Fafi! Fafi! Fafi!

Alright all you Fafi fanatics! It's officially out and ready for the taking! MAC has released the Fafi collection online and it is available for purchase. It will officially be released to stores and counters on Wednesday in the U.S. and Canada and I'm sure the Fafi feeding frenzy will begin.

Still not sure what you want to get? Well then check out Mrs. Lynne's MakeupFix to take a look at the gorgeous swatches she got of the collection, and let your senses take over. I'm really wanting the paint pots and a couple of the lipglosses. The rest of the collection doesn't really interest me. So, as for and my house, I shall wait for the Heatherette collection!!! :D

Urban Decay Pigments: Godsend or Hellbound?

Apparently Urban Decay is feeling the need to be like some of the other leading makeup companies out there and has decided to add loose pigments to their line of cosmetics.

I'm not sure how I feel about these. Don't get me wrong...I love the two UD palettes that I have, and wouldn't trade them for anything (except for maybe a couple of MAC Pro Pigments that I can't seem to get my hands on), and I absolutely love the way their Primer Potion works. With the beautiful pigmentation that their eyeshadows have, how could their pigments not live up to expectation, right? At least, that's my line of thinking...and yet you all are wondering "Well, why, if you think the color payoff would be pretty good, do you sound so iffy, Francine?"

I guess the reason I am so skeptical about these pigments is that I am still feeling pretty pissed and burned up about UD ripping off their consumers with the packaging of the Primer Potion. And when looking at the ridiculous little brush that comes on the pigment lid, as well as Urban Decay's description of their no-mess/no-spill jar, it makes me wonder how easy it would be, or should I say, how easy it WOULDN'T be to get the maximum amount of product for the price you have to shell out.

Let's make a quick comparison, shall we? MAC pigments cost $19.50 USD for 0.26 ounces of pigment. Urban Decay is charging a flat $20.00 for 0.04 oz...that's right, 0.04. No I did not make a typo with that extra zero. That means Urban Decay is charging you $0.50 more (yeah, I know big whoopty-do) for 15% less product than what you get from MAC. I knew that 15% would catch your attention. Yep, they're charging MORE for LESS...not to mention they're silly little funnel like lid which will probably be more of a nuisance than a savior when the pigment starts to get low (sound familiar? ::cough::UDPP::cough::).

I'm beginning to wonder if Urban Decay really thinks their customers are really so stupid that we won't eventually catch on to their little games to rob us blind. But I guess I'll just have to wait to see these in person to know if I can be put into a blinded stupor by something sparkly and colorful. If any of you already have these, leave me a comment with your opinion on them.

w00t!! GO PATRIOTS!!

Nuff said...just showing my team spirit!

***PRODUCTS USED***
--FACE--
Clinique Perfectly Real Makeup Shade 18 (g)
Clinique Blended Face Powder Transparency 3
Aziza II Concealer
MAC Northern Light Mineralize Skinfinish (blush)
MAC Swiss Chocolate eyeshadow (contouring)

--EYES--
Urban Decay Primer Potion
MAC Ricepaper eyeshadow
MAC Swiss Chocolate eyeshadow
Stýli-Style Black/Brown Line & Seal Eyeliner
DiorShow Mascara
MAC Espresso eyeshadow (brows)

--LIPS--
Stýli-Style Line & Seal Lip Liner in Rouge
MAC Queen's Sin Lipstick
MAC Boundless 3D glass

--Patriots Emblem--
MAC Royal Wink Fluidline
MAC Fascinating Eye Kohl
MAC Flammable Paint

MAC Announces 2008 Spring/Summer Trends

I'm not usually a big follower of clothing fashion, but I love reading about the new trends in makeup...especially when it's something out of the box, that's not your average everyday look. In this year's Spring & Summer Trends report, MAC is bringing together color and texture, combined through artistry and inspired by backstage (not my quote...it's what MAC sent me in the email, lol). They have a bunch more look predictions and tips on the site, but here'a few of the looks and tips that caught my eye. I don't see me wearing some of them just for poopies and giggles (sorry, this is a G-rated blog), but I thought they looked pretty cool!



