A Very Not-Rare Moment of Indecision

So, I've looked at my payslip on work's HR website. I know what I'm getting and I know what my outgoings are going to be for bills, with money set aside for savings, food, bus fare, etc. If my Sugarsweet shopping list is around £110, I've got about a hundred spare to play around with this month. And I can not make up my mind for the life of me.

Do I buy some basics that I'm after? Like a couple items off my permanent-collection wishlist, or the BBR eyeshadows? Do I buy the Studio Sculpt Concealer I'm after?

Or do I put it aside to buy something from Kitty Kouture when it comes out? Or do I go ahead and buy a couple extras from Sugarsweet?

No... I narrowed down my Sugarsweet list to the things I really want and need. Anything else is superfluous, so I won't do that. But what should I do? Should I get some other items, get the mystery powder from HKK, or just shove it into savings until there's something I really want?

GOD, I suck out loud at making up my mind.

On an unrelated note, I wish MAC made Studio Fix Fluid in an NC10 or something. NC15 is just slightly too dark for me. I love the foundation to bits, but I could do with a shade lighter. Sigh.

Also, I want to appeal to you and ask, what do you think is the best concealer for dark circles? My MAC MA gave me Select Cover-Up in NC20 (which, incidentally, is clearly too dark, but whatever, with foundation on top you can't tell) but I don't think it really covers my dark circles so much as it makes them slightly lighter. That's why I want Studio Sculpt Concealer, for dark circles. Or is there something better that you can suggest?

I'm in the biggest indecisive mood right now, I don't know what to do with myself. I'm supposed to be going to Meadowhall with my aunt on Saturday and I don't know what to do with my Extra Budget. Makeup? A video game? (well, no. I need to play Fallout 3 and Silent Hill Homecoming before I buy MORE) Some stuff from Paperchase? Clothes? Shoes?

I wish I had more money. Thank god for overtime. I should have an extra couple hundred in next month's pay and LORD KNOWS I'm going to need it.

/rambling

Sorry guys, I'm very disjointed today.

Xoxo, Vix

A Rare Political Post

Those who know me, know that I'm not a very political-minded person. And I know that I should be, but it all generally goes way over my head. But right now I need to take time out from the mostly-fun-and-frivolous life of makeup blogging, to talk about something that I feel very strongly about. I haven't posted the link to LUSH's "Save the Seals" petition yet, mostly because you've got to be in the US or Canada to sign, and I'm pretty sure all the readers I have here are British. But I signed using my hometown back in Canada. Anyway. The link to that one is here:

http://www.lush.com/saveourseals/petition/

And before the arguments and debates start, I want to clarify that the petition is not to interfere with peoples' rights as human beings, the right to hunt wild animals for survival. This petition is to stop the COMMERCIAL seal hunt, meaning seal-clubbing solely for the sake of fur trade.

But this the one I want everybody to look at right this minute. Yes, right now. I can wait.

http://www.savebiogems.org/wolves/

To make a long story short, Interior Secretary Salazar has given the green light to "a Bush-era plan to kick the wolves of the northern Rockies off the endangered species list and leave them vulnerable to mass killing. More than 600 wolves could be caught in the crossfire of state-sponsored wolf hunts." (cited from the above link)

Yeah. These wolves were on the endangered species list, and now this man thinks it's okay to take them off it and make it okay to hunt them.

Please do not misunderstand me here. I'm not a vegetarian. God help me, I doubt I ever could be. People were biologically engineered to eat meat. However, I really can not condone or pretend to agree with killing for the sake of killing. Which is why I feel so strongly about these two causes. The first, because it's a travesty that seal-clubbing has been going on for so long and is thought to be okay. The second, because an endangered species is having their safety nets lifted away and allowing people to open fire. Once again, just for fur, or trophies.

I'm going to start rambling nonsensically if I don't stop here, so that's where I'll leave it off. But please, if you care and if you want to stop seal-clubbing, and want to stop legalized wolf-hunts before they can start, please click the above links and add your name.

xoxo, Vix

Current MAC Wishlist

I'm bored so I'm going to post my To Buy list. I'm leaving out future Limited Edition collection items because, let's face it, that may or may not change and will just make this huge!

