MAC Heirloom Mix Review & Swatches

Hello world! Today I have some of the pieces from the MAC Heirloom Mix collection to show you, which is coming out for the holiday season - available in November 2014. I only have 4 pieces from an obviously much larger collection, but I wanted to give my opinion on the products I do have.

Keep reading for more pictures and the review!

L'Oréal Colour Me Pink Collection

Hello, today I've got the L'Oréal Colour Me Pink collection to share with you. This a collection of all pink products, for all the pink lovers out there! It's very girly and fun, if you're into that.

First up, the lipsticks!

Left to Right: Ballerina Shoes, I Pink You're Cute, Miss Magenta, Fresh as a Rose, Wisteria Rose, Everbloom, Pink Flamingo, Raspberry Rush

Swatches are in the same oder of appearance as above, left to right, top to bottom.

As you can see, there's probably a shade of pink in there for every skin tone and for every taste. Speaking of taste, that "Old Lady" scent of these lipsticks has remained unchanged since sometimes in the early 90s I think. L'Oréal, please - it's 2013 and that scent has got to go! It's just so dated. I don't like my lipsticks smelling and tasting like a 90s flashback.

Ballerina Shoes is the only really frosty shade in there, and I don't like it too much. Do frosty, light lipstick colours actually look good on anyone? Besides that, my favorites are Raspberry Rush and Pink Flamingo. They are all very wearable shades and I wouldn't call any of them neon, they aren't as intensely bright as the Maybelline Vivids for example, which might be a good thing for some people.

Next up are the nailpolishes.

Left to Right: Sugary Sweet, Taste of Romance, Hella Pink, Pink Attitude, Rosy Macaron, Berry Jealous

Just bottle pictures here for now. I've worn Hella Pink on my nails and it's so pretty! They have a slightly thinner texture than some other polishes I own, but this particular shade was opaque after two coats. I'm on my second day of wear right now and there are no chips whatsoever yet.

Lastly, the lip glosses...

Left to Right: Pucker Up Pink, Florid Pink, Rosy Demeanor, Raspberry Flush, Berry Chic

These have a nice pigmentation, and a pleasant caramel flavor. (Not the 90s scent like the lipsticks.) I personally would prefer a wand and brush applicator here because I find it's hard to get a nice application with the squeeze-out angled tops. But other than that, the bolders colors look really nice.

Has anything here caught your attention? Anything you might pick up? These products are available at the drugstore in the USA, unsure of how it looks with worldwide availability.

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Illamasqua Paranormal Collection

It's Friday!! Looking forward to the weekend? My boyfriend and I are throwing a rooftop BBQ party tomorrow as a housewarming for our Penthouse. Got the kegs of beer ordered, and right now I've got about 6kg of potatoes boiling away for a potato salad. Slaving away over a hot stove in the summer, oh dear...

Anyway, I thought I'd get a break from the party preparations by showing you some pieces of the new Illamasqua Paranormal collection that is out now. You can view the entire collection and some instructional videos on the Illamasqua website - here.

First up the Paranormal Palette (Price: £34)

Illamasqua describes this as "A unique water-resistant eyeshadow that can't decide if it's a cream or a shadow. Instead it combines the best of both worlds, delivering the textured silky appearance of a powder, but with the deep color wash of a cream."

I played around with this briefly and I'd say that description is pretty accurate. At first I couldn't tell if it was a cream or a powder eyeshadow and it's a very unique texture, one I personally haven't seen before. The pigmentation is nice, but I haven't actually worn this on my eyes yet so I can't make any claims on its longevity, creasing, smudging, fading and the like. I'm really keen to try this out because I think it's pretty neat! The colors are also really bold and fun for summer.



Illamasqua Gleam in Supernatural (Price: £18)

This is a cream product that can be used for bronzing, blushing, and maybe even highlighting on darker skin tones. It has a pearlescent finish that can really give you that beautiful glowing, dewy finish on your cheeks. For me personally, this shade is pretty intense - maybe a bit too dark for fair skin tones, but I can imagine this to look really beautiful on darker or very tanned skin. Since I don't do much tanning (just say no to future wrinkles) I don't know how much use I will personally get out of it, but the product itself is nice.




Illamasqua Lipsticks in Posture (L) and Esp (R) (Price: £16.50)

When I saw the lipstick Esp (pictured on the right) I was so excited: Intense, vivid Purple!! Egad!!! Both lipsticks have a matte finish. Esp seemed right up my alley, Posture - however - makes me look zombie-fied, or like a corpse. Super unflattering on fair skin, in my opinion at least.

