The Sacred Truth Mask by Lush - Review

One of my favorite face masks is The Sacred Truth Mask by Lush. Every time my skin starts to feel tired and stressed out, I always go back to this one. After using this mask my skin looks fresh, radiant and feels baby-soft. 
The mask contains many great ingredients including green tea, wheatgrass, ginseng. eggs, papaya and kaolin clay.  It has a buttery, creamy and  smooth texture and and spreadable. And the scent is so fresh and green 'grassy' and very natural and pleasant.

MAC Cream Colour Base - Review

 Versatile and multi-purpose, Cream Colour Base can be applied directly to bare skin, or layered over foundation, moisturizer, or powder.  It can be applied with a brush, sponge, or fingers. Colour effects range from a light veil to highly dramatic, depending on method of application.

 I adore MAC’s color cream base, they really bring whole another dimension and glow to my makeup routine and make me feel like I'm a Victoria Secret model.  They are very creamy and not really long lasting, so I wouldn’t recommend applying these onto your eyelids, but they look great applied onto the cheekbones, down the brim of the nose, above the cupids bow and on the inner corner of the eye. The result is a fresh and dewy make-up look.  I recommend the use of a  powder foundation or any other oil absorbing powder before applying the Cream Colour Base.

Check also my latest YouTube video featuring MAC Colour Base in Pearl and Shell. 

Mac Cream Colour Base in Pearl

MAC Cream Colour Base in Pearl is a nice champagne shade that would suit best on paler skin tones.

Mac Cream Colour Base in Hush

MAC Cream Colour Base in Hush is a peachy,cream shade with a fine shimmer and I would recommend  it for any skintone.

Mac Cream Colour Base in Shell

MAC Cream Colour Base in Shell is cool pink shade with white frosty shimmer. Would recommend using it under a cream blush as a base rather than as highlighter. It has to be applied carefully in the day time, while it can be applied more generous at night.

Mac Cream Colour Base in Impropper Copper

MAC Cream Colour Base in Impropper Copper  is a rich copper  shade mixed with gold . A great base blush for any coral or peach blush. Would look great as a blush on paler skin tones and makes a really great high lighter for darker complexions.

MAC Cream Colour Bases have been around for years, have you ever tried any of the colours? Liked it? Hated it? Please let me know!

xxx Marina

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How to darken red lipstick

Have you ever been on a look-out for that perfect deep red or burgundy lipstick shade and no lipstick in the world could fit the bill? Don’t despair, here is a step-by-step tutorial how to darken red lipstick. All you need is the lipstick that you want to darken, black gel eyeliner or cream eyeshadow, lip brush and a palette (optional).

MAC lipstick in Ruby Woo - before and after

MAC's Embrace Me lip pencil and MAC Absolute Power lipstick - Review

I must admit that I wasn't to crazy about the MAC's Strength Spring 2013 Collection. I think the promotional shot with Jelena Abbou, a Serbian-American IFBB Pro Figure competitor,  put me just bit off. The collection looked way to strong and to dark for my liking.  But two things really stood out for me: the Embrace Me lip pencil and  the Absolute Power lipstick.

 MAC Embrace Me lip pencil

 Embrace Me  lip pencil is not completely new, and it has been released few times over the couple years in various collections, but I just never got my fingers on it.  It's a beautiful vivid fuchsia, a truly unique shade.  The pencil glides on easily so long as your lips have been primed with foundation or lip primer. 
This is a perfect shade for bright pink lips as seen on Giles Spring 2013 Fashion Show. The key is to keep the face  clean and fresh and let the lips do the talking. This was one of  favorite make-up looks of the S/S 2013 season. 

MAC Lasting Sensation Lip pencil

MAC Absolute Power lipstick

Another favorite from MAC's Strength Collection is the Absolute Power lipstick. This is a rich deep pink-red with blue undertones and a semi matte finish. It looks very deep, almost burgundy in the tube but on the lips it's so bright,  rich and vibrant, perfect cherry red.  It is bit similar to Ruby Woo, only less matte and more creamy.  Really great shade for those little black dress occasions.

