MUA Swaps

I confess, I am a MUA junkie. For all of you that don't know what MUA stands for it www.makeupalley.com A website where fellow make up junkies like myself go to swap make-up. Now some may say "ewww that is gross, you swap used make up." And yes, you can however, I tend to only swap for new make up. I think this a great way of getting rid of all those impulse or "mistake" purchases. This way you can really get something you want. I have to admit...I have gotten some pretty cool items. Items that would probably be far to expensive for me to purchase in the first place. But what is one man's trash is another man's treasure!! (in our case women..lol) I thought I would post some pictures of some of the cool items that I swapped for.

The first item is this amazing Chanel Romance Palette. I swapped this for a Marc Jacobs perfume that I don't think I have used in a year and has been just sitting on my dresser.

As you can see there is a small fingernail nick. No biggie for a palette that normally costs $85 in stores. Good swap right!

The next swap I got more for collection purposes. These are the LE Alexander McQueen Lip glosses that MAC put out a while ago. However, after his untimely death I feel like one day they might be worth something You never know:)

The last item is probably my favorite. It def comes in handy everyday and holds all my MUA swap contents. It is the MAC LE Liberty of London Make-Up bag. I know a make-up bag is so simple but it has literally taken me forever to find on I really like. I know people either love or hate the Liberty of London print but I love it.

To date, these have probably been my favorite swaps. What have been some of your favorite swaps? Have you gotten some LE item that you were super excited about? XOXO-MissMakeUpFairy

What Are Certain Make-Up Brands Known For?

I was in Sephora the other day talking to one of the sales associates who asked me what type of mascara I was wearing. I said DiorShow as it has been my staple for a while. But that got me thinking why don't I have any other products from Dior besides their mascara. I came to the conclusion that I tend to buy certain products that each brand is "known" for. These are their most well known "signature" products. I decided to make a list and associate each brand with their "standout" product. Let me know what you think? Am I totally off or do you agree with me?

MAC-Eye shadows (I mean this whole line is a "standout" but I feel like recently everyone raves or at least starts out by learning about their eye shadows)

Benefit-Their boxes of blushes like Hoola, Dallas, Sugarbomb, 10, Coralista, Throbb, Dandelion, & Georgia

Clinique-Black Honey Almost Lipstick and their 3 Step Skincare line (that has been around FOREVER)

Dior-Diorshow Mascara in black

Guerlain-Meteorites Powder for the Face

Laura Mercier-Their Primer and Tinted Moisturizer

Make Up Forever-HD Cover Foundation and their HD Microfinish Powder

NARS-Their Orgasm Blush

Smashbox-Photo Finish Foundation Primer

Stila-Kitten Eye shadow

TARTE-Cheek Stains

Too Faced-Pink Leopard Bronzing Powder

Urban Decay-Primer Potion (for the eyes)

I think I pretty much covered it from my end. Please let me know if you think I am missing something or I have the wrong product in for each brand. Until next time....XOXO MissMakeUpFairy

MAC To the Beach Collection

I am soooo excited to MAC's To the Beach collection. I was in my MAC store and found out it is coming out May 27th, 2010. I thought this was only going to be sold in the U.K but I am sooo glad I was wrong. I am most excited about the following products:

Marine Life Multicolour Highlight Pressed Powder

Bronzing Powders-Golden – Muted Golden Tan-Beige with Golden Shimmer
Refined Golden – Finely Spun Golden with Soft Pearl Finish.

BeachBound – Sheer Frosted Pale Peach (Glaze)
Lazy Day – Light Dirty Blue Pink (Lustre)
Thrills – Rosy Copper with Gold Pearl (Frost)
FunBathing – Mid-Tone Bronzed Plum (Cremesheen)

I am def getting the Marine Life Powder. Also, Refined Golden is my staple bronzer and I am running low so what better way to repurchase then with a LE packaging! Also, out of all the lipsticks I most excited to try BeachBound. What are you most excited to get?

