I went in the MAC store other day to grab a concealer, but also walked out with a brow mascara in tow. Well, I was overdue for a new one anyway! I was super curious about the limited edition MAC Pro Longwear Waterproof Brow Set (P1,000), part of the Waterproof Brow Collection Summer 2014, so I chose this instead of the regular one. 

I originally wanted the color that's similar to Girl Boy, a golden blonde, but since most of the shades were already out of stock I went home with Quiet Brunette. Boy am I glad! It's a taupey brown shade with a reddish tint to it, just the perfect color for my dark hair. I think this is the first EVER brow mascara I've tried that doesn't require me to layer it with other colors. This is pigmented enough that I can just wear it straight from the tube, plus the color suits my hair and complexion. 

The wand is now small and conical so it's easier to coat eyebrow hairs without making a mess. Staying power is excellent - I've sweated quite a bit while wearing this, but it didn't fade or smudge at all!

MAC Philippines has several exciting new releases, and as usual I'm here to share everything I know about them! ;) For Spring, check out A Fantasy Of Flowers - a dreamy, ultra-feminine collection of fresh shades that'll brighten up your face. Think lots of pinks and iridescent textures! (Aren't the promo images so inspiring?)

I know some of you gals are shy to go up to the MAC counter to ask, so here's the full list of products, descriptions, and prices for your reference. Enjoy! 

MAC isn't particularly famous for their mascara selections, I'll give you that. I've tried two from the brand and liked them well enough, but they're not the OMG-you-gotta-have-it-now kind, you know? Still, I thought it'd be nice to give you an idea on what to expect from a MAC mascara. I have here the Zoom Waterfast Lash (P1,000+), a water-resistant formula that promises to lengthen and volumize lashes beautifully.

I like it. The wand is small and slender at the tip so it gets on my upper and lower lashes easily. The formula is easy to build up, so much that in two coats I can achieve a thick fringe that could pass off as falsies. It's quite black and intense! It barely smudged on me, but I just have to use an oil-based makeup remover to take it off.

I'd be lying if I said that everyday is a mega hyper inspiring blogging day. Sometimes I just really want to get work out of the way and/or attend to my other hobbies. Sometimes I don't feel like adding yet another beauty product review to the hundreds that this website already contains. I mean did you even notice that I've already written 2,210 posts in the last six years? I don't but sometimes I do notice.

Obviously I can't blog forever. Maybe I'll stop when I reach 5,000 and finally, truly feel that I've said all I can possibly say about the beauty industry. That's still some time in the future though! When I don't feel inspired, I try to be consistent instead. Inspiration is awesome to have but it won't sustain me and take me all the way to the top. Consistency, while dull and repetitive, is reliable. No one can't take it away from me except me.

Anyhoo, we're back to MAC Week. I have here the Prep + Prime Fortified Skin Enhancer SPF35 PA+++ (P1,450), a tinted sunscreen that has illuminating properties. This was a CC cream before CC creams were born. It's quite sheer but it brightens my complexion wonderfully!

This isn't a primer in the sense that it makes makeup stay on longer. It's really designed to correct complexions with certain issues like redness (Neutralize is recommended, a yellow), dullness (Adjust, a peach), and sallowness/yellowness (Illuminate, a lavender cream). I have Neutralize here and true enough it can tone down redness and keep my skin bright while at it.

It's MAC Week once again! The brand just sent me some press material + a bunch of products so I'll be going through them and letting you know what's up. ^_^ MAC remains one of the most relevant brands in the beauty world so it's important to pay attention to its trend reports and collections. It's great if you can buy the products, but more than anything it's the inspiration you take away that really improves your makeup style.

For my first post, here's a daring lipstick from the Magnetic Nude Collection, which was released last month. This collection features a lot of shimmery skintone nudes and molten metals. It's a winter collection, hence the dramatic play in contrast and colors. I know we're moving on to summer but the Carnal Instinct Lipstick (P1,000) is still a beautiful color to wear!

