Naturally, I’ll have to update this as I get more shadows… not planning on buying any soon, but things like that always end up happening

My “Highlights/Light” Palatte

Row 1: Retrospeck, Solar White, Grain, Nanogold, Photorealism
Row 2: Vanilla, Vex, Naked Lunch, Creme Royal, Ricepaper, Phloof! (in pot)
Row 3: Orb, Shroom, Rice of Spring, Cloudburst, Dreammaker

My “Brown #1″ Palette

Row 1: Espresso, Cork, Soft Brown, Omega, Copperplate
Row 2: All That Glitters, Mulch, Cosmic, Amber Lights, Expensive Pink
Row 3: Honey Lust, Woodwinked, Satin Taupe, Bronze, Tempting

My “Brown #2″ Palette

Row 1: Sweet Chesnut, Sketch, 100 Strokes, Glamour Check!, Twinks
Row 2: Embark, Spiced Chocolate, (empty), Quarry, Haux
Row 3: Lucky Tom, Magnetic Fields, Patina, Club, Saddle

My “Purple #1″ Palette

Row 1: Fertile, Indian Ink, Top Hat, Well Plumed, Satellite Dreams
Row 2: Violet Trance, Stylin’, Parfait Amour, Beautiful Iris, Digit
Row 3: Dovefeather, Hypnotizing, Shale, (empty), Fig. 1

My “Purple #2″ Palette

Row 1: Creme de Violet, Lotusland, Petal Worship, Mancatcher, Up At Dawn
Row 2: Hepcat, Romping, Stars N’ Rockets
Row 3: Trax, Star Violet

My “Green #1″ Palette

Row 1: Newly Minted, Gulf Stream, Steamy
Row 2: Swimming, Bio-Green, Lime, Bitter, Lucky Green

My “Green #2″ Palette

Row 1: Plumage, Bottle Green, Grey Range, (empty), Mink & Sable
Row 2: Humid, One Off, Urban Decay Vert, (empty), Henna
Row 3: Greensmoke, Image Maker, Fresh Approach, Aquavert, Warm Chill

My “Pink” Palette

Row 1: Pink Freeze, Sweet Lust, Slip Pink, Yogurt
Row 2: Passionate, Sushi Flower, Budding Beauty, Sunset B, Swish

My “Blue” Palette

Row 1: Deep Truth, Freshwater, Electric Eel, Parrot, Moonflower
Row 2: Felt Blue, Fade, Cool Heat, Atlantic Blue, Climate Blue
Row 3: Aquadisiac, Too Dolly, (empty), Birds & Berries, Contrast

My “Red/Orange/Yellow” Palette

Row 1: Red Brick, Orange, Firespot, Courage, Paradisco
Row 2: Coppering, Cranberry, Seeds of Love, Brash, Off The Page
Row 3: Chrome Yellow, Gorgeous Gold, Rated R, Goldmine, Bright Sunshine

My “Black/Gray/Silver” Palette

Row 1: Beauty Marked, Pandemonium, Knight Divine, Electra, Idol Eyes
Row 2: Typographic, Nehru, Carbon, Stately Black, Scene
Row 3: Smoke & Diamonds, Silverthorn, Cumulus, Bough Grey, Silver Ring

My “White” Palette

Row 1: Crystal Avalanche, Chill
Row 2: (empty), Gesso

As you can notice, some of my shadows are rather beat up. Accidents aren’t fun

I think I might put Phloof! in the white palette when I depot it since there’s an empty space in it.

Yay for my collection!

I ordered:

MAC 15-pan palettes are DVD-sized, and fit the rack perfectly. It’s designed to store things vertically, but I prefer my palettes to remain horizontal, so I had to buy some “grippers” to put on the side as the ones on it were for the vertical orientation. The acrylic is think and sturdy, definitely blowing my old flimsy DVD-turned-palette-display out of the water.

The desktop organize is perfect for all my liners, mascaras, brow products, etc. I bought some small stones for the bottom so everything would stick upright in it. Like the DVD rack, it is good quality and sturdy. It also fits perfectly on top of the DVD rack!

Before tax and shipping my order was about $18 total! I think that is totally reasonable for quality storage items. The Container Store was doing a 20% off sale deal.

Now for pictures of how I stash the stash!

