Mac Lipstick in Cosmo

I like lipsticks but I try, with all my powers (believe me!), not to purchase anything expensive. But being in this kind of world where lipsticks are everywhere, it’s hard to resist! So, to somehow lessen the guilt of buying high-end products, I make an effort to look for the best deal available in the internet through online stores. In all fairness, Mac isn’t as expensive as we expect it to be… only if the prices in the U.S are the same with ours... (But it’s not!). Clinique too is way overpriced here. Their lipstick is just a dollar expensive as Mac. Can you believe that?  Revlon too is almost like a high-end brand with their price here. Goodness! Sorry for the rant, but Bobbi brown and other cosmetics are just a little expensive here as compared to their U.S Price (buti pa sila!).  Anyway, those were just out-of-the-topic again, Eloisa. Let’s move on! Aja!

I choose to purchase this color since I was looking for an everyday lipstick. This color is highly recommended by almost everyone that’s why I decided to order it. Yes, this color is definitely an everyday color, just not my everyday color. I’m really sad that I couldn’t review my Mac Cherish (because it was stolen!) but that kind of color is go-to shade. Nevertheless, this color is still a perfect “My Lips but Better” shade.

Mac Cosmo is described my Mac as “pink coco” which I honestly had no idea what kind of color at first. LOL. To those who are somehow like me, Cosmo is a pink-peach shade with brown tone but has more pink than brown. This color is perfect for people who likes pink but not brighter pink. A good dose of brown makes it wearable for everyday.

Packaging:

Because Mac is expensive (and freaking overpriced here!) We deserved good quality of not only lipstick but also the packaging, right? Mac lipstick comes in a bullet-like packaging which is simple, professional-looking and somehow travel-friendly because of the size.

At the bottom of the Lipstick are the following: Finish of the lipstick (for Cosmo: it must be in Amplified Creme!), name of the shade and lastly the date your lipstick was produced.

Okay, why A91?

The first letter stands for the batch number of the product.  A for first batch. B is second and so on.

The second is a number/letter that stands for the month it was manufactured.

1 - January

2 - February

3 - March

4 - April

5 - May

6 - June

7 - July

8 - August

9 - September

A - October

B - November

C - December

(if you have a D on the second letter, congratulations again! It might be fake)

The third is the year it was manufactured. Mine is one which stands for 2011.

So to sum up, the date my lipstick was manufactured was 1st batch of September 2011.

Therefore, the code written at the bottom of your lipstick should match the one written on the box

Mac Cosmo has an amplified crème finish. It glides like butter on my lips with super amazing color payoff. Since it is an amplified cream, it goes very smoothly on lips without the feeling of dryness. You can definitely wear it with or without lip balm underneath but I like wearing it with lipbalm. Although it is very creamy, I noticed that this stays amazingly too. It stays 4-5 hours or more.


I highly recommend this shade. It is definitely one of the easiest shades to wear. It is flattering and versatile shade. It is a perfect lip color for school, work and even special occasion. If you want a safe lip color that you can use for any occasion, you have to try this shade!


As usual, below are the swatches on my hands and on my lips.

Until then!

Appreciate, do not hate!

Left: Mac cosmo, right: Mac Pink Nouveau

Super zoom lang? :)

Mac Studio Fix Foundation vs Fanny Serrano Two way cake foundation: dupe?

You should invest in good foundation above anything else in your makeup kit. But price doesn’t always guarantee best quality, right?(although, it’s applicable most of the time).

According to some bloggers and other users, Fanny Serrano is a good dupe for Mac Studio Fix Foundation. Being a curious blogger, I decided to try them out and see if FS will be a good dupe for Mac Studio Fix Foundation.

I started using Fanny Serrano back in my early years in college. I used to love it but then I suddenly stopped using it because I found a good and cheap alternative to it and it was Elf foundation in Beige. As years passed by, I became more curious with other foundation and decided to try them out.

Recently, I’ve been hearing great reviews about Fanny Serrano two-way cake foundation. Since it was long time ago since I last had it, I repurchased it to test it out and to see if it’s really a good dupe for Mac Studio fix foundation.

Packaging:

Mac Studio fix foundation has a nice simple looking packaging. Black is a great color because it’s classic! It goes with all ages and for any occasions. 

