I've always admired Natalie Portman--her acting, her activism, her style... and her makeup! Although she has brown eyes and I have blue, I can always get inspiration from her looks. Therefore, when I am looking for a new look to try, I always head on over to my favorite search engine to see if I can find any looks of hers I'd like to try. I love how she looked with her post-V-for-Vendetta cropped hair, because it's edgy yet feminine because of her amazing features.

This look drew me in from the get-go--smokey lids, a glowing complexion, peach-coral contoured cheeks, and natural rosy-flushed lips. All of my favorite things!

I'll have to try it out tomorrow; if it turns out alright, I'll post pictures! (I will say that I don't photograph well, so I can't guarantee much, hah!)

In other news, I'm already looking at MAC In the Groove collection swatches and promo pics. It's not out 'til early July, but I already want to get my haul right now! MSFs and Cremesheen lipsticks?! My wallet will be empty. Again. But I really want NARS Sheer Glow foundation first. I forgot to finalize my shade match at Sephora the other day (what can I say? the blushes and duos were extremely distracting!) I recall the Fiji was much too dark for me, and that Ceylan was just about right. Odd, because according to NARS' site it's formulated for Asian skintones.

A little survey

My "current" items that I'm using!

Shampoo: Aussie Moist

Conditioner: Organix Coconut Milk

Shower gel: I use bar soap -- I think it's Yardley's Oatmeal

Styling products: Moroccan Oil!

Body moisturizer: N/A

Deodorant: Dove Visibly Smooth... I hate it.

Fake Tan: N/A

Foundation: I was using Revlon PhotoReady in #004 Nude, but it broke me out, so I'm back to my MAC MSFN in Light-Medium

Cleanser: Cetaphil

Exfoliator: Target brand (Up & Up) of St. Ives Aprocot Scrub

Primer: Fix +

Foundation Brush: EcoTools retractable Kabuki

Powder: MAC MSFN

Concealer: Revlon Age Defying Moisturizing in Light-Medium

Blush: MAC Instant Chic

Bronzer: N/A

Highlighter: MAC Perfect Topping MSF

Eyeshadow Base: TFSI or MAC's Paint Pots in Painterly, Coral Crepe, or Indianwood

Eyeshadows: NARS Eurydice duo, NARS Habanera duo, MAC Sable, MAC Twinks

Eyeliner: Milani Liquif'eyes in Black or Brown

Lash Curler: I think it's CoverGirl... it's ancient!

Mascara: MAC Opulash

Lipstick: MAC Lollipop Loving & Revlon ColorBurst in Soft Nude

Lipgloss: Revlon Super Lustrous in Peach Petal

Nail colour: Sinful Colors in Mint Apple

MAC To The Beach haul

Finally! The day arrives.

All of the drama surrounding Marine Life highlighting powder almost drove me to not get the product. It was sold out so quickly and it's up for insane amounts on evilbay, and people on Specktra are (reasonably) freaking out. But as soon as I swatched it at my counter, I knew that I had to get it because it's nothing like anything else I own, and it'll last me forever (literally). It's a gorgeous coral-red, swatches of which are littering the interwebs, so I'll forgoe any personal swatches (I personally recommend Temptalia's comparison swatches to see it compared to Hipness, Instant Chic, NARS' Deep Throat and Super Orgasm, Dainty, and many other coral-y shades). I got that and Hipness blush, which is much more pink.

It's my mom's birthday today (yay!) and a few weeks ago it was my parents' 20th wedding anniversary, so she's going out tonight to dinner with my dad. I convinced her that her 20+ year old Clinique blush was a little too old (hell, it's older than ME!), and we released ourselves at the Belk makeup counters to find a better blush after mnuch insistence on my part (I find Clinique blushes powdery and extremely under-pigmented). She ended up deciding on Bobbi Brown powder blush in Sand Pink, though she was looking at MAC's Breezy and Desert Rose as alternatives. She was set on finding a cool, mauve tone and she did. Part of her birthday gift from me is doing her makeup for tonight and being their DD to and from the restaurant.

