Quick Review: MAC Face and Body Foundation

Ola beauty lovers! So I am coming to you today with a product review. Few months ago I managed to score the MAC Face and Body Foundation at their semi annual warehouse sale for $12! YES! What a steal! I picked up the shade C4. Matches me pretty good. I was so excited about this foundation, thinking that it will be another medium to full coverage foundation I can use in rotation in my collection.

Well, this week I cracked this puppy out, and I was so bummed that it was not full coverage. I would have to place this foundation in the light to medium coverage category. It applies nicely to the skin and using my Sigma kabuki brush it blends well. BUT this is such a light coverage that even applying two layers I am lucky if my skin is medium covered. The wear ability throughout the day well, because its such light coverage, there's not much there to begin with. This formula is very light. You can barely feel it on your skin. Which doesn't have to be a bad thing. I would definitely say if you are looking for a light weight, light coverage foundation for the summer time then this face & body foundation is definitely on the thumbs up.

The bottle is pretty large so it should last you awhile if you don't use a lot of product to try to make it full coverage. I can tell you right now, don't waste the product to attempt full coverage because it won't get there. The packaging is plastic so you can squeeze it out which it is not a pump but still functional without having to dip your brush into the product. So that's a good. 

The retail cost for 50ML of this foundation is about $30. Yes for a light foundation that is a bit steep. Thank god I got it at my discount price, because if I spent full price I would return it.

In my opinion for me normally when I purchase a foundation I would expect it to be at least medium to full coverage. I mean what is the point of wearing a foundation if its not medium to full coverage any way?

Leave me a comment down below if you have tried this foundation and what are your thoughts?


Until next time beauty lovers xo
MacGirl25

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Quick tip: over expired Mac lip products

Ola beauty lovers! It is Saturday and usually Saturdays are my filming days for my youtube channel. But since it was nice out today for once here in Toronto I decided to skip the filming and lay out side in the sun. Yes I wore sun screen for those of you who are wondering. So I spent a couple hours outside to get my bronzey glow on because girl you know how it is when you are getting glamed up in the summer time, the tan is a must.

Anyways so I come back into my room before I head into the shower and I glance randomly at my lipgloss drawer and said hmmm that drawer is looking a bit too full. Maybe it's time I go through it and see what lip glosses are bad for me to throw out. I know, I know, products you bought and some point now your gonna throw them away?!

Well yes. Hate to break it to ya but lip glosses have a life span and I had some Mac glosses that have been around for ages so I knew I had a couple that must have gone ratchet. How can you tell when a Mac lipgloss goes bad you ask? Well it's simple, you know how Mac lip products usually smell like vanilla sweet scent? That's when you have the green light that they are still ok to use. But when your lippies from Mac begin to smell like play dough that's how you know it's time to get rid of them! You definately don't want to put that on your lips when it smells like that! Yuck!

So how many glosses did I throw out you may be curious to know? Good news is I only had to throw out two of the handful and a half that I own :)

Go through your stash of Mac lippies and test them out, if you are smelling play dough instead of that sweet vanilla smell then you know it's time to get rid of them.

I put the two bad glosses in my back to Mac bag so that once I have six empties I am bringing them back for a free gloss or lipstick :)


Until next time beauty lovers ❤️
MacGirl25

Keeping your Makeup Brushes clean

Ola beauty lovers! Today's discussion is going to be make up brushes, and how to keep them clean. Now I know that make up brushes can be expensive. So you want to make sure you take care of them so they last a life time. God knows that ain't no girl got money to blow on make up brushes every couple months to replace a good set that you have already spend money on, and used to the ground.

Now there are plenty of different make up brush brands you can choose from when you purchase yours. Me personally, I have a wide range of brands. Sigma Beauty Brushes, Elf Brushes, MAC Brushes, Real Techniques Brushes, Sephora Brushes, Sedona Lace Brushes, Urban Decay Brushes, Quo Brushes etc. As you can tell I have a wide range of different brands. All their prices range from less expensive brands and expensive brands.

No I did not get all these brushes at one time. Yes I purchased these brushes with my own dollar bills. These brushes are my collection of brushes over the years of doing makeup on myself and we are taking like as of Grade 8. Makeup brushes are like an investment. Sure you buy makeup and you use it and once you finish the product you toss the package and move on, BUT Makeup Brushes, if they are taken care of properly are with you for LIFE. So I want to take care of my investment so that I don't have to keep replacing my investment. Make sense? Well to me it does.

