MAC Eyeshadows - Blue Palette and Swatches

Hey everyone!!

Recently I was looking through the MAC website and noticed that the swatches for eyeshadows are not very good! I don't believe MAC has ever done a good job of showing "accurate" swatches on their site, so as a result, I thought I would share swatches of my MAC eyeshadows with all of you.  Hopefully you will find this helpful.

I plan on swatching all of my MAC shadows.  This may take awhile! Today I am starting with my blue/teal palette.  Some of these are from the permanent line and others are either Limited Edition or Discontinued.  Of course with MAC, you never know!  These so called "Limited Edition" and "Discontinued" shadows may show up in future collections.

Row 1: From Left to Right

• Deep Truth (Frost)
• Moon's Reflection (Veluxe Pearl)
• Prussian (Matte2 - Discontinued)
• Tilt (Frost)
• Submarine (Frost - Limited Edition)

Row 2: From Left to Right

• Star By Night (Starflash - Limited Edition)
• Plumage (Matte)
• Freshwater (Veluxe Pearl)
• Parrot (Frost - Limited Edition)
• Electric Eel (Satin)

Row 3: From Left to Right

• Talent Pool (Starflash - Limited Edition)
• Clarity (Matte2 - Discontinued)
• Shimmermoss (Veluxe Pearl)
• Aquadisiac (Lustre)
• Newly Minted (Matte - Discontinued)

After doing all of these swatches, I realized..Dang...so many of these colors look similar/the same! I'm such a sucker for MAC. HA!

Next up is my purple palette...

Review - Mary Kay Foundation Primer

It's been awhile, but I'm back!!  Between back to school and having company last week, I had no time for blogging!!  Hopefully, no more interruptions, distractions, etc.!! Phew!!

Well, I am back with a review of the Mary Kay Foundation Primer.

Now, I know that a lot of people don't care for Mary Kay Products, but I have found products that I do like. For instance, I really like their skincare and their medium coverage foundation.  I own several lipsticks, blushes, etc., and I have no complaints at all.

Since I like Mary Kay products as a whole, I decided to try the Foundation Primer.  It's a fairly new product and prior to purchasing, I did not read reviews on it.   I bought the primer before I started my P10P!  Just letting you know in case you thought I cheated!  I've been a good girl!!  HA! I have not purchased any makeup since I posted that I was doing Project 10 Pan about a month ago.

Okay back to the Foundation Primer review!  This foundation primer retails for $16 for a 1oz. tube of product.  According to the website, this foundation primer "enhances foundation benefits and extends wear. It is an oil free gel formula which is mineral enriched to absorb oil and to diffuse light for skin perfecting benefits.  Product dries to a matte lightweight finish."

I've been using this primer now for about two weeks or so and I am quite disappointed in it.  First of all, there is an odor...YES...an odor.  It smells like paint when you squeeze the product out of the tube.  I've been able to get over that.  Once you apply the product on your face, the smell disappears or perhaps my sense of smell has just gone into major shock.  Not sure which! HA!

Let's talk about the application! The product applies pretty easily, smoothly, etc.  It does dry to a pretty matte and lightweight finish, so we're good there. Also, my foundation applies just fine over it and looks pretty nice so I'm satisfied with the overall application.  BTW, I've used a few different foundations within the last two weeks.

Now, let's fast forward to two hours later.  I look in the mirror and I look like a big shiny ball!  Throw some eggs on my face and we can fry some scrambled eggs.  YUCK!!  I should have taken pictures!  How could I be THAT shiny after two hours?! I have combo/oily skin but I've never been THIS shiny after two hours while using another primer.  Needless to say, my Palladio Rice Paper Blotting Papers have come in handy BIG TIME!

After blotting, my foundation looks okay, but it's the constant blotting that is annoying.  Isn't this primer supposed to absorb oil? Hmmm!  I've been blotting about 3-4 times per day and the norm for me is maybe 2 times per day.

Today was one of those days where my face felt extra gross.  I was super oily by 10am (I applied my makeup close to 8am) and felt like my foundation was just slipping and sliding around my face.  Not sure what's going on.  I've never had an issue like this before, so I am attributing the "oil" to the foundation primer.

I talked to a co-worker who also tried the same foundation primer and she had the exact issue with the primer.  She also has combo/oily skin.  I found that interesting.

