Oooops! A few extra MAC Surf Baby bits...

I said I wasn't going to buy them in the first place, they just didn't appeal to me... but then came the swatches... Oh dear, well I completely changed my mind.

Whilst I was in Tumbridge Wells with my boyfriend a couple of weeks ago, I saw that they had My Paradise in stock. I'd seen numerous bloggers and Youtubers swatching this and it just looked really pretty, not how I'd imagined it. I told myself to stick to not buying it because it has an overspray but then I found out that it was quite thick and when it runs out that Gold Deposit MSF would do as a substitute to put over the blush colour - more about that later. I swatched it on my hand in store and bought it.

My Paradise

My Paradise

My Paradise

It is a very pretty colour, when mixed with the gold overspray it turns into a gorgeous shimmery golden peach. The blush colour itself is very coral and matte/satin - I'm not sure but there doesn't appear to be shimmer in there. It would be a great colour for Summer skin (well duh, it is a Summer collection lol) and is surprisingly wearable. I've seen it work nicely on fair skin too but it would be worth checking in person. It is sold out online but you might come across it in store. Temptalia has some dupes listed on her site, NARS Luster appears very close to the mixed blush.

My Paradise: L-R Base blush colour, overspray colour, mixed, mixed blended

Then I noticed that Debenhams had 10% off beauty. I'd seen swatches of Short Shorts (frost) and Saffron (Satin) and thought they were nice. Whilst at the MAC counter I noticed that the MAs were wearing Sun Blonde with Saffron and I loved it but they didn't have it on display. When I saw the Debenhams sale I ordered them both along with my concealer and correcter which I was running out of.

L-R: Short Shorts, Saffron

L-R: Short Shorts, Saffron

I'm really glad I did because they are beautiful. I can't get over how pigmented the eye shadows in this collection are, they are amazing. I really hope that MAC continue to make them like this from now on. I didn't have a terracotta shade before and I was a bit scared of how it would look on my eyes but it is actually very flattering and versatile. I've used it with Sun Blonde so far which makes a lovely yellow-orange-terracotta gradient. I'd also use it with neutrals, pinks and browns and I think it would be fun to try with blues and greens.

Short Shorts

Saffron

L-R: Short Shorts, Saffron

So like I said, I read that you could dupe the gold overspray of My Paradise with Gold Deposit MSF, well I'm not sure. My Gold Deposit hasn't got much veining in it, it is mainly a deep gold copper colour with very little gold in it. I did swatch the gold area against the overspray of My Paradise and they are very very close. If this is what you want to do, I would suggest going to MAC and picking out your own Gold Deposit with the most gold veining and then swatching it against My Paradise to check how it looks. I'm not going to buy another one to use over this blush but the one I have would still look good over it although a little different. You might even be able to find an eye shadow in the same colour to use over the blush instead. Or you could just accept, like me, that once the overspray has gone, it is gone. I might go to buy NARS Luster at a later stage to replace the mixed My Paradise colour and then use My Paradise as just the base colour.

So there you go... a little bit of naughty extra shopping :P hehe!

- Jennifer

MAC Surf Baby Studio Careblend Powder and Skinsheen Bronzer Stick Review

This is my last part of the Surf Baby reviews!

In the Surf Baby collection, MAC have released two new kinds of bronzers, a cream bronzer in a stick format and new Studio Careblend Powders in tanned colours. I was in the market for a new bronzer as I only owned Golden by MAC which is very light and barely shows up on my skin. Originally I ordered the Skinsheen Bronzer Stick in Tan Tint because I'd seen some cream bronzers used by Youtubers and this one looked nifty even though I ordered it completely blind as I'd not seen any swatches or reviews. After reading about the Careblends, I ordered Lush-Light Bronze which is darker than Tan Tint so then I had a little bit of choice of colours that would actually show on my skin.

Read on for Review...

MAC Surf Baby Lipstick and Lipglass Review

In the Surf Baby collection, MAC have released four shades - Bust Out! (dirty violet - lustre), Hibiscus (orange coral - cremesheen), Mocha (peachy brown - satin, Permanent) and Naturally Eccentric (creamy white nude - lustre). I purchased Bust Out! and Hibiscus - I actually bought two of Hibiscus because I loved the colour so much, I am waiting for the second one to be delivered.



L-R: Bust Out!, Hibiscus


Bust Out! is nice and creamy and can be applied semi sheer to semi opaque by building the colour up with a second swipe. It isn't a bright purple on my lips as shown in the tube but it is more blue based than recent purple lipsticks released such as Style Curve and Playtime, comparison swatches are at the end. Being a lustre it gives a glossy look to lips.

Hibiscus is a beautiful shade of orange coral, very very creamy and easy to apply evenly. It is verging on opaque in one swipe. It is a great colour for Summer without being too bright such as a true orange so if you are afraid to wear orange really bright, you could consider this instead. It is quite warm toned but I think it could still work on cooler skintones and I think it would look really nice on fair skin with the contrast. I have seen cool toned fair skinned women wearing oranges and they still look great so if you like the colour, go test it out to see.

