Nars Blushes, The Best Out There? ♥

Nars is probably my favourite brand of makeup and even, shockingly, outshines Mac...Not by much though, only a fraction, Mac is my second love (:
If i could only choose one brand to buy, it would be Nars, hands down.
The quality of their products is of the upmost highest and i see Nars as a 'luxury' brand that i only buy in small amounts.

Ive dabbled in a few different Nars products and thaught they were all fab, but the real king (...or queen if you prefer...) of Nars products are their blushes!

Everyone has heard someone rave about Nars blushes at some point and they are quite hyped up, and they are worth every little bit of hype they get.

I remember buying my first Nars blush a while back and cringing as i handed over my cash to the assistant, my dad behind me was shaking his head at the fact of buying a blush close to the £20 mark (...hes a man, he dosnt understand, right? ) .
Ever since then ive been determined to collect the colours i love, even if i do go bankrupt in the process haha.

The colours i own:

Left picture:

Mata Hari - Matte medium pink with a purple undertone.
Gina - Matte deep peach.
Desire - Matte neon blue toned pink.
Torrid - Red toned coral shot through with fine gold glitter.

Right piture:
Cactus Flower - Bright poppy red with gold flecks, cream blush.
Zen - Matte beige brown with slight pink undertone.
Orgasm - Peachy pink with gold sheen.
Albatross - White gold sheen.

Left to right: Albatross, Cactus flower, Matahari, Desire, Torrid, Gina, Orgasm, Zen.

However much it pains you to part with the dosh, it really is worth it.
I think of it as an investment, One Nars blush will probably last you forever.

What i love -
The pigmentation is incredable! One dab of a brush is enough. Cactus flower and Desire actually are still visable on my arm where i swatched them despite all the scrubbing to remove them!They dont stain your face though!
They apply like a dream and blend effortlessly.
Last years.
AMAZING colour range.
& Finally -
The packaging...
I cant rave enough about Nars packaging. Its sleek, Compact and durable. Some people complain about their compacts going sticky as they are made from a rubbery material, but i havnt had any issues with any of mine and some of them have been bashing around in my bag for a while.
The size is perfect, Not too small or too big and the name of each blush is named clearly on the back. I only wish there was a Nars counter closer to where i live, as the nearest one for me to get to is London and i only go there a couple of times a year...Suppose that could be a good thing though really as i would probably be in there right now spending all my money if there was a Nars near me haha.
(Sorry for the very long rave about Nars blushes, but i just needed to air my love for these beauties!)
What do you think of Nars blushes? or just their products in general?

Small Mac Haul ♥

Sorry for all the haulin' posts.
I was driving past my CCO this morning and they stock up on a thursday night...how could i resist fully replenished shelfs of Mac goodies?

I told myself - 'Lauren...restrain yourself and only buy one thing'
Well, that didnt work. They had oodles of new products lined up looking pretty and just waiting to be baught (:

The first thing i spotted was the Vintage Grape blush ombre. I wasnt sure weather to pick it up or not as it looks a bit too purple but there was only a few left so i thaught i'd give it a try. Its actually not as dark as it looks when on the skin. Its more like a candy pink with slight purple undertones. No bruised look though!
£13.50

I was then ready to go and pay...

... but to my left i spotted this beauty - Macs Mineralize skinfinnish in Warm Blend. I'm a sucker for MSF's. I have far too many but only own two other bronzey shades. Its a bit strong for my pale skin but the lovely woman at my CCO suggested to use a fan brush and brush it on lightly. It can also double as a pretty neutral eyeshadow.
£ 13.50

Keeping in with the bronzey/golden theme i then picked up Enough Said beauty powder blush. Its a gorgeous tan, peachy brown colour with gold shot through it. Its so pretty on and i have nothing like this in my collection.
£10

& lastly i got a Lipglass in Ember Glow. i'm all over coral lips at the moment and when i swatched this i fell in love. Its actually quite opaque and with two coats it could be quite a pop of intense colour. I dont have many mac lipglosses (...maybe about 4?) as i dont really care for them, but this one is a definate exception. Gorgeous!
£8.50

Swatches:
(terrible lighting, sorry!)
So there you go, probably my last haul from mac for a couple of weeks or so, I'm trying to branch out on other brands and i really want to try some more Cargo stuff. I'm also going to try my best not to spend money as i'm trying my very best to save up for a Mulberry Roxanne!

Collective Haul & Update ♥

Sorry for not blogging for a week or so, Ive just started my final year of a 3 year course in college, so its been quite hectic, running round like a headless chicken and on top of that Ive just enrolled on a media makeup and photography course. busy busy busy! I'm all settled in now though and have a good routine set up, I have thursdays and fridays free so that means blogging time (:

Ive been trying not to buy so much makeup, i have cut down *slightly* but i cant resist a good buy when i see one, So here is what ive accumilated over the past couple of weeks...

