Friday 7 February 2014

MAC Phlox Garden & Sassy Moss Fluidlines!

So today my little black box finally arrived! For those of you who may not know, MAC ships orders in black boxes so when you see your box you know exactly who it's from. As you may recall in my MAC A Fantasy of Flowers post , I purchased both the limited edition fluidlines, Phlox Garden and Sassy Moss!

Before I review i've added a fun pictorial of the unboxing!

My Black Box is here!
On Opening!
Removed the first layer of black tissue!

Lifted off the second layer to reveal both fludlines!





I'll share my first thoughts and opinions on them below.


 MAC PHLOX GARDEN FLUIDLINE





I've been lusting after this fluidline from the moment  I first saw pictures of it late last year. The fluidline is a purple fuschia colour with an almost plum undertone. It's definitely unique compared to anything in my collection. It has a matte finish and it goes on smoothly and opaquely.


MAC SASSY MOSS FLUIDLINE







Sassy Moss is a beautiful bright green almost teal looking colour with a shimmery finish. Despite this it goes on really well though not as smoothly as Phlox Garden! I can't believe I almost skipped this colour because I may actually love this one even more than Phlox Garden.







Pic with flash!



It's been about 6 hours since i've swatched these and they are holding up pretty well. I've washed my hand at least three times and they've only just faded slightly. The wear time seems to be pretty good. If you love your fluidlines then you'll def love these as well! I won't hesitate to recommend these to anyone!

Leave me any of your thoughts and comments below! xx

Monday 3 February 2014

MAC A Fantasy of Flowers (Spring 2014 Collection)

Since late last year there were pictures of a beautiful pink/purple fluidline floating around called Phlox Garden which I knew HAD HAD HAD to be mine.


I really love MAC's fluidlines and for whatever reason every time a limited edition colour comes out I feel the serious need to purchase it. However, this year I'm trying to be smarter about my makeup purchases so I was able to skip some that came out with the Magnetic Nude collection.


Anyway, back to the topic at hand!



A Fantasy of Flowers



MAC Promo Image

MAC Promo Image


This collection is currently available online at MAC. It went up on Wednesday night and I was able to place my order of the two fluidlines which I will review for you as soon as they are shipped to me. This collection is scheduled to be released in MAC stores in the US on February 6th 2014 but although the International release date is carded for March 2014 i'm not sure if or when we'll be getting this here in Trinidad. 

This collection has a garden/floral theme appropriate for those of you in the US with a spring season. Here in Trinidad we don't have four seasons so I maintain that we can wear the colours we wish to whenever we want. 

The colours are all limited edition and many reviews and swatches can be found online. I encourage you to google the products and check out the reviews so you can familiarise yourself with the collection to be able to snag what you want when the collection is released locally or online at MAC and retailers such as Nordstrom.

This is MAC's big Spring collection and most of the products are limited edition as is usually the case.


Lipstick ($16US as of February 1st when MAC does their first annual price release)




All shades are the in the Lustre finish. From left:

  • Fleur d’Coral (pale creamy peach)
  • Naked Bud (neutral nude)
  • Dreaming Dahlia (sheer red coral)
  • Rose Lily (sheer pastel pink)
  • Snapdragon (midtone blue-based pink)
  • Heavenly Hybrid (midtone berry)



Cremesheen Glass ($21 with price change)


From left:

  • Nectarsweet (soft pink peach)
  • Flare of Fantasy (midtone pinky beige)
  • Pagoda (frosted cool pink; repromo)
  • Playful Petal (magenta)
  • Star Quality (bright orange-coral; repromo)
  • Galaxy Rose (midtone violety pink)



Mineralize Eyeshadow ($22)



These shadows were actually released in Asia only back in 2013 and are as follows from left:

  • In the Meadow (shimmering white, pale yellow, dirty olive green, yellowed mint)
  • Pink Sensibilities (pinky brown, icy blue-based pink, chocolate brown, yellow-based pink)
  • Golden Hours (golden brown, pale yellow gold, copper bronze, soft golden peach)
  • Great Beyond (deep blue-violet, icy white lilac, dirty plum, soft mauve)



Mineralize Skinfinish ($31) 



From left:

  • Perfect Topping (pearly pale pink) (repromote although review suggest that they aren't the same as original releases)
  • Stereo Rose (coppery bronze)(reprobate where again there seems to be changes from original release)


Mineralize Blush ($27) 



From left:

  • Azalea in the Afternoon (medium cool pink) 
  • Petal Power (coral pink with gold shimmer)


Pigment ($22)

 From left:

  • Lily White (buttery yellow with shimmer)
  • Chartreuse Bouquet (acid green with shimmer)
  • Pink Pearl (lavender-pink with shimmer; permanent)
  • Violet (purple; permanent)


Fluidline ($17)  LOVE LOVE LOVE



From left:
  • Phlox Garden (shimmery violet) 
  • Sassy Moss (shimmery bright green)


Nail Lacquer ($16)


From left:

  • Girl Trouble (glittery pink) (permanent)
  • Pep Pep Pep (pale peachy nude) (repromote)
  • Saint Germain (light cool pink) (permanent)
  • Soiree (sparkly bronze gold (repromote)

Other




From left:


  • Haute & Naughty Lash Mascara ($22)
  • 286 Duo Fibre Tapered Blending Brush ($33)
  • 159 Duo Fibre Blush Brush ($36)
  • 187 Duo Fibre Face Brush ($43)

Let me know what you guys got or are interested in! I'll be sure to update once I find out the release info for Trinidad!

