On Assignment at the MAC Warehouse Sale

I was lucky enough to get tickets for the recent Estee Lauder/MAC sale this past weekend. A big thanks to Kate! But I decided not to go because my weekend was already super busy with my daughter's birthday party and I needed some R&R. Instead, I asked my friend Emilija to go on assignment as a Lipstick Rules Roving Reporter. Here is Emilija's take on the day and the sale:

This Sunday morning started bright, early and with a line-up! But one worth waiting in – it was the Estee Lauder/MAC warehouse sale. A few weeks ago Michelle invited me to come with her to the sale, but unfortunately she couldn’t make it so I offered to share my experience at the sale with all of you via her blog.

We wanted to get a good place in line so we headed to Markham early. It wasn’t too bad to start but by the time the doors opened there were people lined-up around the building.

The line was worth the wait! Inside rooms sections were divided by type of product: lipsticks, fragrance, skin care, eye shadows, etc. There were products from most of the Estee Lauder brands – MAC, Origins, Bobbi Brown, Clinique and more. Every make-up lover’s dream.

My personal mission was to find my ultimate favorite discontinued MAC eye shadow Femme-Fi from last year’s Neo-Sci Fi collection. This is one of my staples when it comes to eye shadow because you can wear it on its own, use it as a highlighter or to blend. I scoured the tables (samples were laid out with numbers, you wrote down what you wanted and someone from the EL team packaged everything together) and eventually I found it!! I bought four shadows (the max you could purchase of one shade)- the interesting thing was that it came in the normal MAC packaging and not the bright orange from the Neo-Sci collection.

Emilija's beloved Femme-Fi, which is a gorgeous highlight or base colour

Emilija's haul

Moon River and Grand Duo blushes (Emilija gave me Grand Duo!)

The rest of the sale seemed to pass in a blur – testing blushes, searching for the right shade of mascara, looking for the perfect gloss. The rest of my haul included Grand Duo and Moon River mineral blush from MAC, Sumptuous Mascara from Estee Lauder (always been a fan of EL mascara) and then as a free gift I got MAC Strobe Liquid Lotion. All in all a great haul!

NARS Makes Me Swoon...Again

If you've been reading my blog for a while you all know my ongoing love affair with all things NARS. There's something about this makeup line that makes my heart palpitate just a little faster.

Last week I attended a spring event at Holt's where once again I was made over by one of NARS' makeup artists. The focus of the look were the eyes, and ironically I didn't want them to use the spring colours. The only spring products they used on me was the Orgasm Illuminator, which is fantastic mixed with Sheer Glow foundation! It creates a beautiful luminescence on the skin.

Instead, I asked for the Star Sailor duo and above is the finished EOTD:

• NARS Mousson cream shadow, a silver sage colour she used as a base. I don't have any cream shadows from NARS as I've read mixed reviews about them.  
• NARS Star Sailor duo, a gold and antique bronze. This has been on my wish list forever so I did pick this up. The makeup artist used the gold all over lid, and the antique bronze also on the lid close to the lashline and in the outer corner. I loved it.
• NARS Night Porter, a dark green with shimmer. The makeup artist used this to to darken the outer corner and add more green to the look. It was really pretty too.
• NARS Absynnia as a highlight. I liked this highlighter too but I have so many highlighters that I barely use. 

Here is a closer look at Star Sailor. In real life the colours are more vibrant. The antique bronze has a greenish undertone to it and the gold is super pigmented.

The gold is much brighter than it is shown here. And the bronze has shimmer and green undertones.

All in all, I always feel fantastic after these events as the artists do a great job of making me look like me -- but better.

How to Wear Tarina Tarantino's Ribbon (Eye Dream Hypershadow)

There's a new girl in makeup town and it's Tarina Tarantino. The famed jewelry designer recently launched her new makeup collection exclusively at Sephora and has many a beauty blogger a buzz, including this one. The line is geared for women of all ages (hooray!) and is being promoted as "makeup-as-accessories." From glosses to blushes to primers, the extensive collection comes in super-cute pale pink and silver packaging. I like the packaging as it makes it easy to spot in my amidst the black packaging of so many other brands. 

Below is one of Tarina Tarantino's Eye Dream Hypershadows in the colour Ribbon, a pretty dark lilac colour. To me, this is in the same colour family as MAC's Stars & Rockets. The picture below doesn't do any justice to how pretty this colour really is. It's definitely 'swatch-worthy' the next time you are in Sephora.

Ribbon

The shadow is highly pigmented and smooth to apply

In theory, I would love to wear this colour regularly and I do have many colours that are in the same colour range in my collection. But being my neutrals-loving self, I rarely reach for them.So, I'll throw it over to you ladies. Help this makeup mama find a way to throw colour into my life and use this lovely specimen of a shadow. What would you pair with this type of colour? 

On another note, Tarina Tarantino will be in Toronto next week on March 16 at the Eaton Centre, from 6 p.m. - 8 p.m.. Who's going?! Anyone try this line yet?

Disclaimer: Product sent by Sephora/Tarina Tarantino for consideration.