Recent MAC Haul!

So I went to the MAC store in Covent Garden the other day, APPARENTLY to help my friend buy some daily wear makeup - she ended up getting ONE blush and I ended up with an entire HAUL! Ah... the joys of being addicted to makeup.

In my defense, though, I did get products which I had been eyeing for a while and really thought about before getting - they weren't (all!) impulse buys :) And I've had this stuff for a while now so I can give you a review as well! Yay! Ok, let's get straight into it...

I purchased the Studio Moisture Tint SPF 15, shadesticks in Sharkskin and Beige-ing, Rubenesque paint pot and eyeshadows in Malt, Soft Brown, Handwritten, Fig. 1 and Flourishing.

1. STUDIO MOISTURE TINT SPF 15: my new love. This is MAC's take on tinted moisturiser and I love this product so much I've been wearing it every single day since I bought it. First off, I just love the concept of tinted moisturiser because its so much easier and quicker to get your foundation and moisturiser on in one go... and because it's a tinted moisturiser this product gives really sheer coverage which I am a big, big fan of. It's just enough to even out the skin tone but it looks so natural and it really gives your skin that "glow from within" - LOVE. I've got mine in Medium Dark but I think thats just a smidgen too dark for me (I'm an NC30-35). I could get Medium instead but I kind of like the slightly tanned look Medium Dark gives me. I'm completely sold on this product. Completely.


2. SHARKSKIN AND BEIGE-ING SHADESTICKS:
I was really unsure about getting shadesticks because I'd read so many reviews from people that said they were so difficult to work with and they really pulled and tugged on the delicate eye area - which is something that sounded far too wrinkle-inducing for my taste. But shadesticks have also been known for being amazing eyeshadow bases so when I spotted a couple of them lying around, I figured I'd find out the truth for myself... and you know what, they're okay. Yes, if you apply them straight from the tube they do go on really dry and they do pull on your skin, but there are ways to get around that (that's in the next post!). These work AMAZING as a base for eyeshadow; Beige-ing is a beautiful pearl colour shot through with gold shimmer and Sharkskin is black with silvery shimmering flecks. Absolutely gorgeous. And both these colours are so versatile - I can see these working on very fair skintones as well as very dark ones. Sharkskin can be layered as a base underneath any eyeshadow to really make the colour pop. And Beige-ing can be used on its own as an eyeshadow when you want a really subtle but pretty, delicate look.


3. RUBENESQUE PAINT POT: Rubenesque is my first ever paint pot - well, second technically but the first doesnt count because it was a neutral base colour ;) Anyhoo, Rubenesque is a gorgeous peachy-gold colour thats shot through with gold and pink very, very finely milled shimmer. This would be a great base under all sorts of gold, pink, bronze tone eyeshadows or even on its own. It goes on super smooth and its a dream to work with, but paint pots do dry quite quickly so any blending needs to be done fast.


4. EYESHADOWS: I'm really getting into matte finish eyeshadows lately; all the ones I bought are matte or matte-squared finishes. On the whole, I find matte eyeshadows a lot more wearable, they're great for day-time looks and a matte smokey-eye looks effortlessly, amazingly sophisticated. Obviously, these are really good in terms of pigmentation, longevity and blendability - and that's no surprise because eyeshadows are one of MAC's most popular products. Right, individual break-down time: Malt is exactly the same colour as my skin tone, a mid-tone pinky-beige colour that acts as a great subtle highlight. Soft Brown is a clay colour - that's pretty much the best way to describe it. Handwritten is a gorgeous chocolate brown, great for smokey looks or just in the crease to add some dimension. Fig. 1 is a beautiful, dark purple - it's not too red and it's not too blue, this is the perfect purple, in my humble opinion. Flourishing is a deep sea-weed green, this one reminds me a lot of henna!

And here are some swatches (eyeshadows on top, then shadesticks, and then paint pot right at the bottom, the liquidy one on the left is the Studio Moisture Tint)... with flash on top and without flash below it (talk about stating the obvious!)...

So there you have it. One of my recent hauls... I hope you enjoyed reading this, please excuse the insane formatting - I clearly have a lot to learn!

Have a great Monday, everyone :)

x