Milani Runway Eyes Wet & Dry Eyeshadows

Milani is my favorite drugstore makeup and I will always be amazed at the beauty and quality of its products. This entry documents how much I admire Milani's eyeshadows. I have been eyeing these new Runway Eyes Wet & Dry shadows for months now, but they are always, always out-of-stock in my neighborhood CVS drugstores. I bought two of those a couple of months back, but I really wanted to get several of the awesome shades. This afternoon, I was lucky enough to have stumbled upon a CVS store with decently-stocked Milani shelves, so I quickly snagged some of the beautiful colors. For $5.99 (I think) a pop, these are a steal, especially if you realize just how gorgeously pigmented these suckers are:



I like applying them wet if I really want the color to stand out, but I use them dry for a soft, sophisticated look. I just love everything I got, especially the lid colors - which probably would be everything except Black Out and maybe Coffee Shop. But I like these two as well - these would make awesome crease and outer lid colors. I'll play with these for a while and will try to come up with a look. I know Vanessa loves these, and she looks great wearing them (especially Shamrock, which is my favorite as well!).

Anyways, today I used my new favorite foundation, Lumiere Cashmere formula in a mix of Light-Medium Golden and Medium Golden. I used it in tandem with Lumiere's Pure Silk finishing powder (I used the Sand shade), and I love how flawless the finish is using these two products. Is there anything from this company that isn't good? I love just about anything I've tried from this store.

I also used one of my favorite MAC blushes, Petalpoint, from last year's Strange Hybrid collection. I love the subtle pink glow this radiates on the skin, so soft yet noticeable. I used Culture Class lipstick from the MAC Holiday Curiositease collection (3 Plum Lips kit), and Sugar Trance lipglass from the Fafi collection.

Coastal Scents Mineral Foundation

So I am on a mineral makeup spree these days. I was pleased to try out Coastal Scents mineral foundation, and I was pleasantly surprised at how smooth and even-looking it was on my skin. I tried Silk Light and Silk Medium foundation (I mixed an even amount of each shade), but it was obviously too light on my skin. Maybe I should have stuck with straight Medium or a mix of Medium 1.2 and Light 1.2, or maybe straight Medium 1.2?? Arrggh... anyways, I will continue to try the samples, I'm really loving the smoothness of the finish and how it makes my skintone appear more even. I'd say it was medium coverage, but very buildable. I love that it also feels very light on the skin and doesn't make me feel I have foundation on. It also didn't make my skin itch nor did it do any chaos to my skin, in fact I would think it's pretty calming. I can't say anything else about its other products as I have not tried them yet, but will continue to do so in the next days or so. I got Coastal Scents' concealer brush and I love it! It's not too small so it can adequately cover up undereye circles and the taklon bristles are just of the perfect firmness.

I used Silk Naturals' Date Bait perfecting powder for this look and I love how it made my skin look a bit luminous and, like its sheer version, it made my pores appear much smaller.

I also used my new MAC product for this look: loose beauty powder in Soft Flame from the Of Beauty collection. I really like it; it's like a loose version of my favorite beauty powders in compacts (think beauty powders in Pearl Sunshine and Pearl Blossom from the MAC Barbie collection) and even loose mineralize skinfinishes. Application of the loose beauty powder was also a cinch with the MAC 187 brush.









Eyes:
MAC Beige-ing shadestick as base
MAC Fresco Rose paint pot on lid
MAC Expensive Pink eyeshadow on lid and to line lower lashline
MAC Swish eyeshadow on inner lid
MAC Post Haste (matte2) eyeshadow on outer lid
MAC Handwritten (matte2) eyeshadow on crease
MAC Ricepaper eyeshadow to highlight
Indelible gel liner in Black Cherry to line
Shu Uemura mascara base
MAC Zoom Black mascara

Face:
Camellia Rose skin smoothing primer
Coastal Scents Silk Foundation in Silk Light and Silk Medium (50-50 mix)
Mary Kay undereye concealer in Ivory topped with
Bare Escentuals Well Rested
Silk Naturals Dait Bait perfecting powder
MAC Emote blush to contour
MAC Petalpoint blush
MAC loose beauty powder in Soft Flame over blush

Lips:
MAC lipliner in Whirl
MAC Curiositease Plum Lips set (used Ultra Madame lipstick and Contessa lipglass)

Dayna sent me her beautiful mineral in Mermaid Flash. I used it wet using MAC mixing medium and applied it as a liner. I really love it! It's literally a pop of color in a boring neutral look.

MAC Finery, Curiositease & Royal Assets Lip Sets: Swatches & Reviews

Today is all about lips: luscious, festive, and puckered up for the holiday season. This year MAC dresses up the lips with the most beautiful shades of coral, pink, plum and tan for the most gorgeous holiday looks. I cannot rave enough about these coordinating lip sets because I am admittedly a lipstick and lipgloss kind of girl. I tote around a heavy purse filled with all sorts of lip products to smear my lips with as I trudge along during the day. These tiny tubes of shine and color are my pick-me-uppers during long and laborious days; they literally infuse color into my bleary work days when I am neck-deep in paperwork. These lip sets therefore make me giddy like a kid in a candy store because there are just too many to choose from, and one can whip up different looks with these lovely sets.