Continue reading for lipglass review and comparison swatches!

MAC Surf Baby Eyeshadow & Crushed Metal Pigment Review

I'm going to split these reviews up into sections like I usually do but I just don't have time to put them all up today so bear with me, the rest will go up tomorrow and Wednesday if I don't finish them tomorrow. I've been swatching and testing things since I got in from work and the lighting hasn't been the best so I had to do it outside but then it was too windy so I moved into the greenhouse haha!

First of all, there are five eye shadows in this collection and two Crushed Metal Pigment stacks. I picked up two of the eyeshadows, Sun Blonde (mustardy yellow - frost) and Surf USA (green teal - frost) - both unique to everything I own. I also chose the Crushed Metal stack in Surf The Ocean which I fell in love with as soon as I saw it. Surf The Ocean contains four shades of pigment (the crushed metal pigments are different to regular pigments), a bronze gold, a black-navy blue, grey silver and a seafoam green.

L-R: Sun Blonde, Surf USA

L-R: Sun Blonde, Surf USA

The eye shadows are some of the most pigmented MAC eye shadows I have come across. They are just beautiful. They are so soft and effortlessly blendable and if these colours appeal to you, I would recommend getting them because you wont be disappointed. According to Temptalia, the other three eye shadows in this collection are equally brilliant (I haven't swatched them myself). These two have frost finishes but they aren't chunky or chalky like some frosts can be, they are just perfect. As soon as I swatched Surf USA I wanted a backup but that would just be silly because it will take me forever to finish it but it really is that good! I'm so hoping this is where MAC will be going with their future eye shadows.

Surf The Ocean comes with two stacks of pigments which can be stacked all together if you wish. There are two screwcaps so you can take one to travel with and the ones left at home still have a screwcap to seal them. They each have a little plastic insert, similar to the ones in full size regular pigments but it lacks the tab to help lift them. They can be a bit fiddly so be careful when removing them.

Surf The Ocean Crushed Metal Pigment Stack

Surf The Ocean Crushed Metal Pigment Stack

Surf The Ocean Crushed Metal Pigment Stack

The actual pigments are a bit different to regular pigments. They are chunkier and very soft so they can end up sticking together. The gold and seafoam green are chunkier than the navy and silver, the gold being the most where it looks like little nuggets of fools gold in the pot. They don't apply like a regular pigment as the texture seems different, these seem so soft and feel a bit fluffy when applying whereas regular pigments feel like an eye shadow but just loose. The other difference is that these are very metallic in finish. They are very pretty and should look really good as a soft metallic eye or going heavier and smokey with the darker colours. Like all pigments, these can be used wet or dry, mixed together to make new colours, used on eyes, face, lips, hair or to make custom nail polish. If using them dry, you will probably want to choose a sticky base to help them adhere better.

L-R: Surf The Ocean Crushed Metal Pigment Stack - seafoam, silver, navy, gold,
Sun Blonde Eye shadow, Surf USA Eye shadow

- Jennifer

MAC Surf Baby Collection Summer 2011!

MAC are releasing a brand new collection for this Summer called Surf Baby, inspired by the sun and sea.

"Grab the board, hop in the Jeep, cruise the Pacific Coast Highway… Surf’s up! The lure of the endless summer starts here with My Paradise Cheek Powder, Mini Blush Sticks, a Summer Stash of Crushed Metallic Pigments, Hibiscus Lipstick and Splashproof Lash Mascara that just won’t smudge. Colourful, lustrous, and full of life… journey to a world where feeling the rush means taking a risk. Hang Ten!"


Blush - My Paradise (Coral orange with champagne gold flower)
Lipstick - Bust Out! (Soft violet), Hibiscus (Bright coral), Mocha, Naturally (Eccentric Nude)
Lipglass - Girl on Board (Sheer gold), Good Lovin’ (Peach pink), Krazy Kahuna (Medium brown), Strange Potion (Pink coral)
Crushed Metallic Pigment Stacks - Summer Stash (Pale pink, gray pink, purple, taupe), Surf the Ocean (Silver, aqua, gold, navy blue)
Eyeshadow - Saffron (Coral), Short Shorts (Whte champagne), Sun Blonde (Yellow with gold pearl), Surf U.S.A. (Aqua with teal pearl), Swell Baby (Medium gray)
Nail Lacquer - Hangin’ Loose (Beige), Ocean Dip (Aqua teal)
Eye Liner - Blue Noon (Teal), Gilded White (Shimmering off-white)
Bronzing Powder - Solar Riche
Studio Careblend Pressed Powder - Gold-go-Lightly
Tan Tint - Billionaire Bronze (Soft gold), Guilty Bronze (Copper bronze)

Blush Sticks and Suntints are also in this collection.


Read on for promotional imagery...