MAC Alluring Aquatic Collection: Photos, Swatches, and Reviews

The MAC Alluring Aquatic collection is the summer 2014 MAC product line released in the Philippines last June. It comes with lipsticks, lipglasses, lip pencils, Extra Dimension Eye Shadows, Pearlglide Intense Eyeliners, bronzing powders, Extra Dimension Bronzers, Extra Dimension Blushes, nail lacquer, makeup brushes, and a makeup bag. Pretty extensive collection, if you ask me, not-to-mention aesthetically pretty too because of the limited edition teal packaging!

I got just a lipstick and an eyeliner, however, because the other products were either similar to a bunch of makeup I already have or just plain uninteresting to me. Scroll down to read my reviews!

MAC Mystical cremesheen lipstick and MAC Black Swan Pearlglide Intense Eyeliner

MAC Fantasy of Flowers Collection: Photos, Swatches, and Reviews

The MAC Fantasy of Flowers collection is MAC’s spring 2014 product line that was released in the Philippines last March, specifically on the day of the workshop with Ms. RB Chanco at SM Mall of Asia. The collection also included blushes and eyeshadow pots (some of which were featured on the previously linked post), but they didn’t interest me so I got just two of the lipsticks and one lip gloss, all of which I will be doing a review on below.

MAC Flare for Fantasy, MAC Heavenly Hybrid, and MAC Dreaming Dahlia

Guerlain Crazy Paris Eyeshadow Palette: Pictures, Swatches, and Reviews

If you can recall from around two months ago, I posted a photo of my Guerlain and MAC haul, which mostly contained items from Guerlain’s Crazy Paris Holiday 2013 collection. I never really got to doing reviews on the individual items from there (and of the rest of my makeup supposedly within the scope of my Holiday Haul 2013 blog segment), but it’s better late than never, isn’t it? 🙂

To kick off the continuation of the much-delayed blog segment, here’s a review post on the Guerlain Crazy Paris Eyeshadow Palette followed by an EOTD I did with it from a couple months back!

Guerlain and MAC Haul

Because I have yet to find time to write a full-fledged blog post on my MAC Technique Makeup workshop experience and my hair and makeup stint (thesis revisions at 10 in the morning OMG), here’s a pretty photo I took of my Guerlain Crazy Paris Collection haul + MAC mini haul from a few weeks back!

From L-R: Guerlain Crazy Paris Eye Palette, Guerlain Parure Gold in #02 Beige Clair, Guerlain Crazy 68 Terracotta Bronzer, Guerlain Crazy Champs Élysées Météorites Pearls, MAC Satin Lipstick in Twig, MAC Fluidline in Blacktrack, MAC Extra Dimension Skinfinish in Superb, and MAC Blot Powder in Medium.

The only items I’ve tried so far (excluding MAC Twig and MAC Blot Powder since I’ve had them before) are the foundation and the Météorites, because they’re the only products that would barely show wear on pictures and I haven’t shot the makeup individually (lol #erikaproblems). I will by the end of next week, though! Ah, I really can’t wait for school to be over!

Guerlain Haul: Photos and (Late) Announcements!

I had been planning to post about this for quite a while now (by quite a while, I mean almost a month) but I never really got to it because school commenced and lots of real-life drama (that I would much rather not talk about, thank you) occurred. Still, just in case you’ve been planning to get something from Guerlain Cosmetics and you’re a bit tight on funds, this post might be of use to you!

First, let me share a photo of my much-awaited Guerlain haul that I finally got last December 27 (I told you it was almost a month ago already). I’m currently working on my review posts about these and I’ll have them up before the weekend ends!

I got just the Guerlain Météorites Perles in 02 Teint Beige and the Guerlain Météorites Light-Diffusing Perfecting Primer! The rest were free samples c/o the lovely MUA at Guerlain Rustan’s The Beauty Source Makati.

Yep, you read that right—free Guerlain mascara (which I think is a full size if not a deluxe size sample) and powder foundation (which most definitely is a sample size)! I love that I end up friends with almost all the cosmetic boutiques I frequent. Yay for extra freebies, reservation privileges, and firsthand announcements of new products and exclusive sales!

Wish List Items Granted: MAC Stroke of Midnight Lip Bag in Violet and Urban Decay Naked 3 Palette

Three days ago, my aunt and cousin arrived from New York to celebrate my other aunt’s first death anniversary and New Year’s Eve with the rest of the family. I was really glad that they were coming home and all, of course, but the makeup junkie in me was most excited to get the MAC Stroke of Midnight Lip Bag in violet, which was a gift from my aunt, and the Urban Decay Naked 3 Palette, which I got shipped over to their place.

…I have yet to try them out, though, because I still haven’t taken photos of the items to post here on my blog! Here’s a photo I took from the day I got them, anyway. 😆

In the Philippines and interested in getting these goodies for yourself?

