MAC Shop Cook Lip Colours

This is just a quick post to show you a few of the lip colours from MAC's Shop Cook collection.

Lipsticks:
I picked up one shade from this collection - Watch Me Simmer. I also already had Innocence Beware and Runway Red from previous collections.

Runway Red swatches and a review can be found here.

Watch Me Simmer - such a gorgeously pigmented and smooth creamy lipstick. It is one of the must haves from the collection. It will be repromoted in a later collection this year.

Sorry about the appalling application, I did these swatches in a hurry.

Innocence Beware - a nice light pink nude which is quite flattering but can also be dabbed on if it looks too stark or to take the tone of your natural lip colour down a bit.

Kissable Lip Colours. I was really glad these came back, I was able to get the colours I wanted which I didn't get last time they were out. They are such a nice product, they apply really easily. You can read my review of when they came out last time here. It also includes the other colours which came out before.

Top: So Vain, Bottom: Woo Me

So Vain

Woo Me

Did you buy any lip products from the collection?

Jennifer x

MAC Shop Cook Cremeblend Blushes

I have a thing for cream blushes at the moment, I like the way they look on the skin, they give such a nice natural finish and you have the option to mattify them a bit with some powder. They are easily buildable and can be worn on lips too or even on eyelids if you wish!

There are three cremeblend blushes in this collection, two are repromotes (Florida and Optimistic Orange) and the other is brand new (Restores Dazzle).

They are all beautifully pigmented and glide on effortlessly. They blend out really easily so even though they are so pigmented, you can use them sheerly too.

Packaging (outer cardboard sleeve only - the rest is MAC's usual black packaging)

Clockwise from bottom left: Florida, Restores Dazzle, Optimistic Orange

MAC Shop Cook Collection - Tendertones

OH MY GOSH I LOVE THESE! There... review done! No seriously, they are just amazing, best lip balm I've tried. These are little pots of wonder with a little tint or sparkle added into the mix. You just need to try them, they are so moisturising and feel so good on the lips. They have a kiwi-strawberry scent which smells slightly like watermelon and considering I hate the smell of watermelon, I don't find these offensive smelling at all. The only gripe is the pot packaging, it would be nice if they were in tubes but never mind, just make sure fingers are clean before dipping in or use a brush if it really bothers you. They are all sheer colours, giving only a hint of colour and/or sparkle but that's okay, sometimes I don't want much colour on my lips and it means that they wont interfere with any lip colour I put on top.

Tread Gently is a yellowish green sparkle which sounds horrid but it is actually pretty and can be used over lipsticks to add sparkle as well as moisture.

Hush Hush is a golden-toffee toned shimmer which gives a very slight hint of toffee colour but is mostly sparkle. It is one of my favourites of the four colours released in this collection.

Purring is a tangerine shade which gives the lips a subtle hint of colour. It would be nice to add some shine and maybe some more warmth to a coral lipstick too.

Hot 'n' Saucy is a red tint on the lips. It is the most pigmented shade and my other favourite from the collection.

These pictures aren't the best to show them, I always find capturing sparkle really hard. Just go see them for yourself, they are lovely. I want them to bring out a hot pink and a sparkly pink oh and maybe a violet haha!

Jennifer x

MAC Naturally Swatches & Review

MAC's latest collection to hit UK and European shores is Naturally. It consists of well... natural shades really. Nude lipsticks, golden and beige tones with some browns and pinks thrown in. It is a lovely collection and is great to pick up some basic tones but still be interesting for makeup fanatics as they are all still interesting.

I'll start with the mineralize eye shadows that I got:

L-R: Summer Haze, In The Sun, Twilight Falls

Summer Haze L-R: dry, over UDPP, wet, over Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy

Summer Haze is a gorgeous light gold and I can also get a peachy beige out of my pan too. It is super smooth and gorgeously pigmented. It makes a lovely lid brightening shade and the lighter shade in the pan is good for a highlight. It looks really metallic when used wet or patted over Pixie Epoxy which is very good for helping it stick all day long.

In The Sun L-R: dry, over UDPP, wet, over Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy

In the Sun is a hot burnt copper. The veining in my pan isn't as nice as other pans I have seen where there is more fuchsia to pick from. If you pick a pan with more fuchsia, the colour variant would be a bit different as mine mainly has deep gold in it. There is some shimmer in this shade which can fall out so a sticky base such as Pixie Epoxy is best, plus it helps to give it even more intense colour payoff. The sparkle looks really pretty on the lid when the light catches it and the particles aren't too chunky.

