Neutrals Using Coastal Scents and MAC

I am liking this look because I got to use a shadow that Coastal Scents sent with my order as a freebie, and dare I say it looked pretty. It's a loose mineral shadow called Frenzy that came in a rather big sample baggie, and the amount was quite generous. I foiled it on my lid using my MAC mixing medium and the 242 brush and I really love the the outcome. It is a marriage of peach and tan tones and the outcome is a beautiful wash color. I used MAC shadow in Handwritten (matte2) on the outer V and crease with Twinks worked into it using a blending brush (MAC 222 and Sonia Kashuk). I used MAC shadow in Neutral Pink to blend crease colors into the highlight color using the MAC 224 brush. To highlight, I used the very pretty Rose Blanc eyeshadow from MAC which I also got at the cosmetic company outlet. It is just gorgeous! I believe it's similar to Nylon but I'm liking Rose Blanc much better as it is less garish.








I used Almay liquid liner in Brown to line, and Urban Decay 24/7 liner in Zero to tightline and on waterline.







I used Lauress mineral foundation in 50-50 mix of Pure Yellow and Soft Yellow. I used DreamWorld creme topping (finishing powder) in Butterscotch (clay/silica formula).

For the cheeks, I used MAC Petalpoint blush using my beautiful MAC 136 brush (see previous entry on my review of this brush). I love the outcome as it made the product look soft on my cheeks. I contoured my cheeks using MAC Taupe blush with my 169 angled face brush.

For the lips, I used MAC Chintz On Chintz lipstick applied lightly with Splendid! lipglass from the Dame Edna collection. I just realized that I also have a mini-tube of Splendid! from the 2007 MAC Holiday Finery: 3 Coral Lips collection (the 2 lipsticks and 1 lipglass collection with a free mini-bag). I'm glad I have two of these babies as I am so enamored with the color and shine.

My New MAC Brushes

Here are some products I'd accumulated in the past week or so. Lately I've been really bent on acquiring MAC brushes because even though the prices are prohibitive, excellent brushes are an investment if one is really serious in makeup application, and MAC really does have an excellent line of brushes. Don't get me wrong, I still love my budget brushes like Sonia Kashuk or Essence of Beauty, but they don't carry all the brushes that MAC has, and I really was curious to own these MAC brushes so I can compare them to the other brands that I already have.





These brushes are pure love. Seriously. First of all, I bought my first 242 a little over a month ago, and I was blown away by how good it packs on loose pigments for application on the lid. Since I am a MAC pigment or mineral eyeshadow lover, I was wondering how I had lived without this brush for so long. I loved it so much that I got another brand-new 242 from a swap recently. Now I have a backup just in case the other one is dirty or I needed another one to apply a different shade. You can also use the tip of the head to apply color on the lower lashline, or to "cut the crease", so to speak. This is such a versatile little brush. It is best used when I foil my pigments or mineral eyeshadows, as it packs on color evenly with a beautiful finish. I can't rave enough.

The 252 is its big sister and I love it as much as the 242. I used it this morning to pack a wash of color on the lids as I was running out of time, and oh wow, it covered substantial lid space in half the time. It really cut my eyeshadow application time in half (the lazy or late girl's dream brush!), and the fact that it has the same soft bristles as the 242 just makes it all the more precious because it really packs on pigment. I said that it has "soft" bristles because, indeed, the hairs are super soft, amazingly dense and don't shed. The short-handled 252SE that is part of the holiday brush collection is, I'm sorry to say, a piece of trash compared to the full-size 252. The 252SE was scratchy and would really hurt when I used it on my lids. Throw it in the garbage bin, and do yourself a favor and buy the full-size 252. You will thank me for it. :)

Finally, oh gosh, the 136. I've been eyeing this for the longest time but the price was nothing short of prohibitive. It retailed for $62. I stumbled on it when I went to the cosmetic company outlet in Cabazon last weekend. It was priced at $43.50 - still exorbitant, but almost twenty dollars cheaper than the retail price - but I almost left without it because I told myself I didn't need it. I then went back and bought it because I knew I wouldn't be able to get it at that price, and it's not even on the MAC website anymore as I write. It is unbelievably soft and it has a flat-shaped head. Even the ferrule is flattened, if you notice in the pictures. The flat, paddle-shaped, soft head makes it so easy to apply a beautiful sheer wash of blush on the cheeks. I like flat heads for blush brushes (like Aromaleigh's duo fiber blush brush or Japonesque blush brush) because the blush doesn't end up splotchy or garish on the cheeks. These flat-heads deposit the sheerest whisper of color on the cheeks, and that means you can build the intensity of your blush. No wonder this brush has been much-raved about in blogs and on YouTube, and even on makeup forums, nevermind the exorbitant price. I am glad I got it at a cheaper price, and it was worth the wait.