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

OPI Fashionista Today's Special Value from QVC

I am a real fan of QVC's beauty TSVs, they often bring some really gorgeous things and fantastic prices or exclusive products. On the 4th May, QVC had an OPI TSV which was another fantastic offer and I loved.

L-R: Nail Envy, Houston We Have A Purple, Guy Meets Gal-Veston,
You Don't Know Jacques, Silver Shatter
Front:Avoplex Cuticle Oil To Go.

This set contains 3 15ml nail lacquers, 1 15ml Original Nail Envy, 1 7.5ml Avoplex Cuticle Oil To Go Pen aaaaaannnd the best bit... 1 15ml Silver Shatter! All of this came for the TSV price of £28.78 plus postage. It is still available on waitlist for £35.00 plus £4.45 postage, so if it is something you like the look of, you will need to order it and if it comes back in stock they will send it out to you. It is also available on auto delivery where in 3 months time a second set will be sent out to you with different colours and then in another 3 months time a third set will be sent out (you can cancel at any time). Here is the link for details. I went for this option because I really liked the look of the colours coming out with the next sets and the third one has the new Navy Shatter due for release.

Continue for review...

Instyle Magazine June 2011 - Free Nails Inc Polish!

Hey all! Right, I haven't had time to swatch the Illamasqua polishes I promised you yesterday because I've been quite busy with other things but I will do them this week. I thought I'd bring you this today to replace it seeing as I think this issue of Instyle will fly off the shelves pretty quickly.

This isn't the first time Instyle have teamed up with Nails Inc to bring us some freebie colours, this is just the first time I have seen colours I have liked. There are three to collect if you fancy them all. Orange Candy is a bright orange, like the colour of a real orange. Electric Teal is a greeny ocean teal. Fashion Fawn is a light taupe sandy colour - I didn't purchase this one because I have colours in the same family and I just don't wear them enough to need another.

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to capture the true colour of these in a swatch, the orange came out too bright, verging on neon weirdly and it just isn't. The teal came out far too blue but it is a gorgeous green teal and I actually didn't expect to love it but I so do. When you see them in the bottles, they do come out true to the bottle colour so you could just place it next to your skin to see how it would work.

These are the first Nails Inc polishes I've tried so I have no idea how they are formula wise normally but I thought they were pretty good. The teal was thicker than the orange which looked quite watery in the bottle but was fine in use. The teal covered perfectly in two coats, the orange looked good in two but I would have preferred a third because I could see my nail line faintly but if you have short nails and don't really get visible nail lines, two would be just right. The brushes were thin for my liking, I'm so used to OPI's wide brush that I always find thinner brushes difficult but that is just me. The bristles were all fine, none were splayed out. I haven't tested them for wear but regardless, for the price of the magazine, £3.70, I don't think you can go wrong. Of course if you are a regular reader of Instyle, unlike me who just bought the magazine for the freebies, you wont even be paying for the polish!

Like the colours? Get down to the shops before they are all gone!

- Jennifer

Bobbi Brown Rich Colour Lipstick Review

When these were announced I was quite excited to try them so when I had a chance a little while ago, I went down to Selfridges to take a look. I ended up coming home with two shades, Bikini Pink (soft white pink) and Mod Pink (bright pink). I didn't have anything like Bikini Pink so I was drawn to that shade and was pleasantly surprised at how it looked on. Mod pink was just a really pretty colour so I got that too. In fact, all of the colours in the line are lovely wearable shades so there should be something to most, if not everybody's taste.

Here is what it says on the Bobbi Brown website about these lipsticks:

"Bright, get-noticed colour. Introducing Rich Lip Color SPF12. Lightweight, yet intense, Bobbi's latest formula combines pigments with a clear base to deliver pure, crisp colour with just one swipe. Plus, it's creamy and moisturising, so lips feel as good as they look."

I couldn't agree more with this, they are so pigmented, you really do get the colour that is in the tube on your lips. They are really comfortable to wear and last a really long time. Darker shades, as always will last longer than lighter shades but I was impressed at how long Bikini Pink lasts on my lips and gradually fades before I need to reapply. I didn't see any bleeding or feathering during wear, they really did stay put.

