I wish they wouldn't involve me in there love affair!

The red hat was an attempt to 'pull' the whole outfit together as the shoes a 'off' red, it looks a bit stark in the photos though.

Charm bracelet - vintage (with some newer charms)
Necklace & ring - River Island

Oh and I tried to do marbled effect on my nails, needless to say it was not successful! I've got the basic idea now, so I'll try again soon. Actually quite a few people did comment on my nails though, probably as they didn't look up close (ha!)

Whilst I was out I went into MAC and tried there new Peacocky collection.

I'm not going to go into details about it because you've probably read about it on other blogs or seen it for yourself. I wasn't really interested in the shadows as I'm not massively into metallics, but I made a bee-line for the new 'Kissable lipcolour' - said to be the consistency of a lip gloss but the colour payoff of a lipstick. The colour selection is impressive but only Woo Me and Enchantee stood out, I tried them both but found the consistency slightly chalky.

Enchantee & Woo Me (Image - http://www.xsparkage.com)

I left them both on the shelf as I didn't really think they were that 'wow'. But I did test them out! I got around 3-4 hours of colour from Enchantee which isn't bad but the gloss went pretty quickly. I am a little upset I didn't get Woo Me, the colour is pretty lovely and it's already sold out online, but I was being ruthless. Boo hoo. 

Thank godness we stopped off a Cadbury's Cocoa House then. I drowned my sorrows in a banana milkshake and a flake.

YUM!

Good day lovely people?

FOTD - Cinema trip

I went to the cinema in the week with a friend. We went to see Love & Other Drugs with Anne Hathaway and Jake Gyllenhaal in. I've wanted to see it since I saw the trailer. It was really, really, bad, so cheesy and lame. Not a recommendation from me at all!

But I decided to do my eyes and make-up a bit funky. I couldn't be bothered to take my make-up off from during the day, so just piled it on over the top. It's not very good but it's a try so here we go.

 Without flash

With flash.

Eyes

UDPP
UD Naked Palette - Sin & Toasted
MAC eyeshawdow - Jest
Lancome eyeliner
UD Glide on eye pencil in Whisky
Benefit Badgirl mascara

Lips

MAC amplified in Full Fuchsia

Really bad. But I never use brown eyeliner so I thought I'd show it off.

Year of the Brush - January

Welcome to my first month of my Year of the Brush!

Obviously I start the brush buying with the two brushes I wanted the most. The 187 and the 210

187 - Large duo-fibre brush

Ah the 187, my saviour! I've used this for stippling my foundation, it gives me a really smooth coverage. I particularly find it fab for layering up my foundation. Generally I'll apply a thin layer of foundation all over using my finger tips then use this brush with extra product over areas that are a little bit spotty or red. Works a treat as it doesn't give a streaky appearance like some flat foundation brushes

So should you go buy it?

If your skin is anything like mine (spotty, scarred, uneven) then a big fat YES. If you need a good coverage then it is fabulous at layering up foundation and gives a flawless finish. If you have pretty good skin already and just use foundation as an enhancement then I'd say it's not really necessary, finger tips or a cheaper version will suffice. It is one of the most expensive MAC brushes, but for me its worth it. Cheaper alternatives? Try Sigma F50,  ELF studio stipple brush or Crowns C406

210 - precision eyeliner

The 210 is described by MAC as a 'precision eyeliner' which I'd defiantly say was true. I'm a big fan of gel eyeliner and have previously been using the 209 brush, which is slightly bigger but it wasn't really cutting it in the inner corners of my eyes. The 210 brush gives a thin neat line all over the eyelid and a perfect thin flick at the out corner. Great for everyday eyeliner-ing! I still have a place in my heart for the 209 though, as it gives a thicker 'flick' which I love for a night out.

So should you go buy it?

If you use gel or cream eyeliner then, yes, no question. You'd be hard pushed to find a better alternative on the market.

Already planning my next month brush buys!

2011 - Year of the Brush

"An artist's best asset is her tools"

Unknown

That's why this year I've decided to make it my year of the brush. 

The idea is to replace my half decent but old/mostly naff brush collection with shiny new MAC brushes. As much as I love new brush, I would much rather buy a lovely lip gloss or eyeshadow from MAC, so this year I've decided to buy two MAC brushes a month, and stick to it!

I've chosen MAC because I feel they are the best. Yes, Sigma are good and I would be pretty happy with a full collection but MAC are the real McCoy! 

I already have three MAC brushes, the 188, 242 and 209

It may not be the most exciting thing for you guys to see through the year. But 24 brushes equal 24 reviews and I hope it might help you too! I chose to do it over a year because MAC brushes are pretty pricey and my other resolution this year was to pay off my overdraft and start saving some money up!

This Can Only Mean One Thing Girls.....

 

MAC spree!

My sister was away for Christmas this year, but made up for it on her return, by presenting me with this MAC gift card!

Consolation MAC

After being so horribly upset about not getting my hands on a Pink Friday lipstick last Friday. I felt the only was to console myself would be to buy a different MAC lipstick.

I decided that I wanted a coral lipstick, the 'coral' that I got from MAC a few months back is not orange enough for me and is more of a pink coral - it's Costa Chic by the way and it's swatched below. I had originally tried to get the Maybelline colour sensation in Coral Fever, but it was all sold out and my previous experiences of Maybelline lipsticks haven't been that great, so the empty shelve didn't bother me too much, I'd just have to take a trip to MAC instead.

What.A.Shame. Teehehe!

I was actually quite disappointed by the choice of MAC coral lipsticks, nothing really stood out. I even hunted around the lipglass and cremesheen stand a while too, until I plumped for Vegas Volt, it's an amplified colour and I was a little bit hesitant to how bright it would be on.

Initially, when I got it home, I was like OMG it's too similar to Costa Chic! Wahhhh, too pink! But I then swatched them together below and the difference is clear. I also thought it was a bit like Victoria - but clearly my eye is way off!

(L-R) Victoria, Costa Chic, Vegas Volt (all MAC)

My lips are naturally quite red, which I hate because it screws up all my lipsticks!

But here it is on.....


I could only get a picture with the flash on, so it looks nothing like the swatch. So it's all pretty pointless, but I thought it looked cute in the picture.

On this note, I'd love to do more posts about make-up but my camera skills are so shocking I'm finding it hard to get any decent picture of my face, my lighting is way off too. So bare with me, I'll ask for a photography book for Christmas!