I ordered Mac's Face and body foundation and Studio Sculpt concealer a couple of weeks ago just because i wanted to try them out. I wasnt holding up much hope for Face and body as i do like heavier coverage but after seeing it on Charlottes blog, i thaught id give it a go, It looks lovely on her skin!

Face and Body - £23
Studio Sculpt £13

Then i popped over to my nearest CCO (...which is only up the road!) and picked up this brush, I head its good for cream foundation. It was the last in the shop, so i grabbed it...

Mac 189 - £14 Bargin!

A couple of shops away from my CCO is the body shop Depot, it sells lots of Body shop things that are discontinued and old stock. Ive been wanting these blushes for a while...simply because they remind me of MSF's and look so pretty. I tried the peachy one on this morning and its beautiful on the skin.

Cool Dusk - £3
Warm Sunset - £3
RRP £12 each!

On my last post i said i wanted to give a Red lipstick a go from Mac, So i got one!
It was between Ruby Woo and Ladybug...I went for Ruby woo as its just a classic matte red. Its gorgeous, I feel like i'm in the 1950's when i wear it!
I also spotted Peach Nuance at my Estee Lauder counter and it reminds me of Ripe Peach which i sadly missed out on and i had a £10 voucher, so it was quite a bargin.
Ofcourse i cant go into town without going into Lush, i was on the hunt for a good handcream for winter. The lady at Lush was so helpful and suggested that i should give Smitten a try. It smells SO yummy, Like marzipan. Yum.

Mac Ruby Woo Lipstick - £12.50
Estee Lauder Peach Nuance - £14 (without voucher £24)
Lush Smitten - £6

Last but by no means least...I got an iPhone 4! eeeeee.
I wanted the white one, but its not out yet and i'm so impatient i couldnt wait haha.

A big hello to all my new followers!

Mac Lipstick Collection & Review ♥

Lipsticks, along with blush are my favourite makeup product. A lipstick can change your look all together and i cant seem to leave the house without *some* sort of lip product on my lips, i just feel 'naked' without it.

Mac lipsticks are quite well known, some people love them and some people dont seem to see understand why they are so well loved.
I, myself think they are good. Not phenominal but just good, and quite average.
They 'do the job' in other words.
So why do i have so many? Mac have the most outstanding range of colours and finnishes that blow any brand out of the water!
(for reference, my favourite brand is YSL and Benefit for lippies, but their colour range and finishes are a bit, blah.)


So here are the Pinks:

Left to right - Girl About Town, Gladiola, Snob, Pervette, Pretty Please, Pure Rose.

I love my pink lipsticks. Especially bright pinks for nights out and special occasions. Mac do a fabulous range of pinks. Apologies for the swatches here, the sheer lipsticks dont really show up on my skin but do look gorgeous on the lips.

Next the Nude shades.




Left to right - Creme d' Nude, Myth, Vanitys Child.

Nude lips are really hard for me to pull off, somtimes if i pick the wrong shade of nude, it compleatly makes me look so ill. So i try and pick a brown/peach colouled nude. They are quite hard to find, hence why i only have 3 lonely nudes. Mac does some other great nude shades also, such as fleshpot and blankety.

And, finally the Corals:

Left to right - Shy Girl, Jazzed, Colour Me Coral, Lollipop Loving.

Ah, Corals are my favourite colour to wear, since i have fair skin. Its really hard to find a good coral shade that dosnt look ridiculous and clown like...Mac does every shade of coral you could think of!

Finishes?

These are all the finishses they come in (Barry M take note!):
Satin
Lustre
Glaze
Matte
Frost
Cremesheen
(i think ive named them all?)
My favourite finnish by far is a CremeSheen. They suit my lips best, Not too pigmented or too sheer, Too dry or too glossy and they last a good while on my lips. keep them out out of the heat though, or they wil bcome a sticky, melted mess.
Frost finnish is my least favourite finnish, hence why i only have 1 frost, Colour me coral, which i rarley use. Far too drying and...well, frosty i suppose.

Price?

Price wise? They are £12.50, Not bad i dont think. A YSL lipstick will set you back around £20 and considering some drugstore lipsicks are around £8, They are quite cheap for a 'high end' brand.

So my favourite out of the lot, are *drum roll please*

Snob, Creme d' Nude and Jazzed.

Here the swatches on my Lips:

Left to right - Snob, Creme d' Nude and Jazzed.

Now all i really want is a good RED Mac lipstick, I'm thinking Mac's Ladybug?
Whats your favourite Mac lipstick?

