MAC lipstick dupes - Cremecup, Angel Fabby & Bombshell

For ages I have had my eye on Angel and Cremecup and had been into the MAC store many times, trying them on my hands and lips but always leaving empty-handed because I find they look too ashy on my complexion. I then sought to get something very similar but slightly darker which would give the same look on my skintone.

Left to Right: Cremecup, Angel, Fabby, Bombshell

Well we all know Angel (frost) and Cremecup (creamsheen) are very identical in colour, Cremecup being more paler and Angel slightly muted. As a creamsheen formula Cremecup is certainly more creamy over the frost finishes. Next to Angel we have Fabby (frost) which has subtle gold shimmers running through it, but the pink is more or less spot on with Angel. Finally Bombshell (frost), in the tube it looks quite different to the other three but when swatched although there's an apparent contrast to it, since it is more of a warmer, slight brighter pink, it is still similar to the other three mentioned. It's slightly darker than Cremecup and just like Fabby has gold shimmers running through it - this shade I would say would be better for more olive, darker skintones who want that 'Angel' lip.

Barry M Fine Glitter Dust

GREAT FIND
GREAT PIGMENTATION
GREAT PRICE

Left: 24 Toffee Right: 22 Black Gold

These are the two i picked up because I wanted to do an intense smokey eye - I'll insert a pic if anyone wants to see an end result of this sultry look :)

I'm guessing these glitter pigments will be even more intense when used wet with water or fix+

They retail for £4.59

Can be found in: Superdrug, Boots or online at Barry M's website

Summer Blusher Review - Tanned/Olive Skintones

Although the heading suggests these blushers are aimed towards 'golden' skintones, most of these would actually be suitable for all skintones, including those that are paler and much deeper than my complexion. I've just labelled it for the more olive tone girls, because I think these blushers in the sun bring the best out of our skintone! :D

MAC Blush: Trace Gold (sheertone shimmer) - £17.50

elf Natural radiance blush: Glow - £1.50

NARS Blush: Taj Majhal - £21.00

Sleek Blush: Aruba - £4.30

Bourjois Blush: 03 Brun Cuivre - £7.49

From Left to Right: Sleek Aruba, NARS Taj Mahal, Bourjois Brun Cuivre, MAC Trace Gold, elf Glow

From the swatches you can see SLEEK'S ARUBA is a very strong fiery pure orange colour. It is a matte finish and has a very good quality, texture and finish for a drugstore brand. It's price is very reasonable and sleeks packaging is far by my favourite. I'm sure you'll guess that you only need a light hand with this.

When blended out it looks like a natural warmth wash of colour - that's why I think it looks best on olive/deeper skintones. Not only in the summer but I think all skintones should try this one out with a heavy smokey eye = LUSHHHHH!!! 

Next is NARS'S TAJ MAHAL, and just as it's name it is beautiful on indian skintones and deeper complexions. It is very similar to Aruba but has gold shimmers to it - because of this you need to be very light handed with this or else you'll look a mess!! The gold shimmers in it make it perfect for the summer time, not only does it give warmth to the face but a lovely glow (which bronzer gives to paler skintones). Although NARS blushers are pricey, it's worth it, as the product is so pigmented and a little goes a long way and the finish is so smooth and beautiful (best blushers on the market!)

We then have a more toned-down colour. BOURJOIS BRUN CUIVRE looks more rosey-toned when swatched (although it has been swatched heavily) but I'd say it has a browny-peachy, subtle hint of rose to it. It is quite sheer, but is build-able. On the skin it gives such a beautiful nudish peachy glow and smells sensational (like all bourjois products). On my skin it gives a natural glowy look, which is perfect all year round and esp in the summer! To myself, it has the texture of a mineralized blush and this little pot of goodness has lasted me years, and still has a long way to go till it finishes.

The palest blush of the bunch is MAC'S TRACE GOLD. It doesn't have the appearance of a cheapy shimmery, metallic bronzer. Although it isn't super-pigmented, I gotta say I love it because of that. This gives more of a glow than colour. Again it's a natural, nudish colour and works on all skintones (on deeper skintones as a highlighter). It's a sheertone shimmer, so although it has that sheen, it's not too strong and tacky and gives a beautiful sun-kissed natural glow to your cheeks and also makes them look more round and gives your skin such a healthy natural look. I love it!

