MAC Massacre

As a make up artist, I'm constantly building up a collection for my kit, so whenever I can I splurge on make up! I used only purchase high end make up and believed that anything less just was not worth putting near your face..to some extent I still believe that, but after discovering a few cheaper products that have all the quality of brands such as MAC, but without the price tag, I've changed my mind.

I used to be a MAC obsessive, I thought the brand could do no wrong, but after having brief experience in the cosmetics manufacturing industry I've came to believe that MAC products are average and over hyped, it's my belief that the success of that make up line is down to it's clever use of advertising. MAC pay a lot of celebs to advertise their product like Fergie etc

I also bought a MAC lipgloss recently and find it not good at all.

The tub is tiny and it comes off after a few mintes and I paid something like €17. 50 for it.

Personally I have never used their foundations, so I cant really comment on them, but I have used them on other people.

The face & body foundation is 80% water, so you're basically paying for a bottle of ballygowan, and some of their other foundations are really runny. But, I haven't used it myself so I cant really comment. Some of their products are good, but I can probably find a cheaper alternative.

So I'm going to write about products that everyone can afford that has the quality of over priced products such as MAC, Armani etc etc.

The foundation I have sworn by for years is Georgio Armani Luminous Silk.

(It's specifically for dry/normal skin, I wouldn't recommend it for oily skin at all)

This foundation gives a dewy glow to the skin and you can layer it on without it looking too heavy and it makes your skin look really natural and every moviestar and film star swears by it.
The pricetag, however is €41 here in Ireland (i think its about $60 in the US).

The bottle lasts about 4 months, and the product itself will last on the skin for 12 hours or longer.

But, i've found an alternative foundation that does everything the Armani does. It leaves the skin very dewy, gives it a glow and you can also build up coverage by layering it without it looking too ckaed on or heavy, and comes in at a very affordable €11.99 and that product is Maybelline's dream Satin liquid:

I discovered in one day in my local Superdrug when I spotted it reduced to €4 on the shelf because it was missing a lid and bought it for my kit, but as soon as I tried it on myself I was hooked and straight away swapped it instead of my my usual Armani.

However the downside of this product is that it doesn't last as long on the face as the Armani, but I would definitely recommend it for those who have dry/normal skin and want the same glow as the Armani gives you.

Next up is eyeshadows. I've been collecting MAC eyeshadows for years since I was a kid and at this stage I've used up most of them. The colours I still have are the ones I wouldnt use very often like bright pinks and bright blues. The last eyeshadow I bought from them was a pink shade called 'Sweet Lust' and like a lot of other MAC shadows, I found i had to put quite a lot of layers of it on to be able to even see it, I thought it was quite frankly rubbish quality which put me off their eyeshadows for good.

Last week I came across a brightly coloured eyeshadow palette a friend had, I asked to see it to try out the colours and as I tried them on my hand I was amazed! The colours very very highly pigmented and vivid, I needed to buy this palette right away.. I asked her where it was from, thinking it was something expensive like Smashbox or Make up Forever and she replied "Oh it was like €12 from Claire's accessories" So I went in and bought the palette and went home and started experimenting with them. Every single colour is without a doubt MAC quality. The turqoise was the exact same as MAC's Aquadisiac that I own. The MAC on cost me €14 alone, I put the MAC one on one lid and the Claires one on the other and honestly, I could not tell the difference. The MAC one lasted a little longer but nothing that was noticable.

MAC's Aquadisiac:

Claire's accessories palette (its not the exact one that I bought)but the aqua shade in it looks familiar)

Every single shade in the palette is gorgeous, highly pigmented (so much so that you wouldn't even need a primer) and I'm certainly swapping Claires for MAC. However I've tried other Claires eyeshadows and some are rubbish, I think it's hit and miss really, Ill try get a picture of the one palette I bought up.

Another palette worth SERIOUSLY investing in is the Coastal Scents 88 palette.

Its €20 for 88 vibrant shades that in my own opinion are certainly miles better than MAC. and the range of colours are amazing !

here's a rainbow look I did using this palette: (sorry its a bit big & excuse the horrific brows :P)

The next thing I'm going to talk about is fake eyelashes.

I have absolutely no idea why people would dream of paying €15 or more for eyelashes,

maybe if they were huge dramatic eyelashes then they would be worth it, but for plain ones?

Here are some lashes I also swear by:

(However I would use decent glue like DUO glue, as the glue that comes with cheap lashes is generally rubbish.)

Essence eyelashes, I think they're about €2 maybe €3 at the most and are available from most pharmacies:

They're full thick lashes and are re usable upto 10 times (once you take them off put them back in the packet so they keep their shape, also when you go to re use them you can peel off the old glue on them to make them look fresh and new)

More lashes I would recommend are these ones off Ebay:

You get a box of 10 pairs for €1.50 from Japan (with free postage and packaging).

Most cosmetic companies will buy these in bulk, put their own branding and packaging on them and sell them for at least €10 per pair, believe me, I have seen make up companies do it, I was the slave packaging them all!)

Another thing make up companies do is buy brushes in bulk and put their own stamp on them then charge us a fortune..especially Crown brushes. Ive spent €100 on a brush set before, only to realise a few weeks later that the exact brush set was from Crown and without the companies stamp would have only cost me half of that..and i bought the brush kit when it was reduced from €200 !! Personally, I don't even like the brushes I bought, I like some of the larger face brushes like the buffer brush and powder brush but the eyeshadow brushes are a joke, I never use them.

One thing I do swear by is MAC brushes, without a doubt the best investement you'll ever make with make up. I can't actually do eyeshadow without the 217 fluffy brush, no other brush compares. So if you're going to splurge on one thing, make it the 217 brush, I have NO idea how people blend their eyeshadow without it.

If you want to request any look at all, let me know I might start doing make up tutorials :)