MAC STYLE BLACK COLLECTION (FALL 2009)

Blue Flame and Young Punk Mineralize Eyeshadows from the Style Black Collection in 2009 were the first ever MAC products I got, so now that they are back on the store counters I couldn't not write a post about them!

Clockwise: Blue Flame, Smutty Green (new shade), Young Punk, Gilt By Association (new shade)

They are best applied wet, and directly onto the skin without a primer underneath.

First off, I have to say must be the biggest fan ever of this kind of eyeshadows. I believe their unique dewy, glittery finish gives the eyes the most beautiful and enchanting look ever.

The more matte an eyeshadow is, the more it needs different shades and layers to give the eye dimension. But with these eyeshadows, it's their own glitters particles that effortlessly shape the eye whenever and wherever the light hits them.

I find application easier than other eyeshadows, as it can - or even has to - be imperfect.

All you need is a brush like MAC 217 to sweep all over the lid, because the mere presence of the eyeshadow on the eye will do all you need for your make up.

They are best applied wet, and directly onto the skin without a primer underneath.

In my experience, the primer separates the glitter from the pigment so kind of kills the effect of these eyeshadows. A little creasing wouldn't be a crime anyway, especially with this shiny look.

Also, a wet application minimizes their tendency to fall out.

In the MAC store I noticed that the repromoted versions of Blue Flame and Young Punk have silver veins which the originals didn't have, but they still appeared exactly the same on the skin.

I hope you found my review helpful :-)

Love
MJ

1-WEEK-TRIP TRAVEL ESSENTIALS: MAKE UP BRUSHES

These are my most basic make up brushes:

FOUNDATION/BLUSH/BRONZER BRUSH: I wouldn’t normally use one single brush for all 3 purposes, but having been lucky enough to discover the Bare Escentuals Feather Light brush, now I do when I’m on the go.

I actually never bought this brush intentionally, because it was only part of a set I found on sale at Sephora. I also didn’t use it for a good while, because at the time I would apply my foundation with a flat brush. I eventually took it out of the box one time to apply a cream blush, and I liked it so much that I immediately decided to upgrade it to my official foundation brush!

The bristles are soft and dense for an effortless airbrushed result with no streakiness issues.

And when I’m travelling this brush is also all I use with my Essence All Over Shimmer blush/bronzer, because a little leftover from it doesn’t bother me when I use it again for my foundation.

CONCEALER BRUSH: this is going to sound pretty unlikely for a make up brushes brand, but I just love how this 2,95 euro H&M Eyeshadow Brush works my concealer.

I first saw the Pixiwoo sisters (http://www.youtube.com/user/pixiwoo) use eyeshadow brushes - MAC 224 and Illamasqua Blending Brush - for their concealer, and even if I don’t own those brushes that’s what inspired me to give this H&M brush a chance, since I wasn’t really using it much for eyeshadow anyway.

And this was like finding the Holy Grail.

Before Pixiwoo – sounds like a make up era, instead of the B.C./A.C. of history I am going to use B.P.(Before Pixiwoo)/A.P.(After Pixiwoo) lol! - I used to apply concealer with the typical small flat stiff “concealer brush”. What else was I supposed to apply concealer with, right??! Now I even question why that is considered as the typical concealer brush.

I find that soft dense bristles like in all of the brushes mentioned are ideal for both the delicate area under the eyes and the uneven surface of blemishes, so THIS is what a concealer brush should be like.

THANK YOU SAMANTHA AND NICOLA!!!

EYESHADOW BRUSHES:

·      MAC 217 brush is another A.P.(After Pixiwoo) product. Seeing them – and many other make up artists/guru on You Tube - use this brush in pretty much every single one of their tutorials, really made me go get one at the first opportunity.

Now I too couldn’t think of doing my eye make up without it. It works wonders with both powder and cream eyeshadows, for blending the edges or applying a wash of colour for a quick smoky look.

I believe this is a unique must-have brush like no other. No7 has a similar brush, their Eyeshadow Blend and Contour brush, but being softer (but also less expensive, to be fair) than the MAC 217 it doesn’t serve all of the above mentioned purposes quite as well.

·      The H&M Smokey Eye Brush doesn’t really have anything that you can’t find in another brush, but it’s definitely what I reach for when I am travelling because being double-sided it’s 2 brushes in 1. This only costs 2,95 euro too, so it’s more than worth it.

I hope this was helpful too, I would love to hear what you think!