ULTA Black Friday Mini-Haul of NYX Cosmetics 11/29/2013

Hi everyone!

 

 

Today I was out and about doing some shopping and decided to stop in ULTA. They were having a sale on NYX Cosmetics Buy 1 Get 1 50% off. I decided to purchase some more NYX Cosmetics makeup because I have been hearing a lot of good things about their lid pencils which I have been wanting to try and I bought 2 other items. I apparently saved almost $5 for buying 4 items at the buy 1 get 1 half off deal. That is exciting =-D

I bought:
NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in #604 Milk
NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in # 614 Lavender
NYX roll on shimmer in RES09 Purple/Violet
NYX Mega Shine Lip Gloss in Natural

I really wanted to buy the NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in Strawberry, but my local store only had 2 of that item and the packages both looked like someone had opened/tested them. I didn't want to buy used products so I went with the Milk and the Lavender.

I am not sure why I bought the NYX Mega Shine Lip Gloss because last time I bought this product in Spongecake I was not very excited about the color. I feel the same exact way about this lip gloss as I did about the first one I bought. Although, this one is more pigmented than the other one which I was expecting pigment, but for it being labeled a Natural it has a weird orange-y, brown, red mix that doesn't look very natural. I am trying to find a good nude color for my lips. I don't feel this color looks natural at all. I think the NYX Mega Shine Lip Glosses themselves seem to be very good products, but I am just not a fan of their colors. I will probably try a third time on them and after that just give up. But I am excited to try them all out and write reviews.

Sincerely,
Marina

MAC Cremestick Lip Liner in Enriched Red

Hi everyone!

 

 

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I know it's early, but that's okay.

About a year ago MAC had a collection called Fashion Set and they had like 10 different ones of a lipstick, a lip glass, and a nail polish all the same color. The one that I bought online was the Russian Red, mostly because I am Russian so I thought the name was pretty cool and I wanted to try wearing a red lip so I bought it. I ended up buying the lipstick, the lip glass, and this is separate from the Fashion Set but I bought a red lip liner because I did not have one.

In this blog I am going to be reviewing the MAC Cremestick lip liner in Enriched Red. As I stated above I bought this product to go with my purchase of the Fashion Set in Russian Red. Lip liners are very useful when it comes to outlining the lips when using bold color lipsticks such as red like this one. I did not have any red lip liners so I decided to try it because I felt the lipstick and lipglass would look better lined than unlined. A few years ago I bought the cremestick lip liner in Sublime Culture and absolutely loved it. I will do a review on it soon. Plus when you spend $50 at MAC it's free shipping. It worked out perfectly. I did not go for the Russian Red nail polish because I know I would rarely wear it and every item in the set was set up to be purchased separately and I did not want to spend $15 on nail polish.

On to the review of the MAC Cremestick lip liner in Enriched Red.

RATING:

Price: 10/10
Packaging: 10/10
Amount of product: 10/10
Pigment: 10/10
Longevity: 9/10
Smell: 8/10
Taste: 10/10
Texture: 10/10
Application: 10/10
Different lips: 10/10
Overall product rating: 9/10
Would I repurchase: 10/10
Total: 116/120=96.66%=A

My personal rating: 10/10=100%=A

Comments: The price of this product is $15 which is a bit pricey for a lip liner, but this is the best lip liner I have ever purchased. I love everything about it. I think it is definitely worth the price. The packaging on this product is cute and I love it because it twists to get the product out rather than having to deal with sharpening. I have always been a huge fan of the twisting package for eye liners and lip liners, but that is probably more so personal preference. I was really surprised, but for the price you definitely get a lot of product. The price of the product and the amount of the product are definitely comparable. I feel that this specific lip liner definitely has a lot of pigment, but once again it gives the option of applying it softly so it's not as intense, but still gives pigment, or you can choose to go a bit heavier with the product to get a more intense pigment. I like that it gives that option. Whether you apply it lightly or on a heavier side you still get pigment, but the intensity changes. I do not feel that these lip liners would last super long on their own so I had to take a point off, but they are not advertised as long lasting either. It lasts as long as a regular lip liner does. I do feel that it lasts longer underneath the lipstick and lipglass though. The combination of lip liner and matte lipstick give the lip liner longevity. In parts of my lips I do feel that either the lip liner or lipstick bled a very tiny bit. It's not hugely noticeable, but I did notice a little bit. There is a very slight chemically smell to these lip liners which I am not a big fan of, but it's not overwhelming. I would definitely take off a few points for them not smelling very good. I have not had any problems that I am aware of as far as taste/aftertaste of the lip liners because I only use them to outline my lips. I have not had any problems with that. These lip liners are not heavy and feel smooth on once applied. These are the best lip liners I have ever personally used because they slide on smoothly and evenly even on dry lips. I have had this lip liner for about a year and it has not dried out yet. I feel that this product works well with dry lips to apply evenly and smoothly onto the lip to outline. I would definitely repurchase the cremestick lip liners from MAC even though I'm not a big fan of the smell.

