MY MOST USED MAC EYE SHADOWS

 

There's something about MAC eye shadows; on one hand they make me swoon over how pretty they all are, yet on the other hand, it makes me a little - I mean a lot, sick when I think about how much those damn things cost! I've built up quite a collection of MAC eye shadows over the last few years and sometimes as much as I hate to say it, they have been slightly neglected in favour of other shadows. I also worked on two different make up counters which weren't MAC so everyday for work I had to wear those brands which pushed my poor MAC palette further down the line. Recently I've found myself using my MAC palette non stop and absolutely loving all of the colours. These are my most used eye shadows from my palette. Obviously, they're extremely neutral and all close in the colour family but that's just what I find easiest to wear for work, quick eye looks and the safe smokey eye shades. Some of these aren't necessarily my favourites out of all of the shades I have but they are the ones I get the most use out of.

L-R All That Glitters, Wedge, Charcoal Brown, Espresso, Swiss Chocolate, Sable, Mulch, Antiqued, Texture, Embark 

L-R All That Glitters, Wedge, Charcoal Brown, Espresso, Swiss Chocolate

All That Glitters: A beige with gold pearl. A gorgeous all over the lid colour, not your typical light lid shade as it does have a lot more colour to it, which means it's great to apply really quickly and easily and still look pretty. 

Wedge: A soft muted beige taupe. Probably the most boring looking colour but the one I use every single time I use my MAC Shadows, without fail. It's a great light brown crease colour that works with any other shadow colour to make it really easy to blend seamlessly. 

Charcoal Brown: A muted taupe brown. The famous brow colour. I used to use Charcoal brown on my brows with a mixture of Espresso and Carbon but mostly I now use the Urban Decay Naked Basics palette as it just seems to fill my brows in a lot quicker. Now I like to use it as a good colour to deepen the crease.

Espresso: A muted golden brown. Likewise to Charcoal brown I like to use this in the crease/outer corner. Both shades work well for more neutral or cooler eye shadow colours. 

Swiss Chocolate: A Muted reddish brown. Maybe one of my favourite shadows out of all of my MAC ones as it's a really pretty unique shade. I think this colour would compliment all skin tones as it's so warm but still quite rich. 

L-R Sable, Mulch, Antiqued, Texture, Embark

Sable: A gold plum with bronze pearl. I love to wear sable all over the lid for another quick and easy look. I also like to smoke it out with either Charcoal Brown and Espresso. 

Mulch: A Red brown with bronze pearl. I use this like I use Sable, all over the lid. I love how pretty both shadows are and easy to use. I like to smudge a black eye liner along the top lash line and blend it into the shades which creates a really pretty and simple smoky eye, yet not too dark.

Antiqued:An ash brown with bronze. Thinking about it, this is probably another one of my overall favourites as well as most used. I used to love watching Ghost Whisperer and Melinda Gordon always used to wear a really pretty warm bronze colour all over her lids and quite heavy under the eye. Whenever I wear this shadow I like to wear it like that and it's one of my favourite eye looks, with a warm shade in the crease and maybe a black if I want to darken up the look.

Texture: A Peachy brown with shimmer. The perfect shade to wear if you want a warm eye look; it works well in the crease and all over the lid. It does have shimmer in it but you don't really see that when it's on your eyes. It's a really good shade to use to blend out the lower lash line too if you don't want anything too dark. 

Embark: An intense reddish brown. I love Embark as it's a dark shade that's great for adding definition to the eye but it isn't as harsh as a black so it looks really good and smokey on the eye yet without being too heavy. I like to use Embark quite heavy along the lash lines and smoke it out with lighter browns for a grungy kind of look. 

There you have my most used MAC eye shadows and maybe a few all time favourites too, I may do another post on my favourite shadows soon. I thought I was good for eye shadows for maybe the rest of my life but now I've been on the MAC website again, I've definitely found some more that have caught my eye! 

BARE MINERALS MINERALIXIRS FACIAL OIL & EYE BALM REVIEW

I'm a huge fan of Bare Minerals make up and I've also really liked a lot of the skincare from the range, so  I was really excited when I heard that Bare Minerals were releasing a cleansing oil, as I have been using an oil in my routine for about 2 years now and I like how they work with my skin. 

Considering how excited I was, I still waited until there was a discount on before I bought the products - like the money savvy shopper I am.If you've seen my High End Beauty Haul or Clarins Haul, you'll know that I recently - well over a month ago now, left my retail, make up counter job *jumps up and down with joy* which obviously meant that I had to say goodbye to discount, so I decided to stock up.

