M.A.C Cherish

 Cherish (http://www.temptalia.com/)

 Cherish swatch (http://www.temptalia.com/)

Cherish can be described as "rich creamy beige nude" (http://www.temptalia.com/). Nudes are very hard for me to work with because many of them wash out my skin, and come off looking chalky. What's nice about cherish is that it does have peachy undertones so it compliments darker skin well. The finish is Satin so it is long lasting without being drying like a Retro Matte would do. The best way to wear this color is definitely with a liner and I would suggest Pink Treat by MAC.  

Me wearing Cherish with an average clear lip gloss ! :)

M.A.C Russian Red

 Russian Red (http://www.temptalia.com/)

Russian Red swatch

(http://www.temptalia.com/) 

Russian Red is described on maccosmetics.com "intense bluish-red" with a matte finish.  Though, it is mostly neutral (not leaning cool or warm), it will only read slightly blue-toned on a very warm complexion.  I would also describe this as a medium-dark shade.  These factors make this the perfect red for all skin tones.  Even girls who have trouble finding red to match their skin will love Russian Red.  It is long-wearing and will leave a slight stain on your lips after it has worn off.  Unlike many matte finishes (especially retro-matte), it is not drying and even a bit creamy.  It will leave your lips looking matte, but feeling hydrated and smooth. It's smoothness does have a downside though.  Some might find that it doesn't quite stay in place and may get outside your lip line.  This can be easily counteracted by doing one of two things (or both).  First, you can apply a lipliner to the rim of your lips.  I would recommend Cherry lipliner from MAC. This will make sure your lipstick doesn't bleed and catches any lipstick that might get outside your lip line.  Your second option is to set the lipstick with a translucent powder.  This make sure your lipstick wont budge and better prevents it getting on things like coffee mugs, utensils (basically anything you put near your mouth).  It also takes away any shine.  Though, this option may make your lips a bit dryer.  

This color is one of my personal favorites and is one of MAC's best selling lipsticks.  The great thing about red lipstick (and Russian Red in particular) is that it looks good with any eye makeup, even blues, purples, greens, etc.  I highly recommend this for anyone who is looking for a sophisticated red and might have a hard time finding a red that fits their skin.  

Wearing Russian Red

Nitraa B Beauty Guru

 (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCanxV6P3uYyM_QjIy9p-L_A) 

I love this makeup look because it is very neutral and relaxed but girly at the same time. I thought this specific tutorial was interesting because this lip color is more on the nude side and it is a pink nude, and those tend to look not so hot on myself, so after viewing this I really want to try this lip idea. If you want to watch the full makeup tutorial go right ahead, and if you're more interested in viewing the lip section skip to 7:17 

Products: MAC Soar Lipliner

Aromi Toasted Almond Liquid Lipstick

M.A.C Silly

 Silly 

(http://www.temptalia.com)

MAC's Silly Lipstick is a matte, brightened medium pink. It has subtle blue undertones but it pulls more to the lavender side which is why it doesn't look good on darker skin because as most of the lip products on this blog, it washes you out. 

Silly without any liner

The color and the way it covers my lips, makes me feel like a clown. I tend to stray away from bright/opaque colors especially pinks, because it washes me out and makes my lips look like clown lips

I added MAC's Cremestick Lip Liner in Pink Treat and I rimmed all around my lips and filled in the bottom half and a little bit of the top. After that, I dabbed on Silly and rubbed it around with my ring finger. It is a very matte product so don't be generous or else it will look chalky and unappealing

As you can see, it's toned down and still a cute pink for day or night :)

M.A.Candy Yum Yum

Candy Yum Yum swatch (http://www.temptalia.com)

 Candy Yum Yum 

(http://www.temptalia.com)

Candy Yum Yum is a really matte formula. It appears almost chalky in a way on my lips and I would strongly suggest exfoliating the lips then moisturizing and dab off the excess product with a paper towel or cloth. The color itself is a neon blue-based pink. The picture and lighting does NOT do much justice to how terrible it looks on me. It washes me out badly and I had a hard time even trying to make this work for my complexion. Not a favorite lipstick

 Not much of a difference but if you want to try out Candy Yum Yum, first exfoliate, then moisturize- dab off excess, then line the corners of your lips top and bottom with MAC's Cremestick liner in, Pink Treat, then dab on the lipstick with your ring-finger and pat it around until you get the desired amount that you want. By adding the darker lip liner, it tones down the brightness but still giving you the neon pink effect of the lipstick

