Lips: MAC's Lipstick in "Damn Glamorous" (LE) [The Matte Lip 2014] + A Comparison

PURCHASED

Oh my God - HOW DO YOU WRITE REVIEWS AGAIN?

Maybe just kidding. (What does that even mean?)

Once upon a time, MAC released a collection called The Matte Lip, that came with seven new and limited edition lipsticks, of which I purchased three, two that are reviewed here and here, before purchasing a fourth that I'm reviewing today (before the third of the first three). Did I lose you yet?

Fun fact: The Matte Lip marks the third collection from MAC from which I purchased four lipsticks. The other two are A Fantasy of Flowers and Playland.

Second fun fact: The four lipsticks I purchased each from the three collections were all the same finish, per collection. The four from A Fantasy of Flowers are all lustre, the four from Playland are all amplified, and the four from The Matte Lip are all matte.  

Third and final fun fact: Playland is, without a doubt, the winner of all three collections ("Toying Around" should have been backed-up twice, at least, instead of not at all), but The Matte Lip is, also without a doubt, the runner-up thanks to "Damn Glamorous."

If I never got to the third fact, the "fun fact" tangent I started would be 100% unrelated rather than 66%. Numbers.  

The IceBlock [23]: Happy Belated Thanksgiving + A Milestone

Holy Wow (Maxi), here I am writing again. I'M JUST UNSTOPPABLE!

Okay, okay, I'm still a little...off, lol, since I pulled my all-nighter. 1 A.M. to 7 A.M. this morning, sprinting to finish my 50,000 words for NaNoWriMo but, even bigger than that, sprinting to finish.

I actually felt myself wanting to cry a little this morning when it was all done.

If you see my word count near the top right (or perhaps directly to the right of this post at the time it is published), you'll see that I just barely finished my 50,000 words. 50,015 was my validated count. NaNoWriMo goes through to the 30th, so I technically still have today to write even more for my novel, and in previous years I have continued writing through to the end, and beyond for a week or so. But this year it's not even possible, because my novel is done.

Tag: One Lovely Blog Award

Hello everyone! Hope you are enjoying your weekend. I never get tagged for anything, mainly because I'm usually just the follower that's lost in a group of hundreds of others, but Mel from I'm Not a Beauty Guru was sweet enough to think of my blog and tag me. Thank you again, and for those reading, do check out her blog. :)

I would explain the tag more but there is a set of guidelines already in place that does the explaining, so here are said guidelines as follows, albeit slightly modified:

1) You must display the award logo at the top of the post! 
2) You must thank the person who nominated you.
3) You must add this set of rules to your post so that your nominees will know what to do.
4) You must add 7 facts about yourself into the post.
5) You must nominate other blogs and leave links to each of them in your post! 
6) You must let the people who you have nominated know that they've been nominated!

There was a seventh rule about following the person who nominates you, but I deleted it because I could never, ever expect that of anyone. I don't even really advertise my blog because...I don't know...I feel like people who find pleasure in reading it will come of their own will. It has to do with how I am personally. Maybe because I'm a loner, and used to not having friends, but I feel like a bother asking anything of anyone, lol.

...Should that count as a fact?! Sure, why not. That's fact (1). Now for the rest!

Lips: MAC's Lipstick in "Styled in Sepia" (LE) [The Matte Lip 2014]

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Hi! Can you believe Halloween is in less than 2 weeks? October has been flying by for me..and with it, so is the decent weather. And the sunlight. The precious sunlight.

I really wanted to review "Fashion Revival" for you today, or both that and "Styled in Sepia," but it's already 9:15 and I didn't realize that the pictures for "Fashion Revival" have yet to be edited. It looks like "Styled in Sepia" is next on the list, then, not that that is a bad thing. "Styled in Sepia" is one of my favorite lipsticks from this collection. 

Which brings me to the fact that I purchased one more, "Damn Glamorous," which I probably won't be able to take pictures for until Saturday, if luck is on my side and, with it, the sun.

Really, though, let's talk about "Styled in Sepia." Let's talk about the collection's brownest lipstick, since I just said in my last post that brown is my least favorite color family for lipsticks. Remember? =D

Lips: MAC's Lipstick in "Pander Me" (LE) [The Matte Lip 2014]

PURCHASED

Hi everyone. Sorry for the delay - remember when I said I had a sinus infection a couple of weeks ago? Well, for the past week my mom has had fever on and off, and she was finally diagnosed with bronchitis after seeing two doctors. Isn't fall in New York the greatest thing?

Anyway, if you saw my sneak peek post regarding MAC's The Matte Lip collection, then you know that I purchased three of the seven limited edition lipsticks that launched with it, amongst other products. Today, I'm here to share my first of three reviews related to this collection: my thoughts on the lipstick "Pander Me."