Twilight Falls L-R: dry, over UDPP, wet, over Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy

Twilight Falls is a beautiful shade of mauvey brown. I really love this one. It works fantastically with the other two shades I got and is a very good yet interesting every day brown. You may see in the image there is a blueish sheen, this makes it more than the average brown eye shadow. It is so smooth and buttery. The pigmentation even when dry is very good and would be great as a quick wash or to smudge along the lash lines for a smokey look. I wear browns and golds a lot so this is going to get a good amount of love from me.


There were three shades of mineralize blush in this collection but only this one stood out to me. It is Subtle Breeze. I also wanted to stay on the safer side because I'd never tried the mineralize blushes before so didn't entirely know what to expect and wanted something more wearable to me.

Subtle Breeze mineralize blush

Subtle Breeze is amazing, it really is. It is soooo pigmented, I swirled my brush into it as normal and ended up with way too much product on my face. A couple of taps into the pan is all that is needed to a lovely pink flush. The finish is beautiful, it has a slight sheen so isn't completely matte but has no shimmer in it either. I really like it, it gives such a pretty glow. I find that it lasts really nicely on me too although I do have dry skin so not sure how oily skin would fare but it is worth a try.

There are two mineralize skinfinishes in this collections, these are some of my favourite products from MAC so I was pleased to see these. They are both repromotes from the  Blonde, Brunette, Redhead collection.

L-R: Redhead, Blonde

Redhead Mineralize Skinfinish - first four as the different shades,
last two are mixed, swatched heavily and then blended.

Redhead is the warmer shade of the two. It is more golden toned. It is very smooth, so much smoother than I expected it to be and than of any other of my MSFs. I think it would be flattering on a wide variety of skin tones. It gives a lovely golden sheen to the skin but like all MSFs it is quite shimmery so may emphasise pores. 

Blonde Mineralize Skinfinish - first four as the different shades,
last two are mixed, swatched heavily and then blended.

Blonde is a cooler shade, more pink based. It is still a flattering shade and works nicely over the top of Subtle Breeze blush. This is just as smooth as Redhead and also shimmery.

Perfect Day lipstick

Perfect Day lipstick



This is the only lipstick which appealed to me, it is a lovely pinky nude which I find far more wearable than most nudes. It doesn't look stark against my skin tone and would work on a lot of different skin tones. It is an amplified finish so applies a good amount of colour in one swipe. It lasts pretty nicely for a nude shade, probably due to the finish which seems to stick to lips better than a lustre or cremesheen lipstick does. I haven't got a lip swatch because my lips are far too dry for photographing at the moment... I hate what this cold weather does to my skin!

So that is what I picked up from Naturally, all very nice wearable colours which can be paired with lots of different shades to make really nice looks from neutrals to brighter. Anyone else pick anything up? What did you think of the collection?

Jennifer x

MAC - Iris Apfel Lipstick Swatches & Review

MAC's collaboration with Iris Apfel is a lovely collection, the lipsticks for me are the stars. They are all beautiful colours with fantastic quality. There are 5 shades, Flamingo, Party Parrot, Pink Pigeon, Scarlet Ibis and Morange. Morange is permanent. I purchased all of the other 4 shades.

L-R: Flamingo, Party Parrot, Pink Pigeon, Scarlet Ibis

L-R: Flamingo, Party Parrot, Pink Pigeon, Scarlet Ibis

Continue reading for review and more photos

MAC Make It Perfect Mineralize Brush Kit Review

When the Glitter & Ice press release came out, I was really thrilled about the brush sets, I thought the choices of brushes were good and I liked the look of the handles. I basically decided I was going to get a set or two and this one, the Mineralize set was a definite. Now I have buyers guilt because they just do not live up to my expectations at all. I've had two brush sets in the past, before Glitter & Ice, one from Digipops and one from Wonder Woman. Both, while they aren't on par with the full size brushes were decent and I use them, especially for travelling as they have shorter handles thus more travel friendly. These are just utter disappointments for me. I've held off writing reviews on them because I wanted to test them fully and fairly and didn't feel I could before giving them a full test drive.

L-R: 187SE, 130SE, 282SE, 286SE

I expected these brushes to be of a similar quality to my previous sets. I didn't expect any more than that as I know they will never meet the standard of a full size hand made brush.