I hope this helps!

Sincerely,
Marina

MAC Fashion Set in Russian Red Lipglass

Hi everyone!

 

 

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I know it's early, but that's okay.

About a year ago MAC had a collection called Fashion Set and they had like 10 different ones of a lipstick, a lip glass, and a nail polish all the same color. The one that I bought online was the Russian Red, mostly because I am Russian so I thought the name was pretty cool and I wanted to try wearing a red lip so I bought it. I ended up buying the lipstick, the lip glass, and this is separate from the Fashion Set but I bought a red lip liner because I did not have one.

In this blog I am going to be reviewing the MAC Fashion Set lipglass in Russian Red. Some of the Fashion Set collections were put into the permanent line in the MAC makeup and the Russian Red lipstick and lipglass were both put in the regular MAC collection. The red lipglass has fairly decent pigment in it. You could buy and wear just the lipglass because it is so pigmented, especially for someone like me who is afraid to wear very bold colors such as red. The lipglass gives someone like me just the right amount of pigment with a glossy finish so it stands out, but doesn't feel over the top. I'm going to go out on a limp and say that this is the most pigmented lipglass/lipgloss I have ever seen or purchased! I love it!

RATING:

Price: 10/10
Packaging: 10/10
Amount of product: 9/10
Pigment: 10/10
Longevity:9/10
Smell:10/10
Taste: 9/10
Texture: 10/10
Application: 10/10
Different lips: 10/10
Overall product rating: 9/10
Would I repurchase: 10/10
Total: 116/120=96.66%=A

My personal rating: 10/10=100%=A

Comments: I think I paid about $15-$16 for this lipglass when it first came out in the Fashion Set collection, but the price of it now is $15. I think that is a bit much for a lipglass, but since it is a MAC I feel that it is decently priced for a high-end lipgloss because some other high-end lipglosses are like $20+. I have not personally seen any problems with the packaging, it is simple, but cute and it does not leak the product out. I would say that I feel that even though you get a decent amount of lipglass product, it does feel like it's not full all the way, but that could just be me. I think they could give a bit more for the price. If you are a person like me who is always looking for pigmented lipglosses, this is the right product for you. This lipglass is so pigmented that you could wear it alone or it gives a nice shiny gloss on top of the lipstick. I took some points off for longevity because I feel that it lasts about as long as other lipglosses, maybe a little bit more so because of the pigment, but it definitely lasts a bit longer when you put it on top of the Russian Red matte lipstick. The two products used together I feel create the most longevity. The lipglass by itself is decent and the lipstick by itself is decent, but together it's like wow! I like the smell of it because it gives a sweet/vanilla scent, but without overpowering, especially when applied to the lips. I had to take a point off for taste because it does have a bit of an aftertaste, not as bad as the lipstick, but I don't really like it. The lipglass doesn't feel sticky, and it doesn't feel heavy. The application of the lipglass is super smooth and easy. I feel that this lipglass helps to fill in the lines so they are not as noticeable with the lipstick, but also on it's own it does a good job of applying and covering dry lips. It makes the lips feel smoother. I would definitely repurchase this lipglass on it's own as well as the color.

I know that this was a late review, but I hope it helps with your future purchases of MAC lipglasses!

Sincerely,
Marina

MAC Fashion Set in Russian Red Lipstick

Hi everyone!

 

 

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I know it's early, but that's okay.

