Beauty: MAC and Sigma Makeup Haul

So I kind of let myself go a little.

You know how it is. When you’re studying, and working, and living with your parents. You go from desk, to desk, to couch, to bed. You eat. You don’t exercise. You compromise your eyesight spending hours in front of a computer screen researching, typing, drawing, just trying to get your work done. Then you hand it all in and you look in the mirror for what feels like the first time in a year and a half.

Eek! Is this what my boyfriend has been dealing with? Some man for one man!

So not long after my graduation in February I got a job doing confirmation photos for the 6th class in the school my boyfriend teaches in. While I was going through the slow process of printing, framing and packaging them I found myself wandering onto YouTube. This was a procrastination tool that I hadn’t had the luxury of using in quite some time, and now I could use it without the guilt. I took a look at some stuff that I had planned to watch later. One of those things was this video that I had pinned on my Pinterest makeup board. And thus began my obsession with Jaclyn Hill.

Jaclyn Hill is a MAC makeup artist in Florida. She’s enviable in every way but her skill as a makeup artist is the main thing. Her style isn’t exactly everyone’s cup of tea, but it got me hooked. I soon got to looking at other youtube makeup and fashion vloggers. I’ve become pretty obsessed with a lot of them in an effort to regain some semblance of prettiness.

On the one hand the very proud side of me thinks that I shouldn’t be so into makeup. I think I shouldn’t place so much value in it and my confidence shouldn’t depend so much on it. Don’t get me wrong, I have no problem going out in public with my face fresh and fancy-free. Nevertheless makeup gives you a little boost, and most importantly: it’s fun!

I made a list of the things I wanted and I picked up a few pieces. I bought the Sigma F80 Kabuki brush online, as well as a Sigma palette and had them delivered to my house in Dublin. The products were great and all but the shipping charges weren’t so great. I vowed to make my next few purchases when my brother was coming home from the States for a visit so that they could be delivered to him.

So last Friday he arrived home with my haul. I was going to Cork for the night later that day, so before he took his jet lag nap he left out my purchases for me. The haul included:

• 15 MAC eyeshadows
• MAC Painterly Paint Pot
• MAC Ruby Woo lipstick
• Sigma E30 pencil brush
• Sigma E40 tapered blending brush
• Sigma E65 small angle brush
• Sigma E15 flat definer brush

A couple of days beforehand I had bought the new double-sided pro palette from MAC which fits an arse load of shadows in it. Great excuse to get more. I threw in all my shadows together in the palette bringing it all to 23 shadows. I just couldn’t stop staring at them. The colours are just gorgeous. They’re mostly browns and oranges, which I find suit my crazy eye colouring. The Paint Pot in Painterly is a “skin coloured” eyeshadow base that acts as a great primer. It’s unbelievable the difference all these little things make. The lipstick is a great blue-toned red that makes your teeth look really white and is very flattering. I hope I’ll get some makeup looks posted soon. For now though, I’ll just list the names of the eyeshadows that I now have and leave you to drool over them all:

1. Mylar
2. Shroom
3. Dazzlelight
4. Ricepaper
5. Naked Lunch
6. Bamboo
7. Samoa Silk
8. Soft Brown
9. Wedge
10. Cork
11. Texture
12. Saddle
13. Rule
14. Red Brick
15. Coppering
16. Antiqued
17. Corduroy
18. Swiss Chocolate
19. Swiss Chocolate (again… long boring story)
20. Embark
21. Sketch
22. Nocturnelle
23. Satellite Dreams

The great unboxing of the MAC stuff

All of the new MAC products unboxed

The four Sigma brushes, plus the free bonus one there on the right

All the MAC eyeshadows I now own in the new double sided pro palette