Packaging
The outer box is white with silver foiling all over it which resembles ice skating marks on the ice with a spotlight beaming down in the middle. The bag is quite tacky, it is clear plastic with a silver circle glued onto the side. I don't understand the point of the stuck on circle. To me the bag looks silly and unfinished. I found the zip really stiff and hard to open and the long piece of plastic attached to the end of it makes it even harder to open. All of the brushes have clear handles filled with silver glitter. I quite like the handles and think they are really pretty.

Outer box

Clear bag (different brush set inside pictured)

187SE
The 187 is one of my favourite brushes from MAC but it is bulky and impractical for travelling as it doesn't fit into a standard sized make up bag. I thought the smaller one would be perfect for weekends at my boyfriend's house. So not the case...

First impressions, it is less dense than the full size and the white fibres feel different - thinner and not as soft. The black and white fibres are blended together through the brush more than my full size one so it doesn't really give that duo fibre feel where the fibres split apart as you use it. It is hard to explain but if you get hold of a full sized 187 and swirl it in the palm of your hand you will see what I mean. I was not too bothered about these things, as I mentioned, I knew it wouldn't be the same as it should. In use it isn't that bad, it doesn't perform as well as a regular 187 but it does the job.



L-R: 187SE, 187 regular (sorry about it being dirty!)
You can see how in the full size version the bristles split apart but in the
SE version, they are more blended.

L-R: 187SE, 187 regular

All was well and good until I washed it... UGH! What the hell?! Why is there dye all over my sink?! Why are black fibres coming out in clumps?! Why are the white fibres in my brush now GREEN?! I thought it might stop after a second wash so used it a few more times and then washes again. Nope. Same thing happened (although less than the first), if it keeps happening, there will be no brush left!

130SE
I don't own the full size 130 brush so can't compare the shape, density etc. In use, I really liked this. It is brilliant for applying cream highlighter such as my Illamasqua Lies blush which I rarely used before but now have a great brush to use it with. It works really well at stippling the colour and softly blending for a soft focus finish. Such a good brush.

However... this brush also has a dark side. It also had leaking dye issues and left the bristles very green tinged. It didn't shed like the 187SE though which was good, although it did occur. I may buy a full size of this brush though because I loved how it worked but don't want the issues.

282SE
A new brush from MAC. I'm really not sure on this brush. I just can't seem to find a good use for it. I assume it is to be used with Mineralize Eyeshadows as it came out with a lot of MES but I found it really hard to use. It kicks up the MES all over the place and makes it drop all over my face. I tried using it wet but it didn't apply nicely so tried it wet straight into the pan but it didn't pick up the colour properly. I had to pretty much scrub at the pan to get the colour on the brush. It is also a really big brush so would only work for washes of colour. My eyes aren't big although they're not small either and I find it hard to use in my lid space. Someone with a lot of lid space may find it easier. What I can imagine it being used for is cream products. The dual bristles would be good with emollients and blend nicely. It still isn't ideal for me though due to the size of the brush. I'm not sure if MAC will bring this out in a full size in the future. If they do, it would be nice for them to be clearer on how they perceive it to be used. Again, this brush had issues when washing, it leaked dye so badly, it was the worst of the bunch for leaking.

286SE
Another new brush from MAC. This brush will be released as a full size permanent edition brush with MAC's Naturally collection next year. It is a blending brush and works quite nicely although I still prefer MAC's other blending brushes such as the 217. It has a nicely tapered tip so you can get right into the crease and gently fluff the colour out. It would also work nicely for cream products and be a good addition to MAC's range as they do not have a synthetic blending brush (as far as I know). 
It still leaked dye unfortunately.

Top: 282SE
Bottom: 286SE

All in all, these brushes STINK. Would I recommend them? Errm... NO!

Jennifer x

MAC Glitter & Ice Mineralize Eye Shadow Review

MAC's Holiday collection offered six mineralize eye shadows. I initially bought two of them and then later went back for two others after seeing lots of swatches. The last two ended up being my favourites of the four.

L-R: Fresh Ice, Shimmermint

Fresh Ice
This is a frosty white with a very slight pink tinge. It has some lavender pink veining in the pan to go with the white. I bought this to use as a highlight shade, particularly in the inner corners of my eyes. When used dry it is slightly sheer which makes it perfect for me to use as a highlight as it is not full on frosty opaque white. It has lovely sparkle to it but it isn't so chunky that I experience lots of fallout. To make it more opaque, using it over a primer gives more payoff and holds the sparkle more. It is even better wet, which is the general expectation for mineralize eye shadow - they work in a similar manner to pigments, when foiled the payoff is really good and has a metallic finish. It is really sparkly used like this but can still drop some sparkle once it dries.