Also, both lipsticks have an extremely dry, sort of chalky texture. It's really hard to get an even, smooth color payoff because they don't glide on very well at all. Posture just looked quite strange on me overall, and Esp was hard to work with. I might put up with it anyway because the color is so unique. I think it's probably really difficult to make a lipstick out of purple pigment, because pretty much every purple lipstick I own or have tried has some kind of issues. Either the color is patchy, or doesn't spread evenly.

Swatches of Esp, Posture and Gleam in Supernatural.

Precision Gel Liner in Infinity (Price: £18) and Hydra Veil (Price: £27)

First up, the gel liner I haven't tried yet so I can't make statements about it. It's a black gel eyeliner.

The Hydra Veil is another unique, new product, one I haven't seen before yet on the market. When you open the jar, you are met with a completely transparent jelly, which moves exactly like Jell-O in the tub. Very funny! There's a little scoop applicator which you can use to get some of the product out, and when you rub it onto your skin, it turns into a super fast absorbing gel, almost like water. This is supposed to be a hydrating gel that you can use as a base before make-up. It has a beautiful light texture, and feels very refreshing on your face and absorbs fast. I don't think it can replace a good moisturizer completely, especially if you have dry skin, but as far as primers go it's quite nice. I think I will have to try this out a bit more, I'm very intrigued!


Overall I think it's a very interesting and innovative collection, and aside from the troubles I had with the texture of the lipsticks, I'm really looking forward to using everything a bit more. Are there any pieces here that have caught your eye and that you might pick up?

For more information and online shop: Illamasqua.com

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Maybelline Vivid Lipstick Swatches + Review

Well gosh darn it, if I'm not the last person in Beauty Blog-o-land to write about the Maybelline Vivid lipsticks!!

I originally heard about these on Youtube and Twitter from some American girls I follow, because living in Ye Olde Europe means we're always way behind when it comes to new drugstore product releases. I heard a lot of people raving about these, so after oggling over pretty pictures on the Internet, I bit the bullet and ordered four of them on ebay no less. Imagine, even with jacked up ebay pricing, plus worldwide shipping, these were still cheaper than buying them locally in Switzerland! :-O

(I added one more lipstick bullet to my collection when they finally arrived here.)

Left to Right: Pink Pop, Fuchsia Flash, Shocking Coral, Vivid Rose, On Fire Red

The packaging: bright orange see-through lipstick bullets

Left to Right: Pink Pop, Fuchsia Flash, Shocking Coral, Vivid Rose, On Fire Red

Let me tell you, they are soooo lovely! If you are into bright colors as much as I am, then these lipsticks are a great drugstore purchase. The colors are very well pigmented, they feel very comfortable to wear with a creamy but not too creamy finish, and last for a good amount of time on my lips before I have to reapply. Sure, they don't last as long as my Rouge d'Armani, but they are definitely better quality than some other drugstore lipsticks I own.

The color I reach for the most is Shocking Coral, and I recently picked up Vivid Rose, which I think will be another contender in my lipstick rotation. I've read a few of these colors are dupes of certain MAC lipsticks (Candy Yum Yum I think?) but I can't compare because I don't own those shades. The only one I'm not crazy about is On Fire Red - I just think I own some nicer reds in my collection already, but it's not a terrible color or anything. I just don't reach for it as much as the other colors.

So, two thumbs up for these lipsticks from me! A definite drugstore bargain purchase that packs a punch. :)

Do you own any of the Maybelline Vivid lipsticks? If so, which one is your favorite? Let me know in the comments!

Sleek True Colour Lipsticks, Flick It Liners & Eyelashes

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I've got some fun new products from Sleek to show you from their upcoming spring collections, so get ready! First up, the True Colour Lipsticks. The formulation is highly pigmented, available in matte or sheen finish, and they come in bright colors that are very in trend for spring 2013.

True Colour Lipsticks in Loved Up, Tangerine Scream and Smoulder (£4.99)

Loved Up

Tangerine Scream

Smoulder

My thoughts: I'm loving all up on Loved Up!!!! Wow - it's incredible. It's one of those BAM in yo face kind of colours, which I personally love. Super creamy, feels smooth to wear, and very opaque. These are great lipsticks, especially when you consider the low price. I'd love to try out more colours as I think they're really cool!

Next up are the Flick It Eyeliner pens, of which the black one is permanent, and the purple and blue ones are limited edition. They have a felt tip end, and are fairly easy to apply for a cat-eyed look. Launching February 13, 2013.

