First let me apologize for the delay in getting my review of MAC’s Temperature Rising Collection posted. There was a rather long delay in me getting these items and, without any items I can’t exactly review the collection. That sort of makes things rather impossible. Hehe. I apologize if any of the items I mention are sold out but again, I just received this items last week. I find that MAC Online sells out faster than the counters do, so check your local counter before giving up!

Let me first say that I really like this collection. I like just about everything about it, from the exterior packaging, to the color selections to the new products. This is a really good summer collection from MAC.

All of the products come housed in deep bronze boxes with deep violet purple interiors, instead of the brand’s normal black paper packaging. The primary packaging of the products is also a deep bronze but with a slight sheen and a bit of a rubber feel. It’s subtle yet still very eye-catching. I really like this more subtle packaging which I feel is still very reminiscent of summer.

There are a good number of re-promotes in this collection, which is pretty standard for MAC. The Bronzing Powders and the To The Beach Bronzing Oil are not new to this collection. In fact, To The Beach Bronzing Oil was originally released in the brand’s 2010 summer collection, To The Beach.

Another seemingly new standard is that all the items in this collection are increased in price from items in the permanent line. For example, the lipsticks are $16.50 USD instead of MAC’s regular $15 USD price tag. I think these price increases are getting ridiculous, not to mention are unnecessary. I don’t understand the need to increase prices of items just because they’re part of a limited edition collection.

Moving on to the products, I have two of the Lipsticks, again, which are $16.50 USD each. I have Feel My Pulse and Caliente. The first, Feel My Pulse is a Cremesheen meaning it has a very smooth and moisturizing texture with a good amount of pigmentation and a slight sheen. The color is one that MAC often releases, a violet magenta. The other, Caliente, is a Dazzle which means it has lots and lots of sparkle and shine. The color is very pretty, much more so than I thought from first looking at it. It has a violet brown base with bright violet and gold sparkles.

Of the four Lipglasses, I have three, Rhythm, Undressed and Liquid Passion and they are $16.50 USD each. The first two are very sparkling, like the Dazzle lipstick finish. In fact, both Rhythm and Undressed match well with Feel My Pulse and Caliente lipsticks respectively. Rhythm is a bright pink violet with brighter pink shimmer, Undressed is an absolutely gorgeously sparkling plum bronze with bright yellow gold and bright cool-tone pink lavender shimmer, and Liquid Passion is a creamy nude pink. The two sparkling glosses are a bit sheer but the sparkles make up for their lack of pigmentation, while the creamy gloss is more pigmented.

Two of my favorites of the entire collection are the new Nail Lacquers, which are $18 USD each. There are the two but I wish there was a similar color as Liquid Passion, as I feel it would add a bit more dimension amongst all the sparkles. The first is Scorching Haute, a glittering purple magenta and Tropical, a glittering bronze. These are full-on glitter polishes and they don’t have strong base colors. I find the “tap tap” method works best at getting an even layer of glitter.

Next up is Powder Blush, which is $23 USD each and of the two colors in the collection, I have one, Ripe For Love. In the last year or so, I’ve stopped wearing bright blushes, especially pinks and corals, because they tend to make my already naturally rosy cheeks look more red. I have to blend this a lot to be able to wear it, but it looks quite lovely. Described as a mid-tone peach, it’s more a reddish-coral and because it’s a Satin, it’s subtly shimmery.

One of the new products in this collection is the Powerchrome Eye Pencil, a chubby eye shadow pencil/eye liner pencil. There are four and they are $21 USD each. Of the four I have three, Copper Strip, a frosty mid-tone copper brown with red shimmer, Life’s Luxury, a deep bronze brown with red shimmer, and Rich Glance, a very pale golden champagne with silver shimmer. These are exceptionally creamy but aren’t too soft that they break. These are be easily sharpened with a large-barrel eye pencil sharpener. These work wonderfully as cream eye shadows and while I have used them as eye liners, they’re a bit too large for a precise line. These pencils remind me a bit of the discontinued Shadesticks but with much smoother textures. I think the price is too high for their size. One pencil at 1.6 grams for $21 while NYX’s Jumbo Eye Pencil is $4.50 for 5 grams. However, the Powerchrome Eye Pencils absolutely do not budge when dry. The same cannot be said for the NYX.

There are two four-pan eye shadow palettes, which are $44 USD each, Bare My Soul and the one I have, Temperature Rising. As much as I would normally grab Bare My Soul for it’s warm browns, nudes and green, I have so many of those colors in my collection that I’m trying to try colors I don’t wear as often. Temperature Rising, like most of the colors in the collection, comes with four purple-based eye shadows. Performance Art, a frosty golden mauve Veluxe Pearl, Temperature Rising, a very sheer and pale warm golden peach Lustre, Swelter, a mid-tone grey violet Frost, and Beauty Marked, a very dark charcoal with violet shimmer Velvet, and the only eye shadow from the permanent line.