MAC describes it as a deep brick red with gold pearl. It's a dark, dramatic color that can turn off those with weaker constitutions (lol) but if you adore unforgettable lip colors then this you shouldn't miss. Carnal Instinct is a heart-stopping, dare I say vampiric shade of red that you won't easily find in other brands.

Mineral makeup used to be a messy affair - well, I suppose it still is if you like the loose formulas (I do). But if you're rushed for time but still like the flawless, glowy finish that only mineral powders can provide, go for pressed! There are lots of great ones available now. One of them, an oldie but a goodie, is the MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural (P1,700+). 

Coverage and finish. The Mineralize Skinfinish offers sheer to medium buildable coverage that has a slight sheen to it. It could be a setting or finishing powder due to the glowy effect, but it can also be used as a daily base if you don't need a lot of coverage. 

This has an extremely lightweight formula that feels like nothing on the face! It also doesn't cake due to the thin texture, yes, even when layered heavily.

I got a hair cut last Friday. I had low expectations since it's not my usual salon, but damn my hair is terrible right now. Am I overreacting? Am I just not used to it? I don't know. It's just, so bad that I laugh when I catch myself in the mirror. I'm not sure if I should blog about it. Well, I will certainly give it some thought. You'll have to see it at some point.

Anyhoo, here's a quick swatch of one of the latest eyeshadows from MAC: the Extra Dimension Eyeshadow in Sweet Heat (P900+). The Magnetic Nude collection, which this color is a part of, came out just last month so it should still be available. ^_^ The Extra Dimension Eyeshadow is a new formulation. It can be used wet or dry, and is designed to stay on the lids for six hours.

I love this eyeshadow. It's a lot like one of my all-time fave MAC colors, All That Glitters, except Sweet Heat is more intense, more metallic. It's a dirty champagne shade, almost light bronze in certain lighting.

Matte and satin are forever but there's a renewed love for shiny lips in 2014. Glossy, luscious colors are all the rage as new formulas come out that challenge the stereotype. The new MAC Huggable Lipcolour (P1,150) is one such formula. It promises six whole hours of wear while moisturizing your lips at the same time. Too good to be true? Nope! It's for real alright. 

The Huggable Lipcolour is a cross between the Sheen Supreme and the Pro Longwear. It's shinier than Sheen Supreme, but it has the staying power of the Pro Longwear. It hugs my lips tightly and is loathe to let go even when I eat or drink!

This is limited edition! The Huggable Lipcolour comes in a gunmetal tube, as opposed to the usual black MAC packaging.

Eight hours is the longest I've worn this lipstick. At the end of it, there was still a glossy color on my lips. Seriously. It starts fading by the 5th hour but it never really goes away until I take it off. Even though it's long-wearing, it's moisturizing enough by itself. I can skip lip balm and my lips would feel alright!

Noel, a MAC Makeup Artist, applying the new lipstick on me

MAC's latest collection brings the holidays to a fever pitch - of the disco persuasion. (I thought about this line for one whole day, because I'll be damned if I didn't put "disco" and "fever" in my opening sentence.)

Anyway! Divine Night is MAC's flagship collection this season, dominated by rich shades of gold, bronze, plum, and pink champagne. The look is composed of a fierce darkened eye, stark contour, and a dirty plum lip - a very modern discotheque vibe. Check out the photos from the super fun launch that happened last week!

Divine ladies: Ria Bolivar, Catriona Grey, Jessica Yang, and Ella Pap

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A good lipstick wardrobe has an even mix of daily, subdued shades and bright sparks of color. At least 30% of your lipstick collection should comprise of unforgettable shades, the kind that people stop to ask what you have on. Trust me, it's good for your self-esteem! Even if there aren't many occasions to wear these bright shades out, knowing that you have them and can wear them any time you damn well please already adds to that feeling of empowerment. 

