Mac Packed to Go with Bold Lip - Cool Tones

I really wanted to use pinks and purples in this tutorial using the Mac Packed To Go 6 Smokey Cool Palette. I decided to opt for a bold lip with more muted eyes. At first I wasn't in love with this look because I thought my eyes looked a bit tired. However, I think had I added a bit of A Brown Suit under the eye, the look would have been a little bit more wearable for my warm skin tone. So, my suggestion for warm toned people like me is this: use Mac A Brown Suit under the eye just at the outer corner of the lash line to make the eyes pop a bit more and not look so tired. Mac Tendersmoke is pretty, but mixed with A Brown Suit, I think it would look more wearable. I hope you all enjoy!

Products Used:
Face:

• Nars Sheer Glow in Punjab
• Mac Giggly Blush
• Chanel Soleil Tan de Chanel - Bronze Corail
• Bobbi Brown Corrector in Light to Medium Bisque
• Bobbi Brown Concealer in Natural with Pale Yellow Powder
  

Eyes:

• Laura Mercier Eye Basics in Cotton
• Mac 6 Cool Smokey Eye Palette:
• Tendersmoke
• Seedy Pearl
• A Brown Suit
• Carbon
• Mac Brulé Eyeshadow
• Benefit Bad Gal Waterproof Liner
• Make Up For Ever Aqua Smokey Lash
• Clinique Bottom Lash Mascara
• Mac Taupe Impeccable Brow Pencil

Lips:

• Mac Up the Amp
• Mac Magenta Lip Liner
• Revlon Color Burst Lip Gloss in Orchid

Nail of the Day - Zoya Sooki

Zoya Sooki is a bright true red cream. I was drawn to its name at first because it immediately made me think of True Blood. The main character in the True Blood series is named Sooki and she is in love with a vampire. Yeah, I know...so many vampire shows and movies! Anyway, this color is really gorgeous. I love red nail polish. It really is a classic color and looks so chic on any woman. To apply Zoya Sooki, I applied Seche Base a a base coat, two coats of Zoya Sooki, and Seche Vite as a top coat. What a fun color. Enjoy!

Zoya Sooki - Two Coats with Flash

Zoya Sooki - Two Coats with Flash

Zoya Sooki - Two Coats with Flash

Easy Wearable Face of the Day with the Mac Packed To Go 6 Cool Smokey Eye Palette

This is an easy Face of the Day wearing the Mac Packed To Go Six Cool Smokey Eye Palette. I decided to go with a very natural, soft look with hints of peach and pink. I thought I could make the cool colors on the eyes really work if I warmed up my skin with a natural healthy glow. Here is the result. I hope you all enjoy!

Products Used:
Face:

• Laura Mercier Rich Vanilla Pressed Mineral Powder
• Bobbi Brown Corrector in Light to Medium Bisque
• Bobbi Brown Concealer in Natural with Pale Yellow Powder
• Mac Bronze Bronzer
• Illamasqua Tweaks Blush

Eyes:

• Smashbox Photo Lid Primer
• Mac Packed To Go 6 Cool Smokey Eye Palette:
• Satin Taupe (Lid)
• A Brown Suite (Crease)
• Mac Brulé
• Bobbi Brown Deep Mahogany Cream Liner (Top Lash Line)
• Bobbi Brown Shimmering Granite Cream Liner (Botton Lash Line)
• Benefit Bad Gal Waterproof Liner (Waterline)
• Make Up For Ever Smokey Lash Mascara

Lips:

• Dior Addict Ultra Gloss Flash #756

CoverGirl's Queen Collection Lipstick - Made Exclusively for Women of Color!

CoverGirl's Queen Collection Lipstick - Made Exclusively for Women of Color!!!

Don't let the statement "Made Exclusively for Women of Color" fool you....the Queen Lipstick Collection, designed for CoverGirl's spokesman, Queen Latifah, has a lot of color to offer ALL WOMEN!!!  This lipstick is wonderfully silky smooth and provides generous amounts of color and is offered in several tones, browns/spices, corals/reds, mauves/berries, neutrals/nudes, pinks/roses and plums/wines.  Each of these tones consists of 4 different shades.

I chose Paint the Town/Deslumbra a La Cuidad because of it's "true" red shade.  This lipstick offers an abundance of color and I am easily able to wear the coral/red tone I selected and I'm loving the shade.

The lipstick goes on silky, light and smooth and the shade is very close to the packaging color and the nice thing about CoverGirl products is that they can be purchased at your local grocery store, Target, Walmart which adds that extra bit of convenience.  The lipstick has a very light whipped cream scent that isn't overdone and not detectable once applied.

