How To Get Strated With MAC

There was a time, a very very long time ago, when there was not a tiny bit of MAC in my collection. When you first start to dabble in the world of high-end makeup, the feeling that you have absolutely no idea what your talking about is ever present. Sales assistants will approach you and ask you what kind of 'finish' you would like or what 'formula' you prefer. Maybe to some, these questions would seem like simple, common sense type questions, but for a makeup newbie it's like asking someone to multiply 3457 by 2884.

MAC is one of the most renowned makeup brands of the high-end world, they are known for their amazing quality and accessibility to both the professionals and the regular Joe. So on your first trip to a MAC counter, what do you look for? What products should you start your new MAC collection with?

I started off with a 15x palette and 1 eyeshadow and I've never looked back. If you are looking to just dabble a bit, start off with eye shadows, you can never have too many eyeshadows. MAC offer a huge range of different shades ranging from matte neutrals to shimmery brights so there's bound to be a shade that catches your eye. If you're still a tad bit apprehensive, aim to build up a solid neutral palette filled with great everyday shades you know you'll get use out of.

If your more of a skin person than an eye makeup person, start off with some of their highlighters or blushers. I wouldn't recommend diving straight into the foundations as that's where the scary words like 'formula' and 'finish' come in and you have to stand there and nod like you know what your doing. That isn't to say you cant try them, have a mooch around and test a few on your hand, then when you think you might have found one you like, ask for a sample and take it home to give it a good test run.

The MAC counters are always a scary place, there's usually a few girls wearing a mountain of makeup and it's always super crowded. Don't be afraid to ask question, don't be afraid to give things a good swatching and don't be afraid to ask for samples, it's usually the only way to find out if a product will work for you before buying it. Once you feel confident enough you can really get stuck in and try out a few lipsticks, cream products or finally buy a foundation you've been testing. 

Let me know in the comments below how your first MAC visit went, what products did you buy? And what would you recommend to a MAC newbie? 

The Best of The Bronzers

For many years I detested bronzers, I wouldn't touch them with a barge pole because they always looked so orange. Other fair skinned ladies will understand that as someone of the paler variety, the task of finding a bronzer that doesn't look completely ridiculous on my skin was one I really couldn't be bothered tackling. This meant that I would walk past the most beautiful bronzers sitting on their shelves crying out to be bought, but I would turn my nose up at them and say "No Oompa Loompa face for me today thank you!" 

However since getting into the blogging world and finally learning where I'm supposed to put the bronzer on my face, I grew curious and dived in. The first one I ever bought was the Bourjois Delice De Poudre or Chocolate Bronzer as most people call it. I was pretty lucky with my first ever bronzer purchase, this is such a great affordable bronzer for any skin tone and it blends superbly. It is slightly more orange than my other two and has very subtle shimmer, but if you use it lightly it gives such a gorgeous colour. 

My next one was The Body Shop Honey Bronzer as recommended by the lovely Estee from Essie Button. If you have fair skin and you don't want to splash out on high end bronzer then this is a must have. The pigmentation is amazing and it comes in various different shades from Light Matte to Dark Matte. I have the Fair Matte shade, which is one up from the lightest, and I reckon I could go slightly darker and I'm very pale. This has a slight pink tone to it and is a bit ashier than the rest; it is perfect if you want to double it up as a contour as well as a bronzer! 

Finally we have the most expensive and most raved about over in the blogging community, Benefit Hoola Bronzer. Another matte bronzer, this has so much hype surrounding it I always stayed away, not to mention it is mighty expensive. After much deliberation I bought this and after one use I could see why people love it so much. It is an absolute dream to blend, I can apply two big stripes to contour my cheekbones and be able to blend it out seamlessly. This is a more taupe bronzer so like the honey bronzer; this can also be used as a great contouring product. 

If you have very fair skin I hope this little blog post has taken the mystery out of some of the bronzers on the market, and hopefully there is one out of these three that is in your budget! 

