Brand Review: MAC Cosmetics

MAC Cosmetics | Rating: ♥♥♥ (3/3) Love It

MAC (Make-up Art Cosmetics) seems to be one of the most popular brands among beauty lovers.  Its known for its great quality, wide range of colorful products, and affordability compared to other high-end brands. You hear many people talk about it and you've seen me mention it throughout many posts. Now it's time for my formal review. I'm a huge fan of the MAC brand. I've been hooked on it for about 5 years now. While I use a variety of makeup brands, MAC is the one I stick to the most.

Products I've used:
Foundation
-Studio Fix Fluid: This liquid foundation is my favorite. Some consider it to be too thick; I like the consistency.

Concealer
-Studio Finish Concealer: This concealer has good coverage and is long-wearing.
-Studio Sculpt Concealer: This concealer is more creamy. Great coverage but didn't last as long on me.

Powder
-Mineralize Skinfinish Natural: This is the powder I currently use. It gives a smooth appearance to my complexion
-Select Sheer Pressed Powder: A good basic powder.

Blush
-Mineralize Blush: Great blush. It doesn't take much product to build up a good amount of color on your cheeks.

Eye Products
-Fluidline:The best gel eyeliner ever!! I like it better than liquid liner and it lasts all day and night.
-Eyeshadow:  They have such fun colors and they last forever! Deep Truth, Carbon, Sable, and All That Glitters are among my favorite shades.

Lip Products
-Lipglass: I'm not a big fan of lip gloss products to begin with and these are pretty sticky. I'm very drawn to them though.
-Lipstick: I love their lipsticks. There are so many to choose from!

Primer/Skin Products
-Fix +: A makeup setting spray. Not a necessity, however, I love using it in the summer. It feels refreshing and it gives me that dewy look.
-Prep + Prime Skin: A makeup primer. I don't use it all the time. I like it but don't love it.


As you can see, I've used a few products from MAC but have barely scratched the surface of all that they offer! I tend to stick to the products I know work well for me but I'd love to branch out to new things. I find their products very affordable considering the quality and the lifespan of the products. I also love their simple modern-looking packaging. I know I'll be using this brand for a long time.

Giveaway! (CLOSED)

The holiday giveaway is back on! I've updated it and made some changes. I apologize to those of you who have been wondering about it! I'm using Rafflecopter which is an application to help create and organize giveaways. I combined all prizes into one big prize and even added some things.

For this giveaway there will be a few ways to enter but only one is mandatory. You must answer the question for one entry into the giveaway (look for a hint below). You can then earn additional entries by either following me on twitter or tweeting about the giveaway but these are completely optional. All entries will be counted and  handled through the widget I have posted below. It will end January 13th.

 If you entered the holiday giveaway before I postponed it I ask that you reenter this way to make things go more smoothly. Thanks for being so patient and good luck!
This giveaway is open to U.S. & Canada

Prizes

Hint: The answer to the question can be found on the My Reviews page

Open the full blog post to enter.

New Years Resolutions: 2012

You may have noticed that my blog looks a little different. As part of my 2012 resolutions I'm hoping to make a lot of improvements on my blog. As you can see I have started with the layout. I'll be playing with different things for awhile to see what I like best but I also want your feedback! Let me know if you like it.



My other goals for the year:
-Write more blog posts!
-Have more giveaways!!!
-Interact with my readers more
-Improve my posts



Aside from my blog, I have some personal resolutions too.
One of them is to organize! Makeup, clothes, shoes, etc. It accumulates fast and things start to clutter.When I was a kid my parents taught me to separate things I grew out of into piles: keep (store in the garage), give away/donate, and throw away. Even though it wasn't my favorite task I knew it was necessary to make room for new things and I also knew I was doing a good deed by giving away things that I didn't need anymore.
I have to admit I don't exactly use the same system now but I think it's a good idea for me to start up again.
I already have a pile of things to donate!

Overall I think 2012 will be a great year and I hope good things are in store for you as well!
Happy new year!

♥Ashley

Sparkling New Years Eve Nails

The new year is fast approaching and I can't wait to celebrate its arrival. I've painted my nails for the occasion with OPI's Glitzerland.

Here's how it looks on my nails (3 coats):

Normally I don't wear glitter polishes because I don't like their grainy texture. I wind up picking at them and totally ruining the look. However, this polish doesn't contain chunky glitter; it's more of a shimmery gold polish that dries with a smooth texture. Love it!