About a year ago MAC had a collection called Fashion Set and they had like 10 different ones of a lipstick, a lip glass, and a nail polish all the same color. The one that I bought online was the Russian Red, mostly because I am Russian so I thought the name was pretty cool and I wanted to try wearing a red lip so I bought it. I ended up buying the lipstick, the lipglass, and this is separate from the Fashion Set but I bought a red lip liner because I did not have one.

In this blog I am going to be talking about the MAC Russian Red Lipstick. Some of the Fashion Set collections were put into the permanent line in the MAC makeup and the Russian Red lipstick and lip glass were both put in the regular MAC collection. The red is a matte color and is a little bit on the brighter side. It is more of a bright red than a dark red. The MAC website describes it as an intense bluish-red.

RATING:

Price: 10/10
Packaging: 10/10
Amount of product: 10/10
Pigment: 10/10
Longevity: 10/10
Smell: 10/10
Taste: 7/10
Texture: 9/10
Application: 10/10
Different lips: 9/10
Overall product: 9/10
Would I repurchase: 8/10
Total: 112/120= 93.33%= A

My personal rating: 10/10=100%= A

Comments:I think I paid about $15-$16 for this lipstick because when it first came out in the Fashion Set I think it was a dollar more than it says it is now which is $15. I think for a MAC product that is a bit much for a lipstick, but not over the top like some high end lipsticks that are over like $20. It is a decent price. The packaging is super cute and I have not personally had any issues with it. It is the same packaging as their other lipstick products. I think that you do get a decent amount of product for the price. The pigment of this lipstick is definitely there. You do have the option of applying it lightly to where you still get pigment but not as intense or if you apply it a little bit heavier it adds more pigment. I like that option of being able to apply it how you want it and I feel this product gives that without compromising on pigment. Whether you apply it lightly or a bit heavily you get pigment with this product, but the intensity varies. I feel that this lipstick lasts just about as long as other matte lipsticks, but maybe a little bit more so since it is so pigmented. I like the smell of it, it has a slight sweet/vanilla scent that once applied to the lips is not overbearing or anything. But I am not a big fan of the aftertaste I get after applying the lipstick to my lips and lick them a little bit. It does have a bit of a chemically aftertaste so I took some points off for that. The texture is definitely comparable to other matte lipsticks so I took a point off because matte lipsticks are a bit drying. This lipstick does show the lines in my dry lips. The application of the lipstick is great even on dry lips, it is very smooth to apply whether you tap it on or whether you slide it on. On different lips I took a point off because it does show dry lips, but if you apply the lipglass over it then it looks a lot better so I would suggest purchasing both the lipstick and the lipglass to add shine to the matte lipstick and the lipglass smooths over the dryness. I am very satisfied with the product itself even though I still feel that this lipstick color is a bit much for me, but that's the color, not the actual product. I am very satisfied with the product overall. I am glad that MAC added this to their permanent line. I took some points off because I know I would repurchase the lipstick itself from MAC, but I am not sure I would repurchase this color. If that makes sense.

I know that this was long over due, but I hope it helps with your future lipstick purchases from MAC!

Sincerely,
Marina

My Hair Care Info (more detail)

Hello everyone!

In case any one was wondering what things I have changed as it pertains to my hair care the past week. I mentioned a little bit in yesterday's blog about changing hair products, but I am also doing a few other things and I figured I would share my hair care journey. That way it is all written down-the good and the bad- instead of me having to write it down on paper and then later having to remember what happened when. This will be easier for me and easier for you and I think just easier all around.

My Hair Background:

My hair issue seems to have started about 2 years ago after I died my hair, didn't like the way it turned out, and died it again one week later. Ever since then my hair has pretty much gone from super oily to super dry. I noticed that there was more hair fallout than usual. My hair was dry all the time. My hair has always been on the thin side, but recently I have noticed it has become even thinner. For the past about year and a half I have had issues with my hair breaking and falling out easily. Now it actually is noticeable to the point where people can see I am missing hair because it just looks so thin. I attribute some of what's going on to aging because I am getting a bit older. I also attribute this issue because I constantly wore tight hair ties all day and most nights all night while I was sleeping. I wear hair ties when I have to which is not as frequent anymore and I definitely don't wear anything tied in my hair to bed. The weird thing is I have always heard people warn again doing too much with your hair because it will cause this to happen, but I rarely style my hair so I don't use heat products on it, I have only died my hair maybe 10 times in my life and most of those times were done professionally at a salon. For the last five years the only thing I have really done with my hair is wash it, let it air dry, and sprayed leave in conditioner in it. There isn't really any reason for my hair to be "chemically" damaged. I only wash my hair about twice a week so it's not like I am overwashing it or anything.