Moving on, there are two different ways to clean your brushes. If you daily need to clean your brushes because you use a whole bunch of different shadow colors or pigments then you would need to do what is called a "Spot clean". That is just a quick disinfectant to remove any surface bacteria and color on the brush if you plan on dipping it into another product when you are applying a face of makeup. I have two options in spot cleaning. The first is the more expensive root, and that would be purchasing the MAC Makeup Brush Cleanser, pour some into a little spray bottle, and spot clean by spraying the solution on your brush and wiping the brush back on forth on a Kleenex or towel. The second option is least expensive, take a small spray bottle, pour distilled water and a few drops of tea tree oil in the water. Close the top, shake well and spray, there you have a cheap BUT effective solution to spot clean your brushes.

The last cleaning type is called "Deep Clean". If you are a makeup artist and use your brushes regularly on clients then a deep clean for your brushes is a must after you use them on each client. If you only do makeup on your self then I suggest a deep clean of your brushes between once a week, to every other week, or once a month. My skin is very acne prone, so I try to deep clean mine once a week. If your skin is not as sensitive or acne prone you could wait longer if needed. Deep cleaning your brushes is when you take these suckers to the sink and use a deep cleanser for brushes or shampoo (regular or baby shampoo), or gentile dish soap. There are so many expensive deep cleansing brush soaps that are probably great, but realistically not everyone has the money to blow on stupid things like makeup brush cleaners when you have other important expenses. Therefore, the least expensive way to deep clean your brushes would be taking shampoo/dish soap or hand soap that is already in your house and rinse the brushes under water then swirl them around in the soap in a bowl making sure that soap gets deep into those bristles to kill any germs or bacteria and wash out any of the left over make up in between the bristles. Once its swirled around, rinse the brushes thoroughly and re shape them with your fingers, and lay out to air dry. If you find that your shampoo is to drying on the bristles mix in some conditioner in your soap solution and there you have a cleanser and conditioner for those brushes.

I know you are thinking girl I ain't got time for this, but listen to me, if you don't make time for this, your are going to be putting on your makeup with the most disgusting bacteria filled brushes that you will begin to break out, or your skin will look horrible when you apply your make up on if you don't cleanse your brushes.

It ain't pretty when you buy that expensive NARS Laguna bronzer and you go apply it with a bacteria filled brush. NASTY. I can't stress enough to make sure you clean your brushes!

That is as simple as it gets. Below I have included some photos on the products I use to clean my brushes.

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Until next time beauty lovers! xo
MacGirl25

Mac Brush Cleanser

Mini Spray Bottle

 

Shampoo

Dish Soap

Hand Soap

A quick glance at my brush collection

Saturday Favorites March 1, 2014

 

Ola beauty lovers! Here is a video of my weekly favorites for this past week :) Enjoy!

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Until next time beauty lovers <3 

 MacGirl25 

Lets talk PRO: Interview with a Professional Makeup Artist

Ola beauty lovers! This post is a bit different then my usual raves and rants about products. For those of you who know me well, I am not a professional makeup artist. I am just a woman who has a strong passion for make up and beauty related items. I thought that it would be fun and interesting to see the opinion of a true professional make up artist and pick apart their brain to see what they use in their daily kit on clients.

What better way to turn to the professionals and see what they use on customers, not just on themselves like us beauty gurus.

My next mission was to find a makeup artist who was not biased because they worked at lets say a MAC counter. So I found the perfect woman. Her name is Cassandra and I know her from when I began tanning at my local tanning salon. She is so sweet and great to talk too. So I asked if she would help a sista out and let me interview her. This girls eye make up looks amazing every time I see her, I was just praying that she would be up for the challenge. I was lucky, because she agreed! Before I begin please go follow her on Instagram at @_MAKEUPBYCASSANDRA . Ok let's jump right into it.

Before we begin lets paint a pretty picture, the lovely Cassandra is sitting behind the Tanning Salon desk (because not only is she a make up artist but she also works in a Tanning Spa) and she looks radiant with her bronze glowing tan, and her make up done so simple but bold. Light on the shadow, heavy on the liner, liner is winged out, her lashes are coated with mascara, rocking a nude lip, and her skin is looking FLAWLESS. OK now lets jump into it :)

MacGirl25: What inspired you into Makeup artistry?
Cassandra: I've always had a passion for it. I was always doing other peoples make up for special events, and everyone would tell me how good I do it, so I decided since I enjoy it I would just go to school professionally for it.

