Although lately I've been a bit underwhelmed by MAC's usually extravagant limited edition collections I'm partially thankful - it has given me a bit more time to catch up on the products that the brand offers in their permanent line, and in addition to trying to build my MAC Eyeshadow palette, I've also taken time to dive a bit deeper into the lipstick offerings from the brand. I swatched out my MAC Lip Product Collection a bit over a year ago, so needless to say - it was ready for some updating!

Lipstick:


Amplified Finish =

Blankety - Ah, Blankety. If I had known how often I'd wear this, I would have purchased it forever ago. This is one of the most flattering nudes against my skin as it does have the pink tones to it but it is far from being too warm or too peach for my fair complexion. Because it has an Amplified finish, it is opaque and creamy and does not dry my lips in the least. This shade is definitely somewhere in my top 5 MAC Lipsticks - ever!

Cremesheen Finishes = 

Creme d' Nude (left) and Goddess of the Sea (right)

Creme d' Nude (left) and Goddess of the Sea (right)

Creme d' Nude - The internet beauty community is so torn on this shade - half fears it gives them the "zombie lips" while the other maintains this is a holy grail. Personally, I rather like it on my skin. I feel the translucence of it makes it a whole heck of a lot more wearable than shades such as Myth (which I still struggle to make work!).

Goddess of the Sea - Limited Edition. I bought this for the packaging, I'm going to be straightforward on that. However, I actually adore the shade and it is incredibly easy to work with.

Lustre Finishes = 

From left to right - Viva Glam Gaga, Viva Glam V and Patisserie 

From left to right - Viva Glam Gaga, Viva Glam V and Patisserie

Viva Glam Gaga - Limited Edition. I took the plunge and after a whole bunch of research, purchased this one eBay. I really was kicking myself for not getting this while in store, but I see the popularity in it. The Lustre formula makes it not too overbearing, but it still gives off great color.

Viva Glam V - This is the universally flattering lipstick. I've yet to see this look bad  on someone! If it don't know what else to wear, chances are that it's either this or Blankety.

Patisserie - I feel like this shade doesn't get talked about a whole lot, but it has become a staple in my collection. This is a darker take on nude pink without being too peach and almost has the slightest smidgen of brown in it. If you're looking for a good "office appropriate" shade, this is it.

Matte Finishes = 

From left to right, Dodgy Girl, Candy Yum Yum, Velvet Teddy and Kinda Sexy

From left to right, Dodgy Girl, Candy Yum Yum, Velvet Teddy and Kinda Sexy

Dodgy Girl - Limited Edition. There was no way I was going to allow myself to not get my hands on this one. It's a lovely lavender shade with enough pink in it to make it just a bit more wearable.

Candy Yum Yum - I Back2MAC'ed for this shade and in all honesty, I have a love hate relationship with it. The way it wears highlights any imperfections on my lips and they have to be in perfect shape to wear it. I should still try more to make it work though...

Velvet Teddy - I'm going to have to review this shade separately because it is just that incredible. This is literally the posterchild for why I like MAC's matte lipstick formula so much.

Kinda Sexy - Everyone says you need Kinda Sexy, but this one is literally so new that I haven't worn it yet (like earlier this week kind of new!). However, it swatches phenomenally - but also broke off in the tube when not in use. Hmm...

Retro Matte Finishes = 

From left to right; Ruby Woo, Punk Couture and Instigator.

From left to right; Ruby Woo, Punk Couture and Instigator.

Ruby Woo - The infamous Ruby Woo. I had to have it because it's a total icon, but Goodness Gracious! If you try to swipe this on your lips like a regular lipstick...your lips are going with it! I do love that it gives such a lovely, Pinup look to the lips and literally lasts forever, but be ready for it with some lip balm!

Punk Couture - Limited Edition. How can I not buy a lipstick called Punk Couture? While press releases noted that this and Instigator were Retro Mattes, they are nowhere near as dry as Ruby Woo.

Instigator - Limited Edition. This one lightens up a good bit on the lips, you think? It almost looks black in the tube. For a retro matte, this one was even creamier than Punk Couture.

