How do I store my MAC glosses? :)

Ladies and gentlemen.. I'm presenting my MAC gloss's holder, just to give you an idea.. It's a plastic holder (originally a test tube holder, the ones that are used in laboratories), and I love it 'cos I can now keep my glosses organized..

Holes are just wide enough to insert wider glosses such as dazzleglasses and cremesheen glass but not enough to insert MAC lipsticks, unfortunately :(

I also use the empty places for my most-frequently-used brushes :) It saved a lot of space :)

Here are the names in case you are interested in what the glosses are.. Feel free to ask for swatches if you are curious about the shades or just want to see comparisons :)

1-5 (Nudes): Snowscene (LE) - Peroxide (LE) - Icescape (LE) - Cherry Blossom (LE) - Live and Dye (LE)

6-10 (Nudes, Pinks): Love Nectar - Fullfilled - Red Devil (LE) - Nymphette - Palatial (DC)

11-15 (Reds): Melt In Your Mouth (LE, cremesheen glass) - Plus Luxe - Possum Nose Pink (LE) - Venetian - Russian Red

16-20 (Dazzleglasses): 16 isn't from MAC but is like a dazzleglass; Flormar Glossy Splash 01 - Sugarrimmed (LE*) - Baby Sparks (LE*) - Like Venus (LE*) - Ms Fizz (LE*)

21-25 (Dazzleglasses): Glamour OD (LE*) - Glamour OD (LE*) - Love Alert (LE*) - Money Honey (LE*) - Spanking Rick (LE*)

26-30 (From Little Darlings Holiday Set, Pink): Fleur De Light - Song and Dance - Flashmode - Little VI - Magnetique

31-35 (From Little Darlings Holiday Set, Coral): Underage - Ola Mango! - Pink Grapefruit - Wonderstruck - Budding

36-37: Maybelline Watershine Diamonds, 515 and 12..

LE: Limited Edition and DC: Discontinued item.. Items marked with "*" means they were LE when first released but some of them will be permanent with new Double Dazzle Collection (May 2009) but I don't know which yet.. So I label them with LE for now, I will update once the color stories are posted :)

Marjo

Are you freaking kidding me!?

With this snail-speed, I guess my 20% discount will arrive when I hit my 50s..

Remember the 11% discount I got last month? Wow I'm impressed...

PS: I can't believe I originally sent this topic as "Are you freaking kissing me?" What was I thinking?? LOL

Marjo

Silk Naturals, Part 1 of 2

I know I keep delaying to write here, but I’m extra busy with work and school and sometimes all I want and need is a simple 8 hours’ sleep :) This weekend I’ll make my blog happy though :P

A very sweet friend of mine told me about Silk Naturals, late at night while I was working.. An attempt to online shopping instead of working? Sign me in babe :P That’s how I met with Silk Naturals, mineral and organic make-up brand it is.. There were tons of eye shadows and blushes, lip products, foundations and setting powders and skin care products; it was really hard to choose.. As I’m new to mineral make up, I decided to go for samples this time and if I can somehow manage to use them, then I’m to switch to original sizes.. For my first order, I bought a lot of stuff with a really good price; let’s see, eye shadows are full-size and only $3.75, blushes are sample-size and price is only $1.25 but you still get a good amount of it. Most of the blushes can be good dupes for expensive brands’ famous blushes (as stated in its website) and you don’t need to pay a lot for the same color. And for every $30, you get 2 free eye shadows..

I had to divide this topic into two, because there are lots of products to talk about and I can’t pile them up in 1 single post right now.. Too much to swatch :P To be honest, I was afraid of a loosy package but it was well wrapped and every product was covered with pink sheets and everything is in great condition, although traveled hundred miles from US to Turkey! I always have problems with packages from US, but I received this one in 10 days and there were no missing products (it always happens to me), instead there were many free ones! I so loved it :)))

Blushes are awesome! I can't choose which one I loved most.. Seriously I'm way too satisfied with the quality.. Tart is a matte light pink blush and it's a very pretty color, I'm definitely skipping Tippy blush from MAC's Hello Kitty Collection. Tart is very pigmented and for people with lighter skin, it might be hard to blend to look over-done, so you might want to choose Tart Light instead of Tart..