Flick It Eyeliner in Royal Blue, Dazzling Black and Purple Aura (£5.99)

My thoughts: I'm not wowed about these because I don't think the colours are really all that original, and I'm generally not too fond of pen tip eyeliners. I always find they dry out really fast, and I just prefer to work with a brush. They did, however, last incredibly long. I washed my hand several times with soap after swatching, and the colour was still there. You'll have to remove these with an oil-based eye makeup remover, and some eyelid tugging might ensue. Long lasting yes, but a bit hard to remove.

Lastly, I was sent some of the new Sleek Eyelashes, which have newly launched.

My thoughts: They all look slightly "fake" when wearing, which might or might not be a good thing, depending on what look you're going for. If you want lashes that really stand out and look unique and sort of artificial and artsy on your eyes, these might be a good find. If you're more a fan of natural looking falsies that blend really well with your own lashes and don't stand out too much, these aren't so great. They are very long, and the band to apply is very thick, so they tend to stand out and draw a lot of attention. The shapes are also not very natural, so they will obviously look fake. That might work for a more dramatic look though, so it just depends what you prefer!

Sleek makeup is available at Superdrug in the UK, and online through their shop's website here.

Would you like to try out any of these products? Which ones?

Smashbox Love Me Spring Collection

Today I've got a few pieces from the Smashbox Love Me Spring collection to show you, and I have to say - I love a couple of these products so much already! The collection was created in collaboration with street artist Curtis Kullig, with his signature print decorating both the packaging and the cosmetic products themselves (blush and lipstick imprint.)  I got these a few weeks ago and have had a chance to try all the products, so here are my thoughts.

Left to Right: Love Me Blush in Idolize Me, Love Me Be Legendary lipstick in Tempt Me, Love Me Paint Pen Eye Liner in Jet Black

First things: Packaging! I absolutely love it. The blush comes with a nice sized mirror, the lipstick looks sleek, and the red writing on the front is really nice.

Next, I really absolutely LOVE the blush color, I don't have anything exactly like it in my collection. It has a satin finish without any garish sparkles, and the color is a soft pink, leaning slightly coral when worn. The pigmentation is really good, and very buildable, so if you have fair skin - no worries that you will look like a clown on the first swipe. I'm really starting to love Smashbox blushes!

Here is a swatch of the blush, and the pen liner on my hand, wherein I applied several layers of the blush for a really strong pay-off for swatching purposes.

The lipstick in Tempt Me is another great product, with an absolutely perfect color payoff that I think is so nice for spring. It has medium coverage, so you can either wear it more sheer, or apply two coats for an opaque finish. I would describe it as a warm pink, that leans ever so slightly into coral. The lipstick contains shea butter so it's very moisturising and super comfortable to wear, without being too slippery that it immediately creases and feathers into fine lip lines. I really like this lipstick a lot!

The only product I don't care very much for is the eyeliner. It's quite bulky and the tip is really thick, so I feel like I'm applying my eyeliner with a jumbo Crayola marker. I prefer more the thin tips, or an art brush for an eyeliner. However, the thickness of the tip means it's also more sturdy and easier to get an even line. I also felt the color wasn't black enough, it looked more like a very dark grey on me.

Have you tried any Smashbox products? Let me know your favorites in the comments below!

Switzerland Prices:
Love Me Lipstick (26 CHF)
Love Me Blush (40 CHF)
Love Me Paint Pen Eye Liner in Jet Black (29 CHF)

Available at Marionnaud, and wherever Smashbox products are sold worldwide.


(Products were sent for review by PR.)

Review: Illamasqua Generation Q Collection

Hello dear Readers!

Today I've got some bits and pieces from the Illamasqua Q (Fall/Winter 2012) collection. The collection slogan is "Where Beauty has no Age Limits" - one that I find very empowering. Generation Q is a celebration of beauty, regardless of age and restrictions. Beauty is not young or old, black or white, male or female, but includes everyone.

I absolutely love that they have used models from all different walks of life and of all age classes. Here are some backstage pictures from the shoot of a few of the models, as Creative Director Alex Box works her magic. I applaud Illamasqua for not photoshopping these gorgeous women half to death in the final promo pictures to magically get rid of all wrinkles!

Now on to the collection, which encompasses two eyeshadow palettes, two lipsticks, two lipglosses, two nailpolishes, two powder blushes, one liquid eyeliner, and one cream highlight product. Here are some of the products I have to show you.