In my sneak peek post, I mentioned how "Pander Me" wasn't actually my own pick when I placed my order for part of the collection two weeks ago. It appealed to me at first, and then it didn't, and then it did again and didn't again, et cetera. Even now I can say that if my mom hadn't picked this lipstick, I still wouldn't have had second thoughts about it based on continuously emerging reviews and swatches across the web. Yet here it is with me, and here I am with you to say what my thoughts about this color all amount to.

Let's get right to it, then.

MAC's The Matte Lip Sneak Peek

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Hi everyone! Today's post is going to be a quick look at the products I purchased from MAC's newest collection, The Matte Lip. The collection just launched online this past Thursday and my order was delivered Friday evening. Between the fact that the weather has been moody and the fact that the lipsticks I picked up are, well, matte, I was only able to take pictures for reviews for two of the three that I purchased. If I was able to get all three done, I wouldn't even bother with this but, clearly, that wasn't the case.

The Matte Lip features eight lipsticks - seven limited edition shades and one from the permanent line - as well as permanent additions to MAC's line of Pro Longwear lip pencils and blushes. Not surprisingly, the three products I picked up were three lipsticks, and all three are limited edition shades.

So, for the sake of providing hopefully helpful images while they still are helpful (you know, before stuff sells out), I have for you quick swatches of the three colors I picked up: "Pander Me," "Fashion Revival," and "Styled in Sepia." 

Lips: MAC's Lipstick in "Lingering Kiss" (LE) [A Novel Romance 2014] + Comparison

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Hi everyone. I guess you could say I've had quite a rocky start to my new job, based on my last post. Then, this past Saturday, I caught the infamous sinus infection that I've managed to avoid for almost 2 years. I'm on a roll. I feel like my "strongest" week was two weeks ago...which was my very first week, when I was at the start of training.

This post - ugh, this poor post is so overdue. I'm sorry.

Today, finally, I'm reviewing the third and last lipstick of the three I picked up from MAC's A Novel Romance collection, "Lingering Kiss." I don't even know if this color is still available. It may be, but I'm honestly not sure.

Without wasting more time, let's move on to the review.

The IceBlock [22]: Fall In Every Sense

Hi everyone. Can you guess why I've been on the quiet side?

I feel like everyone wants to shout "Fall is here!" and start talking about change the second September rolls around. Maybe I fall into that category; maybe I don't. It's September 10 and fall begins on one of the month's nine 20's...

Regardless, this post is a lot about change, and also about things staying the same. It's about where I've been, and to reassure you that this blog is still my baby and that I continue to love writing and reviewing stuff. The quiet is temporary.

Lips: MAC's Lipstick in "Good Kisser" (LE) [A Novel Romance 2014] + Comparison

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Hi everyone. Happy Labor Day for those of you in the states, whether you're off or not (and if you are, then I hope you're enjoying your free day). I feel weird writing this review because if you read my last review from MAC's A Novel Romance collection, then you know I said I was passing on "Good Kisser" since I own "Red Balloon," a supposed dupe for it. I was also waiting for "Lingering Kiss" to arrive in the mail, which it has.

Well, I brought my tube of "Red Balloon" to a MAC counter where I knew "Good Kisser" was still in stock just over a week ago. I won't say how they compare - you'll see for yourself near the end of this review - but I did decide to pick up "Good Kisser," and I'm ready to review it for you today.

Sakamoto Maaya, Part 2 of 2: Replica (LE) Commentary

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Hello, hello. Right now I'm not home, and will in fact be out most of the day, but I've taken with me my wonderful laptop and pre-uploaded pictures for two posts. While I'm not sure if I'll be getting to the other one, at least I know that this one will be up shortly and my review of Replica complete.

Sakamoto Maaya's newest single, Replica, was released a week ago and I posted Part 1 - with pictures of and details regarding the limited edition packaging and first press bonus - of a 2-part review this past Sunday. Today I'm ready to get to the heart of my review in Part 2, where I'll be sharing my thoughts on the songs themselves - both the songs of the actual single and the songs from the limited edition mini live album.

Yes, I'll be reviewing all 8 songs.* Brace yourself.

*Don't worry, 2 of them are instrumentals. It'll still be long, just not that long!

Sakamoto Maaya, Part 1 of 2: Replica (LE) + External Bonus (08/20/14)

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It's that time again when I have a new release from Sakamoto Maaya, and I'm both extremely excited and once again anticipating the next one. The never-ending cycle...