Finally we have ELF'S GLOW. This blush is a must-have at £1.50!!! I know elf can be a bit of a hit and miss, but this blusher is AMAZING! It's got a fair amount of pigmentation to it and is build-able and surprisingly not too chalky either. It's a beautiful peachy-corally colour with loads of gold shimmers running through it - beautiful for spring and summer!! Think NARS's infamous Orgasm Blush but instead of the corally-pink shade it's more peach toned. It has a bit more gold shimmer to it than Orgasm Blush and therefore I think it's perfect for the summer as the gold doesn't look too overdone. On tanned/olive skintones I think peachy tones of blush work better than pinky ones and this just gives a lovely flush of colour and shimmer.

Bronzer Overview

NARS Bronzing Powder: Laguna - £25

Victoria Jackson Shimmer Powder Brush: Bronze - Various prices online

MAC Powder Blush: Coppertone - £17.50

e.l.f Contouring Blush & Bronzing Powder: Blushed/Bronzed - £3.50

NYC Sun 2 Sun Bronzing Powder: Terracotta Tan - £2.99

Left to Right: NARS Laguna, Elf Bronzer, NYC Teracotta Tan (1st Lighter Shade, 2nd Darker Shade), VJ Bronzer, MAC Coppertone

NARS Bronzer: Laguna 

From the swatch above and the image, you can see that 'Laguna' is a mid-tone brown which isn't too cool or warm with subtle shimmers. Although the shimmers are apparent on the swatch, when applied on the face it isn't too apparent and the bronzer appears matte. The finish is really smooth and easy to apply and buildable. It can be used to warm up the whole face or to contour with. I usually contour with this (as you can see it's 2  shades darker than my skintone which is perfect). For the summer it can be a bit too light to contour with but when I build it up it's fine. I'd like to try 'Casino' as I think that would suit my skintone best. At £25 it is a little pricey but you do get quite a fair amount of product and I do feel it is quite luxurious and applies smoothly in contrast to other bronzers. As you can see I've hit pan on it as I enjoy it so much, I most likely will repurchase it, but probably try it in 'Casino' first.

                                             

                                            e.l.f  Bronzer: Blushed/Bronzed 

The e.l.f contouring blush and bronzer contains two products - the blush we will ignore (it's bleugh anyways). The bronzer on the other hand I LOVE! Although there are gold sparkles that are apparent in the pan, they do not appear when applied on the face, which for me is a delight - since I contour with it. Again I've hit pan on it and in the summer time when I'm more tanned I use this practically everyday! Not only do I love it because of the matte look and the deep colour but also because it's a much more cooler brown than the other bronzers it's perfect for contouring with.The finish is not as smooth as the NARS bronzer, it can be a little streaky, but once you've gotten used to applying it with your brushes, you get a sense of how much to apply and how to apply. That doesn't bother me too much since I can work with it and it comes at a brilliant price! e.l.f are also notorious for their sales and promotions, so you can probably even pick it up for less than £3.50!! All in all it's a great bronzer for bronzing and contouring and can be used on a wider variety of skintones.

NYC Sun 2 Sun Bronzer: Terracotta Tan 

The Sun 2 Sun Bronzer comes in 2 different shades, which is great since you get more for your money. Superdrug are offering it at a great price of £2.99, I believe it used to be £4.09, regardless it is a low cost bronzer with quite a good amount of quality to it. To begin with, it is matte (which is great for drugstore) and surprisingly isn't chalky and has good saturation to the product. The lighter shade for me is too light for a contour but can be used as a blush, for lighter skintones it would made a lovely everyday bronzer/contour. The darker shade (used with a light hand) dusted across the face gives a lovely warm glow, it may be a tad too orange for contouring with. It applies smoothly and both colours can be mixed together and used if desired. 

Victoria Jackson Shimmer Powder Brush: Bronze 

The VJ shimmer powder bronzer is the only shimmery bronzer of the bunch, (if you haven't been blinded already by the swatch of this bronzer) as you may recognise. Unlike the others it comes in a tube with the powder loaded and a fitted brush. I actually don't like this concept, since the brush isn't very soft and I can't really control how much product comes out - therefore I don't use it much. However you can open the bottom of the tube and dab your brush into the product, which I find much useful! Since this product is shimmery it's uses are not for contouring, but instead giving a bronzy/glowy look to the skin. You only need a small amount with this, since it is very pigmented and extremely shimmery. I think this would look best in the summer/with a tan, or going out. It gives a beautiful glowly look. You have to be very careful with this product, you can easily apply too much, which ends up making you look like an overdone caked disco ball - not a good look! I brought this product with other Vicotoria Jackson Cosmetics in a promotion, therefore I'm unaware of the price. It's available online (including ebay) and I've seen prices from £5 all the way to £20!! I wouldn't say it's a must-have, since it may be hard  to get hold of and the colour is a bit too strong and the packaging is a nuisance I would give this a miss, unless you're a shimmery bronzer fanatic.