While I don't see myself walking out of the house with a huge white spot under my eye, I thought the dewey affect that was created was rather neat!



I'm always a sucker for red, red lips! :D



I really don't know why I'm attracted to this look, but for some reason it draws me in like a moth to a flame.


My favorite of them all!! Just look at the picture! Enough said. This look just kicks ass (ok, it's a PG-blog)!! I'd soooo wear this out and about! The effect is effin' awesome!!


Not really sure what attracts me to this look either, but who wouldn't want a platinum eyelid?! :D


I love the subtle smokiness of this look. It adds mystery and intrigue as a touch of light brushes against the dark side! Mwuuuahahahahahahaaaa.



This look just brought me back to middle school with the chola look...but reversed. Love it! :D



I'm a sucker for iridescent lips that aren't your everyday color too. :P :)

Lauren's "Back In Black"...

After a short absence, youtube's very own Panacea81, a.k.a. Lauren comes back strong and beautiful as ever with a great tutorial on acheiving the exagerrated winged liner look made famous by Amy Winehouse! Hottie alert! Check it out!!

Grey, White, Yellow & Hunter Green Look

Check out this awesome look by SarahVictor on youtube! It's a super hot yellow and black smokey eye with a touch of grey and green! If you haven't checked out her videos, you need to! She has some great tips and some looks that you can add to your "I've gotta try this look!" list. The lovely Sarah also shows off her gorgeous hair in some hair styling tuts! Enjoy! :)

L'ORÉAL H.I.P. Pigment Swatches

Here are some swatches of L'oréal's H.I.P. Shocking Shadow Pigments. They are applied over Urban Decay Primer Potion and applied with a Maxine's Mop brush (like a MAC 239). I tried to take pictures at different angles and lighting because a couple of the colors looked a little bit different depending on how the light hit them. One of them though, was a completely different color in a different angle and lighting (Intrepid).

Can I just say this much? They're color payoff/intensity is AMAZING! I'm super glad that I bought these to play with! Enjoy the swatches! FOTD's coming soon! Woohoo!! :)

If you want to see a larger view, just click on the image! :)

Major Drugstore Store Haulage

WARNING!! Not for the faint of heart.

So I got my loan money this week and after paying some bills, I had more money left over than I expected. Naturally, rather than put it into savings, I spent it. I honestly didn't mean to spend it...honest!!

But yesterday, when my friend needed to stop at CVS on the way home from the mall to pick up her prescription, I decided I'd get a couple of the L'oréal HIP prodcuts to try (finally). Well, I wasn't expecting CVS to be having a BOGO Free sale with your CVS card...especially on a lot of the HIP items. Needless to say, my "Oh my!! Two for the price of one means I can buy MOOOORRREE!" mentality kicked in and here's what I got. Swatches coming soon!

• L'ORÉAL H.I.P. Shocking Shadow Pigments
  
  • 1ST ROW: Fiery, Tenacious, Rebel, Striving, Intrepid, Beckoning
    
  • 2ND ROW: Valiant, Visionary, Progressive, Unashamed, Restless, Exciting

BUT WAIT!! There's moorrrree!!!

• L'ORÉAL H.I.P. Bright Shadow Duo


• 1ST ROW: Roaring, Wicked, Reckless
  
• 2ND ROW: Showy, Riotous, Flamboyant
  
• 3RD ROW: Forgiving, Sassy, Flashy
  
• 4TH ROW: Flare

Don't go anywhere yet!! There's still more!! (I told you that mentality kicked in! My husband hates it cause even though it claims to save you money, it never really saves him or me any money cause then I just buy more. lol)

• L'ORÉAL H.I.P. Color Truth Cream Eyeliner Teal, Midnight Blue, Eggplant, Brown

I also got some Stýli-Style Line & Seal Eyeliners since a couple of them were 50% off.

