My first MSF

I visited the MAC counter a couple of days ago to check out the Love Lace and Warm & Cozy collections. The Warm & Cozy collection didn't appeal to me as much as the Love Lace did. But there was one thing that caught my eye, the Mineralize Skin Finish in By Candlelight.


I have never understood the hype around the MSFs. They are beautiful to look at but they have always looked like glitter bombs to me. I have a strong aversion to glitter on my face. I like a soft glow but can't stand it when glitter particles show up on my face.
But By Candlelight isn't glittery at all and it has a beautiful golden pink color that is subtle on the skin and gives it a beautiful warm glow. I am in love with this one.

I don't know if they have change the formulation of the MSFs and made them less glittery, but if all them have this kind of shimmer in them I can see myself buying more of these in the future.

Now if only I could get my hands on So Ceylon.....

On my nails: Marlene by Make Up Store

This weekend I have been sporting the Marlene nailpolish by Make Up Store on my nails. This nail polish was released with the Fruidelicious collection in the beginning of 2009.

I love this polish it is filled with hot pink micro glitter that makes the color look almost berry like.
But the best thing with this one is that it has a fragrance. Once the typical nail polish smell has disappeared my nails smell like berries. I painted my nails yesterday morning and today I can still feel the scent on my nails.

On my eyes: Love Lace

I finally had the time and opportunity to go and check out the Love Lace and Warm & Cozy Collections at MAC. I did buy three of the eyeshadows from Love Lace. The one I didn't buy was Hypnotizing since it reminded me of Satin Taupe and the makeup artist at MAC said it was similar to Shale. The other three looked unique and didn't look like anything that I already own.

I decided to do a look with all three eyeshadows today and I was really impressed with the eye shadows.


I used:
MAC e/s in Love Lace (veluxe pearl) in the crease and outer V.
MAC e/s in Carbon (matte) blended with Love Lace in the outer corner of the eye.
MAC e/s in Suave Intentions (veluxe pearl) on the lid blended up into the crease.
MAC e/s in Wedge (matte) blended with Love Lace from the crease up towards the brow bone.
MAC e/s in Brulé (Satin) as a highlighter.

MUS eye pencil in Snow Flake in the inner corner of the eye and inner third of the lid with MAC e/s in Pincurl on top.
MUS Cake Eyeliner in Black as a liner on the upper lash line.

On the lower lash line I used Love Lace, Suave Intentions and Pincurl from outer to inner corner.

Pulse Perfection Vibrating Mascara by Maybelline
Eye Brow Styler in no 3 by MakeUp Factory.


I decided to go a little bit crazy and try to use false eye lashes for the first time. It was a little bit tricky at first but after a while I got the hang of it. I can definitely see myself getting addicted to falsies.

I used single eyelashes in Flare Medium Black by Ardell. I colored the ends with MUS colored mascara in Turqoise to make the look a little bit more fun.

Let's do some numbers.

By now many of you probably know that MAC has changed the design of the pigment jars. This change in design hasn't only resulted in a new look but the size of the jar has also changed. The old jars contained 7.5 grams of pigment and the new jars contain 4.5 grams. The only thing that has remained the same is the prize.
I thought it would be interesting to do some math and show you how this change has affected the prize.

If we take a look at the weight in the old and compare it to the new jars the change in weight has gone from 7.5 grams to 4.5 grams. MAC has reduced the weight with 3 grams and this means that the new jars contain 40 % less pigment.

But the more interesting thing to me is how this changes the prize that you pay for 1 gram of pigment.

The old jars $19.50/7.5g = $2.6 for 1g of pigment
The new jars $19.50/4.5g =$4.33 for 1g of pigment

The price for 1g of pigment has increased with $1.73 per gram. This is a very high increase in price. This means that if you kept the old packaging and just raised the prize a 7.5g jar of pigment would cost you $32.48.

Let's compare the prize difference between pigments and single eyeshadows.

A single pressed eye shadow costs $14.5 for 1.5g and a pro pan refill cost $11 for 1.5g.

Single eyeshadow $14.5/1.5g = 9.67 for 1g
Pro Pan refill $11/1.5g = 7.33 for 1g

The price for pressed eyeshadows are much higher than for the pigments.

