Hello lovelies!!

I had a voucher burning a hole in my purse since last Christmas (!) for MAC. I always take such a long time to redeem loyalty points or gift vouchers because I always want to be perfectly sure that I am making the most of them. I always try to strike the balance so that I get a couple of little treats rather than one big one. Am I the only sad case that does this?

Alongside the voucher, I had a little box of MAC empties for their Back to MAC scheme to redeem for a new lipstick – I can’t believe I didn’t know about this scheme until three years ago!! Alas at all the missed lip opportunities….

Going to MAC on a Saturday afternoon in Belfast is usually quite the expedition. It’s usually heaving with young girls swooning at the lipstick swatches and women getting their make up expertly applied before a night on the town. However, I struck it lucky this week and was served instantly by the most wonderful SA (if I knew his name I would definitely be giving him a shout out!). He did not leave my side until I had all of the items I wanted and offered his expert and honest opinion (saving me from a potential fail in the form of Warm Sol blush…).

For my free lipstick, I picked up Blankety. I am obsessed with pinky nudes, and very seldom veer from this colour palette. This shade has been on my lust list for some time as I loved the swatches I had seen online and I have to say, it hasn’t disappointed. This shade is a beautiful soft pink beige that has an excellent coverage with just one swipe. The amplified formula is extremely creamy and comfortable on the lips and the wear time for me at work is averaging around 3-4 hours before it needs reapplying.

With my voucher, I opted for the highly popular blush shade, Melba after having originally gone in for Warm Sol. Warm Sol just was not what I was expecting. It was too sheer and would have needed a lot of product to get a decent colour pay off. My lovely SA agreed wholeheartedly (mostly with a screwed up “NO” face to my original choice) and applauded my alternative choice in Melba. Again, I am really happy with this matte blush shade. As with all of MAC’s matte blushes, the pigmentation is incredible (a light hand is needed) and the colour will work really well for the Autumn-Winter seasons. I already own MAC’s Peaches, and in my mind, this shade is, while similar, the more grown up sister of the two. While Peaches has more strong orange undertones, Melba has a much warmer undertone which makes it that perfect “go to” blush shade to go with anything.

The final item I wanted to pick up was a new single pan eyeshadow for my custom palette. I’m building a predominantly neutral palette and wanted a staple shade to add to the colours that I had already picked up. After swatching a few, okay a lot of the pretty colours (why are they all so pretty??) I decided on Texture. Texture is a velvet finish eyeshadow and I’d describe it as a warm toned, medium brown. I think I’ll use this mostly as a crease/transition colour as it looks like it’s going to be a very versatile, easy shade.

I’m currently compiling a full lust list for MAC eyeshadows, lipsticks and blushes and would love to hear what you would all recommend? What are your favourites?

Lynsey xox