MAC - Wonder Woman

*fainting* :)

I haven't been this excited about a MAC collection for a long time, let me tell you that! First of all, unlike so many, I absolutely love the packaging - both of the products themselves and the cardboard (shown above). Second, the products seemed pretty and they had some daring colours, and last but not least... I completely fell in love with a few of the product names! Haha, MAC knows how best to draw me in :)

Isn't this just so pretty? Love the stars on the inside!



Here are the products I got, L-R: Lipglass in Athena's Kiss, lipstick in Marquise'd and a blush... I'll tell you the name later, just you wait! ;) *shuddering with excitement*

 Just wanted to show you how completely oversized the lipglass is - the lipstick is regular size, and looks so small next to the gloss!

Marquise'd lipstick. It´s a lustre finish, a nice nude-pink shade with shimmer. Nudes usually wash me out, and this one barely hangs in there, I have to use a pink gloss with it to make it work... or maybe I just have to get used to it a bit, this is as nude as I go! Love the star on the tube!

Athena's Kiss lipglass. Oh my, I confess that I only bought it because of the name! However, I don't regret buying it, since the gloss is a really pretty pink or almost lilac colour, with shimmer. Actually goes great with Marquise'd. And that wand is way oversized!

And now for the biggie... I don't know what the saleslady thought of me when I read the name of this one, shrieked with happiness and instantly bought it, without even taking a further look at the product :) Yes, I again only bought this because of the name: Amazon Princess!

In case you haven't heard of the Amazons before, they are (or were) a legendary tribe of women who were warriors. I completely fell in love with this Greek myth, and especially that of the Amazon Penthesilea, who in fact was an Amazon Princess. So quite understandably, I had to have this blush in my collection :)

The blush is oversized like the lipglass, and it holds two colours; a bright pink (satin), and the prettiest plummy colour I've ever seen (slightly more shimmery). Will be wearing those a lot!

See, Amazon Princess :)

And finally some swatches. L-R: Athena's Kiss, Marquise'd, Amazon Princess (bright pink, then plummy).

So what did you think of this collection? Many thought the packaging looked cheap, I on the other hand loved it. I mean, we´re talking Wonder Woman here, not Yves Saint Laurent! It's supposed to look a bit childish and cheap, in a fun way, and I think MAC did a great job with this collection.

Did you get anything from it?

xox,

Miss Diorista

P.S. I bought those items in Berlin, so they're kind of the first part of my haul from Berlin. However, I didn't mark the post as such... just so that it would be in sync with all my other MAC posts :)

The best and most beautiful things in this world cannot be seen or even heard, but must be felt with the heart. - Helen Keller

Sigma Brushes - Haul and First Impressions

 The mailman must have thought that I was kind of crazy, jumping up and down like that when he delivered my Sigma brushes some days ago! You should have seen me... or his face :D ok, no, I didn't really jump up and down... but I did so in my heart ;)

I ordered two sets of brushes, one "Make Me Blush", which holds the classic twelve brushes from Sigma (in pink!), as well as a genius brush carrier which snaps into two brush holders! I also bought the "Synthetic Face Kit" (also known as the "Sigmax brushes"), which holds three differently shaped kabuki brushes, made for giving you an airbrushed finish.

Brushes from "Make Me Blush"

• Small Angle - E65
• Medium Angled Shading - E70 - (This is a dupe for MAC 275, which I love!)
• Large Shader - E60
• Pencil - E30 - (Great for a cut crease, but a tiny bit scratchy...)
• Large Angled Contour - F40 - (I love this for both my blush and contour colour!)
• Large Powder - F30
• Duo Fibre - F50 - (Comparable to MAC 187)
• Foundation - F60
• Concealer - F70
• Tapered Blending - E40 - (Good for blending, but I find it way too big for applying colour to my crease.)
• Eye Shading - E55
• Eyeliner - E05

 

Isn't that mouse just so adorable?