They have a semi matte finish which helps to keep the lipstick on but they are not drying at all. I found that they can sometimes apply a little dry looking but a few seconds later the lipstick warms up and becomes lovely and smooth and creamy feeling without actually being a creamy lipstick which doesn't last very long. You only need one swipe to get true colour so they will last ages and being so pigmented and firm in the tube, it is easier to get a neat line around your lips (not demonstrated in the photos as I just quickly put them on). It is also nice that they have SPF 12 in them, great for this time of year so you can protect your lips well and not need an SPF balm or sunscreen underneath.

They are scent and taste free so should appeal to everyone. The packaging is typical Bobbi Brown, matte black plastic tubes with the usual Bobbi Brown typography running along it. They twist up smoothly and feel sturdy and well made. The packaging isn't luxurious but I like that because Bobbi Brown is a makeup artist and other artistry brands such as MAC and NARS both have that sleek plain black packaging which doesn't need all of the bells and whistles, the products inside do the talking and there is really no need for expensive packaging. I also like that they are rectangular so that they don't roll off of tables!

I'd like to get a couple of other colour from this line in the future, Guava looks really nice, as does Heather Pink

Swatches after the break...

April Favourites!

I am soooo soo soooooo sorry for not posting in so long, I just haven't been in the mood for blogging (in other words, just plain lazy) and I had a cold so didn't want to post pictures of my awful blotchy face and crusty nose haha. Anyway, I'm back now and I have attempted to organise myself a bit better, I had a tonne of photos in my Photobucket account and I was getting confused as to where to start with them so I cleared it all up so it makes more sense to me so hopefully I will be able to get through them and finally post them here. So today I have a belated April favourites and later on I will be posting a review of some Bobbi Brown lipsticks. Tomorrow I have the latest OPI Today's Special Value from QVC that I recieved today. I will also post a review of the Illamasqua Toxic Nature nail polishes (old news now but they are permanent) and next week I will post a review of the cream pigments. Also the new MAC collection - Surf Baby which I had planned to do this weekend but it hasn't arrived yet. Let's get started!

This month I have been using all sorts of things, just playing around and trying to use some of my older products which have been neglected a bit. Therefore, there hasn't been much makeup that I have repeatedly used. These are the things I have really enjoyed using.

Firstly, Philosophy's Hope in a Jar moisturiser. I got this in a Philosophy gift set for Christmas and have been using it quite often along with a couple of other moisturisers. This month I have really noticed how nice my skin has been since I started using it both day and night every day. It is such a gorgeous product and I have hardly used any. It sinks into my skin really well, no oily residue at all. I don't get flaky skin like I used to and my skin tone has been getting more and more even where I barely use any foundation now. It also leaves my skin feeling soooo soft and plump and dewy and smooth... ahhh I love this stuff. I have a small size but the full size is £34 for 56.7g which I am willing to pay because it works so well for me.

Next is my MAC MSF in Stereo Rose which I have featured before. I really love this and it works so nicely in the summer, the perfect corally golden sheen to my cheeks.

Miss Dior Cherie EDP. This is my favourite perfume, I love it and wear it most days. It is so sophisticated and girly and feminine at the same time. The bottle is so pretty too. It just makes me feel pretty wearing it. I will do a full review on this soon.

Chanel Imitable Intense Mascara. This is a new product for me and quite frankly, the best mascara I have ever used. I had these awkward lashes that just would not curl up even using eyelash curlers but this has made them right. It doesn't flake or smudge and the brush is fab. It makes my eyelashes really defined and voluminous, a definite repurchase for me.

Lastly, another Chanel product. Rouge Coco Shine in Romance. This has become one of my favourite lipsticks and I really want to get a couple more colours from the range. They are so moisturising on my dry lips and they look so sophisticated. I like that they are sheer and glossy. The colour range is great too, something for every skintone. Expensive, yes, but I think they are worth it because I really enjoy wearing this.

- Jennifer