MacGirl25: What is your favorite part about makeup application?
Cassandra: Obviously the end outcome, the finished product. The finished look. But if I had to choose a specific portion of the process it would have to be applying eyeshadow. Creating different looks with eyeshadows.

MacGirl25: Lets talk about your favorite products to use. What is your favorite foundation?
Cassandra: Makeup Forever HD Foundation. This foundation is great for editorials, it is easy to match different skin tones with their range of colors and it very easy to blend. The foundation is a medium to full coverage foundation which helps if the client wants a lighter to full coverage.

MacGirl25: What is your favorite concealer?
Cassandra: Mac Pro Longwear

MacGirl25: What is your favorite face primer?
Cassandra: Makeup Forever face primer in the green or clear formula. Both are great, the green helps cancel out the redness and the clear helps with the PH tones.

MacGirl25: What is your favorite setting powder?
Cassandra: Mac translucent setting powder because it is very fine powder that does not give too much of a white cast.

MacGirl25: What is your favorite eye primer?
Cassandra:  Mac Paint pot in Painterly. Great shade to match most skin tones, and helps keep the eyeshadow in place all day.

MacGirl25: What is your favorite bronzer?
Cassandra: Zeda powdered sun bronzer sold here at the tanning salon I work at. Another bronzer I use would be the Mac matt bronzer, or sometimes I will just use a darker shade of a foundation.

MacGirl25: How about your favorite highlighter?
Cassandra: Depending on the clients skin, I will use concealer sometimes, other times I will use a light color foundation and to top it off I will apply Mac Mineralize Skin Finish in "soft and gentle".

MacGirl25: What is your favorite eyebrow products?
Cassandra: I love to use the Makeup Forever aqua brow and / or eyeshadows.

MacGirl25: What brand of eyelashes do you prefer?
Cassandra: Ardel Lashes are great and affordable, if I am working on a client who wants a more dramatic look then I will splurge and use the Mac Eyelashes #36 and #7.

MacGirl25: What is your favorite mascara?
Cassandra: Well I can tell you right now that Mac mascaras are terrible. Even the Mac girls at the counter will tell me that, I have a friend who works there and she tells me that. But the ones I use the most are the drug store brands and if I want to splurge a bit I will use the Makeup Forever Smokey eye. In school they teach us that all mascaras are similar in formula. The key is the type of wand you are using to get that dramatic eyelash look. So I stick to my drug store brands and purchase disposable wands that I like to use for certain looks.


MacGirl25: What is your favorite eyeliner?
Cassandra: When I work on clients I prefer to use gel, Makeup Forever Aqua Creme black is a matt black which is great. I also use on clients Makeup Forever liquid liner and on my self I use the good old drug store brand Annabelle liquid liner in black.


MacGirl25: What is your favorite eyeshadow palette?
Cassandra: I prefer the Mac Palette that I built with my own choice of shadows. I also use the Urban Decay Naked 2 and 3 palettes, and I love using coastal scents for those more bright color looks.

MacGirl25: What is your favorite lipstick?
Cassandra: I love all lipsticks. My top are all from Mac, and they are, Creme de Nude, Candy Yum Yum, Heroine, and Saint Jermaine.

MacGirl25: What is your favorite lipgloss?
Cassandra: I use glosses on clients only, the ones I normally use are from Mac, but I recently purchased some from Motives Cosmetics and I really like them. My clients tell me that the Motives Cosmetics glosses are not sticky.


MacGirl25: What are your favorite makeup brush brands?
Cassandra: My top brands for brushed would have to be Mac, Makeup Forever, and Coastal Scents.

MacGirl25: Every beauty lover knows that to have a great makeup face it starts with what is underneath. What would be your best advice when it comes to skin care?
Cassandra: No matter what your age, it is very important to take care of your skin. That means you need to make sure you wash your face twice a day, make sure you take off all your make up before bed. Make sure you exfoliate at least twice a week. Give yourself masks and facials, doesn't have to be at the spa, even the home masks and facials are good. Moisturizing is very important, make sure you use an oil free, fragrance free moisturizer to avoid any skin irritations or break outs.

MacGirl25: What is your #1 Facial Cleanser brand that you use?
Cassandra: I use the St. Ives face cleanser.

MacGirl25: What is your #1 Facial Exfoliant?
Cassandra: St. Ives Apricot exfoliant


MacGirl25: What type of Face Masks do you use?
Cassandra: I don't use face masks.