As lovely as the colors look, they’re pretty crappy with the exception of Performance Art. Bare My Soul is so sheer it’s almost completely transparent. Lustres are known for their low quality but this one is about the worst one I’ve seen. Temperature Rising is also sheer and requires about three layers to show on my skin. Beauty Marked is never one of my favorites, it’s sheer, uneven and overall crap.

The last new item in this collection is a new shade of Strobe Liquid Lotion, called Golden Elixir. It’s $31 USD for 1.7 ounces. I am a huge fan of both Strobe Liquid and Strobe Cream. It’s a very light shimmering lotion that produces a soft, radiant light on the skin, reducing the appearance of skin imperfections by providing a natural-looking glow. I use it either beneath my tinted moisturizer/foundation for an all-over glow and dewiness or to highlight the tops of my cheeks. The color in the bottle is a golden pink taupe but on my skin is more of a golden pinky bronze and on my skin adds little color and like the original Strobe Liquid, adds a subtle glow.

The last item I have from the collection is the To The Beach Body Oil, which is $22.50 USD. The color is called Man Rays and in the bottle is looks like a very strong glittery buttery bronze. This is a light-weight body oil designed add a sheer sheen to the skin. It will not actually tan the skin. The oil absorbs quickly as long as I don’t use too much but the color is almost impossible to see on my very fair skin. The bits of shimmer are lovely but it doesn’t appear to add much in the way of color.

Overall, I genuinely like this collection and feel that with a couple of exceptions, it’s a good release from MAC.

Colors shown, in order from left to right are:
¬ 10 Bare To Be Bold
¬ 15 Some Like It Taupe
¬ 35 Coral Ambition
¬ 55 One Size Fits Pearl
¬ 60 Petal Rebel

Color Whispers come packaged in a square shaped tube with a clear cap that is color matched with the color of the lip color and the name of the product along one side. The Lip Butters are packaged similarly except the tubes are a little shorter and wider and the faceted color matched cap isn’t as transparent. The name of the product isn’t listed on the cap but is on the bottom. Both come in 20 permanent shades.

Prices of both vary upon location. Revlon Lip Butters are about $7.50 USD for 0.09 ounces, while Maybelline Color Whispers are about $7.50 for 0.11 ounces.

Maybelline Color Whispers are very much like Revlon’s Lip Butters. They’re both gel-based, lightweight and moisturizing lip colors with a slightly glossy finish, that tend to be much more sheer than regular lipsticks. There are pigmented colors from both but overall, the colors are sheer. I prefer the sheerer shades from both. They’re both smooth and leave my lips moisturized even after the color has worn away.

Color Whispers are lighter and have a thinner consistency where the Lip Butters are a bit thicker and don’t glide as easily on my lips. Lip Butters tend to be slightly more pigmented with less product than Color Whispers. Overall, the two are essentially the same. One’s preference between the two may come down to brand or color selection.

I’m willing to take another shot at the brand for their gorgeous new collection called 1960′s Retro. There are eight brightly colored but wearable colors, all of which I want so very much. The collection includes colors I don’t have in my collection, with the exception of the pink, called Bollywood Babe. The others look completely unique to what I own and I think I’d have the most fun playing with them.

Unfortunately, Fyrinnae is closed at least through the end of May. I’ll have to wait until they reopen to get my hands on these gorgeous beauties.

Fyrinnae.com / $50 USD for all 8 eye shadows

What’s on your wishlist this week? Let me know by leaving a comment.

(Photo courtesy of Fyrinnae.com.)

I’m on the fence about this stuff. Any product that claims it can be used on the hair, the body and the face makes me a bit nervous. It does smell good!

I truly lusted after only one eye shadow late last year and that was Laura Mercier’s Illuminating Eye Color in Gilded Platinum. Sure, I actually wanted all the shades of these so very sparkling eye shadows but it was this one in particular that screamed, “buy me!”

Let me say right now, this is now discontinued. I know, I know, I hate when someone posts about a discontinued product, especially one that’s raved about but I feel this almost uncontrollable urge to write about this eye shadow anyway. Why? Because it’s pretty.

It is still available at Space NK so if someone out there really wants it, there it is.