Satin Finish = 

Viva Glam II

Viva Glam II 

Viva Glam II - This is one of my all time favorite nude shades...like up there with Blankety! Since this shade is a satin it feels nearly matte and is completely opaque. It has tones of nude and brown and mauve and I absolutely adore it!

Lipglasses = 

From left to right; Underage, Viva Glam I and Docile

From left to right; Underage, Viva Glam I and Docile

Underage - This is another shade I Back2MAC'ed for and I underestimated how pigmented it was! I was expecting this to be much sheerer than it is, but it makes a great layering shade.

Viva Glam I - Limited Edition, but still available on MAC's website. I think I can try to commit to Viva Glam I as my favorite MAC red, so I was so happy that this was released in a gloss as well. I'll wear this layered or without, it doesn't matter. I totally love this one.

Docile - Limited Edition, CCO find. I don't know how I managed to find this one at my local CCO but it just screams "me"! It is an incredibly wearable take on lavender when worn alone and really transforms depending on what you pair it with.

Kissable Lipcolour = 

Woo Me

Woo Me

Woo Me - Limited Edition, CCO find. When the Kissable Lipcolour range was released for the second time with the Shop MAC/Cook MAC/Whatever the heck that was MAC collection, I jumped at the shade Enchantee, and sadly overlooked this one. Carly from The Science of Chic was talking about this shade a while back and after seeing her wearing it, I had to have it. This is what bloggers do - we make each other buy things. I really like this kind of shade - as you can probably tell - it's kind of a neutral with depth.

Dazzleglass = 

Baby Sparks

Baby Sparks

Baby Sparks - Dazzleglasses are a pain to photograph! My camera couldn't really capture it, but Baby Sparks is a transparent warm, baby pink with purple and blue shimmers. For being a gloss with glitter in it, it is also surprisingly more comfortable to wear than I anticipated!

So apparently, this is going to have to be a yearly thing as I've added a whole lot to my collection since my first post!  What shades do you guys love from MAC? Let me know in the comments!

L'Oreal Colour Riche Collection Privée Nudes - Doutzen, J-Lo and Freida

Since it seems that this range is going to stick around for a bit, I felt it appropriate to share a review and some swatches today. Now, I am not certain if this collection is Limited Edition or intended to be a part of L'Oreal's permanent range - which would be lovely! - but I am awaiting L'Oreal's response to my e-mail on the matter. We'll see! *fingers crossed*

* EDIT* - L'Oreal responded to my e-mail (quite quickly, I might add!) and this collection IS permanent!

To give you my uncomplicated and flat out honest opinion, I think this collection is a wonderful idea. The aim of this collection was to present a neutral nude shade for all complexions, ranging from the fairest of the fair to the deepest of the deep and anywhere in between. The USA version of this collection as explained by the brand - I'll touch on the difference between the US and UK collections in a moment - features Freida Pinto (honey skin tone), Jennifer "J-Lo" Lopez (medium-olive skin tone), Doutzen Kroes (fair-light skin tone), Eva Longoria (light-medium skin tone), Julianne Moore (fair skin tone) and Liya Kebede (deep skin tone) as "spokeswomen" for each individual shade which bears their names. In the UK, instead of featuring J-Lo, the website features Cheryl Cole for "brunettes with fair complextions" (which, uh, hello? ME!) but I'm not entirely sure if this is exclusive to the UK as I've seen it on some US based blogs - I included this in my inquiry e-mail to L'Oreal and I will update with an answer. L'Oreal UK's website also includes an interactive poll where you can enter your hair color, skin tone and  desired look for L'Oreal to suggest a shade for you. According to my brown hair and very fair skin for a touch of "softness" I was suggested Julianne's Nude - ironically, one of the ones that I do not have. Remember though - the questionnaire is meant to be used as a guideline; Wear what you want because you like it, not because it is what you are "supposed" to wear!