Forbidden is a brownish-apple red color with golden shimmers, it's a good dupe for NARS Outlaw and it's definitely gorgeous. It'll be great for people with medium and/or dark skin tones, it might look kinda muddy for lighter skin tones..

Babydoll is 100% natural! This is enough itself to make me try it, but it is a great clone for MAC's Dollymix, the color is a cute hot pink with shimmer, it is so cute that it'd look great on all skin tones.

Charming is said to be a clone for MAC's Pleasantry, I don't really remember that blush, so I trust it :) It looks pretty much like Babydoll but they are still different (I don't know if you could see from the pictures), Babydoll is a hot pink, whereas Charming is a cool pink.. They both have golden shimmers.

Lastly for this post, I had Deluxe Sample Kit; a foundation kit with an empty jar, sponge, measuring scoop, instruction manual and many others.. You should really try this kit, if you are a starter like me or if you want to surprise someone, this could be a lovely gift.. I loved the foundations, I'm going to play with them once I'm done here ;)

Marjo

Top 5 MAC Products To Buy Before You Die!

I got this idea from a silly TV show last night, they were presenting their Top 10 movies to watch and I adapted it to MAC ;) I'm sure most of us have more than 5 must-have products but I just want to pile the most populars.. Here is my "Top 5 MAC Products to Buy Before You Die"...

1. Brushes; all of them if you could afford.. If not, must-haves are (in no specific order) #109, 129, 134, 182, 187, 217, 224, 239, 263..

2. Studio Tech Foundation; found late but fell in love immediately.. The best of the best foundation, it is. I'll talk more about it in my foundation review (which I keep delaying)..

3. Bare Slimshine; I have searched for a good nude lip color for ages, even from MAC I've tried some lipsticks but none of them is as good as Bare. The texture is so lovely, it's like a wonderful combination of a lip balm and a lipstick..

4. Matte; a review is coming about this uber gel. It's the best product in its own category.

5. Blacktrack Fluidline; is the best gel eyeliner I've ever used. The intense black color is hard to find when it comes to eyeliners, most of the black ones I buy, fade into a grey color which really pisses me off. For a solid, flat finish, use Blacktrack alone, for a shiny, watery finish dab your eyeliner brush into f/l and spritz it with Fix+ ;)

What are your "Top 5 MAC Products to Buy Before You Die" ? :)))

Marjo

Mini Haul :)

This is my super mini haul today. I was saving money for around 1 month to be able to buy everything I want from BBR collection. Yesterday me and my besties got the exciting news from a MUA of our favourite counter and decided to go for BBR tomorrow :P How would I spend my whole day with this excitement? I went to shopping :P Everywhere is full of discounts (thanks to Valentine's Day), I just could not resist.. Plus I needed that moisturizer ok! 

I had this super bad mood because of non-stop working for days and I'm also pmsing severly (don't worry my boyfriend takes care of it heheh). I had zero intentions to buy anything else than some sample jars (for my very first swap, yay) and Lancome Hydrazen moisturizer.. 

While SA was finding a new Hydrazen box to give me, I saw the Teint Idole Ultra foundation from Lancome, which I wanted to try for ages (in fact I saw many stuff and tried quite some also but none of them pleased me). My first impressions are that Teint Idole Ultra is a super-full coverage foundation but it doesn't make you feel that heavy. It does cover scars and acnes as good as my Studio Fix but it couldn't cover the pores near and on my nose. When it is first applied, it feels like there is a mask on your face, it is not looking natural at all.. However, I am very used to this masky-look from my Studio Fix Fluid foundation, I knew it needed 10-15 minutes to settle, so I decided to take a look around while it is setting.. I played with Estee Lauder glosses and lipsticks for a while, then I moved to Chanel stand. There they were.. The beautiful levres scintillantes glosses.. And they had a 30% discount.. I can swear I heard them calling my name :P I picked 3 colors at first, then decided to buy only 1 since I'll be going to see BBR tomorrow.. Anyways back to foundation :P It looked better 10 minutes later in deed, but it didn't give me what I love to get from my Studio Tech heheh. I should tell you that after 5h, it is still not shiny, nor oily. It may be a good foundation for people seeking for full coverage but medium coverage lovers (people like me) may find it heavy and unnecessary, 'cos it might tire your skin if you use daily.. Plus the shade range is very small. At least in Turkey, there were only 5 shades! It is nothing like MAC's perfectly matching shades, makes you feel disappointed once you are used to wear your perfect match, if you know what I mean..

