Mac Haul & Review

On a recent shopping trip I decided to invest in some new make up.
I was browsing round the make up counters and over the crowded store I seen it in the distance ....Mac. I made my way over and was virtually hypnotised by the overly helpful sales girl - do these guys work on commission ? I swear I would have bankrupted myself had I not come to my senses before reaching for my wallet !
This is the first time I have purchased any Mac make up - why was I hesitant to purchase from them before ? Im not sure - its not that I havent used expensive make up in the past - but surprisingly I found that although Mac is a little more pricey than the high street brands its not so expensive that you feel that you cant afford it. This little experiment was to see if it would be worth investing in a Mac Pro card - I am a budding make up artist and have been justifying my cosmetic splurges over the last few months by telling myself I was "testing" out the products to use in my kit ?!
Dont believe me ?!
No neither do I - turns out I love these so much I dont think I can part with them !
Anyway here is my haul:-

1 paint pot in Painterly, 3 fluid liners in Avenue, Dark Diversion & Dark Envy, 1 mineralize skin finish in Semi Precious Rose Quartz, 1 cream colour base in Hush, 2 Lipsticks in Secret Lover and Creme D'Nude and 1 packet of cleansing wipes.

Painterly Paint Pot -  a gorgeous nude beige

The thing that impressed me most about the paint pot is it is really highly pigmented. Painterly goes on like a cream highshadow but doesnt crease and end up half way down your face like other cream shadows Ive tried. I used Painterly as a base to create different looks and it helped my make up stay put - I didnt have to retouch my make up once all day !! It is also great just to use all over the eye area then you could just line your eyes with your fluidline or any other liner. I will definately be purchasing these in different colours.

Fluid lines in Dark Envy decribed as a blackened green , Dark Diverson described as a darkened plum and Avenue which is decribed as charcoal black with gold pearl although I think it looks more brown with gold pearl.

Easy to apply and longwearing and smudge proof - I use a Sigma E65 brush to apply a line along my top lashes - really like the pigments in the fluidlines and they are really easy to apply , you can also use them to tightline and along your own fluidline different looks.

Cream Colour Base In Hush and Mineralize skin finish in Semi Precious Rose Quartz

The cream colour base is fragrance free and you can use it on bare skin or over foundation, moisturizer or powder and it can be applied with your fingers, sponge or brush and you can change the effect you get with the way you apply it. I am not as impressed with the cream colour base as I am with the mineralize skin finish - I am glad that I managed to get this as it was a limited edition. You can use it to highlight or all over for a nice sheen.

Secret Lover Nude Beige & Creme d' Nude Pale muted peach beige

I tried to swatch these but they are really pale so didnt really come up - the thing I like most about these lipsticks are the lovely vanilla smell they seem to have  - I think they would suit any skin tone, these are so creamy and smooth when you apply them and they arent sticky which is a pet hate I have with lipsticks and lipglosses. This seemed to last a while but I love lippy which smells good so I feel like I always end up applying it more than I need to !

The final part of my haul was the mac wipes - love these !

These remove make up really easily and you can also use them to correct any make up mistakes. They have a nice fresh smell and it says on the website they are infused with vitamin E which will hydrate and nourish.

I am really impressed with all my purchases - except maybe the cream colour base. I might need to keep persisting with this one to get the kind of look Im aiming for. My haul has got me addicted - I think every girl should have a few Mac staples in her make up kit.

Whats you favourites ?

Let me know x x x

With Love

Lipstick Fridays



Feeding my addiction - Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure

Its Friday - woo hoo xx

Over the past year I have become addicted to nail polish !! I cant get enough of it !!
It doesnt matter what brand or colour there is just something about those cute little bottles that I cant get enough of ! Ebay helps to feed my addiction - clicking on the buy now button and winning my chosen item makes me feel .... well it makes me feel good !
Anyway on to the subject at hand - nail polish....
Today I received my ebay bargains in the post - I purchased five out of the 36 available Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure nail polishes:-

340 - Black Platinum, 370 - Commander In Chic, 450 - Fairy Teal, 250 - Mudslide & 510 - I Pink I Can

Black Platinum - 3 coats

Commander In Chic - 2 coats

Fairy Teal - 2 coats

Mudslide - 2 coats

I Pink I Can - 2 coats

My favourites out of the five are the Black Platinum and Mudslide which is a gourgous toffee nudey colour and the Commander In Chic - Chanel Particuliere anyone ? x

I stumbled upon these nail polishes accidently after watching a you tube blog recommending the Sally Hansen Insta Dri polishes and thought Id give these a go as the website claims they are a base coat, top coat, strengthening and growth treatment and salon-inspired colour all in one!
I have to say Im gobsmacked at how well these nail polishes glide on - they have a wide, flat brush which helps you apply the polish easily - and to be honest cutting out the time it takes to apply a base coat and a top coat are you not out buying them already ??

