My MAC Lipstick Collection

Make-up Art Cosmetics (MAC) was founded in Canada in 1984 by make-up artist and photographer Frank Toskan and Frank Angelo who owned a salon and is now the world's leading professional make-up authority due to celebrating diversity and individuality. Aimed at all races, ages and sexes MAC regularly updates their collection and launches collaborations with celebrities like Rhianna, Ariana Grande and Brooke Shields. I was 16 years old when I first discovered MAC and I remember walking into a beauty hall and being amazed by all the colours. It was then I become seriously interested in make-up. Although I wasn't able to purchase anything, I knew that one day I would return with plenty of pennies in tow.

And so I did...

The great thing I like about MAC lipsticks is the quality and application; what I don't like is the price. The cheapest lipsticks are a whopping £15.50 and that is ALOT of money to fork out on. My collection has built up over time. If you read other beauty blogs, especially by make-up artists and models, they recommend throwing out products that are over a year old. I don't; and I'm not afraid to admit it. They're only used on me, but I do always throw out old foundation as this can cause spots and skin irritation, which is not healthy.

As you can see, I have quite a few lipsticks and at present I don't intend on getting anymore...I probably have enough to last a life time!

Rachel xx

No7 Match Made Lipstick Service Plus Bonus Gift*

As my regular readers would know, I absolutely love the No7 range by Boots, so when I was asked by the lovely ladies at my local counter to come in and try the new Match Made Lipstick Service, I jumped at the chance.
Let me begin by explaining what the service is. Boots are the first with the innovative device that reads your skin colour precisely and then matches it to one of their skin true shade foundations and concealers. From your skin true shade it is now possible that a range lipstick shades can be recommended to suit your skin tone.

My skin true shade is Calico which I previously blogged about here. I use the Stay Perfect Superlight Foundation. There are 17 skin true shades and once you have been matched you are given the corresponding card with the various lipstick shades.

My colour Calico has 11 Moisture Drench shades and 8 Stay Perfect shades in the lipsticks

  

I decided to try Pink Hint in the Moisture Drench range. It's a dusky pink colour and probably one that I wouldn't have picked up and tried on. The sales assistant also applied a Precision Lips Pencil prior to the lipstick in the colour Pink.

I was very pleased the colour and the staying power was pretty good of about two hours. Now that I have been given the Match Made card I can now choose some other shades now that Autumn has arrived.

Currently running until 30th September, No7 are offering the Exquisite Eyes Gift Box worth £26 when you buy any two No7 cosmetic products. 

Contains:

Eye Colour Brush

Lovely Lashes Mascara

Stay Perfect Eye Shadow - Top shade in the Forest Fruits Trio

Stay Perfect Metallic Eyes Pencil in Purple.

A great gift box that you can either keep yourself or give to someone special, the choice is yours!

Rachel

xx

*PR Sample

Thanks to Melina and Lisa at Boots, Carmarthen

Revlon Lip Butters for Autumn

I have my fair share of Revlon Lip Butters; in fact I may have one in every handbag I own (and that's a lot of handbags..) so when I was in my larger Boots store in Swansea, I couldn't resist picking up these new ones for the coming season.

Revlon Lip Butters are usually a cross between a lipstick and a balm, but with these two they are purely a sheer tinted balm, which I'm quite glad of as I really didn't fancy wearing purple and green lipstick!

Provocative has very fine purple micro glitter and Invite Only having green.

So, do I like them? Well yes, but when applied I can't really see the difference between them. The purple glitter in Provocative is more obvious in the flesh than in the above photograph. Invite Only is completely sheer with only a small hint of green glitter.

If you like more of a hint of colour then these aren't for you. You would probably prefer the Maybelline Baby Lips instead, but for me I like these more as they are really hydrating as my lips get quite dry.

I really didn't need the two but as I was only able to swatch one colour I wasn't able to compare them.

Priced at £7.99 they're not cheap but I know that I will use them a lot, especially in my line of work as they are sheer and just enhance my natural lip colour.

Have you tried these yet?

Rachel 

My Current Favourite Lipsticks ~ Summer 2013

Until quite recently, I have preferred wearing lip gloss instead of a lipstick. All that changed when Boots No7 relaunched their branding and I fell in love with their Sheer Temptations Lipsticks. That then led me to dig out a couple of old favourites from the bottom of my handbag, and also to purchase a new one.

No7 Sheer Temptations in Shy Pink ~ A very subtle colour. A hint of pink with a lovely silver shimmer to it.

No7 Sheer Temptations in Pretty Please ~ A very bold colour for me. I like this a lot as it's not what I would call a solid colour. I find I only need to apply one application for a sheer look.

Revlon Lip Butter in Pink Truffle ~ I love this for everyday wear. This is always in my handbag. Compliments my light skin tone

MAC Creme Sheen in Fanfare ~ My first lipstick by MAC. The girl at the MAC counter chose this for me as I was overwhelmed by the choice there. She did a good job.

Chanel  Rouge Coco Shine in Sourire ~ A completely luxury product for me. I swatched this at the counter and instantly had to have it. Peachy pink with gold and silver shimmer. I wear this a lot. Very hydrating too.

Have you got a particular favourite that you seem to carry around with you? If you have a blog post on your favourites please comment and leave a link below.

Rachel xx