It has a mirror and a separate compartment for sponge. The sponge included in mac has a nice quality for makeup application although, it was a bit thinner than I expected. Nevertheless, it was a soft sponge.

Fanny Serrano is totally different from Mac studio fix. They opted for a clear plastic with a logo label on top. 

The mirror is located under the foundation which I find a little inconvenient during application. Like Mac, it has a separate compartment for sponge. The sponge included has a good quality too and applies the makeup evenly on skin

 Price:

Mac is (again!) overpriced here at Php 1,700 while FS foundation priced at Php 399  (which is quite affordable for foundation). Both have a net weight of 15g.

Shades:

I saw this shade reference from http://aestheticallysavvy.blogspot.com

I’m NC30 at Mac and Organza (has more yellow tone) in FS. I was surprised with the S.A in Fanny Serrano booth because she gave me an exact shade of foundation for my skin. Usually, I don’t trust S.A is malls. Good job for that!

Anyway, the shade is almost close to each other though FS has more yellow-undertone than Mac.

 (Left: Mac, right: FS)

 Application, finish, Coverage and staying power:

-I tried swirling my Beauty Cosmetics foundation brush onto the powders (like 4-5x maybe)

And here is the result!Tada!

The FS foundation is pretty powdery and goes everywhere in the container.

 Surprised! Mac foundation will surely lasts you a very long time

-Mac studio fix foundation feels smoother on skin than Fanny Serrano.

-Both offers full coverage but Mac offers a better coverage than fanny Serrano.

-On my skin, both blend perfectly well. However, fanny Serrano looks flat on face while Mac brightens up my skin.


-Both FS and Mac help control oil, however, Mac stays longer and much better in keeping oils at bay.

I’m not a huge Mac cosmetics person. But I honestly think that in any aspect I mentioned above, Mac is still a lot better. Yes, both offers full coverage but it doesn’t mean they’re a good dupe. One of the biggest differences of Mac from FS is the oil control. Mac is just amazing in oil control and FS is just so average. 

Clarification, it doesn’t mean that people who are telling that they’re good dupe are not telling the truth. Each person is different, like what I always say. In additional, I’ve tried other foundation that is, for me, a much better dupe for Mac Studio fix foundation. Remember my in2it foundation? It’s the closest dupe that I could think of in terms of oil control and coverage. For me, Mac and in2it foundation are the best dupe! But no matter how great the product is, if it’s not for you… it’s not for you. Unfortunately, both (in2it and mac) broke me out so badly. If you have sensitive skin like mine, I don’t recommend Mac studio fix foundation nor in2it. Then, at that point, you may try FS because I find it a little skin-friendly than the other two products mentioned. However, I cannot guarantee you 100% no breakout with FS since I broke out with FS too. But not as bad as my skin with Mac studio fix foundation.

Hope you gained something from this post! 

Everything I said above were based on my own honest experience and opinion.

Thank you and keep voting on my page what reviews would you like to see next on my blog! 

Have you tried Fanny Serrano two way cake foundation? Share your thoughts too!

Until then! 

Appreciate, do not hate! 

Mac Pink Nouveau

Do you have a magical lipstick? You know, during those times when you feel ugly, you just pull it out of your kit, apply it on your lips and magically prettify you? Well, I have! Hihi. ;p

At first, I was sceptical whether to purchase it or not. People says Pink Nouveau is drying on lips and does not work well on all skin tone. Gawd! Who likes wasting money, right? But when I saw Noe’s video sporting this fabulous lipstick, I knew I had to get it!

Pink Nouveau is described by Mac cosmetics as “Bright Pink” (duh!) shade. A makeup blogger would describe the color as (because I call myself a “makeup blogger” LOL) a cool-toned pink lipstick or Barbie pink with a good dose of purple. However, if I were not a makeup blogger and just a simple human being who’s not into makeup, I would simply describe the color as a red-violet-shade lipstick. As simple as that. Period! LOL! Do I make any sense? Well, if not. No worries! I provided a swatch for you!

 Packaging:

Because Mac is expensive (and freaking overpriced here!) We deserved good quality of not only lipstick but also the packaging, right? The mac comes in a bullet-like packaging which is simple, professional-looking and somehow travel-friendly because of the size.

