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

Guerlain Météorites Perles Light-Diffusing Primer: Pictures, Swatches, and Reviews

First and foremost, I have absolutely no excuses for abandoning my blog for more than a month. I just wasn’t feeling it, I guess? I wasn’t in the mood to take photos of my makeup; I wasn’t in the mood to write about makeup… heck, for a period of time I wasn’t even in the mood to put on makeup. You could say I was going through some stuff (disclaimer: I still am, but I just don’t want to neglect my blog any longer). Damn, I am horrible at this. 😆

On the plus side, though, I traveled a bit during my blog absence and it was an amazing experience. I’ll make sure to write about that, because I’d be dumb not to!

---

Anyway, here’s a makeup review I had been putting off for so long already—the Guerlain Météorites Perles Light-Diffusing Primer, a.k.a. the BEST makeup primer I have ever used!

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

Lime Crime Velvetines in Pink Velvet: Photos, Swatches, and Reviews

Hello from the perpetually missing-in-action beauty blogger! Long story short behind my long absence: my mom went home for a visit because I graduated from college (YES WOOHOO I AM NOW OFFICIALLY A BUM YAY [F]UNEMPLOYMENT), and I got lazy to update. I’ve taken lots of photos of the products I’ve been planning to post, though, and here’s the first batch of them!

You might have read my review of the first two colors of the Lime Crime Velvetines (if you haven’t, check it out here)—Red Velvet and Suedeberry—and I mentioned in that post that the Pink Velvet color had yet to come out. It was released during the Holiday 2013 season, I believe, and I was able to get my hands on them just last month, so… here’s the review.

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 Météorites Perles Illuminating Powder in 02 Teint Beige: Pictures, Swatches, and Reviews

Okay, it’s been 1 whole month into my (hopefully) last undergraduate term and I was able to publish just 1 post. So much for my 3-4 posts a week New Year’s Resolution! I really can’t wait to graduate already so I could finally focus on my hobbies for a change! 😦

Anyway, I don’t know if you’ve noticed but my posts have been mostly about Guerlain recently. I guess it’s because I finally got to drink the “Météorites Kool-Aid” and now I’m obsessed with the Météorites line? 😆 Which reminds me, I’m really sad I wasn’t able to make it to the Guerlain boutique at Rustan’s The Beauty Source in Glorietta before January ended—their MUA contacted me last week to notify me that selected items were on sale for 20% off until January 31, but I was too busy to pay a visit. Bummer. 😦 It cheers me up that there are still stocks of the Holiday 2013 collection, though! I’ll make sure to get the Champs Elysees Météorites Bronzer this February!

Before I ramble on about my future plans (that my academic affairs keep on hindering), let me tell you about how and why I finally got to understand the craze over the Guerlain Météorites through this review!

Happy Skin “Shut Up & Kiss Me” and “Get Cheeky with Me:” Pictures, Swatches, and Reviews

Around sometime last week (I think), I read a post by Carina of Softly Sometimes that featured a concealer by Happy Skin. I had never heard of the brand before that blog post, but I was really intrigued by it because her review began not-so-enthusiastically yet it still ended on a really positive note. Plus points because it was purchased from The Beauty Bar (which had a branches really close to where I live and where I go to school), so I promised myself I would get something from Happy Skin the next time I came across any of their branches!

…I think my friend-slash-thesis mate read my mind, though, because when he handed me his Christmas gift (we sort of came up with a Kris Kringle thing but since we were just 4 members in the group, we all bought gifts for everyone instead), it was a gift bag from The Beauty Bar. I didn’t think it would be anything from Happy Skin since The Beauty Bar carried a lot of other more well-known brands, so imagine how surprised and happy I was when I opened it! The lipstick (more like lip crayon, actually) and blush came in really lovely pink hues that perfectly suited my skin tone, too (or so I’d like to believe). Thanks Arty! 😆

Now, I have been a fan of NARS cosmetics for quite a while now and I can say I’m really used to their rather naughty yet reasonable product names (e.g. Orgasm powder blush for that post-orgasm glow, Deep Throat powder blush for… yeah that, and others LOL), but the names of the items I got are entirely different things altogether—they’re flirty in a cute, teenage, butterflies-in-your-stomach kind of way, unlike the sultry effect achieved by the NARS products we all know and love.

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.