Hello lovelies! Well, I am back from the mall with all of my Liberty of London goodies that I scored today. :) Ready to see and hear all about it?
So, I always joke that I spend all this time making a list and then when I actually see the collection, the list goes out the window. Luckily, today I stayed pretty true to my list. I nixed a couple items off my list (Free to Be and Dirty Plum) in exchange for other equally-priced items (English Accents l/g and Prim and Proper blush), but otherwise I managed to avoid most temptations and got only what I came for!
I ended up with:
-Peachstock l/s
-Ever Hip l/s
-Blooming Lovely l/s
-Petals and Peacocks l/s
-English Accents l/g
-Frankly Fresh l/g
-Perennial High Society l/g
-Prim and Proper Blush
-Bough Grey e/s
-Blue India n/p
Lipsticks:
These were the highlight of the collection for me. For almost the past year, I have been trying to avoid lipsticks because I have so many, but lately MAC has been releasing so many beautiful colors! This collection is no exception. These colors are vibrant, bold spring colors. The finishes are also pretty solid, either being Satin, Amplified Cream or Cremesheen, so the color pay-off is true to the color in the tube.
l to r: Petals and Peacocks, Blooming Lovely, Ever Hip, Peachstock
Blooming Lovely ^^ is a mauved version of Lavender Whip. I am a huge violet lipstick fan; I don't know what it is, but I love the cool colored lipsticks. It has a bit of a pink undertone though, so if you can't pull of super cool lippies, this one is saved by its pink hue. Great color payoff as well.
Petals and Peacocks ^^ is a blued hot pink. It is pretty much identical to Gladiola from the Dame Edna collection, but it is going to have more shine, unlike Gladiola' matte finish. I think this Amplified Cream gives it more depth. If you are like me and you love hot pinks but most don't look good on you, try this one, because I think the blue in it really helps out.
Ever Hip ^^ is a bright coral. It has a little "oompf" or brightness that most coral coloured lipsticks don't have. I am a little disappointed with the color payoff; being that it is a cremesheen, it tends to be a bit sheerer than the other lipsticks in this collection. I think that is the one thing that prevents it from being my all-time favorite coral, but it is still very wearable, and with a lipliner underneath (Mouth Off lip liner, for example), it will be vibrant enough. It reminds me of a less-pigmented Vegas Volt l/s.
Peachstock ^^ is a browned neutral/nude. It is an "oldie but goodie", as it has been a PRO color for a while. In fact, I purchased this last year at the PRO store, but it didn't do it for me, so I ended up selling it. However, this time, something clicked and I am really excited about this color. It is going to look amazing under Frankly Fresh l/g, so I have a good feeling about it. :)
Lipglass:
These were the runners-up in this collection. I bought 3 of 4, and the fourth (A Different Groove), was also pretty awesome but I had to draw the line somewhere, right? :) But these really complement the lipsticks, and seem to be wearable on their own too.
l to r: English Accents, Perennial High Society, Frankly Fresh
Frankly Fresh ^^ is a browned neutral nude. Its lipstick partner is Peachstock, though I think this could be easily worn alone, without lipstick. It is a basic nude so if you have something similar (I hear 2N l/g is similar), then you probably don't need this.
Perennial High Society ^^ is a pinky coral, which complements Ever Hip really well. This is reminiscent of Sock Hop l/g from Heatherette, but seems to be more pink. I can't wait to pair it with Ever Hip!
English Accents ^^ is a milky pink with a hint of mauve. It is less mauve than Blooming Lovely, so if Blooming Lovely is too purple for you, maybe add this on top and see if it makes a difference. I know it definitely changes it for me. This color also seems like it will be good alone, or on top of Viva Glam Gaga l/s.
Eyeshadows:
I skipped all but one eyeshadow: Bough Grey. It was really the only one with an individuality, and since I was so enamored by all the lipsticks, I didn't bother with eyeshadows that looked similar to others I owned. Bough Grey is surprisingly pretty; it has a lot more green in it than I imagined, and that's what sold me on it. I wouldn't say the pay-off is extraordinary, but it's also not horrendous. With a good brush it should be fine.
