Lips: MAC's Lipstick in "Lavender Jade" (LE) [MAC x Bao Bao Wan 2015] + A Comparison

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Next, I've decided to review "Lavender Jade."

Purple used to be my favorite color. I guess I'm glad it isn't anymore, because there is just something about limited edition purples from MAC that make them highly coveted - these lavenders especially.

"Lavender Jade" is the reason I classify the Bao Bao Wan release as one of the most chaotic, frustrating releases I've ever experienced from MAC. This particular color was gone in an instant at nearly every retailer. By chance I happened to read that a Nordstrom in California was taking preorders over the phone and I thought I'd try my luck. Somehow it all worked out and I ended up with my tube of "Lavender Jade."

One of the big questions surrounding this color that I also felt compelled to ask was how closely it compared to the only other MAC lavender that I own, "Dodgy Girl" from the Osbourne collection last year. For some "Lavender Jade" seemed more of a true lavender, while for others it was simply "Dodgy Girl" in different packaging. In the end I decided I would purchase the color and figure out for myself what the outcome would be. In the worst case scenario, I would end up with a backup to "Dodgy Girl," which is the only of its color that I own from MAC.

Lips: MAC's Lipstick in "Burmese Kiss" (LE) [MAC x Bao Bao Wan 2015] + Comparisons

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More often than not I find myself deciding what I should be doing, or arguing over whether I should be doing something or not when I have a list of other things to do. Right now, I should be packing for my flight on Wednesday, but truth be told I've been doing nothing. So I'm going to try now. I'm going to try to write as many of the reviews for this collection  as I can tonight.

I want to get this collection out of the way and move on to the next, which is already just as irrelevant but eh, it's either do it or don't. I don't want to fall into the latter anymore.

I have all four of the limited edition lipsticks from MAC's collaboration with Bao Bao Wan, and I decided to start with my review on "Burmese Kiss," which was the color I wanted the most.

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

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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.  

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.

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.

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.

Lips: MAC's Lipstick in "Pure Heroine" (LE) [MAC x Lorde 2014]

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Hi everyone. Today is the second to last day before my vacation starts, and while I'm excited, a plethora of things also makes me feel uneasy and stressed. I've been working a lot of hours and that plus my daily exercising has led to daily headaches, so I've been totally out of it. This post could have been written weeks ago, as the product I'm reviewing made it to my doorstep the first Friday of June. By the way, happy June everyone, and happy summer soon, too. We're in the year's gem month, which is already more than halfway over. (I'm biased; it's my birthday month.)

I saw Temptalia's review of this product in my Facebook feed before I even knew what collection it was from. I don't know or care about Lorde. The color, however, instantly caught my attention. I feel proud (and poor) to say that I love trying out all kinds of colors: purples, oranges, mattes, frosts, pastels, deep/rich tones, cool tones, warm tones - oh,  you get the point. I love being able to mold my appearance so that I can trick people into thinking I'm a certain kind of person, with a certain kind of style. I don't want anyone to know who I am - or maybe a human ditto* is exactly who I am.

*Pokemon reference. 

In any case, it turns out that "Pure Heroine" is one of the two items making up the tiny MAC x Lorde 2014 collection, which is apparently only available on MAC's website and in a very, very select few stores - I believe one or two of the three (is it three?) are located here in the disgusting city of New York. In saying that, I feel partially guilty for claiming my own from the online stock that people everywhere else have to fight through. Not that there was much fighting for this one. In fact, it's still in-stock on MAC's website at the time of this post.

So, let me refrain from making this introduction any longer and let's get to the review already.

Lips: MAC's Lipstick in "Dodgy Girl" (LE) [Sharon and Kelly Osbourne 2014]

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Hi! Tonight is turning out to be exceptionally creepy, and this week is the week that MAC's Sharon and Kelly Osbourne 2014 collection will be launching on more online sites, as well as in stores, so what better time than now to review one of the collection's limited edition lipsticks, "Dodgy Girl"!

I don't actually care about Sharon or Kelly Osbourne, or anything Osbourne-related for that matter. And as for the standard MAC lipstick, I'm indifferent towards the matte formula. Then there's the fact that many of the collection's lip products were either sheer and boring, or light and borderline paste-y. The Patentpolishes were more than I was willing to spend, and I wanted to pick up a lipstick, but I didn't know which one.

Okay, okay - let's step back a moment. MAC's Sharon and Kelly Osbourne 2014 collection is split into two halves: Sharon's collaborated products, and Kelly's collaborated products. Both had pretty face and eye products of which I skipped everything. As for lip products, Sharon had four limited edition colors in the newer Patentpolish formula while Kelly had four limited edition colors in the standard lipstick formula - three mattes and one satin. The satin, and the most wearable color of the bunch, was "Kelly Yum Yum," which I had no interest in because I not only own "Candy Yum Yum" but I own its much more comfortable, glossy counterpart, "Happy-Go-Lucky."