Wish List Item Granted: Guerlain Météorites Voyage Exceptional Pressed Powder (Photos, Swatches, and Reviews)

If you can still remember, some time last month I did a post on an extensive wish list of Guerlain Météorites products—it contained the Guerlain Météorites Perles, Météorites Voyage Exceptional Pressed Powder, and even the Météorites Brush. One Sunday a few days after that (or maybe weeks, lol I was so busy during the latter part of the term that I lost myself along the fabric of time), I finally got to go to Makati to do some shopping and pay Rustan’s Beauty Source a visit.

May I just say that the Rustan’s Beauty Source in Makati is my definition of heaven? Not only does it combine in one place all the luxury cosmetic brands scattered all over the metro—it’s also located right beside the other luxury lifestyle brands such as Tory Burch and the like! How I wish I lived near the area!

My haul from that day! Thanks, mom!

Anyway, drooling-over-life’s-pretty-little-things aside, the main reason why I was itching to go to Rustan’s Makati was because it was one of the very few Rustan’s branches that carried Guerlain cosmetics. I was a bit disappointed for quite a number of reasons, though: (1) they didn’t have the Crazy Paris collection during that time yet; (2) they didn’t have stocks of the Météorites brush; and lastly, (3) they ran out of the Météorites Voyage compact powder tester, meaning I was only able to test the Météorites Perles.

Regardless, I made a decision that day to wait out on my first loose Météorites Perles until the Crazy Paris collection was out, so I got the Météorites Voyage compact powder in Mythic instead—yay for my makeup bag cos it’s much more portable, but boo for my credit card bill because it’s around twice the price of the loose pearls. I know it’s refillable and all, and since I’m so obsessed with cosmetics it’s considered a good investment, but I swear the price is cray!

…no regrets, though. Matter-of-factly, I’m actually planning to visit Rustan’s Makati again soon to purchase the loose Météorites Perles and the brush I missed out on the last time (changed my mind—I don’t want the Crazy Pearls collection anymore), plus the Météorites primer I tried out on the same day (which should be another post entirely). 😆  #ErikaProblems #whydoineverlearn

Holiday Haul #3: MAC Stroke of Midnight Lip and Cheek Bag in Pink

Wow, I am lagging waaayyy behind schedule with my Holiday Haul blog segment! It’ll be Christmas in less than 3 days (here in Manila, at least) and I’m not even halfway done with the haul posts, let alone the swatches and reviews. Oh, and my aunt and cousin from the US will also be arriving 2 days after Christmas, bringing with them two of the items on my wish list—yet additional products to write about! To top it off, those do not even include the pending posts outside of this blog segment! OH MY GOODNESS I AM SO OVERWHELMED. 😯

Anyway, before I go into a complete psychotic meltdown, here’s Holiday Haul #3 for you all, and it’s (obviously) about the lovely MAC Stroke of Midnight Lip and Cheek Bag in Pink!

Korres Lip Butter Glaze: Pictures, Swatches, and Reviews

Hello-llo! I just submitted my last task for this academic term (which also happens to be my second-to-the-last term, hopefully) and I’m almost out of my wits trying to kill boredom, so… I guess this is the perfect time to make a comeback, yes? 😆

…anyway, for the first of waaaaay-too-many-to-count pending posts (if I strictly go by my schedule I think I would probably have 2 to 3 posts a day starting tomorrow onwards), I’m going to be reviewing the Korres Lip Butter Glaze that Natalie of Natzi’s Stash recommended me. I remember having seen her including it in a post about makeup recommendations, I think? I’m not really sure, but it doesn’t really matter—I’m just so glad she convinced me to try them out!

If there’s one thing new I learned about makeup and cosmetics this year that I value the most, it’s that “skincare is SERIOUS business.” You add an addiction to lipstick as bad as mine to the mix, and your lip care regime becomes as important, if not even more. Yep, that’s how big of a deal the kind of lip balm I use is—which explains why I am hardly ever content with the lip balms I’ve tried. I’ve used medicated Blistex lip ointment, ordinary Blistex lip balm, Labello (which I think is exclusive to Middle Eastern countries?), Nivea, Lip Smackers, GAP, multiple variants of Soft Lips lip balm, and Burt’s Bees Beeswax lip balm (my favorite to date, except it doesn’t have sunscreen and its too waxy that it feels like a minty version of MAC Prep + Prime Lip)… but I still can’t say I’m a hundred percent satisfied, so I was really excited when I read good reviews about Korres.

Holiday Haul #2: MAC Stroke of Midnight Viva Glamorous Lip Bag

The MAC Viva Glam collection is a usual favorite of longtime MAC fans, not just because of its showcase of the most timeless and glamorous lipstick shades (it isn’t called Viva Glam for nothing!), but also due to the funding it provides for one of the world’s pioneering charities dedicated to HIV and AIDS patients—the renowned MAC AIDS fund. It’s been around since 1994 (that’s the year I was born!) and has raised a staggering 270 MILLION USD to date by donating 100% of every Viva Glam lipstick and lip glass proceeds to charity. If that’s still not admirable (and a cause worth splurging for), I don’t know what is! 😉