I warn you now, this is pretty long as it is: but bear with me because I'm new to buying MAC, remember. Most of it is for the eyes, which is the area I generally spend the most time and effort on.

So, here we go.

Note: Starred (*) items are limited edition but they're from previous collections and I really want them.

Brushes
109: Contouring Brush
134: Large Powder Brush
227: Fluff Brush
219: Pencil Brush
231: Small Shader
And a decent concealer brush for the undereye area: any suggestions?

Face
Blot Powder: Light
Powder Blush: Dollymix
Powder Blush: Springsheen
Powder Blush: Tenderling
Powder Blush: Dame
Blushcreme: Posey
Blushcreme: Lilicent
Iridescent Powder/Loose: Silver Dusk
Mineralize Blush: Gentle
Prep + Prime Face Protect SPF 50
Studio Sculpt Concealer: NC15

Lips
Lipstick: Shy Girl
Lipstick: Angel
Lipstick: High Strung
Lipstick: Frou
Lipstick: Myth (Can't decide between this and Frou)
Lipstick: Taupe
Lipstick: Velvet Teddy
Lipstick: Patisserie
Cremesheen Glass: Partial to Pink*
Cremesheen Glass: Melt In Your Mouth*
Cremesheen Glass: Boy Bait
Tinted Lipglass: Prrr
Tinted Lipglass: Nymphette
Tinted Lipglass: Spirited

Eyes
Eyeshadow: Sketch
Eyeshadow: Shale
Eyeshadow: Carbon
Eyeshadow: Electra
Eyeshadow: 100 Strokes*
Eyeshadow: French Cuff*
Eyeshadow: Femme Fi*
Eyeshadow: Purple Haze
Eyeshadow: Shroom
Eyeshadow: Haux
Eyeshadow: Steamy
Eyeshadow: Juxt
Eyeshadow: Humid
Eyeshadow: Swimming
Paint Pot: Painterly
Paint Pot: Fresco Rose
Fluidline: Shade
Fluidline: Dipdown
Fluidline: Macroviolet
Eye Kohl: Minted
Eye Kohl: Phone Number
Eye Kohl: Teddy
Powerpoint Eye Pencil: Prussian
Powerpoint Eye Pencil: Stubborn Brown
Powerpoint Eye Pencil: Tealo
Brow Finisher: Clear
Eye Brows: Fling
Lash: 7
Lash: 20
Lash: 32

Pigment
Where to begin? Just about everything =P
It's really not worth making a separate list of these, it'd be too long.

Other Items
Studio Mouisture Cream
[heard it's amazing, need to try]
Wipes


Wow, that was longer than even I thought it would be. =/

Sugarsweet Wishlist

I had a hard time narrowing down this list. MAC appealed to my domestic, cupcake-loving side when they announced the Sugarsweet collection. In the beginning I was convinced I needed everything! Then, I cut out the permanent items. And now, finally, I've had to reason with myself and force myself to cut out things I don't need.

For example, I don't need any dark lipsticks - dark doesn't work for me. I don't need more sheer lipglosses right this minute, just because they're tri-coloured. And I know I'd go insane once the colours mixed. I'd rather spend that money on some dazzleglass, or lipglass colours I love.

So my final list is below:

Lipstick: Bubbles
Lipstick: Lollipop Loving
Lipstick: Saint Germaine
Shadestick: Cakeshop
Shadestick: Butternutty
Shadestick: Lemon Chiffon
Shadestick: Red Velvet
Shadestick: Penny
MSF: Perfect Topping

All in all, I'm figuring the cost to be just over £100, which is reasonable to me. Considering what I spent in the month of March. My impulse buy with Hello Kitty definitely taught me a lesson - be more discerning. I need to ask myself questions like "Do you really need a bright tangerine-orange lipgloss?" or "You have three hot-pink lipsticks that you NEVER WEAR. Do you honestly need a fourth?"

Still, it did jumpstart my collection. I may sell-swap the things I decide I don't love (I'm struggling even to have a grudging respect for Nice to be Nice lipglass right now) but for now, eh, the damage is done, I'll get over it.

