Review: MAC cream color base Hush and Cream

Subtle glow seems dominate the holiday season this year. It inspires me to re-discover my two MAC cream colorbases that I love to use as highlighters - Hush and Cream.

Hush is special in its own way. Fair-skinned beauties will be able to use if for cheek highlighter at ease. It's a light soft peachy pink that goes well with all kind of blushes or can be laid as a base to intensify the blush color. Having a medium skintone, I don't find it flattering on my cheeks since it almost matches my skintone with just a hint of warmth. However, I have loved Hus to highlight my brow bones for cool-toned smokey eyes. The warmth of the peachy pink balances the coolness of the eyeshadow, bringing more light to the look. It's sophisticated thanks to the sheen and the almost exact match with my skin. I love it!

Cream on the other hand works well as both eye and face highlighter. The creamy color compliments my warm undertone well. It has teeny tiny bit of golden shimmer that further enhances the sheen on my skin.   It's certainly warmer than Urban Decay Yeyo 24/7 pencil but both has equal sheen. Also, Hush provides a more subtle glow than the other two.

Both Hush and Cream glides on quite evenly. The pigmentation is sheer but buildable. The downside of these cream colorbases lies in their texture. In the drier months of the year, they aren't that friendly in application. Cream becomes really chalky and textured. While Hush works slightly better, it's not a whole lot smoother. I've found Urban Decay Yeyo creamy year-round. It definitely beats the texture of MAC cream colorbases, 

Hush and Cream wear well for good 4 hours on my normal to combination skin. For a cream product, that does it for me. MAC cream colorbases is retailed at $17.5 for 0.12 oz.  

Overall thoughts. I like Hush and Cream. I have to acknowledge the fact that there are other excellent cream highlighters that offers natural sophisticated glow, an expensive-looking glow I should say. Note though, all locate at a few price scales about MAC cream color bases. For a decent highlighter of reasonable budget I think these are good candidates. Recommended!

Classic & Classical - Pride & Prejudice – The Makeup

I found the natural makeup over of Keira Knightley rather hard to replicate. I want to capture her youth, smartness and charming beauty. Here is my take. Flawless matte skin. Rosy cheeks. Matte rosy lips. Wash of eye shadow. Thick fine lashes. 

 1. Laura Mercier Translucent Setting Powder; 2. Misha BB Cream as foundation; 3. Chanel Rouge Coco Madmoiselle; 4. Lancome Pink Preview as cream blush; 5. Benefit Box Powder Blush Coralista to set Pink Preview; 6. Inglot Pearl Eyeshadow 407; 7. MAC Soft Brown Eyeshadow; 8. DiorShow Iconic; 9. DiorShow Extase

How I apply these products:

- Apply a small amount of Misha BB cream for a flawless natural finish

- Set the BB cream with Laura Mercier Translucent setting powder. Use a light hand and small amount.

- Apply a light wash of Inglot Pearl Eyeshadow 407 - a pretty peach color on the lid. 

- Use MAC Soft Brown for the outer V and on the creases lightly. If you're fair-skinned, you can use Soft Brown wet for eyeliner. I skip eyeliner in this look. 

- Apply 1 coat of DiorShow Iconic to curl and define the lashes followed by DiorShow Extase for volumizing effect. 

- Dab Lancome Pink Preview on the cheeks, blend to the intensity you want then set it with Benefit Conralista;

- Apply Chanel Rouse Coco Mademoiselle on the lips to stain it first. Remove the excess by a tissue. Re-apply it lightly for pretty medium pink. 

I don't want to use all pink, though I try to stick with pink and peach family. All the swatches were overdone for the sake of the photos. 

What would be your makeup look inspired by Pride & Prejudice 2005 Movie?

Pride & Prejudice Obsession Part 1
Pride & Prejudice Obsession Part 2
Pride & Prejudice Obsession Part 3

IMATS LA 2011 Haul – Part 2

I attended IMATS mainly for Inglot. It’s a well known Polish cosmetic brand for a few decades. In the US, Inglot stores are still available exclusively to only several states. Inglot counter offered 30% discount at IMATS. What a deal! I got 10 eyeshadow palette for $36 after tax (Pasedena local tax is 9.75%). It comes with 10 separate single eyeshadows of my choice and a palette. They grabbed the two similar brown shade *sign*, hence I have 9 different shades. 

I must say the palette is heavy but very durable. To open the palette, you need to slight the cover pan. The magnates hold the palettes and the eyeshadows strongly. It’s much harder to open it vertically as we usually do with an eyeshadow palette.

The pigmentation, texture and application of the eyeshadows are outstanding. They all glide on my lids and stay put all day. I only picked up one matte eyeshadow since I found their matte formula is quite chalky for my taste. Other girls shopping at IMATS went to Inglot mainly for matte texture though.

I love Inglot eyeshadow much better than MAC’s. A single eyeshadow pan from MAC is priced at $11per 1.5 g compared to $4.5 to $7 per 2.7g of square pans and $4.5 to $7 per 2.5g of round pans in Inglot collection. I found the quality of MAC’s eyeshadows fall short many times due to their poor color payoff and short wearing. I attempted to love MAC many times but failed unfortunately. The only advantage I can see from MAC is they offer a million new collections throughout the year. Inglot’s product range is, on the other hand, very extensive.

Even though this 10 palette might be cumbersome for travel, it’s definitely heavy duty and will survive through turbulence or falling on the floor. I highly recommend you check this brand out. 
Please click here for IMATS LA Haul Part 1.