Properly Made Up

And lastly in this bunch…

…I picked up some MAC staples which I’ve never had before, but really needed in my personal collection.

I picked up the ever so beautiful Up The Amp lipstick.  I also picked up two permanent eyeshadows in Saddle and in Bronze.

Here is a close up of my Up The Amp lipstick and a swatch.  I saw it on a girl on Specktra.net in an FOTD recently, who said it was her favorite MAC lipstick, whose skin tone was around an NC45 so I immediately added this lipstick to my shopping list.  I’ve seen Up The Amp on other girls, but not on women of color (where have I been?) so I was amazed at how beautiful it looked on her.  Price $14.00

Swatch!

Here are close ups of my eyeshadows (left is Saddle and on right is Bronze) and swatches (top is Bronze and bottom is Saddle).  And I was in desperate need of a blending eyeshadow so I finally picked up Saddle.  I bought Bronze by accident meaning I swatched it and immediatley like it because it caught my eye.  It’s a GREAT all over eyeshadow for when I need to go out in the evening and don’t have time to do my eye look properly. I  also do that with NARS Galapogos too, but that’s another story.  Price: $14.50 each

And I spent a little over $100 too.  It felt great.  I was in heaven.  I love my CCO (Jersey Shore)!  I did hear that the CCO in Phili has a great CCO too.  I may take a day trip down with my family for a day to check it out.  Maybe after my Rocky run I can swing by there.

I was too happy when I found that they  had Bright Future available!  I mixed that eyeshadow from the Style Warrior Collection when it had came out because it had been on my must have list for a while now.  I’m so glad that I have it now.  So that was the highlight of my CCO shopping experience.

I picked up a bottle of Prep & Prime (which I like better than Matte so far), a tube of MAC Matte (sorry I threw the box out because I can’t return it), two MAC blushes in Raizin (love love) and Well Dressed (which I’m taking back because it doesn’t show up on NC50 skin tone), two MAC eyeshadows in Bright Future (from Style Warrior collection) and Star by Night (from Starflash collection) and two MAC kohl power eye pencils which I cannot remember the name off (I’ll update later)… and a MAC 227 large eye brush.

Swatches!!

From top to bottom:  ??? and the bottom swatch is ??? (will update this later)

From left to right:  Star by Night eyeshadow, Well Dressed blush, Raizin blush and Bright Future Eyeshadow

And I did very good this time around too.  I was happy to find everything in the clearance shelf  at Target that my wonderful hubby located this past Saturday.  Here is my haulage…

Well, I was gawking at this mascara (yep I’m late) called Telescopic by L’Oreal when Hubby came to me with this Eco-Tools brush set and my face lit up like a full moon because I love my Eco-Tools Powder brush and angled liner brush A LOT.  It was the limited edition Alicia Silverstone brush set that I wanted to get when it first came out, but I wasn’t able to find it at my home Target.  The box was a little bit beat up so I opened it up to check out the condition of the brushes and I found that the stippling brush was twisted and kind of damaged.  Hubby came back with another box and so we checked it out and switched the bad stippling brush out for the good one in the other box so it worked out perfectly.

The brush set came with a brush bag and four brushes (blush, stippling, angled shader brush and lash/brow comb brush).  I was happy to have come into this because I was debating on whether or not to purchase a MAC 187 brush which I don’t have, but need.  I have yet to try this brush out, but I hope it works just like the MAC 188 that I do have.  I don’t know the original price of this set, but I got it for $3.47!

There is also a bookmark that came with it that has Alicia’s picture on it that explains what she uses each brush for.  Included is a dollar off coupon on any Eco-Tools product.  I’m not sure what I’ll use it on…maybe another liner brush.

This brush I’m very excited about…the Eco-Tools Finishing brush (stippling) which is dense, firm and very soft.

I also picked up the limited edition Eco-Tools Earth Friendly Train Case which I love and what I’ll be taking with me on vacations.  I also go this lovely case for $3.74!

Another coupon…

Yes To Carrots…a brand I had never heard off until I spotted it on the clearance shelf.  I was able to get a stick of C Me Smile lip butter (berry flavor), a squeezy tube of C Me Shine lip gloss (flirty pink flavor) and a tube of C Me Blush lip tint (sunset pink flavor).  These products are 95% organic USDA approved (it says it on the products)…ummm ok.  LOL!  I never heard of that before.  Something is either organic or not, but anyway I am happy to try out these products.  The packaging also says, ” All Natural.  Free of  Parabens.  Three delicious and organic ways to nourish your lips.”  I’m not really into flavored lip products, but I’ll give them all a try for $2.48.

I also picked up two eyeshadows by Almay Pure Blends in Steel (a silver color) and Ivory (an ivory color) to try out because the price was so good on them. I never thought to look at these shadows before, but I’ll see what I can do witth them.  I swatched them and they come out a bit ashy.  I will let you guys know how it comes out on the eye when I get around to using them.  Price: $1.61 for both.

Swatches!  The top color is Steel and the bottom is Ivory.

Last, but not least, I got a Rimmel Shock32 Magnifying lip gloss in Amp’ed for $1.48.

I’m going to keep this one short.  NARS baby!

I figured I was in need of more NARS and since I love NARS blushes I decided to pick one up.   I swung by Sephora in my favorite mall (Willowbrook Mall in Jersey) and decided on Taos.  Taos had been on my list for a long while after I got Love Joy so I went for it.  Taos reminds me of Love Joy, but it has a brick red color in it with flects of gold glitter which is what I love about NARS - I love the shimmer and the pow of their colors.  Both blushes are different, but remind me of each other.  I was happy I made the choice to get it because it is beautiful on me and it shows up very well.  Price: $25.00

I also picked up a NARS eyeshadow.  Yay!  It is my very first NARS eyeshadow and that’s because I am a MAC eyeshadow hoarder.  I had seen this shadow time and time again and have swatched it time and time again, but never bought into it.  I know people rave about this shadow a lot so I decided to get it.  This color is goregous.  It is a deep brown color with flect of gold glitter in it.  I wore it today and it came up on me so beautiful!!!  I paired it with Glamour Check! by MAC — GORGEOUS!  The eyeshadow I’m talking about is Galapagos! Price: $22.00

Swatches!!!

I am totally in love with my purchases. 

I did not wait in traffic for 3 hours to go to Tannersville, PA Tanger Outlets this past weekend in the pouring rain, sleet and cold to hit up the CCO, but I did anyway (I really went to cash in on my 20% Coach Factory Store offer I got in the mail - I’ll post that lovely haul tomorrow).  I will say again how much I dislike this CCO.  They have a nicer selection of MAC eyeshadows than my CCO (Jersey Shore), but that’s about it.  I didn’t particularly care for the staff here either (the younger girls that helped me in the past were better than this set I had to deal with but that’s another story).  They are lacking in MAC products like it’s nobody’s business, but I am over it.

Anyhoooo!  I picked up three MAC eyeshadows ($10.25 each) and a MAC brush ($17.50).

From left to right…MAC Top Hat (a true purple color), Glamour Check! (a shimmery reddish-brown color) and Brown Script (a matte tannish brow).  Brush:  MAC 239

Swatches!