First of all, isn't the packaging just gorgeous? I am a sucker for pretty packaging and these delicious holiday sets are no exception. If I receive one of these in a gaily-wrapped package from underneath the tree, I'd be yelping in excitement just by looking at the packaging alone. Now the product themselves are just as beautiful as the packaging if not better. You can check out my previous entry on the holiday product pictures HERE.

Curiositease 5 Plushglass and 5 Lipglass/Lustreglass





The plushglasses are admittedly not my favorite MAC lip products because I am not into those lip glosses with plumping effects. However, I do love the lovely, festive colors and how these truly reflect the rich hues reminiscent of every holiday memory. My faves would be Wet, Wild & Wonderful, Bountiful and Pretty Plush. Wet, Wild and Wonderful looks really dark in the tube but goes pretty sheer on my lips, like a honey-brown hue. I'm still trying to get the hang of the tingling, cool sensation on the lips, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.

Now the lipglasses/lustreglasses are way up my alley, though. My favorite is the popular Nymphette lipglass that I think is one of MAC's best-sellers. I love the shimmery luscious gold-tinged look it provides. This would look good on almost any kind of look: neutral, smokey, you name it, Nymphette goes well with it.



Royal Assets 3 Lips Sets:



The packaging alone is already breathtaking; opening the lid to uncover lip gems is all the more thrilling. I love the coordinating colors that would definitely go well with every eye and blush theme you might want to use; and you will not run out of ideas with these beautiful sets. Inside the royal packaging are two lipsticks and a coordinating lipglass with a lip brush and mirror included. My fave would be the Pink lips set. I am such a sucker for pink and the pretty rose colors in this palette are just simply eye candy. The Tan lips set is also beautiful filled with all the colors of the season.

Finery: 3 Lips Sets

This is my favorite of all the lip products this holiday season. You gotta watch out for these. If the delicate purses woven with gold and silver threads won't woo you, the lovely lipsticks and lipglass in beautiful ornately-designed white packaging will definitely lure you in. This is one of the prettiest MAC lip product tubes I've seen. The colors are sooo breathtaking as well. My favorite is hands-down the Plum lips. Have you seen those gorgeous colors? I've fallen in love with the Contessa lipglass (so beautiful!) and the two lipsticks. This is definitely one collection you cannot afford to NOT check out.



Up Close:

MAC Curiositease: 5 Pigments and Glitter Swatches and Review

Since I am undeniably a pigment fiend, I am absolutely crazy about this year's pigment sets. For those unfamiliar with these, MAC releases almost every holiday season both a warm and a cool pigment/glitter set. Now I really don't care for glitter, but I just love the pigments. The color pay-off is amazing, and when used foiled, the hues just pop right out. Since I am warm-toned, I thought I would just love the warm pigment set, but the cool one is so pretty as well.



Curiositease: 5 Warm Pigment and Glitter Set

Copper Sparkle: an absolutely dazzling copper pigment that is a bit gritty in texture. If you like copper and you like sparkle, this is for you. Personally not my favorite of the lot, but it would look cool as a liner or even just a tad on the crease or outer V for a bronzey coppery look.

Reflects Gold: to my eye, it is glitter with a ton of gold and a bit of blue infused in it. I doubt I would be using this except for Halloween, maybe? I never really liked glitter and never will.

Lily White is a beautiful, shimmery champagne with pink undertones that looks great as a wash or as a highlighter. I remember it was released early last year with Apricot Pink and Pinked Mauve pigments from the Sweetie Cake collection, although is it just me or is the new release of Lily White more pinkish than champagne-ish? Anyways, I love it either way.

Sunpepper - similar to Blue Brown pigment but has less blue in it but still quite similar. This would look good with a smokey eye or as a liner. One of my faves in the set.

Dazzleray - a wonderful peachy pink/champagne pigment that would look great as a wash. This would look good with golds, bronzes, browns and any warm-toned color.



Curiositease: 5 Cool Pigment/Glitter Set

Helium - same texture as Kitschmas pigment; it is light lilac in color, I think this also has blue undertones. This batch is a bit better in texture than the sample I got a few weeks ago, as this foiled pretty good. This would look great as a highlighter and as a wash for purple, pink and blue looks.

Reflects Blue - very cool-toned glitter; this would look good for holiday makeup, but other than that, I can't think of any use for this that would look good on me.

Softwash Grey - I love silvers and greys and Softwash Grey is no exception. This would make a great ingredient for a smokey grey look, and I absolutely love the texture (please don't mind the swatch; it was swatched too thick and it was foiled, hence the gunky appearance).

Naval Blue - a pretty dark blue that would look great as a liner and for those dramatic smokey blue looks. I can't wait to try this one out.

Forest Green - my favorite of the bunch!! I just love the dark hunter green hue, very similar to Club eyeshadow, and yet it won't hurt to get one of each because their textures are different. I used this with Sharkskin shadestick underneath (black base) for a dark green smokey look and I was blown away with the results. If you are partial to dark green smoky eyes, this is for you.

MAC Holiday: Finery and Curiositease Part II

This entry is all about product images. Stay tuned for reviews and swatches of the holiday collection.

MAC Royal Assets, Heirloom Brush Sets, Finery and Curiousitease: Part I

I had to divide these in parts because there are just too many products to lump in one post. Swatches, reviews and Antiquitease collection pictures to come!
























Kids Helping Kids Christmas cards


my little boy loved the cards =)