MAC Nymphette vs. NARS Orgasm {Dupe!}

If you've read my blog before you know I love the color gold.  Love.  And another one of my favorite colors is peach, so put the two together and naturally you will create the most beautiful shade of lip gloss ever.  Since I love these colors so much I sometimes find that I have very similar products in my collection...

Nymphette was the first gloss I ever bought from MAC and it's still one of my favorites.  Its the perfect top over almost any pinky/ nude lipstick and yet beautiful on its own as well.  

NARS Orgasm blush is a cult favorite.  So much so they extended their Orgasm line to include an illuminator, lip gloss, nail polish, and one of their famous multiples.  When they reformulated their lipglosses and Sephora offered a deluxe sample of their Orgasm gloss as a Beauty Insider 100 Point Perk, so naturally I snatched it up.  Once I brought it home, swatched it next to Nymphette and found their almost exact dupes for each other.  If you own one you probably don't need the other.  

Direct Comparisons

	MAC Nymphette	NARS Orgasm
Color	Nymphette is a true peach color with finely milled gold micro glitter running through it.	Orgasm is more of a pinky- coral (so a tad brighter) with the same gold micro glitter.
Texture	Like most MAC glosses Nymphette is quite sticky, but the stickier the gloss the longer the wear time.	Orgasm has a much smoother and silkier texture.
Scent	That delicious MAC vanilla smell but a more muted glossy version.	I can’t really place the scent here.  It smells to me like that generic lip gloss scent.
Price	$18 CDN	$29 CDN
Availability	MAC counters, stores, and online	NARS counters, Sephora, and online

MAC Nymphette, NARS Orgasm

MAC Nymphette, NARS Orgasm

What do you think?  Dupe or not?  Have you tried either of these glosses?

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xoxo

{Halloween 2014}

I hope everyone had a fun (and safe) Halloween this weekend! 

 

I absolutely love Halloween (or any opportunity to dress up really) so I wanted to share with you my two Halloween looks this year, from Thursday and Friday night.

 

Halloween 1.0 Rosie the Riveter

My WWII pin-up girl was probably the easiest costume I've ever put together.  Denim on denim, big lashes, red lips.  Check!

 

Gotta love Snapchat

 

 

For the eyes, I used mostly shadows from my Lorac Pro palette (which continues to be one of my favs btw) as well as the MAC Naked pigment.  I wore a limited edition MAC lipstick in Ruby from the Pedro Lourenco collection, topped with the MAC Viva Glam Rihanna gloss. 

 

Halloween 2.0 Leopard

I think I've been some form of cat for Halloween every year for the last four years.  This year, however, I took things to another level.  HEAD-TO-TOE leopard print.  It. Was. The. Best. 

 

My BFF Jill (Sandra Dee for the evening) and I

I used an angled liner brush and a pot of Maybelline Eyestudio Gel Liner to create the spots on my face, and color in my kitten nose.  For the eyes, I used another MAC pigment in Museum Bronze (a color I'm now obsessed with) all over the lid and then went to town with MAC Global Glow MSF all over my face; as a contour, blush, to blend out the pigment on my lid.  Finally, I used a MAC glitter in Gold and a little Fix+ to fill in each of the spots with glitter and highlight the inner corners of my eyes.   

In these photos I am wearing a Revlon Matte Balm in Sultry, but I swapped it for MAC Twig to achieve a more brown nude.  I also wore the same pair of Ardell 106 Fashion Lashes in both looks, which were fab and made me feel like Barbie. 

 

What were you this Halloween??

xoxo

Lorac PRO {The Original}

Everybody and their mother has been talking about the Lorac Pro Palette 2 and here I am all like "hey everyone take a look at my brand new original Lorac Pro Palette!"... but seriously! How did I miss out on this the first time around?

If you, like me, never picked up the Original Lorac Pro Palette when it was first released, please read for all the reasons and pretty swatches as to why you should now.  

