Push The Edge

I was presented with the opportunity to try out a few eyeshadow pigments from Sp3ctrum Cosmetics. Not knowing too much about them I was thrilled to be able to try new products from a company that may not be new but was new to me. I learned right away that they use only natural ingredients in ALL their products. No bismuth oxychloride!! I also loved that Sp3ctrum Cosmetics is very hands on, very personable and seem to love communicating with fellow makeup junkies. Go follow them on twitter! @Sp3ctrumDotCom I was surprised to see that they also offer customized shades including glimmers, shimmer, sparkle, iridescent colors, etc! So exciting!! Such a great option for those who want to surprise a special someone who seems to have everything when it comes to makeup!

Just in time for Valentine’s Day, I was sent these adorable “Duo Sweetheart Box Sets”. In each set there are two unique pigments that compliment one another. When I opened the package I was not expecting the cute heart boxes… Adorable! Each shadow comes with a sifter and protective sticker. This is great in itself as we know that sometimes pigment jars can become open or loose and spill while in transit. Personally I prefer to remove the sifters but I do appreciate them being available. The labels are simple but come in a precious shade of purple with their logo and website printed on them. On the bottom you’ll also find a white sticker with the name of the shadow, collection and ingredient list which I LOVE! The 5 gram jars are full of silky pigment and just about filled to the top! (remember to click on the pictures to see the full size and detail! Click the “READ MORE” button to continue reading the review.)

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I have a few things I have learned over the years with this obsession of makeup and skin care. I guess I should share them with you, huh?

One of the most important tips I can give you is to change your pillowcase EVERY night. This may seem like an extreme task and might even seem a little germaphobic but believe me your skin will be clearer and your hair will be silky soft. 

Before I purchased these I changed out my pillowcases pretty frequently. It wasn’t for my hair to be honest but mostly for my skin. I break out really easily and felt that if I slept on a clean pillow that would prevent even more bacteria being introduced. I purchased these pillowcases in the color ivory which is a cream off-white color that goes pretty well with the decor in my bedroom. I love that these come in a case of 6 (why not 7?!). I can switch them out every night and stick them in a lingerie bag and wash them on the 6th night and have a new set of fresh and clean cases for the week. The zipper is a plus. My pillowcase isn’t falling off and it doesn’t poke or anything! I do hear it jingle from time to time when I move my pillow around but nothing that would annoy me.

I have used these cases for a little over a month now and I can honestly say that I love them. I only straighten my hair every once in a while but for those of you who style your hair and like to keep it in place overnight these are perfect for you! My hair was even silkier the next morning! I didn’t have to pull a “Friday” and sleep with my hand holding my head up (and yes I have tried that before haha)

I bought these from overstock.com for $24.49 http://tinyurl.com/yfw5ar4

On Sunday December 27th I went to Target… I wasn’t there for makeup! I actually needed to buy my great grandma some treats for a care package and intended on ignoring the cosmetic section when this little guy got my attention. I asked David to pick one for me since they all were very pretty shades. He chose the same one that caught my eye “Carbon Frost” … I have my suspicions with this guy…

Anyhow a few of you were wondering if they worth getting! I decided to try it out today and used ONLY the duo and no other shadows or liners for truer results.

I primed my lids with UDPP and then applied the pink marbleized side all over the lid and then the black shimmery shadow in the crease. I then sprayed my liner brush that had extra pink shadow on it with some fix/+ and used that as my liner. That’s it! Curled my lashes and used Lash Blast mascara.

I don’t have very many MAC Mineralized eyeshadows, but I find this may be what Maybelline was trying to go for.  If you are someone that dislikes them, this product isn’t for you. I found that it was not very pigmented, left a lot of fall-out and was not consistent with color. The swirls of silver, gray, soft pink and burgundy make it difficult to get the same application on each eye. However they blend very easily.  I like the colors that Maybelline offers and love that they paired them up with a complementary color.  I find for best results not to be precise with the marbleized color but to swipe your brush on the entire half to mix the veining to create a unique pinkish-grey. If you wish to get a swipe of pink without touching the veining, I suggest you use a finer brush.

I paid $5.99 + tax for this duo and think it’s a great deal for 2 colors. I don’t plan on purchasing another duo unless I find a unique color to add to my collection (as I do with anything I try).  I definitely think they are worth trying out especially for the price. If you end up picking up one of these duos let me know what you think! If you have any other questions feel free to ask!

As I stated before on twitter and other blogs I most likely won’t be purchasing pigments after the drastic change in size. Being that the cost is going to be the same I honestly feel that it’s just not worth my $20. I wouldn’t be opposed to the change if the price had shrunk with the quantity. That being said I have stocked up on a couple colors and will be hitting up my CCO very soon in hopes to find some good deals on pigments but in the mean time I did what many other MAC enthusiasts are doing. I wrote to them. Here is what they had to say:

Thank you for taking the time to contact us and for your interest in M.A.C.

We thank you for your loyalty to M.A.C. In response to your concerns, many factors contribute to the cost of our products, such as quality of ingredients, state-of-the-art product formulations, quality assurance programs and so forth. Like all manufacturers, we are also challenged with constantly rising costs, particularly in shipping and distribution. In view of this, it is sometimes necessary to either increase the suggested retail price or decrease the net weight. We hope you can understand that cost increases are sometimes required if we are to maintain the high quality product standards which our customers expect from us. We do believe, however, that our products offer excellent value for the price.

We trust the above addresses your concern. We hope that we have the opportunity to serve you in the near future.

Again, thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts and concerns.

Sincerely,

Karen Godsell
Response Representative
Global Consumer Communications

–I hope this answers any of your questions and hopefully you did your part in expressing your concerns for the company.  The phasing out of the current packaging begins in 2010. The pigment jars will be changing from 7.5 grams to 4.5 gram but will remain $19.50. MAC will introduce this new packaging on January 7, 2010 with the All Ages, All Races, and All Sexes collection.

I created this look using the Midnight Madness Mineralize Eye shadow duo that was released with the Magic Mirth and Mischief Holiday Collection. I really like this duo especially for blue eyes because golds really play up the gold/green flecks. Purple of course looks great with any eye color but I find this shade particularly looks amazing paired up with this gold. One of my favorite “go-to” shadows for sure!

I used Quarry to blend out the edges and of course Nylon as a highlight. For the top liner I actually just used the purple shade wet using my mixing medium which turns it into a lovely metallic lilac. Urban Decay 24/7 pencil in Honey was put on my waterline and underneath my lashes is a Glitter Eyeliner Pencil in Purple made by Ulta. It’s a fairly simple look to achieve.

On my face I am wearing M*A*D Minerals mineral foundation (trying it out in comparison to Bare Escentuals), MAC Conjure Up blush, Moon River Mineralize blush, Light Flush MSF. On my lips is NYX Narcissus l/s, MAC Dream l/s and Money, Honey d/g

So the idea came to me when my friend Six (jessixa6 on twitter)  asked if I wanted to create a site for my makeup wonderland. I thought to myself that everyone has a blog now these days… why not I! So thank you Six! <3

I figure that on youtube (ambersaurus) I can’t get into much detail being that I am limited to 10min videos… and on twitter it seems like these last few days I have been spamming the crap out of my friend’s pages… so alas my own site.

This will be a place where I share my discoveries of new products, reviews, extended tutorials, swatches, pictures and perhaps some giveaways and most of all just a place where I can talk about my obsession.

Makeup.