• TOP TO BOTTOM: Jade, Forest, Green/Black, Awuamarine, Turq, Twilight, Tanzanite, Bronze, Black/Brown

Beauty From The Earth Swatches

Here are swatches of some of the Multipurpose Minerals that I have from Beauty From The Earth. I have quite a few more BFTE minerals, but I haven't had a chance to swatch them yet. As soo as I do, though, I'll put them up for you guys!

With flash.

Top Row: Midnight Blue, Purple Irises, Steel, Black.
2nd Row: Peacock, Ocean Mist, Sage, Green Apple
3rd Row: 24K Gold, Sunkissed, Coral, Amaryllis
Bottom: Dusty Rose

In Direct Sunlight.


Applied over Urban Decay Primer Potion, all in natural lighting.


I've received a lot of questions in my youtube mail and comments about what I think of BFTE products and if I think they are really worth it.

First of all, I must say this. I have never used mineral products before. When I first started using BFTE, it was the first mineral makeup that I had ever had the chance to try. That being said, let's move on to my thoughts on BFTE.

I personally really enjoy using their products. I have a jar of their foundations, quite a few multipurpose minerals, a mineral veil, and their Ultimate kabuki brush. Overall, I am really impressed with their products. On some makeup forums, I had seen some FOTD's where mineral makeup was used, and I just wasn't impressed. I'm very big on eyeshadow colors (if you couldn't tell from some of my videos), so color selection, product quality, and color payoff are very, very important factors for me when it comes to makeup. In my honest opinion, I feel that BFTE has met my standards. The color selection and payoff are what sold me on these products. The colors are bright and playful. There can be some fall-out when applying them, but using the right brush can also minimize the amount of fall-out. I find that the Loew Cornell 3/8" Maxine's Mop brush (which is comparable to the MAC 239) is great for applying these wonderful pigments and also isn't a bad brush to use for blending lightly.

As for their foundation, I think it's wonderful! It gives me the coverage I desire, but feels light at the same time! I'd more than likely opt to where this foundation when summertime comes and the humidity rises. I've actually opted to wear my BFTE foundation in my recent videos, just cause it does the trick and is much quicker to put on compared to my Clinique foundation. Their kabuki brush (which is the first kabuki brush I've owned) is super soft and feels nice against my skin as I'm buffing out my foundation.

Overall, if you're interested in mineral makeup, it could definitely be worth your while to check them out. If nothing else, you can get some really pretty colors that I don't have any MAC dupes for (i.e., Green Apple, Ocean Mist...)

Light Teal Soft Smokey Eye

A youtuber request for GothidgeAngel18







PRODUCTS USED
--FACE--
Beauty From the Earth Foundation in Dark
Beauty From the Earth Mineral Veil
MAC Mineralized Skin Finish in Nothern Light (blush)
MAC Mineralized Skin Finish in Global Glow (contouring)

--EYES--
Urban Decay Primer Potion
MAC Ricepaper Eyeshadow
MAC Teal Pigment
MAC Espresso Eyeshadow (also used it for brows)
MAC Stubborn Brown Powerpoint Eye Pencil
Diorshow Mascara in Black

--LIPS--
Stýli-Style Line & Seal Lipliner in Sand
MAC Plastique Lipstick
MAc Pretty Plush Plushglass

SONGS HEARD
"Linger" by The Cranberries
"Kiss Me" by Six Pence None The Richer
"Lovefool" by The Cardigans

Pigmentation Organization!

With a title like that, I feel like I'm on Schoolhouse Rock or something. LOL

Anyhoo, today I got a lovely little message from one of my youtube subscribers about spotlighting me in a post. Woohoo!! Cool beans! But as exciting as that was, it wasn't nearly as exciting as what I read toward the end of the post.

Do you own a lot of pigments and travel a lot? Do you wish you had a handy dandy way of keeping your loose MAC pigments with you, but without losing space from the size of the jars, and not mention the inefficiency of having all those individual jars with you??

