I just wrote a whole review, and the comp froze, so here I am typing everything all over again...aye!
Soooo...today was interesting, I got a raise at work, which means more makeup! I am kidding! It's going into our savings for our new place!
MAC's N Collection came out today, and I was having the WORSE MUA's (makeup artists) to help me. I went to MACY's on my lunch break and wanted to purchase a few items from the collection and that MUA was apparently new and instead of making the effort to get the items I asked for, she simply throws her hands up and says that they are sold out and keep in mind it was only 12 NOON and the collection came out TODAY. No way it was sold out...she should have just been honest and said she was new and I would have asked someone else.
Then after work, I headed to the MAC Store at the other mall, and tried to use a gift card I got for Christmas and the MUA kept saying I had no money in there when I NEVER even used the card' till right then and there! I was irritated at the fact that she kept implying that I "must have used it", then she proceeds to tell me how to activate my card as if I never thought about that BEFORE I decided to use it...and she was Asian, for some reason, SOME Asian girls always give other Asian girls a hard time, verrrry weird. I worked in retail and I noticed that non-Asian people were super nice to me and would engage in conversation, while Asian girls (including old Filipino ladies) wouldn't even take the time to say hello or as much as a "thank you". I personally don't understand why some girls hate on each other in general, it's useless and a waste of energy. Everyone is different and people should just accept that. No wonder people commit suicide or have insecurities, us ladies should be rooting and helping each other out rather than beat each other down...just my opinion.
Anyway, on with my REVIEW! I wasn't entirely impressed by this collection, the LIPSTICKS were a bit too sheer for my taste, I had to swipe A LOT just to get some color on my skin, I am aware the collection is "natural and neutral", but at the same time I don't want to look washed out. I have two Milani lipsticks that are almost similar and they are awesome nude colors and of course affordable![swatches of these also below].
The eyeshadows are okay, however I have similar colors so I didn't bother getting any other than the "Modest Tone" and "Neutral Pink" (which was gorgeous when I swatched it on my hand, but on my actual eye, it didn't look so hot), so I might take that one back...the PAINT POTS are nice, specifically "Soft Ochre" which is the one I bought. Reminds me of my MAC Paint in "Chiaroscuro" with more of a yellow undertone.
I didn't do swatches of the entire collection because some lady was seriously hogging the whole thing! But you can find more swatches on Temptalia and Lynne's Blog.
Here is a comparison pic of "Painterly" and "Soft Ochre":
Milani Lipsticks also nude:
I also did some other shopping as well, got me some colorful hoodies from Forever 21 (and if you know me in person, you know that I LIVE in hoodies!), and also used the Sephora gift card my beautiful friend Chas gave me for Xmas to buy Philosophy's cleanser in "Purity" that my Anne has been raving about, as well as their "Hope in a Jar" moisturizer. So far so good, yes I will do a review on that as well.
Here is some of my loot from today:
Can you please give us a tutorial of how to use the mineralize skinfinish? That video of contouring was great. It would be great if you could do the same thing for the MAC mineralize skinfinish. I want to get it but I have no idea how to use it! Thank you!
ReplyDeleteThose stands look pretty cool, LOL
ReplyDeletei have a question! how good are the brushes from Elf.com????
ReplyDeleteYour MAC store is HUGE! Mine is nowhere near that big! Can't wait to see what you bought.
ReplyDeletelet me know how you like your philosophy purchase!
ReplyDeletefor some reason the e/s looks a bit drab and it looks like something that I have already from NYX. My funds are going to Fafi! I dont know i think i'm still getting something though. i need some sort of consolation/comfort prize for being a trooper for actually wanting to get my wisdom teeth pulled. haha. I'm thinking of the MSF skinfinish. I seem to only wear blush now a days anyway. I'm going prolly this weekend depending on how i feel. just because the mall is down the street from work and on the way home shouldnt mean that I should be there almost everyday hahaha. If not staying home and practice putting eyeshadow on hahaha.
anyways... it was nice talking to you again today! i suppppppperrrrrr miss you!!!
Most of the MAC girls here are like that, snobby and think they know everything, in fact they don't!
ReplyDeleteI dont think the collection has been released here yet, but im lemming on a few things!
Yea, I hate sucky MUAs at MACY's. The MAC girls at our block were very young but VERY friendly and helpful. The girls working at Shisheido were a whole different story, though. OMG I wanted to just SMACK some of the girls in the mouth for being so rude. I get so offended when sales associates don't go out of their way to make sure I'm having a good shopping experience.
ReplyDeleteI've always been tempted to get a paint pot or two but I don't know what color to start with, for one, and what brush to use it with. Any suggestions?
I dislike Mac MA's so much, they always ignore me...
