Beauty Bites: MAC Archie's Girls and Dainty Doll

 
This month I have been trying to be good and not buy lots of products because I will be going to the States in May and will most likely stock up on make up and other beauty products while I'm there. This month however also saw the hotly-anticipated release of the MAC x Archie's Girls collaboration which was bad timing for me because boy, do I sure love a MAC collaboration! I was very sensible and limited myself to one item only so that I could still enjoy the new collection but not go overboard. A friend went to MAC on my behalf to pick up said item which was another sensible choice since one peek of the other make-up available would have probably sent my 'one item' rule packing!

All of the items in the collection are beautifully packaged in hard white plastic featuring cartoon graphics of the Archie Comics characters. Presentation always gets my attention and MAC always get it right - especially in fun collaborations such as Hello Kitty, Heatherette, Disney Villains and now, Archie's Girls.

I chose one of the lipsticks from the Veronica line in the collection, called Boyfriend Stealer. As the name suggests, it's a sassy, vampy shade described by MAC as a 'blackened plum' in a 'deep, seductive tone'. I had been keen to try out a plum for ages so decided this would be the perfect opportunity. It certainly is very dark, especially at first glance while still in the tube, but can be worn in different ways depending on how bold a look you want to achieve. I wanted to go quite dark (go big or go home, right?) so swiped on a couple of layers to build up a more opaque look. As the lipstick is made from the same formula as MAC's Cremesheen lipsticks, it has a smooth application and a slightly shiny finish. It feels soft on the lips and despite being moderately pigmented it does not stain the lips and is easy to remove. No chance of those pesky stains the next day ("been eating liquorice?").

I decided to embrace the full vamp effect and wore it out to a gig with a black lace Betsey Johnson dress. I would recommend wearing a lipliner with this one, I always think with a bold lip you need to make sure it looks neat. I picked up a very inexpensive one from Collection that did the job nicely.

In a previous post I had mentioned picking up a blusher from Nicola Roberts' Dainty Doll collection. I had been very interested to try this brand as it promises to not only cater to, but actually be intended for pale skinned lasses like myself. Impressed? Very. The brand is still relatively new, yet has managed to establish themselves as a leading cosmetics line on a mission to 'enhance the beauty of fairer skin tones'. On a good day I look like Casper the Ghost so any assistance is appreciated!

One of the other things about Dainty Doll I admire is their dedication to using high-quality ingredients intended to improve your skin. The blusher I bought contains vitamins A and E, and is rich in antioxidants to help boost the skin naturally. Sounds good to me! I chose shade 02 called My Girl (which immediately conjured up visions of Macaulay Culkin being chased by bees but that is another blog post altogether) which is a sugary, sweet bright pink. It's the colour of cotton candy and I really like it. The colour is highly pigmented which meant that just one sweep gave my cheeks a healthy flush and a couple of sweeps helped me build up a brighter look with ease.

The size of the compact is very handbag-friendly and also features a mirror for use on the go. After applying my blusher in the morning I didn't have to top it up at all during the day. It stayed put and The Boy commented when we got home in the evening (after being on for over 8 hours) that the colour was still very visible. The blusher does not come with it's own applicator but I really didn't mind as I prefer to use my own brush anyway.

The Dainty Doll blusher range comes in 4 different shades. I'm keen to try Hippy Shake next, a lilac coloured blush as the colour looks adorable and I'm curious to see what a lilac blush might look like on! Now that I know how high quality the blusher is I'd like to try other products in the range too.

Overall I am very happy with both of these purchases. You can buy the Archie's Girls collection from MAC (but hurry - it is limited edition) directly either at MAC concessions or online. Dainty doll is available from a range of stockists including Boots, Very, Debenhams and Feel Unique.

Have you bought anything from the Archie's Girl collection? Or tried any of Dainty Doll's range? Do you ever feel like a ghost?

Thanks for reading!

Think Pink

"Pink. It's my new obsession", Steve Tyler once sang. That may be true in his case, but for me the colour pink has been a favourite for some time. And when combined with black (or, more recently, teal) it makes up most of my favourite ensembles. And it's not just me and Steve - whether on high end or high street looks, hubba-bubba hues of pink are set to be huge this summer. Here are a few of my pink picks for those looking to rock the look...

You can still wear pink and be a tough chick. Fact. Just look at the Pink Ladies. If wearing pink seems like a good idea but you don't want to lose your rocker credentials, no sweat - these baby pink panelled creepers by Underground (£89) are sure to tick all the right boxes:

Pink Underground Wulfrun creepers, £89 at ASOS

As I said before, pink and black is my most-worn colour combo and one of my favourite ways to do so  is by layering a pretty pink dress under a black jacket (blazer or biker style) or cardigan. Bertie Bassett, eat your heart out. This dress (£20) by Sodamix at House of Fraser even comes with a contrasting black belt:

Sodamix Structured Monroe dress, now £20 (was £28)  at House of Fraser

A designer that always caters for my passion for pink and black is Sonia Rykiel. Her previous H&M collaboration truly left me spoiled for choice when picking between pink and black striped pieces. One of my favourites was this crop-sleeved bow cardigan:

Cropped bow cardigan by Sonia Rykiel for H&M

Released back in 2010, this remains my favourite H&M collaboration to date. It crept up on the Glasgow store, with no wristband organisation system required as about a dozen of us turned up to quietly shop. If the frenzies of Jimmy Choo, Lanvin and most recently, Marni are anything to go by - those fuss-free release collaboration dates are long gone!

