Mini MAC Haul

Hi everyone!

Long time no speak! It's quite difficult to blog and take photos when you work full time and it's dark by the time you get home, so I end up doing all my blogging on the weekend. However, seeing as I don't live with my parents anymore and I do have a social life (barely!), sometimes my weekends are taken up with other things meaning that blogging unfortunately takes a back seat. But i'm here now, so here we go! :) 

Rob surprised me with an amazing gift for my birthday - a make-up lesson with a MAC artist at House of Fraser, Bluewater. I was so excited, but only managed to book it in for last week as we've just been so busy. So I thought i'd share what I bought!

Cool Neutrals Palette (£65)

This beautiful palette consists of 15 heavily pigmented mate, satin, lustre, frost, velvet and pearl shades. It's the counterpart to the warm neutrals palette which I really want, but i'm afraid it may just be too dark for my skin tone. I bought this because for £65 you receive eyeshadows which, if bought separately, would cost £195. It only has one colour that she used on me during the lesson, Blackberry, but for the cost I was happy to compromise on the shades. I've been wanting to expand my MAC eyeshadow collection for a while now and this palette provides endless combinations suitable for day and night. Here's a breakdown of the shades: 

Top row (L-R): Flounce ("Chalky white pink" w/ matte finish), Sweet Allure ("Soft light pink" w/ satin finish), Sun Tweaked ("Soft frosty coral" w/ frost finish), After Dusk ("Mid-tone rosy pink with pearl" w/ a pearl finish), Blackberry ("Muted burgundy-plum brown" w/ matte finish) 

Middle row: Pick Me Up ("Pale ivory" w/ matte finish), Cozy Grey ("Cool grey" w/ matte finish), Crushed Clove ("Dirty gold olive" w/ frost finish),  Deception ("Chocolate gold" w/ frost finish), Brun ("Muted blackish-brown" w/ satin finish)

Bottom row: Silver Fog ("White with silver pearl" w/ frosh finish), French Clay ("Dirty grey charcoal w/ frost finish), Cumulus ("Cream grey with silver pearl" w/ frost finish), Pearled Earth ("Deep blue-grey" w/ pearl finish), Black Pearl ("Black with silver sparkle" w/ velvet finish)

Viva Glam Miley Cyrus Lipstick (£15.50)

This is such a gorgeous hot pink. As soon as the MAC artist swatched it, I was instantly in love. It can be applied straight from the bullet for maximum intensity, or dabbed on with a lip brush or your finger for a more subtle look. As you can probably see I started trying to apply it really precisely but ended up using the wrong brush which resulted in lots of smudging, but you get the gist of the shade! I love the red detailing on the tube, alongside Miley's signature which makes it a great collectable - the money made from this product (-VAT) goes towards helping people affected by HIV/Aids, which is a definite bonus!

Matchmaster Concealer (£17)

When I asked for help with my contouring, I was recommended a cream stick as it's a lot more natural and blends into the skin effortlessly instead of simply sitting on top like a powder can do. This isn't designed to act as a bronzer, although if you choose a concealer or even a foundation two shades darker than your regular colour, it works just as well! I'm actually really impressed with this. I'm wearing the matching foundation in the above and below pictures and I find it gives a really natural finish with the ability to be really buildable.

Other products used:- YSL Touche Eclat Foundation, Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection Concealer, Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Wiz, Benefit Roller Lash, YSL Touche Eclat, Benefit Coralista Blush, MAC Shy Girl Lipstick

Here I am wearing the concealer stick and the eyeshadows. I have to say the concealer stick looks disappointing on camera as it really adds a lot of definition, however I was a little nervous about using it for the first time by myself so only used a tiny bit. I'm absolutely in love with the eye combination! I used Sun Tweaked all over the lid, After Dusk in the crease, Blackberry on the outer V and under the eyes and Flounce along the brow bone and the inner corner. It's really warming and great if you want a subtle smokey eye that can be worn during the day. Altogether i'm sooo happy with these products - they're really easy to wear, apply and I believe to be amazing value for the results. When you look at the acutal problems it doesn't look like much, but for anyone who's aware of the average price of a MAC item I think you'll agree this is a bit of a splurge! I should never be let loose on a make-up counter. Ever. Thanks so much Rob and to the staff at Bluewater MAC who helped me out loads and I can't wait to start experimenting.

Enjoy the rest of your Sunday everyone! :) 

Benefit's 'How To Look The Best At Everything'

This is just going to be a quick one, as its been sat in my 'To review' folder for a while now and I just really want to get it out there! Although I love buying individual products and creating my own makeup 'style', the inner lazy girl in me cannot resist a complete kit of essentials and an idiot-proof instruction manual to go with it. How To Look The Best At Everything* is one of the newest beauty kits from Benefit, and contains everything you need to maintain a flawless complexion.

Packaged as an old-fashioned how-to book, the kit comes in three different shades - light, medium and dark. I was given the medium, therefore some of the shades are a tad too dark, so i'm not going to an in-depth review on the products themselves - just a general overview:

The kit contains the following products:

•  The POREfessional - Primer
• Hello Flawless Oxygen Wow - Liquid Foundation
• Boi-ing x2 (A lighter and then slightly darker shade) - Concealer
• "Hello Flawless!" - Powder

This is such a great little kit, containing both full-sized and travel products. As i've said before, I really enjoy being basically spoon-fed products that guarantee results (Not too much to ask, right?), and this collection of products is everything you need. I wear POREfessional practically every day, even when i'm not wearing makeup at all. I love that Boi-ing is described as 'industrial strength' concealer, as it easily conceals under-eye shadows or any blemishes with ease without creasing. I enjoy the light coverage of the liquid foundation, and the complimenting powder really does make your skin look flawless and healthy. The only fault I have with this kit is the quality of the powder brush as I have found it doesn't distribute powder very evenly and I find that because it's flat its very fiddly to use. However, due to size constraints, it's understandable and overall a really handy kit .