L-R: Dry, Over primer (UDPP), Wet, Over Pixie Epoxy

Shimmermint
This is a glittery minty, silvery shade. I love shades like this and they seem very few and far between. They are often quite sheer too, I guess due to the lightness of the colour. This is also like that when used dry and... it is a complete glitter bomb. I first used this dry and it went everywhere, I mean everywhere. I was finding glitter all over my clothes as well as my chin and forehead. There was glitter flying off of the brush as I used it. This colour must be used wet, and carefully for it to stay put. Primer helps a little although not much, wet is much better but it can still drop. A sticky base is a MUST. Once finding out how to use it, it looks really nice on. On me it shows more green but I have seen it appear more blue on other people.

L-R: Dry, Over primer (UDPP), Wet, Over Pixie Epoxy

Snow Season
This is a peachy pink with pink and gold shimmer. It is a very smooth mineralize eye shadow and has good pigmentation even when dry. It makes a good wash of colour for quick application and could also be used as a highlight. It is the sort of colour which will flatter most skin tones. When used over primer it appears more pink and when foiled it is far more metallic and the payoff is much brighter. I really really like this shade and it will be getting a lot of use. I do not experience fall out with this shade.

L-R: Snow Season, Winterized

L-R: Dry, Over primer (UDPP), Wet, Over Pixie Epoxy

Winterized
This is a smokey blue purple with a purple sheen. The base is a satin type of finish and then it has teeny purple sparkles. When used dry it appears more brown from the burgundy areas of the pan and applies smoothly with decent pigmentation. Like this it would work really nicely with khaki, olive and brown colours. When used over a primer it has more pigmentation but still retains the smokey quality. When foiled it becomes this amazing purple and much brighter. It has a gorgeous purple sheen when the light hits it with a slight pink tone. It works particularly nicely with Snow Season. I do not experience fall out with this shade. I love this one the most and it is definitely my favourite mineralize eye shadow out of all of the ones that I own.

L-R: Dry, Over primer (UDPP), Wet, Over Pixie Epoxy

I find the best way to use mineralize eye shadows is over a product called Pixie Epoxy, from a company called Fyrinnae. I will do a post on this product soon but it is basically like a 'glue' for pigments and works well for these types of eye shadows too. It holds the glitter or shimmer in really well and keeps the colour intense all day. I rarely get fall out if I use this product and I would advise using this to help.

Jennifer x

MAC Glitter & Ice Lipstick Review



Top - Bottom: Whirls & Twirls, Soft Sable

There were six lipsticks in MAC's Glitter & Ice collection, I picked up two of them. I wouldn't have normally bought these as I thought they would be really frosty but they aren't due to their glaze finishes.

L-R: Whirls & Twirls

Whirls & Twirls
In the tube it looks like it is going to be such a frosty light pink, I thought that it was going to look really old fashioned and unflattering, especially on my warm skin tone - not something I want to wear. Due to it being a glaze finish, it doesn't go on really opaque, it is more of a sheen on the lips. I really like lipsticks like this, I have bought a few like it in the past where they lighten my lips a little with a pretty sheen, such as Marquise'd from Wonder Woman and Secret Lover from MAC Me Over. It is really easy to wear for such a light colour. It would work really well with dark or smokey eye makeup because it lightens without going really really nude and it still lets the natural lip colour come through.



Soft Sable
This is quite a unique shade, I've not seen a lipstick like this before. I think the closest I have seen is Bobbi Brown's Vintage Rose but it is much more metallic and pinker. Soft Sable appears more pewter in the tube but once on the lips, my natural lip colour comes through, making it more wearable. I think this shade is more suited to warm skin tones. It works really nicely with brown and khaki shades of eyeshadow.

Both lipsticks applied really nicely and smooth. For these pictures, I quickly applied them so they don't look as nice as they should here and my lips are a bit red around the edges from doing a lot of lip swatches so sorry about that!