M.A.C Heroine & Smash Hit

Heroine 

(http://www.temptalia.com/)

Heroine swatch 

(http://www.temptalia.com/)

Heroine is a beautiful and bold, bright violet-purple. It has a satin finish (so moisturize before!) This color looks beautiful on darker complexions

Here I am just wearing Heroine alone

 Smash Hit (http://www.temptalia.com/)

 Smash Hit swatch (http://www.temptalia.com/)

MAC's Smash Hit is a very cool lipstick for adding on top of another lipstick because it is a sheer golden sparkle lipstick just to add some dazzle to your lips! Speaking of dazzle, the finish of this lipstick is called "Dazzle Lipstick" which just means sparkly. Unfortunately this lipstick limited edition, but any sparkly lipgloss would go great with Heroine! :)

Here is the dynamic duo! Heroine + Smash Hit

Disclaimer: The reason why it's very glossy is because I did add just an average drug store brand lipgloss to amplify the sparkles

M.A.C Lady Danger

       Lady Danger 

from (http://www.temptalia.com/)

 Lady Danger Swatch

from (http://www.temptalia.com/)

 

As you probably noticed, Lady Danger shows up somewhat the same on the model and I. The only thing I would add is that the color shows up more orange on her, and more red on me. Lady Danger is a beautiful summertime color. It is a bright coral red with a beautiful matte finish. I would take note that Lady Danger tends to be very drying so I would suggest moisturizing the lips beforehand. I didn't line my lips so it looks a little messy, but for anyone who has darker pigmented lips like myself, you can line your lips with MAC's Lip Pencil in, Lasting Sensation for a flawless lip look. Look down below to see what it looks like :)

Not much of a difference but it's a lot neater :)

M.A.C Show Orchid

Imperfection is beauty, madness is genius and it's better to be absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring
-Marilyn Monroe

M.A.C Show Orchid

MAC's Show Orchid is a extremely beautiful fuchsia. It is vibrant with fuchsia-purple iridescence. It has mostly opaque color coverage and an amplified finish. If you were to use MAC's Pro-Long wear lip pencil in Pink Treat, it would be the best dynamic duo! 

It's rich in color, comfortable to wear, and wear on the longer side (because it's more intense, so it's more apt to stain, while the finish is creamier so it clings to the lips)



(http://www.maccosmetics.com/search/esearch.tmpl?search=show+orchid&search_submit.x=0&search_submit.y=0) 

(Buy it here) ^

Wearing Show Orchid :) 

 

M.A.C Dreaming Dahlia

MAC Dreaming Dahlia

from (http://www.temptalia.com/product/mac-cosmetics-lipstick/dreaming-dahlia)

Dreaming Dahlia is a Limited Edition lipstick and it is absolutely perfect for the summertime! It' Luminous finish makes it noticeable but also a lightweight wear so it looks natural. It has a warm undertone and it is a coral color. Goes well with tan/deeper skin! (Why do you think I love this?!)

In this picture, both of us are wearing Dreaming Dahlia. As you can tell, they surprisingly work for both of our complexions and lip pigmentations so this is a very versatile lip color. The only thing I would recommend doing for myself (and for anyone with deeper skin) is lightly lining the lips so it looks neater and because my lips have a darker pigmentation compared to the model, and the lipstick is not matte, the color will fade quicker, so the liner will help it look less messy and keep the color in tact

Here I lightly lined my lips as I talked about above and it looks neater. This challenge was easier than all the other ones :D 

LIME CRIME Chinchilla

Lime Crime Chinchilla 

from (http://www.limecrime.com)

Chinchilla is a toned down cool colored opaque purple with some gray undertones so people with warmer complexions as myself (I'm more neutral than warm), tend get washed out from wearing this color. On top of that madness, because it is a purple, it does make the teeth appear yellow :(

Chinchilla Swatch (http://samantharoserussell.blogspot.com/2014/04/lipstick-review-lime-crime-chinchilla.html)

                                  

Here I am wearing Chinchilla and although it looks somewhat "ok", I would never walk out in public like this because it tends to make me look washed out and it doesn't compliment my skin complexion at all. 

Here you can see more of the contrast between the model and I. On her, Chinchilla looks darker and more gray, she can pull off the color better than I, whereas on me, its brighter and doesn't contrast well with my natural lip color or skin tone.

