MAC chilled on ice versus MAC bare study paint pot

I recently got a few items from MAC's cham pale collection including Chilled on ice paint pot. Chilled on ice is a champagne pink with tons and tons of glitter. The camera is not going to pick up the glitter but it has a good quantity of gold glitter in it.

I love paint pots or eyeshadow basis on general. I love how they keep the shadow on for longer and if you go for colored primers such as paint pots, a few Urban Decay primer potions, benefit liner/cream shadows etc, you can really increase the vibrancy of the shadows. I was really excited to get my hands on chilled on ice. Overall I like it. It has tons of glitter which I'm usually not a fan of but this doesn't have much fall out and truly makes any eyeshadow much more vibrant. In color it's very similar to MAC's permanent paint pot in Bare Study. Bare Study is to the left and Chilled On Ice is to the right.

The color of these two is very similar. They are both a soft champagne color and even the swatch doesn't look very different. Applied on the lid though, Bare study is more fluid like and easier to apply. Chilled on ice's glitter makes it a bit more difficult to work with. In my opinion if you have Bare Study, skip chilled on ice.

Did you or do you plan to get anything from the Cham Pale collection?

Hope you all have had a lovely day.

Eyeshadow of the day -MAC gleam

So I'm sort of really missing summer right now...sure of course I'm on a Christmas mood and love this time of the year and the holidays but I'm a summer baby. Give me sunshine and the beach any time of the day! One of the eyeshadows that makes me think of summer is MAC gleam. It's such a soft pinky gold color. I love these sort of multi-dimensional, multi-color eyeshadows. They look different depending on how the light hit, and anything with gold or yellow gives a glistening effect. I love this shadow. It's a luster and sort of like MAC tempting it looks chalky when swatched but applies great. Here is a swatch of it. Note: this is depoted. I depot all of my mac shadows unless they come with special limited edition packaging. I love this color. It makes me think of spring and summer. Beautiful and it looks very pretty with any chocolate eyeshadow on the crease.

Do you own MAC gleam?

Hope you all have had a lovely week.



MAC Amber Light eyeshadow

I'm an eyeshadow type of girl. I love to play up the eyes and go with a nude lip. I've decided to make some quick posts of some of my favorite shadows and am going to start with MAC amber light. This is a gorgeous color. It's a peachy/goldish brown. It's perfect for blue and green eyes, but I find that this looks beautiful on anyone. It's a frost so it is very shimmery but the texture of this is like butter. It's so soft and it blends wonderful.

Absolutely love this color. Do you own Amber Lights?



November faves

Hello lovelies,
November is over already...I say this every month but this month truly flew by. :) Here are some products I have loved using this month:

1. Starting with face, I've absolutely loved Laura Mercier mineral powder in Real Sand. I love the feel of this powder. It feels much  more luxurious than Bare Minerals. Like any powder, you can get sheer, medium or full coverage depending on how much you want to put on. One of the things I love most about this, is that I do not have to retouch during the day. On me, it lasts all day much like a foundation would. I use Sephora Professionals Mineral Powder brush to apply this powder which is also one of my favorites.
2. Sephora Mineral powder brush. This brush is great for mineral powder. It works similar to a kabuki brush in that it holds product in and distributes it evenly and can really pack it on if you're having a bad skin day. Also per sephora's website, this brush's bristles have undergone a hypoallergenic, nontoxic, antibacterial treatment that helps to keep skin healthy and suits all skin types, even the most sensitive. Both of these are like a cocktail of goodness for my skin. My skin loves them.

2. I love eyeshadow and love to play up the eyes. I'm a very much nude lip kind of girl so the eyes are the feature I love to play up on myself. When I apply others makeup, it's a whole different story.
This month I have used a lot of the NARS Modern love palette. I love this palette. You can create so many different looks using this palette.

On top from left to right there is Alhambra a gorgeous shimmery peach, Jezebel a gorgeous cranberry color (perfect for the holidays) and India song which is a beautiful khaki brown/green.

On the bottom is Tokyo which is a white with a lilac undertone (camera does not pick up the lilac), Habanera which is a gorgeous purple with tons of silver shimmer (this does not have fall out like some of NARS shadows do) and Pandora which is a classic matte black.

3. My favourite lipstick and one that I have worn the most this month is a discontinued MAC lipstick (MAC and their limited editions...GRRR) but one that I love so much. The color is "Style it up" from the Barbie collection. It's a soft nude and a mixture of pink, gold and coral much similar to NARS orgasm gloss. This is perfect for those days when you want to focus on your eyes and you want a soft lip. The colors that have a little bit of gold in them, really soften your lips but also give a gorgeous shine much like gold jewelry does.





These are the products I have loved the most the month of November. What have you enjoyed this month?