Haul Time! Urban Decay Naked Palette, Book Of Shadows 3 and Mac ♥

So, I went shopping yesterday, originally going to buy JUST Mac's Face and Body foundation, but instead came out with two Urban Deacay eyeshadow palettes...and no foundation, typical!

So, there i was in Debenhams surrounded by makeup, i glanced over towards the UD stand and spotted the Naked Palette! I thaught i would never get my hands on this. I sprinted, yes, sprinted, towards it and grabbed one. It was like one of those slow motion movies haha.
A women there was just stocking up the shelfs with the new UD NYC book of shadows 3. I was unsure weather to get this aswell as i'm trying to save my money, but the lovely woman completely sold it to me and said that if i did not get it now, i will never do, because its going to fly off the shelfs like mad.
So i caved and baught the first one in the shop.

The Naked palette.
Everyones seen this now. Its the most gorgeous nude palette, So well put together with the right amount of matte and shimmery shades. I can already tell that this is going to be my new favourite thing in my makeup collection!

I havent had a chance to use this yet, but when i do, there will be a review!
Price £27

Urban Decay NYC Book Of Shadows 3.
Wow, just wow.
The packaging on this is GORGEOUS, Not so much the outside, but the inside pop up bit.
It has LED lights, how amazing is that?
A totally useless and pointless function, but oh so amazing, a big thumbs up to urban decay for thinking this up!
Theres also a great variety of colours in this, i think some of them are new. The colours that caught my eye the most are 'Last call' and 'Rockstar'.

Very excited to give this palette a go. Expect a full review of this also (:
Price - £30

Then when id finnished at Urban Decay, i skipped off to the Mac area. They had no face and body foundation there, So instead i treated myself to a Mac 217 eye blending brush and a Blushcreme in Ladyblush.

I got the Mac brush purley to apply my new eyeshadows with, So happy i got it! Its my first mac eyeshadow brush as i usually use my trusty smashbox ones. Will see how i get on with this. Price - £14
Ladyblush is to wear on really cold days in winter, As my skin gets so dry, I love the dewyness this gives. Price £16.50

Despite not getting what i originally set out to buy and spending far more then what i wanted to, I'm SO ecstaticly, unbelievably, ridiculously happy with my new goodies! (:

August Favourites ♥

August flew by, I cant believe its September...Back to college in a few days, its my final year of a 3 year diploma course, so im actually quite looking forward to what this year brings!

The past month ive tried (...and failed) to not buy any more makeup and use what i have. So most of this months favourites are products that have been sat in my drawer that ive dug out and rediscovered.

As you can see, Ive been loving blush/highligter products this month.

Here are the lip products ive been reaching for in the month of August...

Benefit Coralista -

Beautiful blush, probably my favourite blush ever, and thats saying alot since i must have close to 100 various blushes! Its the perfect balance between a pink and a peach and gives the most GORGEOUS glow! I was looking through some photos of nights out when i was wearing this and it photographs really glowy, it looks fab!

Nars Gina -

Ive been reaching for this to layer undewr coralista for a more peachy colour, its super pigmented and also one of my fave blushes.

Mac Stereo Rose -

Ive been wearing this on days where i'm feeling lazy. I just slap this on and it works as a blush and a highlighter all in one. Beautiful colour also!

Bobbi Brown Shimmer Brick For Body -

Used this ever day since i got it, The shimmers are not chunky at all and you get a choice of 3 different colours!

Benefit Highbeam -

Ive been mixing this in with my foundation to make the finnish more luminous. It works perfectly.

Mac Studio Fix Fluid -

Ive had this for AGES, never used it much until this month because the first time i tried it , i felt that it was far too heavy and cakey Not now though, I'm in love with it now ive mastered how to apply it! (...use the beauty blender!) I also have very light freckles and this covers them nicely.

Beauty Blender Sponge -

Seriously, this is the best thing invented. If you dont own this, i suggest you go buy it...now. Its changed the way my foundation looks and applies all together. No more cakeynes at all! You just dampen the sponge and it expands to nearly double its size, dip it in a bit of foundation and dab on! It takes me about 2 minutes to do my whole face and the finnish is streak free and flawless. Love this little beauty, bye bye foundation brushes.

Mac Shy Girl -

The perfect creamy coral, Love!

Barry M 101 Marshmellow -

Now, i HATE this on its own, but paired with shy girl, its gorgeous. Been wearing that combo all month.

Mac Tendertone Hush Hush -

Rediscovered this, but sadly these have been discontinued ): Its a lovely lip balm/gloss that really moisturizes my lips.

Phew, that was a long list!

On another note -
Today ive been making cupcakes, one of my favourite things to do.

Cupcake anyone?