Tuesday, February 23, 2010

MAC Marquise D' Lipstick Review, Photos & Swatch! An oldie, but goodie!

mac marquise d lipstick

MAC Marquise D' Lipstick

MAC Marquise D' Lipstick is described as a sandy, cream peach with a lustre finish. It's my perfect color! It's like a muted, warm, light pink with a golden sheen. It looks like a mix between Shygirl, Sandy B and the lightest touch of Myth to lighten it up.

The lustre formula is one of my favorites from MAC; it's creamy, smooth, feels comfortable on the lips and has a shiny finish.

The pigmentation is pretty good. It's a bit sheer, but buildable. It doesn't quite build to much more than medium, though. It's a fabulous every-day lip shade.

MAC Marquise D' was launched in the MAC Blonde, Brunette, Redhead '09 Collection, and was re-promoted in the MAC Wonderwoman '11 Collection.

mac marquise d lipstick

mac marquise d lipstick review

mac marquise d lipstick swatch
MAC Marquise D' on my lips

I love this lipstick, and am so sad that it's limited edition. If you can get your hands on a tube, definitely do!

Monday, February 22, 2010

Nars Chihuahua Lip Gloss & Crazed Blush!

Nars Chihuahua Lip Gloss

This is my 1st NARS lip gloss! The color is "Chihuahua". It's a mauvey, neutral pink. In my opinion, its the perfect every day pink. Its very natural, and adds a little bit of color and brightness to my lips. Its like.. my lips but better. :) The color is very milky and sheer. It is also VERY moisturizing. I don't think I've ever tried another lip gloss as moisturizing and smooth as this one. (Same thing for NARS lipstick, they are soo moisturizing!) I'll be looking into some other shades as well.



What shade do you recommend? I know LOTS of people rave about Turkish Delight but it never tempted me. Do you think its worth the hype?

Nars Crazed Blush

Crazed is the color I think of when I think of Mixed Berry. It's a Raspberry/Magenta/Pink. Lol, that's the best I can explain it. Its super pigmented and slightly shimmery. With a light hand, it gives a real natural rosy flush. I think its a color that can compliment any skin tone. This isn't a color I would of normally picked, but I wanted to try something different. I'm very happy with this blush! The next ones I really want are Madly, Sertao & Luster.. I actually want to own them all one day. lol So far, I have Albatross, Angelika, Super Orgasm, Orgasm, Lovejoy & Crazed. I'm slowly getting there!!



What are your favorites?

Sigma Professional Brushes Eye Kit Review & Eye Shadow! Lots of Photos!

Sigma Professional Brushes Eye Kit

"7 professional quality brushes for the eye. Perfect to apply, shade, blend, and dust the eye with color and texture."- Sigma makeup







Click HERE to view the product description for these brushes. It explains what each brush is intended for.

I was SO excited to receive these brushes in the mail. I don't own many brushes and I don't make brush purchases very often, but new brushes are so exciting for me. Having a good quality brush makes me feel better about applying my makeup. As I'm sure it does for everybody. I've always been interested in trying Sigma brushes because I've heard so many bloggers RAVE about these and they're much more affordable than high-end brushes (MAC, Sephora, Etc). Onto my review!