MAC Blush: Coppertone 

This may be a surprise entry. Although a few MAC blushers are used for contouring and bronzing with, 'Coppertone' is not famous for that. I actually was in two minds whether to include this or not, it's a very weird shade. It's more copper than bronze (hence the name) and more warm toned. It has a smooth matte finish, which is why I first used this as my contour and blush and thought it looked alright. It's less warm toned when applied on the skin. When the product is built up the colour is more truer on the skin. Now I'm more tanned I use it as a warm blush on my cheeks, but I feel that with a heavier hand it would give glow, warmth and colour to the skin just like a bronzer - therefore I included it in this overview. MAC blushers are £17.50 and I think are a little pricey but it is worth it since it has a beautiful smooth luxurious feel and application on the skin and a good amount of product too.

MAC Brave Lipstick & DRUGSTORE DUPE!!

NYX Mega Shine Lipgloss

From left to right: LG122 Natural, LG104 Sweetheart, LG164 Nude Pink, LG162 Nude Peach

Natural: Self-explanatory, a natural nudey rosey brown 

(I find that this one can be worn alone without wearing lipstick underneath)

Sweetheart: A silvery pale nude colour with subtle shimmer

(This one looks best on top of a nude lipstick)

Nude Pink: A subtle blue based pink that isn't too pale or milky

(This one looks more blue-based on camera, but is a bit more of a truer nude pink in person)

Nude Peach: A mid-tone paler pink, which is more warm toned

(On the lips I wouldn't say this is peach at all, if layered on top of a peachy/coral lipstick it gives more of a coral colour, less peach - this is noticeable on the swatch on my hand above)

These lipglosses smell absolutely amazing!!! They have a sort of bubblegummy sweet smell and taste, which is a delight. They also are very creamy and easy to apply, they're not sticky at all and that's why I tend to favour them, since I'm not much of a lipgloss fan.

Packaging is very sleek and classy, has an oh so reminiscent vibe of the Nars lipglosses. The lipgloss has a wide variety of shades, although NYX have a UK website I suggest you purchase them off ebay (US sellers) or cherryculture.com (worldwide shipping) since on the NYX UK site they retail for £7 and the US offers them for around £3!!!

Doe foot applicator - slightly bent: gives out sufficient amount of product, glides on smoothly and doesn't waste any product :)

Revlon Lip Butter Swatches

From left to right:

Macaroon, Pink Truffle, Cotton Candy, Cupcake, Strawberry Shortcake, Tutti Frutti, Peach Parfait, Raspberry Pie, Lollipop, Berry Smoothie

Taken with an iphone - under the bright Boots lighting instore

My thoughts : As you can tell, the lip butters are very pigmented and have the saturation of a lipstick. The consistency of these I would say is less 'buttery' and more so of a slight sticky gloss. I do love some of these colours HOWEVER I cannot stand the feel of them on my lips. I applied Peach Parfait (as I was most excited to try out that and Lollipop) I thought it felt sticky and icky and NOT MOISTURISING whatsoever!!! The colour on my lips looked tacky and the sparkles felt so uncomfortable - usually things like that don't bother me, since I'm not too sensitive to glitter and sparkle on my lips, but this was just so dissapointing. Lollipop wasn't too bad on the lips, but again I didn't enjoy the feel of it. I was really looking forward to these arriving in the UK and for me it was such a let down :(
As I menioned before 'Lollipop' was one of the bright colours I was most excited about, but I've realised now for a bolder lip I'd much prefer something less glossy and more matte which lasts longer on the lips.

In contrast to the Lip Butters I found that the L'Oreal Rouge Caresse Lipstick was much more buttery and moisturising on the lips. It's what I thought the Revlon Lip Butters were going to be. I have one in the shade 'Tempting Lilac' and probably will pick up a few more - swatches to come soon :)

MACs Ruby Woo

So I have invested in the infamous Ruby Woo!! Debenhams were doing 10% off some of there 'Beauty' products and on a whim I thought I wouldn't miss this great oppurtunity on saving a few pounds on MAC products!!

Since I ordered online I obviously could not swatch the lipsticks, so I thought I'd play it safe and order Ruby Woo. As you may or may not know, it is a blue based red that has a matte finish and suits all skin tones. (For reference I am a NC37/NC40)

My thoughts: It definately is a universal red and it very flattering on my skin tone. It looks beautiful in the sun and I'm sure it'll look just as gorgeous in the autumn/winter time. I usually rock this with winged eyeliner and false lashes! It's a staple red that everyone should own!!