What is your all time favourite bronzer? Are you willing to pay a bit more to get one that really suits your skin?  

Beauty Favourites of 2013

This video has been a long time coming but it is finally here! I wanted to be a bit more creative with my yearly favourites, yes it is very helpful when people sit in front of the camera and talk for 15 minutes about their favourite products, but it gets a bit samey. I wanted to have fun with it, make it interesting to watch and hopefully I achieved that. I had a lot of products to share as well and I thought that this was a better style to fit everything in to one video. 

In case you can't be bothered to watch the video or maybe you're just in the wrong place at the wrong time, here's a list of all the products featured in this video. I have spoken about all of these at some point so I didn't want to go through every single one, I'd end up just repeating myself! I'll put links in if I have written or filmed a review on the product so you can go and check it out in detail.

Skincare:

Clinique Take The Day Off Cleansing Balm 

Origins Night-A-Mins Night Cream 

L'Oreal Micellar Water

Superdrug Tea Tree Nose Strips

Bases:

Laura Mercier Silk Creme Foundation

Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer

Revlon Photoready BB Cream

Blushers & Bronzers:

The Body Shop Honey Bronzer

Rimmel Blush in Pink Rose

NYX Blush in Taupe

Illamasqua Cream Pigment in Hollow

Eyeshadows:

Naked Palette

Maybelline Color Tattoo in On and On Bronze

Eyeliner:

Rimmel Glam Eyes Liquid Liner

Maxfactor Liquid Effect Kohl Liner

Maybelline Gel Liner

Mascara:

Benefit They're Real Mascara

Chanel Le Volume De Chanel Mascara

Lipstick:

MAC Hang-Up

Rimmel Dark Night Waterl-Oops!

Soap & Glory Sexy Mother Pucker Nudist

Maybelline Baby Lips Cherry Me

Let me know what your favourties were in 2013! Or you can tweet me at @Lilacghosts! 

Top Fall Collection 2013 Picks

With all the new Fall/Autumn 2013 collections being released or at least announced, I thought I should share with you all my top 6 (It was originally supposed to be 5 but I couldn't choose) products from the new collections. I have to say after having a good hard look at the shiny packaging and vampy red hues, the YSL and Urban Decay collections are by far my favourite. 

1. YSL Blush Radiance No.9

This peachy toned blush looks so gorgeous, I love a warmer peach toned blush in the winter and this one looks divine. I've never tried any YSL blushes before but I would love this to be my first. YSL Fall Collection is available August 2013.

2. OCC Lip Tar in Black Metal Dahlia

As soon as I spotted this shade I was in love. The rich blackened red tone is soooo vampy and perfect for Fall. I don't think I could wear this day to day (Don't get me wrong, I'd give it a good go) but as a night time lip colour it is perfect. Available on Sephora.com from August 27th and from OCCMakeup.com from September 6th 2013.

3. Urban Decay Revolution Lipsticks

Is this cheating because it's technically more than one product? Ahh well never mind. Urban Decay have really impressed me with their Fall collection, the packaging in particular is stunning. These lipsticks come in a massive array of shades, all perfectly wearable. They have such a creamy look and are apparently just as pigmented as one would expect. Available right now online at Sephora.com and Debenhams.co.uk!

4. Smashbox Fade To Black Eye Shadow Palette in Fade In

Out of the two Fade To Black palettes, the Fade In palette attracts me more. I think it's my love of dark sultry shadows that attracted me to it. It looks like a palette I would use regularly to create a really vampy smokey eye, my preferred look when heading out for the night. Available the end of August 2013.

5. Tom Ford Lipstick in Bruised Plum

I know I'm not the only one who walks past the Tom Ford makeup stands with a longing look in their eye. Tom Ford cosmetics are notoriously expensive, but I may just treat myself to this plum red lipstick. It's perfect for this years Fall vamp & punk trends. This shade has been available in the past, but it's packaging has had a tiny makeover to fit it in with the 2013 Fall collection. Available from September 2013. 