Once you removed the cap, you will see another "MAC" logo printed on the body of the lipstick which reminds me  that "IT'S MAC!" LOL. According to Mac experts, the printed Mac is one test to see whether you got an authentic Mac or not. If there's no printed logo, then it's fake. If after some time and the printed logo fades away, then congratulations! You got yourself a fake mac! hehe. Although, there are other tons of things you have to inspect to know if your Mac is fake or not. I won't be discussing it all since I-am-no-Mac-expert! Just search on google--- the brain we never had (as they say!)

hahaah! Sorry, wrong focus. LOL! the logo is blurred! 

At the bottom of the Lipstick are the following: Finish of the lipstick (for Pink Nouveau: it must be in Satin!), name of the shade and lastly the date your lipstick was produced.

Okay, why A30? 

The first letter stands for the batch number of the product.  A for first batch. B is second and so on.

The second is a number/letter that stands for the month it was manufactured. 

1 - January 

2 - February

3 - March

4 - April

5 - May

6 - June

7 - July

8 - August

9 - September

A - October

B - November

C - December

(if you have a D on the second letter, congratulations again! It might be fake)

The third is the year it was manufactured. Mine is zero which stands for 2010. 

So to sum up, the date my lipstick was manufactured was 1st batch of March 2010. 

Therefore, the code written at the bottom of your lipstick should match the one written on the box

Mac Pink Nouveau has Satin finish. It glides smoothly on my lips with good color payoff. Since it’s in Satin finish, it tends to be drying on lips especially after few hours of wearing it.  Therefore, applying lip balm before is a must.  Mac lipsticks are famous for its mild vanilla scent.

Commercial: When I was new to this makeup world, I’m not familiar with satin, creme, amplified, lustre etc- finishes. I’m only familiar with 2 kinds of finishes: the Matte (are those without shimmers) and Frost (with shimmers). And so, in my first few lipstick posts, I told you that my favorite kinds of finish for lipsticks are matte. But then, as I get to know lipsticks more, I realized how much I hate matte (no-shine) finishes as they’re super drying on my lips. The finishes that I’m referring a year back then were Satin and Crème finishes.  Matte like what I’ve said before has no shine to it, just a flat color. Satin, on the other hand, is a semi-matte. It’s has a sheen to it but not so glossy. Crème finishes are shiny and very creamy. So basically, Satin is in between Matte and crème finish. Other finishes include frost, lustre, dazzle, and glaze.

Staying Power: I normally would wear it a little longer than most typical lipsticks. It stays probably 4-5 hours (or more, if you don’t eat your lipsticks LOL) on me. 

Overall, I highly recommend this shade and lipstick. It's okay to spend sometimes. After all, it is worth every single cent! 

As usual, pictures are provided at the end of this post! Enjoy!

Until then! 

Appreciate, do not hate!

Love lots!

This is my sister, the one who made my banner! :)

Some pictures I took before using my low-quality cellphone's camera

Lastly, a lip swatch from google image. credit to the owner.

January Haul

Hi lovelies! I'll be busy with school probably until March. However, I will still try to update my blog once in a while. 

Secondly, I am also planning to do another giveaway. Stay tuned! I'm still in the process of gathering sponsors. If you know company/store that offers sponsorship for bloggers, please let me know. 

Moving on. Since I have a little time tonight, I will share with you my January collective haul. These are the things I got from my allowance, my sister, boyfriend and friends!

My sister, Evelyn, sent these for us! Xbox is super cheap in Singapore according to her. She also gave her itouch to me! Yay! 

Since Mac is a bit cheaper in Singapore, she  sent some goodies to me and my other sister, Emmeline.

I forgot to take a separate pic for Mac Studio Fix Powder plus Foundation (NC30). Nevertheless, that foundation is really amazing. Just last December, I purchased Fanny Serrano two way cake foundation because according to some, it was a great dupe for Mac. I'm sorry to tell you this but I disagree. I don't think it was anything like Mac foundation. Yes, both offers full coverage but it doesn't mean that FS is a great dupe for Mac  (at least for me). Mac has a brightening effect once applied. I haven't seen that effect on my FS. Moreover, FS isn't as great as Mac in oil control. The closest dupe for Mac that I could think of is my highly raved IN2IT FOUNDATION. Great coverage, superb oil control. Sadly, both broke me out! 