Stress no more! Cody Jefferies has solved all your pigment problems! Check out this great site that Cody goes to to buy some storage tins for pigments! Cute? It's not bad looking...but when it comes to storage, I want efficiency, not cutesy. Efficient? Absolutely! You can store up to 20 different pigments in one little case, and still see the color of the pigment through the clear lids. Affordable? At $5.97 for the whole set-20 aluminum jars and 1 hinged storage box-how could you refuse??

Here's a picture of the pigments that Cody has put into the jars. If you read the rest of the post as well, there's some great tips for train cases and a great spotlight on EnKoreMakeup for his wonderful tips on makeup storage and organization!

What Would You Like To See More Of?

This is officially the first blog I've ever had or tried to update in my entire life and I'm really getting a kick out doing it! Yet, even with this feeling that I'm doing an okay job, I feel like there's more that I should be posting about. So with that being said, I figured I'd get suggestions and tips from all you lovely ladies and gentlemen out there that make your daily trek to my little ol' blog here. What would you like to see more of on Francine's Makeup Mania? Or what would you like to see posted more frequently? Any tips or suggestions? I managed to come up with a little survey to the right and you can click on as many answers as you like. Feel free to leave me some comments too! I'd love to hear what you all have to say!

In the meantime, check out MovingMakeup.com, ahd this handy dandy little article I came across on the net a while ago. It's a nifty little site that shows you where to apply contouring powder and highlighting powder as it pertains to your face shape! "Francine, OMG, that's like so totally cool!" I know, right?! (Sorry, my inner Californian was wanting to come out from hiding.) Anyway, I can't remember for sure where I spotted the link at, but it was more than likely something that I saw in a Specktra forum! Gotta love me some specktra!!

Feeling a Bit Ripped Off!

Brittany, a.k.a., DivineBlackness, You are an absolute God-send! I posted a new video tutorial showing her steps to get the most out of your Urban Decay Primer Potion! I couldn't believe the amount that came out of that little tube...especially that little bottom piece! It was unbelievable!

Hopefully, with getting the word out, Urban Decay will finally realize how pissed their customers are getting at their wasteful ways and finally change their packaging for this amazing product! Maybe when sales decrease because more and more people won't need to buy it as often, they'll rethink their strategies for trying to get money out of us UDPP lovers! Ha!

NYX Swatches!!

Here are some swatches I took of some of my NYX products. Since taking these pictures I have recieved more NYX single eyeshadows, but I haven't taken any swatches of those yet. So for now, here ya go! By the way, if you want to see the swatches close up, just click on the picture for a bigger view. :)

NYX Single Eyeshadows
Top row: Root Beer, Golden, Blondie
2nd row: Platinum Pink, Sweet Pink, Nude, Apricot Moose
3rd row: Golden Poppy Hot Yellow, Chick, Lime Juice
4th row: Khaki, Sweet Lagoon, Jade, Wildfire
5th row: Lanikai, Baby Pink, Purple Charcoal


Applied over UDPP.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jumbo Eyeshadow Pencils:
Yogurt, Purple, Pacific, Pots & Pans, Oyster, Horse Raddish

NYX Liquid Eyeliners:
Lilac, Electric Blue, Baby Blue


NYX Jumbo Eyeshadow Pencil & Liquid Eyeliner swatches: Applied over bare skin.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

NYX Jumbo Lip Pencils:
Iris, Pink Nude, Soft Fuschia


Applied over bare skin.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

NYX Ultra Pearl Mania Loose Eyeshadows (I put up multiple pics of the swatches for these to show how sparkly they are and how the light reflects off of the colors.)
Top row: Sky Pink Pearl, Fanta Pearl, Yellowgold Pearl, Lime Pearl, Space Pearl, Lilac Pearl
2nd Row: White Pearl, Nude Pearl, Oro Pearl, Mocha Pearl, Walnut Pearl, Charcoal Pearl, Black Pearl

Applied over UDPP.