Review: The first thing I noticed about these brushes are the QUALITY. Just from having them in my hands, the handle is so sturdy and heavier than all of my drugstore/cheapie brushes. They feel pretty much identical to a MAC brush. The shape of the handle is exactly the same as the MAC brushes as well. (All of the Sigma brushes correspond to the MAC brush #'s) They are very easy to handle and don't get in the way of application. The 1st brush I tried out was the SS266 (Small Angle Brush) I started using it to apply my every day cream eye liner (I've been using Stila Black Smudgepot) and I use it to blend my brows after I've applied my brow pencil. What I really like about this brush is that you can get a VERY precise line with it. The brush is very dense, but very soft. It doesn't bend while applying which makes it so much easier to achieve the most pigmentation. I don't wash it every day.. maybe once a week and I get absolutely no product build up on the brush and it doesn't harden. I'm not positive if it's because of the brush or the liner I'm using. I'm impressed. The 2nd brush I tried was the ss219 (pencil brush) which is pretty much identical to the MAC 219. I honestly like the Sigma 219 better. Its slightly smaller and it's more dense, so my outcome ends up being better. With my MAC brush, it would start to get fluffy and not keep its shape after uses, but this brush keeps its shape. I've been using this to blend shadows in my crease or to smudge eyeshadow on my lash line. I LOVE this brush. The next brush I tried (I can't believe I recall the order of which I tried these.. they were all different days. lol) was the ss252 (Large Shader Brush). I haven't tried the MAC 252, So I can't compare them.. but they look exactly the same. I've been using this every day to set my concealer under my eyes. After I applied my foundation, I swipe this across my MAC Medium skin finish & BE Well Rested and apply it under my eyes and it smooths the powder on so perfectly. I would usually use my MAC 224 for this, but the ss252 actually works better. It applies a little bit more product (probably because it's a lot more dense than the MAC 224) I can also see myself using this to apply concealer or to apply an all over color on my lids. I love this brush. Finally, I used the rest of the brushes at the same one day to create a dramatic eyeshadow look. I used the ss239 (Eye Shading Brush) to apply color to my lid (which works very well to build color) & the ss224 (a little bigger than the MAC 224) to blend the color better, ss219 to apply color in my lid crease, the ss275 (Medium Angled Shading Brush) to blend my crease color into the color I applied all over my lid & to apply my highlight. I then used the ss266 to apply my liner on my lash line and the ss209 (Eyeliner Brush) to apply liner to my waterline.

Overall, I am SO happy with these brushes. You can not beat the quality of these for the price. This whole set only costs $39! You can't even buy 2 MAC brushes for that price. I highly recommend these & when I have a little extra money, I'm 100% going to purchase Sigma's face brushes.

Also, I have one little review for an eye shadow that was included..

Sigma Indian Girl Eye Shadow






IndianGirl is a shimmery charcoal. Once applied, it has a very slight purplish bluish sheen. The consistency of the eye shadow is finely milled and very soft. The pigmentation is pretty good. It's not super pigmented, but its also not too sheer. I would recommend using a base or applying this wet for extra pigmentation. I would compare it to a NYX single eye shadow. I've been using this a lot lately as an eye liner with a small brush or as a daytime subtle smokey eye (not all over my lid, just smudged into my lash line). I would be interested in trying other shades.

Have you tried anything from Sigma!? Please Share!


Sunday, February 21, 2010

MAC Viva Glam Gaga Lipstick Review, Photos and Swatches!

mac viva glam gaga

 MAC Viva Glam Gaga Lipstick


I was so excited when I heard news that Lady Gaga was doing a collab with MAC for Viva Glam. Lady Gaga is one of my favorite artists out right now, so I couldn't wait for the lipstick to hit MAC counters.

Viva Glam Gaga is a light, blue based pink with a Lustre finish. If you own MAC Snob or Saint Germain, this is almost identical to them (but sheerer than the two). 

It's the most flattering on light complexions, and a little light on dark complexions. When I'm tan, I find it a hard shade to pull off, but being that it's a Lustre finish, it's fairly sheer, which makes it easier to wear.

mac gaga lipstick
 MAC Viva Glam Gaga

As with all of MAC Viva Glam Lipsticks, 100% of the proceeds goes to MAC Aids Fund (for more info, visit http://www.macaidsfund.org). So, if you don't like the lipstick, your money is still going to a great cause.

MAC Viva Glam Gaga

It's not actually all that bad on my lips. It's a little too blue for my coloring, but I can definitely layer a warmer pink lipgloss over top for it to suit me better.

mac viva glam gaga swatch
Viva Glam Gaga on my lips.

Did you pick up Viva Glam Gaga or Cyndi?