MAC Madness - Microwaves & Mixing

So Sunday was rather rainy and boring and with the lack o' funds prohibiting me from spreeing I decided to mess around....

As I continue my love affair with my lip brush I figured why not make some pots of lipstick? I dumped my Show Orchid, Warm Me Up, and See Sheer into little pots, microwaved them for about 45 seconds and now I have these lovely pots of lipstick. I then dumped the rest of my Pearl cream color base into a pot too.

Finally the mixing....So I was not feeling the love any longer for my Redhead MSF and while I thought my Dainty blush was lovely in the pot, on, not so much. I dumped both in a bowl mixed them around and now I have the most lovely golden peachy  pink highlighter/blush that I have seen in a long time!

The added bonus of B2M is rather lovely too...

A Box of Color and a Revelation

So another little lovely that the best swapper ever sent was this....

There are 4 Mac lipsticks in this little cube of loveliness and of course I am absolutely mad over the bright and yummy colors! But Brick O La on the lower left is simply one of the most beautiful colors I have ever tried, it is pure perfection. My eyes are bluer and my cheeks look rosy, just lovely....

I have always dismissed lip brushes as being unnecessary  until I needed one in order to use these colors, I picked this up at WalMart (shudder) and it is surprisingly nice and for $1.98 an incredible bargain. I am pretty amazed at how lovely lipstick looks applied with a brush there really is a difference between a brush and just slapping it on from the tube! While I do adore a smudgy messy eye, smeary lips are rather unattractive.

Little Love of Liberty....

Oh how I coveted this collection, from the initial news and a description of the colors to when the first official promo pictures appeared I was officially in "saving pennies" mode. When the early swatches appeared I was in full lust, luckily I arranged a swap with the divine JJ and saved the money for the rest....

Ah yeah not so much when I finally had it all.

The packaging is amazing and the case for the blush is lovely beyond words especially with the Dirty Plum glowing behind the bird. I returned the Petals and Peacocks and Bough Grey a few days after taking this picture, they just were not making me happy.

The Dirty Plum blush, Blooming Lovely lipstick and Birds & Berries eyeshadow were all sent by JJ in swap and while I like all the colors I really think I could have BoBo'ed the blush and shadow with items already in my collection. The Blooming Lovely was corpse like (not entirely a bad thing, especially when I topped it with Lancome Rose Jolie gloss) on me until I paired it with the Barry M lip pencil Jennifer brought back from England it sorta pinked it up.

I think I will tuck it all away until late August and start wearing it then, I want a darker look at the time of the year  but as it is summer here until mid November, it will be perfect for a fallish look... I just think a lot of the darker heavier colors of fall look wrong in this climate even as I wear darker clothing colors they are still summer weight.

Bottom line.....I basically fell in lust with packaging!

So Jennifer Went to England and all I Got Was....

How much better than a t-shirt is this? 

I have been obsessed with Gosh's Darling forever and a day and for once I have not been burned*! It is just the most awesome pale lip ever. I have also been a tad obsessed with the Sleek palettes and J. chose Storm, it is just as lovely in "real" life as all the swatches I have seen online. She also sent a Barry M Dazzle Dust in #91, what an awesome silvery black pot of loveliness and finally a Barry M lip liner in #13. Hmmm, I wonder if that might mute my lips?

The postcard of the Prince arrived in the mail to herald this awesome bounty of trinkets' arrival and Our Lady guarded it all while in transit!

Why can't the drugstores here have such awesomely lovely lovelies? 

* I must garner the courage to post my shattered dreams of MAC.....

Yummy Color.....

I thought I would make myself an Easter basket of bright and colorful loveliness!

Swapping is Swell

So even as I suffered through the winter of my discontent I still managed some fantastic swaps that did bring a smile to my face! I am so glad I saved my MAC giftcard from an earlier swap as I absolutely adore the two swirled blushes....

I Got Pwned by the Drugstore....

 It pains me to admit this but I really do like these three things. My friend J. sent me the L'Oreal True Match foundation. She is a model and a make-up artist used it and raved about it. I sorta kinda really like it, she sent W4 it appears to be a fab match for my skin right now. Major bonus points as it does not have that drugstore smell and the bottle is rather simple! 

The Sally Hansen lipgloss was sent by the best swapper ever, JJ, she included it in our last swap. The name is peony, which is my "name" at MUA, how cute is that? I am in love with it's sparkling coralish loveliness!!! I guess it does have an odd smell but it doesn't bother me and probably some would complain that it is thick and/or sticky. To me however it means it lasts and  the color is so gorgeous who cares? It really is a lovely color that sparkles and glows and makes my lips look luscious! The packaging is rather elegant for the drugstore, it is Chanel glossimer's shorter,squatter,rounder cousin, LOL 

Finally the Nars I mean E.L.F duo, also received in a swap. Seriously, this reminds me so much of orgasm and laguna! The colors and finish are both lovely on their own as well as combined. Simple packaging and great colors = Awesome!!!

So even though I am rather taken with these three things I still stand by my anti-drugstore  policy, I've just been burned too many times but I am willing to be a tad bit more open minded....