So what I did was settle on the most unique color of the bunch - a matte named "Dodgy Girl" - knowing very well it could possibly clash with my skin tone and/or take added effort to apply. Thank goodness neither happened! =D

Lips: MAC's Lipstick in "Goddess of the Sea" (LE) [Alluring Aquatic 2014] + Comparisons

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Review #2! The second lipstick I picked up from MAC's summer 2014 collection, Alluring Aquatic, is "Goddess of the Sea," a limited edition cremesheen. I was most excited for this lipstick, because I know and love the cremesheen formula and don't own many purple lipsticks.

I have to say, taking pictures for this review was a pain today, because the damn sun kept dipping in and out of the clouds. For a while I thought all the pictures I took would be of awful quality due to the darkness in my room. Hopefully you won't find them too disappointing, haha.

Moving along.

Lips: MAC's Lipstick in "Pet Me, Please" (Frost) (LE/Repromote) [Alluring Aquatic 2014] + Comparisons

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Hi again! Yesterday, I posted a sneak peak of the products I purchased from MAC's summer 2014 collection, Alluring Aquatic, and I mentioned that I would get the reviews up for the lipsticks as soon as possible. Well, today is the day! I'll be starting with the lipstick that I tried out first, "Pet Me, Please."

"Pet Me, Please" was released once before with MAC's 2010 Fabulous Felines collection. I was not even using makeup at the time, so I can't comment on that collection or the performance of the original "Pet Me, Please." I simply want to point out that this color is not brand new, though it is limited edition once again.

"Pet Me, Please" is the second lipstick I purchased from MAC in the frost finish, and I was reluctant to purchase it originally because of that. I haven't reviewed my first frost-finish lipstick but, in a nutshell, it can feel quite drying on my lips, which sucks since I'm not a fan of layering lipsticks. I was afraid "Pet Me, Please" would follow suit.

Thankfully I was in for a pleasant surprise!

Lips: MAC's Lipstick in "Hoop" (Satin) (LE) [By Request 2014] + Comparisons

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Hi! This past Tuesday, MAC released their spring 2014 By Request collection. "By Request" collections are essentially collections made up of previously released products that are voted to come back for a limited time due to popular demand. MAC offers a choice of products to vote between, and then the products with the top votes become part of the collection. This time around, the products were all colors released in the '90s (yay!), and the collection is exclusive to MAC's website. No in-store try-it-before-you-buy-it here.

I didn't know anything about this collection, nor did I vote for any of the colors (or hear about them, really). Honestly, I didn't learn anything until just over a week ago. As usual, I was mainly drawn towards the lipsticks, and of the three that were voted highest, the only one that caught my attention was "Hoop," which was apparently first released during a 1991 collection (my birth year). This might be lame, but I do find that pretty cool.

Anyway, I got my package in the mail yesterday and have worn the lipstick since, so I thought I'd share my thoughts on a limited edition item early for once. I also decided to include a comparison to two other lipsticks that I already have, for those interested in other choices with similar colors.

A Quick Comparison: Maybelline Vivids "Fuchsia Flash" Vs. "Electric Fuchsia" (LE)

Hi everyone. :) Here's another quick, swatch-only kind of post - focusing on Maybelline LE spring Color Goes Electric products again, too. I feel odd posting this since I haven't written an actual review on the Maybelline ColorSensational Vivids yet, but in the end the purpose of this post is to provide a quick visual for those who are unsure whether or not a particular LE Vivid from the spring collection is worth purchasing. In this case, that LE Vivid is "Electric Fuchsia."

Lips: Maybelline Baby Lips LE in "Yummy Plummy" and "Melon Mania"

One of my earliest reviews on this blog was my post on the Maybelline Baby Lips, where I wrote about and shared pictures of colors from the permanent line (excluding "Quenched") and two of three limited edition shades at the time (the third excluded being "Pink Wink"). Well, I finally came across the two newest limited edition shades - "Yummy Plummy" and "Melon Mania" - at my local Rite Aid. I picked both up for two reasons: (1) they were BOGO50%, and (2) I instantly fell in love with the radiant pink that peeked through the clear cap of "Melon Mania."

This review will focus on the colors and scents of these two products, as well as provide comparisons between these LE colors and permanent/other LE colors from my previous review that they remind me of. For details on the product overall (consistency, wear, etc.), please refer to the previous review here.