MAC & Smashbox Payday Treats

Well it didn't take long to grab a treat or two once pay day arrived. These two items were definitely heart over head purchases. 

The first is the MAC Antonio Lopez face palette in Coral. These palettes have amazing designs on the compact cover, which to me seem very 80's retro and to be honest just looks great in the make up drawer. OK and I am definitely jealous of those lips!

Behind the cover is a full sized mirror (always a plus for me) with a delightfully displayed golden peach highlighter for that iridescent shimmer on top of the cheek and then a satin powder blush in the shade coral (obviously).

This blusher has some serious pigmentation and a little goes a long way but unfortunately the same cannot be said for the highlighter which is a little bit 'meh' in my opinion. 

Then for the best bit...the top layer pushes to one side which just excites me so much. Pushed to one side it reveals a terracotta base bronzer/contour powder. This is particularly orange for me and so I do use it sparingly but the powder is wonderfully soft and blends beautifully .

Summer will live on just a little bit longer with this item in my make up collection and it can be part of your collection here. 

Smashbox is one of those brands that I don't really know much although everyone raves about their primers. I have recently been really interested in cream eye shadows mainly because I don't necessarily need to use a brush for the wash of colour I'm likely to add at 7.15am in the morning when the less work required the better. 

The packaging is similar to that of other premium brands - glass jar and black rubberised top - so no points there for individuality although it does look and feel premium.

I am afraid I don't get any points for individuality either when I picked up the limitless 15 hour wear cream shadow in the very natural looking rose gold colour toned 'Quartz'.

This shade is extremely wearable and as it says on the tin long wearing, although I do use the Urban Decay eye primer underneath. It is packed full of shimmer and so can give a sheer wash of colour (bottom swatch) or can be packed on to give a more vibrant opaque glimmer (top swatch).

I've used this on its own and also as a base colour when building a smokey eye for evenings and get just as a good coverage and staying power whether it has been applied with fingers or a brush.

These are very much welcome additions to my make up stash.