Previous Hair Care:

In the past almost two years I have tried a couple of things, but at the time I wasn't too worried about my hair because I still had hair. The strands were thicker than they are now. I thought it was fairly normal to lose some hair. I tried Fructis Triple Nutrition for Dry, Damaged Hair. I saw the commercials for it and decided to try it. It didn't work for me, but it was cheap so I kept buying it. When the hair issues started picking up about a year and a half ago I decided to branch out to other products so I tried Organix Brazillian Keratin Therapy shampoo and conditioner and sadly that didn't work for me either. So I went on youtube and stumbled upon a video of someone talking about the Aussie 3 Minute Miracle. I tried it and liked it. So I bought the Aussie Moist shampoo and conditioner, Aussie Hair Insurance, and Aussie 3 Minute Miracle. I have been using those products for about a year. I love the things that the Aussie 3 Minute Miracle do, but I could tell that it wasn't actually repairing my hair. I have not noticed any difference in my hair in about a year using all of the Aussie products. I would still recommend the Aussie 3 Minute Miracle for a quick fix, but I would definitely suggest finding a product that will actually repair the hair in the long term because the Aussie line does not do any of that, at least not for my hair. A while back I did try doing the whole EVOO in my hair thing, but I don't feel like it really did anything. I did notice it made my hair softer, but it was such a huge semi-expensive process that I only did it for maybe two weeks. I stopped mostly because it was really messy, but I might pick it up again.

 Hair Routines I am Currently Looking Into:

What sparked me to write about my hair was because I went out and bought a L'Oreal product that I am going to try using in my hair. I can definitely say that I am now a lot more willing to spend a lot of money on hair care products than I would have if you had asked me even a year ago. After I finish off the Aussie products that I have I am going to definitely reach out more and look for other hair care products even if it might mean buying salon hair products. Last week I went to my local Walmart and stocked up on vitamins. I am making sure that I am getting enough vitamins in my system. I have been taking vitamins every day for a week now. I did some more research on youtube about hair growth products and I stumbled upon people claiming that monistat 7 helps to grow hair faster. I bought the package and I am probably going to put it into my hair some time today. The monistat 7 was more for hair growth than hair repair, but I have different lengths of hair due to breakage so I am hoping that it will promote healthy hair growth. I found youtube videos talking about massaging the scalp to promote hair growth so I take at least a couple of minutes a day to massage my scalp. I have noticed the importance of keeping up with trimming the hair because I noticed I have a lot of split ends that were getting tangled which is why I have different hair lengths.

A short list version for ease:
-switching hair care products
-taking vitamins daily
-Monistat 7, probably mixed with EVOO and/or the L'Oreal Balm
- scalp massaging
-trimming the hair regularly, especially split ends

Vitamins:

I am currently taking a multi-vitamin, fish oil, and biotin: skin, hair, nails. My vitamin schedule isn't technically set, at least not yet, but I do make sure I take at least 1 of everything mentioned once a day. This week I have thought about increasing my biotin vitamin from 1 to 2.

My multi-vitamin is Centrum Adults Under 50, but any multi-vitamin will do. I usually take one with breakfast.

My fish oil is Spring Valley Enteric Coated Fish Oil of 1,000 mcg. I usually try to take this twice daily, once with breakfast and once before bed. Although, one night I took it before bed and I woke up with burps that tasted like fish even though the bottle says it doesn't cause fish burps. It really grossed me out so now I make sure I take this a couple of hours before bed, like after dinner and it seems to be working.

