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!