MAC Haul/Swatches - Prolongwear Concealer, Foundation & Cut A Caper Lippie

Hey ya'll! I was pleasantly surprised this morning to receive my MAC package that I ordered Sunday night, Im so happy they had a free overnight shipping deal for cyber Monday! Quick vent: I hate shopping malls, I only go when its a MUST!...something about the crowds and unruly children annoys me so bad! Dont get me wrong, Leah Luhv da kids but it bothers me how some parents let their children walk so far away from them! I always see some child walking unattended then I get scared and think, "omg! someones gonna snatch him! I gotta alert the authorities" then I see a parent wayyyyy down the aisle pushing an empty stroller. Im not a parent but if I should be so blessed one day I swear my kids will be walking arms-length from me until theyre like 15 lol. Vent, ended. Moving on...

Ive been waiting to purchase the ProLongwear (PL) Concealer and Foundation ever since I went to MAC last month and a MUA applied it on me. It lasted ALL DAY! Unfortunately both the concealer and foundation in my shade (NW25/30) was sold out :( I still have a lot of my trusty old ColorStay but Im beginning to become increasingly annoyed by the no-pump glass bottle. I knew I wanted to order it online but I wanted to wait for friday so I can get the PINK FRIDAY lipstick. Did any of you get PINK FRIDAY??? If so, PUH-LEEEEZEE direct me to your review. I have Snob and Pink Noveau...not to mention a million other similiar color lippies so Im going back an forth whether I should buy it or not...is it worth it??? Of course, it was sold out...BUT to my surprise, as I was ordering the Concealer & Foundation online Sunday, I found that they re-stocked Cut A Caper!!! Ive been wanting it so bad since I missed out on Jazzed! Cant wait to wear it and I will update w/ a FOTD soon :) Here are some pics, swatches & Review

MAC Prolongwear Foundation in NW30, $29.50

Finally found my color match!!! Ive read many reviews on this saying the coverage is full but IMO its has light to medium coverage. It dries on a bit dewy but can easily be mattified with a finishing powder. I love MATTE finishes so I always shied away from this but fell in love when the MAC MUA first applied.

 See how well it blends, you can tell where I applied it on my skin where its a bit shiny

MAC Prolongwear Concealer in NW25, $16.50

I initially wanted the Studio Finish Concealer because it was water proof but then I thought...Its not like I dip my face underwater on a daily basis get sweaty easy. Perhaps Ill buy it in the summer. The are the same price anyway except that the PL Concealer yields .06 more product, and comes in a pump! Youre more at risk for wrinkes using your fingers to apply makeup due to the constant tugging.

 You can see more color of the foundation here, the pink undertone is so evident! Hopefully this still works on my face...Seeing this makes me think I may be NW25. I get lighter during the winter months

 MAC Lipstick in Cut A Caper, $14.50

Im so happy I got this! I just checked online and its sold out already. To me this lipstick is EXACTLY how it is desribed on the site - a midtone peachy pink...moreso on the pink side. Its so pretty! I must stress though that this is VERY VERY SHEER!!!! The swatches are taken after Ive applied it with like 5 or 6 strokes! Nothing that cant be remedied with a little concealer or lip erase though

Did you do any damage this past Black Friday/Cyber Monday??? I would really like to know because I usually dont shop during Black Friday and Im curious if the deals are really worth it...

Hope ya'll are having a wonderful day today! Thanks for reading loves :)

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ELF & MAC Highlighter Reviews

Hey lovlies!

How do you feel about highlighters? ...face highlighters that is :) Personally I love them. Find the right one and they picture beautifully, and give the perfect amount of "twinkle" to your face without making you look cullen-esque. My current 3 faves are ELF Blush in Glow, ELF Bronzer in Luminous and MAC in Star Dusk.

How do I use highlighters?
I apply them lightly with a fan brush over these areas:
- bridge of nose
- top of cheekbones
- above eyebrows (focusing on the center of forehead)

I was going to attempt to draw the area of which I apply but I found this pic on google images that perfectly describes it :)

I cant stress enough how you have to apply highlighters LIGHTLY. Better to do it lightly and build it up rather than packing it on and looking like a tranny...unless that is of course the look you are going for :P 

Anyhoo, on to my fave highlighters....

ELF Blush in Glow, $3

This is currently my fave highlighter. I've heard this is comparable to NARS Albatross but IMO, this is better because its not animal tested :). Glow is a creamy white color with gold glitter. The glitter isnt chunky, but its definitely noticeable which is why this is the most versatile highlighter of mine. I use this for Daytime and Nighttime Looks

 I purposely didnt clean the compact to show how messy these things get!