ReplyDeleteI am glad to see a swatch of the new paintpot... I was planning to buy the Painterly (but I was ignored so I couldn't buy it), but I might wait for the Ochre one.
Happy Friday, Vanessa!
ReplyDeleteI completely agree - why do the Asian chicks have to be so mean all the time? Give up the love, sista, you're just as pretty as we are so don't hate! LOL
Thanks for your personal thoughts on the N collection, I'm going to check out the lippies and the MSFs since I've never tried them before and it appears that they are all the rave!
Cute hoodies too! Very colorful for this dreary weather we're having in San Francisco :(
Sounds like it was a "testing" day. Well all ends well and you're home with wonderful goodies to play with!
ReplyDeleteHave a great weekend!
Grayburn
I have two comments:
ReplyDeleteFirst, I stopped by my Macy's yesterday for the N collection and talked with the MAC artists and learned a few things. She said that she hadn't had training yet for this collection so she did not know much about the collection or the faces. The local MAC artists will not have training on the N Collection until late this month. So she told me to come back. However, I picked up a few colors just to play around at home with the face charts online.
Secondly, you comment above: "for some reason, SOME Asian girls always give other Asian girls a hard time." I've totally noticed the same thing. In fact, this happened at this particular MAC counter and the Asian girl barely gave me the time of day. A non-asian girl ended up helping me and I found her to be quite pleasant. Just thought I'd share...Thanks for all your hard work on this blog!
Babydollie- Hello! Unfortunately I don't have any of the natural MSF's, (much less to do a tutorial on it), but I would just take a buffing brush and just buffer it in like you would with powder foundation in circular, even motions.
ReplyDeleteJulie- HAHA I agree! The stands were really gorgeous! Even if you didn't want to buy anything it made you want to!
Sanypanties- Hot name btw! LOL, I don't like the ELF brushes too much, they are very cheap (not just price wise! haha), and I found them to not be as soft as some of the other "cheap" brushes I do have...
Lynne- Haha yeah some of the MAC Stores here in Cali are huge! It's what we wish we had in our room! HAHA
Anne banANNE! I missed you too! It was good talking to you on the phone yesterday! Yeah I will let you know how I like the Purity cleanser I have only used it twice so far..but I do like how it doesn't dry out my face. Yeah let me know what you get! We need to go and get the Fafi Collection together! Hope your braces aren't hurting you too bad or your wisdom teeth, let me know how the dentist went! I gotta get mine taken out too!
Elizabeth- Yeah it's weird how catty some girls can be...oOoh what are you thinking about getting?
Alienman- Yeah I wonder why some MUA's are like that!??? Makes me want to slap them too, it's like if you don't like your job and you're not happy then quit! HAHA I mean I am paying YOU, the least you can do is be courteous!
As for the paintpot, I really love "Painterly", I use it EVERYDAY as my base (thank God it's permanent and not LE), and as you can see from the swatches it's very natural and blends in with my skintone. I apply it using a damp concealer brush (taklon bristles), any will do, and by damp I mean I just spritz it with water to "smooth" it out on my eyelid, or use a makeup wipe over it give it a few rubs to soften the brush for application. I think you would love it! It's a great alternative to UDPP.
Lilan (Nilla Cookie)- Happy Friday beautiful! HAHA seriously, some girls are just a little crazy, drinking all that HATERADE LOL! Let me know what you escape with! The MSF's are gorgeous!
Grayburn- Isn't it fun swatching at the store? haha and you leave with makeup everywhere...have a wonderful weekend as well!
Free Time- yeah isn't that just weird how some gals are??? I think that's why most of my friends are guys, girls are a bit too much sometimes and can be backstabbing and ruthless! Yeah some Asian gals just gotta hate on other Asian gals, it's nuts. And thanks for the props! Let me know what you end up snagging from this collection!
I'll definitely let you know what I pick up - I'm thinking Nanogold and Neutral Pink. Your swatches look so pretty!
ReplyDeleteAlso, I wanted to ask if you had a suggestion for a black or dark gray shadow that's easy to blend. I like the Dark Edge swatch but some of the ones I've tried (can't remember which) are sort of matte and super hard for me to create a nice smokey look without looking like I just woke up or got beaten to death :(
Hi, you know that on some skins that purity mad simiple, gives rashes. I got some for my birthday, it was amazing cleanser but on me it made my face swell up. I never been allergic to anything other than cheap tinted moistsurer(spelt wrong) Hope it works on you .
ReplyDeleteHey girl. If I'm ever in So-Cal, I'm gonna hook with you so I can learn to take some pictures, hah. My lighting always gets washed out and no matter how many tutorials I read, there's something I'm just not doing right.