Gilded Platinum is one of four colors that were part of the brand’s holiday collection from last year. I wanted all of them but settled on this one because I thought it the most unique. The color is a cool-tone gold with a hint of silver. It has a crap-ton of sparkle. While it swatches beautifully, it’s much more sheer when applied to my lid with a brush. It’s slightly more pigmented when used with a dampened brush. However, I’ve discovered that it looks the most pigmented when applied with a damp finger. I dampen my ring finger very lightly and tap the shadow onto my lid. I’m left with a good amount of sparkling color rather than sheer color and lots of sparkles.

The shadow itself feels smooth despite it’s bumpy and gritty looking texture. It applies easily enough although because of all its shimmer, excess shadow tends to fall down onto my face.

Of course, I am now kicking myself for not buying the other three, although at $24 USD each, it was probably smarter to pass on them.

American BB Cream = Tinted Moisturizer

And like a tinted moisturizer, these BB Creams are easily applied all over your face that is sheer, hydrating and will only lightly even out the skin-tone, providing little coverage and sometimes also offering sun protection. American BB Creams are the same, providing moisture, sun protection and sheer coverage. You can use your fingers or a brush to apply either, the method is up to the individual’s preference.

Asian BB Creams from brands like Missha, Skinfood, Skin79, etc, are real BB Creams. They offer heavier coverage and a multitude of actual skincare benefits. They are intended to replace a handful of various beauty products, like concealer, foundation, sun protection, powder and in some cases, moisturizer. Western BB Creams don’t offer the type of skin benefits, usually beyond “smoothing” and/or “brightening”, which is nothing that any tinted moisturizer or foundation can’t do.

So why are cosmetics companies pumping out so many pseudo-BB Creams? It’s business. They find a trend and jump on to it full force. They want to sell their products. Knowing that the BB Cream trend has finally reached North America, these companies want to get in on it and make oodles of money. I can’t say I blame them, after-all, making money is their bottom line. When consumers, especially those who don’t educate themselves about what a BB Cream truly is, buy these products blindly simply because they sound good and they’re labeled “BB Cream” makes these companies more money and encourages other companies to do the same. When Garnier released their BB Cream, it wasn’t long before Maybelline and Revlon put their versions out and it’s snowballed from there. In a super shady move, CoverGirl repackaged and relaunched their tinted moisturizer with the words “BB Cream” when the product was still their tinted moisturizer.

Products like like “BB Cream Primer”, “BB Cream Concealer” and “BB Cream Powder” are nothing but fancy labeled everyday primer, concealer and powder. These companies know that BB creams are *all the rage* in the beauty world and so they are utilizing the term as a clever and effective marketing strategy.

If you want an honest and true BB Cream, look to the Korean beauty brands. There you will find the real thing and not a repackaged tinted moisturizer. I love tinted moisturizers are much as the next dry-skinned gal but when I buy a product labeled “BB Cream” I want a BB Cream!

To aid in your search for a BB Cream, I’ve compiled a list of online stores where Korean brands can be found. The type of BB Cream is up to you – find one that suits your skin type and your skin concerns.

¬ Amazon
¬ A-poly @ Amazon – I’ve purchased items from this seller; inexpensive items and inexpensive shipping.
¬ Keauty Store
¬ MomoMango
¬ Sasa – Probably the best selection of BB Creams from all the Asian brands.
¬ The BB Cream Shop

Happy hunting!

May 23: Giveaway is closed!

I will pick the winner within the next few days. I’ll create a new entry and post the winner along with emailing that person.

Thank you to everyone who entered!

Ah yes, the new Bella Italy Collection from Bath & Body Works is getting quite the love. And I’m very happy about that because it’s a good collection of scents. I’m happy because not only is this a good collection of scents but the scents are unique to the brand. Too often in the past five or seven years Bath & Body Works has released scents that are boring, bad and do not represent what I love about the brand.

I have these scents in the Fine Fragrance Mists which are $14 USD and available from Bath & Body Works and BathAndBodyWorks.com.

Capri Seaside Citrus is described as, “a sunny seaside fragrance and radiate this sparkling blend of fresh citrus, juicy nectarine & orange flower” with notes of:
• Mediterranean Grapefruit, Sparkling Bergamot, Juicy Nectarine
• Muguet, Orange Flower, Coconut
• Amber Driftwood, Creamy Musks, Whipped Vanilla

When first sprayed onto my skin, I’m hit with a strong scent of nectarine, orange flower and a slight hint of coconut. The bergamot helps the citrus from feeling overbearing and adding a bit of earthiness to the overall scent. Muguet, which is also known as Lily of the Valley, is a sweetly scented flower and combined with the vanilla very subtly sweetens this scent. This is most definitely a citrus scent but it’s more complex than just nectarine and orange flower. It’s light and actually works really well with the brand’s Tangerines from their Fresh Picked Collection.