Another bonus that I will give to this lipstick is its packaging.  Its packaging is a sleek brown shade, similar to the Hourglass lipstick packaging look, albeit probably not quite as heavy. In addition, the packaging contains a color indicator at the base of the lipstick which is very true to the actual lipstick shade and always a plus when you are purchasing drugstore makeup that you don't have the luxury of always trying before buying.

The lipstick is a mere $7 for 3.5 g or .12 oz. and I would consider a great price for a nice product.

Product Details:
3.5g/.12 oz
0515 Paint the Town, Deslumbra a La Cuidad

Product advertisement: This lipstick's "silk therapy formula is infused with silk moisturizers designed to maintain moisture levels so lips feel smooth and look gorgeous"

0515 Paint the Town, Deslumbra a La Cuidad

0515 Paint the Town, Deslumbra a La Cuidad

Congrats to Kate Middleton and Prince William on their Big Day!

I know I am a bit behind, but I just wanted to say Congrats to Prince William and Duchess Catherine (yeah, that's her new title!) I hope they have a lovely life together and I am happy for them both. Kate wore a gorgeous Alexander McQueen dress. You can check out more details here. Congrats again!

Prince William and Duchess Catherien - Yeah, she doesn't get the princess title yet!

Princess Diana and Prince Charles

Urban Decay's Lip Junkie Cooling Lip Gloss - FINALLY, all the SHINE and NO STICKY STUFF!!!!

Urban Decay's Lip Junkie Cooling Lip Gloss....FINALLY all the SHINE and NO STICKY STUFF!!!!

I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!!!  FINALLY a lip gloss with SHINE without the sticky residue left behind! 

I'm not typically a big lip gloss user or fan for that matter, because most of the stuff out there on the market really hasn't wow'd me.  It's usually so thick, I feel like I am getting my gloss all over my face or so sticky that it just feels yucky.  I picked up a few Urban Decay Lip Junkie Cooling Lip Glosses because I tend to like more of natural shine to my lips in the summer.  Lip gloss is a great way to give your lips a little natural shine without looking overdone. I tried two shades, Midnight Cowboy (sheer nude sparkle) and Wallflower (nude creamy/pink).  Both lip glosses have a cooling and plumping effect and they really provide your lips with a cooling sensation. I have found that I like to use the Midnight Cowboy shade over a lipstick to give it just a bit more shine and shimmer and I use Wallflower on it's own as it has a nice mauve tone that adds just a hint of color and lots of shine.

Overall, I have to say, I like this gloss and that says a lot coming from me, a person that is not typically a gloss fan :)

Left to Right:  Midnight Cowboy and Wildflower

Left to Right:  Wallflower and Midnight Cowboy

Additional Shades

Sephora's Eye Make Up Removing Pads are Pretty Awesome

Sephora's Eye Make Up Removing Pads

I'm always looking for that next best make up remover pad that is quick, not messy and easy to travel with. I travel quite a bit for my job, so as many of you have read in many of my reviews, product that is easy to travel with is very important to me and I always voice this aspect when I'm doing just about every product review I do.

  I don't like products that I have to worry will break when I travel with them.  Eye make up removing pads or some equivalent are pretty much a requirement for the frequent traveller.  They are easy to transport, can be taken on a plane and great for those overnight plane flights out of country.

I was in Sephora purchasing some product and the sales person told me that the Sephora Make Up Removing pads were good, so I thought I'd try them.

Product Details:

There are 30 pads to the container at a price of $9 which is kinda steep in my opinion.

The pads are pre-moistened (convenient) and are for removing your make up while strengthening and moisturizing your lashes.  

These are actually advertised that they are "ideal for travel".  The product advertisement reads that they are a "formula that includes HydroSenn+, a natural ingredient proven to deliver immediate and long lasting hydration that is suppose to be more effective than hyaluronic acid.  The product contains lash strengthening complex that's rich in flavonoids and olive wood extracts.  It does not contain parabens, sulfactes, synthetic frangrances or phthalates. HydroSenn+ is a plan derived ingredient that leaves the skin feeling."  

My Thoughts:

With all the above advertisement being said, here's what I think....they are very convenient, not messy, easy to travel with and do work for removing eye makeup, however, I feel they are a bit expensive given that there are so many other competing products on the market.  I found it very difficult to remove my eye make up with just one pad.  So, you are talking a 15 day supply (2/day) for $9 which is 30 cents a piece times 2 pieces, so .60 per day.  I don't know, this is a hard one for me to swallow when there are so many other products on the market that serve the same purpose and are quite a bit less expensive.

