MAC Le Disko Collection Swatches and First Impressions

MAC’s Le Disko Collection is about to hit Singapore (3 July at all counters except Isetan Scotts), and I hear Robinsons MAC Counters will launch these a week early - so today, 25 June - if you can't wait until next week. I will say right now that if you love color and sparkle, you will LOVE this ultra sparkly, uber-glam collection.

Ironically, I’ve never been the biggest fan of Dazzleglasses. I always felt they look pretty in the tube, but most of the softer shades all look the same once on the lips. The 5 shades in the Le Disko collection are pretty, but they’re pretty standard-issue, and my picks would probably be:

• Rollargirl - (yes it’s spelt like that) taupe-beige with pink sparkles 
• Cherry Popping - magenta with violet sparkles

I can imagine a lot of people will love Sugarrimmed though. It's a can't-go-wrong topper for nude and pale lipsticks.

The 2 Superslick Liquid Liners in a kitschy retro silver and gold are also fun as well. 

But where I feel they’ve knocked it out of the park is with the 12 Dazzle Shadows. 

 Texture

I was half expecting these sparkly shadows to be like the Veluxe Pearlfusion Shadows (which have a tendency to be inconsistent in pigmentation, gritty to the touch, and fall all over your face), but once I swatched these I was sold.

These are creamy smooth, intense, buildable, and highly pigmented (except for Last Dance which has a slightly more crumbly texture than the rest). And most of them are duochrome and multidimensional. The sparkles often come in contrasting tones with the base colors.

Which means you can apply a wash of a single shade all over your lids and it will look like you put in a lot more effort than you did.

Lasting Power

Majolica Majorca Humming Book I (Swatches, Review, 2 Easy Looks and how to dupe the product!)

I think Majolica Majorca has fabulously silky and pigmented eyeshadows. But I'm not a fan of palettes where there are a mixture of cream and powder products. Creams have different shelf lives from powders and the lip cream is most likely going to go bad before the other stuff. Also, when powder gets into cream and vice versa, everything gets ruined. 

BUT, when I saw this charming little "song book" in their latest limited edition collection and tested the 3 shadows (1 cream base and 2 shadows) alone and over one another, I concluded it was so brilliant I had to pick one up.

 

Concept:

The collection is centered around a dreamy, lyrical flower garden, and the combination of shades gives you exactly that sort of look. Now you CAN possibly use each of the colors alone, but I personally wouldn't do that. 

Alone, the 2 pale shadows can look a little washed out and not flattering if you don't have a very defined and deep socket. The cream base on its own, does not set and will shift, smear, and crease. The genius is in the combination when the pale duochrome shadows hit that dark blackened plum. You get the most beautiful soft-focus pearl finish.

The petal-pink lip gloss I couldn't care less about. It looks nice in the pan but applies streaky, lacks pigmentation, isn't flattering on its own, and all in all, you're better off getting Revlon Lip Butter in Strawberry Shortcake.

Grey with a Lavender Twist: Duochrome Sparkle Eyeshadow Tutorial

Because Maybelline's Color Tattoo shadows were SUCH a great product to use as glitter base, I couldn't resist doing a second version in a slightly winged out kitten-eye shape. This time, I used a grey base (Audacious Asphalt) and a crystalline white glitter with a violet sheen on top.

I had a lot of trouble capturing the true color of the glitter (Virgo by Lime Crime) in flash. It kept showing up white in the camera, although it's a violet in real life.

You will need:

• Black pencil
• Grey cream shadow or base
• Pale white glitter with lavender sparkle (you can actually use any pale glitter; it doesn't need to be a white with violet duochrome, but if you can get hold of some, it adds a twist to the look)

Step 1: First, I did a simple black liner swatch along the upper lid. Do it in a rough triangle so it's thick at the outer corners.

Step 2: Here's the fun step. You apply the grey shadow using a synthetic concealer brush, and you want to line it up exactly above the black liner you did earlier (overlapping a tiny bit is fine) and then drag it out past the outer corners of the eye. 

This actually scrapes the black and pulls it out into a nice sharp wing.

The grey should go up to the hollow of the socket line, so continue to apply if that stroke with the brush did not cover everything.

Step 3: The simple part is the glitter. Just quickly use the same brush to press a thin layer of pale white/violet glitter over the grey cream shadow.

Step 4: Finish with black mascara. Because the glitter doesn't really go down to the base of the lash line, you can easily wear half-strip lashes with this look for some extra drama.

It's quite a neutral look but there's just that bit of extra sparkle in a different color when your eyes catch the light.

To show you how the duochrome looks, I have an image taken in shaded interior lighting (daylight) as well. Grey, but not grey!