Rome Honeysuckle Amore is described as the brand’s, “glamorous fragrance that radiates a head-over-heels blend of pink honeysuckle, golden peach & cyprus woods” with notes of:
• Italian Peach, Blackberry, Green Mandarin
• Pink Honeysuckle, White Raspberry, Peony
• Golden Amber, Soft Sandalwood, Cypress Wood

I was drawn to this scent for the “honeysuckle” in the name but knowing Bath & Body Works I should have known that the chances of this being a strong honeysuckle scent were slim. And I’m right. This is a strongly floral scent right out of the bottle with flower notes that smell nothing like honeysuckle or peony. It’s not a bad floral just not what I expected. The floral notes combine nicely with the blackberry and amber which make it a big more clingy without it feeling too heavy for wearing in summer. Once the scent is completely dry, it’s all floral and amber woodsy with a very faint sweetness.

Venice Dolce Berry is described as ” ‘la dolce vita,’ the sweet life, and radiate with this playful blend of plumberry, frosted magnolia & sandalwood sugar” and includes notes of:
• Pink Plumberry, Apple Blossom, White Iris
• Venetian Raspberry, Red Apricot, Frosted Magnolia
• Blackberry Musk, Sandalwood Sugar, Vanilla Biscotti

This is by far the sweetest of the three scents with a lighter berry scent than I expected. Bath & Body Works tends to release very heavy and sugary dark berry scents but this one is light and perfect for the warm months. Right out of the bottle this releases the most wonderful berry blend, a combination of plums, dark berries and a bit of apricot. Surprisingly, the Magnolia and Iris don’t come up until the scent has dried completely and even then they’re very subtle. This seems like a combination of all the good parts of Dark Kiss and last year’s Frosted Snowberry. This is quite possibly the brand’s most perfect sweetened dark berry scent ever.

Of the three, Rome Honeysuckle Amore is the least lasting, wearing off in less than an hour while the other two scents last for most of the day. My initial favorite was Capri Seaside Citrus but the more I wear it, the more I prefer Venice Dolce Berry.

And now for the giveaway-the super fun part!

How To Enter
• Leave one comment on this post telling me which of these three scents you’re most excited about and why.
• Fill out the email field with a working and current email address. This is how I will contact you if you win.
• You must be willing to supply me with your full name and mailing address. If you’re under the age of 18 and you still live at home with a parent or guardian, please ask their permission before entering this giveaway. It’s important that parents are aware of who’s being given their address.

This giveaway is open to everyone, regardless of where you live. The winner will be notified via email and I will post a new blog entry naming that winner.

Lavender Whip was originally released in 2008 and returns with MAC’s Baking Beauties Collection. It is a pink lavender with a very subtle shimmer. It’s a Cremesheen so it’s very moisturizing and smooth and quite nicely pigmented. As lovely as the color is, it is not the same color as the original Lavender Whip. From what I’ve read, the original was much more lavender with almost no pink, while the 2013 version is has a very obvious pink tint. In being a bit less lavender, the color works better for me but I’ll admit to being disappointed that MAC did change the color when it was so popular.

I don’t have the original Lavender Whip but I did find a good swatch of it. It’s definitely a much more opaque pastel lavender versus the 2013 version.

(Disclosure: This item was provided as a PR sample for review. Having been provided with this sample for free does not in any way influence my opinion.)

I’ll admit to being so excited to find NYX sold at a Super Target in southern California that I had to buy something. I settled on these three absolutely gorgeous liquid eye liners. These are the Studio Liquid Liners and they are not only beautiful but are long-lasting and very pigmented. I bought Extreme Coffee, a shimmering bronze reddish-brown, Extreme Purple, a shimmering bright cool-toned purple and Extreme Blue, a shimmering bright turquoise.

“Pigment Pick” is a series of entries that will feature the MAC Pigments I own. At least one Pigment will be posted, or “picked”, every month (or more often if I can swing it) and I will try to share whatever Pigment colors I own, almost all of which are samples. A lot of them will be limited edition, but you can try Makeupalley to find them.

One of my favorite Pigments from MAC’s Archie’s Girls Collection is this one, Lucky In Love. It’s a soft but bright metallic mint green. I have to admit that I was unsure if I could pull off mint green eye shadow but this shade works well for me. It has a very slight blue tint so it isn’t just green but more a teal-ish mint green. It’s a gorgeous color and is perfect for spring and summer.

Pairing suggestions: All That Glitters, Digit, Naked Lunch, Pink Freeze, Seedy Pearl, Swish, Wedge

Have a suggestion for the next MAC Pigment to be featured? Let me know!