The three shades I have in my collection as of right now are Doutzen's Nude, Jennifer's Nude and Freida's nude - but in all honesty, I want to haul the entire collection. #dontjudgeme

Doutzen's Nude is the lightest of the bunch by far - it is a very sheer blue based baby pink, and was sadly a miss for me. It doesn't really appear in the actual bullet or in the swatch, but this has a shimmer to it that wasn't really all too flattering on me - it gave more of a silvery cast on the lips rather than a sheer pink. It was kind of a let down for a couple reasons; one, being that when I saw this I thought it would be perfect for my skin and two, I LOVE The Victoria's Secret Angels and since she is one of them - well, you get the picture.

Jennifer's (J-LO's) Nude - Does anyone else feel weird calling J-LO by her actual name? I feel like I've always known her as J-LO so she doesn't seem like her name would be Jennifer. Either way, this is my FAVE out of the three. It's literally lovely - a rosy toned medium nude - and it literally goes with ANYTHING. It has a semi-opaque creamy finish, but not as opaque as the average Colour Riche shade (such as Fairest Nude). This has become one of those "staple shades" in my collection (A la MAC Blankety), if I'm not sure what to pair with a certain look - this shade usually completes and polishes it.

Freida's Nude - This is actually the shade that I anticipated the most - these were launched in the UK before here in the States and everytime I saw swatches I swooned over this one. Don't get me wrong - I love it. It's a mauve-y nude shade for goodness sake, of course I like it! But - this one does have slight textural issues like Doutzen's Nude. Not nearly as sheer, but the fine micro-shimmer isn't the most comfortable on the lips. Otherwise, the hue of this one in and of itself is divine!

Overall, the formulation of these really does stay true to L'Oreal's Colour Riche line - the cremes are amazing while the shades with a bit of frost have a slightly uncomfortable wear (though some perform better than others as Freida's Nude wore more comfortably than Doutzen's Nude). Out of these three, you immediately need Jennifer's Nude and I would probably pass on Doutzen's Nude - there are so many translucent baby pink shades available on the market with more lip loving formulas.

I will update this post as soon as I receive a response from L'Oreal, but in the meantime...I may just haul the rest of the collection! 

Maybelline Color Sensational Lipstick Swatch-A-Palooza!

I had so much fun with my Revlon swatch post that I decided to go ahead and make it a bit of a series to highlight collections of products that I have...well...quite a few of. It goes along the lines of the thought that if I keep repurchasing from a specific line - there must be something pretty darn good about it!

While not nearly as old as Revlon's Super Lustrous Lipstick line, Maybelline's Color Sensational Lipstick range has been a staple at the drugstore for a good amount of time by now. The permanent collection itself has every color family covered, and what I really enjoy is that they make it so easy to shop! Everything is broken down by color family, even down to occasionally making the caps a different color to suggest the family the shade might be in. From a consumer's viewpoint, it's never really a confusing task to find what I am looking for from the brand, which was very smart on their part!

Maybelline is also a bit of the "MAC of the Drugstore" when it comes to limited edition collections - and I fall for them just the same. There are shades that get very hyped up to the point where a lot of us in the beauty community find ourselves stalking our local drugstores and...dare I admit it...looking to Ebay for items we couldn't seem to find. I've seen a shade touted "Hard to Find" for as high as $20..a lipstick that retailed for less than half of that! (and don't even get me started on the matte Color Tattoos from last fall...OMG).

Overall, I'm a bit of a sucker for Limited Editions, which I will include here, but I have a really great opinion on the permanently available shades as well - so lets get on to those swatches, shall we?

From left to right - Pink Sands, Born With It, Pink & Proper and Make Me Pink

Pink Sands - Ah, Pink Sands. I was young; naive...maybe. It's awful - sheer, but shimmery and gritty and I maybe wore this once. I purchased this one a LONG time ago when I was first getting into makeup.

Born With It - Since we opened the swatches on such a negative note, let's move onto my all time favorite! Born With It bears Maybelline's tagline, and for good reason. It's natural but refined - my perfect MLBB shade.

Pink And Proper - This is a light neutral to slightly warm toned pink and while it isn't anything groundbreaking in terms of color, it wears nicely and bears a formula that nicely represents the line.

Make Me Pink - Since this one is a bit cooler toned, it gets a bit more wear from me. I have a lot of shades in this kind of color family from other brands, but this could potentially be a dupe for a few popular higher end lipsticks - I'll have to check my stash and get back to you!