Anyway, not even a month ago I wrote this post sharing some information regarding Sakamoto's newest single, Replica. This past Wednesday, 08/20/14, it was released, and my copy ~that I preordered a long, long time ago~ (not really - the end of June) arrived from CDJapan on Friday.

I've thought about it, and even though my last Sakamoto review - Be Mine!/SAVED - was a single post, I've decided to break this one up into two parts. The first - which you're reading right now - is about the limited edition single's packaging and any first press/external bonus(es), and the second will be my actual review of the songs on the single. I'm going to try to get Part 2 up later this week,  but for now let's enjoy some pretty pictures!

Lips: MAC's Lipstick in "Yield To Love" (LE) [A Novel Romance 2014] + Comparison

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Hi! Recapping on what I said in my last post, today (well, over five hours ago it became yesterday for Japan, but whatever) was the release of Sakamoto Maaya's newest single, and tomorrow is the store launch date for MAC's new collection, A Novel Romance. Last Thursday, the collection launched on MAC's website, and that's when I placed my order for the lipstick I'm reviewing in today's post, "Yield to Love." I'm actually getting one more lipstick from this collection at some point, but I'll talk about that near this post's end.

A Novel Romance features a slew of beauty products, but with regards to lipsticks specifically, a total of six limited edition lipsticks were released with it: "A Novel Romance," "Myself," "Good Kisser," "Hearts Aflame," "Lingering Kiss," and "Yield to Love" (the collection's only MAC-online exclusive). I picked up "Yield to Love" for two reasons: its cremesheen finish and its color which, on some bloggers, appeared to be a brighter, raspberry pink. 

On me, the color is actually not bright nor is it a raspberry pink. In fact, I think "Yield to Love" looks closer to the swatch on MAC's website - which most said was completely inaccurate - when I wear it than it does to swatches done by bloggers. That's an interesting statement to make, considering the fact that the swatch on the MAC website is actually pretty scary (and, in that sense, inaccurate still). 

So, with that being said, I hope that of all things in this post, my pictures are most helpful. 

FOTD: August 16, 2014

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Hello! Here we are nearing the start of another week, again, the never-ending cycle...but on the bright side, we have Sakamoto Maaya's Replica releasing Wednesday, and MAC's newest collection, A Novel Romance, launching in stores the day after that. So there's some change from the norm to be excited for.

Back in present-time, I have another FOTD post to share with you today, using a new eye shadow I received with the rest of my [first] order from Beautylish this past week. Inglot's 26 Shine was originally going to be the star of this look, and this post, but I ended up falling so much in love with every aspect of the finished look that I don't think any one product should get all the credit. Hence why I'm labeling this as a "FOTD" rather than an "EOTD" (face vs. eye for those not familiar).

In this post, I'll be listing the products used, and describing how I got the eye look. I'll also give a few different lip product options that I think may compliment this look (based off my stash of course), because that was the only aspect of the entire look that I wasn't completely set on. Ironically, haha.

Eyes: Milani's Bella Eyes Gel Powder Eyeshadow Swatches (8 Colors)

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Hi everyone. Happy Saturday! Today is the first day that's felt like a true [pleasant] summer day...and I spent it taking and editing the pictures for this post, which almost took forever but not quite. Don't worry, there were reasons I couldn't do much today to begin with. If you can't spend it outside, I guess it's best to be productive indoors, right?

I went back and forth trying to figure out how to introduce this new line of Milani eye shadows to my blog. I originally did a look with three of the colors and decided that I would use that look to create a review post. Then I did another look today using a fourth of the eight colors I own, and I wondered: would this technically have to turn into a review, too? But what about the other shadows used in the same look?

And then, what about the other four shadows from this line?

So, today, I decided to do a picture-heavy post that is not a review, but simply a close-up-and-swatch kind of post. Once I do looks using the shadows and/or review posts, I'll add them here as links for additional information per color. That seems like the best way to go about doing this. At least it seems that way today, haha.

EOTD: August 3, 2014

Hello! Here we are at the midpoint of another week, and I thought I'd share with you an eye look I did this past weekend. It was for the most part improvised, as I only knew that I wanted to use one shadow in particular, but I was fairly content with the finished look. My eye makeup techniques are still lacking but there is (I think) subtle improvement each time I go about doing it. The bulk of my struggles exist in the fact that my eye's crease...well...cuts itself. 

That probably doesn't communicate much. Sorry. 

The eye shadow I knew I wanted to use was "Bewitched" from Prestige's Total Intensity line. This brand - this line from it, specifically - has been getting an influx of attention lately, and what convinced me to pick up "Bewitched" was its duochrome nature. I simply adore duochrome shadows. 