Hope everyone is enjoying their hauls!

Sephora haullllllll!

aaaahhh. Does anyone else find swatching relaxing and therapeutic? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

Well, I definitely do. I got to spend an hour and a half (maybe more... I lose track of time) swatching away in Sephora and getting to know the awesome Carly (shout out!), who helped me out, made lots of great recommendations, and gave me lots of samples. She used to work for MAC as well, so we talked about what we love/not-so-love about the brand. I finally got my answer about the closest freestanding MAC store, which was not the answer I wanted (but it was the one I expected): Atlanta or NoVa close to DC. Both over 5 hours away from my north-central North Carolina location. yaaaaaay. But I know that I can save up my empties if my family ever decides to go to DC for whatever reason! I'd LOVE more eyeshadows rather than lipsticks.

But I've gotten way off track. I got two NARS eyeshadow duos, Habanera (a lovely slightly-grayed plum and silvery mint green combo) and Eurydice (purple-raspberry with blue shimmer, like the color of a blueberry or dark raspberry stain, and a deep grayed olive), and a NARS pencil sharpener (it was only $1 more than the Sephora one, which didn't have an adapter for smaller chubby pencils). Carly gave me a DiorShow mascara sample, a Clinique 3-step skincare sample set, Bliss' Naked Body Butter sample, and PerrioneMD Advanced Face Firming Activator sample. Because I reached the 100-point mark on my Sephora account, I got a deluxe sample of Laura Mericer's tinted moisturizer in Warm Radiance (a pain in the a** to open, but the color is lovely!).

I tried to convince my mom to try a blush or something, but let's just say I don't get my love of makeup from her (I got it from the internetz). She's had the same broken Clinique blush for twenty years and tries to match her makeup to her clothes (e.g. a lilac blouse equals lilac makeup). I try to impart some of my knowledge, but she just doesn't get the joy out of it like I do. Oh well. That's what my 15-year-old sister is for!

Because I knew I'd be swatching/testing away, I made sure my makeup was super minimal:

Fix+ (priming) [this stuff is liquid GOLD!]

MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural in Light-Medium

Fix+ (finishing)

Milani Liquif'eye line in Brown

MAC Opulash Mascara in Bad, Bad Black

Lip balm (Blistex with SPF 15)

[No blush!]

My new purse. aka I'm in love!

Trust me, it looks so much more lovely in person. It has a soft, worn-leather look without being leather. Vegetarianism FTW! It was a great price at Target, and it wasn't too "trendy" or too "Palm Beach Retirement Home" or too "Real Housewives of _____," which are categories that I think purses often fall under. I think it's pretty multi-seasonal, and I'm hoping it'll last me for at least a year--it would definitely fit in with my fall/winter wardrobe! It has tons of room in it, and the pockets inside are great for my cellphone and my makeup for touch-ups (a NARS compact for the mirror, and and lipstick/lipgloss I'm wearing that day), and it comes with the requisite "secret" zippered compartment for whatever you fancy.

All in all, lovely!

Update on all the MAC drama: the To The Beach collection went online (but not set up formally) at about 5:30pm EST yesterday, and Marine Life powder was sold out in two hours. Holy evilbay, Batman!* I can't wait to go to my pre-ordered MAC items from my lovely MUAs (makeup artists) and gossip about the upcoming collections. I love my counter! They know my likes, and they know I'm pretty much a guaranteed sale, so they treat me well.

But I'm off to Sephora tomorrow to do some NARS hauling, and maybe some MUFE or other brands as well. I'm fairly set on buying NARS's Habanera duo if it looks good on me, and I'm definitely getting a blush or two (yeah, I'm kind of a blush freak. What can I say? I love 'em!).

*evilbay is what my fellow Specktra-ites and I call ebay, where greedy people buy up limited edition/hyped up items in bulk from the MAC stores/website and turn around and sell them for 3x the normal price on evilbay, leaving any real MAC shoppers in the dust and with empty wallets if they break down and buy said overpriced item.

Dilema, dilema...