Mac 6 Cool Smokey Eye Palette - Purple and Pink Smokey Eye

This is one of my favorite tutorials to date. I love purple smokey eyes and I really love how wearable this purple smokey eye turned out. I am beginning to think the Mac 6 Cool Smokey Eye Palette is a must have item! It's so compact and has such great colors that it's quickly becoming one of my favorites! I decided to re-create the Kim Kardashian smokey eye tutorial with more fun colors and less "cat-eye-like" shape. The result is very pretty, in my opinion. I hope you all enjoy!

Products Used:
Face:

• Nars Sheer Glow in Punjab
• Bobbi Brown Corrector in Light to Medium Bisque
• Bobbi Brown Corrector Kit: Natural and Pale Yellow Powde
• Chanel Bronze Universal (Tan de Soleil de Chanel) Cream Bronzer
• Hello Kitty by Sephora Apple Cheeks Multiple in Charmy
• Laura Mercier Peach Mosaic Shimmer Block

Eyes:

• Smashbox Photo Finish Lid Primer
• Mac 6 Cool Smokey Eye Palette:
• Seedy Pearl
• Tendersmoke
• A Brown Suit
• Beauty Marked
• Mac Brulé Eye Shadow
• Tokidoki Perfetto Liquid Eyeliner in Sabochan (black)
• Make Up For Ever Smokey Lash
• Benefit Bad Gal Waterproof Liner
• Mac Impeccable Brown Pencil in Taupe

Lips:

• Bobbi Brown Rich Lip Color SPF 12 in Heather Pink
• Mac Boldy Bare Lip Liner
• Dior Addcit Ultra Flash Lip Gloss #756

Winner of the Mac Candy Yum-Yum Lipstick is....

Mac Packed to Go 6 Smokey Warm and Cool Eyeshadow Palettes Overview with Swatches

This is going to be a quick overview of the Packed To Go - 6 Warm Smokey Eye Palette and 6 Cool Smokey Eye Palettes. Both of these palettes will be the product of the weeks for the next two weeks. Why? Because I am not too impressed with any of the new Mac Collections coming out (Mac Fashion Flower and Mac Flighty) to spend the money. So, I wanted to give you all another option from Mac that I think is a really good deal and offers a lot of bang for the buck! The entire Mac Packed To Go Collection includes several different sets, including full face look sets, a lip set, two eye palette sets, an eyeliner set, and a face and eyes set. I decided to buy both of the eye palette sets which are called 6 Warm Smokey Eye Palette and 6 Cool Smokey Eye Palette. Each palette is $38.00 and includes six shades.

The 6 Warm Smokey Eye Palette includes the following shades:

• * Shroom (Light Beige Shimmer)
• * Naked Lunch (Light Peachy-Beige Shimmer)
• * Tempting (Golden Bronze-Brown Shimmer)
• * Green Smoke (Light Gray-Green Shimmer)
• * Stormy Love (Deep Hunter Green Shimmer) Limited Edition
• * Show Stopper (Deep Brown with Slight Shimmer) Limited Edition (aka - My favorite deep brown ever!!!!!)

The 6 Cool Smokey Eye Palette includes the following shades:

• * Seedy Pearl (Soft light pink-champagne shimmer)
• * Tender Smoke (Light gray-lilac shimmer) Limited Edition
• * Satin Taupe (Brown-Taupe shimmer)
• * A Brown Suit (red-brown shimmer) Limited Edition
• * Beauty Marked (deep blackened purple shimmer with purple sparkles)
• * Carbon (matte black)

Left to Right: Mac 6 Warm Smokey Eye Palette, Mac 6 Cool Smokey Eye Palette

Left to Right: Mac 6 Warm Smokey Eye Palette, Mac 6 Cool Smokey Eye Palette

Mac 6 Cool Smokey Eye Palette

Mac 6 Cool Smokey Eye Palette: Clockwise: Seedy Pearl, Tendersmoke, Satin Taupe, A Brown Suit, Beauty Marked, Carbon

Mac 6 Cool Smokey Eye Palette: Left to Right: Seedy Pearl, Tendersmoke, Satin Taupe, A Brown Suit, Beauty Marked, Carbon

Mac 6 Cool Smokey Eye Palette: Left to Right: Seedy Pearl, Tendersmoke, Satin Taupe, A Brown Suit, Beauty Marked, Carbon

Mac 6 Warm Smokey Eye Palette

Mac 6 Warm Smokey Eye Palette: Clockwise: Shroom, Naked Lunch, Tempting, Green Smoke, Stormy Love, Show Stopper

Mac 6 Warm Smokey Eye Palette: Left to Right: Shroom, Naked Lunch, Tempting, Green Smoke, Stormy Love, Show Stopper

Mac 6 Warm Smokey Eye Palette: Left to Right: Shroom, Naked Lunch, Tempting, Green Smoke, Stormy Love, Show Stopper

The Brush included in Both Palettes