Went "Christmas shopping" again yesterday. Unfortunately these days, my version of this seems to end in me not buying things for other people, but being drawn to the nearest MAC branch and spending far too much on myself...
Anyway, my splurges this time - a new foundation, a blusher, another eyshadow pan and a brush....
Ok, so first of all the foundation. MAC studio tech was the first foundation I ever got from MAC. When I first bought it, I was in love. I bought it in the summer, it was shade NW20, and I felt like it gave me a really polished look. Then winter came and I realised that once my slight sunkissed look wore off (and I mean slight - I'm a burner, not a tanner, and I always wear SPF of at least 25 on my face even in winter... I have now come to terms with being pale and quite like it...) the colour was all wrong for me, and I felt like it suddenly looked too pink on me.
I moved on to pastures new - mineralised satin finish and bare escentuals foundation. Anyway, I was browsing my beloved YouTube the other day and stumbled on some tutorials about studio tech (check out scandalousbeauty for a fantastic one), and it got me thinking. I realised that first time around I'd bought the wrong colour and possibly applied too much with the sponge (these were the days before I had my 187 brush. Or any foundation brush for that matter). I still liked the way it looked on me and it always looked fab in photographs, so I decided to give it another bash. I went back to MAC and spoke with the MUA there. She looked at my skintone - I really wasn't sure whether I had warm or cool skin tones, I seem golden on my chest but have slightly rosy cheeks. Well it turns out that the MUA thought I could probably get away with e
ither NC or NW, so she tried the NC20 on me and it looked great, no hint of it being too pink or orange on me, so I went ahead and puchased.
I'm really glad I've got this in time for Christmas, will look lovely through the festive season and on any photo's. I think it's also going to be a great foundation through the winter as well, with it being a cream. I didn't have any problems with break outs last time around so should be ok. Will post if I have any problems with it though...
Next, the blusher - for the first time ever I've bought a cream blush rather than a powder. I have 'peachykeen' in MACs powder blush, which is a really great colour but I felt like it didn't stay on v
ery long, especially over mineral makeup, and probably cos my skin is quite dry on mu cheeks. I thought I'd try a cream blush as I thought it would have more staying power. I have to say I was a bit nervous about what colour to get, as I didn't want to look like it was too strong on me. I see so many people now who just look like they have stripes of bright pink or orange on their cheeks, and I did NOT want to look like that at all. The MUA showed me how to apply this with the 188 brush (smaller version of the 187) by dabbing it onto the brush and swirling lightly across the apples of my cheeks and then blending back. It looked really nice. Ooops, I forgot to mention I bought it in the shade 'lilicent' which is a really nice pale pink and looks like it will go well with lots of looks. Will post about it's staying power when I've had further chance to test it.
I'd been needing a new blusher brush for a while anyway, so I caved in (LOL, Like the MUA really had to twist my arm) and bought the 188 brush for blusher. It can also be used for applying foundation so will be a good travel brush, and you can get into smaller areas than with the 187. Hence I managed to convince myself that I was, in fact, getting a bargain. Hmm. I'm so transparent sometimes!
Last but not least, I bought another eyeshadow pan for my palette. Needed a highlighter shade, but I wanted to get something more subtle than a white or shimmery colour. The MUA recommended a pale beige shade, as it is more subtle than white. I ended up going for the shade 'brulee'. This is a shade slightly paler than my own skin and I think it will work well on me. It also seems like a really natural colour you could use to tone down a colour which is a little too bright. Will post about how this works for me...
Oh yeah, I nearly forgot, I was wearing my other new colours that day - mythology and coppering with a little carbon in the outer corner to smoke it slightly. Anyway the MUA said she really liked my makeup, and that it made my eyes look great. Woop Woop! Never had a compliment from a MAC MUA before - felt really great when she said it LOL...
Have to say I'm getting really frustrated with not being able to post pictures - I have a mini laptop with no disc drive, so I'm unable to put my camera programme on here yet. Will be buying a disc drive for it after christmas though so I'll be free to post more looks and pics of new products as soon as I can.
j xxx
Anyway, my splurges this time - a new foundation, a blusher, another eyshadow pan and a brush....
Ok, so first of all the foundation. MAC studio tech was the first foundation I ever got from MAC. When I first bought it, I was in love. I bought it in the summer, it was shade NW20, and I felt like it gave me a really polished look. Then winter came and I realised that once my slight sunkissed look wore off (and I mean slight - I'm a burner, not a tanner, and I always wear SPF of at least 25 on my face even in winter... I have now come to terms with being pale and quite like it...) the colour was all wrong for me, and I felt like it suddenly looked too pink on me.