And of course I had to get them in pink! I did think about it for a while, and was afraid that it would be too pink and I'd get bored with it after a while. However, it isn't too pink at all, and I don't see myself getting bored with those brushes anytime soon! Pink is so much more fun than black :)


Brushes from the "Synthetic Face Kit":

• F80 - Flat Top Kabuki - Probably the most multi-purpose one of the three, but I mainly use it for buffing my foundation in.
  F82 - Round Top Kabuki - I have found this one great for blending in tricky places, like around my nose and even under my eyes.
• F84 - Angled Top Kabuki - I use this for blending together blush and bronzer (or just blush/bronzer, depending on what I'm wearing).



Here they are, in the same row as in the description above. They all feel very sturdy and are actually quite heavy. I've been really loving those since I got them!



And finally, Sigma sent me a gift with my purchase: A travel sized E25 blending brush. It's so cute :) I haven't gotten around using it much, but from what I've tried, it's a good size for my eyes, both for blending and for applying shadows to my crease.

Whew, 16 new brushes! I get overwhelmed just thinking about it :) And I love them all :P

Don't forget to participate in my giveaway!

Love,

Miss Diorista 

P.S. I will post reviews on those brushes once I've used them a bit more :)

In life, we all have unspeakable secret, irreversible regret, unreachable dream and unforgettable love. - Diego Marchi

(I love this quote, because sometimes, all those things combine into one...)

Giveaway from Berlin! (CLOSED)

It's time for my first giveaway, and I can't tell you how excited I am! Make sure you read the rules before you enter!
I chose those shadows for the giveaway since you can most likely already get high-end brands where you live. German drugstore brands are probably something a bit more new and fun for most of you!

The winner will get:

• 1 Manhattan Multi-Effect Eyeshadow in "Earth" (109N), a beautiful, shimmery, greyish brown.
• 1 Manhattan Multi-Effect Eyeshadow in "Metal Green" (89W), a gorgeous forest green, with green and multi-colour shimmer.

Both shadows come with applicators, are well pigmented and very smooth and soft. I actually couldn't resist buying a second set of those two for myself!

Giveaway Rules:

1. The giveaway is international.
2. If you are under the age of 18, you must get permission from either your parent or your legal guardian before you participate in the giveaway.
3. You have to follow my blog (it's easy and completely free, just click the "Follow" button to the right).
4. The giveaway closes the 25th of March 2011.
5. There are two ways to enter, you can use both or only one:

• Comment on this post, telling me your fave beauty product right now. Leave your e-mail! OR/AND:
• Blog about this giveaway on your blog, linking to this post. Remember to leave a comment telling me about your blog post with a link to it, so that I can see it! And leave me your e-mail!

Important: Leave your e-mail in your comment, but not your address (for the sakes of your personal privacy). If you win, I will e-mail you and ask for your address.


So that's it, I think I've covered everything :) If something is unclear, just ask away!

I hope you have fun with the giveaway, I'm sure having fun trying to give back to you all the love that you have given me!

Yours,
Miss Diorista

Depend Cosmetic - Cracked Effect in Red

Since I have yet to find OPI's Black Shatter here in Iceland, I purchased two "Cracked Effect" colours from Depend Cosmetics, red and blue (see my polish haul here).

I was rather pleased with the blue one, except for the fact that it stained my nails badly (I still have those stains!). This red one, however, I'm not quite digging... in the bottle, it looks like a bright, bold, absolutely gorgeous red colour. On my nails, it is so dull and flat, and has a "rusty" feel to it. Disappointing, to say the least.

The polish dries extremely quickly, but to a matte finish, so I would definitely recommend using a top coat with this.



Without top coat



With top coat

This one did not stain my nails, and the weartime was a bit longer than with the blue one. Getting it off was average, not extremely easy but not hard.

