My First MAC Haul In Ages and A Magazine Freebie Round Up

Hi Guys - I promised you a little MAC haul and here it is! I have to say MAC hasn't exactly wowed me over the last few months, a combination of Project 10 Pan and a few blaah collections has meant that I haven't added to my MAC collection very much this year but the new releases this month were right up my street, but I was still a good girl and only get 3 things. I have to say that I changed my mind several times over what I actually wanted from Fashion Flower, in the end I decided to move away from the usual suspects and things that I probably had dupes of, i.e Light Sunshine and Mlle and go for something completely, first up a lipstick, can you guess which one

Yes it's Ever Hip, a bright creamy coral which is way out of my comfort zone but I have to say it's gorgeous and nowhere near as scary as I'd thought - love it :)

Next up beauty powder - I had initially intended to get Light Sunshine but the more I saw of it the more I realised I could dupe it with things I already had, after all it's only a highlight shade, so I went for Alpha Girl instead

I love the flower design and it's almost too pretty to use but I'm sure I will as it's such a gorgeous peachy pink with a bit of gold shimmer- you can't see it too well here because I've fake tanned :)

Finally my one purchase from Semi Precious - as much as I love mineralize eyeshadows I have more than enough so I passed on those, which pretty much only left the MSF's I could easily have bought 3 but I just got the one - Rose Quartz

Close up of the centre splodge

This is a gorgous peachy / pink with a mass of shimmer and glitter in the middle

I have to say this is really pretty and I'm happy to have it in my all be it small MSF collection.
So that was it my MAC duck officially broken for the year - I have to say looking forward at future collections for the rest of the year there is every possibility my MAC drought will continue, the only things that really excite me are new paintpots, and the re-release of Porcelain Pink, and Lightscapade MSF, yes you heard me Lightscapade, it's my go to winter highlight and I will definitely be picking another one up, but hopefully I can be good and only buy things that I really need.
Oh and while I'm on about hauling just a heads up on this months magazine freebies, InStyle comes with either two Body Shop eye pencils or a mascara, Cosmopolitan as you saw the other day comes with a free Missguided nail polish, and today my mum picked me up a copy of this months Marie Claire magazine and with it comes a free Ciate Lipgloss

She got me the colour Ibiza which is a super hot pink - I guess I'm thinking positive getting all these summery shades

If that one isn't to your taste you can also get a nude beige shade - not only that but next months Marie Claire comes with a free Ciate nail polish, next months Cosmo comes with free Eyelure false lashes, next months Elle comes with a choice of 3 exclusive Mavala nail polishes and Red comes with a free Balance Me body wash. I don't know what it is but magazines are really upping their game as far as free gifts are concerned. If you have any questions on anything at all please leave me a comment xx

In The Groove Haul ?

I don't know if one item really constitutes a haul but as it turned out I only ended up with one item from the latest MAC collections In The Groove and Superglass. I wouldn't have minded some more things recent blog posts and You Tube videos have left my drooling over Stereo Rose, some mineralize blushers, and lots of lipsticks but my mum was kind enough to buy me the one thing I really wanted and that was good enough for me. I recently had a serious look through my make up collection and to be honest I was bit shocked not only be how much I own, but more by the similarities of things own. Lots of peach / coral tones blushes similar to NARS orgasm, loads of nude and baby pink lipsticks and glosses, loads of similar eyeshadows, it goes on and on. I will more than likely use most of what I've got but it's becoming more and more likely that some things are going to sit there unloved for sometime. I might do a little blog sale at some point because I did find a few bits where I thought why did I buy this? but we'll see Mummy LouLou has first dabs as always at my leftovers ;)
Anyways said MummyLouLou was kind enough to buy me something I'd wanted for sometime Petticoat MSF. As per usual I had to rely on MAC online but the one I was sent whilst radically different to some of the pictures I'd seen is very beautiful. A little darker than some pictures have suggested and with gorgeous gold veining it really suits my skintone

swatches from L to R - dark veining, light shade, gold

I think this is so pretty - everyone is going insane for Stereo Rose but don't forget to check this one out too x

