Mac: The Stylish Brow; Haul

     I have honestly been dying to get my hands on this Mac Collection since I heard about it. The Stylish Brow, a collection dedicated to shaping and styling your brows. The collection compromises of brow powders, brow liners and brow gel, and for me personally it was the brow gels that I was particularly interested in.

    So the Collection came out today, Feb.7th, and I had knowing saved my Christmas vouchers for this very occasion. There was also a couple of other collections out today as well, The Strength Collection and the ProLongwear Paint Pots. I didn't have any real interest in those ones but you never know, I could be heading back for them! :D

    I bought two brow gels, 'Deep Dark Brunette' and 'Dirty Blonde', both for me and my clients. 'Dirty Blonde' is honestly the perfect colour for me, someone who is a toss up between blonde and light brown haired. Now brow gels are quite similar to Mac's Fluid-line Eyeliners, some of which can be used in the brows but these new products are specially for the brows and give a much more defined and sharp brow. Now this is just a haul blog, I haven't tried these yet but I know that I will be loving them.

   I also bought a veluxe brow liner in 'Brunette'. Now, I am not usually a brow pencil kind of gal, I don't like the consistency or outcome on the brow really, but this one just jumped out at me. It is so soft and natural looking, well the swatch on my hand was anyway, and I also liked the shape and size of the spooly brush too. I'll see how I get on with this and report back.

    I didn't see the point in buying any of the brow powders personally. Not that they didn't look great, and are so handy in the same little two palette if you do buy them, but I already have such an amount of shadows and brow powders myself that I just didn't see the point. But, they defo are well worth the looksie.

Brow gels: €17.50
Brow pencils: €20

**I think the brow pencils are waaaay overpriced, they're current brow pencils are €14.50 (I think) and even though I haven't tested this new one, dare I say it probably is better, but hey, I could be wrong??

Anyone else pick anything up today? Or will you be venturing in??

Brows are super important; in my opinion!

Kate xXx

Releasing my inner DIVA.....

I am back blogging with vengeance Ladies....!   

    First thing I need to point out, I have had Mac's Diva Lipstick for two days, yes I said TWO days, and I am so in love it's not even funny (I've worn it both those two days)!! I literally don't know how I've managed to live without 'Diva' for so long!

    It's not a limited edition colour, it's part of their normal lipstick colour, and I'd figured the reason that I've skipped over it for all these years is because it's not a 'wow', scream at me amazing colour in the bullet! In fact I would still be without 'Diva' even I hadn't discovered someone wearing it in a picture on Instagram (I'm obsessed with this site, follow me, my username is kate_mc_makeup), and it was amazing on her so naturally enough I followed her style! And if I'm being brutally vain and shallow and all that jazz I kinda LOVE it on me, exactly my style colour and I think it suits me (I'm sure others might disagree but who cares)!

    On to the actual lipstick......It is the perfect Autumn/Fall/Winter colour and I know I'm going to wear it day in, day out till the cows come home. It is a deep burgundy/red colour with a hint of brown tones through it, sounds sexy right, but eh YEAH it is!!! Perfect for a minimal makeup look and for a more extreme 'eyes and lips' look. Super sexy and Yes, I find myself posing and 'cheek-sucking-in' whilst I'm wearing it and that there is the definition of a good lipstick.

    So I'll show you guys and let you be the judge, jury and executioner as they say....

I love it, you should too!!!! :)

Kate xXx

Orange Lipstick? Yay or Nay?

    I am only dying to buy 'Morange' from Mac, but anytime I'm in there I just seem to chicken out! So in an effort to work my way up to 'Morange' I recently bought an orange lippie from work, Inglot. Number 278. Now, I know what your thinking, why would I buy 'Morange' from Mac now that I have one already? The answer: I'm a Mac Lipstick Addict and I'm not afraid to admit it!

   So here's a photo of me in my new lippie?? What do you peeps think? I think I'm liking it! :)

Let me know, and don't be afraid to be honest (honest though, not mean) ha!

Kate xXx

Eye Look #2: Teal Glitter!

    Another recent look by me. I was trying something new with my makeup, trying to add more colour into my looks as I'm not the biggest user of colours normally but I always like to keep doing different things. 

    I recently bought a couple of NYX Glittered Eyeliners, and one of those was a gorgeous Teal coloured liner. It looks absolutely amazing on all eye colours, probably mostly on brown eyes but sure my blue eyes will have to do. 

