My First Taste of MAC

Generally my beauty shopping philosophy is to go for medium quantity at a good price over high end products and MAC has always seemed to be just that bit over my budget.  However, I just couldn’t ignore all the hype and gushing about MAC products that I’ve been seeing on YouTube and other beauty blogs any longer and I had a bit of spare cash in my pocket so this month I finally capitulated and bought my first ever tiny collection of MAC.

I’d been so indecisive over what to get though that by the time I finally decided to order a couple of products from their limited edition Spring 2011 collection “Quite Cute” it had already been withdrawn from most retail outlets – silly me!  So I ended up having to order from Selfridges and pay an extra £5 for postage – grrr.  I bought the eye quad from the collection, one of the mineralize blushers in Sakura, and the finishing spray Fix+ from their permanent line.  Altogether these little beauties cost me £68 (incl. P&P):




They come in individual cardboard boxed with the names of the shades stuck onto the side.  The packaging of the products themselves is sleek black and transparent plastic.

OK so now onto the products themselves.  I’ll start with the Fix+.  I do think the name Fix+ is a bit deceptive - you would surely be forgiven for thinking that it was promising to fix your make-up in place all day with a name like that, but I don't really think that's what this product is designed for.  I in fact bought this to try as an alternative to my beloved Body Shop Vitamin C Energizing Face Spritz.  The prices aren't actually that different when compared weight for weight and the products themselves are pretty similar – they’re weightless, fragrant face sprays that refresh the skin both with and without make-up.  I discovered face sprays when my aunt bought me one as a gift one year and at first I didn’t quite know what to do with it and would reserve it for taking with me on holiday when I could spray it onto my face at the end of a long hot day.  Nowadays though I'm never without one and I use them every day – a quick spritz all over my face when I’m just out of the shower; after I’ve applied my make-up; when I’m feeling tired, hot, or before I go to bed…anytime when I want to freshen up really.  So I’m already a fan of Fix+ and I’ll probably buy it again, alternating it with the Body Shop face spritz.

I chose the make-up primarily for the colours.  If you take a look at the make-up looks I’ve posted on this blog you can see that I hardly ever wear black eyeshadow or eyeliner because I have quite small eyes and I just feel that black is usually too harsh on me and makes my eyes look so tiny they can almost seem to disappear into my head!  I love wearing light, bright colours during the day because I feel that they not only flatter my eyes but also light my whole face up.  When I saw the eyeshadow quad in the Quite Cute collection I thought the colours would be perfect for me, and I’m always especially eager to try out new lilac and purple eyeshadows because I have convinced myself that they’re the most flattering shades against my brown eyes.




This palette really is quite cute – well done to whoever came up with the name for the collection!  The shadows clockwise from top left are: Moshi Moshi! (light shimmery green); Goody Goody Gumdrop (light pink); Boycrazy (shimmery lilac) and Azuki Bean (bruised purple/aubergine).  The shadows are all shimmery, with Moshi Moshi! and Boycrazy being so shimmery and shiny they're practically holographic.  I would say that Goody Goody Gumdrop and Boycrazy in particular are very sheer which I believe they are intended to be.  On the one hand it does mean that you can build the colour up starting from a sheer wash, but on the other it can be quite frustrating when you’re trying to achieve the same colour on your eyelids as in the pan.  Boycrazy is my favourite shade in the quad though and I’ve worn it a few times already.  I’ve found that I can achieve a good colour by using a dense eyeshadow brush to apply it over a cream base – I just use a creamy eyeshadow in a light shade smudged all over my eyelid.  I think it looks great paired up with Moshi Moshi! as a highlight on the inner corner of the eye.

I actually prefer the blush to the eyeshadow quad.  It’s a 2-shade mineral blush with a bright pink heart baked into a lilac base colour.  I was quite intrigued at the prospect of a lilac blush because I thought it might go well with my cool complexion, but when you swirl a blusher brush over the product it actually picks up a lot of the highly pigmented pink heart and the result is quite different to either of the individual shades.  I like it because, well, I just think it looks quite cute.



Here are a couple of shots of me wearing Boycrazy and Moshi Moshi! from the eyeshadow quad and Sakura blusher.  (Unfortunately the lighting was terrible – sorry about that). I like the net effect – I think I look like a little dolly, especially with my pink pink cheeks!


 

Overall although I do quite like the make-up I’ve not been wowed by it which is slightly disappointing given how much money I spent on it.  I like the blush a lot but to be honest I can’t say that I think it was worth the £18 that I paid for it.  That’s a lot of money for a little bit (just 4g!) of product.  I think I probably will dabble in MAC make-up again because so many people love it I’m sure they make some fantastic products - so hopefully I will discover some of them next time I buy.