I love Ricky Martin! He has teamed up with Nicki Minaj for this spring’s Viva MAC. The Nicki lipstick is a hot rose pink that can pair with a Ricky Martin colourless tube Lip Conditioner for a bit of gloss. I really like MAC‘s lip conditioner. It is a nice basic moisturizing tube gloss.

Below is a swatch of the lipstick with the conditioner over it taken in fairly low level natural light by a window (cloudy, no bright sun).  This is really a rather chameleon color. In brighter light it looks much lighter pink, but under indoor light it looks darker. The swatch is how it appears generally in lower light.   Adding the conditioner doesn’t change the shade at all, it just glosses it up a bit. Otherwise, the lipstick is rather matte.

100% of the earnings from Viva Glam supports the M·A·C AIDS FUND, a very worthy cause. Get it at Maccosmetics.com beginning around February 15.

Disclosure: This post is based on products provided by a representative of the company. For more, please see the disclosure page.

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The Daphne Guinness for MAC Collection has some rather pretty shades in it.  I received some of the items in the collection for review and below are my Daphne Guinness for MAC swatches.

MAC Daphne Guinness Swatches

First up is the pigment in Nebula (on the left) and the Daphne Guinness eye shadow quad. The pigment shade didn’t wow me, but I do like the shades in the quad, especially the mauve shade.

Next are two ombre blushes and a beauty powder. On the left is the ombre Vintage Grape Blush, which has really nice pigment to it. In the middle is a rather luminous (more so than the photo shows) beauty powder in Too Chic, and on the right is the ombre blush in Azalea  Blossom.

Also in the collection are new Pro Longwear Lipcremes. I love these, and they really do wear wonderfully. Below are swatches of the shades Approaching Storm, Seasoned Plum, and Warp Speed.

To go with the lipcremes are also some Cremesheen glass, which I also love. Below are swatches of the shades Narcissus and Richly Revered.

The Daphne Guinness for MAC Collection is available beginning December 26, 2011.

Disclosure: This post was based on products provided to me by a representative of MAC. For more, please see our disclosure page.

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L’Oreal Infallible Never Fail Lip gloss promises that the gloss will last for 6 hours. So, I decided to put that to the test.

L’Oreal Infallible Lip Gloss Review

I’m not the biggest fan of long wearing products. For more on those, see my previous comparison of a variety of long lasting lip product where I did not believe that any were particularly worth purchasing. You can read a previous article on that here: Long Lasting Lip Products Review. Long wearing products have a tendency to be drying on the lips and I never seem to be a big fan of the shades that are available. They also very rarely last anywhere close to the time that is promised. But L’Oreal‘s Infallible Gloss is a bit of an exception it seems, I do like this one and overall can recommend it. But don’t expect 6 hours from it.

I bought a L’Oreal Infallible Lip Gloss in Red. The color is an attractive deep red and it quite wearable. the gloss does have its sticky moments while you wait for it to set, which is true of every long wearing product I have ever tried. However, once it was set, it was not drying in the same way a lot of other long wear products are, it kept a glossy appearance, and it wore pretty darn well.  I managed to drink and eat and keep it on. But after 4 hours or so it began to look dull and at five hours it wasn’t looking real good, so I removed what was left of it.

Overall, as far as long wear products go, the L’Oreal Infallible gloss is pretty good. It really does have staying power and the colors are not too bad either. If you expect less than the 6 hours promised, you will likely be happy with it.

L’Oreal also makes a lip pencil in the infallible line. I haven’t tried it, but it couldn’t hurt to pair it up with a gloss for longer wear.

Shop for L’Oreal Cosmetics

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The MAC Posh Paradise Collection is a set of lush limited edition mattene lipsticks, paint pots, and two nail polishes. I love MAC paint pots, so I always get excited over new shades and the semi-matte lipsticks in this collection are also fabulous.

MAC Posh Paradise Swatches

Below are Posh Paradise Paint Pot swatches in the shades Genuine Treasure, Idyllic, Nubile, and Pure Creation. The blue of Pure Creation is especially impressive and it has a very nice luminous sheen to it.

Next are Mattene Lipstick Swatches from the collection in the shades Eden Rouge, Delectable, and Legendary. The lipsticks have high pigment and a creamy, moist texture. They wear pretty well, although I think the the Pro Longwear items from the Styledriven collection wear longer.

The MAC Posh Paradise Collection will be on the shelves beginning September 15, 2001 an will be available through November 10.

I’ll post outdoor photos of these over on Girl Gloss too.

Disclosure: This review is based on products provided by a representative of MAC. For more, please see the disclosure page.

