Magic, Mirth, & Mischief to the Rescue!

I've been a little...bored with a lot of my makeup lately. Not my eye shadows - those are pretty constantly entertaining since I have such a fondness for sparkle and so many collections have brought out some excellent sparkle for me to play with.

No, I'm talking about lippies and cheekies here. I tend to have a lot of trouble with face colors for blush (and bronzer while we're at it). I don't like anything too dark or too orange or too...well, anything really. I tend to stick to peachy-pinks with a little shimmer... Enter Nars Blush in Orgasm.

I've been using this blush for as long as I can remember and even though I branch out one day or another, I usually come straight back to this baby the next day. I know some people think it's overhyped or whatever, but I don't care. I love the way it looks on me no matter what time of year or shade of pale I am. It mixes well with bronzer and looks good alone. It's basically the perfect blush for me (and lots of others based on it's popularity!).

But as much as I love it? I'm BORED.

So... I might have been at the MAC counter playing with all their amazing holiday stuff when I discovered something new and decided to take a chance.

This is the Magic, Mirth, & Mischief promo photo. On a side note - how do I get my hair to do this? The sheer volume astounds me. I feel like I'd need an entire can of hairspray and more teasing that I'd ever want to deal with.

Anyway, so I was eying one of their new face palettes and I think I fell a little bit in love.

Here is the Hocus Focus Colourful Face Kit is so pretty! It has three coordinating colors, a Beauty Powder in Pretty Baby, a Sheertone Shimmer Blush in Peachykeen, and a Beauty Powder highlighter in Sunsparkled.

It's not the greatest photo, but unfortunately I had to do it inside as our icky weather up in here in New England is less than ideal for lovely natural light photos. I tried to get some good swatches but it just wasn't happening, so you'll have to trust me!

Pretty Baby is a very soft and matte baby pink... It looks like it has a little mauve-ish tone to it, which I don't normally like, but it's very flattering on.

Peachykeen is a super pretty peachy pink (okay, I didn't branch out that much, but I swear it looks nothing like Orgasm!) with just a hint of pearly shimmer.

Sunsparkled Pearl is actually my favorite part of this trio. It's a frosty beige that doesn't make you look like you slapped a ton of shimmer all over your face. It's the prettiest hint of shine and I absolutely love it.

After deciding to take this little baby home with me, I made the mistake of wandering over toward the lip display. I tried on a few lipsticks, none of which really made me happy, and then I went around the corner to check out the lip glosses and...le sigh. It was love at first sight.

This is the Frisky Business collection of Lipglasses & Lustreglasses. It's bright and fun and just makes me smile.

Here's the best I could do for swatches... I really am going to have to figure out how to get them to look better. Any tips?

Silly Girl - Pastel peach with multicolored pearl

Beaute - Bright clean coral with pearl

Wonderstruck - Lustred-up clean pink coral

Pinkarat - Soft-toned pink with gold pearl

Totally It - Sheer bright pink with intense pink pearl

Totally It is SO MUCH FUN. Seriously. It just screams 'life of the party'. All the colors are very pretty and I would imagine that all are pretty flattering. None of them are sticky and all have the staying power you would expect from MAC lippies.

So that was my gift to myself yesterday. I'm thinking I made out pretty well. Hopefully this will put a kink in my boredom!

What do you think? Have you tried out any of the Magic, Mirth, and Mischief collection yet?

[photo credits: maccosmetics.com]

Big Names Worth Big Bucks?

So MSN.com's Lifestyle section runs a weekly column by the Beauty Director of Marie Claire Magazine, Ying Chu. She's usually got some fun things to say and this week she answers the question: Are designer eye shadows worth the cost or can you get the same look using drugstore eye shadows?

or ?

Here's what she had to say:

"There are a ton of brands that offer top-quality makeup at drugstore prices—including L’Oréal, Cover Girl, and Revlon. If you’re trying out a new look (peacock blue eyes?), then experiment with something inexpensive at first. If you grow to love a trend and want to wear it regularly, then you can invest in something pricier. Sometimes, a more expensive brand can offer a wider range of colors, or really beautiful packaging (I’m a sucker for both), but the formula inside can be similar to what’s found at the drugstore."