6. YSL City Drive Palette in Classy
Another pick from the YSL collection (I said I loved it). Out of the two available palettes, Classy contains the more wearable shades. A really nice neutral palette, this holds all my go to shades, the shades I reach for for an everyday look. The packaging (Like all YSL packaging) is gorgeous, a gold square case with large gold 'Yves Saint Laurent' font on the lid. Available August 2013.

What are your top picks from the recently announced Fall 2013 collections?

Urban Decay Glinda Palette

I've had my eye on this special edition create your own palette by Urban Decay for months! This is 1 of 2 special edition Urban Decay palettes released for the film Oz: The Great And Powerful. I did want to get the Theodora palette originally (I'm more drawn to the darker toned shadows) but by the time I got the money to buy one they had all but disappeared from the shelves. 

The Glinda palette comes with a saturated lip color in Glinda and a super soft 24/7 eye pencil in Rockstar. Both I love, the lip colour is a really sheer rose pink and is so comfy to wear, it's also a lovely day colour. The liner is a dark purple,I've never tried any UD eyeliners and was really impressed with the staying power of this. Once it's on, it ain't coming off!

The Glinda has a lighter more airy feel then the Theadora palette, obviously it has to represent her 'Good Witch' status. I have to say though that as much as I love the shadows, I would have got more use out of the warmer Theodora palette. For example the shade Oz is pretty hard to wear, I'm not sure when I would ever wear a rich silver or gold shade. The shadows are however as creamy and pigmented as all UD shadows, Aura is a beautiful blue and pink iridescent, perfect for highlighting.

The palette also comes with a face chart complete with instructions, on how to create a Glinda inspired look. It uses all the shadows in the palette along with the liner and the lip colour. It's not a chart to create the look from the film like I thought it would be, but it definitely tells you how to use the palette to it's full potential. 

The main reason I bought this was because I loved that you can use the palette for any UD shadows. It's easy to pop them out and put your favourite UD eyeshadows in there. The tin is gorgeous and a perfect addition to my palette collection, where it will stay forever and ever!

RRP: £36.00

What do you think of the Glinda palette?  

 

Let's Get Flexible | Rimmel Scandaleyes Flex Mascara Review

Good afternoon my little chickadees! It is time for another review and today I'm going to be taking a closer look at the Rimmel Scandaleyes Flex Mascara. Now I'm going to be honest, even though Rimmel is one of my all time favourite drugstore brands ever, I've never been overly impressed with their mascaras.

Green is my favourite colour so it's won some sneaky points from me for just its colour. However I find the packaging a little too bulky. It's pretty much the same shape as the Maybelline mascaras, but the lid feels a lot chunkier and it feel a little heavier to.

I didn't think I'd like the brush at first, it is a bit on the large side and with my teeny tiny eyes, a mahoosive brush doesn't really work very well. But saying that, the size doesn't really bother me with this. The bristles are soft and flexible (but not too flexible), giving you really nice separation of the lashes.

The actual product is a bit dry and thick. This is a problem I find with most Rimmel mascaras and most volumising mascaras if I'm honest. It feels a bit like companies think that a volumising mascara has to be a really thick consistency, it does not! So stop it!

This claims to contain Lycra to give maximum flexibility and prevent stiff and brittle lashes. I wouldn't say my lashes were brittle after using this but they were a little crispy and stiff. When you read the description on the back of the tube it sounds very much like the description of the Maybelline Mega Plush mascara which I did a review on here, only they replaced gel formula with Lycra formula.

Overall it isn't a terrible mascara, I've definitely tried worse, but it just didn't blow me away. Maybe if you like your eyelashes a bit crispier and clumpier then this is for you. I prefer a more natural light feeling on my lashes, which is why I prefer the Maybelline Mega Plush over this guy. 

Have you tried the Rimmel Flex Mascara? What did you think of it? 

It's Time For June Favourites!