My test for the next two weeks is to not wear this foundation primer in order to determine if in fact it's this product that is causing the excess oil on my face or perhaps I am just losing it. HA!  I will be sure to post an update.

Overall, I am not impressed with this product and do not recommend it.  At least not for someone with combo-oily skin.  Who knows? This may work great for someone who has Dry or Normal/Dry skin.

Have any of you tried this primer?  If so, what are your thoughts?  I'm off to check out some reviews on this now!  I'm very curious now!!

Talk to you soon!

FOTD - Inspired by a T-Shirt

Hey everyone!  So I finally had time to play with makeup today.  Today's look is inspired by one of my T-shirts.  What should look like Turquoise looks more Teal, but I still like it!  Here's the T-Shirt!

Um...for whatever reason, I can't get the pic to rotate.  Hmmm.

Now here's the look!

Face

• Mary Kay Foundation Primer
• Almay Truly Lasting Color 16 Hour Foundation
• Eve Pearl Salmon Concealer
• MAC Studio Fix Powder
• Tarte Mineral Powder Bronzer - Park Avenue Princess
• Stila All Over Shimmer Face Luminizer

Eyes

• Almay Eye Brow Defining Pencil
• Sephora Lash and Eyebrow Clear Mascara
• Urban Decay Primer Potion
• Black liquid liner and Black Mascara 
• Wet N Wild Kohl Pencil - Turquoise (Waterline
• NYX Jumbo Pencil - Yellow (Inner 3rd of upper lip and lower lash line)
• MAC Sea Me Shadestick (Lower lashline)
• Manly Professional Cosmetics Palette

Please excuse the condition of my palette.  It's been through a lot! LOL!!

Lips

• NYX Lipliner - Plush Red
• MAC Lipstick - Toxic Tale

Coming up...

Hey everyone!  I hope you've all had a good week so far!!  I've been a bit MIA this week because of work and family, but I've got some great posts coming up this weekend in addition to a makeup series I will be doing!  YAY!!!  More info to come later!

So has anyone been having issues with allergies the past couple of weeks?  My allergies have been killing me, so my makeup has been pretty blah!!!  I've worn almost no makeup because I'd really just like to rip my eyeballs out of their sockets, they're so itchy!! UGH!

Well, I gotta get going now, but I am looking forward to spending some quality time with my blog this weekend as well as catching up on reading all of YOUR blogs!!

Talk to you all soon!!!

July Favorites

Hey ladies!!!  Yesterday was probably the crappiest day I've had in a long time! Ugh!!  Needless to say, I am using my blog as a distraction from it all.  Let's talk favorites for July, shall we?

I really didn't have many favorites in July.  I pretty much used the same products from June with the exception of the items below.

Yay! My July Faves!!

Tarte Amazonian Clay 12 Hour Blush - Blissful

Tarte Amazonian Clay 12 Hour Blush - Amused

I am still loving these blushes.  I have a 3rd one, but I have no idea where it is at the moment.  I did a full review on these blushes back in June.  Here's the link if you're interested:  Tarte Amazonian Clay 12 Hour Blush Review.  The blushes are super pigmented and last ALL day! Love them!

MAC Studio Fix Powder

Since I finished up my Bare Minerals foundation and I am on Project 10 Pan, I have to use what I have, right?  Well, I only have a little bit left of my Studio Fix powder so this is what I've been using as foundation.  I LOVE this.  I get Amazing coverage and it lasts for several hours.  I will definitely be adding this to my list of things to re-purchase after P10P is over.

Makeup Forever Lipstick - Mat-Matt

Makeup Forever Lipstick - Mat-Matt Swatch

I've had this lipstick for a really long time and it is BY FAR my most favorite matte nude lipstick of all time!  It's the perfect shade for my skin tone.  It's a perfect pinky/peachy nude and doesn't make me look like a walking corpse!!  Definitely a keeper!

Too Faced Chocolate Lava Gloss Super Brown Eyeliner Pencil 

Too Faced Chocolate Lava Gloss Super Brown Eyeliner Pencil- Swatch

I think this pencil came with a set I purchased from Too Faced a long time ago, but you can purchase it individually.  I just checked the Too Faced site just to make sure.  Since I finished my Clinique Quickliner, I started using this Too Faced pencil and I love it.  It's creamy, pigmented and works great on the waterline.  The brown is pretty intense...almost black which is what I like.  I tend to prefer dark brown eyeliner versus black eyeliner for the water line.  Black can be kinda harsh!