Bough Grey
I also had
Free to Be e/s on my list, but I was greatly disappointed by it. See, the one in the perm line with standard packaging is awesome; I swatched it a while ago and was so amazed by the vividness and color payoff; However, the special packaging one has a strange film on it, and didn't swipe at all. And the tester was brand-new. I had been warned of this on Specktra, so I made sure to check at the store and sure enough, it was disappointing enough to skip. I will pick up the regular one at a later date. It is a cool color.
Birds and Berries is lovely, but I have Strike a Pose;
Dame's Desire is cool and I would like to eventually pick up a red violet eyeshadow, but I am over purples at the moment; and
Give Me Liberty of London was a standard pale pink- nothing I hadn't seen before.
Blushes:
I fully expected to pick up
Dirty Plum in this collection. It's been on my list for how long now? But when I saw Prim and Proper, I was torn.
Prim and Proper is not as shimmery as I thought; in fact it has a subtle sheen but that's about it. It is a soft peachy bronze color, and I felt that it would get a lot more love from me, whereas Dirty Plum, though pretty, would probably just sit in my stash forever.
At one point, I asked my husband which one he thought I should get. His reply: "Well, I like Dirty Plum in the pot, but on your hand it looks a lot more clownish...which I guess is the look they're trying to achieve (points to promo image)" LOLz!! I like the promo image but it is definitely editorial (or as a man eloquently puts it: clownish, haha). So I got Prim and Proper, but Dirty Plum will definitely be on my mind! It's tempting.
Prim and Proper Blush
Beauty Powders:
I skipped both of these; neither screamed "I'm worth $25" to me.
Summer Rose didn't swatch quite as deeply as I had hoped. It was better than the Rose Romance version but still not good enough. And
Shell Pearl was kind of pretty, but I have so many shimmery products, and realistically, shimmer can only go so far before it starts looking greasy or really starts enhancing all the imperfections on my skin. So I skipped out on these.
Nail Polish:
Blue India is a very cool color! I was tempted to skip it, reasoning that I didn't want to pay $12 for a nail polish when I have heard there are cheaper dupes. However, it is a pain in my ass to go searching for these alleged dupes, and this color is so unique to me that it won me over. It's like a teal color with some dirty blue and green. It will no doubt sell out quickly.
Vestral White looks like white-out so that was a pass.
Overall, this collection was really excellent! I love the packaging and the bright spring lipsticks (that will take the place of my Fleshpot for a bit!). Everything is fun, and it's just a matter of deciding what colors you like the best!
What do you think of Liberty of London? What did you get?
A pretty pastel lavender as the name implies. When applied to my highly pigmented lips this color appears more pink than straight up lavender, making it a bit more wearable for everyday. However, I bought it because it was lavender, so by applying a purple liner like Velvetella underneath (see next photo), the color is more true to that in the tube.
(see how happy Lavender Whip w/Velvetella makes me! lol)
Honestly, this color wasn't initially on my list, but when I got to see them in person, I was pleasantly surprised. As you can tell, it's similar to Creme Cup, but not as pink. It is a perfect perfect nude lip- in fact I'm thinking it might become my HG lipstick! I love that it's allegedly permanent as well. Oh, and it's not as orangey in real-life, I promise.
I'm not going to lie, the name of this one makes me slightly uncomfortable. I'm not an avid coffee drinker, but if I were, I definitely would not want anyone to cream in my coffee. Can you blame me? :) But nonetheless, I kinda like this color. I wouldn't usually select it, and in a way it kind of reminded me of the 90's dark tan lipstick that everyone used to wear. I definitely don't want that trend to come back, so don't worry, this really doesn't look like that! It's like just a nice mauve, if that's even right. In the words of my MA, she says the colors are very "forgiving" :) and I do agree with this. In any other finish, this color would not look nice on me, but it's this pretty, buildable finish with a sheen, and so therefore it just works well. Except I think this photo of my lips is grotesque. *shudders*