I use to use a Caboodles traincase, but being semi-lazy and having a growing collection, that really did not work out. I would never put stuff back in it, and then I started to have too much stuff to fit into it. I still use it for traveling, and for storing old makeup (like my ancient Mary Kay stuff) while at home. So I graduated to a shelf on the wall, which I stacked all my palettes on. Then I saw people using DVD racks and found a rather flimsy wire one at Walmart. I was constantly worried about it getting knocked over, and I saw people on specktra.net using Container Store stuff, so I decided to check them out. The rest is history as they say!

That’s my counter top! That is all my MAC/makeup, besides my Hello Kitty tote bags (the free ones given out with purchases at the release) that hang on the wall that has empties and random packaging in it, and my brush roll (empty) that is on a shelf. It seems like I don’t have very much at all since it fits in such a small space!

The desktop organizer and the products! And my glasses, haha.

On top of my stack of drawers I keep my MAC Wipes, foundation, moisturizer, and Fix+.

Drawer #1 – Face products including MSFs, powder, blush.

Drawer #2 – Pigments

Drawer #3 – Mineralize eyeshadows and depotted Hello Kitty palettes

Drawer #4 – Paint pots, paint, Fluidlines, Cream Colour Bases, eyeshadows waiting to be depotted, etc.

Drawer #5 – Lip products

Drawer #6 – Make Up For Ever eyeshadows, Too Faced eyeshadows, sharpeners, other random crap.

Then besides all this on the counter is my brush cleaner, Prep+Prime, and liquid foundation. My brushes are (hopefully temporarily) in a cup, which I often place on a shelf to keep my cat from running away with them. I really really REALLY want the pro brush belt, but they were out of stock when I went to the pro store If they don’t seem to be coming in stock in the next month or so I might get another desktop organized from the Container Store and put my brushes in that. I do have the MAC brush roll, but it’s too small to store my stuff.

And that’s pretty much how I store all of my makeup!

On another note, I think USPS lost my empty pans that I had ordered They’ve been “out for delivery” for 4 days now, which is NOT a good sign. I plan on calling the post office on Monday and trying to get things straightened out. I’m so sad, as I was really looking forward to pressing my pigments this weekend.

My 8 MAC silver eyeshadows!

MAC Pandamonium Eyeshadow
Description: Smoky grey with silver pearlized pigments (Lustre, Limited Edition)

MAC Knight Divine Eyeshadow
Description: Black with silver pearl (Veluxe Pearl)

MAC Smoke & Diamonds Eyeshadow
Description: Frosty gray taupe (Starflash, Limited Edition)

MAC Silver Ring Eyeshadow
Description: Grey with silver sheen (Veluxe Pearl)

MAC Silverthorn Eyeshadow
Description: Mid-tone gray with silver pearl (Veluxe Pearl, Limited Edition)

MAC Electra Eyeshadow
Description: Silver with icy shimmer (Frost)

MAC Cumulus Eyeshadow
Description: Creamy grey with silver pearl (Frost, Limited Edition)

MAC Idol Eyes Eyeshadow
Description: Silvered violet with gold (Lustre)

Swatching procedure: My skin tone is roughly a MAC NW20. Swatches are done over MAC Painterly paint pot to provide a base, therefore results may appear different on bare skin.

Photos are taken in my bathroom which has “Natural Light” bulbs to mimic natural daylight. No flash is used.

Top Row: Sushi Flower, Beauty Marked, Mulch, Electric Eel, Steamy, Orb, Omega, Cork
Second Row: Creme de Violet, Firespot, Ricepaper, Fertile, Deep Truth
Third Row: Knight Divine, Passionate, Coppering, Humid, Urban Decay Vert, Gorgeous Gold, Parfait Amour, Parrot, Swimming
In Pot: Club

Top Row: Painterly paint pot, Prism powder blush, Select Sheer Pressed powder NW20, Pure Ore MetalX, Mineralize Satinfinish foundation NW20
Bottom Row: Prep+Prime Skin, Brow Set in clear, Studio Touchup Stick concealer NW20, Clear Lipglass, Venetian Lustreglass, C-Thru Lipglass, Spree Lipglass, Prize Petal Lipglass, Valentine’s Lipgelee

I JUST B2M’d that Plush Lash!! I had no idea it was well over 2 years old, yuck! No wonder it smelled funny… the rest I tossed.

All my brushes.