My Biotin:skin, hair, nails is Spring Valley Biotin Skin, Hair, Nails of 5,000 mcg. I usually take this before bed because I personally feel this works better when you are sleeping because that is when the body repairs so it makes sense. I don't know with 100% certainty how true that is. But this week I am thinking about taking one in the morning and another before bed. I'm pretty sure I took one with breakfast today. But be careful because this does break people out and it broke me out a little bit from using it a week.

Calcium with vitamin D is Spring Valley Calcium with Vitamin D of 600 mcg. I was taking these the first week because I know that vitamin D is really good for general health, but the only one I had was the Calcium with vitamin D because vitamin D helps the body to absorb the calcium. But I am thinking about just buying the vitamin D by itself.

 In a schedule format
Mon/Tues/Wed/Thur/Fri with breakfast: multi-vitamin, fish oil, and biotin. (On occasion I will take one calcium with vitamin D.) 
Mon/Tues/Wed/Thur/Fri with dinner/before bed: fish oil and biotin
On Saturday and Sunday I give my body a bit of a break from vitamins because I'm just starting out on taking vitamins daily and I don't want my body to freak out or overload. So for right now while I am getting used to taking vitamins I usually only take biotin once each day at night with dinner/before bed.

Monistat 7:

I have no words for this. I never ever thought that I would be desperate enough to try anything, but here I am today and I am going to put it in after I shower. A lot of people on youtube said to mix it otherwise there are headache problems so I am going to mix mine with the new product I just bought this past weekend which is the L'Oreal Advanced Haircare Total Repair 5 Damage-Erasing Balm. I may also add EVOO to it too. I will have to see as I go. I haven't actually done it, but I am planning to try it, and I will add more detail as I go.

Scalp Massaging:

What I do is when I find a few minutes of free time I will gently massage my scalp starting at the top and work my way down and then around. I make sure that I try to get every area of my head. I don't think about anything stressful, I try to think about positive things or imagine being on a beach getting a head massage. Whatever helps you to relax just think about that and make sure you do the back of the head. Make sure to do it gently. I love when my husband rubs my head, but he does it to the point where my hair starts knotting up and doing things so I just do it myself because then I can actually relax and enjoy it without my hair getting weird. But if you have someone who can and will rub your head, then definitely go for it! It is super enjoyable.

Trimming Regularly:

This is pretty much self explanatory. It is really good for your hair to get trimmed, experts say, every 6 weeks either by a professional or if you have someone who can do it for you or you can even do it yourself like I do. I usually trim my hair about once a month. I usually cut about half an inch of hair. I have noticed slight, but quick changes after I trim my hair. It feels lighter, it looks more even, it doesn't tangle as easily because I cut off the split ends, and I feel that it gets a lot easier to work with.

Switching Hair Care Routines/Products:

I have heard it said before that hair gets used to routines so they don't work as well as they did at the beginning. I'm not sure how true that is. I am personally switching hair care products because I am done with the cheap versions. My hair deserves better than $3 or $5 quick fixes. I am really serious about repairing my hair. As I buy new products I will keep you updated on which ones. Currently the only one I have is the L'Oreal Paris Advanced Haircare Total Repair 5 Damage-Erasing Balm.

Overall my two goals that I have are: I am trying to repair the hair that I still have left because I have been growing it out for a few years and I am trying to promote healthier hair growth so that the new hair coming in is healthier. I may not see results from what I'm doing for months or even a year and it may even take longer. This will be a slow lengthy process. I know this was super long, but I hope it was informative and I hope it helps someone else out there who is struggling with thinning, breaking hair.

Sincerely,
Marina

Very Mini-Haul ( L'Oreal Paris Damage-Erasing Balm) and Hair Update

Hi everyone!

This weekend while I was doing my weekly grocery shopping I stopped in the hair section to pick up a product for my hair. I thought I would share with you what I bought. I bought the L'Oreal Paris Advanced Haircare New Total Repair 5 Damage-Erasing Balm. Wow, that is a super long title.