First of all, let me say that since Sephora stopped carrying Lorac, this product (or any other product from Lorac Cosmetics) is not easy to get a hold of if you're a Canadian.  I did find out that it is available on the Kohls website (and they ship internationally through a third party site) but fortunately for me my beautiful friend Karen from KPSays offered to send me the Lorac Pro (and by minor miscommunication also the Lorac Pro 2 haha) all the way from Georgia so I would be lucky enough to get my hands on what is now my new favorite palette.  For those of you in the United States this palette is available at Ulta, the Lorac website, and any other Lorac retailer.  It retails for $42 USD.    

On to the good part...

Let me just say that when I first opened this palette I didn't want to use it. I didn't want to swatch it, or touch it, or ruin it in any way, it is that gorgeous.  

Both Pro palettes house 16 extremely soft, extremely pigmented shadows.  The palette is organized so that the 8 matte shades are lined up along the top row, and 8 shimmer shades along the bottom.  While it is a neutral palette I found there is a great range from the brightest to the deepest of colors. 

The packaging is veryyyy slim, I was actually quite surprised!  It is the same length as the Naked palettes only a little bit taller and half the width (yes, half).  It is a rubberized cardboard palette so I do find that shimmer and powder from the shadows, my fingers, and just regular wear and tear clings to the packaging but can be wiped off easily with a damp towel or makeup remover wipe if you really need to.  Side note: Wouldn't it be nice for all of us OCD organizers if all eyeshadow palettes were the same dimensions? Storage would be a dreammm.

Matte Shades:  Light Pink, Taupe, Cream, White

Matte Shades:  Mauve, Sable, Expresso, Black

Matte Shades:  White, Cream, Taupe, Lt. Pink, Mauve, Sable, Expresso, Black

Overall, the majority of the shades in this palette are very warm in tone which I absolutely love; shades like Sable, Expresso, Gold, and Garnet stand out to me the most.  However there are  select cooler shades that round it out nicely and make it very versatile; such as Mauve, Pewter, and Slate.  

Shimmer Shades:  Nude, Champagne, Gold, Light Bronze

Shimmer Shades:  Pewter, Garnet, Deep Purple, Slate

Shimmer Shades: Nude, Champagne, Gold, Lt. Bronze, Pewter, Garnet, Deep Purple, Slate

Like I said, the shadows themselves are extremely soft, pigmented, and easy to blend.  They're especially easy to work with if you're a novice such as myself.  But because they're so soft they can make a small mess of the palette (see below) when you dip your brush or fingers into them.  This being said I don't find that there is a lot of fall out while blending these shadows into my eye looks.  With a soft hand a little goes a looong way; if you're generally an aggressive blender, these shadows may not get along with you!  

I've been experimenting a lot with this palette but my favorite look so far is to buff Taupe into the crease (which is actually a really great everyday blending shade), then pack Gold all over the lid.  I then deepen the outer v and crease with Garnet and lined/ smoked out the waterline with a black liner and the shade Black.  This is a look I can see myself replicating a lot, especially as we transition into some cooler months.

Another one of my favorites is to build up the matte brown colors in the crease, starting with Taupe, then moving to Sable,and Expresso and then applying one of the lighter shimmer shades all over the lid.  I just happened to use a mixture of all three.  It's easy to start with just Taupe and Sable in the crease for a more day time appropriate look and then build the intensity up with Expresso to transition into an effortless yet more intense evening/ going out look.

Original Lorac vs. Pro Palette 2

Finally, since Karen did send me both palettes I took the opportunity to snap a side by side comparision.  As you can see the Lorac 2 is much cooler in tone but again has a few warm shades rounding it out like Nectar, Rose, and Cocoa.  While equally beautiful it's too cool for my personal taste so I actually sold it to a friend, which is why I didn't dip my fingers into it as well.

Since this is my first time using any Lorac product and I have to say that I am so disappointed I didn't take advantage of having access to the brand while they were still in Sephora *kicks self* I honestly think that the Pro Palette(s) give the Naked Palettes a run for their money.  The shadows are equally pigmented, and maybe even softer than Urban Decay's formula.  Not to mention that it cost me less to buy and ship the Lorac Pro to my house than what it costs to go to my local Sephora and pick up any one of the Naked palettes ($56CDN bought/shipped vs. $64CDN retail)   Have you tried both?? Which do you prefer?

I want to thank you Karen 100x over for taking the time to send these to me.  

If you can't already tell, I am in love.

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xoxo