Product (65%) - 6/10
Value (10%) - 9/10
Would I repurchase? (15%) - 7/10
Packaging (10%) - 8/10

Overall - 6.5/10

Love,
Miss Diorista

P.S. I feel kind of bad giving those two polishes such low scores - so I will say that those are fun to play around with.

Being brokenhearted is like having broken ribs. On the outside it looks like nothing's wrong, but every breath hurts. - Behrendt

Weekly Gratitude - Music, writing and irreplaceable friends

• Thank you for the beautiful, beautiful rosy sky outside my window right now. I'm speechless.
• Thank you to my aunt for introducing me to a new type of fish - I love trying new food!
• Thank you to the musicians who fill our world with beautiful music and inspiring lyrics. Nothing perks up your mood like a meaningful and beautiful song.
• Thank you for my pens and paper - the beauty in sitting alone at my desk, in the middle of the night and in absolute silence, writing, is something I could never be without.
• Thank you to my friend for braiding my hair so prettily today :)
• Thank you to God for all the truly amazing new heights he has allowed me to experience in the last three weeks.
• Thank you to a friend of mine, for making me laugh and giggle every single time I see you!

xox,
Miss Diorista

Star Gazer - Nail Polish in Nr. 132

Isn't this polish pretty? It took me a good few days to get used to it, and I kept going from "wow" to "blah" with this... but I think I like it now :)

The colour is hard to describe. I think a part of why it took me so long to make peace with this colour, is the fact that I was expecting a plain, shimmery grey colour. Instead, I got an almost golden colour, with hints of grey to it, as well as some shimmer... you can even spot some green undertones in there, too.

So just be aware, that the colour you see in the bottle is not the colour you get on your nails!



Looking grey-ish with some beige and green



Here you can see the gold to it

As far as the formula goes, it is def above average. It didn't start chipping until after about four days, and it dried fairly quickly.

The packaging is pretty, it looks like a crystal ball, especially with all that shimmer floating around! Not good for storage I guess, but then again, few polish bottles are.

I can see this becoming a staple of mine... I'm already craving it again!

Product (65%) - 7.5
Value (10%) - 8.5
Would I repurchase (15%) - 8
Packaging (10%) - 8

Overall - 8/10

Love,
Miss Diorista

It's better to lose your pride with someone you love rather than to lose someone you love with your useless pride. - John Ruskin

Weekly Gratitude and I'm back from Berlin!

Ever been to Berlin? I visited over the weekend (which is why my weekly gratitude post is so late and I haven't been answering your comments ;) and the city is absolutely beautiful. I will be posting some of my favourite pictures from there (I took so many!) in the next few days, as well as showing you all the beauty products I bought (I bought way too much... you know me!). And I even have a small giveaway with two German drugstore eyeshadows coming up soon, so stay tuned! It will be my first giveaway, and I thought I'd make it drugstore, since most of you can already reach high-end brands where you live. German drugstore brands are harder to reach ;)

But on to some gratitude!

• Thank you to the lovely group of people who travelled with me!
• Thank you to God, for allowing me to return to home safe and sound.
• Thank you for the massive snow we received two days ago - I love snow!
• Thank you to the lady at the Benefit Cosmetics' counter, who was nicer than nice and so helpful!
• Thank you to God and my own heart, for allowing me to feel the presence of loved-ones, even when they are nowhere near.
• Thank you for the bag of m&m with peanut butter which is sitting here beside me... you taste delicious!
• Thank you to the special people in my life. I am who I am because of you.

Stay tuned the next days for a giveaway, as well as hauls and reviews - I don't know if I'll ever finish my gigantic list of to-write for this blog! That's a good thing, right? ;)

xox,
Miss Diorista

Each morning when I open my eyes I say to myself: I, not events, have the power to make me happy or unhappy today. I can choose which it shall be. Yesterday is dead, tomorrow hasn't arrived yet. I have just one day, today, and I'm going to be happy in it. - Groucho Marx