And to think that at that time I thought I had a lot! Now I have over 100 MAC eyeshadows alone!! It’s nice to look back and see how things have grown

I’ve never been a blush person, I’ll admit that! So I only have 4 “cheek” products, but that’s fine for me because I actually use them.

I really really really like the Mineralize Skinfinishes that I have! I love how they can be sheer or heavy, depending on how they’re applied. My two are from the BBR collection. I originally got Redhead back when the collection was first released last January. A few weeks ago I picked up Blonde at a CCO because I wanted something more pinkish.

Prism I picked up in June ‘07 at a counter in New Orleans (funny how I remember stuff like this, but not what I ate yesterday! Haha). It’s a pinkish-brown matte. Tahitian Sand is from the Hello Kitty collection and I picked it up at a CCO this past summer. I feel like I really have to jam the brush into the product to get any on it. Can I admit that I mostly got it because the compact is adorable?!

Now for pictures!

MAC Mineralize Skinfinish – Blonde

MAC Mineralize Skinfinish – Redhead

MAC Powder Blush – Prism

MAC Beauty Powder – Tahitian Sand

***

Buzz about Holiday/Early 2010 collections are out and about on the forums. I am REALLY looking forward to “Warm and Cozy” which comes out on December 26th. The four eyeshadows sound gorgeous!

* Chamomile Creamy – pale yellow (Satin) (Limited Edition)
* Modelette – Mid-tone warm camel (Satin) (Limited Edition) (Repromote)
* Milled Cider – Dark warm brown (Satin) (Limited Edition)
* Embark – Deep rich brown-black (Matte) (Permanent)

There’s also two MSFs coming out

* Comfort – Golden bronze (Limited Edition)
* By Candlelight – Golden pink (Limited Edition)

I’ll have to wait to see pictures in person before I fully decide on the MSFs, but as for the shadows I’m hopeful that I will get all four!

MAC seemingly likes to discontinue the mineralize shades pretty frequently, so all 3 of these are discontinued. I just found Sea & Sky at a CCO, which made me quite happy as it’s a gorgeous color.

Here are swatches over Painterly paint pot. My skin is NW20 foundation shade.

Danger Zone MES:
MAC Description: “Three shades of Mineralize Eye Shadow all in one. Each palette offers a complete eye look in the signature high colour, and dimensional pearl finish of this mineralized formula. Limited edition. 2.2 g / 0.07 oz”
My thoughts: I got it because of the red. I always wanted a nice red eyeshadow, and MAC seems to lack it. Unfortunately, it goes on a bit more orangey than you would think. I’ve honestly only used it once, on Halloween. When I used it with a bit of Fix+ the color was a bit truer to how it looks in the pot, and also lasted a long time! The middle silver streak is utterly useless, it’s huge chunks of glitter that go everywhere. I’m actually a bit scared to use it in my eye area for fear of getting the chunks actually in my eyes. The red and black are very smooth, and blend nicely, making up for the horrid silver glitter stuff.

Sea & Sky MES:
MAC Description: “Two Mineralize Eye Shadows in one large compact. One shade features a mélange of three shades, the other provides a complementary or contrasting solid shade. Both provide medium buildable and lightweight application with a pearlized frost finish. Limited edition. 2.2 g / 0.07 us oz US $17.50″
My thoughts: LOVE IT LOVE IT LOVE IT! The blue is absolutely gorgeous! It’s unlike any normal blue shadow I have from MAC, which is why I was so happy to find it at a CCO. The white/silverish side is also nice, but very frosty.

Persuasive MES:
MAC Description: “Three shades of Mineralize Eye Shadow all in one. Each palette offers a complete eye look in the signature high colour, and dimensional pearl finish of this mineralized formula. Limited edition. 2.2 g / 0.07 oz Shade description: Frosty light blue/silver pearl stripe/frosty indigo (Frost)”
My thoughts: Aside from the horrid silver streak, which is the same as the one in Danger Zone, I like these colors as well. Blendable and smooth, but very frosty. I used it along with a glitter liner from Urban Decay for my New Year’s Eve look, and it was nice.

Thoughts about ALL MES:
They are tricky to get good color pay off. I wouldn’t suggest using them without a good base, like a paint pot (which I did for swatching). A lot of people also use Fix+ on the brush to get good color pay off, I tried it with Danger Zone, and it did help. Also makes them last longer. Because they’re frosty and sort of glittery, I find them messy to apply, and you get fallout all over your face if you’re not careful. The frosty look can get to be a bit much, especially for an everyday look (see my “Ice ice” entry on 01/15/09 for an extreme MES look), and it seems like all the color offerings are frosty in this line.