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The MAC Styledriven Collection is a gorgeous set of Pro Longwear Products that will be part of the MAC Permanent Collection. In true MAC fashion, they are full of pigment, and indeed, do wear long. This is a huge collection with 16 new eyeshadows, 12 lipcremes, 9 lipglass shades, 10 lip pencils, and a brush. My photos here are all taken indoors with flash, which I think actually tends to show the shades the best. But I also took outdoor pictures and will post those on Girl Gloss.

MAC Styledriven Swatches

The MAC Pro Longwear eye shadow in the Styledriven collection is listed in my press materials as having a “creamy” texture. It is a powder shadow, but it does hold up much like a creme to powder type of shadow in terms of long wear and no creasing. Just don’t get confused by the press and think it really is a creamy type of shadow–it is not–it is a powder.  The pigment in it is fantastic. Below are  Styledriven Eye Shadow swatches. From left to right are the shades Carefree, Styledriven, One To Watch, Hot Paprika, Thru the Night, and Legendary Black.

ProLongwear Eye Shadow Swatches

Next  are the Styledriven Lip Pencil swatches in the shades Nice N’ Spicy, Staunchly Stylish, What a Blast!, Absolutely It, Morning Coffee (which is almost the same as Nice N’ Spicy-just ever so slightly darker), and More To Love. These are seriously long wear pencils. I got very nice wear out of the one that I tested. Fill in your lips with a pencil and cover it with one of the new lipcremes and you are good to go for quite some time!

MAC ProLongwear Lip Pencil Swatches

MAC Pro Longwear lipcreme rocks. The lipsticks feel great—they are nicely moisturizing—and the color lasts extremely well. It is hard to wear these very sheer, so if you don’t like a lot of color, stick to a lighter shade. When paired with lip pencil I can get some seriously good wear out of these. Below swatches of the shades Endless Drama, Soft Sell, Dress It Up, and So Very Good

ProLongwear LipCreme Swatches

The Pro Longwear lipglasses are the only items I’m not a huge fan of. The pigment in them is fantastic, but they also tend to be on on the sticky side. That can be an unfortunate side effect of really well pigmented glosses. Below are swatches of five of the shades: Ready or Not, Driven by Love, Whoops!, Dark As Night, and Infinitely Likeable.

MAC ProLongwear Lipglass Swatches

The MAC Styledriven Collection will be available September 22, 2011 and will be part of the permanent collection.

Disclosure: This review is based on products provided by a representative of the company. For more, please see the disclosure page.

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Summer Makeup 2011: Loud and Proud

Summer makeup trends for 2011 include the bright, the glowing, and the bronzed. Foregoing past summer makeup trends of the natural look and “less is more,” this year’s hues are loud, proud, and full of shimmer. Bright matte lipstick screams out to be noticed in popular shades of fuchsia, red, pink and orange. Bold shimmery eyeshadow in green, blue, orange, and pink attract attention to beautifully-shaped eyes. Foundation creates the dewy look of summer glow to contrast the bright matte lipstick and assist the eyeshadow in its mission to shimmer. Silvery tones for fair skin and peachy or golden tones for olive skin make facial shine a positive thing. Finally, summer bronzer is in season to safely highlight or enhance your tan.

Estee Lauder Bronze Goddess Soleil Summer 2011 Makeup Collection

In keeping with the summer 2011 makeup trends, Estee Lauder has introduced a collection that features all of the above styles. Their Bronze Goddess Island Oasis Eyeshadow Palette offers bronzy shimmering metallics, plus a bright teal shade. The compact contains six shades that can be worn alone or together. Their Bronze Goddess Soft Shimmer Bronzer kisses skin with a touch of summer. The ShadowStick Duo includes highly metallic Pink Teal and Gold Bronze, while their Pure Color Gloss comes in color-rich shades of Blazing Coral, Plum Divine, and Sunburst.

MAC Surf Baby Collection for Summer 2011

Summer trends at MAC can be seen vividly in their shades ranging from extremely bold to as shimmery as glitter itself. Their Surf Baby Collection features the very beachy My Paradise Peach pressed powder, which sports a gold tropical hibiscus overspray. Lipsticks include Hibiscus Bright in orange coral and Mocha Peachy in a rich yellow-brown, while Lipglass shades include Strange Potion in soft coral, Krazy Kahuna in warm brown, Good Lovin’ in soft peachy-pink, and Girl on Board in pale white gold. Crushed Metallic Pigment Stacks are available in the more earthy tones of Summer Stash and the bolder hues of Surf the Ocean Frosty. Eyeshadows include the popular bright frosted teal of Surf U.S.A., as well as more laid-back tones of champagne and grey. MAC’s Bronzing Powder comes in the deep orange brown Solar Riche and the gold and soft pearl finish of Refined Golden.

