MAC Archies girls haul, swatches, photos and FOTD

 Hello all, I could not resist this collection because I was pretty well obsessed with Archie comics when I was a kid. Part of me thought maybe I should pass since I'm a grown up now but then I saw the color story and everything that is in Betty's collection just called my name.

So here we go, $240 CAD later...

 

 I got flatter me pearl matte, veronica's blush pearlmatte, cream soda blush, lord it up pearlglide eyeliner, summer sweetheart lipglass, betty bright lipstick and caramel sundae eyeshadow quad.

This is mainly just a photo swatch post, but I am going to be doing a comparison post soon.
I know there are many swatches floating around out there already, but in case you want to see how they look on super pale skin NC10/NC15 then this is for you. My camera likes to pick up odd cool/warm tones so they are not the most accurate of swatches but I tried to capture how the products look on me.

Betty bright lipstick:

 

Swatches betty bright lipstick (top) and  summer sweetheart lipglass (bottom) :

 

 wearing Betty Bright lipstick :

Wearing summer sweetheart lipglass:

 

 lord it up pearlglide swatch :

Caramel sundae quad swatches :

 Veronicas blush pearlmatte swatch  (this one is not nearly matte!) :

 Flatter me pearlmatte swatch :

cream soda blush swatch  (this was sooo pigmented I was shocked!) :

  

 My 'Betty' FOTD (breakdown below) :

Eyes:
- MAC bare study paint pot
-caramel sundae quad

- lord it up pearlglide

- prestige my biggest lashes mascara
- MAC brow pencil lingering
- MAC prep & prime highlighter radiant rose

Face:
- Revlon Colorstay foundation normal/dry 110 ivory

- MAC careblend powder light  

Cheeks :

- Cream soda blush (on apples)

- flatter me pearlmatte (lightly over top cream soda blush)

 Lips: 

- summer sweetheart lipglass

What did you think of the Archie's girls collection? Did you want/get anything from it?

MAC surf baby blushette in bound for love, photos and swatches

I have something special to show you, something that was only released in a very limited quantity!
MAC blushettes were part of the surf baby collection released back in May 2011. I believe these were only available in certain countries.

I found this baby at Winners (Canadian TJ MAXX) over the past weekend.
I tried to search for some info on them, and found nothing. In fact, a very popular beauty blogger even commented that 'Blushettes never went into production'.

Well, I'm here to show you that they did go into production, because I have swatches and photos of it :)

Blushettes are packaged in little twist up tubes, with the same striped floral design that is all over the other surf baby products.
Bound for love is a lovely light cool pink shade, with subtle pearl iridescence. It looks so dewy and glowy on, I can't get enough of it.
The other color released is 'Barbara Ann' and it is a bright coral orange. I didn't get that one because it didn't look like it would suit me.

Swatches of Bound for love:

This goes on very sheer. I used about 3 swipes in these swatches. The light reflecting particles make such a nice finish on the skin.

Wearing bound for love on my cheeks:

This little blush is my new best friend. It adds a subtle wash of color and a little bit of glow.
I don't usually go for cream blush, but I think I might try more from now on.
The lasting power is pretty good, for me it stays on all day.

Has anyone else seen these before?
Any recommendations for more cream blush for me to try out?

Sleek pan tao blush photos and FOTD

Sleek blushes rival the quality of NARS. They are super pigmented and come in a variety of bright and fun colors.
Pan Tao is a limited edition color from the Sleek avoir le peche collection for spring/summer 2011.

It looks super bright orange in the compact! It is truly a nice bright matte tangerine color.

It's very pigmented and a little goes a long way on fair skin! I find that when sheered out it makes the perfect peachy flush.

Wearing pan tao blush on my cheeks:

I love this blush because although it's bright it blends so nicely into the skin and makes my face look fresh and healthy.

I'm on the hunt for more sleek blush, I can't say enough good things about them! And for $6.50 a pop they can't be beat. Sadly sleek is only sold in the UK, but can easily be found on eBay.

Some slytherin green EOTD looks using Kat Von D gypsy palette

I have some pics to share from before my camera croaked, in salutation to Harry Potter I present my slytherin green eyeshadow looks.
These were all done with Kat Von D's amazing gypsy palette. Sadly this is one of the only palettes that is really hard to find now because it was limited edition.

I hope to inspire those that own the gypsy palette to play with the different colors and try new looks.
If you don't have the gypsy palette well I assure you there are dupes of these colors out there.