Sorry there haven't been any videos either. I've been busyyy. And exhausted. I could fall asleep right now. I didn't even get a chance to sleep in this weekend, it sucked out loud. But, I digress.

More soon! I'm just thanking the Flying Spaghetti Monster that it's payday on Friday.

I need to get my hands on some more MAC. It really is an addiction. Ehehe. But I'm holding out for Sugarsweet for now. I've made a plan to buy 1-2 brushes per pay period (ie: month) but not sure it'll happen this month. Which is okay I guess since I technically bought 4+3 last month (4 brushes plus the HK set) so I'm ahead of the game.

ANYway I realize I'm rambling now so I'll leave off here.

Muchlove, chickadees!

Xoxo Vix

Striving...

Yesterday, I received my first ever totally random compliment on my makeup. And I gotta say, it totally made my day like you wouldn't believe. I mean, I've had compliments before, but only where they've been part of a conversation. For example, getting ready for a girls' night out, I asked my friend Becca "Is this eyeshadow dark enough?" and she told me she loved how I did my eye makeup. But nothing randomly spontaneous, y'know?

I was at work yesterday afternoon and one of the ladies who sits on my row of desks came over to have me look at something and see if I could help her figure out what to do with it. And as we were going through it, she interrupted herself to tell me that my eyeshadow was "well awesome" or something to that effect. And it totally made my day. Love! I've got photos of yesterday's Face of the Day, which I might upload when I get a chance =]

But that little conversation yesterday, it made me realize that this is something I want to strive for. To put real effort into my everyday makeup, instead of slacking and being plain. I want more days like yesterday. Maybe that makes me selfish and vain, but honestly I don't care. The compliments you don't expect are the ones that really make an impact, and it really made me feel good, both about myself but also about my skill at makeup application.

I'm rambling now, so I'll leave off there for now, but I just wanted to share.

In other news, I'm going to be opening a forum affiliated with my blog, where we all can talk about makeup and skincare and fashion, to post reviews and the like. It's not ready yet, I'm still tinkering with InvisionFree and trying to find a fabtastic skin, but when it's up I'll add a link to my sidebar. Hope to see you there!

XOXO Vix

Why The Delay? Also: The 226 <3

Just a quick update to let you know what's going on, and mostly to explain just WHY my HK-Haul isn't up in its full glory yet.

I've been trying to get photos of everything, but the lighting is super bad in here, and my flash is so bright it's reflecting off the packaging and blinding me. So, I need to take some shots in some natural light where flash is not required, and I just haven't had the tim to take pictures yet. Once the last part of the haul has been photographed I'll swatch and share everything with you. Love!

Although at this rate I'm going to be swatching HK at the same time as Sugarsweet, and this is not good. Sigh.

Anyway, that aside, I want to write a little something about the 226 brush.

For those who don't know, the 226 is a tapered blending brush that is perfectly shaped to do eye-contouring-crease work. Oh. My. God. Seriously, this brush makes creasework idiotproof. It applies and blends at the same time, it's just amazing. It makes me wonder how I ever did eye makeup before discovering a brush like this! If you can find somewhere that stocks them (and my personal tip is that the MAC counter in Debenhams at Meadowhall (upstairs, inner entrace for those who do not know... For shame!) still has some, I just picked mine up yesterday after being given the WRONG brush on Saturday afternoon), I very highly suggest this brush. My brush collection is small and still growing, but I can already see that this is going to be an everyday staple in my life. Because it's limited edition (if the MAC people don't seem to know what you're talking about when you say 226, you may have to explain to them that it came with the Brunette Blonde Redhead collection. The three people I spoke to at my MAC counter had no idea what I was on about until I added the collection. I got a "We have a 224 is that it?" no. It is not.) I'm tempted to pick up a spare, but then... I can't really afford to, and I know that if I have a spare, I won't use it. But if I don't get one, I'll need it.

It's a paradox. We'll see, they'll probably be out of stock anyway so I can stop panicking.

I ramble a lot. Also, I use a lot of parentheses. Oh well.

ANYway, that is all. So my proper haulage is coming soon - I did try to upload a video to YouTube but it was way too long even without swatches that there is no way. If I have to break it down into parts I might as well do it properly instead of cutting up my rush-job. And the 226 is the one brush I can't live without, already. Love.

