Me and My MAC :-)

I might be one of the few beauty bloggers who never developed a special bond with "MAC". It is an iconic brand with a huge array of products in a even broader range of shades; it is actually difficult NOT to love it!

In India, MAC especially is one of the coveted cosmetics brand that is a little easier to access than some other brands. My enthusiasm for makeup started after I came to USA.  For me, I had access to many other wonderful brands, and MAC actually did not hold any exclusive attraction. But I love exploring different products and I have been very happy and SATISFIED with the small amount of products I have tried from them. Let's get down to business.

Legendary Red Lipstick "Ruby Woo": MAC is famous for their lipsticks. And very rightly so! So many finishes and shades to choose from! Although I personally have not explored a LOT, I am pretty sure you are going to find something that you will fall in love with.

Ruby Woo is an iconic red color. Everybody should have one red lipstick in their vanity. And this is my PERFECT red. I have special love for bright bold colors and red definitely tops the list. Ruby Woo is a blue-based true red, I feel it has a warm undertone. Regardless, it looks absolutely gorgeous on Olive/Medium/Tan skin tones. The finish is retro-matte; hence VERY drying!! I need to moisturize my lips heavily before wearing this. The Staying Power is phenomenal. JUST phenomenal; which makes me LOVE my Ruby Woo even more. Here is a picture after wearing it for 5-hr that included a full course Indian dinner.

The price for this is $16 for 3g/0.1 oz.

Paint Pot "Layin' Low": Everybody loves MAC's "Painterly" Paint Pot, but when I swatched it in the store, it appeared "too" light on my skin tone. So I got Layin' Low. Its absolutely matte and a complete match for my skin-color.

MAC Paint Pots are eyeshadow base. It works as eye primer and because it has a little bit of color, it does a real-good job in hiding any vein-y issues on your eyelid. Texture wise it may appear a bit stiff but when you start applying you can feel that it has just the right amount of creaminess to glide on in a quick swipe. This stuff works like magic, I use it almost everyday. This increases the staying power of nearly every brand eyeshadow that I have up to 8-9 hrs. I also use a very very thin layer of Urban Decay Primer Potion underneath Layin' Low for special occasion; just to get extra wear time. I have been using it for 5-6 months now, and I can see the edge of the pot getting a bit dry. It is a huge pot and I think it may dry before I can use it up. That's the only downside that I could think of.

The price for this is $21 for 5g/0.17 oz.

Fix+: This is another one of MAC's VERY popular products. It is basically a water solution with vitamins, mineral, green tea, chamomile etc. It is supposed to add radiance, be used as a makeup finishing spray (but not as a setting spray)! The smell is so refreshing it immediately makes me feel invigorate; I also do feel it helps in prolonging the wear time of my makeup. I have seen people saying that it is extremely easy to prepare it at home; I am not sure if I would love try it. I have been loving Fix+ and I will definitely repurchase once this bottle is over.

You can buy a travel size of 1 Fl oz for $10 and 3.4 Fl Oz for $22.

Eyeshadow "Carbon": This is my first and only eye shadow from MAC. Not bad, but it does not get me excited enough to check out other shades. Solely based on my experience with "Carbon", I think there are better eye shadows in the market at a better price point. It's a matte black shade, but when I compare it to other blacks that I have, I feel a huge lack of pigmentation. So, this has been the least impressive product in the bunch. But I find it extremely useful when I need to use black with some other eye shadows to create some depth in my crease. It is not too harsh, so no worries about being heavy-handed in application.

The compact version for this costs $16 for 1.5 g/0.05 oz of product and refill pan is $10 for the same amount of product.

Overall, I am very happy and "in love" (apart from "Carbon") with these products. I also love that MAC seems to offer free shipping within USA,  :) While I am currently on a strict "no buy" mode, I am still open to trying out the absolute must haves from MAC. What are your suggestions? Please share the products that I should  absolutely try? :-)

Love,
~Arrru

My First Ever Eyeshadow Palette: LAKME Eye Color Quartet in "SILK ROUTE"

If you are from India, I am sure there is AT LEAST one makeup item from "Lakme" in your vanity. It has been an iconic Indian makeup and skincare brand. As a child, I remember longing for the fancy lipsticks and skincare items my aunts used to bring whenever they visited us!