If you have been keeping up with my blog for the past year or so, I have mentioned a lot about my hair issues. About 2 years ago I died my hair, didn't like the color and a week later redyed it. It seems that ever since I did that my hair has not been the same. My hair went from super oily all the time to super dry all the time. The past year or so I have been commenting about how my hair also seems to have increased in falling out more than I have ever seen it before. Well, the past few months it has been crazily breaking off/falling out/tangling/dryness. Now I will mention that I probably did a lot of damage to my hair because I wore hair ties all the time during the summer- both during the day and at night while I was sleeping so that probably didn't help. I have stopped wearing hair ties overnight while sleeping. A few years ago on youtube I was looking up hair products and stumbled upon a video with someone raving about the Aussie 3 Minute Miracle. I even reviewed that product in my blog. I still think it is a good product, but I did mention that I did have an issue with the product not seeming to actually repair the hair but works super well short term for a quick fix without actually doing anything to benefit the hair. It was mostly surface care. Recently with the increase in my hair breaking/falling out I have decided to branch out into other haircare products and even to the point of spending a lot of money to fix this problem.

My hair was already fairly thin to start with, but I have noticed that it has gotten thinner. That could be due to age. I am getting older. I rarely style my hair and I have only colored my hair maybe 10 times (most of those times were professionally at a salon). There is no way my hair is acting out because I'm putting too many products, or using too much heat, or anything like that. I'm attributing it to getting older and wearing tight hair ties at night while sleeping.

My hair care routine for the past year has been Aussie Moist Shampoo and Conditioner with the Aussie 3 Minute Miracle and sometimes after I shower I put in the Aussie Hair Insurance leave in conditioner. I think it is safe to say that I was right in saying that even though those products are good, they don't do anything for the long term. After a day or so my hair would go back to being dry. It is not working for me.

So after my bottles run out of the Aussie products I am going to switch to different shampoo and conditioner. But in the meantime I am going to try the L'Oreal Paris Advanced Hairecare New Total Repair 5 Damage-Erasing Balm. This product claims that it repairs up to 1 year of damage in 1 use. It also claims to deeply repair and reconstructs dry, chemically treated hair along with instantly repair 1. split ends, 2. weak, 3. rough, 4. dull, and 5. dehydrated hair. I bought this at my local Walmart for about $6. I originally was going to go with the spray of this version, but my local Walmart only had the balm as the option so I went with this. There were empty shelves so maybe my local Walmart does carry the spray but they could have been out of it, but I am going to keep looking for it.

I will probably have a lot of mini-hauls and updates about hair because that is my number 1 priority currently. I still have a lot of makeup to review so there will still be makeup reviews, just don't be surprised if there are a lot more hair discussions.

My initial thoughts on the L'Oreal Paris Advanced Haircare New Total Repair 5 Damage-Erasing Balm is that it makes a lot of claims on the jar and it has kind of a sweet soapy smell to it.

I should also mention that for the past week I have been taking vitamins. I have been taking 1 multi-vitamin a day, 1-2 fish oil a day, and 1 biotin to also help with the hair issues. I plan to increase my biotin vitamin to twice a day for this week though and probably switch off where 1 week I will do one a day and the following week twice a day.

Thank you so much for reading. I can't wait to try out this product and let everyone know how it goes!

Sincerely,
Marina

Welcome back and MAC Bronzing Powder in Golden

Hey Everyone!

I hope this blog post finds everyone doing well. I know that I disappeared in mid-May due to getting frustrated with saving up money to buy products that people on youtube raved about, just to find out it wasn't worth the hype.

During the time that I got frustrated with drugstore brand products we were also getting things together because we were going to move. I got super busy with putting everything together for the new place, packing, and then the actual moving. We moved in August. We are finally starting to get settled in and I have rediscovered my excitement for makeup again.

Plus, I did promise in previous blog posts that I would at least finish my personal makeup collection reviews. I like to keep the promises that I make because that is the person that I am and definitely try to be. I think I still have quite a bit of makeup to review if I am remembering correctly, about 50 items, give or take a few. I am really excited to get back into playing around and reviewing the makeup products that I have.