They do come in some neat colors, which is why I’ve bought the ones I do have. But I don’t actively try to buy MES, for the reasons I just stated and because they don’t fit into my palettes with my other shadows. Unless some crazy new color comes out, I probably won’t buy anymore of them, unless I decide to buy a duplicate Sea & Sky, if the CCO still has them whenever I go back.

I do NOT use lipstick. I don’t like it. Too much of a hassle for me. I’ll take Carmex over lipstick any day! So there’s the explanation of why there’s no lipsticks being discussed.

I’ll start with my MAC glosses, then I’ll talk about one or two other things.

There’s all my MAC lip products!

Here is them swatched on the back of my hand. Of course my skin color (NW20 shade) isn’t like my lips, but I didn’t feel like putting on 8 glosses on my lips, so when I talk about each one I’ll say a bit about how they look on my lips.

Clear Lipglass:
MAC site description: “A unique lip gloss that can create a high gloss, glass-like finish or a subtle sheen. Designed to be worn on its own, over Lip Pencil or Lipstick, Clear Lipglass is the perfect product for creating shine that lasts. It contains Jojoba Oil to help soften and condition the lips and a tiny bead of this highly concentrated product is all that’s needed to cover the lip area. Packaged in a convenient squeeze tube, Clear Lipglass is easy to apply using a lip brush. Clear Lipglass can be mixed with other products, like Pigments, and can be applied anywhere on the body except for the eye area to create interesting effects. 15 ml / 0.5 US oz US$14.00″
My thoughts: This is indeed an incredibly shiny clear lipgloss! I used this a lot when I was modeling for photoshoots, a photographer is actually who made me try it the first time. If you’re looking for a straight up shiny gloss, here you go! I have to admit, though, I don’t like the squeeze tube. Mine has “exploded” several times when changing elevation, and the cap gets all sticky. I really don’t use this very much anymore.

Spring Bean Lustreglass:
MAC description: “Two high-powered effects – Lustre and Glass – in one new lip finish. This amazing ornamental finish shines the lips with hi-shine overlaid with various tones of pearlized glaze. Beyond sexy. Transcends all known shine. 4.8g / 0.17 oz US$14.00 Shade description: New apple green with gold sparkle pearl overglaze”
My thoughts: I have to admit, I bought this because I wanted to see what a neon green lipgloss was really like. It can be a bit scary, but on my lips (and others, from reviews I have read) it makes a caramel-like shade. Unless you glop it on, you can’t tell it is green!

Spree Lipglass:
Description: Pink champagned taupe (cream). Limited Edition from July 2007 “Novel Twist” collection released only at Nordstrom
My thoughts: It’s pretty, but I don’t wear it often. It definitely has a brownish look to it, which is probably why I don’t wear it often, as I tend to gravitate towards pink shades.

C-Thru Lipglass:
MAC description: “A unique lip gloss available in a wide variety of colours that can create a high gloss, glass-like finish or a subtle sheen. Designed to be worn on its own, over Lip Pencil or Lipstick, Tinted Lipglass is the perfect product for creating shine that lasts. It’s pigmented, very shiny and can impart subtle or dramatic colour. It contains Jojoba Oil to help soften and condition the lips. Tinted Lipglass is packaged in a convenient bottle with a sponge tip applicator that provides a quick, smooth, even application. 4.8g / 0.17 oz US$14.00 Shade description: Soft peached-beige with shimmer (Cream)”
My thoughts: I like this, as it’s very neutral when you don’t want obnoxious lips, or if the eyes are played up big time. Like most lipglosses, as long as you don’t pile it on, the color reminds sheer. Definitely a shade anybody could probably use.

Elaborate Lipglass:
Description: “Soft low karat gold with pearl (Repromote, Rockocco August 2006)” Limited Edition from May 2007 “Moonbathe” collection
My thoughts: I picked this up at a Cosmetic Company Outlet (CCO), and glad I did. It’s similar to C-Thru, but has a lot more sparkle, so it jazzes up the lips if I don’t feel like looking so boring.