ELF Bronzer in Luminous, $1

Yes ladies, its only a buck! This highlighter is a light beige color with a very finely milled shimmer to it. All skin tones would look great with this. Since this highlighter has more of a sheen to it as opposed to a glittery finish, I would only use this during the day. This would be a great product to buy if you want to try highlighting your face for the first time.

Looks like the surface of the moon huh? hehe

MAC Loose Powder in Silver Dusk, $22

This is definitely a nighttime only highlighter, and the messiest of them all. Rarely do I use this powder on my face. I use this more of a body shimmer for dusting on my chest and shoulders. This glittery pink powder does come with a high price tag but judging on how much product you get, I see it well worth it.

Side by Side Comparison...

I didnt realize until after I started taking pics how difficult it was to try and capture the "essence" of a good face highlighter, so sorry if the color is difficult to see but Im sure you get the picture. As a general rule, the detail of face highlighters are best seen in person anyway

So to sum it all up, highlighters are great for capturing light and accentuating your facial features. Furthermore, if you're unsatisfied with your nose like I am, running it along the bridge of your nose will make your nose appear thinner. The only con I can think of with these is that they can and will get messy...but either than that, I cant live without em :)

What are your fave highlighters?

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Milani Infinite Liquid Liner...MAC liquidlast dupe?

I'm on a MAC dupe roll! ...kinda :). I recently purchased Milani's Infinite Liquid Liner from cherryculture as a part of a haul you can check out here. This was in efforts to save me a couple bucks from always purchasing MAC's liquidlast liner. I swear I go through that MAC liner like a baby goes through diapers. I love it! MAC's liquidlast is the perfect liner! Its very black, and stays that color for as long as your wearing it! Also, it lasts a LONG LONG LONG time (hence the name) through sweat, humidity and even tears!!! Although not recommended, you can sleep with that liner, toss and turn, rub your eyes, and wake up looking EXACTLY THE SAME. Its amazing. The only negative about it is that its $16.50 for .084 oz. Using this almost everyday, one tube will last me about 2 months or less. Towards the end of of usage the consistency of it gets really goopy and hard to work with as well.

So Ive read a lot of raves about Milani's Infinite Liquid Liner and I thought at $5.99, its worth a shot. Oh and if your interested in it as well or any other Milani products, cherry culture is having a %15 off sale!!!

Back to the liner...as you will see in pics, Milani's eyeliner doesn't have a true black color to it, Its sort of a really really dark charcoal. This doesn't bother me though as Ive used this a few times and it looks just as black.

The Breakdown

Can you tell I need a job? LOL. So basically Milani's Infinite liner fufills EVERYTHING that I was raving about on my rant above for the liquidlast liner. It last through whatever, has a very black color and  its less than half the price!!!

One thing to note is that Milani has a more limited color selection than MAC. Again, this doesn't bother me because I only use black. Also, Milani's liner takes a wee bit longer to dry (maybe 5 seconds at the most). 

	MAC’s Liquidlast Liner (point black)	Milani’s Infinite Eyeliner (everlast)
Size	2.5ml/0.084 oz	5ml/0.17 oz
Price	$16.50*	$5.99*
Color Selection	8 available	5 available

* Prices from www.maccosmetics.com & cherryculture.com

 Milani's Infinite Liquid Liner in Everlast

 MAC's Liquidlast Liner in Point Black

 Brush comparisons

Point Black on left, Everlast right

 Swatches, with and without flash

Everlast is in the left, Point Black right. You can see that Point Black dries in a matte finish

 Rubbed after 15 seconds. I think I rubbed the Milani one too quickly, Since the Milani one takes longer to dry, it smeared easy. I will say that I've worn the Milani liner and the lasting power proved just as strong as MAC's

Where to buy

You can buy Milani's Infinite Liner here

You can buy MAC's liquidlast here

Has anyone tried Milani's Eye Tech Liquid Liner? I want to try that one because I like the felt applicator but I wonder if it has the same lasting power as the Infinite one...

Well, thats all folks!

♥ Leah

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MAC Satin Taupe DUPE alert!!!