The makeup product that I am going to start out talking about is the MAC Bronzing Powder in Golden. I have some really sad news. Back in late September/early October we found a stray cat in our yard so we decided to take him in. I don't know how long he had been out in the wild, but it was long enough for him to get into burrs and he is a long haired kitty, so you can imagine how much fun it is trying to take burrs out of long hair. By now you are probably wondering why I am talking about my cats fur and burrs when I should be talking about the MAC Bronzing Powder in Golden. Well... the bad news is that I left the MAC Bronzing Powder sitting on the bathroom sink, on the edge, when my husband was trying to get the burrs out of the hair in the bathroom sink, the kitty knocked it over onto the floor where the powder came out of the container and broke into pieces. I cannot express in words how sad I was when I saw that. I am so mad at myself for not putting it in a safe place before everything happened. I don't remember if I took any pictures of the MAC Bronzing Powder in Golden before that happened so I may or may not have a picture of this product.

I absolutely ADORED this product! But it is on the expensive side, especially for a bronzer, and I noticed that the price of it recently went up from about $23 to $25. That hurts a lot. This bronzer was the first bronzer I had ever purchased, I had it for about 2 years, and now it's gone. I am not able to replace it at this current time. The only little negative thing that I didn't like about the bronzer was that it appeared to have some glitter/sparkle to it. I would have loved it more if it had been matte instead of shimmery. But on the bright side, MAC now does offer a matte version of this product. 2 years ago they did not have that option, but I just checked earlier and I saw that they did have a matte version.

On to the review.

RATING:
Price: 7/10
Pigment: 10/10
Application: 10/10
Texture: 9/10
Packaging: 10/10
Amount of product: 8/10
Different skin types: 9/10
Longevity: 10/10
Smell: N/A (I don't think it had a smell to it, but I can't remember so I can't rate it, sorry.)
Product as described on website: 10/10
Overall rating: 10/10
Would I purchase again: 7/10
Total rating: 100/110=90.9%=A

My personal rating: 10/10=100%=A


Comments: As I stated above about the price- $23 for a bronzer is fairly expensive and now that they increased the price to $25 that just seems way too high. If you have the money to spend on it then I say go for it, but if you are like me who can't spend that kind of money, I would say skip it. What I loved about this bronzer is that it did not look fake once applied. It was the perfect combination of pigment without being overly pigmented. If you wanted a light bronze then I would just apply it lightly. If I wanted a bit darker, it was buildable to make it darker. Even though this product had glitter/sparkle/shimmer, it was not overpoweringly showy. If you put the product under sunlight, it would show, but when applied to the face, it was very subtle. I really liked that. The application of the bronzer was smooth and flawless. It blended into the skin very well. The bronzer did not feel heavy or flaky or chunky, but I did have to take a point off because in the packaging pan the product did feel a bit powdery and felt a bit on the dry side. It wasn't as bad as some of the products that I have seen out there, but it did have a little bit. The packaging is normal, but cute and it comes with a round mirror inside. I have not had any issues with the packaging with fall out or anything. I think it is cute. I think that the amount of product that you get is definitely decent, I did not use it everyday, but it did last about 2 years and it would have lasted longer if the accident with it did not happen. I was afraid of using this product because I didn't want it to run out. But as far as how much you get for the price, I would have to say that it is on the expensive side. Even with getting a decent amount of product, the product itself being overly expensive is why I had to knock off a few points. I just cannot justify the price for a bronzer. For different skin types I had to knock off a point because I feel that even though the bronzer applied smoothly, as I stated above in this section, this bronzer did feel a bit on the dry side. I used to have a more oily face which has over the past 2 years been drying out. I haven't really used this product with my now super dry skin. It should still work, I don't foresee huge problems with this product and dry skin, but just to be on the safe side, I am going to say if you have dry to very dry skin, be aware that the powder is on the dry side. For longevity I have not experienced anything negative with this product as it pertains to moving around the face or coming off quickly. I feel that once applied it does stay very well in place. I don't remember the product description from 2 or so years ago and I don't know for sure if when they raised the price of the item if they reformulated or anything like that, but I agree with what the website says, except the product that I had from 2 years ago I would not make the claim that this is necessarily perfect for those with really dry skin. But this product does pretty much do everything it claims to. I absolutely loved it. The only reason why I would hesitate on repurchasing this product is because I feel that $23-$25 for a bronzer is out of my personal makeup budget/price range. But that is just my personal financial reasoning behind it.

I hope this review helps. Sorry for the no pictures. Have a wonderful day and thank you so much for reading!

Sincerely,
Marina