    Teal and Black, defo a combination I would never wear. First up, I placed one of my new shadows from Inglot, no.32, across my lid. I really packed on this colour so that the teal would come up super strong. I then blended this out with Mac's 'Swiss Chocolate', a rich caramelly brown colour which is what you see in the photo blended above my socket. This helps to act as a blending colour so that when I used the black shadow it makes it super easy to blend.
    I used Mac's 'Black Tied', a sparkly black (looks gorgeous as an eyeliner), and placed it in the outer third of of the socket blended upwards and towards the teal. You need to make sure that the black is blended nicely with the teal in the lid. The next step is to draw the liner, I used my normal Inglot 77 Gel liner in Black. I brought this into the waterline and smudged out 'Black Tied' under the eye.
    The final step was using the NYX Glittered Eyeliner on top of the no.32 teal shadow. I simply kept applying this until I was happy with the final product. This gives a gorgeous sparkle to the eyes and really finishes off the look!!

Products used.

Glitter really changes the end product of eyeshadow. And also makes a nice change from just simple matte shadows!

What are your thoughts on this glittered look? Would you use glitter in you night time eyes?? Let me know what you think! :)

Don't forget to 'Join this Site' to keep up to date with all new posts!! :)

Thanks for reading!
Kate xXx

Eye Look #1: Mac's Smut! And Giveaway Winner!

 

    A simple and 'easy' look for a night out! Using 3 Mac Eyeshadows and Inglot's Gel Liner in Black, no. 77. A gorgeous look for blue eyes, really makes them pop. 

    Mac's Eyeshadow in 'Smut' is fast becoming a go-to Eyeshadow for any night out for me. A gorgeous rich, grey with purple flecks running through it, really makes any eyeshadow look pop. Looks gorgeous also when blending out eyeshadow under the eye. It is also a great alternative to black or brown when you want to use something new for a change.

                                      

    I placed 'Smut' along the socket line and on the outer third of the eye and using a Mac 217 and 224 blending brushes, lightly buffed out the edges the shadow. I then placed Mac's 'Kid' shadow, a gorgeous light ashy brown shadow,along the edge of the 'smut' shadow and blended out the edges again. This helps to make sure that the shadow fades away nicely, as I hate shadow that just abrupty ends. I then placed Mac's 'Brulee' eyeshadow on the lid and blended the two nicely together. Then Liner and Lashes and you are set for a night out.

    I chose to just bring 'Smut' under my eye with no liner but to make this a smokier look, simply add liner onto the waterline and blend out with shadow. Easy Peasy.

   Most people will ask how you do liner, the best answer I can give you is simply to practice. It is easy for me to give you steps but at the end of the day if you don't practice the art then you will never perfect it as it is not something that will come naturally!

Products Used; Liner, 'Smut', 'Kid' & 'Brule'.

    Has anyone else tried 'Smut'? What are your feelings on this?
Let me know if you would like to see a step-by-step photo look on this, if it would make it easier!! :)

'till next time!
Kate xXx

Giveaway Winner: Congrats Amy Mitchell, you are the Winner!! 'Girl About Town' will be winging its way to you soon! Send your details on to katemccormack@hotmail.com

Giveaway Time!!!

    So, Time has come for a fantabulous Giveaway for you ladies that I knowwww you will love!!!

I am a massive Mac fan, in particular their lipstick and every girl wants one but they are expensive, sooooo my giveaway today is a MAC LIPSTICK OF YOUR CHOICE!!!!! Amazing right???

Rules are:

1. Like my FaceBook page (https://www.facebook.com/pages/Kate-McCormack-MakeUp/147090335373352);
2. Follow my Blog (Joining my Site on the Right-Hand Side);
3. Shaaaare!!;
4. And Finally, Comment below this post and tell me what Lipstick you want and why!!

Note: Mac Lipstick can be any lipstick of your choice as long as it is in full/normal collection. No Limited Edition or Collection lipsticks (they may not be in stock).

Competition will close on Monday 23rd and a winner will be picked; no entries after that date will be excepted so get sharing and liking to be in with a change to win A MAC LIPSTICK OF YOUR CHOICE!!!!

Kate xXx

Step by Step Guide #2!

                                Step by Step Guide to a Eye Liner Flick!

The coverted Eyeliner.

      So Eyeliner.....probably the most coveted makeup look every for women across the world. It is definently not something that comes naturally to anyone, yes some are obviously going to pick it up quicker than others but in saying that the more you practice the better you will become at it.

A liner look!

