The MAC Vera collection is perfect for flowery spring looks and includes two pretty pearlmatte face powders, Sunday Afternoon, and Flower Fantasy.

Below is a photo of my Sunday Afternoon powder.

Here is a swatch of MAC Vera Sunday Afternoon. This is done sweeping across the entire pan to pick up all of the colors:

Disclosure: This post is based  on an item given to me by a representative of MAC. For more, see the disclosure page.

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MAC Semi-Precious Swatches: Eye Shadow, Mineralize Blush, and Mineralize Skinfinish

The MAC Semi-Precious collection offers twelve very well pigmented mineralize eye shadows,  three blushes, and four Mineralize Skinfinish luminizers/blushes/bronzers. In the past when MAC has done mineralized eye shadow I found that some of the shades ended up a bit muddy at times, but this collection  generally didn’t have that problem among the eight shades that I swatched, with the exception of one dark green shade, Dark Indulgence (which I think still looks OK, but the green doesn’t show at all) .

MAC Semi-Precious Eye Shadow Swatches

Below are Semi-Precious Eye Shadow swatches of eight of the twelve shades. From left to right with notes in parenthesis: Unsurpasssable (this is more luminous than the picture shows and is a gorgeous light turquoise/teal), Quartz Fusion (lots of glitter in this one that doesn’t show as well in photos), Dark Indulgence, Blue Sheen (particularly well pigmented), Rare Find (my personal favorite), Faux Gold (more luminous than the photo really depicts), Jade’s fortune (another really pretty and interesting sea green shade), and Mineral Mode (this was more pinkish than I thought it would be).

MAC Semi-Precious Blush Swatches and Mineralize SkinFinish Swatches

Neither of the blush shades that I tried thrilled me, but that is only because they wouldn’t personally work well for me, they actually are rather pretty shades. I also noted that they have pretty decent pigment to them. I also tried three of the skinfinish shades. Here are  swatches of the blushes and skinfinish. From left to right: Pearl SkinFinish (probably the best shade for my rather pale skin), Rose Quartz SkinFinish (has a very pretty pink to it), Goldstone SkinFinish, Pressed Amber blush, and Warmth of Coral Blush

The collection also includes brushes, mascara, face and body lotion, mineralize charged water, mineralize satin finish foundation, and  new lip shades. I swatched the lipsticks and cremsheen lipglasses over on Girl Gloss. You can see them here: MAC Semi-Precious Lip Swatches.

This  collection is available July 7, though August 21, 2011. Sometimes the collections show up for sale a few days early.

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

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The Mac Surf Baby collection has a summer bronze theme that will work well if you are a bronzer fan. I’m not really loving the eye shadows in this collection except for the teal blue, but it does have two really nice sets of metallic pigments. I also love the lipsticks and balms (which really are tube glosses with spf) in the collection. I have swatches of those up on Girl Gloss here: MAC Surf Baby Lip Swatches.

Below are MAC surf baby swatches. First up are the powder point eye pencil in Gilded White, which is a rather nice soft pencil, and eye shadows in Surf USA, Saffron, and Sun Blonde. I question whether Saffron and sun Blonde would look very good on anyone other than those with rather warm skin tones to begin with. I do love the teal though! It seems like MAC puts out a new teal every summer that just vary from each other slightly. The pigment is quite good on all of the shades.

Next up are swatches of the surf baby crushed metallic pigments. These come in two different four pigment sets. I really like both of them. The Summer Stash set includes shades of Light White Pearl, Light Pink Champagne,  Brown Bronze with gold pearl, and Light Violet with silver pearl.

The pigment set of Surf the Ocean contains shades of Frosty Platinum, Light Yellow Green (I don’t personally see the yellow in this, which is fine by me), Dirty Graphite with silver pearl, and Gold Bronze. The light green is gorgeous and I don’t think the swatch really does it justice.

Also in the MAC Surf Baby collection are three bronzer sticks. These are not sheer by any means! Nor are any of them very light. Even the lightest shade is not going to work for me. They could be rather neat for contouring on darker skin though. Below are swatches of the MAC skinsheen bronzer sticks in the shades Tan-Tint (the lightest shade in the collection) and Billionaire Bronze.

Finally, here is a swatch of the Surf Baby Cheek Powder, which is an interesting shade that I think you need the right skin tone for. It is pretty, but I think it looks a bit garish on my cool toned skin. Also included is a swatch of Gold Go Lightly Bronzing Powder.

MAC lists the surf baby collection as available beginning May 26, 2011. Their collections often pop up a bit early though.