I hope you all have had a lovely week.



Loving and missing right now...

Here are some things I'm missing right now..

1. My natural hair color. I've been a blonde for two years now and I recently had a whole lot of low lights put in my hair. I use to love the look of dark color hair on me, but now I sort of don't want the dark or the blonde....craving just my natural hair color. I think I'll drag hubby with me to the hair dresser since he has the exact same color and demand they bring my natural hair color back. =)





2. The beach. I grew up by the beach and I love to live by water. I miss it dearly and can't wait to move back by the ocean. This is a picture I took last time I went to Florida. =) Beautiful

These are some of the things I'm missing and wanting really badly right now. Here are some thing I'm loving and are making me happy =)



1. MAC peachstock lipstick. The perfect nude in my opinion. This gives that nude without the "dead look". Enough said...

2. Urban Decay eyeshadow in half baked. Could I have one more gold eyeshadow? I think I have them all by any brand, but I love gold shadows. These look gorgeous on green and blue eyes. Let me know if you have any gold favourite shadows.



3. Egyptian Magic cream. I just got this last week so I'm sort of rushing on this but I knew the first day I put it on that I loved it. I use this before going to bed and the next morning my skin feel softer than it's ever felt. It's a multi use product but I'm recently only using it on my face.



What are you loving or missing right now?

Hope you all are having a lovely day.



My favorite MAC holiday palette

So I recently trotted along to check the new MAC holiday collection and major disappointment is how I felt about it, which is exactly how I felt about last year's collection. I didn't buy a think from their holiday collection. I know this must be how a lot of people feel because I always find a lot of MAC holiday kits at the CCO. MAC need to step up their game next Christmas...please. =)
There is one MAC holiday palette though that I absolutely love and it was from a couple of Christmas ago. I normally try not to post anything about limited edition items (because what's the point of review something if you guys can't get it) but this palette has a lot of permanent eyeshadow and I will try to post a dupe for each limited edition shadow. I think everyone needs a palette similar to this. You can buy the shadows in pan form, and the small palette on the mac website and create a palette similar to this (minus the very goddy packaging)
What I love the most about this palette is that it has a lot of natural shadows and a good mixture of matte and shimmery colors. It can be easily used to transform your look from day to night. It's perfect for both a daytime and nighttime smokey eye because it has three brownish colors to create a soft smokey daytime look and three gray/black shadows to create a nighttime smokey eye.
The three brown colors are:

• Scant (LE) Scant is your average skintone color, and can be duped by Brule, Bisque or kid depending on your skin tone. Kid will be for the darker skintones. This is your average all over the lid color.
• Satin Taupe (permanent) This is perfect on the crease or all over the lid. It is a very shimmery taupe color.
• Dark Devotion (LE) but any dark matte brown will do. Charcoal Brown and Embark are great but MAC do a lot of brown matte colors.

The three gray and black colors are:

• Gorgeous (LE) which is a light silvery gray. Electra would be a good dupe.
• Ambiance (LE) is a bit of darker gray with silver sparkles. Silver Ring would be a good dupe.
• Carbon which is a dark matte black (permanent) Everyone should own carbon in my opinion, as you should have a little black dress in your wardrobe.

 Here are some pictures of this palette. This is one of the palettes that always travels with me. =)



Hopefully MAC will do another "holy grail" palette next Christmas. What do you guys think about MAC's holiday collection?

Hope you all have a lovely day. 

Jazzing up natural eyes

I love a natural eye especially for an every day office look but sometimes crave a little bit of color. For those days, when I want a natural eye makeup, with an understated amount of color, I always turn to gel eyeliner. One of my all time favorite eyeshadow combinations is MAC retrospeck all over the lid with sable in the outer V. Here is a swatch of retrospeck and sable. If you have green or blue eyes, give retrospeck a go. When you first swatch it, it looks very chunky because it is a luster but on it's absolutely beautiful. It is such a pretty soft golden color. It opens up the eye and gives that wide wake look to the face. You won't regret it. It's gorgeous.

To get the colors to "pop" I have been using Benefits "skinny jeans" as a base. This works brilliant as a base. The shadows do not crease, and it makes them look very vibrant. I plan to get a few more of these because I'm utterly impressed with the couple that I have.

And lastly to give this natural look a pop of color, I have been using MAC fluideline in Waveline. This is such a beautiful royal blue. I use several eyeliner brushes, but 210 works best for this because it gives a very thin line and I only want a little bit of color and nothing dramatic.

What do you use to get a little bit of color to a natural look?
Hope you all have had a great week.

September favourites

Hello lovelies,
I can't believe September is over already. It has flown by. I am so excited to write this monthly favourites because I have loved these products so much and can't wait to share them with you. I have a bit of make up, skin care, hair care and other bits and pieces.