MacGirl25: What are your top Moisturizer brands?
Cassandra: Dermologica, St. Ives Timeless skin and Jergens.

MacGirl25: Well that is the end of our interview, Thank you so much for taking the time out and letting me ask these questions.
Cassandra: No problem, thank you, this was so much fun to do.




Well everyone, that was my interview with Miss Cassandra. Loved interviewing her, we had such a good time talking about favorite brands, products etc. If you don't follow her on Instagram please do so at @_MAKEUPBYCASSANDRA

Here are some great photos of Cassandras work. Love her techniques.

I hope this helps you all get an idea of the great products that are out there and used by Makeup Artist Professionals themselves on clients. I intended this interview to be a helpful tool for all my wonderful readers out there. If you ever get overwhelmed and you need a new bronzer, or concealer, or foundation etc and you are unsure where to start, I hope this interview will give you an idea on what the professionals are enjoying and what you can be enjoying as well!

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January Beauty Favorites 2014

Ola beauty lovers. I can not believe another month has gone by. It seems like just yesterday I was back to work from the Christmas Holidays. So today we are talking about favorites of the month. just to warn you if  you are interested in seeing swatches then please make sure you visit my YouTube Channel MacGirl25Antonietta.

1. Wet 'n Wild Eyeshadow Palettes- "Comfort Zone" & "Sweet as Candy"
- Love these palettes. They are great for every day use. The pigmentation is great. A tiny bit powdery but they are still easy to blend with. Very affordable less then $5 at the drug store.

 2. Maybelline Baby Skin Instant Pore Eraser
- Everyone and  their mother has this new face primer from the drug store. I was really impressed by this primer. It does the job to eliminate un-wanted oils throughout the day. Affordable drug store price (around $8) and a little goes a long way. This product is very silicone based I find, but when you apply it to your skin, it makes your skin feel like silk. This is a great alternative to the Benefit Porefessional and is a fraction of the price of Benefits product.



3. Sigma Beauty Eyeshadow Base in Persuade
- I have been using this all month long. This is a great dupe for the MAC's Painterly Paint pot. It is a great pinky toned base you can use under shadow or on its own. I have been using this on its own with some eyeliner and mascara, then I pop on a bold/bright lip and out the door I go. These bases do not crease, they do not move which is a bonus. I got mine on line at SigmaBeauty.com.



4. Rain Cosmetics Eyeliner: Bangin' Baby Brown
- Shopped my collection and found this gorgeous chocolate brown eyeliner in my drawer. I purchased this puppy off Hautelook a while back. So I decided to use it the last few weeks and have been loving it! The liner is so rich and creamy. Easy to apply and work with. The only downfall is that it is not waterproof. BUT if you can get past that, it's a great product. I don't remember how much I paid but Hautelook always has flash sales at discounted prices so I know it wasn't full price.


5. Lip combo of the month: MAC Lipstick in Sushi Kiss & Nyx Cosmetics Xtreme Lip cream in Nude Peach Fuzz
- Been loving this combo all month long. It gives my lips the most amazing nude peach lip. The extreme lip cream goes on last because it has a lasting power to it so the product will last longer on your lips even when drinking or eating! Go check out my instragram for photos @AntoniettaNacc





6. MAC Lip gloss in Love Child
- Been also wearing this gloss on its own for those days I just want something quick on the lips. I am almost finished this tube so I am working on getting it empty for my back to MAC products. It is a great mauve purple shade perfect for the winter cold months. Very pigmented and not over sticky.


7. Maybelline Color Tattoo in Bad to the Bronze
- Here is another eyeshadow/base I have been loving this month. Affordable, pigmented, lasts all day with no creasing. Just great if you don't have time to play with a palette. This is the best thing to get up and go. You can find these at your local drug stores.


8. LUSH Mask of Magnaminty
- LOVE LOVE LOVE this mask. This is my holy grail mask. I tell you, if you read my Clarisonic Diaries entries you will know this mask has changed my life for the good. All natural ingredients, has peppermint, kaolin, and adzuki beans for exfoliating. This stuff seriously made my break outs shrink in a matter of using it twice in a week. Will always repurchase this bad boy. The small jar goes for $12 and the bigger jar is $24. Personally these are the more affordable prices compared to Glam glow at $70! Believe me Lush Mask of Magnaminty is worth the try, if you don't have this then GO GET IT WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR WOMAN/MAN!