From left to right - Fuchsia Fever, Bit of Berry, Warm Me Up and Yummy Plummy

Fuchsia Fever - I don't understand why I don't wear this more. This one is a very blue toned fuchsia shade and has nearly a duo-chrome feel without really having a shimmer to it. I can't explain it but it is VIBRANT.

Bit of Berry - I need to do a post of the lipsticks my sister steals from me the most, because this would be near the top of the list. This one is a true cranberry shade and because it has a cream finish, it really sets itself apart from similar colors in my collection - you know how I am with mattes!

Warm Me Up - The name of this one terrifies me, but I actually found this quite flattering. It really is a slightly darker, slightly warmer toned version of Born With It and for some reason this color family actually flatters me. Who woulda thought?

Yummy Plummy - I purchased this before I heard all the hype about this being a dupe for MAC Plumful (which I don't have), but I really like the neutral tone to this one!

From left to right - Nude Lust, Truffle Tease, Sin-A-Mon and Nude Embrace (LE)

Nude Lust - The Maybelline Nudes Collection is giving me LIFE! I've really been appreciating a nude lip in the past year and Maybelline is kind of being my enabler. Nude Lust is on the lighter half of the range - maybe the second or third lightest?- but I find that I'm fair enough that it doesn't give me zombie lips. I really appreciate the slight pink tone to this.

Truffle Tease - This one is the warmest of the nude bunch, but it actually does work on my skin - with the right look. 

Sin-A-Mon - I feel like this is a true caramel shade, and the translucence of it really makes it work against my skin.

Nude Embrace - This shade was limited edition from the spring Nudes collection that Maybelline released and if you simply glance at it, you'll understand why I love it. It's a mauve toned nude that is SUPER cool toned and nearly unhealthy looking (in the best way possible, I swear) and I absolutely ADORE it.

From Left to Right - Pink Pop, On Fire Red, Hot Plum and Brazen Berry

Pink Pop - This is another case of "why don't I wear this more?". Are we sensing a color theme here? Pink Pop really is a vivid Barbie pink, but it has a refined quality to it that is just really, really nice.

On Fire Red - I might be cheating a bit with this one, because it is still quite new and I haven't had an opportunity to wear it yet. It is, however, in my "to wear this season" basket. In the photograph it leans a bit warmer, but in person it is a bright, cherry red.

Hot Plum - I feel like this shade has the best color intensity out of the Vivids line. It has more initial opacity and white it still has a creme finish, it doesn't have quite the sheen that the others do. By the way, if you missed out on Daddy's Little Girl from the MAC Archie's Girls collection...give this one a little look see.

Brazen Berry - Everyone and their mother was talking about this being a dupe for MAC Heroine and I TOTALLY disagree. Same color family, yes - but this is lighter, has a strong sheen to it and a very translucent quality. Maybe what makes Heroine for me is the matte texture? Who knows...Either way, the semi-sheer quality to this one makes it very pretty to wear.

From Left to Right - Porcelain Pink, Smooth Taupe and Nude Nuances (All LE)

Porcelain Pink - Anyone else remember this collection? And how much of a pain in the butt it was to get all the shades? UGH. Either way, this shade isn't a good representation of Maybelline's formula - it's quite patchy and I normally just use it for a mixing shade.

Smooth Taupe - How this shade didn't give me lips that could cast me as an extra on The Walking Dead suprises me, but I'd assume the translucency has something to do with it. Not taupe by ANY stretch, this is more of a true translucent beige.

Nude Nuances - This shade was where the hype was at! Tumblr was ABLAZE with talk of this being a dupe for Innocence, Beware from MAC and since I missed the entire Venomous Villains collection (I'm still sore about that one) I HAD to snatch this one up. It is a slightly peachy light nude and actually does look quite flattering!

From left to right - Violet Intrigue, Lavender Voltage and Midnight Plum (All LE)

Violet Intrigue - Out of the three, I found this one to be the most wearable - it has a warmth to it that kind of draws it back to earth. This collection was a perfect representation of Maybelline's formula - creamy and opaque but not so creamy that it wears off quickly.

