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Tuesday, January 21, 2014

My MAC's Haul: A Birthday Self-Present

Ladies, how are you?

It's been a while since I published my last post. I have been quite busy since the first day of January. Details? Better not. You wouldn't wanna hear about the baby's thingy, how difficult I was struggling for her weaning process and how cranky she was in a couple of weeks after I stopped breastfeed her. Thanks God it's over now. Last weekend, we managed to go to Singapore for a family vacation. And MAC is a must-buy items when we visiting Changi Airport, yes because the price is even slightly cheaper than in Indonesia.  Actually, I only had time to shop at the airport since the 4 days of vacation were full with activities for kiddo. I also bought this a a self-made birthday present (ssst, I'll be in the last year of twentysomething in the next few days!)


Sooo, let's jump to the best part!

These are my additional MAC stuff after possessed the Select Sheer Compact Powder that I bought from the www.strawberrynet.com a couple of months ago. I was thinking, as an Asian, my skin would be most likely categorized in NC section instead of NW. NC means Neutral Cool, which is the best for yellow-toned skin like almost Asian and Chinese. Meanwhile, NW stands for Neutral Warm. It better describes the Caucasian skin, which has a lot of pink/red undertone. But, the lady in MAC Counter told me different way.


MAC Studio Fix Fluid #NW30 - SGD 43

She firstly tried the #NC40 on me. I know, some people would think that my skin is suitable for #NC40, that medium-tan yellow-based shade, but the SA said: "No, Ma'am...your skin has a more beige tone so this is too yellow for you. Yellow shades, if it doesn't fit the skin correctly, will make face turn into greyish after long hours of application." Ow! I've never known that before. But one thing for sure, I always looked for a pink/red based concealer to hide some imperfection on my face because the yellow-based liquid foundation never succeeded to cover the acne marks and dark spots on my skin perfectly, even if I applied the second or third layer. Maybe, the SA was just saying right.

Thus, she applied the #NW30 on me, because the #NW40 is way too dark and could make myself turn into red. "See? This color looks more natural and I could barely see it contrast to your neck color. It suits you. I'll recommend you to buy this shade." I saw my face in the mirror. Yes, I could see my original face color, with more even tone, and the best thing: it didn't look cakey or heavy at all.




MAC Studio Fix Fluid is the permanent range of MAC Foundation and it is suitable for oily-combination skin. I see that the texture is quite a lot similar with Revlon Colorstay Liquid Foundation, with almost similar waxy scent, too. I am not sensitive with overpowering scent so I don't mind with this. The SA said that the best way applying this is with the brush/stippling brush. But I don't have one yet (I have many things to consider before buying brushes/beauty blender, since I used to apply foundation with fingers all the time). For me, using fingers is simple and more efficient. This foundation stays on my skin during the day from morning until evening. It doesn't make my face oily and greasy, and I only need to blot once in the evening to keep my face fresh. Enough said, I think the price fairly shows the quality. Although this product doesn't blow me away, but I am happy with the finish and its staying power. Plus, it has the very wide range of shades so it must be easy for someone to get the rightest color, unlike Revlon Colorstay.

At the SGD 43 price tag, I will rate this with 3.8/5.0

MAC Extra Dimension Blush in Autoerotique - SGD 35

MAC Autoerotique is one of the shades from Magnetic Nude range that launched in 2013. I saw the review at my most favorite beauty blogger Karen's site. The SA recommended me to pick Autoerotique color instead of At Dusk and Pleasure Model. I'll tell you why.




 Autoerotique is best described as dusky rose with super soft satin finish. No shimmer, not glittery (who wants a glittery blush anyway if I have these gigantic pores around the nose? LOL) The color is not too attractive in pan, but I am so happy I bought this because it is pretty on cheeks. Not too pink, just a perfect rosy. It suits to any skin tones because the color isn't overpowering, so it's easy to determine how bold you want to apply this on the apple of your cheeks. Most of my blushes are also more on orangy and corally sides, so yes I am officially glad that now I have the rosy one. The best part is, it stays on your face like forever! I put it in my morning routine, around 6 am, and the color still shows when I arrived home at 9 pm. So far, only the Illamasqua Blush that can do this.

I am rating this with 3.9/5.0


MAC Matte Lipstick in Chilli - SGD 25
Beauty, to me, is about being comfortable in your own skin. That, or a kick-ass red lipstick. ~Gwyneth Paltrow~
Yes, I currently surprisingly crazy in love with red lippies! After the nudes and chocolate era, now I never bored hunting for that kick-ass red lipstick, like Gwyneth said. I already have one red lipstick, the iconic  Anna Sui Lip Rouge V, but the color isn't true red, it's leaning towards a bold framboise with dark fuchsia hue on my lips. So, I asked the SA about one red lipstick that has warmer undertone, to match with my earthy make up look daily. She gave me MAC Matte Lipstick in Chilli.




At first sight, I thought it was a meh. What kind of brick red color is that? I am not fan of brick red color, as it only make my face looks darker. But, when swatched on lips, this color is much better than it looks. It is a real chilli red with orange hue, not to bold for my medium skin, yet it brighten up my face. Seriously, it does. It has a truly matte finish, but not too drying. For the staying power, I can say it's a little bit shorter than my MUFE matte / aqua rouge lipstick, around 6-7 hours and one time lunch it will fade. After that, you need to re-apply. But for a matte lipstick, it is more important for the lipstick to be able to hydrate your lips rather than just giving a long staying effect but drying out the lips like crazy. As for the color, I am in love. Totally in love.

My rate is 4.1/5.0

Picture below is my overall look after wearing those new stuff.
See you again in my next post, bye! ~xoxo~