The consistency of the polish itself is quite thin however not so thin that it is runny or difficult to apply and Im really impressed with the pigment in the five colours which I purchased, my only criticism ? Some colours - the more pearlised ones like the Black Platinum  -  may need three coats instead of two.
The fact you dont need to use base coat and top coat cuts your painting time down - I even managed to paint both hands with two coats in just over five minutes !
As easy as they are to apply then are even easier to get off - how many times have I found myself using ten bits of cotton wool and a whole bottle of nail polish remover to get the polish of one hand ! Well Ive lost count to be honest but even the black polish came off easily which I was really surprised about.
Drying time is a few minutes and my polish lasted a few days before starting to chip - the website claims your manicure will last up to ten days but to be honest I dont take care of my manicures like I should so I havent managed to achieve the ten days yet - I will be putting this to the test over the next few months however.
Overall I am really impressed with the Sally Hansen Complete Manicure polishes - they are every thing they claim to be and a little more x

My First Review

Hi

Welcome to my very first review.

I have made a couple of purchases over the last few days which I will also be reviewing. One of the purchases being the highly praised Urban Decay Naked Palette - the palette had been sold out and recently came back into stock.
I really wanted to see what all the fuss was about as I have never been a fan of Urban Decay and this palette is my first purchase from them
The palette itself is quite striking and has a lovely velvety feel to the box and also comes with the Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion and eyeshadow brush.

There are 12 gorgeous colours in the palette , all with fantastic names:-

Virgin - Pearly cream

Sin - Pale pearly pink

Naked - Beigy taupe

Sidecar - Sparkly darker beige

Buck - Toffee colour

Half Baked - Goldy bronze

Smog - Bronzy, brown

Darkhorse - Grey, Brown

Toasted - Pinky, brown

Hustle - A lighter grey, brown

Creep - Sparkly dark grey

Gunmetal - Sparkly grey/blue

Colours shown from left to right - virgin,sin,naked,sidecar,buck,half baked, smog, darkhorse,toasted,hustle,creep and gun metal.

I am very impressed with the range of colours in the palette and the pigments are just fantastic - on my first application I applied the primer potion all over my eyelid and then applied Virgin all over. I applied sin all over my lower lid and used sidecar over the crease. I used dark horse to line my lower lashes. The shadows were a joy to apply , they feel so soft and creamy and this is actually the first time I have visited the ladies at lunch time and not had to re-apply my eyeshadow. What on earth was I using before !?!

I love this palette and hope that this is a permanent fixture in the Urban Decay line - the colours are wearable, its not one of these palettes where you find that there are one or two colours you could give a wide berth to.

Where have you been all my life Urban Decay ?

I would highly recommend this palette to anyone who asks - this is definately worth parting with £35. A staple for every girls make up arsenal !

With Love

Lipstick Fridays

Why Lipstick Fridays ?

Hi

Welcome to my blog - Lipstick Fridays and thanks for stopping by.

Why Lipstick Fridays you may ask?

Well what girl doesnt love lipstick or Fridays ?
In my humble opinion Friday is simply the best day of the week - no work the next day !
Friday signals the start of a weekend and I dont think there is much that is more enjoyable
than Friday night cocktails with friends.

I have always wanted to work in the beauty industry as far back as I can remember but circumstances dictated that I would not take that path till my thirties. Which proves you are never too old to seize the day and be what ever you want to be. Beauty, make up, looking and feeling good have been an enduring passion throughout my life and I am now a fully qualified beauty therapist.
Im forever watching make up tutorials, haul videos and reading beauty blogs and I decided that I too want to share my love for all things beauty with the world - We all have the right to look and feel good without it breaking the bank !
In my blog I will review make-up, skincare, beauty and hair products from all price ranges - all the products I review are purchased from my own pocket, I am not sponsored by any brands and I will give you an honest opinion on what I think of them.

I hope you enjoy my blog and I look forward to becoming friends x x