Be sure to get matched for your individual Hello Flawless Oxygen Wow shade, as each of these kits comes with one specific shade (The foundation actually comes in 9 shades!), and I would hate for you to be disappointed. For £24.50 you can get your hands on four of Benefit's most popular products, achieving a flawless complexion with ease, using the 'Tips and Tricks' fold-out instruction booklet on the inside of the box. Enjoy!

You can purchase 'How To Look The Best At Everything' at your local Benefit counter for £24.50, or online here.

Review: Benefit's 'Confessions of a Concealaholic' Concealer kit!

Due to a hectic work schedule and deadlines etc. it's taken me about a month to review this kit that has been my make-up staple since the day I got it. It's Benefit's 'Confessions of a Concealaholic' - 'Your secret concealing & brightening kit'. When I first recieved it as a christmas present I thought it would be one of those makeup sets that you only whip out once or twice when you fancy experimenting, but I literally cannot get enough of this amazing selection of Benefit products.
It includes everything you need for beautifully flawless skin:

• "That Gal" - Brightening face primer
• Erase Paste (No.2 Medium) - Brightening camoflage for eyes & face
• Boi-ing 01 and Boi-ing 02 - Industrial-strength concealer
• Lemon Aid - Colour correcting eyelid primer
• Eye Bright - Instant eye brightener

The kit also comes with two double ended brushes, with each end labelled with the product that it is used for, which makes application even easier.

What I want to mention quickly is the packaging .. it looks like a storybook :) You open up the 'first page' and inside there is a mirror and instruction booklet, and comes with a sort of slip that goes over the top of the kit to stop it opening. This is really Benefit down to a tee - Beautifully packaged and as fun and inventive as the products themselves.

So basically i'm going to show you different stages in applying the parts of the kit. When applying the different products to my eyes, they will be applied to the right side, so you can see the difference:

1. No make up. I am aware that this is a horrible picture of me. I am aware that I have lots of spots right now, it's just lovely! But I wanted to do this straight after I woke up when I usually have bags under my eyes and I thought it would be more effective as a concealer review to show how it conceals blemished skin.

2. "That Gal" Primer. The primer is the first part of the kit, as a primer is a perfect base for the rest of the kit (and all makeup to be honest!), but it can also be worn alone. Accourding to Benefit: "Our silky pink primer takes your complexion from dull to darling! Simply smooth on for the look of brighter, smoother skin."

As you can see the silky pink primer has brightened my skin and toned down some of the redness on my nose and cheeks. It comes in a 7.5ml tube, which doesn't seem like much but a little really does go a long way. It's also perfect handbag size for touch up's throughout the day. I just use a pea-size amount on each cheek and around my t-zone, and then about half the size for my nose and chin, blending it into the skin in a outwards circular motion.

3. Erase Paste. The next stage in applying the concealer kit is the 'camoflage paste' for the eyes and face. I have used it on the right eye (In which I have also applied the next part of the kit as I forgot to photograph this part alone, oops!). As you can see, the purple bags underneath have been reduced and my eye actually looks wider. When applying the paste, it's really easy to just dunk the brush in and sweep it underneath the eye, but the paste is more liquid-like than the name suggests, so you really only need to use the tip of the brush, and then dot it underneath the eye. You then use your finger to blend the dots of paste, concealing your dark circles.

4. Lemon Aid. This works as the perfect base for eyeshadow, and really brightens your eyes. It's a bit strange because it appears yellow in this picture and is bright yellow before you blend it in, but it really does look natural and eliminates the fact that i've been up for about 10 minutes. The one problem with this particular product is that it's such a small amount (0.9 g) so I think it won't be long until I have to purchase the full-sized product. It is applied all over the lid and can also be applied up to the brow. Use the allocated brush and then blend with your fingertips.

5. Boi-ing. The next part of the kit i'll show you is the Boi-ing 'Industrial Strength' concealer. One of the greatest parts of the kit is that it has both 01 & o2, meaning you can blend the two and create your own unique concealer shade to match your skin tone. However, I am so pale that I don't need to blend the two so I use the lightest shade, 01. Using the allocated brush, it is dotted onto the blemished areas and patted in with your finger. It immediately reduces the redness, and with my powder on top I am assured that my spots are fully concealed.

6. Eye Bright. This is what I would recommend using at the end of the kit, and if anything the end of applying all of your makeup. Described as "A coffee break in a stick", the 0.9 g mini palette is the perfect brightener that is applied to the inner and outer corners of your eyes with the brush and blended.

Tada! This is my finished make up for the day :) After the concealer kit had been applied, I finished off my makeup with some powder, eyeliner pencil and mascara. I can safely say that 'Confessions of a Concealaholic' makes it look like i've been up for hours, not minutes.
I don't need to say much more, I believe the photographs speak for themselves. It retails at £28.50, which is such a bargain as the full-sized products are so much more expensive if bought separately.

Click here to visit the Benefit website. Trust me, this is a make up kit you want to be using!