Starting with makeup. September has been all about naturals. I love soft brown  and nude colors in fall. The quad below has some of my favourite eyeshadows and the ones I have worn the most this month (from left to right : Woodwinked, Mulch, Jest and Brule)

Brule is a soft beige color. Perfect for all over the lid to open up the eyes.

Swatch of Brule:

 Jest is a soft peachy color. Beautiful in the tear duck area or all over the lid smoked out with a darker color.
Swatch of Jest:

Mulch is a darker brown/gold color. This is perfect on the outer V with either brule or jest all over the lid. Swatch of Mulch:

Woodwinked is perfect all over the lid or in the otter V with brule or jest all over the lid. It's a metallic bronzy/gold color. Swatch of woodwinked.

 My favourite lip combination this month has been MAC blankety and Stila lipglaze in Vanilla. Stila lipglazes are very sticky so they stay on for a long time. If you do not like sticky lipglosses stay well clear of Stila glazes. Vanilla is the perfect nudy peach and it looks gorgeous on. It's extremely glossy and shiny.

 I have not used any foundation in months now and all I have used on my face have been the MAC mineralized skinfinishes. As you can see to your left I have completely finished my medium plus shade, and since I have lost all of my tan, had to switch to medium light. I have already hit pan on the medium light. I love these.They truly are a "your skin but better" product.

 As far as skincare goes, I have dabbled a little bit on Kate Somerville's products this September but I'm truly an Origins' girl. I love Origins and have used some of their products for years now. They work really well with my skin. Two that have stand out this month are the Checks and Balances face wash and Brighter By Nature serium.
Checks and Balances I have used for a while now and love it so much. This face wash is for combination skin and it cleanses both dry and oily places without cancelling each other out. It has broad leaf kelp extract to help with the oil and wheat protein to balance and protect the dry places. This product is brilliant. It's one of Origins' best sellers. It gets great reviews online and for good reason. This product keeps my skin healthy and happy. I highly recommend trying it. My origins counter always gives out samples, so if anything try a sample of it. If you have combination skin, you will love this product. 

The second skin product that I have loved this month is Origins brighter by nature skin correcting serum. I have used this in cognition with Mederma to help with post acne spots (I had just a few that I wanted gone) and can honestly stay that they have worked miracles on my skin. Love them both.

 My favourite hair product this month has been the Shu Uemura Essence Absolute nourishing and protective oil. I have been using Moroccan oil since the first day I colored my hair back blond and it works beautifully in keeping the hair healthy and soft. In fact I have mentioned Moroccan oil before in my June favourites. However, at the begging of this month I got a hair trim in a saloon that sells Shu Uemura and the hair dresser recommended this oil. This is much more expensive than Moroccan oil. It works beautifully and it gives the hair an extreme and beautiful shine without wheighing it down. My hair was literally glistening the next day. However, it's not that much different from my Moroccan oil. It smells a little better, it feels more luxurious, it's a little lighter and it makes the hair just a tiny bit shinier. All of this things though are small differences for a big price difference.

My favourite book this month has been the new Sophia Kinsella book "Mini Shopholic". I won't say much about this book so i don't spoil for anyone that may be reading it, but I just love Sophia Kinsella as I'm sure may girly girls do. 

These are my monthly favourites. Have you tried any of these products? What were your monthly favorites?

Review of MAC Venomous Villains My Dark Magic Minerlize eyeshadow

You guys know I love MAC but I'm always on the fence about their mineralized eyeshadows. However, I did pick up "My Dark Magic" mainly because it is a purple with a whole lot of black and I love purple eyeshadows. I thought to do a review as it may help some of you that are still deciding what to get from this collection.

Picture of My Dark Magic Mineralized Eyeshadow

 Swatch

 Look at how beautiful these colors are in direct sunshine.

I think this eyeshadow is very pretty. The purple side is gorgeous and the black side has some deep blue/purple veins making it very pretty and unique. This is perfect for a smokey look. However, as all of MAC mineralized eyshadows, this doesn't look as good in the eyes as it does when your swatch it. On the lids this basically looks like a black eyeshadow with a little bit of shimmer. You can keep the shimmer  and the color vibrant like the swatch above if you use fix plus or any other spray (I'm guessing water would work as well). It'll give it that "foiled look". However without fix plus it pretty much looks like a black eyeshadow with a little bit of shimmer.
What do you think of this eyeshadow? Are you getting it?

MAC Venomous Villains Innocence, Beware! lipstic vs MAC myth (Collection is out online)

I should start by saying that I love nude lipstick of any brand and always feel the urge to add one more to my collection so of course I had to pick out the new Innocence, Beware! lipstick from the Venomous Villains collection. This lipstick is a cremesheen lipstick and it's a dream to work with. It's gorgeous on. It's more sheer than most nudes and very easy to apply. I would say this is one of those "wearable" nudes that do not require much effort. This will be perfect for fall and winter with a smokey eye.

