MAC's Bao Bao Wan Sneak Peek

PURCHASED

It feels like forever since I last wrote about a MAC collection. Trust me - they've been coming out and I've still been purchasing things here and there from them - I just haven't been on top of my reviews. To be honest, this Sneak Peek post really feels like a waste of time, because the products I purchased from MAC's Bao Bao Wan collection - the collection's lipsticks - are mostly sold out, both online and at MAC counters.

MAC has this obsession with making limited edition products extremely limited, and I have to say the company's collaboration with jewelry designer Bao Bao Wan was perhaps the most limited collection I've personally experienced to date. First the online release was pushed back, then it magically launched online for retailers that were supposedly not receiving the collection, then people were able to order products before they officially launched at one of said online retailers, then MAC released the collection one day earlier than officially announced on its own site...people were placing phone [pre]orders at counters, counters were sold out before the doors opened, shipments were never received...have I traumatized you yet?

It was insane. The true center of all this chaos was one particular lipstick, "Lavender Jade," which I somehow managed to purchase [over the phone from a store across the country]. It shouldn't come as much of a surprise, then, that I don't have the lipstick yet to share with you. I wouldn't even be surprised if it never made it here, LOL.

Anyway, what I do have to share quickly with you today are the collection's other three limited edition lipsticks: "Forbidden Sunrise," "Burmese Kiss," and "Romantic Breakdown." Let's sit back and enjoy those, then, right?

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.

Lips: Maybelline's Color Elixir by Color Sensational in "Radiant Bloom" (LE) (Spring 2014 Dare to Go Nude)

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Hi everyone! I wasn't sure what post I wanted to write today, but after some thought I decided to test out a new product I picked up this week. I don't like writing reviews on products I try for the first time the same day - mostly because I can't discuss how long they last or how well they perform. This time around, though, I realized a thorough review wasn't necessarily required. Or possible, really.

Maybelline's limited edition spring 2014 collection, Dare to Go Nude, is starting to pop up in the drugstores. What I mainly wanted from this collection was one of the Color Tattoo eye shadows, and I was thrilled to find all of the colors intact at my local Duane Reade. What I didn't expect to pick up, though, was one of their limited edition Color Elixirs in "Radiant Bloom."

Color Elixir by Color Sensational is a new-for-2014 addition to the permanent Maybelline line, and one that I didn't plan to try. I used to be all about lip gloss, but lipstick is my new thing. And I rarely, if ever, find myself purchasing a lip gloss, regardless of how new or exciting it will be. Why? Because I simply won't use it enough.

But when I saw "Radiant Bloom," the only thing that could happen to make me buy a lip gloss was exactly what happened: I saw a color so gorgeous and so up-my-alley that I decided I'd wear it just for that. I've been hearing good things about the Color Elixirs lately anyway, so it couldn't hurt to have one, right?

Right?