Mac Eyebrow Crayon in Spiked- the color is quite darker than my recent eyebrow pencils, however, I use Etude House Color my Brows on top to make it look lighter. I've been really loving this pencil because it is super sleek and thin, thus, more precise in creating a well-shaped eyebrows. I haven't seen anything as thin as this before, so if you girls know a dupe for this please message me! 

Mac Lipstick in Cherish. This is probably my most used lipstick for the month of January. I like wearing peachy lipstick for everyday because it brightens up my dull face.

Mac Lipstick in Cherish is a peachy-nude shade, perfect for that natural everyday lip color. 

Mac Lipstick in Pink Nouveau - one of the best sellers of all time! According to Mac addicts, this shade is always out-of-stock(slash rarely available) because celebrities were hoarding it! 

This is definitely not my go-to-shade. It is a bright purple-pink barbie lipstick that may look washed out if use without eye makeup. Mostly, I use this for corporate attire day and special occasions. I love pairing it with a well-defined eyebrows and thick eyeliner. 

Revlon Super lustrous Lipstick in Smoked Peach- it was recommended by my college schoolmate. It is a beautiful peachy coral shade, perfect for everyday and even for special occasions. This color is very wearable for most skin tones. The only reason why I don't use it is because it is fcuking drying on lips. It accentuates my crocodile-ish lips. I just hate using it. I don't think I would purchase anything matte on Revlon line ever again. It's my 3rd lipstick from this line and i'm always disappointed on how drying and not long lasting these were.

Disney lipglosses- this was given to me therefore, I don't have any idea on how much these were. The packaging is super duper cute! Reminds me alot of kikay kids. However, i do not recommend them. These lipsticks are super sticky on my lips. 

Ever Bilena in Mauvey- it is a great dupe for Maybelline Watershine in BM31. However, compared to Maybelline Watershine (lustre finish), Ever bilena in Mauvey  has a matte finish. EB in Mauvey is a very pretty and wearable pinky nude lipstick. It is not creamy, therefore, you have to drag it several times to see the real color on your lips. Most bloggers have been raving about how great and affordable this lipstick is, but it is definitely not for me. I don't think I would repurchase again. I hate lipsticks that are very drying on my lips, so, I surely hate this one. 

Nail polishes from Avon. I haven't tried these yet.

Bunch of eyeliners from Avon (glimmersticks). I'm not a huge fan of their eyeliners because these smudge like crazy on my eyes. But it is a great eyeliner if you're aiming for a smokey eye-look. 

Avon True color blush - probably one of my favorite blushes of all time. Great pigmentation and color.

A simple makeup bag for me

Olay Moisturizer

Avon Lotions. I don't like lotions with fruity scent, really. But i've been really loving cucumber and cherry blossom scent alot! 

The best way to make your perfume lasts whole day is through layering (Lotion plus perfume). Cherry blossom is my super love since it's very fresh and mild, not too fruity/sweet.

Mac lipstick in Cosmo. Another perfect shade for everyday, and for work. I will do a separate review on this. Stay tuned.

MUD Cream Foundation- this is so far the best cream foundation I've tried! It blends on my skin like my second skin. Conceals blemishes without looking too unnatural. It's quite expensive (Php 1,200) but definitely, a great buy for people with budget. Can't wait to have time to make a review on this. Goodness, I hate school. LOL. Just kidding. 

Purchased my 4th Maybelline Pure Pack Mineral foundation. 

Avon lipstick in Island glow - I got it from my friend who needs to sell Avon products for their marketing. It is a pink lipstick, pinkier and brighter than Nyx Tea rose. It has a watermelon scent like Maybelline moisture extreme (US Version). I don't like the scent because it is too overpowering that's why I rarely wear it.  

Avon lipstick in Tangerine- a bit brighter and orange-y than I expected it would be. It is like a sheer reddish orange lipstick with shimmers. Definitely not drying. I like the scent of this one than Island glow because it has a mild scent to it.