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

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The MAC Fashion Flower Collection contains a number of brightly colored shadows inspired by spring floral blossoms. For lip product swatches, head on over to my post on Girl Gloss: MAC Fashion Flower Lipstick Swatches.

In the eye shadows, I particularly like the lighter shades in the fashion flower collection, which includes a beautiful matte light aqua blue and a luminous lime green that really shines.  Matte coral pink and gray shades are also interesting, as is a frosty white/yellow shade, that appears mostly white. The disappointment for me was a hunter green shade that looks luminous and beautiful in the pot, but appears black and not so luminous on the skin.

Below are Fashion Flower eye shadow swatches. Since the sun hasn’t come out here in a week, these are taken in indoor light with a flash. But I think that the swatch is very true to color. From left to right: Fresh Daisy, Aqua , Lucky Green, Free to Be,  Groundcover, and  Bows & Curtseys.

Also included in the collection are two beauty powders. Both are very light and sheer. I was packing on the color when I did the powder swatches, but it still is rather hard to see. Below are the swatches of the beauty powders form the MAC Fashion Flower collection. From left to right: Alpha girl and Light Sunshine.

The M.A.C. Fashion Flower Collection is listed as being on counter on May 5, 2011. Often new MAC Cosmetics collections show up online slightly before their listed dates.

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

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Finding the best face powder can be a bit tricky. There are plenty of good ones, but there are also plenty that are so full of talc and fillers that they look chalky or pasty, especially in the cheaper brands.

The below article, syndicated from Total Beauty, has their reader’s favorites. I’m actually not a fan of a a couple of the powders in the article: L’Oreal True Match (this one is chalky for me), and Physician’s Formula (that one doesn’t last well for me). I also don’t love Bare Escentuals Mineral Veil because it has quite a bit of bismuth, and ingredient that can cause irritation and that creates a shiny look.  However, I do love the Clinique powders that are listed, along with MAC Mineralize. Guerlain, my all time favorite, is also listed.

Click on through below to see the entire list of best face powders from Total Beauty.

The 13 Best Face Powders

There are so many grease-minimizing powders out there, but which one is No. 1? Find out …

This is a TotalBeauty.com face makeup article We combed through thousands of reviews to bring you the most helpful, insightful tidbits about the highest-rated face powders on our site. Get list

What is your favorite face powder?

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The MAC Wonder Woman Collection has some great supersized products, including a couple of nice Mineralize Skinfinish bronzers. Also available are two blushes and some brush sets and cases. Below are swatches of the face products from the Wonder Woman collection. To see all of the eye products check here: MAC Wonder Woman Eye Shadow Swatches. I also have all of the lip products up on Girl Gloss: MAC Wonder Woman Lip Swatches.

MAC Wonder Woman Mineralize Skinfinish swatches, Golden Lariat and Pink Power:

MAC Wonder Woman Golden Lariat swatches. The first on the left is the shades mixed together, Followed by them individually:

MAC Pink Power swatches. The first on the left is the mix of the three shades, followed by individual swatches:

The Powder Blush Duos in the collection are rather nice. MAC Powder Blush Duo swatches in Mighty Aphrodite and Amazon Princess.

The collection launches nationwide on February 10, 2011.

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

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Fall is pretty well underway! I was in denial over the loss of summer, but now I am ready for all of the pretty purple and plum shades, along with deep blues and grays. Fall makeup has actually always been my favorite. Sure, I am usually ready for the spring collections by the time they arrive, but even in summer I will occasionally sport dark purple nail polish or plum and teal green shadow. In both cosmetics and clothing, they tend to be among my favorite colors. As usual, there are numerous beautiful fall makeup collections out. Below are just a few of my favorites. If you want to see and shop all of the fall cosmetic collections in one place, check out this link: 2010 Fall Collections at Nordsrtom .

	M·A·C ‘Fabulous Felines – Burmese Beauty’ Collection There are several different incarnations of the Fabulous Felines Collections, but the Burmese Beauty collection has what I think is the best combination of colors in a four shade eye shadow quad. It also features a gorgeous deep purple MAC lipglass.
	Lancôme ‘French Coquettes’ Collection Lancome’s fall collection is flat out the prettiest collection out this fall. If you like rich classic tones and want a good selection of shades, take a look at this one. The blush is particularly to die for.
	Estee Lauder Blue Dahlia Fall Collection Estee Lauder put together a stunning 5 shade blue eye shadow palette for their fall collection. If you like bold blues and smoky eyes, this is the collection for you!
	Guerlain Fall Color Collection I adore Guerlain and, as usual, this fall didn’t disappoint. Guerlain has a very pretty five shade gray/blue scale eye palette that I am leaning toward buying as my go to palette for this fall. They also have wonderful lipstick and gloss.