I would have to say that eyeliner is my most frequently used look, like my go-to look and by far my favourite! It reallys make it look like you've put in a heap of effort when really you haven't (obviously once you have mastered the technique). I would be lost without my liner for that night out and for my go-to work look. 

So, getting right down to the Step-by-Step.

Step-by-Step.

    Step1: Use either your liquid or Gel liner, I use Inglot's 77 Matte Gel Liner in Black and an angled liner brush (make sure this is synthetic brush) and fill across your lash line! The easiest way to do this is to stencil across the lashes, somewhat a join-the-dots concept. Make this as thick or as thin as you want as long as you make sure it is as straight as possible!
...
Step2 : This is the hardest part now. Keeping your eye open and looking directly into a mirror, draw a line upwards following from your bottom lashline, using this as a guide! Make this as short or as long as you want, depending on how much of a flick you like!

Step3 : From the tip of the line you have just draw, pull your brush across to meet the line across your lashline, creating a small triangle shape!

 Step 4 : Fill in the triangle shape with your liner and add some mascara and Liner Done!

Now, even with these 4 relatively simple steps, eyeliner still requires a lot of practice, it is most certainly the hardest part of makeup. My advice is to spend a day practising and removing eyeliner and repeating the steps until you feel confident with your liner. It really is the best way to perfect liner. And once you've figured it all out, I guarantee it will be time well spent for you will never leave eyeliner out of your eye makeup looks from that moment on....


Thanks for reading,
Kate xXx 

Nuxe: Reve de Miel Lip Balm.

    Now, I know in my last blog I said I was on a beauty spending ban, and I am still on that spending ban so I've decided to update my blog on things that I am currently using and LOVING!

    The first up is a lip balm from Nuxe, their infamous 'Reve de Miel' lip balm for dry and chapped lips. Now, since I wear a lot of strongly pigmented lipsticks from matte finishes to creamy ones (and I have no intention of stopping), I always suffered from dry, chapped lips, and this bipolar weather isn't helping matters. And it is super hard to find something that actually keeps my lips nourished and doesn't just come off after I rub my lips together a couple of times. In steps Nuxe. I have heard a lot about this product but it proved difficult to find, it's not sold in Boots or even in all chemists. I first laid my hands on the twisty stick version of this and I really liked it, thick and creamy so I felt an instant difference in the texture of my lips, but I had heard that the pot version is 10 million times better (wild exaggeration?)

Nuxe Reve de Miel Lip Balm.

     The balm itself is pretty thick on the lips, it kinda feels like an oil slick on the lips (probably not the best description but that's all I've got). I apply this after I take off my lipstick, in fact any lip product I use, and it immediately makes a massive difference to my lips. It is really long lasting as well, if I apply it before I go asleep at night I can still feel it when I wake up. The smell is also unusual and quite hard to describe but it really grows on you after awhile.

   The price, I hear you ask...... €15, give or take a couple of cent, and totally worth it. You lips are a massive feature of your face so they need to be taken care off, especially if you wear strong lip colours like me. Defo keep your eyes peeled for this!

Thanks for Reading,
Kate xXx

I got new Mac...surprise, surprise.....HAUL!

    Just a quick share with you my new Mac products! Now, I have been good lately and not bought anything in Mac, so good in fact my lovely Mam treated me to these goodies....God, she is great!

     Three new shadows for my collection, a creme colour base and my first 217 blending brush (giddy with excitement about this brush...)

New Goodies!

The 3 shadows I got were;

1. Retrospeck; a sparkly light gold, gorgeous on the lid.
2. Espresso; a matte brown, perfect brown smokey eye colour.
3. Smut; a dirty grey/brown colour, love this, perfect when u want to add don't want to add black.

Creme colour base in Pearl. Absolutely gorgeous cream highlight. It is a light yellowy gold that blends down to a sheer white, love this, gives that perfect 'wet' face look. After this one, I definenetly want to try out the Creme Colour base in Hush. I love highlights, I think they are money well spent, especially in Summer.

Creme Colour Base in Pearl.

    And then my brush. I am so excited to use this. It has to be the most commonly used brush in all youtube beauty videos and blogs. I feel many more of these bad boys will be in my kit in the very near future....

    And that is it for this haul.....I am currently on a beauty spending ban...no more buying unnecessary makeup that I don't need but if someone else buys it for me I'm not going to say no....

Thanks for reading,
Kate xXx

Lashes, Lashes and mo' Lashes!