Left to Right: Intense Lipgloss in Opulent, nailpolishes in Charisma and Creator, and Aurora Gleam (cream highlighter)

Gleam in Aurora

Aurora swatched

First up: Gleam. It's described as a lightweight compact highlighter, with an iridescent formula. I haven't played around with this too much but it feels a bit greasy. I'm not sure how well I will fare with this as I generally use shimmering powder highlighters, so this will be something different. I can see how it could add a wet look to the skin, which looks good on older skin, but it could also look a bit oily if you already have oily skin to begin with. To be honest, it's a bit underwhelming if you ask me.

  Charisma & Creator

Creator & Charisma

The polishes look absolutely beautiful and I can't wait to wear them! I've never been disappointed by an Illamasqua nail polish yet, and these look so wonderful for fall. Charisma has a beautiful raspberry-magenta shimmer, and Creator is black with a lot of silver glitter.

Opulent Intense Lipgloss

Above you can see a swatch of the Intense Lipgloss in Opulent. This is the one products where my immediate reaction was, "Oh HELL no!!" I have several Intense Lipglosses by Illamasqua and they are all that - lovely, intense glosses that apply like liquid lipsticks. This one has barely any color pay-off, the rainbow shimmer is barely discernible. This could be applied over another nude lipstick, but by itself it's a bit bland.

Now here's the real doozy - the packaging. Illamasqua have recently repackaged some of their products (I know of the nail polishes and the lipglosses) and wow, major downgrade! The bottle for the lipgloss looks and feels like a cheap lipgloss you might expect from the dollar store, and the brush head is just terrible. As you can see from the above picture, the fibers of the brush wand are spiky, stiff, plastic-feeling, and not uniform. It's an absolute pain to apply this gloss on the lips - to me, this is definitely not on the level of a department store lipgloss.

They have also repackaged the nail polishes. Because of the square bottle head, you used to be able to take off the top cap and re-align it so it's flush with the sides of the bottle when screwing closed. Now, you can't do that anymore, so you end up with a bunch of square heads that often won't align with the polish bottle. It's ugly and annoying for storing.

I really dislike these changes the brand has made and think it has downgraded the overall appearance and usability of the products. Illamasqua, please go back to the old packaging, or find a better bottle for your lipglosses. These wands are just awful!

In conclusion, I really like the polishes, am a bit underwhelmed with the Gleam, and completely dislike the lipgloss due to terrible packaging. The eyeshadow palettes look absolutely beautiful from what I have seen.

You can see the full collection on the Illamasqua Website. They also ship internationally.

Website: Illamasqua Generation Q

Will you be picking up any of the products? What do you think of their promo images and all-inclusive age campaign? Let me know in the comments!

Review: Sleek Ultra Matte Dark palette

Sleek MakeUP has released two new eyehadow palettes, this time they contain 12 matte finish shadows. They are mineral based, but very pigmented. There are two new i-Divine palettes out, the V1 Brights, and the V2 Darks, the latter of which I have to show you today. These palettes launch today, May 9th, and are available at Superdrug in the UK, or online through their website.

Cost: 9 Euros

As you can maybe tell from the swatches, the darker colors show up very vibrantly, but the lighter ones are kind of chalky. I've noticed this before with the Sleek eyeshadow palettes. Luckily the other colors are nice and vibrant and more than make up for this. These are definitely a bargain for the price and quality. My favorite color is the teal color in the top row, far left.


In other news, I was washing my laundry today when I spotted the postman out my window. I saw he had a stack of parcels in hand, so I pretty much jumped the poor man to get my eager hands on my camera order.

EEEEEEEEEP!!! I am so excited! I can't wait to try this all out and film my next makeup tutorial with it. I might have some issues with it at the beginning, but I always jump in at the deep end when it comes to technical gadgetry. I've used an SLR before with my Canon 20D so am not a beginner anymore, but it might be tricky when filming. The pictures of the Sleek palette were shot with this camera and 2 different Canon lenses.

What do you think of the palette? Will you be picking one up?

Review: Anny Summer Collection

Spring is in full swing - summer is just around the corner, and that always puts me in the mood for some fun and bright nail polish colors! Anny has released a brand new collection: Famous Run in Central Park - Spring Time in NY. Just rolls off your tongue, doesn't it? This is actually their summer collection, a bit confusing with Spring time in the collection name. Anyway, names aside, this is a really beautiful collection, with a modern spin on some seasonal classics.