And man, WHO ELSE IS PSYCHED FOR THE SUGARSWEET COLLECTION? A makeup collection based around cupcakes and baking!? This was literally made for people like me! I am so excited. But I'm wondering if I'll be able to afford any Kitty Kouture as well, sigh. Thank god I've started doing overtime, because I am hella going to need it.

This addiction... it's consuming. But oh god, is it worth it.

Ta-ta for now!

Vix xox

MAC Collection Info: Sugarsweet

I have to admit: as a part time cupcakestress, the Sugarsweet collection is my most-anticipated of the moment. Maybe even more than Hello Kitty. But because I went overboard with the HK collection I'm going to have to make sure I'm only buying the MUST HAVES from the Sugarsweet collection. Parting is such sweet sorrow. It's okay, there are only a few things I NEED to have from this collection: The nail laquers, the eyeshadows, the shadesticks and a couple of lipglasses. Anything else would just be a bonus, so it's all good. Anyway, here it is, the information on the Sugarsweet collection. Enjoy!

MAC Cosmetics Sugarsweet Collection
Launch Date: March 19th, 2009 (North America), April 2009 (International)

Who cares if the candy man can… it’s the cupcake ingenue who’s caught the sweet spot this season. Temptation is everywhere - luscious, whipped-cream decadent, deliciously decorative frosting colours and sugared almond combinations. Like peering through the window of a Parisian patisserie, you’ll want to become one of each! Have fun with a new Red Velvet recipe Shadestick. Tricolour Lipglass is like a mille feuille of layered lip gloss colours, each gives way to the next in a triple-layered pearl-swirl of prettiness; add extra yum to Eye Shadow; Perfect Topping Mineralize Skinfinish is the ultimate cake walk. We could eat you up.

Lipstick ($14.00)
Sweet Thing Mid-tone magenta with multi dimensional pearl (Lustre)
Bubbles Sheer frosty white beige (Glaze) (Repromote)
Touch Peachy cinnamon (Lustre) (Permanent)
Lollipop Loving Mid-tone coral with subtle green and gold iridescence (Glaze) (Repromote)
Saint Germain Pastel pink (Amplified Creme) (Repromote, Perm international)

Tricolour Lipglass ($17.50)
Tasty Top Sheer blue pink with reflects, Middle Mid-tone blue pink with duochrome pearlized pigments, Bottom Dark creamy red pink
Just Dessert Top Sheer yellow pink with reflects, Middle Mid-tone yellow pink with duochrome pearlized pigments, Bottom Mid-tone creamy yellow pink
Simpy Delicious Top Sheer peach with reflects, Middle Pale coral with duochrome pearlized pigments, Bottom Creamy mid-tone coral
Triple-Yum Top Sheer gold with gold reflects, Middle True gold with duochrome pearlized pigments, Bottom Mid-tone bronze
Consume Me Top Sheer white with reflects, Middle Pale mint with duochrome pearlized pigments, Bottom Creamy light peach with pearlized pigments

Eyeshadow ($14.50)
Sugarshot Pale frosty beige (Lustre)
Dear Cupcake Mid-tone pink coral with gold pearlized pigments (Satin)
Aquavert Soft mint with white pearlized pigments (Veluxe Pearl) (Repromote)
Stars n Rockets Lavender with red/pink reflects (Veluxe Pearl) (Permanent)
Club Muted reddish brown duochrome with green opalescent shimmer (Satin) (Permanent)

Shadestick ($16.50)
Cakeshop Frosted light neutral beige
Butternutty Frosted pale white gold
Lemon Chiffon Frosted pewter
Red Velvet Frosted mid-tone pink
Penny Light pinky copper (Repromote)

Mineralize Skinfinish ($27.00)
Perfect Topping Pink/peach/lavender melange
Refined Tan/peach/coral melange

Mascara ($12.00)
Zoomlash>

Nail Lacquer ($11.00)
Peppermint Patti Creamy mint green (Cream)
Seasonal Peach Creamy pale peachy pink (Cream)

Lash ($12.00)
34 Lash