   Now, I am a big fake lash fan, they really do finish off you makeup look especially on a night out, I'd be lost without them. But, let's face it, they are super expensive to get some decent ones! Penney's do have some cheapie lashes but for me they are hard to apply sometimes and quite plastic and fake and on the other end of the scale Inglot's cheapest lashes are 10e and all Mac's are 12e I believe. Eyelure (which you can buy in most chemists) are like seriously expensive too and while I think they are worth the money, I would naturally like to avoid paying that amount if possible. And Ladies, it is possible.....May I introduce you too Amazing Shine!

These are like my superstar lashes!!! Not available in any shops, well not that I know of anyway, but this is okay for me....online shopping in the comfort of my own home! Fine-by-me!!!!! I bought mine from here...Colour Cosmetics and well let's look at the price, I'm sure you can see why I love them!! Amazing value at 1.99 sterling, like hello???? I'm not being cheap by any stretch of the imagination like but these lashes are phenomenal!!! Not plastic looking, cheap, great value and great effect on!! You don't need to be smart to realise that you need to buy these!!!

Go try some out....even if you don't like them it's hardly breaking the bank!! (p.s. you will like them, in fact you will love them!)

Thanks for reading...
Kate xXx

Cranberry and Bronze Eyes!

Step by Step Eyes for Summer Ladies!!!

    Most of you may, or may not know, but Cranberry/Burgundy colours are my FAAAAVOURITE eyeshadows. So flattering on all eye colours and are really underrated in my opinion. They are difficult to use though, use it wrong and you instantly look like you've had a box in the eye, so may sure you blend the bejaysus out of it with  another shadow colour. 

Step 1: First step is to prime the eye by either using an Eye Primer, my favourite is Urban Decay’s Primer Potion, or you can otherwise use a small bit of your concealer. Place this all over the eye, right up to the brow, I would then usually say use you setting powder or an 'eggshell' eyeshadow to matt this down to avoid creases but today I'm using a cream eyeshadow so that step isn't important. 

Step 2: Using a synthetic flat brush, take some of your Maybelline Colour Tattoo and start packing the colour onto the lid, keep applying this until you are happy with the colour and depth of the cream shadow. (You can of course use a normal bronze powder eyeshadow in place of this cream shadow). You will now want to take a blender brush, this will be a really tapered, fluffy brush, and then blend out the edges of the edges of the bronze shadow to create a soft edges in your socket line.

 Step by Step:

Step 3: Next you will need to take your cranberry shadow and using the same blending brush softly blend the colour into the socket. Blending into your socket means that you will apply the shadow where your eye folds back into itself and moving over and back, much like a windscreen wiper motion, until you are happy with the colour and intensity. I’ve chosen to use Mac’s ‘Cranberry’ Eyeshadow but there are dupes of this colour in every brand this season as it is very popular. 

Step 4: Once you are happy with the colour and shape of your eyeshadow, it is time for eyeliner. Now, eyeliner can be scary for some people but it really is all about practice. I’m using Inglot Cosmetics infamous black Gel in no. 77, which is by far the best gel liner on the market today, in my opinion, I rarely go a day without using it. Using an angled brush, mine is from Mac, and starting in the centre of my eye stenciling the liner across my lashes. I always choose to do a dramatically thick, winged liner but you can always choose to do a liner that would be less dramatic and more suited to your own eye shape.

Step 5: To finish off the look, apply any kohl black liner to the bottom waterline and smudge any matte, black shadow to soften the bottom lashline and give the look a smokier look. You can add lashes for a more dramatic look, otherwise apply your mascara and away you go. Today I used Clinque's High Impact Mascara, my current favourite mascara. 

                                                         Products Used:

                                          Brushes Used:

I hope you find these hints and pictures to be really helpful and that you enjoyed learning something new. Let me know what you think! Will this be something you try?? :)

Thanks for reading,

Kate xXx

May Favourites! :)

May Favourites time!!
   There is soooo much makeup that I'm loving at the moment, but in particular I'm stuck in a Mac addiction at the moment!! Pretty much everything from Mac is amazing but just I'll just share with you a few selected bits that I'm loving!

Okay, so generally my WHOOOOOLE eyeshadow palette is in the "LOVE" section! Great range of colours for day and night in this palette, from mattes to shimmers to (one) glitter. To name a few, 'Patina', 'Satin Taupe', 'All That Glitters', 'Naked Lunch' and my personal favourite at the moment 'Expensive Pink'. There's many more but there just a few I'm loving.