Lavender Voltage - Not exactly a lavender, but this is a VIVID violet shade. Love.

Midnight Plum - NARS Train Bleu, MAC Cyber, Rimmel Kate Moss 04? Yep. They're sisters...not twins. At least that's what I keep telling myself. 

Maybelline's Color Sensational range is really one of those lines that actually has something for anyone - the formula is (for the most part) consistent and they really do have all color bases covered.

Now if they would release some mattes...

That wraps up our second Swatch-A-Palooza! Let me know in the comments what range you would like to see me break down next - if I have a substantial collection of them, I'd be more than interested! Take care!

MAC Limited Edition Kelly Osbourne Lipstick in Dodgy Girl and Lavender Lipstick Comparisons!

These are the times when being a morning person totally pays off. Since this lipstick sold out in all of 10 minutes online when it launched, I took advantage of the fact that my shift ended at the same time that the closest MAC store opened. And they had already sold a significant amount of the collection by the time I arrived - maybe 10:05! Crazy! But I'm so happy that I was able to get my hands on this!

The packaging is gorgeous, a grayed lavender with a subtle sheen to it and Kelly's signature - but hear me out...It feels a good bit more lightweight than your average MAC lipstick. I feel like I'm nit-picking (and I kind of am) but the plastic to it feels lighter and thinner to me. It also spins quicker when you turn the bottom, whereas my other MAC lipsticks have a bit of friction to them. In no way did this affect the quality of the lipstick itself, but remember - you're paying $1.50 more for the packaging in terms of these Limited Editions. 

Okay - now all the negative is out of the way!

Did I wear this before I swatched it for you guys? Absolutely. #sorrynotsorry

Can we tell that this is "a Kadie color"? Dodgy Girl has a matte finish and is described by MAC as simply a "light lavender" - it is a slightly darker take on lavender with a touch of pink that kind of brings it back down into the more wearable territory. While it does have a matte finish, it by no means has a powdery matte feeling. There still is a good amount of slip and nourishment to the lips but it still manages to look matte on the lips. The wear time for this one is actually pretty freaking wonderful. I test wore this one...then forgot that I was test wearing it and drank a few cups of tea, ate chicken nuggets and pretzels, etc, and the color was still surprisingly intact. It had not moved outside of the lip lines and it really hadn't faded all too much either. I will say, though, this shade will definitely stain. I never really removed it and let it wear off on it's own on the day I purchased it, and I woke up with a slightly purple-ish pink stain on my lips then next morning...which lasted until about halfway through my day. It's one of those lipsticks that you kind of have to commit to, because its not really going to come off completely for a while. 

This definitely is a color family that I'm drawn to, so I wanted to share the similar shades in my collection to show how they compare to this one, just in case!

1) MAC Fresh Amour Mattene  - This was limited edition and I have no ever loving clue what collection it was from. It is FAR lighter than Dodgy girl and has a very white-purple tone to it.

2) MAC Lavender Whip - Again, limited edition, but I didn't find these all too similar. Lavender Whip has a much stronger pink tone to it and because of the Cremesheen finish has almost a translucent quality.

3) MAC Dodgy Girl

4) MAC Up The Amp - This one is a whole lot pinker and a touch darker and also has a subtle sheen to it.

5) MAC Nocturnal Instincts Mattene - This was another limited edition - and not to mention one of my favorite MAC lipsticks in the history of forever - but it is completely different. It almost has a pinky-gray quality to it.

6) MAC Viva Glam Nicki 2 - If you mixed Dodgy Girl with a liberal amount of white pigment, you'd have Viva Glam Nicki 2.

7) NYX Power - Hey, not MAC! What can I say, MAC has mastered the whole purple lip thing! Power is actually nowhere close to Dodgy Girl, but I never realized how similar it was to my oh so adored Nocturnal Instincts. A bit pinker, but it really thrills me that it could almost be considered a dupe for a lipstick that I have been hoarding!