"At the heart of ever bareMinerals Mineralixirs botanical oil and mineral blend you'll find rosehip seed oil. This deeply nourishing oil is rich in Omega 3 and 6, known to soothe skin, target signs of aging, replenish the skin's natural moisture barrier and recapture skin's youthful radiance."

Facial Cleansing Oil

I really love using this oil to remove my make up as it's so quick and easy to use; it also doesn't irritate my eyes when I use it to remove eye make up. It's a lightweight oil, that feels so gentle on the skin. I use a flannel to wash off the cleanser and it leaves my skin feeling so nourished and fresh. I always know when I like a cleanser as it leaves my skin feeling really soft and comfortable, instead of slightly dry and tight feeling, like others have done. The cleanser is infused with  a blend of plant-derived oils and a skin-enhancing mineral complex, which just sounds so lovely to me. I always feel like my skin looks really clear after using this, especially on my nose where I have black heads,  it seems like it actually helps to clear them.   I think the cleanser would be great for all skin types as it's light weight and doesn't leave any oily feel to the skin, so it would suit oily complexions, yet it's so nourishing and hydrating that it would work really well for drier skins too. 

Eye Nourishing Oil Balm

At first I wasn't too sure about the whole oil balm for an eye cream idea and it also got a lot of negative reactions from some of the other girls that I worked with. I was so intrigued at the end of one day that I decided to try a little over my make up. Later that evening, my eye area did feel really smooth so I decided it was probably worth giving it a full chance. I only ever use this product at night as I've heard others say it will just completely break up your make up if worn during the day. When I first used it properly I think I applied a little too much and it didn't seem to absorb into the skin very well .The next day I used a lot less and found that this worked a lot better, as it's an oil it blends over the skin so easily, so you only need a small amount.  The balm is formulated with restorative oils and skin-enhancing minerals, which just draws me into Bare Minerals every time. It feels very nourishing on the skin, like a good night time treat for the eye area. I feel like my eye area looks and feels hydrated and really smooth.

Overall I love both of these products and I don't have any complaints. Have you tried these products or anything else from the Bare Minerals skincare range?

EMPTIES: MAKE UP ITEMS I'VE USED UP

 As you can see, I nearly had a concealer crisis as I managed to use up every concealer that I owned, not too far from each other. I now feel that buying in excess is completely justified as that was a scary time, when I didn't know if I'd be able to cover those dreaded dark circles and blemishes. Luckily, we can all sleep easy again as I am now back to being well stocked and ready for anything - phew!

While on the topic of concealer, I ran out of an old favourite - MAC Pro Longwear. A really great concealer for under the eyes and other imperfections that lasted for ages! I did repurchase this concealer and it's one that I like to have in my collection, although the Urban Decay Concealer (review here), has now taken the favourite spot. Another good concealer was the Maybelline Eraser concealer in shade light; it's a really good product for brightening under the eyes as it's quite yellow toned. My issues with this concealer are that it didn't seem to last long at all and I am now left with what appears to be a lot of product in the tube that I cannot get out. One that I wasn't so keen on was the Maybelline Fit Me Concealer; I bought the lightest shade but it still wasn't very light at all and quite orange toned. It was disappointing as others seem to love this concealer. The MAC Prep & Prime brightener in Radiant Rose and Bare Minerals Stroke of light 1 products are both very similar. They are light pink in colour and are great for counteracting darkness and brightening the under eye area. I have repurchased the MAC one over the Bare Minerals, as it lasted so long with me using it every day. The Bare Minerals product seemed to run out a lot quicker. It must be something to do with the packaging as the MAC one only has 3ml of product, while Bare Minerals is 5.5ml. I trust the ingredients of Bare Minerals more but for how much longer the MAC one seemed to last, I have to favour it.

On to foundations both by Bourjois. I managed to use both of these foundations up as it was when I first started abandoning fake tan and gradually getting lighter and these two were the lightest ones I owned at that time. I think they are fairly similar in terms of coverage and longevity. I would say they are a light-medium coverage that evens out the skin tone completely, yet you would still need more coverage for bigger imperfections if you wanted it. They both feel and look very light on the skin. The only different that I can really think of is that the Happy Light foundation is obviously a lot more dewy and radiant looking than the Healthy Mix Serum. 