The SA insisted on trying the Inimitable mascara (Chanel) on me, so I gave it a shot as well. It is such a brilliant mascara! I think it is going to be my all time fave mascara from now on. It is too good.. Too good to be real.. I'll prepare a decent review about it later, 'cos light in my room really upsets me at night pictures :/ But it is good, reaaalllyyy good :)))

Marjo

Dupe Alert; If you have ..., you don't need ...

(Images are clickable)

Dupe Topics are my all-time-fave's.. I love discounts and loveeee finding cheaper and still high quality alternatives of expensive stuff. I wouldn't buy any offgrade stuff just 'cos it's cheap. It's a big no-no! Anyways, from time to time I'll try to share my cheaper alternatives for your favorite makeup products.. I want to start with Sugarrimmed (S/r)dazzleglass and Snowscene lipglass; if you can't find these two, you can try the others ;)

You can take a look at Flormar's Glossy Splash #01 as a replacement for MAC's S/r. They are pretty much alike. Flormar has similar glitters as S/r, and it's cheaper, it's a drugstore brand in Turkey and is sold in some countries in Europe I think but I'm not sure about US..

There are some glosses I think similar to Snowscene but none of them is literally the same. Snowscene is unique in the sense that it has a unique white color and is the most glittered of my entire gloss collection (well I just assume that, 'cos I wouldn't dare to compare it with my dazzleglass collection :P )..

Marjo

Make your own MAC List now!

Or you are going to be sooo left behind :P Amazing MAC collections are released and even more exciting ones are yet to come! In Turkey, we are still waiting for BBR (boooring) and I don't know when we are to see Hello Kitty, Creme Team and Well-Defined Collections but who cares my list is ready :P

BBR: (Have to narrow down, due to the entire cuteness of others. I think I'm gonna go broke in the end..)

• B-Babe l/s (frost)
• Blow Dry l/s (frost)
• Marquise d' l/s (lustre)
• Live and Dye l/g
• Red Devil l/g
• Strawberry Blonde l/g
• Peroxide l/g
• Knight e/s (veluxe pearl)
• Brush #226

HK:

• Cutester l/s
• Big Bow l/s
• Fashion Mews l/s
• Nice Kitty l/g
• Nice To Be Nice l/g
• She Loves Candy l/g
• Pink Fish TLC (Tinted Lip conditioner)
• Too Dolly pallette
• Brush Collection (not sure about this one, I'll have to check it in person, 'cos I heard its quality is not as good as the original ones but I want the plastic brush holder..)
• Dazzleglass from couture collection, 'cos it has a silver chain pendant with HK figure made up of Swarovski crystals and is reusable!

Cream Team:

Luckily no creamsheen gloss for me, too sheer for my liking :))

• Creme Cup (an absolute must-have)
• Lickable
• Creme In Your Coffee (Let's hope it doesn't look good on me :P )

Well-Defined:

I might skip it, after testing the foundation 'cos it is not LE and I have tons of concealers and foundations...

Grand Duos:

All 7 of the blushes *cannot resist a duo blush* :(

Sweet Sugar:

• Lollipop Lovin' (an absolute must-have)
• Shadesticks! Yummy!

You really should pay a visit to Lisens Beauty Blog for the amazing Sweet Sugar Promo Picture! I'm telling you, it's amazing.. If MAC organizes a party with these cupcakes I swear I'll buy (and eat :P ) everything!

Marjo

AVON Very Cherry Review

I was planning this review for ages, even before I started to blog, I was planning to write this on the beauty forum I like hanging out, Itsbeauty.. AVON has some really nice shades and cute lipsticks but you just have to rely on the catalogue images and they only serve to fail you. Keeping this in mind, I still knew that I would end up with AVON's Very Cherry of Ultra Color Rich, Mousse Lipstick Series 'cos I'm such a red lippy freak lately :))

Product: 4.5 out of 5

Packaging: 4.5 out of 5

Quality: 4.5 out of 5

Overall: 4.5 out of 5

Would I buy again? YES

Where to buy? From any AVON representative or online if u live in US.