ReplyDeleteI don't ever remember the stores in San Jose being that big before I moved! And that's at a Westfield Mall! Our store here is dinky. But guess it don't matter cuz products are the same :)
And I am so over girls that are rude. I've worked retail for as long as I can remember, and I don't ever remember myself being rude unless the customer was just rude to begin with. And not really rude, just slim on information, lol. But seriously, I don't know why the workers take it so seriously. Like they're there to judge the people who stop by which determines IF they'll be nice to you. Riiight...
I am sorry you had a poopy experience! To be honest that's why I get most of my MAC online.
ReplyDeleteI have recently met a great MA at the Nordstrom near my home. She was very patient with my newbie questions. She half filipina and she picked up on my little 1/4 filipina status so we bonded instantly LOL!
I really like Philosophy's Purity, The Greatest Love and Great Mystery! They are my cold weather staple!
hey hunny bunny,
ReplyDeletei have also noticed the "asian mean girl" complex...what's up with that? Fortunately I do run into a lot of ppl who find out i'm filipino and then are usually nice...not usually makeup artists though, lol.
i love the ochre paint pot like you said! i'll be posting my review too...I think I'm amped b/c it's a new collection lol...it took a while for me to get used to the nude looks since i'm like rainbow bright over here...as far as nudes, I hardly have any in comparison! So...next, fafi here we come!
We have some sucky MAC MUA's in Sydney too. I've been to a few counters and everytime, it's the girls who ignore me and go along their merry way chatting but the guys are just super friendly! I rarely venture to a MAC counter though cos the Australian retail prices scare me away (we pay about DOUBLE the US price!!)
ReplyDeleteI'm getting the Light Flush MSF now and the Warmed MSF later. Do you think the Warmd MSF could be used as a bronzer or contour colour?
Milani Dolce Vita looks pretty!
I bought the Covergirl 'Parrot' dupe :D I had a seller quote me $30USD for postage, haha. I was just like, "HELLLL NO!"
Philosophy seems to get raves everywhere but I have really sensitive skin so I'm scared it might break me out. How do you find it?
Sorry for the long comment, LOL :D
vanessa!!! super congrats on the raise!! great review! i haven't been on your site in quite a while since my internet was down at home and i couldn't see your pics.. ahhh! how refreshing!
ReplyDeletei understand your frustration at the counter. it's interesting to hear you talk about how some asian women treat other asian women, as i often enough feel the same way with black girls... esp. ones that work at MAC and feel like they are the best thing since sliced bread! luckily it doesn't happen TOO often, but def often enough. i'm going to surprise them one day and come in with my brush belt, a little supply of wipes and possibly my own disposable lip brushes... and go at the collections LOL.. i get tired of vying for the attention to swipe a little blush, or get a little gloss, comparing and opinions! i wonder how the invite only MAC events are. are they more open to people really trying things for themselves or even more attention to a customer than a usual stop in the store? have you been to one?
great haul! no msf's?! i really think light flush is a collectors must have.
let us know how Purity works for you please :) i've been searching for a cleanser that'll clean throughly without drying out my skin.
ReplyDeletesorry to hear about your bad experiences with the MAs. I hate whenever I get bad MAs or MAs that obviously have no idea what they're talking about.
i'm curious about soft ochre, it looks like it'd be an NC version of Painterly, but i wonder if it'd be too yellow to use under blue eyeshadow?
Congratulations on your raise first of all! What a blessing! Hey Vanessa, I always read your blog and I really should make a habit of commenting more often.
ReplyDeleteI got nanogold e/s. I thought that was so pretty and it's a different kind of cream. I love the shimmer. I also got the N1 lipstick. I usually don't like my lips looking that bare but for some reason the frost in the N1 didn't make me look like I had no lips. So, I think it's a really good nude color. My favorite from this collection is the MSF LIGHT FLUSH! AHH! DO DIE FOR! Did you like those at all? I didn't see you swatch them.
hey Ms.Vanessa! i just received my sample kit of everyday minerals! i completely truly love it! the only flaw that i don't like about it is that it doesn't cover up my psoriasis thats on my forehead. but other than that, i love this product! thank you for the review on compairing bare minerals to everyday minerals. it helped me a lot on deciding which product i should try or at least take a risk with. thanks again!
ReplyDeleteYou guys are lucky to have nice MAC MA's ANYWHERE.. seriously here in tampa florida.. all of them are pretty bitchy, unhelpful, and unknowledgablE :X
ReplyDeleteand speaking on the asian girls being bitchy to other asian girls.... TOTALLY FEEL YOU ON THAT ONE.. they don't even know you and they're like so damn bitchy I thought it was just me that has dealt with soo many bitchy MA's or other asian girls hahah
how are u liking this so far? i've been using the whole philosophy makeup optional skin care kit for years now. I love it, but I'm really tempted to by some of the Arcona brand spa stuff that they have here. I had a facial today and I love how plump and supple my skin feels.
ReplyDelete