Sunday 2 February 2014

Nailpolish Quickie: Orly Coachella Dweller

As any beauty obsessed person knows, the obsessions extends to all things  beauty related! My nail polish collection is rather large so I thought i'd share some colours with you. Maybe everytime I do a colour change i'll pop on here and do a mini review with some pics. What do you guys think of that idea?

Orly Coachella Dweller







I picked this up last year at Wonderful World for $43 TT. It's not from the permanent Orly range but was in fact from the Orly Spring 2013 Freedom Collection. Of course in Trinidad we rarely get products simultaneously with their US release dates so I picked this up around September or so. I was having a pastel phase or moment and so the pale pastel green creme polish was right up my alley. The shade is pastel green yet it's still a bit bright, maybe muted green might be a better description...ughh I suck at colour descriptions. Additionally the name "Coachella Dweller" only added to my attraction to this polish because I love the boho-hippie vibes associated with the well known Coachella Music Festival.

The colour applies relatively well for a creme shade. Two coats of this polish will give you just about the right coverage. The colour is not too thick so that it becomes goopy when trying to apply a second coat which is always a plus. However you do have to apply carefully to ensure that there is no streaking. IMO the brush head needed to be wider for a posh of this formula.  I'd give it a 3.8/5 for application.

The colour is pretty long lasting as well although nailpolish tends to chip very easily on me so I may not be the best person to judge the longevity of a nailpolish.




2 Coats! No top coat added!


Still gotta clean my edges!


Picture taken with flash!



Saturday 1 February 2014

Lipstick Storage Woes

Hey guys, just wanted to do a quick post so here it comes:

My first love is lipstick and so of course i've accumulated lots of them. About 2 years ago when I had now started getting into lipstick I stumbled across these great acrylic 12 lipstick storage containers. When I say stumble I mean I popped into a small boutique in a Mall in Port of Spain and saw them at the great cost of $60 TT (or $40, I really can't remember). I bought one and the following day I returned and bought the other.

From that day onward i've always wished that they had more because I quickly outgrew the storage capacity. I had managed to convince myself that I would find a store selling these storage containers  at such great prices and there was in fact a point where nobody was selling them at all. I would usually browse online for similar products but I always felt that they were way too expensive compared to the steal of a deal I got that day.

Let's fast forward to the present day where I finally took the plunge and had my mom order me a 24 lipstick holder storage container off Amazon as one of my birthday presents. At $8.99 US I thought that it would have been a great deal. Of course though Customs totally screwed me over and I found myself paying $85 TT in shipping and customs duties when I shipped it via my Skybox.

The biggest kicker of all was that this product was extremely disappointing. Below I'll review the both products mentions.

Acrylic 12 Lipstick Holder

What I loved most about this product was the fact that it was a dedicated lipstick holder. It didn't have any of the larger spaces for other products and so when in use it gave my lipstick storage a very sleek look. The quality is amazing with the acrylic being thick and clean cut with stylish edges. I really really love this product and I remain on the lookout for a few more.


Empty!
Filled with lipsticks!

Close up- hopefully you can see the edges and thickness of the material!


Acrylic 24 Lipstick Holder 


This product actually ended up costing $135 TT which was waaaay more than I had intended to spend. What's even worse is the fact that it isn't even worth the money. It's smaller than anticipated and arrived in a cheap thin white cardboard box. The product itself is cut cleanly but with no sort of design. It looks so basic and CHEAP! Plain talk bad manners! Additionally, the actual slots for lipsticks can only hold my MAC lipsticks and are actually smaller than the slots in the holder discussed above. I feel like i've been ripped off. The only slight saving grace of this product is the fact that it takes up less space and so it may be more efficient in that regard. Of course these are just my opinions and I may have had higher expectations based on the holders I already owned.



What I saw on opening the box! :( 


Didn't seem to get any better!

Filled with lippies!

Below I've added a picture of the  two products side by side so that you can see for yourself!

You can see which one holds my heart!

Acrylic lipstick holders can be bought in Trinidad from Simple Spaces Ltd. which is an actual store located in St. James as well as from the online store Makeup Haven. The images provided by these sellers seem to be of a better quality and of course the prices are much better! It's been a lesson learnt in terms of hoping to find a product much cheaper on Amazon (although this is the first time that this has failed me). Hopefully you guys find this review helpful!

I've noticed a lot of you guys reading but not commenting. :( Feel free to leave your thoughts and let me know if you have seen the lipstick holders in other places in TT. Take care!

PS. When I speak about acrylic lipstick holders here I'm referring to the ones that provide spaces for lipstick only. There are a few other places that sell the acrylic cosmetic holders.