Price: AVON's prices change constantly. Actually "change" is not a good word, they vary discounts with every new catalogue and if it's not cheap by the time you have a look at them, just wait a few weeks and buy it cheaper with next catalogue.. I paid 8.50 TL (around 5.20 USD)

PROS:
I ordered it, hoping it'd be more reddish but the name goes for the color, it is "cherry" pink more than a real red. But the color didn't disturb me at all, it is a very cute, wearable color that I was impressed. Because as a general rule, cherry pinks don't like me. I look like a clown, if not worse :( AVON claims that the inner mousse part is a moisturizer, provides a smooth application and conditions for full, shapely lips. The lippy is really creamy. It helped my lips feel better after application (my lips were extra-dried and chappy when I woke up today) and the stay-on power is impressive despite the entire soft texture.

CONS:
The thing bothers me most about AVON products that, they never bother to label the weight or volume of the product. I assume they "have to" insert it in USA but in Turkey, you just don't find that info anywhere. (Hmm was it written on the box though? I don't remember.. It's definitely not written on the product.) The shape of this line (Mousse Form) is strange, it seems like AVON wanted you to paint everywhere if you use from the original packaging. I always use lip brush for bolder colors but I also like a lippy to be applicable on its own.. The packaging also seems cheapish. I buy other drugstore brands in Turkey or sometimes use other brands.. AVON has the cheapest-looking package. Seriously. I like AVON lippies though, and I like this one too and I'd buy if/when it's finished and if AVON still has it.

Pic.s on highly pigmented lips and NC30 skin..

Marjo

My new ballerina shoes!

Although I'm not a big fan of ballerina shoes -being 5'1 (155 cm) forces you to wear high heels- I do buy one or two occasionally. I bought my new ballerinas from Aldo, there was such a sale there! This one's retail price in US is 14 dollars but I paid 34 Turkish Liras here (which makes around 20 dollars, not bad huh).

I don't intend to wear this cutie outside, it's gonna be my home-wear, if you know what I mean :) Plus, there is always a congress outside the city that I have to attend, and I stay in a hotel room 3-4 days with a dilemma; wear a traditional slipper or the daily shoes in my own room :P This baby is gonna solve my problem! *happy dance* :)))

You can take a look at my shoes online, here. Choose "red misc." from the menu.

Marjo

Eyeko gives free lipbalm with every purchase!

I have been interested in Eyeko since the very first time I saw it on a beauty blog. Their products are very cute, wakes the little girl inside me up all the time :P I want to have every Eyeko thingy and play with them :)) I got an eye on Tinted Cream for like.. ages.. heheh I even had a few attempts to buy it online from their website but I could never. The website gave me problems, I don't know why, it kept giving me an error on purchase part. I'm not a patient person to try it over and over, so I just let it go and forgot all about it until today. I had an offer email from Eyeko, saying that every purchase gets a free rehab lipbalm until February 15. Don't forget to insert the offer code "VALENTINE"

The company, hence the website is located in London, UK so I assume the shipping won't cost me much (at least it will cost less than I pay for US shipping). I will probably give it a shot before this offer expires. My list has of course the tinted cream, fat lip balm (can anyone resist it?) and touch up & glow :)

Marjo

Strawberry misses me!

As you probably all know, strawberrynet.com is one of the most famous cosmetic brands e-trader with free-shipping all over the world (unless you buy parfummes).. It was also pretty famous in Turkey, back in those days when Dollar-Turkish Liras exchange rate was low in favour of TL and TL was relatively more valuable over Dollar (Do I make sense :P ) That time Strawberry was so tempting that we could buy 2 or 3 times lower than the marketing price here! 

Anyways, because of the global economical crisis and the increase in Dollar-TL exhange rate (in favour of Dollars) and because I was staying away from Strawberry (but not MAC lol) for like 6-7 months, they keep sending me emails.. The famous "We miss you" emails of course, they offer discounts in your orders if you don't shop for some time and the offers increase by time and reach to a point where they offer you a discount + a make-up pallette heheh Last month I recieved a 10% discount and I was expecting an at least 15%.. Look what I got.. A 11% ??? What is that Strawberry? Really.. You don't miss me enough or you are also a crisis-victim like me? No no no, no more buys till you offer me a big fat 25%  :P