MAC Lipstick swatches

As promised, here are the swatches of the MAC lipsticks I received (plus Hug Me which I purchased from MAC in SM MOA Marionnaud).

I only have 5 MAC lipsticks: Russian Red, Fresh Moroccan, Craving, Cosmo, and Hug Me.

As you can see I use Hug Me most of the time. My mom likes Fresh Moroccan and she uses it during special occasions. :))

The vanilla scent is just to yummy. Nomnom, makes me want to eat 'em! It's a plus point for me.
The packaging--the trademark of MAC, is very classy. The black bullet-shaped tube is somehow scratch proof. And the silver lining at the center of the tube, makes it look sophisticated. The cap doesn't come-off easily, unlike the caps of the other lipstick brands I own (*cough* Clinique *cough*).

The lipstick is moisturizing, so I don't need to put a balm before using it.

And here's a pic of the swatches:

Russian Red is a red lipstick with blue undertones. The texture is matte so it's highly pigmented and lasts long on your lips, I have to wipe it a thousand times before the color completely faded. I have a problem with matte lipsticks though, I can't perfectly apply it on my lips since it tends to be messy (or probably because I'm not an expert in matte l/s application). Thus, I use a lip liner to shape my lips, then I use a lipstick brush to evenly apply it on my lips.

Fresh Moroccan is a frost that has a brick red color with gold pearl. My mom likes this so much and it looks perfect on her. I'm not really into frosts because it's too glittery for me.

Craving, a plum color which doesn't suit my skin tone (NC 25-30), thus I rarely use it. Aside from that, deep pinks don't really complement the shape of my lips (it looks awkward for me). It's an amplified creme, which makes it very creamy and moisturizing. The color is rich and pigmented like that of the matte ones. Staying power is pretty good.

Cosmo is also an amplified creme. The color is light pink (Pink coco as described my MAC) to somewhat nude, so it suits my skin tone better. :)

Hug Me, a lustre has a barely even there kind of shade. The flesh pink shade is barely seen on my lips (I have an ugly type of red lips). It's like a gloss hence it doesn't last long on your lips. I usually apply another lipstick (baby pinks!) on top of it.

That's it! I'm no MAC expert. So sorry for the not-so-detailed review. :)
By the way, I'm still into Nude lipsticks, can you recommend a good Nude l/s from MAC (Creme D'Nude is no longer available here in the Philippines. Boo!)?

ELF Studio Blush: Candid Coral

You might have read my previous reviews about some of ELF's $1 products, some were just too crappy for the price but some were okay (like their eyeshadow brush, although I haven't done any review about the good ones yet). I was glad ELF came up with an improved version of their old product--their Studio Line ($3 or Php 249.75). I've been lemming to try their new line, I've tried their concealer palette and Undereye Concealer and Highlighter and I can say that I'm really impressed.

I'm still looking for a good substitute for NARS Orgasm blush (too expensive), and I've read some reviews that Candid Coral is pretty close to Orgasm (correct me if I'm wrong).

(this is the actual color)

(too dark in this pic ^)

Good Side:
-Black classy casing.
-Comes with a mirror.
-The shade is beautiful. Coral with gold undertone.
-Looks great on my skin. Makes my skin glow.
-Cheap.
-No scent.

Bad Side:
-Not much color so I can't show a swatch. It's not really that pigmented. But this one's a good thing for me so I can control the color on my face.
-Powdery (see the second picture)
-No brush

Is it worth its price?
YES SIR. I'm definitely buying the other blushes available. :)

ULTA Island Glam Eyeshadow Palette

During our last few days in the US, my cousin and I visited ULTA for our last-minute make-up shopping. I like blue eyeshadow (so far, only blue e/s looks good on me). So as we checked all the stalls, I got attracted with the stall that contained the palette that included this blue e/s--it screams G-O-R-G-E-O-U-S. It was calling me. I couldn't resist it. It was $56 dollar value (as mentioned in the label), but I got this for less than $20 (eek. Don't ask me the price, I forgot the exact value already. SRY).


Swatches:

I swatched #3 twice just so you can see the color properly. :)

Good Side:
-Packaging is gorgeous.
-Affordable for a palette.
-Highly Pigmented (except for #3) so a little goes a long way.
-Comes with a sponge applicator
-Color is build-able.
-Blend-able.

Bad Side:
-Not locally available.
-Color come off easily if applied without primer.
-Limited Edition (I think?)

Is it worth its price?
Oh definitely.

MAC Haul

Sorry for the delay! I know I promised I'll post this after my exam but my camera lens got broken and up to now it's still with Canon. I'm using my old digicam for now. :)

Anyway, I received these items from my uncle when he visited us last November. These were his graduation gifts for me. THANK YOU, NINONG! :)

MAC Studio Fix Powder Plus Foundation: NC35. It was a wrong shade, this was my shade last summer (we had too much sun exposure during our vacation). I don't know my shade now, probably NC25 to 30.
MAC Powder Blush: Springsheen and Peachykeen.
MAC Lipsticks: Russian Red (yay! Finally!), Fresh Moroccan, Cosmo, and Craving.

Elianto Haul

I saw a cute cotton candy pink lip gloss from Elianto featured by Candymag. What caught my attention was the price--99 pesos for a gloss? That's a good bargain. So when I went to Robinsons Galleria last week, I passed by Elianto to check the gloss. But when I saw the actual item, the color wasn't that good as it was in the magazine. Makes me wonder. Hmm. Anyway, I was still looking for a good cotton candy pink lip gloss since Elianto's prices were quite reasonable and Smashbox is way out of my budget right now. I found a sheer lipgloss (looks like a lipstick to me though) on sale and a Shine Away lip gloss both in baby pink. And here they are:

Prices:
Sheer Lip Gloss With SPF 15: Php 150
Shine Away Lip Gloss: Php 299

Reviews and swatches to follow. I'm thinking of making a collective review for all of my l/s and l/g so I can compare them one by one. I'm still looking for a good cotton candy pink lip gloss (color similar to NARS Turkish Delight) and the comment box is open for you suggestions. *u*

PS. Sorry for being MIA for a while. But I'm back now. :)