It is the end of June already, the English Summer appears to have come and gone, hopefully not for too long though. But here are my monthly favourites for you all to hopefully give you some products to add to your beauty-shopping list.

First up we'll start with hair as I've been having a bit of a change this month. I'll start with shampoo & conditioner. I've been loving the Herbal Essences Bee Strong shampoo and conditioner, which I have done a review on already. It smells divine and really makes my hair feel fuller and softer. I can't say for sure if it prevents breakage when combing because I don't really suffer with that specific problem. I do feel like it gives a bit more life to my hair though which is always a bonus. 

Next up is a little product called Colour B4. This is supposed to dissolve the hair colourant particles (very sciency I know) to get rid of any dye in the hair. I've been dying my hair since I was 14 and as a result, can't really remember what my natural colour is (I know I'm a sort of a blondey-gingery colour). It also means I have a large amount of colour build up. But I used this stuff anyway to try and get rid of my latest red dye. It stripped a great deal of the colour out and I was very pleasantly surprised with the results. I'm going to be doing a separate review post about this so I'm going to leave it there for now ;)

The finally for hair, we have a high-street/drugstore alternative to the Moroccan Oil. This oil is by Organix and is available at Superdrug & Boots. I like to take a small drop of this, rub it all over my hands and then run it through my hair focusing on the ends. It makes my hair feel so healthy and soft and really has helped get it back to good condition after using the Colour B4.  * UPDATE 28/07/13: Read here why I've changed my mind about this stuff, I'm non too happy let me tell ya!

The next product I've been loving is the Liz Earle Deep Cleansing Mask. This says that it's not suitable for sensitive skin, which is exactly what I have. It does sting when you first apply it but I've never had a reaction to it. It really help with any blemishes and definitely clears out those blackheads. You even get two handy little facial sponges with it! 

Finally onto makeup. I bought the NYX blush in Taupe after reading a bazillion blog posts on how it's excellent for contouring on pale skin. I love this! It is indeed great for contouring pale skin and the pigmentation of it is excellent for the price. NYX aren't as readily available here in the UK, so it is the first NYX product I've tried and I'll definitely be getting more.

And my last favourite is one I've talked about in my videos before; it is the Laura Mercier Silk crème foundation in Soft Ivory. I'm starting to love this foundation, the coverage is amazing and the shade is almost perfect, just a touch on the yellow side. The finish is more matte then glowing but I love it on my combination skin.

So that's it! All the products I've loved this month. What products have you loved during June?

Rimmel Fix & Perfect Primer Review

I recently ran out of my much loved 17 Photo Flawless primer and thought I'd give another drugstore primer a shot. And so off I toddled to Boots.com to see what primers were getting good reviews. One of the most highly rated primers was the Rimmel Fix & Perfect Pro primer. And so I decided to head out and purchase it.

You get a lot more in the Rimmel Primer then the Photo Flawless primer. For an extra £2 you get twice the amount then in the 17 primer. So this I was pleased with.

This primer is more of a cream then the usual gel type primers I’ve used before. It looks more like a moisturiser and smells exactly like sun cream, which I don’t really mind. Because of the creaminess of the product, it does take a little longer to set. With the gel primers I find they set a lot quicker on the skin allowing you to put your foundation on pretty much straight after applying. With the Rimmel primer, you have to give it a good few minutes before applying foundation; otherwise your foundation will go a bit streaky. I usually whack a bit of this on after my usual moisturiser, and then by the time I come to do my makeup, the primer has set. 

It feels moisturising once on and definitely gives a smoother finish to my foundation. It also claims to be brightening and mattifying, which to be honest, I haven’t really noticed.

Overall this is a really good drugstore primer. I am still in love with my Photo Flawless primer over this one though. The only reason being that I find the cream formula can be a little bit oily on my T-Zone. I would recommend this type of primer if you have dry skin more than oily skin; it works well on combination skin but can get a little oily in some places.

Rimmel Fix & Perfect RRP £6.99 ($6.36USD)