MAC Alice + Olivia Collection for Summer 2010

U.S. Launch Date: July 8th, 2010
International Launch Date: August 2010 (Japan & Korea only)

Dazzleglass Creme ($18.00 U.S. / $21.50 CDN)

• Sparklicious Creamy pale pinky white with soft multi-dimensional pearlized pigments (Limited Edition)
• If it’s Pink… Hot pink with soft multi-dimensional pearlized pigments (Limited Edition)
• I.Want.Candy. Hot yellow with soft multi-dimensional pearlized pigments (Limited Edition)

Pigments ($19.50 U.S. / $23.50 CDN)

• Later: Black with transforming purple pearlized pigments (Limited Edition)
• If It Sparkles… White with transforming pink pearlized pigments (Limited Edition)
• Partylicious: Turquoise with silver pearlized pigments (Limited Edition)

Nail Lacquer ($12.00 U.S. / $14.50 CDN)

• Morning.After. Creamy turquoise (Cream) (Limited Edition)
• So Rich So Pretty Bright purple with pearlized pigments (Frost) (Limited Edition)
• Military Black matte with silver suede pearl (Matte with Pearl) (Limited Edition)

See if you can spot me in this video-Hint: I am an angel

Zbigniew Rybczynski -  Keep Your Eye On Me
Uploaded by popefucker. - See the latest featured music videos.

Getting Fake MAC on eBay

I have been scammed and it doesn't feel good. Four out of the five MAC eye shadows that I had ordered online through eBay are fake. I was alerted first by a fellow MUA Swapper that the MAC Hello Kitty eye shadows never came in pots. That led me to an online information hunt to find out what other items I had purchased were not real. I came across this website from one of the more "well known" bloggers I follow and was able to realize what was real and what was fake. Below is the link and it is really helpful:

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:http://www.specktra.net/blogs/counterfeit-mac-packaging-comparison



I think the most helpful part of this article was the back label comparison. That is where I was able to catch all the "fake labeling" on these products. In the picture below on the right side is the real eyeshadow and the left side is the fake one.

The most common spot where these scammers got me, was either the actual weight of the eyeshadow or where the "e" was placed. The good news is that I was able to catch all of these bad sellers, open cases with eBay and get full refunds. It isn't even the fact that they cost me that much money but, it is the principal that when selling these fake products who knows what chemicals they are made of. They can cause hives, swelling and all other sorts of allergic reactions. From now on I am buying my MAC strictly from the store. Plus now a days it seems like drugstore make up is almost the same price as MAC make up as well. Hopefully this short post will help you beware of buying make up on eBay. XOXO

MAC & Too Faced Haul

Sorry I have been slacking. I started a new job and it has been taking up most of my time. This haul actually picks up from the NARS haul. I didn't have the chance to post everything at that time so I am going to continue now. Most of this stuff was bought awhile ago but I just haven't had the chance to put anything up.

In my quest to become a better beauty buyer I am trying to compile MAC eye shadows to fill up my 15 MAC Pro Palette Pan. I have been getting a lot of the normal potted eye shadows for about half the price and eventually I am going to depot them all. I already have a list of the shades that I want so I have been very specific on what I have been getting. The first one I got was Woodwinked but I didn't take a picture of that one. The second one I got was Carbon. This is your basic black eye shadow from MAC in order to do a Smokey eye and so much more.

Then I got MAC Mulch. However, it happened to be the Hello Kitty special edition so it came it really cute packaging. The sender also sent me a free MAC shadow in a deep blue which was awesome. I was actually looking for a blue too so I guess I killed two birds with one stone:)

 Below they are swatched. I think the both come out very lovely.

The last item I got from MAC was a discontinued lip gloss called Sprightly. I saw it and I just loved the color so much. I think it is a limited edition and they don't make it anymore so I was very excited that I was still able to get it.

It is a really pretty almost sheer golden pink. I think it will look great with a Smokey eye look.

Next is my eyeshadow duo from Too Faced. I discovered these two colors in my Too Face Nude Palette and fell in love with them. The Nude Palette is sometimes to big to carry around so this is a good little pot to take on the go. The shade names are Teddy Bear and Heaven. Heaven is the perfect highlighter and Teddy Bear makes it into the perfect everyday nude eye.

I was going to post more products but my computer is acting up so I will save those for a later date. I hope you enjoy and don't forget to comment and subscribe!