Its here, and its live, and it’s in stock!

If you are an Urban Decay fan, you will be well aware of how massively successful the Book of Shadows collections are, and just how desperate women (and men!) were to get their hands on the Alice in Wonderland set.  Its huge success was in most part down to the eyeshadow content, but in my opinion, a lot was down to the clever and innovative packaging design with the hugely popular pop-up scenes.

Urban Decay know’s its market, they know just what the fans want, and just what to do to make themselves stand out.  Why ignore a formula that works well, and in keeping with that, they have just released their 3rd book of shadows, this time, in the pop-up style of Alice in Wonderland, but featuring iconic scenes from New York City; yellow taxi cabs, the Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty etc.

However, you can’t just buy a product based on it’s packaging.  Okay, die hard fans can, but for those who like to get their money’s worth out of a product, its essential to look beyond the pretty package, and look to see what’s inside the box.

16 eyeshadows in colours; Perversion, Loaded, Uzi, Rush, Last Call, Rockstar, Money, Midnight Cowboy Rides Again, Haight, Mawi Wowi, Smog, Bordello, Radium, Snatch, Suspect, Psychadelic Sister.  Yes, that is another Midnight Cowby Rides Again, and some may criticise Urban Decay for putting it in again, but actually, its in all likelihood because its a darned good base colour, one that works well for a single wash of colour, but equally one that works well as a highlight, contour definer, crease enhancer…

The colours are great, its a mad mix of brights and vibrants, and in my mind, pretty much what you expect when you think of New York City and the bright lights of the city there.

I have to mention the extras you get, a couple of 24/7 pencils, which, if you’ve read my previous articles, you’ll know are a MAF must have, plus the primer potion.

All in, for £30, you’re getting 19 different products, making them £1.57 each!  So you might have one or two duplicates, but that’s okay.  For £30, you couldn’t get this many products normally!  Have a look and see for yourself…

Sam Donald

www.SamDonald.com

It’s no secret that I am a huge fan of Estee Lauder eyeshadow – the softness of their texture and their sublime blendability, with the simplicity of their names.  If you have a look HERE, you’ll see where I’ve explained how to use Estee Lauder shadows as a benchmark for choosing shadows to enhance different eye colours, and despite there being a packaging and formulation overhaul, the same naming technique remains.

I do love the new packaging of these shadows; they are small and sleek with a very decadent gold finish that makes them look as though they cost a fortune.  In fact, for a high end brand, they are very reasonably priced, particularly as you get a very high quality product for your money!

My only criticism of the packaging is that you can’t see the colours at a glance, you have to either open each one, or check the name on the back, and if you’re like me and have more than a dozen in your kit, this can be a small annoyance.

On the upside though, this does mean that I can fit more in my kit, which is always a bonus, and actually, having to open each shadow to find the one I’m looking for has actually inspired me to try different looks.  Sometimes, as a professional artist, you get an idea in your head of the look you want to achieve, and you have certain shadows in mind, but when you start opening up palettes and pans, often you can have a lightbulb moment and decide to try something new, and often better!

Plus my clients are all a little bit in love with the new embossed design on the shadow pan, so much so that on most jobs, I end up writing out a shopping list for each person, pointing them to their nearest Estee Lauder Counter!

And in case you were wondering which colours to stock your kit with, these are the ones that I currently have;

Midnight Star, Sizzling Copper, Hot Cinnamon, Enchanted Meadow, Ivy Envy, Black Crystals, Tempting Mocha, Berry Burst, Nude Fresco, French Vanilla, Ivory Slipper, Sugar Biscuit and Wild Sable

And at some point in time, I shall in all likelihood get the rest, I’m currently falling for the purples they have!

Sam Donald

www.SamDonald.com

With soft taupes and creams and a splash of plum, Clinique’s Autumn trend for 2010 is a collection of shades and colours that are sure to suit everyone, and make you feel and look beautiful.

What makes this collection so lovely aren’t just the colours.  That would be too simple; after all, anyone could produce these colours.  It’s the actual products themselves combined with the colours that make this set simply essential purchasing.

It’s no secret that many of the MAF artists are Clinique fans, and in fact, I’ve been a Clinique Fan for pushing 20 years.  There’s something simple and elegant, yet totally on trend, all at the same time!

