MAC Matters (February 2013): Build A Core Collection with $21 per month

Hey there. This is  new blog series that was originally started by Pammy Blogs Beauty. I decided to jump on this bandwagon and do this series with her. You can see her original post here and follow her series as well. You can check out my January purchase here.

The idea of this series is to take the $21 a month one would spend on a beauty subscription service (Pammy chose to cancel her current subscription, I am choosing to opt into this as a "new subscription") and instead use it to buy Mac products in an effort to build a core collection of Mac items.

These are the rules (borrowed with thanks from Pammy):

Goal: Build my core MAC Collection using an average of $21.00 per month.

• Purchase at least one item a month: If the item is under $20, I can save the remainder for the next month. While there are many items priced under $20, there are plenty that are over the $20 range that I can save for. 
• Do a monthly blog post to share what I got! My goal is to continue this series for 12 months to see what kind of core collection I can build! 
• To coordinate with my "Build a Core MAC Collection" purchases, I will also be posting "MAC Matters: From the Stash" reviews! These "stash" items are MAC items that I love that are already in my makeup collection. Some months, I will be "saving" my $21 to go towards a bigger MAC purchase. This is when you will likely see the "stash" posts. Or, I might include a "stash" item mini review within my "Build a Core MAC Collection" posts because if you are reading this because you want to build your own MAC collection, you might enjoy reading about what I am already using and loving! 
• If this series is popular, I will repeat the series with another brand upon completion of 12 months with MAC.

You can see Pammy's last installment (January) here.

 Check out what I got for February! 

Another Mac eyeshadow. This color is Stars N Rockets. I actually got this one to go with last months blue. When I was in Mac in January looking at colors, the nice sa showed me how these two look layered and it is a phenomenal smokey effect! 

Without flash

With Flash

This color is a purple with a blue sparkle/iridescence in it. It's a complex color that is kind of hard to describe. Mac describes this color as purple with pink pearl. I don't usually wear this on its own, but it looks quite lovely layered. Especially with dark blues! I think next month I am going to purchase a 4 pan palette to put these 2 colors in. I might even perhaps purchase a 3rd eyeshadow. This new palette might almost be complete already! 

This product, like most Mac products, was $15, which leaves me with $37.50 for February.

Anyone have any cool suggestions on what to buy in March or other future months? Feel free to share in the comments.

Mac cosmetics can be bough in a Mac boutique, Mac in Macey's or on http://www.maccosmetics.com.

MAC Matters (January 2013): Build A Core Collection with $21 per month

Hey there. This is  new blog series that was originally started by Pammy Blogs Beauty. I decided to jump on this bandwagon and do this series with her. You can see her original post here and follow her series as well. You can check out my December purchase here.

The idea of this series is to take the $21 a month one would spend on a beauty subscription service (Pammy chose to cancel her current subscription, I am choosing to opt into this as a "new subscription") and instead use it to buy Mac products in an effort to build a core collection of Mac items.

These are the rules (borrowed with thanks from Pammy):

Goal: Build my core MAC Collection using an average of $21.00 per month.

• Purchase at least one item a month: If the item is under $20, I can save the remainder for the next month. While there are many items priced under $20, there are plenty that are over the $20 range that I can save for. 
• Do a monthly blog post to share what I got! My goal is to continue this series for 12 months to see what kind of core collection I can build! 
• To coordinate with my "Build a Core MAC Collection" purchases, I will also be posting "MAC Matters: From the Stash" reviews! These "stash" items are MAC items that I love that are already in my makeup collection. Some months, I will be "saving" my $21 to go towards a bigger MAC purchase. This is when you will likely see the "stash" posts. Or, I might include a "stash" item mini review within my "Build a Core MAC Collection" posts because if you are reading this because you want to build your own MAC collection, you might enjoy reading about what I am already using and loving! 
• If this series is popular, I will repeat the series with another brand upon completion of 12 months with MAC.

You can see Pammy's first installment of the series here.

Last month I was left with $25.50 to spend for January. This month I decided to purchase a pressed eyeshadow in deep truth.

I'm sorry about having to take this swatch on my finger, but I was having a terrible time getting it to transfer. Which leads into the product itself: this eyeshadow has great staying power! Wherever you put it, it will stay. However, unlike some of the Nars eyeshadows that are like this, this will allow you to blend it. This color is like a midnight blue with some lighter blue iridescence in it. I love this color. I have been using it quite often since I received it. I can easily blend it out to be a bit more subtle for a day look or back this guy on for a night look. Mac describes this color as a true dark blue with frost.

This product, like most Mac products, was $15, which leaves me with $31.50 for February (which means I might either go for a more expensive product or get two products, YAY!). 

Anyone have any cool suggestions on what to buy in February or other future months? Feel free to share in the comments.

Mac cosmetics can be bough in a Mac boutique, Mac in Macey's or on http://www.maccosmetics.com.

MAC Matters (December 2012): Build A Core Collection with $21 per month

Hey there. This is  new blog series that was originally started by Pammy Blogs Beauty. I decided to jump on this bandwagon and do this series with her. You can see her original post here and follow her series as well.

The idea of this series is to take the $21 a month one would spend on a beauty subscription service (Pammy chose to cancel her current subscription, I am choosing to opt into this as a "new subscription") and instead use it to buy Mac products in an effort to build a core collection of Mac items.

These are the rules (borrowed with thanks from Pammy):

Goal: Build my core MAC Collection using an average of $21.00 per month.

• Purchase at least one item a month: If the item is under $20, I can save the remainder for the next month. While there are many items priced under $20, there are plenty that are over the $20 range that I can save for. 
• Do a monthly blog post to share what I got! My goal is to continue this series for 12 months to see what kind of core collection I can build! 
• To coordinate with my "Build a Core MAC Collection" purchases, I will also be posting "MAC Matters: From the Stash" reviews! These "stash" items are MAC items that I love that are already in my makeup collection. Some months, I will be "saving" my $21 to go towards a bigger MAC purchase. This is when you will likely see the "stash" posts. Or, I might include a "stash" item mini review within my "Build a Core MAC Collection" posts because if you are reading this because you want to build your own MAC collection, you might enjoy reading about what I am already using and loving! 
• If this series is popular, I will repeat the series with another brand upon completion of 12 months with MAC.

You can see Pammy's first installment of the series here.

For my first purchase I chose the Glamour Daze Holiday Fluidline in Little Black Bow.

I chose the picture taken with flash because I thought it showed the shimmery silver color much better.

Picture at left taken with flash and the right is taken with natural lighting

This liner color is described as being Charcoal with dazzle pearl. I both love and hate this liner. It is a very pretty silvery color with some sparkles that I use as a more subtle eyeliner that is great for work and interviews, however it takes like 3 coats of the stuff to get it to look like it does in that picture. It lasts all day (as one would expect from Mac liners) and is an overall fantastic product, if only it were a bit more pigmented. This holiday fluidlines also come in Feminine Edge (sold out) which is describes as being a mauve pink with dazzle pearl and Catchy My Eye which is describes as a cool taupe grey with (you guessed it) dazzle pearl. 

This product retails for $16.50 (a bit more expensive then their non-limited edition holiday fluidliners), which leaves me with $25.50 to spend in January. 

Anyone have any cool suggestions on what to buy in January or other future months? Feel free to share in the comments.

Mac cosmetics can be bought in a Mac boutique, Mac in Macey's or on http://www.maccosmetics.com