My MAC x Hello Kitty Collection

The Mac x Hello Kitty Collaboration came out way back in 2008, and since i'm a fan of both i've been collecting pieces for a while now. Click pictures to see more detail.

Surprisingly they do still show up now and then on eBay and blog sales as people know the resell value is good and a lot of collectors have restrained themselves and not even used the products so they're brand new (I don't know how they do it, i at least have to swatch them!)

Clockwise L to R: Something About Pink Nail Lacquer - Fast Friends Lipglass - Too Dolly E/S Palette - Tahitian Sand Beauty Powder - Lucky Tom E/S Palette - Pink Fish Lip Conditioner

This year and month coincides with Hello Kitty's 40th anniversary, The Hello Kitty Convention #hellokittycon in Los Angeles (Wish i could go!), and revelations from Sanrio that she a little girl and not a cat!

I just love the design of the packaging and little details, like the pink glitter scattered ontop of Mac's usual shiny black compacts & Eye Shadow palettes. As well as the HK monogram in the powder. The round, rhineshine little keyring came on a dazzleglass from the collection (That i have finished) and fits on the lid of any lipglass/dazzleglass. I don't use it much because some of the tiny stones fell out, probably as it was rolling around my handbag.

The Beauty powder is just a light peach sparkle/shimmer that i use for highlighting or a setting powder all over to give a luminous look. The Eye shadows are mostly fairly pigmented, The Lipglass is sheer with a very subtle berry tint and has tiny duo chrome violet glitter in it, The Lip Conditioner has a yummy vanilla scent and is an opaque creamy light pink.

I didn't take pics of any swatches but might add them later, comment if you would like to see them :)

Illamasqua Atomic & Disciple Lipstick Swatches

I bought these lipsticks a few weeks ago while at Myer in Queen St mall, It's the closest Illamasqua counter to me and even though it can be a pain to trek in there, i'm relieved overall because if it was easier to get at, i would be spending a whole lot more!

The Illamasqua matte lipstick formula has been reformulated, so it is a lot smoother now, as before some of the shades were a bit chalky. So now you don't have to suffer for the price of long lasting colour, i'm building my collection a little at a time.

 Top: Disciple Bottom: Atomic

Atomic is a medium bright pink with a subtle violet iridescence, which doesn't show up in my pic. Disciple is a dark navy-purple blue and is best applied with a lip brush. Both are scented with a light vanilla. These would be great in a makeup kit.

Swatches: My MAC Lipstick Collection

Most of the time before i buy a cosmetic related item, I'll look up swatches on trusty old google.

There are so many fantastic & dedicated bloggers who have taken the time to swatch, review, photograph & upload pictures of pretty much any brand/line you can think of.

This morning i thought i'd post my Mac lipstick swatches, the finish on these guys varies but is mainly matte, satin or cream-sheen. 

The latter used to be my favourite because i liked the moisturising/glossy quality, but as you know the cons are that it doesn't stay on for long, hence the mattes & satins are more appealing to me.

Neutral Natural Shades 

Bold Bright Shades

I am incredibly jealous of the fact lucky people in America usually only pay $16 for a lipstick from Mac, where aussies pay $36, a whopping $20 more! 

I am sure i have seen some SMALL price drops on one or two other Mac products so thats a good start and hopefully just the beginning lol.

Back to swatching, here is a mini list of some websites chock full of makeup reviews and properly photographed swatches that i frequent:

http://www.temptalia.com/

http://karlasugar.net/

http://www.thebeautylookbook.com/

http://naturalnchicmakeup.blogspot.com.au/

I hope you have a fantastic weekend (:

MAC x Rihanna Viva Glam II

By now most people have seen the promotional images for Mac's 2nd Viva Glam collaboration with Rihanna, she's known for pushing boundaries and doesn't disappoint with this campaign.

The lipstick is described as a "warm mauve with silver frost" with the lipglass similarly described as a "cool mauve with red frost". The North American release date is September 11th, with international release dates tentatively announced September... hopefully we will have a definite date soon!

Swatches have been really hard to find, but via instagram i have found some, and also found a really great beauty blog that i've added to my favourites!

Credit for these pictures goes to www.nikkietutorials.com. 

Nikkie is a talented professional hair & makeup artist from the Netherlands, her website/blog is awesome & full of beauty reviews & tutorials.

Viva Glam Rihanna II Lipstick Light/Heavy

Viva Glam Rihanna II Lipglass Light/Heavy

Viva Glam Rihanna II Lipstick

Viva Glam Rihanna II Lipstick + Lipglass

Mac Viva Glam Lipsticks retail for $36 each in Australia. Every cent goes to help men, women & children living with HIV/AIDS.

Nail Art: JLo "I Luh Ya Papi" Edition

Despite the silly title of the song, I, along with many others, have become a fan of Jennifer Lopez's song, I Luh Ya Papi. 
It grew on me quickly- You gotta admit, the lyrics are catchy & the beat is pleasing to the ears lol. Anyhow it's not her latest single anymore, ILYP was released in March. 
A few weeks ago JLo dropped the equally catchy "First Love", from her recently released album A.K.A. 
I loved how the ILYP video is kind of ghetto fabulous, it shows Jenny Lo & two girlfriends flipping the script on rappers/men who continually make blinged out videos with half naked women surrounding them, for.. no .. reason.. at.. all!

The result is RAD, with so much going on in the video (The shirtless guys weren't bad either lollll) you may have missed JLo's amazing manicure, so here it is.

The MAN-icurist responsible for this nail art is Tom Bachik. He works with Loreal, All the top fashion houses and celebrities, as well as being Jennifer's long time nail guy.

The nails are inspired by Versace's geometric high fashion prints, and seem to mix in an urban graffiti feel, also some bling, in the form of the gold glitter lettering. 
If you check out Tom Bachik's instagram he often posts pics/videos of what he's up to with celebrity clients, just like he did here :-) Thanks Tom, You are so amazingly talented.


Portfolio: cloutierremix.com/tombachik
Instagram: instagram.com/tombachik
YouTube: YouTube.com/TomBachik
Twitter: twitter.com/TomBachik

* Pictures from Tom Bachik's instagram

Mac - Something About Pink Nail Lacquer

This polish is from the Mac x Hello Kitty collaboration that came out in 2008. The name is "Something about Pink", It is one of 3 released from the collection (The others were a grey & a white).

Mac cosmetics wasn't on my radar back then, so i bought this little baby on eBay, about 2+ years ago. I haven't worn it much, and it's not a unique colour, but the packaging is so, so cute! 

The colour you see in the bottle, is what you get on your nails. It's a neutral to warm, medium pink with a cream finish. Two coats achieves opacity, which is what you see in the pics as well as one coat of Seche Vite top coat. The 3rd picture (below) is the most true to actual colour.

Mac Nail Lacquers contain 10ml, cost $22 aud, and come in a variety of shades and finishes. They have just revamped the formula & made the brush wider, which i think is a welcome change.