I moved on to pastures new - mineralised satin finish and bare escentuals foundation. Anyway, I was browsing my beloved YouTube the other day and stumbled on some tutorials about studio tech (check out scandalousbeauty for a fantastic one), and it got me thinking. I realised that first time around I'd bought the wrong colour and possibly applied too much with the sponge (these were the days before I had my 187 brush. Or any foundation brush for that matter). I still liked the way it looked on me and it always looked fab in photographs, so I decided to give it another bash. I went back to MAC and spoke with the MUA there. She looked at my skintone - I really wasn't sure whether I had warm or cool skin tones, I seem golden on my chest but have slightly rosy cheeks. Well it turns out that the MUA thought I could probably get away with e
ither NC or NW, so she tried the NC20 on me and it looked great, no hint of it being too pink or orange on me, so I went ahead and puchased.I'm really glad I've got this in time for Christmas, will look lovely through the festive season and on any photo's. I think it's also going to be a great foundation through the winter as well, with it being a cream. I didn't have any problems with break outs last time around so should be ok. Will post if I have any problems with it though...
Next, the blusher - for the first time ever I've bought a cream blush rather than a powder. I have 'peachykeen' in MACs powder blush, which is a really great colour but I felt like it didn't stay on v
ery long, especially over mineral makeup, and probably cos my skin is quite dry on mu cheeks. I thought I'd try a cream blush as I thought it would have more staying power. I have to say I was a bit nervous about what colour to get, as I didn't want to look like it was too strong on me. I see so many people now who just look like they have stripes of bright pink or orange on their cheeks, and I did NOT want to look like that at all. The MUA showed me how to apply this with the 188 brush (smaller version of the 187) by dabbing it onto the brush and swirling lightly across the apples of my cheeks and then blending back. It looked really nice. Ooops, I forgot to mention I bought it in the shade 'lilicent' which is a really nice pale pink and looks like it will go well with lots of looks. Will post about it's staying power when I've had further chance to test it.I'd been needing a new blusher brush for a while anyway, so I caved in (LOL, Like the MUA really had to twist my arm) and bought the 188 brush for blusher. It can also be used for applying foundation so will be a good travel brush, and you can get into smaller areas than with the 187. Hence I managed to convince myself that I was, in fact, getting a bargain. Hmm. I'm so transparent sometimes!
Last but not least, I bought another eyeshadow pan for my palette. Needed a highlighter shade, but I wanted to get something more subtle than a white or shimmery colour. The MUA recommended a pale beige shade, as it is more subtle than white. I ended up going for the shade 'brulee'. This is a shade slightly paler than my own skin and I think it will work well on me. It also seems like a really natural colour you could use to tone down a colour which is a little too bright. Will post about how this works for me...
Oh yeah, I nearly forgot, I was wearing my other new colours that day - mythology and coppering with a little carbon in the outer corner to smoke it slightly. Anyway the MUA said she really liked my makeup, and that it made my eyes look great. Woop Woop! Never had a compliment from a MAC MUA before - felt really great when she said it LOL...
Have to say I'm getting really frustrated with not being able to post pictures - I have a mini laptop with no disc drive, so I'm unable to put my camera programme on here yet. Will be buying a disc drive for it after christmas though so I'll be free to post more looks and pics of new products as soon as I can.
j xxx
5 comments:
Hi I also have lilicent its my only cream blush and I love it too!! Enjoy x
I have the same problem with Christmas shopping, even when I order online!
♥
LOL - Actually, just had a thought - I'm kidding myself if I think I only do this at Christmas, Its a year round occurrence! xxx
hi mizzworthy, i've never tried MAC's foundation, just concealer and i have to say that it definately does the job when it comes to cover-up. just how much does the MAC foundation cost?
Hi Yifei, Sorry it's taken me so long to reply, only just read you comment, so I'm really sorry!
It really varies on the formulation of foundation you go for, but I'd say they cost around £20 each here in the UK, which I imagine at the moment would be between $25 and $30. Like most foundations and makeup you'll unly really know if this suits your skin when you try it out for a few days. I'd recommend getting colour matched and getting a sample to try just to make sure it doesn't affect your skin. I have to say, Mine doesn't seem to react to it, but I don't wear liquid foundation everyday. I'd say probably 2-4 times a week at the moment. They have different formulations which suit different skin types, levels of coverage and give different looks. Personally I have used studio tech, mineralise satin finish, studio fix fluid, mineral powder, and I've just bought the full coverage to play with (My current obsession is with creating different skin looks...) so if you have any questions about them, then either let me know on here or send me a message on youtube and I'll try to help as best I can.
PS, Happy NEW YEAR!!!!
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