8) Lime Crime Airborne Unicorn - And now, for the moment you've all been waiting for - this is the closest thing I have to a dupe for Dodgy Girl. These two are a good deal more similar than I anticipated because they look quite different in the actual bullet, but beside the fact that Airborne Unicorn has a slight sheen to it and is a bit more blue toned and vibrant, the two are in fact quite similar. Do I need both? No, but yes. Don't judge me.

I was intending on hauling other items from this collection, but I decided to stay with the least dupable. If I run across them discounted at a CCO, I would probably consider the blush in Cheeky Bugger and a gloss named Bijou from Sharon's collection but I'm trying to keep my head about me with all of these MAC collections - which up until they announced the Moody Blooms collection for the summer, I was starting to feel like MAC was "back" with their super exciting limited edition collections. I won't be picking anything up from Moody Blooms to the extent of my knowledge - I was underwhelmed...and don't even get me started on all of these collaberations with designers where they significantly hike up the price and let the quality totally bottom out! UGH!

Now that I've completely gone off on a tangent, did anyone else pick up anything from Kelly or Sharon's collections? Let me know!

Revlon Limited Edition Super Lustrous Lipstick in Brazilian Tan

Okay - I'd consider myself an active sports fan, but I've really never fully gotten into soccer/football/fútbol. In all honesty, the only reason I didn't really start watching until now was how incredibly overwhelming it seems. I don't know who to cheer for - and I'm from the USA and I'm not 100% sure if my country's team is good or not.

Long story very, very short - I figured the 2014 FIFA World Cup was the best place to start...So I'm currently watching Brazil vs. Croatia. And I'm going to go with the hype and cheer for Brazil - I think. I'm so definite about all of my other sports teams, so this is a strange feeling for me.

So, in honor of Brazil's hosting of the World Cup and playing in the opening game, I thought I'd give a few thoughts on a "Brazil themed" lipstick that I've picked up recently.

Okay, so I'm quite fair skinned - Like MAC NC15 can be a bit too dark for me on occasion kind of fair skinned - and when you look at a shade like this, you don't really think it would be one that would flatter me all that much.

Given, this isn't like a holy grail status nude for my skin; but in a really strange, unique way...it works. Brazilian Tan is a deep warm nude shade with strong brown tones to it. I feel like the thing that makes this shade so unique is the real lack of pink or peach tones to it - it really is a true brown nude, which sets it apart from really anything in my collection.

The formula of this shade is definitely in line with what I've come to expect of Revlon's Super Lustrous Creme formula - it's mostly to completely opaque, wears comfortably and doesn't dry out my lips. When this faded, it faded evenly so I didn't have any patchiness or anything of the sort. I really do like this one!

Is this a short review? Yes. Brazil just scored, we're tied 1/1 and I'm going to go watch the game!

Maybelline Limited Edition Color Whisper in Pop of Poppy

Ever since my mom surprised me with Coach Poppy last year, I've been obsessed with all things poppy. It may sound silly - I think poppies now make me think of my mom and that makes me happy, so if a product has something to do with poppies, I'm all about it. Does anyone else make connections like that with a beauty product?

So that's why this Color Whisper happened. As soon as I saw the initial launch of it, I knew I'd have to have it - if I could actually find it. That's the frustrating thing about Limited Edition Drugstore Collections; if you don't jump at an item and it sells out, you're screwed. I had to check a couple different locations before I was actually able to find one of these. Though, it was totally worth it.

Can we just talk about how cute the packaging is for the Color Whisper range? I really like the translucency and shine the cap has. It's light and summery and almost jewel like and it makes me happy for some unknown reason.

Pop of Poppy is one of those colors that will literally suit any skin tone. It is a semi-sheer ever so slightly red toned pink shade that can be worn very translucent, but does build quite well on itself to give a pop of pink on the lips. I thoroughly enjoy the formula of this range - I think it's my favorite of the "lip butter" trend - because it's just so lightweight. This is a gel based lip product and you can kind of feel that in the way it applies and wears. Given, it doesn't have a groundbreaking wear time; but not many products of the like do on my lips. I don't know if this range has any sort of lip nourishing ingredient infused in them, but they definitely don't cause any dryness in my lips.