So to improve the look, I used MAC's More to Love Pro-long wear lip pencil amd I lightly rimmed my lip line because the liner is darker than Chinchilla and almost more pinky purple, after that I applied Chinchilla but lightly but generous amounts. Don't just rub the product all over your lips because you will take off the liner. The finished result looks a lot better than just Chinchilla alone - But it's still not something I would wear out

M.A.C Viva Glam Nicki 2

 Viva Glam Nicki 2 swatch from

(http://www.temptalia.com)

  M.A.C Viva Glam Nicki 2

(http://www.temptalia.com)

 

Here I am wearing Mac's VGN2 lipstick. Even though many deeper skin toned women do like this lipstick, it looks very pasty on me and washes me out big time because I have more neutral undertones , PLUS the pastel in this color yellows the teeth a little as well. The color is described as a pastel lavender pink and it has an Amplified finish. Def need a liner for this look. 

To improve the lipstick, I used MAC's More to Love lip pencil all around my lips and inside as well. I applied Viva Glam Nicki 2 in dabbing motions and patted the product around with my ring finger. Then taking Airborne Unicorn by Lime Crime (http://www.limecrime.com) I put some of the product in the corners of my lips to give more dimension. All in all, this is one of my favorite looks because it's flirty and fun and it can be toned down for a more casual look, or brightened up for a night out! 

M.A.C Please Me

Please Me swatch from

(http://www.temptalia.com)

 M.A.C Please Me

In both pictures we are wearing MAC's Please Me lipstick. Please Me can be described as a light-medium creamy pink with subtle yellow undertones with a matte finish. As you can tell on me it looks rather dried out and "crusty." It also looks more rosy and the model's lips look more peachy. Since it has a hint of yellow undertones and so do I as well, the lipstick washes me out a little and that's one reason why I wanted to replicate this color to work for my skin-tone. 

In the first picture (left) I am wearing Please Me, alone. It looks decent not too bad. To make it a little more polished, I added MAC's Stripdown lip pencil just lightly riming the corners of my lips and applying the lipstick regularly (center & right). For a finished touch I also applied a normal clear gloss, lightly. Personally, when I first picked up the color I thought it was NOT going to be cute on me whatsoever. I'm very picky when it comes to pinks when we're talking about makeup and specifically lipstick in general. But I think the best advice I can give someone of color when trying to make lighter lipsticks work for them is to always have a lip pencil on deck. They will become your best friend when using them properly. 

M.A.C Myth

M.A.C Myth

M.A.C Myth 

(http://www.temptalia.com)

Myth Swatch from (http://www.temptalia.com)

In the dual picture we are both wearing MAC's Myth lipstick. Myth can be described as a pale pink- tinted beige with a creamy consistency. The lipstick comes in a satin finish so it can be drying if not applied with moisturizer beforehand. On me it looks more orange and peachy and on the model it looks more on the beige-nude side. If you ask me, it looks completely unflattering on my skin-tone.

The collage here shows me wearing Myth before and after improvising the look. Due to unnatural lighting in the first picture, it does look a little more beige than orange like it was supposed to BUT to fix the unflattering lip color - I used MAC's Stripdown lip pencil, lining my lips carefully and the inside creases, and dabbing on Myth gently and patting it around my lips with my ring finger. Finally adding the finishing touch with MAC's Lustreglass in Love Nectar. Even though I did make the transformation work from bright and pasty looking to more natural looking, I'm really not a fan of the lipstick and I would never purchase it. It's something to stay away from and not waste the $16.00 on. 

M.A.C Snob

M.A.C Snob (http://www.temptalia.com)

Snob Swatch from (http://www.temptalia.com)

In all 4 pictures, I as well as my fair-skinned model are both wearing Snob by MAC. Snob Lipstick would be considered a cool-toned light-medium pink with a subtle gray-tint. It has a satin finish. Bearing an opaque color coverage, it makes it slightly harder for darker skin colored women to pull off this lipstick. As I (on the left-hand top and bottom) am pulling off a more lighter purply color which tends to sometimes wash me out because I have cool tones in my complexion. The model on the right-hand top and bottom gives Snob a more pouty-pink look and reveals the more pink side rather than purple which shows up on me.

In both pictures I am wearing Snob but improvised to work with my skin tone  The best way to go about doing so would be to use MAC Stripdown lip pencil, apply Snob in dabbing motions and then apply Buxom lipgloss in Sophia. This tones down the brightness but still giving a nice nude look on the lips.