I think I've already talked about this blush once before, but I wanted to give you guys a swatch and review of the my very first MAC blush ; Peony Petal. 

I originally went into the MAC store to purchase their Melba blush. I've been eyeing it down for quite some time now, and it is pretty much the prettiest soft peach colour ever. 

However, the day I went in, they were actually fresh out of the Melba blush in pan form, so I decided I would pick up a different blush for the time being, just because I didn't want to leave the store without a buying something. It was just one of those days.

Peony Petal caught my eye because it looked very bright and daring in the pan, but when swatched, was actually a very soft barbie doll pink blush. One of the MAC girls applied it with a blush brush on the back of my hand and showed me how different it could look when lightly applied and heavily applied. It was definitely not what I went into MAC to buy, AT ALL, but my justification was "why not buy something that's different from all the other blushes you own."

Not a bad justification at all, but the only problem with that, is that I don't reach for this blush very often. 

Here's it swatched on the back of my hand. I really tried to swatch it nice and hard for this photo, so you could see it's true colour on my skin. But usually when I use it, I don't ever apply it so heavy-handedly, so it actually comes off as a soft rosey cool toned pink. 

I think this blush would look even better on someone with fairer skin than me, but even on my very yellow skintone, it gives off a nice soft glow. 

This blush isn't as creamy or as pigmented as some of the other blushes I own, but that's actually fine for the blush that it is. Because it is such a bright colour, it makes it a lot more wearable due to the fact that it's not super pigmented. I would have to be a lot more careful applying it if it was. It is a little on the chalky side, but it isn't something that is hard to deal with, and you can tell that it is still a very high quality blush.

I definitely don't regret buying this blush, but I don't reach for it as often as I would like, when spending 20 something dollars on a blush. 

It works well as a spring time / summer time blush because of it's bright dolly pink nature. Even in the winter, applied lightly to the tops of the apples of your cheek, it could give a very nice "I was just outside in the snow" look. 

More soon, 

This past Christmas, for my student club secret santa event, I received my very first MAC lipstick. Being the makeup obsessed freak that I've become in the last couple of years, it's a big surprise that I never went out and splurged on a MAC lipstick. Yes, I say splurge, even though these lipsticks don't cost nearly as much as some of the higher end lipsticks out there ($18). But still. I live on a very tight, measly little hostess budget. Especially with the taxes and gas price in Vancouver.. I think I'm just going to stick with buying 6 dollar lipstick from Walmart. It's true what they say though, you really can't judge something unless you've tried it. And honestly, I haven't even had the chance to wear this lipstick yet... but just holding the slick black tube in my hand... swatching it over and over, taking photos and admiring it... I've already fallen in love. 

Something about a MAC lipstick just feels so... right. It was pretty much love at first touch. 

The one that I received was MAC's classic matte red lipstick, Ruby Woo. I was absolutely lusting over the Ruby Woo variation that came in the rose gold packaging for Rihanna's line with MAC, but I heard it was pretty much the same lipstick, just in a different tube. 

Usually I don't tend to gravitate towards the matte lipsticks just because I've been cursed with super disgustingly dry and chapped lips most of the time. However, because it is a MAC lipstick (something a little more special and luxurious than my average drugstore lippie) I'm sorta glad I got a matte one. It seems to make it more special, and it's something that I probably won't wear as often.

Which to me, isn't necessarily a bad thing. It just means I'll have this pretty little thing for longer.

Anyways, when I first swatched it, I was actually a little surprised. In the tube, Ruby Woo looks like a very classic blue-toned red. But swatched on my hand (and maybe it's because of my skintone?) it turned out to be a brighter, more warm-toned (almost orangey) red. Like I said, I haven't gotten the chance to wear this lipstick yet, so I don't know what it'll look like on, but from the swatch above, you can see that it doesn't come out as cool-toned as you think it would. 

So what's the first thing I do after swatching this lovely new baby of mine? Try to find a color dupe in my collection.. DUH. 

So here is my little collection of red lipsticks. I don't have that big of a variation in brands, but as you can see, I still have quite a few reds. 

So from left to right in the above pictures I have : 

Wet N' Wild - Red Velvet

Maybelline - On Fire Red

MAC - Ruby Woo

Wet N' Wild - Stoplight Red

Maybelline - Red Revival

So here are the swatches for all the above lipsticks. Please ignore my dry hand. It's going from winter to spring here in Vancouver, and usually when the season changes, my body goes absolutely bonkers and completely dries. Don't ask me why, I have no idea. It just happens. 

So the swatch at the very left is Red Velvet by WnW. I thought that Red Revival (the swatch at the bottom) would be the closest to Ruby Woo when I first glanced at it, but it turns out Red Velvet turned out to be a much closer match than Red Revival. Stoplight Red (the one at the top) also matches pretty well but I still think Red Velvet is the closest. Other than the texture and finish of the lipstick (Red Velvet is creamier, and more moisturizing) it would actually be a pretty good dupe for MAC's infamous Ruby Woo. 

How are you liking the qualities of these pictures by the way? I've been playing around with my friend's T3i and I've been absolutely loving it. I'm planning to take some of my saved up chinese new years money and buy myself one ! I'm going to be using the T3i to film a make video soon too to see how it works in the video department but so far I am adoring this camera. Get ready for some way better quality pictures for this blog.

Hope you guys are having as great of a day as I am.

Talk soon, lovers. 

(left to right) Daddy's Little Girl, Ronnie Red, Boyfriend Stealer, Mall Madness, Strawberry Malt, Feelin' So Good.

Here's my FOTD for the first day back ! decided to rock a darker lip with a really simple eye. I really wanted my lips to stand out and it did, (: loved it. Anyways, here you are ! 

Maybelline Color Sensational Lipstick in Deepest Cherry

Too Faced Natural Eye Palette - Honey Pot & Cocoa Puff

So this is the picture I was inspired by. I love looking through tumblr for inspirations for looks since there are so many to choose from.