9. Estee Lauder Sparkling clean oil control foaming cleanser
- Got this baby at one of the MAC Sales I went to last year. Really been loving this stuff. Makes my skin feel squeaky clean and really helps control my oils. It is pricey regular price $50plus but I scored mine for $20 at the sale which was great. If I ever go again I will pick some more up. I will never pay full price for this, if I need to I can use drug store cleansers there are a few I enjoy from the drug store as well.



10. Tim Hortons Blueberry White Tea
- My ultimate favorite tea. Tim Hortons discontinued this tea for a while and now they brought it back which made my month. Been drinking this tea all month long. Love it!



 Well everyone that was my monthly favorites for January, I hope you all enjoyed. For swatches please go check out my YouTube Channel MacGril25Antonietta. Thanks for coming back and reading my posts!

Instagram: @AntoniettaNacc
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Until Next time Beauty Lovers!
MacGirl25
xoxo

MAC Blacktrack Gel Fluidliner Quick Review

Ola beauty lovers. Everyone knows how huge of a fan I am of MAC Cosmetics. I mean my blog nickname should explain it all. BUT There are items that I am just not thrilled with from MAC. Today I am talking about the famous MAC's Black track Gel Liner that every YouTube Guru and Cosmetologist has in their collection. This item is so well known all over the beauty world, but for some reason I find that it is known for only it's brand name.

Are you ready for my opinion on this product? I think this gel liner is average. Yes I said, average for a MAC product. Why? you may ask. Well, the pigmentation on the product is average, if you want deep pigmentation you need to apply more then one coat. Most of the time I apply this gel liner on top of my graphic black eye liner from MAC to get that deeper effect. This gel liner is not water proof. It does have the ability to run and smudge if you don't set it with shadow in the warmer months or if your eye water a lot.

Would I repurchase this product again? No, because I have seen out in the blogger and YouTube beauty community so many other gel liners out there had have a better ability to not smudge, run, and are a lot more pigmented then this product.

If you don't have this liner gel, don't get it. Not worth the money it's valued at $16 US and of course it is a few dollars more in Canada. There are other drug store brand gel liners that are much better quality then this one at half the price.
If you have this product in your stash, I would say this gel liner is decent enough to use as an every day liner until you finish it or until it dries out. But for special occasions I would say this liner is not a great one to work with especially if you plan on dancing up a storm out on the dance floor.

Hope you all enjoy my quick review on this Gel liner! Thank you so much for reading. xo

Until next time beauty lovers <3
MacGirl25

Update Makeout 2014

Ola Beauty Lovers! OK so back in September I posted a exercise I am going to follow for the new year. Makeout 2014 is going to be the ultimate tester for me. I have so many beauty products that I do not need anymore. So this coming year I am giving myself a budget of only 20 items to splurge on. Only those 20 spots are what I am allowed to purchase makeup through the entire year. I need to be very careful on what I use those 20 items on, because once they are done, there if no going back until 2015.

I was going to start this exercise in September 2013 but who am I kidding? I knew Christmas would come and I would splurge with the Christmas Money I would get from the few but dear family that still think of me during this time of year. So that is why this exercise is going to begin on the 1st of January 2014.

Below are the update rules: my witness of this journey is going to be my lovely girlfriend of over 10+ years, Miss Vanessa. She will be sigining my witness section and ensure that I follow this exercise to a T.

Wish me luck!

Until next time beauty lovers!
MacGirl25 <3

Happy Holidays!

Make Out 2014
I will allow myself 20 makeup purchases for the year 2014. This includes: all color cosmetics, eye shadow/pigments, palettes,  blush, bronzer, highlighters, lipstick, lip liner, eyeliner, eye primers, foundation, powder, mascara, color nail polish, and repurchases of any items I finish. 

January 1^st, 2014- December 31^st, 2014

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
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20.

*Excluding: nail polish remover, topcoat, base coat, back 2 MAC, hair care (including hair dye, conditioner, shampoo, hair masks), skin care (face washes, body and face creams, serums, exfoliates and natural skincare ingredients (natural oils, clays, toners, etc), toothpaste/toothbrushes and redemptions of my Shoppers Optimum points.

 

 

 

X_________________________________________________________

                              Signature                                         Date

 

 

Witness Signature below:

 

X_________________________________________________________

                              Signature                                         Date

The hard part is maintaining not over purchasing, discipline is necessary to maintain a more suitable savings account.  Make Out 2014 is boot camp for me, a yearlong training period to retrain my mind, strengthen my weaknesses and give my lifestyle a makeover.
This is a test I must pass.