The L'oreal Volume Million mascara was a repurchase as I used to love it but this time round it didn't impress me as much. The formula wasn't 'wet' enough for me to build the lashes well and get a lot of volume from it. I want to try other L'oreal mascara's as I have liked some of them but this one I wont be repurchasing. I now only use powder products for my eye brows as I don't actually own any pencils now that I have used up the Bare Minerals Frame & Define brow pencil. It's a very thin, twist up product so you only need to twist the tiniest amount up, otherwise the product snaps off pretty easily. It is a good product; great colour and really good at adding definition but it just seemed to run out too quickly for my liking. As I'm pretty happy with just powder products I don't feel that I need to repurchase this product but I'm definitely not ruling out brow pencils in the future! 

On the other hand, a product that lasted for so long was the MAC Prep & Prime Skin Base Visage. It's a cream formula face priming product, with little shimmer particles to make your skin look more radiant. I found it really great for when my skin felt a little drier as it is so hydrating, yet very light weight so works great as a base for foundation. I've got a full review of the product 'here.' At the moment I don't actually use any face primers any more so I don't need to repurchase this product but I would still recommend it. 

The final product is MAC's Give Me Sun, which I repurchased even before I had run out of this one. It's an amazing bronzer, with so much pigmentation. It's a lovely warm tone so really works for making your skin  look more healthy and warm very quickly. It works on my now very fair skin really well and also when I have a dark tan so I think it's a good all rounder - as long as a lighter hand is used in times of the fairer skin! The bronzer lasted so long, even though I used it every day that I actually started to wonder why it wasn't hitting pan and wishing it would, in a strange kind of way. 

A HIGH END WISHLIST

I thought that I was completely shopped out after my recent High End Haul but clearly I was wrong and now I just can't shift the spendy feeling. There were a few products that I knew I had been lusting after so I decided that I would compile together this post partly so I could see how much damage I wanted to do and also to share it with fellow beauty obsessives for some moral support. I didn't quite realise how many products were actually on my list... Oh dear.

First things first, Clarins. I definitely thought I had bought everything I possibly could from Clarins after my Skincare Haul but there's still a couple of things on the list. I did intent to get the Eye Contour Balm but it was out of stock at the time. I also wanted the Liquid Bronze Self Tan as I've heard such good things about it and think it will be great for the summer months. I've had a sample of the One-Step Cleanser and really liked it, for when I'm feeling lazy and want something quick, especially in the mornings. It smells amazing and feels so refreshing. I resisted temptation to buy the Clarins Bronzer last year when it came out but now that they've released it again for their summer collection I'm just not sure I can resist it this time round. 

I've never actually tried anything from Origins but it's always popping up on blogs. I currently don't have a back up product for a moisturiser so I've been eyeing up the Ginzing range and the eye cream also sound lovely. I've also put the Eye Doctor on there as the description sounded so nice. I'm starting to think I'm a bit of a sucker for eye creams...

I like the sound of the Kiehl's Midnight Recovery Concentrate as a good all rounder serum for overnight. I'm quite lacking in the serum department and only really have the Clarins Treatment Oils which are amazing but I tend to only really use them when my skin is feeling like it actually needs the treatment aspect, so it would be nice to have a good all rounder serum for most nights. Caroline Hirons has recently been raving about the Moisture Surge Face Spray by Clinique so obviously it's taken my fancy. I like using moisturising/hydrating sprays in my routine and this one seems like a good choice when my current one runs out. 

Time for lipsticks! I love the colour of the Urban Decay Sheer Revolution Lipstick in Rapture. It's a perfect easy to wear everyday colour, that gives a plum-pink look to the lips. As it's sheer, it's so easy to just apply it quickly and it doesn't look too over done for everyday. I received a MAC voucher for Christmas that surprisingly is yet to be spent. I haven't decided which lipstick I want yet but I have been admiring Brave, Twig, Plumful and Syrup maybe..? Let me know your favourites! 

I'm a huge Bare Minerals foundation fan anyway but recently I'm also enjoying a lighter coverage of foundation, so I'm really interested in trying the Complexion Rescue. I swatched a tiny amount the other week and it did look really lovely, a decent amount of coverage and really radiant. Urban Decay's Summer launches includes the gorgeous Afterglow blushes; there are so many colours that look amazing so I know at least one will just have to go on the list. The final product on the list is the Too Faced Better Than Sex Mascara. It's such a raved about product and although I do really like the Urban Decay Perversion Mascara I still don't think it's the one, so I'm still on the hunt for the perfect mascara. 

MY NEW FAVOURITE CONCEALER

If you've read any of my previous posts, it's quite likely that you will have come across me raving about MAC's Pro Long Wear concealer; I've repurchased it and loved it for the last 2 years at least, but I think I've found something I like a lot more, which is very exciting!