Left to Right: Sunday in Park, Outdoor Style, Ready to Go, Jogging Date, Midtown Skyline, Midnight Run

Sunday Run: A perfect lemon yellow, shimmer finish
Outdoor Style: Mid-toned warm "Barbie" pink, cream finish
Ready to Go: Tomato red-orange with a slight fuchsia shimmer, shimmer finish
Jogging Date: Crimson red with warm bronze shimmer, shimmer finish
Midtown Skyline: Mid-tone dusty blue, cream finish
Midnight Run: Mix of olive, silver and gold, frost finish

Sunday Run went on perfectly smooth and opaque in two coats, an utter rarity for yellow polishes, which often go on unevenly and streak. All but Ready to Go and Midnight Run are 2 coaters, the latter who needed a third coat to reach full opacity.

I absolutely love Anny nailpolishes. The brush is flat and wide, although not as wide as the OPI applicatiors, and the polish lasts a decent amount of time before chipping. They are available for purchase at Douglas in Germany, and now also at Marionnaud in Switzerland. Sorry, no online store yet!

Currently Anny is also running a contest where you could win the entire Anny nail polish collection. You can find an entry code at the Anny display stand at your local Douglas store, then head to their website at www.mein-anny-aufsteller.de/gewinnspiel and enter your code for your chance to win.

You can find out more about Anny nail polishes on their website here.

Which one is your favorite color? What would you wear it with? Share in the comments!

Review: Sleek Blushes + Highlighter

As some of you might have noticed, I completely redesigned and overhauled my blog to give it a new look and feel. If you're reading this through a feed reader, go check out my website and let me know what you think! I wanted a more streamlined and clean look, and I think this reduces a lot of excessive scrolling and clutter. Do you like it? Please leave me a comment!

I've got some new goodies from Sleek MakeUP to show you today - joy!

First up is this gorgeous Blush By 3 in "Lace", which features 3 blushes. Cost: 13 Euros

L to R: Crochet, Guipure, Chantilly

Crochet: A warm clementine-orange shade, matte finish

Guipure: Warm coral-pink shade, shimmer finish

Chantilly: A guava reddish-pink shade, matte finish

These blushes are GORGEOUS! I love them. I've you've never tried any blushes by Sleek, I definitely recommend you check them out. They are very pigmented so would work well on darker skintones, if you have fair skin, using a light hand or a stippling / skunk brush really helps. Unless clown-face is your thing...just sayin'! I love these colours, especially for summer. This product comes in four additional color combinations.

Next up is the Glo Face & Body Highlighter in "Peach Shimmer". Cost: 10 Euros

This shimmering powder can be used for various things: a blush all over the cheeks, a highlighter, or even eyeshadows if you use a small brush. When blended together on your cheeks, this gives a golden apricot shimmer. The difference to the blushes is that the pigmentation is more buildable, so the color application is more subtle on the first stroke. This product also comes in two other color combinations.

I'm overall very pleased with the quality of these products, as they are in the affordable drugstore price range. Sleek MakeUP can be purchased at Superdrug in the UK, or online directly from their website, where they ship worldwide: http://www.sleekmakeup.com/

In other news, after months of deliberation, I ordered a new camera! The Canon 600D / Rebel T3i

I used to be really into photography as a hobby, as some of you might know from my Flickr page here, where you can see a lot of my old pictures. Back then I used my Canon 20D, which - at the time - was one of Canon's top of the line DSLRs. It's very outdated by now. Once I started Youtube, I had less and less time for photography, and I switched over to eventually using a camcorder, as I really needed an articulated screen (flip screen.) 

Back then, there were no Canon DSLRs on the market with such a feature, and it's absolutely essential if you want to film yourself putting on makeup. Also, my Canon 20D doesn't shoot video. Now a few cameras have been released by Canon with a flip screen, the 600D being one of them. Obviously when filming with a DSLR camera, you have to do a lot more manual work with focusing than with a camcorder which literally does it all for you, but the picture quality shot through a good lens is just unbeatable. Don't get me wrong, I love my camcorder, but I really don't like the pictures it takes of my makeup.

I also bought the compatible Canon RC 6 remote control, which is handy for taking self-portraits from a distance, and for starting and stopping, plus focusing video.

I'm holding off on lenses right now (I only purchased the camera body) as I own a few Canon lenses already, but I might buy a new one as needed. I can't wait for it to arrive now, and to see how the picture quality improves in my current set-up!

Here's a link to the gear on Amazon:

Canon EOS 600D camera with Kit lens http://amzn.to/JKzgMk
Canon EOS 600D (body only) http://amzn.to/Ka0HPj
Canon RC 6 Wireless Remote http://amzn.to/IOGePy


'll let you know when it arrives, and I might even do a separate video or post about camera tips, etc. Have a wonderful Saturday!