Hey ladies! I found a great dupe for Satin Taupe! Satin Taupe is a shadow that I use almost every but at $14.50, stocking up on it can get pricey. Ever since I found a dupe for it, Ive been using the dupe for my casual daytime looks and saving the original for those times where I know I may be taking pictures as the dupe does not last as long as the original

MAC eyeshadow in Satin Taupe
You can find the Satin Taupe (ST) eyeshadow at MAC for $14.50 for the eyeshadow single and $11 for the refill pan. Its a great color for blending into the crease. It is described on the MAC website as a "taupe with silver shimmer" Click here to but it from MAC's website.

Picture from MAC's website

My pan of Satin Taupe pictured with and without flash.

As you can see, I use the heck out of this shadow!

...and here is the dupe!!!

Beauty Factory eyeshadow in Exotic

Beauty Factory is a great site to buy cheap makeup from. I have bought a ton of eyeshadows and lashes from there. The only downside is that it takes about 3 weeks to ship if you live in the states, which is not a problem once you see how ridiculously cheap the prices are!!! You can register your shipment and sign for it at the door or pay like $2 or less for regular shipping without a tracking number. Being the penny pincher I am I always take my risk and order it w/o the tracking number...and Ive always received my packages. Oh and they do NOT test on animals!!! Anyhoo, the dupe eyeshadow color is called Exotic and it only costs...drumroll please....$1.70!!! Not to mention you get wayy more product. Ill admit the quality isn't as good as MAC's but it is certainly comparable to NYX shadows. You can buy it by clicking here.

Picture from Beauty Factory website

as you can see it is very dark, I expected to have this color when I purchased it, but in person this is a very very light shimmery taupe color

My pan of Exotic with and without flash...

See the difference from what is picture on the site as opposed to real life?

The Comparison

So is it a dupe? Heres how I rate it:

Color Dupe? Yes!!! when swatched on my arm, there is virtually no difference..BUT I noticed that when I took a picture of the swatches on my arm with flash you can see a slight variation. Exotic has a more brown undertone. I still say YES on the color dupe because in person, trust me, they are identical

Quality Dupe? No!!! ...BUT Exotic is not a bad quality eyeshadow by any means. Satin Taupe has a very creamy blend-able texture, as with all MAC shadows whereas Exotic is very powdery and slightly more difficult to work with (you can see the all the specs of shadow around the pan in the picture of Exotic above)

Overall, I would say that this is a def dupe for Satin Taupe, and at $1.70, its worth a try. I have some other shadows from Beauty Factory, and if anyone wants to see swatches, please let me know :)

Size comparison

Exotic is twice as big and 6X cheaper!!!

In the picture you can see a slight difference, but I swear in person they are exactly the same!!!

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finally the perfect milky coral lip gloss!

I am happy to report my search for the perfect milky coral lip gloss has ended! All thanks to MAC's lipglass in Pink Lemonade. I went shopping w/ my mom the other day but I wasn't really looking to shop, I just wanted to spend time with her since I've been missing her so much since I had moved out. We went to Nordstrom and she was stocking up on her MAC items when she asked me if I wanted anything. Of course there were a million things I wanted but I said no as an attempt to prove my independence, plus Im not someone who likes people I love to buy me things I could buy technically buy myself - especially my own mother, she has bought me enough in my lifetime! I dont want to give the impression I could buy anything now, my budget has been strict as ever since Ive moved out! I say "technically" because although I could buy those "wants not needs" items it would be in poor financial judgement. Anyhoo, I going off into a tangent again...back on track. So my mom kept pushing it wanting to buy me something and I eventually caved only because for some reason my resistance seemed to be insulting her. I browsed through the lipglass and Pink Lemonade caught my eye. I swatched it on my hand and it was EXACTLY what I was looking for!

Coral has been a hot color this season and I've fallen victim to the trend. I've read so many raves about  "it" coral colored cosmetics such as Essie's Van Dgo (however you spell it) to Revlon's Coral Reef, to MAC's Ever Hip and Peachstock. I am astonished how this lip glass isn't mentioned along with those names. Its such a pretty color! I've been looking for a coral lip gloss in particular but didn't like Coral Reef because I wanted a really nice milky coral, with just a hint of pink. Coral Reef was too dark and orange-toned for my liking. I cant stress enough how perfect Pink Lemonade is. I assume this was over-looked largely in part of its name - PINK lemonade...well whatever it doesn't matter, all that matters is that you pick this up!!! Its sooo gorgeous!

w/ flash

w/o flash

swatches

Again, due to my unprofessional camera I must say this picture doesn't do it justice. The picture above is more like the color you will see on your lips

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