Coming Soon: Sakamoto Maaya's Replica

AFFILIATE

Hi everyone! In honor of today being the first of August, I've decided to write a short post to amp up the excitement for Sakamoto Maaya's newest single, Replica, scheduled to release later this month - the 20th, to be exact.

This isn't really news, as most fans have seen information about this single circulating around the internet. The CD itself, both regular and limited editions, has been available for preorder from CDJapan since the end of June, too. I mainly wanted to document the information here on my blog for two reasons.

Stephen King: Mr. Mercedes (2014)

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Hi! This is a review that I've been dreading, simply because I finished reading the book over a month ago and...I don't know why I do this to myself. I mean, I know how it got to be this long since I've finished, but damn.

I've had this post saved at "Hi!" since...Thursday, I think. I didn't even know how to continue it, so I finally settled on just being honest, haha.

I have a love/like relationship with books by Stephen King. Some of his books fascinated and terrified me - such as my all-time favorite Duma Key and his more recent Joyland. Others didn't grasp my attention quite as much - such as Christine and Rose Madder. Regardless, whenever King has a new release, I always check out the book's promotional bite, curious to see what he's managed to come up with next and whether or not it's something I might enjoy reading. When it came to Mr. Mercedes, I knew in an instant that King wrote a book I would not just enjoy, but enjoy thoroughly.

Oh, I won't deny it: it's fun figuring out who the mastermind murderer is. I would know the fun in murder mysteries - Agatha Christie is one of my top favorite authors. But when a book's bite instantly introduces the murderer by name, and that book's author is Stephen King, well, you simply can't go wrong.

Lips: MAC's Sheen Supreme Lipstick in "Phosphorescent" (LE) [Moody Blooms 2014]

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Hi hi. Today I'll be reviewing the last of the three products I picked up from MAC's Moody Blooms collection, another Sheen Supreme lipstick in the color "Phosphorescent."

"Phosphorescent" was my first Sheen Supreme lipstick, though I previously reviewed "Moody Bloom" - the other of these lipsticks that I picked up from Moody Blooms - here. Inevitably, I reference "Phosphorescent" multiple times throughout that review, so if you've read that review already then you kind of already have an idea of my thoughts regarding this particular shade. This post will, of course, go into greater detail with "Phosphorescent" specifically, with the usual rundown of pictures.

So yeah - let's take a look at the infamous "Phosphorescent"!

Lips: MAC's Sheen Supreme Lipstick in "Moody Bloom" (LE) [Moody Blooms 2014]

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Hi everyone! In my last MAC post about the Moody Blooms 2014 collection, which I posted right before this one (here's a link anyway), I made an error and stated that I picked up two products only from this collection. I was thinking about my visit to the store when my boyfriend was here, during which I picked up "Artistic License" and "Phosphorescent." I totally forgot that I ordered another lipstick, "Moody Bloom," online. So why not review that one next?

"Moody Bloom" is one of six limited edition Sheen Supreme lipsticks that released with Moody Blooms. Sheen Supreme lipsticks are a different line of lipsticks from MAC's regular "lipstick" category, and the second different line of lipsticks I've tried from MAC (the other being the Huggables, which I've yet to review). I'll go into what MAC's claims are for the Sheen Supreme line but, for now, I thought I'd mention that I originally planned on skipping all of these lipsticks because I heard many people describe the Sheen Supreme formula as being greasy/messy, which I don't find very appealing.

To be realistic, I only originally purchased "Phosphorescent" for that reason. Ordering "Moody Bloom" online, then, says what I thought after all about the Sheen Supreme formula.

Eyes: MAC's Eye Shadow in "Artistic License" (Veluxe Pearl) (LE) [Moody Blooms 2014] + Comparison

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Hi! I'm finally back, and I apologize for not posting reviews in a long time. I'm glad to be writing again, though, and have a lot of reviews that are due, so let me get to the topic of this post.

Also: I know, I know, for some of you I may be wearing a target on my back. When will you review makeup that ISN'T from MAC?! I still buy outside of MAC, but they do produce my favorite lipstick formula(s), and they happen to be releasing a lot of collections that I've purchased products from. I realize the imbalance between makeup brands in my reviews (and the imbalance between general categories in my reviews, hah), but do rest assured: my blog is not going to become MAC-exclusive, or even makeup-exclusive. I kind of just review what I'm using, or reading or listening to, as it comes.

Of course I bring that up because today's post, and the one planned to go up next, both have to do with MAC products. Both are products from one of MAC's recent collections, Moody Blooms, which was released the very end of June. This post will be focusing on the limited edition eye shadow that I picked up, "Artistic License," with the addition of a swatch comparison to a cheaper option I noticed in my collection.