Venetian Lustreglass:
MAC description: “Two high-powered effects – Lustre and Glass – in one new lip finish. This amazing ornamental finish shines the lips with hi-shine overlaid with various tones of pearlized glaze. Beyond sexy. Transcends all known shine. 4.8g / 0.17 oz US$14.00 Shade description: Maraschino pink with pearl”
My thoughts: OK, this shade scares me. Just a bit too bold. It comes out bright red on my lips. And eyes are my big thing, I never have an “appropriate” moment to wear this. I honestly don’t know how the MUA at MAC got me to buy this, haha. All I know is that I was in New Orleans on a MAC spendy frenzy! I do plan on doing maybe a bit of a “retro” look with subtle eyes and trying out this product.

Prized Petal Lipglass:
MAC Description: “Sheer coral pink with white and gold pearl (LE)” Limited Edition from May 2007 “Strange Hybrid” collection
My thoughts: As you can see, seems like I have a lot of LE lipglasses. Blame it on the counter MUAs! I’ve come to hate how they push LE items that a few months later I can’t get more of. Really a pet peeve of mine. I LOVE this lipglass! Just a pretty, sparkly pink shade! I dread the day I run out

Valentine’s Lipgelee:
MAC description: “A soft jelly-textured glosser for the lips. Fab to apply. Squeezes on. Distributes evenly and easily via its special slanted tip. Moisturizes and conditions the lips – saps them up! Makes them look wet, shiny, super-lush! Comes in a wide range of sheer, soft tints! 15 ml / 0.5 oz US$14.00″
My thoughts: I don’t have an official shade description because… well, it’s discontinued! (Of course, right?) I’ll leave you to guess where I bought it, too (coughcountercough). Another one of my favorites, this goes on really light and sheer, so even though it looks dark pink, you can tell from the swatch it’s clear and light. Doesn’t have the “thick, gloppy” feel that the lipglasses seem to have. Now, I did cover my butt with this one, and saw it at a CCO, so I have a brand new backup tube! Of course, this tube, like my clear, has also exploded when I went from sea level to 7200 feet in elevation. I took off the cap, and it came squirting out uncontrollably! I lost maybe about 1/3 of the tube in this incident, and caused quite a mess.

That’s my MAC lip products!! Through this experience, I’ve learned to avoid counters, as they seem to push the limited stuff more than permanents. Not always the best thing to do. It makes me sad

There’s two other things I want to talk about now.

First one is the MAC Lip Conditioner

MAC description: “An emollient balm aimed at maxing-out repair by conditioning lips, locking in moisture. Contains Almond Oil, Shea Butter, Avocado Extract, Wheat Germ Oil, vitamins A and E. Formulated for high impact to use alone or under lipstick. Petroleum-based, but not goopy, helps seal in moisture to protect the lips from the environment. US$12.50 ”
My thoughts: I just got this from the Friends & Family sale. So far I am really liking it! Doesn’t have any weird scents or tastes (some lip products taste waxy), and isn’t thick like Carmex is. Kinda expensive for heavy use, but doesn’t need to be reapplied as often as a normal lip balm does.

Last lip product I have (besides the myraid of lip balms, which I am not going to discuss, and random lipglosses I’ve gotten as gifts or just because) is Too Faced Lip Injection.

Description: “Lip Injection is a clear cosmetic that enhances your pucker for lasting fullness. Its patented formula is based on medically-proven blood vessel dilating technology touted to create the sexiest pout this side of a plastic surgeons office. This wonder wand is a celebrity secret weapon against puny, lifeless lips.” 0.16oz $18.50
My thoughts: What a strange little product! I got this when I use to model, and yep, it plumps your lips! Also makes mine bright red. Do I really need it? Probably not, I have pretty full lips naturally. But it was fun to play around with. Major gripe is that anything it contacts on your body it will turn red, so if it’s windy out and you have long hair, watch out! Countless times I’ve ended up with a red streak across my cheek from my hair blowing into it on my lips, and then touching my face. It does sting for maybe 5-10 minutes after you put it on. I noticed that it doesn’t seem to last very long, maybe an hour, two hours. I was told by the MUA that sold it to me it would last 4 hours, but it doesn’t seem that long.

So there you have it! All my lip products! I do believe I am going to buy all 3 from the Hello Kitty collection (an orange, bright pink, and purple) because they are really pretty. Other than that, I really don’t buy them very often. I love lipglosses, but I hate the thick feeling, and what happens when it’s windy and you have long hair, haha.