Lipsticks, there is two at the moment 'Shy Girl', a peach nude cremesheen, LOVE IT! and a matte, orange-toned red, 'Lady Danger', use this with Mac's "Redd" lipliner. Taking full advantage of Mac's 'Back-to-Mac' scheme this month! :)

Mac's PaintPot 'Groundwork', beautiful taupe-y brown, great primer base for a smokey eye or just to use on it's own.

Ardell's Wispy lashes, lashes are essential for a night out! These are perfect, mostly sold in Salon Services or Boots.

My favourite concealor, Collection 2000 Perfect Concealor.

Clinque's 'High Impact' mascara. Got this as a gift when I bought something else, love it, Worth buying the full size so I defo will be purchasing! :)

Two Mac Blushes. 'Harmony', matte, perfect for contouring the cheeks and temples. Another taupe-y brown colour, very subtle, on the cheeks. Next is 'Springsheen', a loooong time favourite of mine, pretty sure this was the first blush I've every bought from Mac, pink toned with flecks of gold through it, perfect for summer! :)
Another blush, Becca's cream blush in 'Watermelon'. Quite a dark redy/pink for my skintone but perfect when used in moderation!

Revlon's PhotoReady foundation, have been trying it out lately, and it's good so far! Review to come soon!

Last but not least...Essie's 'Mint Candy Apple' nail varnish. Essie's most popular nail varnish this summer, they can't keep it in stock in England, can't believe I actually found some! :)

Thanks for reading! :)
Kate xXx

New Mac Lipsticks Love!

   If there is one thing that I LOVE doing , it's going into Mac and spending toooooooo much money on lipsticks, blushes, eyeshadows and well lets face it pretty much anything I can lay my hands on! The way I spend money ya'd swear I was rollin' in it! I love Mac so much I was there 3 days in a row?? Bit much maybe???? Nahh!

   So I'm going to show you some of the bits I bought, well I'm going to show you the lipsticks anyway! I've gone a tad crazy with lipsticks lately, (I bought 5 in 2 days, ooops!). I've started to just focus my makeup on lips lately with simple eyes so I figured I needed for new ones! And let's face it,  the smell of the lippies are worth the money in itself! €17.50 a pop, but it's Mac so it's worth it, right? Well, at least that's what makes me justify buying so many!

    First up...and I'm only going to show you 3 of the 5....Shy Girl, a marvellously nudey peace, ugh how I love this colour! It actually makes me so happy (I know I'm weird but hey)! It's gorgeous for Summer, nudey but still enough of a colour to make a difference! It's a cremesheen finish so it keeps your lips keep creamy and moisturising! I love this, perfect for those of you who want a colour but are too scared to go all out...keep it peachy Ladies! :) 

    The next one up is also a great choice for you girls who want a colour but that colour scares you! Lovelorn, a dolly pink, lustre lipstick! Another really nourishing lipstick for you lips! I love this colour, it really adds a brightness to my face and keeps your lips from looking dead! I much prefer using lipsticks in favour of using glosses, they simply last longer and ya dont have to reapply as often as a gloss! This would also be a winner of us pale skinned girls!   

     Now first of, I apologise for this picture...I really need to start getting better at taking pictures! This one is Lady Danger! Now I love me some red lipstick, but I usually prefer going for blue toned reds because they make your teeth sparkling white but I went for a change this time, Lady Danger is as orange toned a red as you will ever find, (I just make sure not to smile while wearing it ha). It's a matte lipstick, making it last longer on you lips but the thing I find about Mac's matte lipstick collection is that it is sooo nourishing on your lips, it doesn't seem to dry your lips out as much as other matte lipsticks that I've tried! The colour is so beauiful and looks fab on both darker complexions and lighter ones! You just have to be brave enough to try something new! Do you dare to try something new?????? Ahhhh go on....!!

     Those are just 3 of the 5 that I bought over the last few days,  I also bought Russian Red, a blue toned matte lipstick (ya know just to have options and all) and also Sandy B, another coral nude, but this one has a slight glitter to it, really beautiful lipstick but I am starting to wonder why I bothered buying two nudey coral/peaches?? I am a puzzle even to myself!

    Mac Lipsticks are my vice lately, I'd say I have at least 20, if not more at this stage, once you start buying it really is hard to stop, #addicted! Have you ladies tried any?? What are your favourite colour?? Are you looking for the perfect Mac lipstick? It can be overwhelming at first in Mac, there are so many to choose from, and from my lipstick collection I'm sure I could help find the perfect colour....Tell me all.....

Thanks for reading!
Kate xXx