Wishlist: MAC Holiday Collections

After reading TheMakeupGirl's review of MAC's new holiday gift sets, I think I just may have to run out and get some! I think my favorites are the Lip Kits (in fringe, pleat, beaded, and ruffle). Two lipsticks and a lipglass and a cool clutch for $32?? How do you say no to that?

There's also a Viva Glam lip palette ($32) with all 6 Viva Glam colors in it. I actually remember hearing about this when they had it last year but when I tried to buy it they had already sold out. Perhaps I will make another try at getting my hands on it this year.

Boy, my makeup tastes have been expanding onto more expensive territory, and my wallet ain't gonna be very happy with me...

MAC Lipglass

I've heard enough raves about MAC's Lipglass ($14) that I figured it was time to go out and try it myself. So I headed out to the mall and went to the MAC counter at Nordstroms. I looked through the selection of different shades of tinted lipglass, and settled on one that intrigued me-- Viva Glam V, a sort of shimmery nude color. I was somewhat surprised, though, to see that the usual arrnagements of tissues, q-tips, and other applicators for testing purposes weren't readily available, which made me self-conscious about wanting to test out any of the colors, and we all know how hard it is to tell what a color will look like just from looking at the tube. One of the makeup artists came over and helped me out, and let me try the lipglass along with a lip liner I was interested in, and I was pretty sold.

I liked how the gloss felt on my lips- light, non-sticky, but still moisturizing and nicely shiny. I have to say, though, that I'm not sure it's really superiod to Flirt!'s Plushious Liquid Velvet Lipcolor ($10). I wondered if this would be the case, knowing that both MAC and Flirt! are owned by Estee Lauder, and have some of the same playful feel to their products.

So, while I'm happy with my MAC purchase (especially since it was a Viva Glam color, and therefore went towards AIDS research), I think my future purchases will be with Flirt! instead, and save myself the $4 per tube of gloss. Also, with Flirt! I'm limited to Kohls stores only, but I can browse and test to my heart's content, which I can't do at MAC stores. I like being able to do my own thing when looking at makeup and not have to rely on a makeup artist to help me test different products. I understand why MAC may do that (help match up people with the right products, etc) but it's just my shopping style and what makes me most comfortable.

Gel Eyeliner

(Photo courtesy of Nordstrom.com)

Several months ago a friend of mine hooked a bunch of us up with tickets to a make-up show at Nordstroms. In addition to watching a show on the runway of the latest and coolest make-up products, we also each got to have a make-over. Mine was at the Bobbi Brown counter. The make-over was ok, but my biggest take-away was the eyeliner they used-- it was this awesome, funky new (relatively?) gel eyeliner that comes in a pot.

Now, as a daytime item it will never replace my trusty pencil liner. However, it is absolutely brilliant for a nighttime, more dramatic effect. Like many other girls out there, I just never mastered the art of liquid eyeliner. I've tried, I've practiced, but it just never ever worked for me.


This gel liner gives you the look of liquid liner, BUT with much easier application. I went ahead and bought their Ultra Fine Eyeliner Brush that allows you to make the line as fine (or thick) as you want. And this stuff really doesn't budge. I have the Bobbi Brown liner in Black Ink, and I also later went and tried out the MAC version (Fluidline Liner) in Dipdown (a brown shade). I am tempted to go back and experiment with some of the funkier colors that each line has, including some pretty sparkly colors. I'll have to check the bank account first, though... ; )

(Photo Courtesy of maccosmetics.com)