I have been saying that I was not much into makeup that much earlier! A few years ago, I was really busy in managing a full-time job, preparing my application to get into MS courses here in USA and saving up for sponsoring my education. An eyeliner, a kajol pencil and a lipgloss; that was all that I had in my vanity. After everything finally came together and I had my visa, ticket all ready to go, I went to the Lakme counter in my nearest mall to get some very basic beauty products. The lady actually gave me a very nice makeover and helped me get some staple products. I picked the Eye Color Quartet called "Silk Route" at that time. To be honest, the feeling was very overwhelming as it was the last time I splurged on myself before becoming a poor MS student in a completely new country! ;-) I believe I am emotionally connected to Lakme as a brand; just a tad :-)

This quad is available at INR 500 (around 9 USD) from Lakme Cosmetics for a total of 7g (0.25 oz.) of products. As per my understanding, the price may vary a little bit depending on where you get it! The best thing is; if you happen to be a reader in India, Lakme is very easily accessible in most malls and also in local beauty stores. They can also be found in online shopping sites such as nykaa, Jabong etc. I am not very sure if it was a limited edition palette as I don't see it in Lakme website anymore. My apologies for that.

Just like the signature black packaging for MAC, typical violet-purple packaging pops into my mind whenever I hear about Lakme. Same typical color scheme in a perfect square, decently thin box with a clear lid. I have to say it is a VERY sturdy packaging. I have travelled extensively carrying it along. It occupies very less space and has the strength to withstand travel travails.  There is a little applicator as well, but we all know how useful they are :-) I did use it when I first started; not anymore. There is no mirror though, which is not an issue for me as I don't use these mirrors anyway.

All the shades are shimmery; if Lorac pro shimmery shades had a little bit more shimmer to them, this is how they will turn up. These are smooth, easy to blend and don't have a lot of fallout. I have to say that I underestimated these shadows! Now that I have been dabbling on a lot of different eyeshadows I can definitely vouch for the quality of these. These shadows are fairly pigmented and give me a SOLID wear of 5-6 hrs. before starting to fade. After that, it does fade quickly. But overall I think they are good shadows and definitely make a very good "first palette".

I am not sure if the shades have individual names so I am going to name 'em myself :-) There are two neutral-hued shades along with two bolder colors.

Magnetic Magenta: This is my fav color from the quad. Looks very dark purple in the pan but transforms to a less vibrant fuchsia kind of color when blended. I love these kind of shades. These bright colors also look very beautiful with Indian outfit when mixed with some gold.

Pearlescent Pink: I am scared of light pink shadows in general. I think they look a bit ashy on my lids. However this is not that bad to carry off.  If you have a lighter skin tone than me, this will look beautiful. Texture wise this shade is a little bit rough than the other ones.

Bridal Bronze: It is a warm mid-tone brown infused with a lot of gold! This is definitely the most useful shade in the bunch. This works as a great one-lid color, especially if you work in a "very" professional environment. I love it using that way along with very thin eyeliner. I also love pairing it with bright colors like fuchsia, emerald and dark blues.

Glam Grey: This is a deep grey+silver mixed with black (I know, very weird description!). Just the color to create a lovely grey smokey eye.

Pros:

• Nice blend of everyday and adventurous kind of color.
• Easy to wear and smooth to blend.
• Offers decent wear time.
• Affordable.
• Very complimentary to Indian outfits.

Cons: 

• No matte shades hence cannot function as an independent palette.
• No mirror in the quad (this might be an issue with some of you).
• Some of the colors appear less vibrant when applied than in the pan.

I used the magenta on the outer half and and the bronze shade in the inner half, of course I needed some matte crease colors from other palettes...but I think it turned out pretty good! I would love to sport this look with some of my indian outfit :-)

This was one of the few VERY FIRST "makeup" products on which I spent my very hard-earned money. I guess because of that I have some kind of weird emotional bond with it. I love exploring the Lakme Aisle when I go home and I might (might!) pick some more of these next time I visit India.

Hope it was helpful, especially for my readers in India. 

Love,

~Arrru