Almay Defining Brown Pencil - Brunette

I just recently discovered this pencil and did a post about it.  Here's a link if you're interested:  Almay Defining Brow Pencil.  This pencil works great and has just replaced a more expensive pencil that I was using.  This will now be my go to pencil!!

So this wraps up my July faves!!  What were some of your faves for July?  I'd love to hear from you!!  Talk to you soon!!

You Have to Check out Ebates.com!!!

I recently discovered the wonderful website that is Ebates.com!!!  I can thank XSPARKAGE on youtube for that!  She did a video a couple of months ago about her fave discount sites and mentioned Ebates.  I immediately had the check it out, although in the back of my mind I thought, "Yeah right!  This is too good to be true!" 

For those who've never heard of Ebates.com, I'll fill you in!  In a nutshell it is an online Cash Back Shopping Website.  The way it works is pretty simple.  You sign up on the Ebates website and it is free to join.  You select the online store you'd like to shop at (there are 1200 stores according to the website) and you earn a cashback percentage.  Each store has a different Cash Back percentage, so you'll want to make sure you pay attention to that.  The Cash Back percentages are always posted where they are easily visible. 

So how do you get your Cash Back payments?  Every quarter you can either receive a check, a paypal payment or you can also choose to donate your cashback payments for purchases posted during the previous quarter.  I have mine set up to go directly into my Paypal account.  I find that to be the easiest! 

Here is a small list of some of the Beauty sites that participate in the Ebates program:

• Sephora
• E.L.F. Cosmetics
• Avon
• Bath & Body Works
• Bobbi Brown Cosmetics
• Philosophy
• Smashbox Cosmetics
• Ulta

Of course, this is not limited to beauty.  You can pretty much purchase anything from clothing to home decor, books, appliances, etc. 

Is this program available to those outside the US and Canada?  Yes, it is.  Actually, Canada has its own listing of retailers who participate and as far as those outside of both the US and Canada, you can use Ebates as long as the retailer ships outside of the US and Canada. Please keep in mind though, that the Cash Back payments will be made in U.S. Dollars.

So, no, this is isn't too good to be true!  It's really a cool concept! I've been using Ebates each and every single time I shop online and I love it!  Definitely check it out sometime and let me know if you try it and what you think!  I'd love to know! 

I am not affiliated with Ebates in any way.  Just an FYI. 

Alternative to MAC Eyebrow Pencil - Spiked

I am always on a hunt for a good bargain!  Who isn't these days!

I was using the MAC Eyebrow Pencil in Spiked and really liked it.  I just finished it last week.  Since I'm currently doing P10P and can't buy anything, I figured I would try the Almay Defining Brow Pencil I purchased before I started P10P.

I've been using it since last week and guess what??  I love it!  It works great and it costs a few bucks less than the MAC Eyebrow Pencil.  Let's do a comparison, shall we??

MAC Eyebrow Pencil

The MAC pencil retails for $15 for 0.09g/0.003oz and there are six different shades available on the MAC website:  Fling, Lingering, Strut, Stud, Spiked and Velvetone.  It's definitely a good range of colors.  The pencil does not require any kind of sharpening.  Just twist and you're ready to go.

Almay Brow Defining Pencil

Since Almay is a drugstore brand, the price will vary depending on which drugstore your purchase from and your area.  Based on my online research, the price looks like it could run from $6.00-$8.00??? I believe mine was $6.99.  You get 0.08g/0.0028oz and there are two shades available from what I can tell:  Brunette and Dark Blonde.  The pencil mechanism is the same as the MAC pencil - no sharpener needed.  You just twist and it's ready for use.  One difference I found is that this pencil has a little spoolie brush which definitely comes in handy.

Overall, I think both pencils work exactly the same. The both apply the same; the color stays on the brows, etc.,  but I will stick with the Almay pencil!  It worked great for me as the Brunette shade is a great match; it costs several dollars less than the MAC pencil and really, the MAC pencil only gives you a little bit more product.  Not worth it for another $8! I could buy a whole 'nother  pencil with the $8 I save.

Let me know if any of you ladies try this pencil out!  I know there is another drugstore pencil out there that is very similar, but I will no longer purchase because the company does animal testing! Boo!!