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MAC Cosmetics’ limited edition Venomous Villains Disney collection is quite a colorful eyeful. Of course, so are the four Disney villains that the collection is based on. Below are swatches of all of the items of consequence from the full collection. The only items omitted are staples, such as basic eyeliners, finishing powder, mascara, and greasepaint sticks.  There are swatches of all of the MAC Venomous Villains eye shadow, lipstick, lipglass, beauty powder, and powder blush.  All swatches are taken in indoor light.  To see the nail polish swatches look here: MAC Venomous Villains Nail Polish Swatches.

First up are the Cruella DeVil swatches. I particularly like the lip products in this collection.

Powder Blush: Darkly, My Dear	Beauty Powder: Her Own Devices

Eye Shadow: Carbon, Sweet Joy, and De-Vil	Lipstick: Heartless, Innocence Beware!, Lipglass: Wicked Ways, Devilishly Stylish

Evil Queen includes some pretty violet eye shadows and another round of great lip shades.  Toxic Tale and Strange Potion are particular favorites of mine.

Eye Shadow: Vainglorious, Vile Violet, Her Alter Image	Lipstick: Toxic Tale, Sinister Lipglass: Hot House, Strange Potion

Beauty Powder: Oh So Fair, and Powder Blush: Bite of an Apple

Dr. Facilier has my favorite items from the Venomous Villains collection. As you can see from the swatch, the lip Gelee is extra luminous and the pigments are gorgeous.

Lip Gelee: Resort Life	Pigment: Melon, Push the Edge, Brash and Bold

Maleficent provides even more wonderful lip shades and two mineralize eye shadow duos. The duos disappointed me a bit. They look beautiful in the package, but rather muddy on the skin. The green in She Who Dares is rather nice though and really looks much better than in the picture. I think these would look nicer in daylight, but they really are not daylight colors.

Mineralize Eye Shadow Duos in She Who Dares and My Dark Magic	Lipstick: Violetta, Dark Deed Lipglass: Revenge Is Sweet, Wrong Spell

Beauty Powder: Briar Rose

The MAC Venomous Villains collection will be available September 30, 2010 through October 2010.

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

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Revlon has entered the fray into high definition style makeup with Revlon Photo Ready Makeup and Revlon Photo Ready Powders. I bought one of each to review.

Revlon Photo Ready Foundation has a nice smooth consistency that provides medium coverage.  Although it is oil free, it feels rather moisturizing, and I felt that it was a bit too much moisture for my currently very oily skin. So I recommend it more for normal to dry skin types. Photochromatic pigments reflect light, and the makeup comes with SPF 20 protection. I got all day wear from it. It sits nicely on the skin and does remind me quite a bit of my favorite Make Up Forever High Definition Makeup (link is to previous review), in that gives the skin a very smooth appearance without looking too heavy, while also simply feeling pretty nice.  However, I will still take my Make Up Forever over it any day.

Revlon Photo Ready Powder provides a nice finish for the Photo Ready Makeup. It provides illuminating pigments and a soft finish. As far as powders go I like it quite a bit. However in the drugstore brands Maybelline’s Dream Matte Powder has really stood out for me the most lately.  Revlon’s powder also recently came out in multiple shades, which provide a fair amount of extra cover. With those, I found that by combining the tinted powder with the liquid foundation, I could cover my areas of melasma pretty well and still get a somewhat natural/sheer look. That is always a fine line—achieving cover v. not getting overdone—so Revlon’s new tinted Photo Ready powders are particularly good for that.

Revlon is available at most drugstores and big box retailers. Links above are to drugstore.com, which also carries the line.

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Prescriptives is no longer in the stores, but it is still very much alive online.  One item of theirs that I had forgotten about, and used to adore, is Prescriptives Magic Liquid Powder.  Prescriptives Magic is an illuminating powder that reflects light to blur fine lines and imperfections. It also sets makeup pretty well and does not clog pores.

I use to swear by Prescriptives Magic and would sometimes rely on it with  just a bit of tinted moisturizer even though I have hyperpigmentation. I think over the years I forgot about it though since I get so many powders to try from blogging.   Then I rediscovered it and have been using it again quite a bit. Prescriptives also makes an Magic Lotion, but that one caused acne for me. The lotion is also currently sold out, but the powder is still available.

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