I will not discuss my personal feelings about this subject in this post but instead let the numbers speak for themselves and let you form your own opinions.

For more information visit Temptalia.com. She has done some extensive comparisons between the old and new jars.

Here are the links to her posts:

Old vs. New MAC Pigment Jar Packaging:A Tale Of Comparisons

Old vs. New MAC Pigment Jar Packaging:Kitschmas vs. Kitschmas (aka part 2)

Dupe time! Satin Taupe vs. Burnt Bark

I was going through my makeup collection and found a forgotten eyeshadow, Earth Spirit eyeshadow in the color 107 Burnt Bark from Max Factor.
The eyeshadows from Max Factor are really nice. They have good pigmentation and are quite easy to apply. They are on the softer side and have a tendency to fall out and end up on your cheeks though so you have to be careful when you apply the eyeshadow.

Burnt Bark is very similar in color to Satin Taupe from MAC. So similar in fact that the color difference is very hard to capture with the camera. I can say though that the pigmentation of Satin Taupe is a little bit better and the formulation is better. The risk of ending up with eyeshadow on you cheeks is minimal. But Burnt Bark is an excellent dupe for Satin Taupe and if you haven't got the money to spend on MAC eyeshadows Burnt Bark is a good alternative.

Satin Taupe is on the left and is in the middle of the three lower shadows in the palette. Burnt Bark is on the right.
Satin Taupe came with the Fascinatin Ruby: 6 Smokey Eyes palette from the Holiday Collection 2008

Swatches of the two eyeshadows on my hand. Burnt Bark is on the left and Satin Taupe on the right. There is hardly any difference between the two shades. Satin Taupe is more pigmented and therefore a little stronger in color it is also a little bit more frosty than Burnt Bark.

It's time for a new mascara

I came to the realization today that I have to throw out my beloved Imju Fiberwig mascara. I have used way too long and can't justify keeping it any longer.

So I had to replace it with something. The new trend in mascara right now is that the wand should be vibrating. It is supposed to help with the coating of the mascara on the lashes or something like that. I heard that Maybelline has released a budget alternative to the high end ones so I thought I would give that a try.




The mascara is called Pulse Perfection Vibrating Mascara. I have tried it about two times and so far I am not super impressed. I will test it out and give you a review.

I actually wore it today when I was getting my passport renewed. In retrospect I shouldn't have bothered since this is probably the worst photo I have ever taken for a passport or identification card. But at least my makeup did look rather good.

The Estée Lauder Christmas gift set

I decided to do my makeup using the products in the gift set from Estée Lauder (EL) that I received as a gift this Christmas.
I like EL, they make Christmas gift sets that to me look sophisticated and the colors are most often very wearable.

I seem to have entered a pink, purple and gray period at the moment and most of my EOTD on this blog and in real life have a variation of this color scheme, and this one is no different.
I wasn't sure that I wanted to publish the eye makeup that I did because I wasn't happy with it. But I did feel that it would be nice to show my eye makeup and how the eye shadows look on the eye, so here goes nothing.

I have used:
EL Pure Color EyeShadow palette and the colors that I used are 47 Honey Drop (shimmery pink), 26 Slate (dark gray), 01 Pink Ice (shimmery light pink), 30 Sugar Cube (shimmery white) and 25 Onyx (black).

Make Up Store High Tech Lighter in Platina as a base. This is a shimmery base so this made the matte shadows look shimmery as well.

MAC Satin e/s in Brulé as a highlighter

MAC Kohl Power Eye Pencil in Raven

EL Double Wear Zero Smudge Lengthening Mascara in 01 Black
On my lips:
EL Pure Color Long Lasting Lipstick in 118 Bois De Rose
EL High Gloss in 10 Rose

Here is a picture of the lipstick without the gloss. I think that I managed to capture the color of the lipstick pretty well. I like this color but it is a little bit darker than I am used to, but not so much that I wouldn't wear it. I am terrified of red and bold lipsticks so this can be my lipstick when I want to wear a darker lip.

Imju Fiberwig, is this really paint on false lashes in a tube?

The idea behind this mascara is that it contains fibers that attach to your lashes and make them look longer. Does this work? Yes to some extent it does.