As you have already learned, I am a MACaholic through and through.

I guess that's why I feel so guilty looking at NARS and MUFE swatches. I feel like I'm cheating on my Significant-Other-That-Does-Not-Actually-Exist!

MAC's To The Beach collection hits freestanding stores and counters Thursday, and may even show up on the MAC website later tonight. I already have some items on hold [Rosemary & Thyme eyeliner, a permanent shade in the most GORGEOUS packaging for this collection; Hipness blush, which is a repromote from the Fafi collection; and the super-coveted Marine Life highlight powder that's more like an intense coral-red blush on my NC25 complexion (that's warm, fair-medium skin to all you non-MAC followers)]. I'm still flirting with Flurry of Fun lipglass, which is a sheer peach with teal (!!!) and pink shimmer, and I may also snatch up a permanent shade powder bronzer, too, because the orange packaging with white coral design is just too pretty to pass up lightly.

But of course, I have to keep in mind that MAC is coming out with a huge Spring-Colour-Forecast-esque collection called Fabulous Felines, which will debut in three distinct color palettes in August, and the super-anticipated and supposedly-massive Disney Venemous Villains collection in September, which will borrow color schemes and makeup advice from the likes of Cruella DeVil, the Evil Queen, Maleficent, and Dr. Facilier (from the latest classically-animated The Princess & The Frog, which was completely adorable). These collections, especially the latter, will consume my makeup allowance for the remainder of the summer/early fall and with no steady income, I'm going to have to make some very painful sacrifices. In other words, I'm going to have to severely limit how much I buy from permanent collections, including expanding my pitifully-small NARS collection and buying my first MUFE (Make Up For Ever) item(s). Thank goodness the closest Sephora is almost 40 minutes away, or else I would really have a larger problem to deal with.

For the love of all things pretty, I'm hoping I find lots of loose twenties while trying to replace my broken, beloved purse today.

About this bloggity

Hey blogverse! Erin here, a 19 year old makeup fanatic with a passionate marriage to MAC makeup but cheats with her favorite drugstore products on the side. Third-person aside, I'm a college student majoring in international studies and I spend all of my extra cash on beauty products. I figure that I may as well add my voice to the cacophony of makeup blogs, so I brought this to you! You may know me as aeroerin on Specktra.net--feel free to leave a comment with your Specktra name if you found me through there!

Okay, I will start off with a confession.

My name is Erin, and I am a sucker for all things coral.

If it's described in any way as a coral, I need it, and I needed it yesterday.

Yeah, if you didn't get it though my blog title's homage to the lovely color, or my "Coral Queen" usertitle on Specktra, I'm obsessed. Coral to me is a perfect marriage between pink and orange-peach, a warm shade that is both a flush and a warmth. It's one of my favorite colors and, if it's in lip or cheek product form, I have to smack myself multiple times to avoid buying it on the spot. Here's a look into my brain:

Coral-obsessed (CO): "OH, look at that pretty coral lipstick/lipgloss/lipliner/blush/highlighter!"

Money-mindful (MM): "No, Erin! You have so many identical shades in your collection already! Remember your Pret-a-Papier haul? ALL CORAL. The items on your Future-MAC-collections list? All coral. Permanent products that make you drool? ALL CORAL. STFU and try a different color for once!"

CO: "But, coral is so perfect for me! It's not cool, but it's not too orange, either. It's foolproof, especially with that pretty dark brown color our hair has been for the past few years and our pretty blue eyes and our pale-without-being-stark skin and--"

MM: "How about our WALLET?! Don't you have to save up for other things, like your future apartment so you don't have to live at home during school breaks?"

CO: "Well, yeah, but this is only $___!"

MM: "That's what you say ALL the time!"
CO: "Because it's true! It's not like we're buying Cle de Peau. It's ____ (enter sensibly priced, yet decent quality brand here)!

MM: "FINE, get it. But don't come crying to ME when you're sick of our family again!"

CO: "YAAAAAAAY!"

... yeah, it's that crazy. And it's just that bad.

My name is Erin, and I'm coral obsessed.