Monthly Archives
May 2015
As you can probably tell by the picture below, I kind of went crazy buying all the *things* from the MAC Wash And Dry Summer 2015 Collection. The packaging is what got me – I won’t lie and say it was anything else. I’m a sucker for some bright, psychedelic colors! But once I opened up that packaging and got into the product, did I like it? Read on to find out!
MAC Cosmetics dropped their summer collection earlier this month and the packaging was stunning. Now that we have that fact out of the way, let’s talk more about the products inside. I purchased several items from the collection and decided to photograph the best and brightest!
My favorite lipstick from the collection was ‘Steam Heat’. It’s an orange based red that looks flattering against a variety of skintones. However, this Satin did apply thinner than other MAC lipsticks I own and wore more like an Amplified finish on me. While it was my favorite from this collection, I would not say it ranks on my list of top MAC lippies. It wasn’t a game changer by any means. Also, MAC has been releasing so many reds recently that my excitement for yet another red was pretty low. I’d say go ahead and grab this one if you skipped the other reds or if you want a good product in this packaging.
I knew from the start that none of the bronzing powders would show up on my skintone. But did that stop me from buying one? Absolutely not.
I kind of have a weakness for limited edition powder compacts so I grabbed one that I thought could be used as a nice everyday summer highlight. I chose ‘Refined Golden’ and I actually really like the way it looks on my cheeks! It shows up best in outdoor lighting and has a slight shimmer that catches beautifully in the sun. If you are fairer than me, then go ahead and grab this if you like shimmer in your bronzer.
On to one of the most unique pieces from the collection, the highlight powder in ‘Freshen Up’. The overspray for this powder really screams HEATWAVE! GET YOUR GLOW ON! I love it, but I’m sad that it’s only an overspray and doesn’t extend throughout the compact. I don’t want to rub it all off just for the sake of the review, but I did get a chance to swirl all three colors in the compact together and they make for a gorgeous apricot color. While the presentation of the product and the overspray are unique, I wouldn’t say that the color or forumla of the product are anything to get worked up over. The color and effect are not unique and can probably be duped fairly easily.
Lastly, I purchased the lipglass in ‘Domestic Diva’. This was the surprise favorite purchase from the collection for me! I don’t really like the lipglass forumla (I tolerate the VG Rihanna 2 and VG 1 lipglasses because the colors are fab), but I saw positive reviews on this item prior to release. I was very impressed the second I put this on! The main pain I find with the MAC lipglasses are that they are so thick that they seep into the fine lines around my mouth. I was happy to find that this was not the case with ‘Domestic Diva’. It clung to my lips like a champ and did not feel too heavy! This might get some heavy use this summer!
Did you guys happen to catch anything from this collection? If you live in a country where this has yet to be released, what’s on your list? I hope this helped give you guys insight on some of the products, let me know if you have any questions in the comments below!
Steam Heat
For my first foray into MAC’s well loved ‘Huggable’ lip color formula, I picked up the orange-y red of the bunch, ‘Dramatical’. After the success of the first limited edition Huggable collection last year, MAC released this follow up collection in late April 2015 in the USA. Wondering why this formula makes MAC die-hards drool? Keep reading!
I don’t know what voodoo magic MAC is putting in this formula, but I literally feel NOTHING on my lips when this is on! It is the most lightweight lipstick I have purchased from MAC ever. But the crazy part is, the color is actually very opaque for the product to be so lightweight! The tip glided right over my fairly opaque lips and within 2-3 swipes, I had full coverage color and I was ready to go. The finish is closer to an ‘Amplified’ finish that MAC assigns to its traditional lipstick colors. Very glossy, yet still delivers lots of pigment.
This product truly ‘hugs’ your lips and this can be good or bad depending on the way you like your lipstick. Within two swipes, the color had already clung to my lips and was making its way into my lip lines. By the third swipe, it was all up in my lip lines! It did feather a bit around the edges of my lips with three coats, but I noticed that the feathering wasn’t excessive and was easily cleaned up with some concealer. This product will definitely accentuate the natural lines of your lips so if you aren’t too comfortable with the natural look, then you will want to be careful when applying around the corners of your mouth.
Regarding product packaging, the Huggable colors are packaged differently from regular MAC bullets. They come in sleek, glossy gunmetal packaging that looks similar to the design of the pro longwear lipsticks. The actual lipstick tip is completely circular and mimics the outer packaging. It is cut on an angle, but the blunt cut makes it harder (in my opinion) to apply the product directly to the lips. I found that trying to apply closer to the inner corners of my mouth, I had to issues accidentally getting some color outside the natural borders of lips. If you aren’t going for the over-lined look, this is problematic. Overall, I would say this wasn’t so much of an issue after I got used to applying to my lips directly with this style tube.
I would suggest going to the stores to test out the Huggable colors. There is just something about that will make you either love or hate them. Before you spend your good $20 online, make a quick stop to check out the formula. If you swatch in store, check out how easily it settles into the creases on the back of your hand. That will give you some idea of how it will perform on your lips. You can see how it settles into my hand with three swipes in the swatch below:
With all the allegations against Lime Crime, a lot of people are boycotting the company and trying to find dupes of popular products elsewhere. But can some of Lime Crimes out-of-this-world colors actually be duped?
The answer to the question I posed above is “Ehhh … maybeeeee”. Lime Crime, for all their faults, really does have some unique colors. Now I won’t get into all the politics of the scandal here (you can do your own research online), I will say that I will not be recommending Lime Crime anymore on this blog. I’m not actively looking for dupes, but if I do run across any, I will share them with you all. That will be the only time you will see Lime Crime run across my blog anymore.
Back to the fun, happy things! I came across a company called Give Me Glow Cosmetics a few weeks ago which runs an Etsy store with custom lipstick colors. At the time, the owner had recently recreated a lipstick similar to the matte liquid lipstick shade ‘Cashmere’ by Lime Crime. She posted a picture of the dupe online and holy moly every beauty lover on Instagram was in awe of its beauty! Since then, she has recreated several more Lime Crime color dupes as well as dupes from Anastasia Beverly Hills and Kat Von D liquid lipsticks and offers the lip product in both a tube and a pot.
I’m reviewing LC’s Cashmere and GiveMeGlow’s Deja Vu because I actually have Cashmere. Some of her other products are dupes for items I don’t have and I didn’t think it would be fair to do a review for you all without the original product. However, if you guys want me to give my thoughts on another one of her items (purely off performance), I would happily oblige.
Here are my thoughts on Deja Vu’s performance against Cashmere:
- darker, rosier
- more difficult to apply from tub with lip brush
- brush makes for a streaky application
- less opaque
- doesn’t dry matte, leaves a satin finish
- not long wearing
Now it may seem like there are a lot of “not” and “doesn’t” in the list above, but it is all about preference. If you don’t like a suck-your-lips-to-death liquid lipstick, then you might want to try for a satin finish. Or if Cashmere is a bit too light for you, Deju Vu gives you the option to go darker. Got any more questions about the products? Let me know in the comments!
L-R: Deja Vu, Cashmere