What are you wearing on your nails for NYE?

Review: Coach Poppy Flower Eau de Parfum

One of the best gifts to receive for any occasion is fragrance. It could be a lotion from Bath & Body Works or a perfume from the department store, I just enjoy getting products that make me smell good. This Christmas I was given the Coach Poppy Flower Eau de Parfum. First of all, the bottle is gorgeous. It's very girly and classic looking. Secondly, the scent is perfectly balanced between floral and fruity. It's fresh and light and a great everyday scent.

Read the full description of the scent here:
Coach Poppy Flower

If you're a fragrance lover like me make sure to check this one out! It's one of my new favorites and since I'm a big fan of the Coach brand it's even more perfect!

Let me know if you try it!

Christmas Recap

What a busy holiday weekend! It started off with going to Mark's parent's house on saturday to spend time with his family. We ate a big meal, watched football, and exchanged gifts.  We had a lot of laughs as usual.
Then on sunday morning Mark and I had our own little Christmas celebration together and gave each other our gifts. Shortly after, we got ready to go to my parent's house to celebrate with them. Lots of food, presents, and laughs once again. Both days were long especially with all the driving we had to do! We had a great time though.

Today I tried to get everything organized and presents put away. We spent a couple hours taking down the tree and packing away our decorations. It always feels so empty right after we take the tree down. There's so much space now! I still have more stuff to put away but it feels good to have a big chunk of it done.

I'm really excited for a couple of gifts I was given (obviously I loved everything I got but these are pretty relevant to my blog).....

Mark got me a brand new Canon EOS Rebel T3. I can't wait to start playing with it.

Isn't it beautiful??

My parents got me a new laptop. My old one was not working very well and doing anything on it was a complete pain. Getting a new computer is always fun!

Did you receive any cool gifts?
Hope you enjoyed your holidays!

December Birchbox: Amika, Jouer, Inoco

My December Birchbox finally arrived! This is my second box and I'm not as thrilled with it as I was with my first one. Here's why....
First of all, it came later than the last one, which I can understand since it's the holiday season, but I hope it doesn't come this late from now on. I read that there were some issues this month that affected people getting their box on time but I wasn't notified about any problems. Another thing I wasn't crazy about was that one of the products (hair oil) had leaked all over everything else.  At least it smells really good.
One final thing was that I wasn't crazy about receiving an energy booster. I would've liked another beauty product instead.

Here are the contents of my box:

What's in my December Birchbox

1. Inoco Nail Polish Applique

16 strips $7.99 - $10.99

These are nail strips made with real nail polish and contain a base coat and top coat. They come in a variety of colors and designs. Mine are silver and glittery. I like this idea, I just wish I was given a different color.

2. AHAVA Mineral Body Lotion
Full size - 8.5 oz. $24
This body lotion smells light and fresh and the sample size is pretty generous at 1.3 fl oz. I'll be able to use it for awhile.

3. Showstoppers Designer Fashion Tape

24 strips $9.99
These are strips of double-sided tape that you use to make sure parts of your outfit stay in place. I'm not sure that I'll actually need this but I like having these kinds of things on hand.
 

4. Jouer Moisturizing Lip Gloss 

Full size - 0.21 oz. $20
This came as a mini lip gloss sample in a shade made for Birchbox. It looks bright pink but when I tried it on I was able to apply a thin coat so that it looked more natural. It doesn't feel too sticky either.

5. amika Obliphica Hair Treatment

Full size - 3.38 fl oz. $34

I'm very excited to use this hair oil. It's for anti-frizz, shine & nourishment and can be used on damp or dry hair. So far I like it.

6. EBOOST Orange Natural Energy Booster

20 packets $28

I definitely was not excited to receive this. It's just not something I'm interested in trying but Mark said he would try it so I'll have to see what he thinks.

Obviously I'm not in love with everything I got this month but that's just the nature of these subsricption services. The point is to try new products to see if you like them. I still like Birchbox a lot and will continue my subsription.



Have you subscribed to any of the beauty sample subscription services? Are there any you want to try?

Join Birchbox!
More of my Birchbox reviews can be found here.


Disclaimer: This is not a sponsored post. All opinions are my own. A referral link was used.

Sephora Haul

I placed an order on Sephora's website for some everyday makeup items I needed. Since my birthday was last month I was also able to get my birthday present for being a beauty insider (Sephora's rewards program) and I also got a really great deal for black friday/cyber monday! Read on to see what I got...