With Summer fast approaching (fingers crossed), I have noticed many stores defying the miserable weather and urging shoppers to snap up their colourful collections in anticipation of the sunny weather that is to come. Topshop's Hot Pink Hot Pants campaign has been the feature of shop windows and magazine ads, and it can't be denied that the high street giants offer quite a selection of pink denim shorts - from high waisted, to candy striped, to tie-dyed, to metallic. An insider tells me that these neon pink denim hotpants (£22) are set to be a best seller. Wear them if you dare!

Although I am a red lipstick girl at heart, recently I have been known to try some pink shades, particularly for during the day at work. My top picks for pink lipstick are are Revlon Colourburst Lip Butter in Cupcake (£7.99), MAC  lipsticks in Lovelorn & Saint Germain (£13.60 each) and Dior Addict Extreme lipstick in Plaza (£24). The new 'stick on the block (and my wishlist) is MAC's Viva Glam Nicki lipstick (£13.60 with proceeds going to the MAC AIDS Fund), a shade inspired by Nicki Minaj, who is herself no stranger to pink. MAC also released Pink Friday last year, a lipstick named after Minaj's album and a best-selling shade (with some going on eBay for as much as £50). Viva Glam Nicki's colour is described as a bright pink with yellow undertones. I'm looking forward to trying it!

MAC's latest Viva Glam advertising Campaign, featuring Nicki Minaj, Ricki Martin and a whole lot of lipstick 

Will you be feeling pretty in pink this Summer?

"Mirror, Mirror on the Wall..."

A few months back, I blogged about MAC Cosmetics and Disney's upcoming collaboration, the aptly named Venomous Villains collection. The products were finally launched today and I managed to hot-foot it down to the newly refurbished MAC counter at Frasers to get a piece of the action. And I certainly was very glad that I did!

The first thing I noticed when approaching the store was the window decor. In honour of the new collection, Frasers have emblazoned their windows with huge tributes to the characters that inspire the collaboration - Cruella De Vil from 101 Dalmatians, Maleficent from Sleeping Beauty and The Evil Queen from Snow White & the Seven Dwarves:


All of these characters are ones that I grew up watching in the films and being the MAC (ahem) addict that I am, I was doubly excited to see the products, especially after reading the press release:

"A potion to poison, an apple to bite, a spell to cast… Bad never looked so good. A crystal ball of colour created from our favourite Disney Venomous Villains, inspired by the three most infamously frosty, fabulous and formidable of Disney’s dark ladies… and one dastardly Dr. Facilier. Don’t you love it?

A MAC and Disney collaboration to celebrate the dark side in every one of us, in a glamorous sort of way. Who’s the fairest one of all? Four separate mini-collections, in haute animated couture...Uniquely designed iconic packaging you will kill for, cunning characters and bedeviled beauties that are so alluring, you can’t help but wonder what it would be like to be one!"

The products themselves are very high quality and the nice packaging is a very welcome bonus. The collection is very extensive, with each character assigned a mini-collection so although it was tempting to buy almost everything I limited myself to five items. That was a struggle! This is my haul:


The nail polishes are by far my favourite items, the colour intensity is incredible - like petrol, the colour changes depending on the lighting. I must not be the only one that likes them - one of the colours has sold out already! I bought two nail polishes, a lipstick, a lipglass and an eyeshadow duo. It was a tough choice because most of the colours in the collection are very wearable.

It was also a pleasure to shop for the new collection in Frasers' shiny new MAC concession area. It's bigger (at least twice its original size), better laid-out and was very well-staffed. I was served almost instantly and a pleasant shopping experience will always get the thumbs-up from me. Bravo!

The collection be be viewed and purchased from the MAC website here, or you can browse in person at Frasers.

Will you be indulging in your dark side?

Chic-ologically friendly

It's pretty safe to say that green is the new black. Recycling is not only smart - it has become widely acknowledged as the stylish thing to do for some time now - remember the frenzy surrounding those Anya Hindmarch canvas bags in 2007?

Two of my favourite cosmetics companies, MAC and Lush, are offering their customers stylish incentives for being Eco kind. MAC operate under the Back to MAC programme, a scheme in which they will exchange the return of six empty containers online or at a counter for a brand new lipstick of your choice. Not bad at all! Helping the environment and a brand new Ruby Woo (or whatever your favourite colour may be) to boot? I could get used to this...

Lush, who have recently refurbished their lovely large Buchanan Street store, offer a similar trade-off to their customers. For five empty black pots (normally filled with treats such as moisturiser, cleanser or hair products - to name a few)brought into the store, the staff at Lush will give you a pot of fresh face mask free of charge. This initiative has been cheerfully named Many Happy Returns.

Will you be going Back to MAC and/ or bringing Lush Many Happy Returns? Leave your comments below!