The Urban Decay Naked Skin concealer was released earlier this year and received pretty good reviews straight away. As soon as I tried it I knew I had to have it; it seemed a good coverage, good consistency and it also smells a lot like MAC's foundations and Pro Long Wear Concealer, so I was very intrigued. The first time I actually used it I liked it but it didn't wow me. I kept using it and then on one of the days that I did wear it, I looked in the mirror during the day and without specifically intending to, I noticed that my under eyes looked really brightened and concealed and remembered that it was this concealer that I used. I really like it as it is described as weightless, complete coverage and it is. It gives really good coverage, yet doesn't feel or look heavy on the skin, like the MAC concealer can. I find that it lasts all day and I never notice any creasing under my eyes when I use it. I find that you don't need much at all as it is such good coverage, so I think it'll last a long time. Although my complexion isn't perfect, I tend not to bother concealing on my face too much as no concealer ever completely covers spots and you can end up looking worse. I do however put a tiny bit around my nose to cover redness and I think it works really well and still doesn't look heavy on top of foundation. I think it would be really good for blemishes and other imperfections, if you get the right shade. I chose Light Warm which has a very yellow tone to it which makes it really good for brightening under the eye. If you have a light complexion and want something more neutral that will work under the eyes and on the face I would use the shade Light Neutral. The shades do go up in colour pretty quickly, so I wouldn't go any darker than Medium Light Neutral unless you have a very tanned or darker complexion. The concealer is designed to improve skin's youthful appearance and elasticy, radiance and reduce the appearance of fine lines with it's matrixyl 3000, green tea, sodium hyaluronate and Litchiderm ingredients. 

I haven't yet read or heard a negative review of this concealer and I couldn't fault it so far. I much prefer it to any other concealer that I've used but the deciding factor as to whether I repurchase it will be how long it lasts. It's £17.50, which for a high end concealer is pretty reasonable as long as it lasts well.  

Have you tried the Naked Skin Concealer? 

CLARINS SKINCARE HAUL

This may seem a little excessive in the skincare department even for us beauty bloggers, as lets face it - there's not one but three cleansers here! If you've read my High End Beauty Haul post you will know that I recently left my retail, make up counter job for a life of Monday-Friday, no weekends, no bank holiday, no rude customer bliss. The only thing I decided that I would miss from my old job was the staff discount, so to ease the pain I decided to stock up on products that I knew I would use, so that I don't have to pay full price for them any time soon. 

One of my absolute favourite skincare products that I own is the Clarins Blue Orchid Treatment Oil. I contemplated repurchasing a back up but decided that instead I should just get the Lotus version for oily/combination skin, as I still have most of the bottle left. I don't have uncontrollably oily skin but I do often look in the mirror near the end of the day and think I'm slightly more lets say 'dewy' than I'd like to be, or in places that I don't want that natural glow. 

Another of my favourite Clarins products is the Extra Comfort Anti-Pollution Cleansing cream. I bought this as a back up as my boyfriend also quite likes to use it as he has pretty dry/sensitive skin. It's a great cleanser for all skin types; it smells lovely and leaves the skin really soft and comfortable feeling. 

A further repurchase was the Clarins Gentle Exfoliator Brightening Toner. I like this product when I use it but I do often forget to use it, as I only aim to use it a few times a week at most. I'm trying to use mine more in my routine to see more of a difference. I repurchased as I don't have anything else like it in my routine, so I took advantage of the discount but I'm now interested in trying the Pixi Glow Tonic after as it's around the same price. 

Okay this is getting a little samey but the final repurchase was the Cleansing Milk and Toning lotion set for oily combination skin. The set was only £22 originally and also included a travel size eye make up remover so with my discount it was a great bargain! I love both of these products and they have a more typical 'Clarins scent,' even though they are the cheaper of Clarins products I always feel a little luxurious when using these products. 

The last product I bought was the Pure Melt Cleansing Gel. I received a sample of this before and really enjoyed using it as it left my skin feeling so silky, hydrated and refreshed. It's a gel formula but once you add water it turns to more of a milk. 

I was contemplating getting even more but I didn't want to just spend for the sake of the discount, as although I'd be saving a lot, if it's stuff I wouldn't have actually bought it doesn't really count as a good deal... I turned down the cellulite cream as I was very sceptical that any cream could actually combat cellulite, so instead I'll just go for a few more runs and squat a little more... joy.  I did buy a couple of make up items but I think they'll make an appearance later on. 

What are your favourite products from Clarins?