Did you get anything from the MAC's Strength Spring 2013 Collection?

xxx Marina

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NARS Light Reflecting Setting Powder in Chrystal

What NARS says about this product: "Light Reflecting Setting Powder enhances the look of foundation without a trace of color and prolongs makeup wear. This silky powder is infused with photochromic technology which diffuses light and adjusts to new sources of light throughout the day. Fine lines, wrinkles and pores optically fade as skin is visibly smoothed."

NARS Light Reflecting Setting Powder in Chrystal 

The Light Reflecting Setting Powder in Chrystal came out with NARS Spring 2013 line.The Packaging top is typical NARS sleek black matte compact that comes with a mirror inside. There is no sponge or poof included. It has no perfume or added scent; however, it does smell bit like cornstarch, but not offensive.

The powder has no color and it should be suitable for all skin tones. It also has no shimmer or sparkle, but it gives a soft satin matte finish with slight glow and it doesn't look all powdery and dry like some other powder do. It makes smaller pores and imperfections less visible and doesn't settle into my fine lines.It photographs beautifully and your skin will look like airbrushed, so whenever you are going to be in photos, you must must use this powder. Did I say must. Seriously.  

 It last very well though the day; my skin is more on the dryer side with an oily t-zone, and I have to say that the powder took good care or it and my t-zone did not shine. If you have really oily skin you might have to reply during the day though.
I picked the pressed version of the powder because it’s easier to carry around and less messy overall for everyday use, but will definitely check out the loose powders to at some stage.

This is my favorite setting powder at the moment and would recommend this product to everyone! 

Cost: € 32 in Ireland.

Have you tried NARS’ light reflecting setting powder yet? Liked it? Hated it? Please let me know!

xxx Marina

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Essence Sun Club Allover Shimmer - 02 brunettes miami heat

Essence Sun Club Allover Shimmer for eyes, face and body comes in 2 versions, for 01 blondes  Ibiza sun – lighter skin and 02 brunettes miami heat- darker skin. I bought the one for brunnetes 02 which is also for darker skin types and I also liked it better, because of its warmer hue. The Shimmer Powder can be used all year around as a bronzer, blusher, highlighter and eye shadow.
At first glance, they Shimmer powder reminded me of Bobbi Brown’s Shimmer bricks, only for a fraction of the price of course.  The packaging is see through and contains 6 shimmer stripes of lighter and darker bronzes, pink and a golden highlighter. The powder is soft and shimmery, and is  very pigmented  so you really need a light hand with these, otherwise you will end up with dark patches.

Catrice Multi Colour Blush in 060 Strawberry Frappucino

Catrice Multi Colour Blush in 060 Strawberry Frappucino comes in typical Catrice see trough packaging and contains four matte pink shades that complement each other.  I usually swirl all four colors together with a blusher brush and the result is a soft peachy pink with a hint of shimmer for a natural healthy glow.  The blush has a powdery texture, is reasonable pigmented and the color is definitely buildable. It stayed all day long on my cheeks, so staying power is quite good for a drugstore brand.  In my opinion, this is a great everyday blush and given the price of € 4.49 you can’t go wrong.

Catrice Multi Colour Blush in 060 Strawberry Frappucino

Tom Ford Beauty Eye Color Quad in Burnished Amber

Valentine's day Make-up look inspired by Gucci SS13

OK ladies, it's Valentine's Day approaching... again....  and it's all about love, romance and expressing appreciation for each other...  well, I guess that was once the case... nowadays, Valentine's is more about going out for a fancy dinner and expensive presents for most of the couples.  I never celebrate Valentines really, because I am of the opinion,  you should show your love and affection for your partner on a daily basis in small gestures, and be it just taking out the rubbish out or doing the grocery shopping for the week.  

  Nonetheless, I still wanted to show you some makeup ideas, that you could easily recreate for the most romantic day of the year. For the look below,  I was inspired by the Gucci Summer/Spring 2013 Show in Milan, where massive eyelashes and coral blush were paired with glowing complexion and nude lips.

 This is my variation of the  make up look, so I hope you like it. 

Bourjois Rouge Edition - Review

As a lipstick addict, I was very excited to hear that Bourjois had released new collection of 18 lipsticks. The collection is split into three lipstick families to suit all skin tones and tastes, namely; Preppy, Colour Block and Night Out.