Monday, June 14, 2010

Review: MAC 'To the Beach' Collection

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Yes, I know, I am like a month late in sharing my haul with you, but since I find myself living in the middle-of-nowhere, Alaska, this is pretty much the reality of my life! :P And, I found myself enjoying this collection a lot more than I originally expected! Keep reading to find out what I got, and what I think about everything!





Like I said, I was sucked in by this collection a lot more than I thought I would. Originally, I was super disappointed by the packaging, but when I received my items, the packaging turned out to be fun and summery.

I got:
-Marine Life beauty powder
-Hipness blush
-Beach Bronze cream bronzer
-Firecracker e/s
-Sand 'N Sun e/s
-Temperature Rising l/l
-Lazy Day l/s
-Flurry of Fun l/g
-In the Buff n/p

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^^I admit that I got sucked in to the Marine Life hype. When the two colors mix together it is a lovely, perfect-toned coral. However, it isn't AMAZING, and certainly not worth paying much more than retail for. The first time I tried it, I didn't realize how pigmented it was, so it ended up looking a bit clownish. Since then, I have used a little wisdom and a lighter hand and it turns out to be quite pretty. Again, nothing special (there are plenty of other colors like Hipness and Instant Chic that provide a similar look).

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l: hipness from Fafi; r: hipness from TTB        

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^^I already had Hipness blush from the Fafi collection, but I hadn't used it at all until I started hearing chatter about it with its re-promotion in this collection. It is a lovely pink-coral, just perfectly pigmented, and slightly chalky for a satin finish. I had heard that this one was slightly different from the original, so I picked it up. Plus the packaging is adorable. Indeed, it is a bit different- check out these swatches:

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l: Fafi r: TTB


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^^Beach Bronze cream bronzer is easily one of my favorite items in this collection. It is so light that it never looks overwhelming or too bronze. It is creamy and blendable so it doesn't splotch. And, the shimmer/creaminess is a perfect summer look. I am very pleased with this product!

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^^Firecracker (right) e/s looks a lot like Hot, Hot, Hot from Spring Color Forecast. But, when you actually apply it, a lot of orange comes out and it then looks like a mix between Firespot and Hot, Hot, Hot. It is a warmer tone than it appears!

Sand 'N Sun (left) e/s is a matte, light pinky-peach. It is very light, and kind of hard to see unless you use a dense shader brush like the 242. Pretty color, but not exceptionally unique. I love the color of the packaging for these- gorgeous!

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^^Temperature Rising l/l is a bright neon pinky-orange. I have been wanting to buy an orange lip liner, and figured this time was better than ever. It looks great on its own- no need to use a lipstick if you don't want- but I envision that it will look equally great under Morange or So Chaud lipsticks.


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^^Lazy Day l/s is a pale pink, and I absolutely adore it! I am looking for a backup, and regret not buying one earlier, as they are sold out online! Even more sad, mine is broken at the stem already- it is a very soft formula. How sorry it looks already! But this is, essentially, the perfect pale pink lipstick- what I have been searching for for years!

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^^Flurry of Fun l/g is orange with pink and teal sparkles. I'd heard a lot of hype about this one too, but it's not as exciting as I thought. I was hoping for more sparkles, but they are very minimal. It applies pretty sheerly. I usually don't buy a lot of lipglasses, so I wish I had kept up with that.

In the Buff nail polish admittedly looks like baby poop, or an aging avocado. But I like it- alot! It's professional looking (which is what I need lately), lasts for a while, and is just plain old pretty when applied! I will have a NOTD soon!

Swatches!!!

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l to r: Temperature Rising, Firecracker, Sand 'N Sun

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Lazy Day


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l to r: Hipness, Beach Bronze, Marine Life (dark side), Marine Life (light side), Marine Life (mixed)


Anyways, that's what I got- what about you, what did you get from To the Beach?

6 comments:

Unknown said...

enjoy your goodies!
I got: Sweet and Punchy-Beachbound-Float on by and love them!

Unknown said...

The packaging was the one thing about this collection that I loved. I only purchased the highlight powder. Also, I have a lot of the items in this collection from previous collections. I really wanted to love the items that I don't already have but I did not like most of them.

prettyaspeaches said...

Great review! You're spot on with everything. I still havent enjoyed my marine life yet. It's too pretty!

liloo said...

very good haul :)
hope to see some looks pretty soon XD
lots of love
xoxo

Jen said...

nice haul! i love this new collection
hahah lol at your comment about 'baby poop.' so true!

Unknown said...

I haven't used my Marine Life yet since I'm too scared to use it and I just love looking at it lol you should get Sweet & Punchy e/s and it's so pretty with Melon pigment!