Personally, I've never been a fan of drugstore eye shadows. I know, I know, some brands charge outrageous prices and I should be praising the likes of Maybelline and Cover Girl for providing an inexpensive option... But I just can't do it. While I adore many drugstore products, like mascara, I just don't think the eye shadows measure up.

The pigments and textures just can't compare to the high-end shadows from Chanel and Dior. Not even close to the mid-priced, but just as fabulous, brands like MAC and Urban Decay. They just don't seem to last on me and I firmly believe that the higher quality of ingredients in the more expensive shadows is well worth the price.

Of course, Chu has a point when she says to experiment with the drugstore products... But I say head on down to Sephora and try stuff out there. They have the best return policy on the planet so if you don't like it, just give it back!

So that's my view on the drugstore-high-end debate. What's yours?

[photo credits: covergirl.com, chanel.com]

Am I really going to look beautiful?

Welcome to my own personal version of Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory:

Seriously, if I could find someone to pay me to play with makeup all day long I would be the happiest person on the planet.

Gordon Espinet, VP of makeup artistry, and Nadine Luke, director of makeup artistry at M.A.C. Cosmetics spend weeks preparing for fashion week and the new collections that will eventually go out to the public and NY Mag has a pretty cool article and slide show that takes you through a little bit of the process.

Here are the some of the photos that made my heart skip a beat or two:

Metal pigment mixed with gloss. "It's like gold paint" that you can put "all over the body" according to Gordon.

Oh.Em.Gee. I want some. Immediately.

"The glitter is going to give you the sparkle. The bling. There is always room for glitter."

Ah, Gordon... A man after my own heart.

These are creams... Look at them all! I wouldn't know what to do with myself! The phrase "kid in a candy store" would not even begin to cover it.

Le Sigh. Maybe some day. For now? I'll enjoy the pictures and take myself down to the MAC store to play as much as I can.

In the meantime, I leave you with Gordon's final thoughts:

"Women, at the end of the day, we can tell them until we're freaking blue in the face about the cool factor of makeup, but ultimately she's going to look at you and say, 'Am I going to look really beautiful? Are people going to want to do me?' Basically that's what we're all looking for, right?"

Why, yes, Mr. Gordon. I believe it is.

[photo credits: nymag.com & melissa hom]

Hey... J-J-J-Jaded...

"Yeah, I'm talkin' about you..."

That's right, Chanel. I'm lookin' at you.

You and your absurdly priced, quality-lacking, easily-chipping nail polish.

Pardonnez-moi, I mean Le Vernis Nail Colour.

Well, okay... Maybe I was a little harsh. Only some of the Chanel polishes I've tried have been easily-chipping... But still. $25 bucks for a nail polish? I can get a pretty snazzy uber-manicure with a stellar massage for $25 bucks.

And yet... I LOVE this color. It's from their latest and greatest collection and matches this Jade-bead necklace my mother always wore when I was little to a tee. It comes in this lovely pale-seafoamy-green-with-a-slight-shimmer shade called Jade and an equally pretty pale pink shade called Jade Rose.

I've heard a ton of mixed reviews about it already, and every time I convince myself that it's not worth the money or that it's a useless color (I mean how often will I want to wear GREEN nail polish??) I just keep looking at the little bottle and sighing. I still want it.

Somebody just smack me over the head, would you? PLEASE?

But look how PRETTY!!

Melanie Parker over at the wonderful Blogdorf Goodman has concerns over the streakyness of the polish (even after three coats) while a Teen Vogue beauty blogger wishes she could tattoo this color on her nails forever.

And then there's the inevitable comparison to MAC's Peppermint Patti from the Sugarsweet Collection.

Unfortunately, I've never seen it in person, but luckily enough the entire internet has made up for my goof.

So thanks to All Lacquered Up for this:

So what's a girl to do? Shell out $25 bucks for the double-C's? Hunt down some Peppermint Patti on eBay?

Or remind myself that having seafoam green nail polish is probably a waste of money and forget about it?

You tell me!

[photo credits: misslovely.com, chanel.com, teenvogue.com, alllacqueredup.com]