Jennifer x

MAC Glitter & Ice Dazzleglass Review



Back to front: Pleasure Principle, Love Alert, She-Zam, Spanking Rich, Dressed to Dazzle



There are six Dazzleglasses in MAC's Glitter & Ice collection. Some are brand new, others are repromotes or permanent so it is worth checking your collection to see if you already have any of them. Dazzleglasses are probably my favourite type of MAC glosses. They aren't too sticky but stay around for a while and you are often left with a bit of the glitter on the lips once the colour has worn off so you still have something of interest there. They tend to be on the sheer to colourless side with the colour coming from the glitter, although there are the odd few shades which do have colour in the base but they are far from opaque. They are popular to layer over lipsticks to add an extra something but I also like to use them alone as I find them pretty regardless. I bought five of the six colours available due my love of them and their versitality. The only bad thing about them is that they are a little pricier that the regular lipglasses and you get less product which is annoying. Debenhams currently have them in their 10% off beauty sale for £15.30 compared to their original £17.00. The price is inflated a bit compared to the regular dazzleglasses due to the special packaging they are in. I forgot about that at the time of ordering so should have ordered Love Alert in regular packaging as it is permanent and saved £1. Dazzleglasses have a brush applicator compared to the usual doe foot applicator in regular Lipglasses.



My photos do not do these justice at all, I found it so hard to capture the glitter in these accurately due to lack of daylight during my free time. Other blogs have much better photos of them, or check them out in person to get the full effect.

MAC Glitter & Ice Paint Pot Review

L-R: For Effect, Let's Skate

There are three Paint Pots in the Glitter & Ice collection, MAC's Holiday (Christmas) offering. All are quite neutral shades, a very pale pink, a taupe and a smokey grey. All are quite glittery and fall out can be expected in my experience. A primer or using some eyeshadow on top should reduce that. Bear in mind that if you hated the Cham-Pale Paint pots at the beginning of this year, you may also hate these. They are quite similar as they both have glitter but these are less chunky and apply much smoother. They are perfect colours for lots of eye looks for the holiday season. Really good as bases especially. I picked up two of the three as I felt didn't really like the third shade, Morning Frost, and felt that other brands made a shade like this which was nicer, such as Benefit.

L-R: For Effect, Let's Skate

For Effect
This is not the most pigmented Paint Pot, it is slightly sheer but it is buildable. It is an excellent base for a dark smoldering smokey eye or adding depth and sparkle to colours on top of powder eyeshadows. It is a dark grey, on a similar line to Night Divine Eyeshadow with silver sparkle but seems to have other shades of sparkle in it too in certain lighting. I see glimpses of blue and fuschia as the light hits it. I do wish the texture was a bit smoother however but I like it regardless for a dark shimmery base, which is why I wanted it in the first place. Therefore it serves it's purpose for me.

Let's Skate
This is such a pretty colour, again it applies a bit unevenly, clean fingers work best with both of these shades and a patting motion apposed to sweeping and flicking the glitter all over your face. It can be worn alone as a subtle colour, being light, uneveness doesn't show as much but the main colour, which is a pale pink, isn't obvious anyway. It is the shimmer in this which makes the colour beautiful. It has lovely pink and gold sparkle, looks very wintery and would look fantastic with a bit of black liner, mascara, a bold red or pink lipstick and a nice pink blush on the apples of cheeks. It also works as a nice base, the sparkle comes through the eyeshadow. Neutral shades, pinks and purples would look beautiful over this colour.


The packaging, like all of this collection is white which makes a difference to the black lids of regular Paint Pots. Personally I don't like the white lids but it doesn't matter anyway. The bottoms of the pots are glass and quite weighty. Just remember to screw the lids on tightly to make sure they don't dry out, it is also better to store them upside down - you can see the colours easier that way too.

L-R: For Effect, Let's Skate

L-R: For Effect, Let's Skate

My swatches don't really do the colours justice but you may be able to see the gold shimmer better in the second photo of Let's Skate, it also shows some of the blue sparkle in For Effect.

Jennifer xx



MAC Posh Paradise Swatches

I totally forgot to review these products so I thought I would just post the swatches in case anyone still wanted to have a look. Some are still available in MAC's Goodbyes section and probably available on Debenhams/Selfridges/House of Fraser. I bought all of the Paint Pots from this collection and 4 of the Mattenes (I forgot to take swatches of the fourth, Rare Exotic). I simply love Paint Pots so that is why I got them all and I really enjoyed the Mattene formula but only some of the colours caught my eye.

Paint Pots



L-R: Pure Creation, Genuine Treasure, Idyllic, Imaginary, Nubile, Hyperviolet, Half-Wild, Treasure Hunt

  Mattenes

Deliciously Forbidden, Naked Bliss, Delectable



Rare Exotic


My favourites: Deliciously Forbidden, Rare Exotic, Idyllic and Treasure Hunt.

Jennifer xx