To dupe the colors in gypsy try MAC carbon, club, trax and bitter eyeshadows as well as true chartreuse pigment. Also try NARS night porter eyeshadow and The body shop 08 emerald eye shimmer shadow to create the same effects seen below.
Sorry I don't have a dupe for the cream eyeshadow, as it was pretty dried up when I got this palette :/

true love palette gypsy:

Here is my most recent dark smokey green EOTD that I wore to see harry potter and the deathly hollows part 2:

Full slytherin face:

Another lighter green EOTD:

And here I used all the colors on the right side of the gypsy palette. I adored this look.

Thank you for looking! And to my fellow Harry Potter fans, what did you think of the movie?

MAC style blush photos, swatches and FOTD

I'm not dead, I'm just taking some time off since my camera died! I found a few things on my computer today so I will post whatever I can before I get my new cam next week :)
Anyways, one of my more recent loves is MAC style blush.

My lame old camera didn't pick up the bright quality of this blush, when you see it in the store it looks very orange and almost a little fluorescent.
I was scared how it would look on my cheeks but very happily surprised to find out it's quite sheer.

Style is described as 'Coral-peach with gold pearl' my description is 'sheer peach with gold shimmer'. It's a very beautiful color and it reminds me of a brighter NARS deepthroat. Although deepthroat is much more pigmented.

swatches of style blush:

this is two swipes layered, the flash has washed it out a bit.

This blush is so sheer, I even have to layer it to show up on my skin! I like it though, since I never put too much on that way.

Wearing style blush, layered a couple times:

I like this color a lot because it really does brighten up my face. The shimmer particles are quite small and they don't exaggerate pores or look clownish in any way. It looks natural enough that I use this when I want to go for the 'nude' look.
I would not recommend this shade for deeper skin tones as I don't think it would show up unless you really piled it on. For fair skin, this is a must have peach color!

Lancome Desert Rose island horizon blush photos, swatches and FOTD

Recently I had a little impulse buy, it was GWP time at Lancome and I just couldn't help myself. I brought home this gorgeous blush in the color island horizon.

Desert Rose subtle shimmering blush is limited edition from the Lancome summer 2011 bronze azure collection. At $48 CAD this is a bit of a splurge but I really think it will get lots of use from me this season!
It turns out that this is a perfect natural looking blush to add a little glow to pale skin.

The design is interesting. I don't think it's overly 'pretty' which is good because I usually have a hard time using fancily designed powders.
Island horizon is different from your average blush because the colors range from light bronze to rose to light pink to pearl. Depending on what look you want to get from it you could use the lighter colors or the darker colors.

I use this blush all swirled together because I find it creates a very natural looking flush. It looks very dainty on, with very subtle shimmer and rosy beige tones. It's perfect for the 'no makeup' look!

Swatches :

(Top) swatched heavily (Bottom) swatched lightly

(Top) swatched heavily (Bottom) swatched lightly

Here I am wearing it lightly, please ignore the horrible face. The blush looks quite natural doesn't it? Just adds a light rosy glow.

Here I really piled it on to show the color. Even with multiple layers it still manages to look nice and flushed, not too pink or orange. Just right.

I think this is the perfect summer blush for fair skinned ladies! I really don't think it would show up on darker skin tones. If anything, it would serve as a subtle highlighter on dark skin.

Are you liking any particular cheek colors this season? What blush do you like to use in the summer?

NARS Bettina velvet matte lip pencil photos and swatches

I think one of the best products NARS has to offer are the velvet matte lip pencils. They are unlike any lipstick I've used before. They feel really nice and comfortable on the lips, not at all drying.
Actually, I think they might even be moisturizing. My lips always look so plumped up when I use them.

I didn't do the swatch on my arm, but here are swatches of Bettina on my lips:

Bettina is a classic 'nude' your lips better color. It's totally neutral and would look great on anybody. It would work with practically any makeup look too.
It made me feel classy or something, pulled my look together.

Here's an FOTD wearing NARS bettina on lips, Kat Von D rock 'n roll eyeshadow palette and MAC blush in mocha.

This is my second velvet matte pencil, the first one I had was sex machine but I found I liked NARS roman holiday lipstick better. Roman holiday is similar, although sex machine is a bit deeper and more fuchsia.
I recommend trying velvet mattes if you like matte lipsticks!