The question is: when should you go bright, and when should you go light? A touch of flattering color on your lips is ideal for more conservative settings like at your office, a business meeting, or perhaps a work-related conference. It's also great for any situation wherein you want to look approachable and likeable - meeting the parents, a new group of friends, making a sale, things like that.

Bright lipstick, on the other hand, is perfect for special occasions, parties, and casual get-togethers among close friends or co-workers. If you have a creative, image-heavy job like being a makeup artist, stylist, actress, magazine writer, etc. then you can pretty much wear any color you feel like!

A matte, neutral brown eyeshadow can do more than just shade your eyes - it can also perform well as eyebrow makeup. You're basically paying once for two items! How's that for a good deal? 

One of my favorite eyebrow powders is the MAC Espresso Eyeshadow (P1,000). This single eyeshadow is a neutral, mid-brown that suits most skintones, making it famous with makeup artists as a brow color. I actually like it better on my eyebrows than on my lids; it sticks to the skin so well, it can be a tad difficult to spread.

It lasts on my eyebrows all day. It's great for oily skin, where other more emollient products  seem to break down faster. It's also fairly easy to work with as long as you have a stiff eyebrow brush like this one from Charm.

I find that Esperesso isn't intense on the first layer so you can get more control in terms of pigmentation.

I have a love/hate relationship with SM Aura. I hate that the food choices are limited (as are seats during the weekend) and that the cinemas are almost always full. Seriously what's the point of having an IMAX theater near me when it's fully booked most of the time? I love the SM Store - so many well-curated items in there - but it's also limited. 

Still, the shopping at SM Aura blows High Street, Serendra, and Market! Market! out of the water. Before I would need to go to Makati to shop at stores like Forever 21, Uniqlo, Miss Selfridge, and Bershka. Now all that is 10 minutes away! I also love Suite Blanco (it's like a much cheaper Zara) and L'Indochine. 

Aside from clothes though, beauty shopping at SM Aura is also leveling up. The SM Beauty and Watsons there have excellent drugstore selections, but I love that MAC is also now available in the mall.

It's a huuuuge store, bigger than the one in Rockwell I think. It's all gleaming black surfaces and bright lights, as if you're in a real studio. The latest collections are also available there - check out these palettes!

The MAC Illustrated Ccllection by Rebecca Moses features limited edition kits and palettes. The palette containing the blush, four eyeshadows, and two lip colors retail for about P3,000. Not bad!

Here are more photos from the event!

If you love watching YouTube makeup gurus, then you already know how popular and ubiquitous the MAC 217 Blending Brush is. It's been on my wish list since I saw Lisa Eldridge use it with cream eyeshadows - it looked so easy to use, and the results were stunning! I finally got my own MAC 217 a month or so ago since I got to visit Duty Free with my family.

It retails for about P1,300 locally if I remember rightly while it's 26 USD in Duty Free. The price difference is only minor so just buy it from the MAC counters. I thought it'd be considerably cheaper at DF but nah, the wait wasn't really worth it for a savings out about P170.

Anyway, on to the brush! I had mixed feelings about it the first few times I used it. It didn't wow me, I mean, my eyeshadows looked the same as when I used a cheaper brush. As you know I have been using the Suesh Pointed Blending Brush and it works super well - why bother with the MAC 217?

The MAC 217 has long bristles that taper to a rounded edge

It took me a while to notice it, but there is a marked difference, not just to the naked eye!

I hope you've enjoyed M.A.C week! Some of you have requested me to extend it, but unfortunately the other products I have here have not yet been photographed or used. That means I won't be able to write a proper review. Which then means, I might do another M.A.C week in the future for you guys! ^_^ For now I'll post the reviews any time they're ready.

To close this themed week, I thought I'd talk about five of my favorite M.A.C products. These are the things that I always pick up and would really, really hate to run out of. Check them out!

MAC Brow Set in Girl Boy. You know, I didn't like Girl Boy this much when I first started using it, but I've eventually developed a dependence on it. I haven't found anything that can create depth and highlight on the brows the same way Girl Boy does. The secret is in the shimmer.