The mascara is packed with long fibers that are visible to the eye when you look at the brush. When you apply the mascara the fibers attach to the lashes and you get a lengthening result. I wouldn't go as fas as saying that you look like you have false lashes on but you can get some decent length out of this one. I do find however that the fibers don't always end up where you want them and that they don't always end up straight on your lashes but in an angle. This can make the end result a little artificial looking since the fibers become visible.

On the left is before application and on the right is after.

The staying power of this mascara is great, it stays put during the day. I have sometimes noticed that some fibers have fallen down under the eye. This doesn't happen a lot and they are only a few. This is however something to think about if you wear contacts since there can be a risk that they end up in your eye. It hasn't happened to me but you never know.

The thing that I like the most is that it is so easy to remove. It comes off with warm water. I usually put some warm water on my fingers and gently (very gently) pull off the mascara from my lashes. This way no mascara ends up in the eye.

The mascara after it is removed. You can clearly see the fibers in the mascara.

Do I recommend this product? Yes I do. But this is a lengthening mascara and it doesn't give a lot of volume. I you prefer volume building mascaras you can probably skip this one.

Would I buy this again? Yes but I think it is an expensive mascara. In Sweden it costs above 220 SEK and this is a lot for a product that is used under such limited amount of time.


This product was bought with my own money and the review is my own honest opinion.

On my Eyes: Pink and green with a hint of blue

I decided to play around with makeup today because I was bored and wanted to try something new. I haven't used the Viva La Diva eye shadow palette much since I got it and thought it was time to give it a try.



This is what I used:
Too Faced Shadow Insurance as a base.
The Viva La Diva Absolutely Fabulous Eyes, pink and green colors and a soft highlight color.
MAC pigment in Azreal Blue as a liner under the eye. I used it wet and mixed it with water.
Rimmel Soft Kohl Kajal Eye Pencil in 061 Jet Black as an eye liner.
Imju Fiberwig Mascara


Last Christmas the Swedish budget brand Viva La Diva put out an eye shadow palette containing 48 shimmery eye shadows. This was very hyped and received a lot of good reviews from Swedish beauty bloggers. I decided that I had to have one and when in town rushed in and grab myself a palette. I was late for the bus and didn't really look at it I just grabbed one and payed for it. This was a true impulse buy.

This palette was cheap and it also feels very cheap. The shadows are creamy and very pigmented, but they are also hard to apply. I am afraid that the creaminess comes from the mineral oil (paraffinum Liquidum) that it contains. To get good results you have to use a sponge applicator but there is a lot of fall out with this one. I did find a lot of chunks of eye shadow on my cheeks when I was done with my makeup.
To be honest I am not impressed. I think it was released this Christmas too but if I were you I would skip this one, in my opinion it is not worth the money.

Goals for 2010

The New Year is only three days old and I thought it would be nice to list some beauty related goals for 2010.

1. Live a healthier life. This holiday season has been filled with good food, candy, sparkling Christmas drinks ( Julmust has been consumed rather heavily) and other treats. I will try to cut down on the sugar and drink less of the sparkly stuff. I will not go on a diet but just try to be a little bit healthier. I can can also see myself starting to exercise but I will probably wait until spring when the sun comes out and it is a little bit warmer.

2. Take better care of my nails. My nails have been looking awful all fall and winter. They have been breaking and peeling like crazy. I think this is caused by dryness and will start to apply cuticle cream and nail oil more frequently to see if I can battle this.

3. Stop coloring my hair myself and go to a hair salon and have a professional do it for me. I have always thought that going to a professional is a waste of money when you can do it yourself and save money. But how wrong I was. I went to a hairstylist and got my hair colored and had some highlights put in my hair. It did cost a small fortune but my hair has never looked this good.

4. Expand my makeup collection with more colors and stop buying neutrals all of the time. It is so easy to stay in your comfort zone and use the same variations of colors all the time. It is time to try new things and be more adventurous when it comes to makeup.

5. Be more active on my blog and have more fun with it. The last part of 2009 was filled with work and I had no energy or inspiration. I am going to let 2010 be a new start for this blog.

One last thing: my main goal for 2010 is to try new things in life and be more adventurous. I am going to live life to the fullest and simply have fun.