First Light Cosmetics Review and FOTD (Pic Heavy)

A few weeks ago I was contacted by First Light Cosmetics asking me if I would like to try some of the products -loving mineral make up as I do my answer was of course yes! First Light is a new brand of mineral cosmetics which uses only 100% natural ingredients, using finely crushed natural minerals in all their products. I was lucky enough to be sent two products a mineral foundation and a mineral eyeshadow.
The first thing that impressed me was how the items arrived - they came in super cute multicoloured,cotton drawstring bag first impressions - thumbs up :)

Natural Mineral Foundation Breeze In The Beeches
The first product I was sent was the full sized 10g mineral foundation in the shade Breeze in the Beeches which is described a light neutral with cool undertones- It's one of 18 shades to choose from - The product comes in a screw top jar with the company logo on the lid - the lid has a rubberised type finish which unfortunately does get a bit grubby :(




The jar is in the sifter style so all you need to do is tip the minerals into the lid. This packaging does work but unfortunately it's not really practical for travel as the product will come out through the holes.

To apply the product I used my normal method of swirling with a kabuki brush, tapping of the excess then buffing the product into my skin. The shade I think is a tiny bit pale for me but mineral make up is pretty adaptable and as you can see the coverage is pretty good

gross before pics
Notice the redness and high colour

close up of evil spot prone area ie mingy breakout :(

after pics
bye bye redness -pretty good coverage don't you think

OK you can still see the spots a bit here but bear in mind I am wearing no concealer what so ever in any of the pics all I have on is the First Light foundation

In these pictures I haven't used a primer just a moisturiser - I did find it a bit harder to blend on top of primer but I found if I left the primer a little longer to dry properly I didn't have as much of a problem. I also found that this foundation lasted really well on my combination skin - I still had foundation on to remove even after 6 hours!! The only thing I would say is that I don't think that this would be quite as successful on a drier skin it did feel a tiny bit more drying than my usual mineral foundation.
So what can I say I am pretty impressed with this foundation I am a id Bare Minerals devotee but I will definitely consider buying from this range again - it really lasted and the coverage was impressive - this product retails for £12.99 for a 10g pot, or you can by a 2g bag for £1.50 - ideal for helping you find the perfect shade

Mineral Eye Shadow - Cornish Copper

The second product I was sent was one of the First Light Mineral Eye Shadows in the shade Cornish Copper.


It comes in a 2g jar with the same style sifter and it's the most gorgeous shimmery reddish copper shade

The swatch here is dry but you can imagine how nice it would look wet or foiled with water or say Fix +. Again I tipped it into the lid and applied it with and ELF Studio C Brush - pressing it in to the lid- it applied easily and it was super pigmented - I have no other eye make up on in these pics and no eye base




As you can see the colour is very strong - as with all loose mineral / powder shadows you do get a lot of fall out but it brushes away easily. It also blends easily with other shadows and it lasted pretty well without an eye base -all in all I am pretty impressed it compares easily to the id Bare Minerals shadows and it's a lot cheaper at £5.99 for a 2g pot.

So all in all I am pretty impressed with my First Light experience.I really want to try some more of their products and they have a really good selection including blushers, lipsticks, brushes and concealers. If you want to try First Light Cosmetics please check out their website (cick here) - they have also been kind enough to give me a discount code for my lovely readers - just enter First1015 at the checkout for 15% off your order - the voucher is valid until 08/04/2010.

FOTD

Since you've already seen bits of my make up today I thought I'd take a few FOTD shots (sorry they are a bit blurry and my hair is a disgrace)



My eyes with full make up


My Lips


Today I Wore

First Light Cosmetics Mineral Foundation - Breeze In The Beeches
MAC MSF - By Candlelight
First Light Cosmetics Mineral Eye Shadow - Cornish Copper
GOSH Velvet Touch Eye Pencil - Truly Brown
Collection 2000 Collagen Curl - 17 Ultra Black
Models Prefer Lipstick - Tawny Terrain


(Although I was sent the First Light Cosmetics products, both of these reviews are my honest opinions and I haven't been paid or compensated by First Light Cosmetics, to review, or use them on my blog).