Get down with your bad self: MAC Lipstick in 'Rebel'

MAC Rebel is an infamous MAC lipstick listed in its top 10 bestsellers.  As its name implies, this lipstick is a little bit out of the ordinary and certainly demands attention. 

Though 'Rebel' looks like a deep vampy purple in the tube, it swatches as a midtone fuschia color on the skin. It has a satin finish leaving it appearing glossy and a bit more toned down than if it was a matte or vivid. 

I find that this lipstick takes some working with to get a clean finish. In one swipe, it can appear a bit patchy and unkempt. I think to get ultra clean edges and full impact color, a lip liner may be necessary!

As with all MAC lipsticks, this has a pleasant vanilla scent and it wears well for 4 hours. It begins to fade starting from the middle so if you don't check the mirror often be warned! You may end up looking like you're wearing dark lip liner and no lipstick. 

I really love the way this color looks with my light features! I have to believe that the coloring works well across a wide spectrum of skin tones since this is a MAC Top 10 bestseller.  I think this is a lipstick that works great for the Winter and even as we transition into the Spring season.

This lipstick is $16.00 for 3g of product. If you're looking for a cheaper alternative to this pretty plummy fuscia, Wet n Wild sells a lipstick that is very similar to this called 'Sugar Plum Fairy.' That lipstick applies rather patchy and dry, however.

xxSJ

Worth the Hype? Wet n' Wild Eyeshadow Trio in 'Walking on Eggshells'

Wet n' Wild eyeshadows are kind of a hot commodity in the beauty world right now, the reason being that this brand used to be known as a cheap, throwaway brand to buy for young ladies as their first makeup purchases.  In recent years, Wet n' Wild reformulated much of their makeup products and the most amazing of the new products are, apparently, the eyeshadows.  I couldn't pass up the opportunity to find out if these products truly are worth all the hype. I purchased the eyeshadow trio in 'Walking on Eggshells:'

This palette is one of the most gushed about palettes so I thought this neutral trio would be a good indicator of the eyeshadows as a whole.

Each shade doesn't have a color, but rather the place you're supposed to place the color is stamped into the shadow.  The packaging itself is quite cheap and flimsy, but for only a couple dollars, you're not exactly paying for glamorous or luxurious packaging!

While preparing to swatch these colors I noticed immediately that all these shadows are SO buttery to the touch, particularly the brown crease shade. Not chalky at all!!

The colors are super pigmented when swatched on the skin and show up true to color in the pan.  These colors are VERY shimmery and show up as such on the lid. I was pretty pleased with the blendability of these colors when I applied them, however since they are so shimmery, the reflective sheen kind of washed out the color and made the colors quite flat.

By the end of the day after many hours of wear at work, when I looked in the mirror I noticed that there was no creasing! Yay, that's fantastic! BUT, the flatness of the colors increased and my whole eye kind of looked like a shiny champagne gradient washed over my lid. I would recommend not actually wearing all these colors at once because its too much shimmer! Maybe placing the lid color all over the lid with Soft brown on the crease to create a really muted pretty look would be nice or using the crease color paired with a matte pink or nude lid color would be the way to go.

I tried to dupe these colors in my own collection and I failed miserably! Observe:

From left to right in this photo: Wet n Wild Lid color, Smashbox Crisp, Urban Decay Burnout, Urban Decay Freelove, Urban Decay X, Stila Kitten, Urban Decay Blaze, Too-Faced Silk Teddy.
As you can see I really didn't find a spot on dupe for this color, so that's kind of neat!

From left to right: Wet n Wild Crease color, MAC Woodwinked, Urban Decay Snakebite, Urban Decay Smog, Too Faced Honey Pot, Urban Decay Half Baked, MAC Mulch, Bare Minerals Ritzy, Covergirl Shimmering Sands Shadow Trio.

Again with the crease color, I had a hard time perfectly duplicating this color! I'm actually not a huge fan of this color since it is quite orange and warm, but its nice to have a color like this in my collection if I wanted to go for a certain look or do someone else's makeup.

All in all, I understand the hype around this product given its $3 price tag. I think this would be a good set to have in your makeup arsenal, however, I wouldn't recommend wearing all these shimmery colors at once for a complete look.

xxSJ