I'm super excited that I was able to round up this shade because, even though I bought it for the name, it really is one of those "staple shades" - especially for the summertime! I do have a few other Color Whispers from the permanent line - Lust for Blush, A Plum Prospect and Ooh La Lilac - and while I do have my eye on a few more, I'm really hoping that Maybelline adds more to this range. They're so effortless and comfortable!

What's your summer go-to lip these days?

MAC Alluring Aquatics Cremesheen Lipstick in Goddess of the Sea

I'm going to be completely transparent here for a moment in saying that up until as recently as last summer I would totally stalk MAC's new collections as they released - but they'res been a disconnect recently where I'm really not too over the moon about them. The quality was definitely still there, but I feel like they weren't putting out those "wait in line for the mall to open in your sweatpants and glasses" collections like they used to. It gave me time to focus on what is permanently available by MAC and to especially built my palettes but I honestly missed the rush of the new collections.

I think Alluring Aquatics is bringing that excitement back - and I hope it's here to stay. I had to have this lipstick and it's the only thing I hauled from the collection thusfar - mostly because I knew it would sell out - but given my budget, everything else that I like is on a "if its still there when I can afford it, it was meant to be" basis. Other items that sparked my interest in the collection were Aphrodite's Shell, Sea Me Hear Me, Mystical and Sea Worship, but we'll see how many of those will be sold out by the time I'm able to get them.

Goddess of the Sea, however, was the one I knew I needed before it sold out!

The packaging for this collection is literally flawless. I very rarely care about limited edition packaging, but when I do, it has to be dramatic. This falls into that category. The color is beautiful - a metallic pale teal - but the real showstopper here are the "water droplets" when I saw my first review of these, I thought the blogger had sprayed them with water to give them this look. MAC gets serious credit for making these so pretty and unique! I wore this to work as soon as I purchased it yesterday and every single time I took it out to reapply, all of my colleagues wanted to look at it. I hate paying a higher price for limited edition packaging, but this was one of the few cases where I really didn't mind at all!

Goddess of the Sea is a Cremesheen finish and MAC describes the color as "dark vibrant violet".  We all know by now, I'm a sucker for a purple lipstick, so I don't 100% agree with the color description - I find it to be more of a muted violet with a touch of a plummy brown tone to it. Most similar in my collection might be Revlon Berry Haute, but it is definitely not a dupe. This color is unique enough to be purchased because of the shade and not only because of the stunning packaging...which, lets be real - I would have been tempted.

I feel like MAC's Cremesheen formula has improved in the last few years - if I were to compare the formula of this shade, Outrageously Fun and Lavender Whip (Baking Beauties version) to older Cremesheens in my collection like Creme Cup and Shy Girl, there definitely is a different feel. The newer Cremesheen shades that I have tend to have a more lip hugging feel to them than before where I felt that they just sat on top of the lips. I also don't feel like the formula dries out my lips as badly as before. I thought it maybe was a darker color difference in the formula, but Lavender Whip isn't really a dark shade. I used to avoid Cremesheens because of how the formula wore on me, but if they keep up with how they've been feeling lately, I may be adding some more to my collection. 

As far as wear time, this shade was pretty average for a Creme finish on my lips - three to four hours before the glossiness faded. However, this shade does stain a bit - in the best way possible. When applied to exfoliated and moisturized lips in the "apply, blot, reapply" manner, the stain will really last you a good amount of time. Due to the glossiness though, it could benefit from a lip liner or concealer barrier (especially if you intend on eating an apple on your lunch break!) to keep it from migrating outside of the lip lines. My only issue was needing to have my lips in better shape when wearing this shade. Simply because it is a deeper shade, I noticed that when it stained my lips when they were dehydrated and in need of balm, it stained in a bit of a patchy manner. Not a deal breaker, but it's the nature of the color family. Darker shades tend to show imperfections on the lips when they begin to stain.

Overall, thank goodness I was able to get my hands on this one! Between the packaging being so stunning and the color being more unique than I anticipated, I was already quite pleased - but when you enter the improvements in the Cremesheen formula, I'm a bit over the moon about it! 

I'll definitely update within the coming weeks if I'm able to haul anything else from the collection, because in all honesty...

MAC. IS. BACK.