Lancome Bronze Azure Collection for Summer 2011

One sure summer makeup trend for 2011 is to provide customers with a choice between whispering shimmer and screaming color, and often both of these choices are available in one package to suit all tastes. Lancome’s Molten Shore eyeshadow includes beige, brown, and metallic plum but also features a bold teal. Their Artliner comes in both the metallic teal of Beach Gem and the golden sparkle of Scorched Brown. The Color Fever Gloss ranges from Hibis-Kiss in a bright, sparkly pink to Heatstroke, a pinkish taupe with flecks of silver, and Paradise Peach with a shimmer of gold. Color Design lipstick comes in Femme-Fire, a medium pink; Hot Nights, a bright, sparkly pink; and Coral Goddess, a pale peach sheen.

Clinique Bronze Summer 2011 Collection

Sun-conscious as well as fashionable, Clinique’s summer 2011 makeup collection includes Almost Bronzer SPF 15 in a mini-makeup bag. This bronzing duo features a deep and a light shade of bronzer in the same compact. Designed for all skin types, this formula lets the user achieve an array of looks, from a sheer sunny glow to a deep tropical bronze. In keeping with the bright lipstick trend, Clinique’s Chubby Stick Moisturizing Lip Colour Balm comes in delicious shades like Mega Melon, Richer Raisin, Whole Lotta Honey, Chunky Cherry, Super Strawberry, and Woppin’ Watermelon. This balm provides much-needed moisturization for the summer with ingredients like shea butter and jojoba seed oil. Both products are available at Nordstrom.com.

All in all, summer makeup 2011 looks to be as bright as tropical fish and as shimmery as a mermaid’s tail. Undoubtedly, the beach gave great inspiration to this season’s palette. With such intense shades, girls should be able to match their eyeshadow to their flip-flops. Whether one goes for champagne shimmer tones or exclusively wears electric teal and fuchsia, the look will owe itself to tropical paradise, wherever the wearer may roam.

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The MAC Bloggers’ Obsessions collection consists of  four eyeshadows and five lipglasses designed by fellow beauty bloggers who pitched their design ideas to MAC. Out of around 80 pitches, 9 were chosen. I  pitched a design that I admit was quickly made, so I never had high hopes of being included. I am happy to see some very familiar names among the beauty bloggers who were chosen though. I also think that their designs rock!

MAC Products Designed By Beauty Bloggers

Pictured left to right above are the shades Evolution Revolution, Caqi, Sonoran Rain, Nitro:licious 2046, All of My Purple Life,  Parisian Skies, Hocus Pocus, Sparkle Neely Sparkle, and Jealousy Wakes.

I think this collection is solid all the way around and I like everything in it, but I can’t afford to buy it all. So, based on the Bloggers’ Obsessions swatches and pictures provided by MAC, I lean toward purchasing Parisian Skies and Hocus Pocus. Both are great shades for creating a cool smoky eye look. In the lipglass shades, I particularly like  the shade Caqui (love that name too!) and I might also get Sonoran Rain. I don’t have my own swatches of these, as MAC is not sending out many samples to bloggers of this collection like they sometimes do with others. When I make a purchase though I will swatch what I buy.

Below are the shade names, designer, and blog  information for the MAC Bloggers’ Obsessions Collection:

The Bloggers’ collection will be on sale starting June 21, 2011, only at maccosmetics.com.

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Of all the spring collections, Estee Lauder Wild Violet is my favorite. The Estee Lauder Wild Violet Pure Color shadow palette in the collection has a beautiful set of neutral shades with a bright eye-popping violet to make things interesting. It has been getting rave reviews, and understandably so.

The collection also contains four fabulous lipstick shades, although the signature violet shade is getting pretty had to find. You can see them here: Estee Lauder Wild Violet Pure Color Long Lasting Lipstick.

If you haven’t worn Estee Lauder lipstick before, you should try it. Both Estee Lauder and Lancome put out quality lip products with an interesting range of shades. Estee Lauder lip color tends to be moisturizing and it normally wears rather well, hence the “long wearing” in the name.

The Estee Lauder Wild Violet Collection also includes a limited edition nail polish, two stand alone eye shadows, an eyeliner,  and a mascara.  If you want an extra bargain, at the time of this writing, Nordstrom was offering a free gift with Estee Lauder  purchase. Gotta love it when it is Estee Lauder free gift time!

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Disclosure: This is a sponsored post. For more, please see the disclosure page.

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Lady Gagais  back again to represent MAC VIVA GLAM with two pretty nude shades—one in lipstick and one in lipglass.  Both have a slight hint of champagne pink that I just love.

All proceeds for  from the sale of MAC VIVA GLAM items goes to the MAC AIDS Fund. Below are MAC Viva Glam 2 swatches:

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