I Wish Your Friends Would Leave Me Alone

song of the day - This Is An Emergency by Pigeon Detectives

skirt & shirt - H&M

Everyone needs a little sparkle in their life sometime. I've been wanting a black sequinned skirt for about a year now, but it's taken a while for me to actually find one that fits right. This beauty caught my eye in H&M and it was lust at first sight.
Black sequinned skirts always remind me of Angel from Rent because she wears one in the "Take Me Or Leave Me" scene (and looks stunning in it).

The perfect lipstick colour to go with a sparkly skirt? Red of course. Then again red lipstick goes with pretty much everything if you can find the right shade. MAC's recent Guo Pei collection launched a few weeks ago and I managed to get Brave Red before if sold out.
Brave Red is described as a 'bright yellow red'. I wouldn't really call it bright though, it's more of a muted red on me, and thankfully it's not too yellow. It's a Creamsheen, so it's not drying and has a nice coverage.
The Guo Pei collection has the loveliest packaging in the world. The lipstick comes with kind of a sleeve in a stunning print. If you don't know who Guo Pei is, they are a fashion designer. To me she is most famous for designing Rihanna's dress for the Met Gala, y'know the big yellow one?
I believe this colour is in the permanent collection, so you can still buy it (just without the pretty packaging).

 Rubi

But I Need To Believe In You

song of the day - Seductive Barry by Nenah Cherry/Pulp 

When I stress I shop. When I'm happy I shop.  When I'm hungry I shop. I could go on (and I kinda did), but it's safe to say I like to shop. I probably shouldn't be spending money on myself right now, because I have a lot of birthdays coming up next month, but I couldn't stop myself. Will power is not one of my strong points.

This year my skin has gone into meltdown mode, so I've been wanting to try out some new skincare products. I think part of the problem is stress, which I can't do much about, but another problem is that I work with dusty boxes, which I think has been clogging my pores. I'm hoping the Origins Clear Improvement mask will do it's bit to help. I've heard many good things about Origins, but have never really tried anything from the brand before.
I've used the mask once so far, and it seems alright. I've not had any negative reactions from it, so that's always a plus. Hopefully, after a few uses I'll see more of a difference in my skin.
House of Fraser currently (and by 'currently' I mean last Thursday they did when I ordered this stuff) have a gift with purchase offer on, so when you buy anything from Origins you get a mini Original Skin serum. I'm not a big serum user, but I'll give it a go.

MAC recently released the Wash & Dry collection. Now, can we just take a moment to appreciate this packaging. It's a lot lighter than the usual black packaging, but oh so pretty. You can check out the full collection on Temptalia's website, but I just bought 2 bits from it.
First up is my first ever MAC blush. It's a lovely light peach colour, called Hipness. MAC blushes (along with most other MAC products) are raved about, so I have high expectations for this. It's a nice subtle colour. I had to properly work into it to get the swatch above (below the lipstick), which is good because I'm always nervous about over doing blush.
I also bought a lipstick. This is Steam Heat, a satin finish. I'm not the biggest fan of MAC satin finish lipsticks, they tend to be a bit patchy on me. But, I think with a good liner I can end up loving this red lipstick.
Have you bought anything nice lately? What do you think of my purchases?
Rubi
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They Will Not Fade Away

song of the day - Emergency by Paramore

Lipstick has always been my favourite makeup product. I can happily go out with a bare face, but a day without lipstick just doesn't exist for me. Because of this I'm forever lusting after a new lipstick. MAC have such a wide variety of shades and textures that the majority of my beauty wishlist is from MAC. 

1. Heroine - Amplified Cream

2. Girl About Town - Amplified Cream

3. Speak Louder - Creamsheen

4. Violetta - Amplified

5. Chilli - Matte

6. Velvet Teddy - Matte

I will probably end up buying these shades at some point (not all at once!). At the moment there are only 3 MAC lipsticks in my lipstick collection, I'm kind of proud of my restraint. It's the little things...

My favourite finish from MAC is the Amplified Cream; they have great pigmentation and apply so smoothly. The only finish I dislike is Satin; they just feel uncomfortable to me.

What are your favourite MAC lipsticks? Are any MAC lipsticks on your wishlist?
Rubi
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Hustle For Me

song of the day - Tilt Ya Head Back by Nelly & Christina Aguilera

For the longest time I avoided nude lips, certain that there would never be the right colour for me. Oh how times have changed. Sarah has been raving about MAC's Nice 'n' Spicy lip pencil for so long that I finally decided to check it out, and I just had to buy it. It's the first lip liner that I've bought from MAC, and it will not be the last.
The colour is described as "pink cinnamon stick" on the mac website, and although it's not very pink, I have to agree on the description. It reminds me of the paint colour Burnt Umber.
The pencil applies smoothly, and is fully opaque. You can wear the colour by itself. As a matte pencil it is drying, but a good lip balm can sort that out if you want to wear the pencil with no other colour.

Nice 'n' Spicy is part of the prolong wear range, so at £15 it's a little more expensive than the normal MAC lip pencil range, but totally worth it. I don't own backups of any product, but I'm thinking of getting a backup (or 3) for this one. It is just that good.

I've been wearing it obsessively with MAC's Oxblood and Buxom's White Russian. The three have become my holy trinity of lip products. I wore the three for a 8.30-18.30 shift at work and I only had to touch up once (after eating).
Have you got any MAC lip liners? What's your go-to lip colour at the moment?
Rubi
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Step Out Tonight

song of the day - Step Out by Oasis

A few weeks ago MAC released a new collection (as they constantly seem to do) designed in collaboration with Isabel and Ruben Toledo. I've been waiting for this collection since I saw the promo photos on Temptalia's blog in January. The main reason I was attracted to this collection was because of the blush ombre's, they look so pretty. Sadly the shade I wanted was sold out. I did manage to get one of the lipsticks though.

I went for Oxblood, which contrary to the name is a nude. This seems to be the most popular colour from the collection, and it's sold out on the majority of websites. If you can find it I'd definitely recommend buying it. It's paler/more peachy on the lips, than it is in the bullet.

Oxblood is a matte, and described on the MAC website as a light peach nude, which it is. This is the type of colour that I would wear to work, because it's not in your face but still very pretty. As you can see in the picture above it's a very natural colour.

I'm not the biggest fan of MAC's matte formula, but with a hydrating lip balm underneath this colour goes on very smoothly. It lasts an alright amount of time (over 3 hours), and the pigmentation is pretty good. Then again, mattes usually are.
Have you made any purchases from any of the recent MAC collections? Are you a nude or bold (lipstick) kind of person?
Rubi
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