Picture of Innocence, Beware! lipstick

And some swatchy goodness:

I thought to compare this lipstick with one of the most popular nudes which is MAC myth. The finish is different with Myth being a satin and Innocence, Beware! being a cremesheen. However the color isn't that different. Innocence, Beware! is the swatch to the left and Myth is to the right.



On the lips these look very very similar. I would say the main difference is that Myth although a satin feels very dry and it's difficult to work with. I always put a balm under Myth whereas I wouldn't have to do that with Innocence, Beware! Innocence, Beware! is also a little bit more sheer and much easier to work with. The color though is very very similar on. Unless you are a die hard nude lipstick lover, you could probably skip this.
What do you think of this lipstick? Must have or skip?

Hope you all had a lovely day.

MAC Venomous Villains De-Vil eyeshadow vs MAC coppering

Hi everyone,
Yesterday I got my hands on De-Vil eyeshadow from the new Venomous Villains collection. This eyeshadow is a veluxe pearl finish which feels buttery soft to the touch. The color is a rich copper with a strong orange undertone. This would be especially pretty on blue and brown eyes but this would work well on any eye color.

Picture of De-Vil eyeshadow.

Swatch of De-Vil eyeshadow

Below is a swatch of Coppering eyeshadow which is a MAC permanent color and De-Vil. Coppering is a rich copper with a red/orange undertone and De-Vil is a copper with an orange undertone. However, they aren't that different.  

As you can see by the swatches these are very similar. They are both the same finish (veluxe pearl). They are both very pigmented, and they are both copper. The difference is the undertone which coppering is more red and De-Vil is more orange so I think with all this collection has to offer, De-Vil can be skipped.
Are you skipping on De-Vil?

My In Between Seasons Color

As the summer is coming to an end, I'm making the transition from the pinks and the corals to the darker colors. I find golds (makeup wise) to be in the perfect in between color during intransitt months when the weather is cooling off but summer isn't quite over. Golds gives the glow of the summer but they can easily be pared with browns and purples to give that fall like look. Here are some golds I have been obsessing over this month:

1. MAC Soft and Gentle MSF. This is a gorgeous gold shimmer highlighter and it's perfect to highlight the cheekbones or on top of blush. Soft and Gentle is the closest dupe for the oh so coveted MAC shimpagne MSF. I love to wear this during this in between weather as it gives the skin such a glow and it makes it stand out when wearing a lot of naturals.

2. MAC Other Wordly blush. While I wear pinks and corals all summer, this is a bit too much for me during summer time. It's so shiney it can be difficult to wear on a hot day. It's perfect now with a very natural eyemakeup and a simple lip as it gives such a beautiful glowy bronze to the cheeks. This is a limited edition item. I love this blush dearly and have not yet found a dupe for it. If you have, please let me know.

3. MAC old gold pigment. Love this pigment. I love this on green eyes, but this would look well on any color eyes. It's a gorgeous gold with a green undertone. So unique and gorgeous. I have been wearing this all over the lid with tons of mascara and out of the door.

4. Origins "You're so golden" lipgloss. I love Origins. It's my "go to" line for skincare products. I love that it uses natural ingredients and that the line offers some organic products. Overall it works well for my skin. I haven't tried too much of their makeup, but I intend to. "You're so golden" has a gorgeous golden undertone, and it gives the lips the look of healthy glowy lips. It smells like peppermint and it's not utterly sticky. If you're into a natural, "no fuss" lip but still want a sexy, glow lip, you should give this a go. As a benefit, you get beautiful lips without any of the bad ingredients.

What is your in between summer and fall color?

Hope you all had a lovely Monday.

MAC Saint Germain versus MAC Of Royalty

Hi lovelies,
I recently got my hands on the new Fabulous Felines (Palace Pedigreed) MAC of Royalty lipstick. At first sight, I thought this is exactly like MAC Saint Germain. Here they are side by side:

They look different on the tube, but they swatch very similar. They are both a blue pink. As finish goes, Saint Germain is Amplified Creme and Of Royalty is a cremesheen. They are both very creamy and very pigmented. Saint Germain has more blue undertones than Of Royalty making Of Royalty a more wearable Saint Germain. I personally wear Saint Germain by simply tapping it on my lips or using a lip brush to sheer it out and then apply either a clear gloss or a yellow pink gloss over it. I wear Saint Germain all the time, and it's one of my favourite pinks. I like Of Royalty but Saint Germain has a little something extra that makes me like it even more.

Do you have Saint Germain or another bold pink lipstick that you love?

Hope you all had an amazing week.