The quick eyes cream shadows are creamy and blendable.  These sorts of products are often overlooked or dismissed as a poor way to apply the shadow, but as a tip from a makeup artist, who can’t double dip and therefore can’t use the applicator, it’s worth taking a small blob onto your fingertip and gently smoothing that onto your eyelid for a simple one-colour look, or take a tiny bit onto a brush, then blend that as you would with any other cream shadow, or in fact, as you would a dry shadow!  They are buildable though, and certainly you can layer, and in fact, I’ve been using these in conjunction with a black dry shadow and the intensity of colour has been fantastic, but without the look of black.  All it did was deepen the colour, meaning that I could really contour in and create shapes and shadows, but without having to use more than just a steady hand of black!

But there are other products that are part of this collection – The quickliners are simply that.  Quick Liners!  You can have a thin line that fills in the blanks between eyelashes (a Hollywood Trick for a natural look is to dot eyeliner between the lashes to make them appear thicker and longer), or you can build up the line to make it a real feature of your face and look.

And most will have heard of this at some point in time, the new shade of the High Impact Mascara, in Brightening Black, it’s the most surreal black I’ve ever seen in a mascara – it’s that wonderful blue black that you sometimes see in hair colours, and the blue counteracts the red in the eyes somehow, and makes them look instantly more awake and alert!

Not new to the Clinique group, but essential as part of this Autumn look are the eyeshadow duos in Beach Plum (such a cult favourite!), Like Mink and Blackberry Frost, easily wearable, easily blendable.  I had all these colours in my kit even before they came out with this collection!  Very useful for a pro makeup artist, as well as the general makeup wearer!

Rounding off the collection are the new colours from the Vitamin C lip smoothie set – Guava Good, Pear-Fection, Running Latte, Strawberry Bliss, Pome-Greatness and Blackberry Nirvana.  Soft and caring like a balm, but with a big juicy kissable hint of colour.

In all, an initially soft and gentle collection, with a little bit of layering, you can go from day to night, desk to dinner in a couple of flicks of a brush!

Sam Donald

www.SamDonald.com

I was lucky enough to get on board the Elemis Spa Bus at The Clothes Show London recently, where the extremely talented Claire (from the Mayfair Spa) set to work on my back.

Now I’m blessed with a family of 3 sons, aged 7, 5 and not-quite-2, plus a husband who works horrendously long hours, and horrendous shifts.  They are the light of my life, and I wouldn’t want to be without them, but juggling motherhood and keeping a large house, with a business as a freelance makeup artist, aswell as managing MAF and writing the majority of articles, not to mention the monthly dashes from North Wales to London for meetings, often leaves my back as knotted as a fisherman’s net.

The lovely Claire though, took my back and shoulders into her hands and worked her magic for 30 amazing minutes.  I’m fairly certain that she was exhausted at the end of it.  She really put her all into it, and her body weight too, but at no point did she cause me any pain.

She did, rather drily, say that my muscles needed a complete overhaul, and said “I really need to prescribe a course of treatment” and you know, I took her as seriously as I would my GP or my children’s Paediatrician!

Now one might think that a spa on a bus is a rather strange thing to have, and even stranger to want to actually get on board, but this bus is elegant and luxurious, with gentle subdued lighting, plus the aroma of their famous candles.  It all added to the ambience.  Plus, there is a huge selection of their products to smell, test, sample and buy.

That’s just downstairs!

Upstairs, again, the same elegance and ambience is carried through, but with areas set up for arm and hand massages, and specialist chairs for the neck and shoulder massages (anyone who’s had an Indian Head Massage by their local salon, whilst propped against a tower of towels will know how horrid that is, this is luxury!)

Obviously though, the chair was the station I was at, and there was a second chair with another lady already receiving a back treatment, but you know, I didn’t feel uncomfortable. 

Okay, so I didn’t take off any clothes, bar my cardigan, but even the close proximity wasn’t an issue.

In all though, it was a fantastic little treat, and I’m very much enjoying the Aching Muscle Super Soak that Claire prescribed, and whilst I haven’t yet started on her recommended monthly massages (you’ve just read my life, where would I find time?), my shoulders and back are feeling so much better.

And as a little aside, I’ve also recently seen Elemis’s Christmas products, and I can’t wait to talk about them, at least 3 are going on my Christmas wish list…!

For Spa Bus tour dates, please keep an eye here – http://www.elemis.com/BreakingNews/SpaBus.aspx

Sam Donald

www.SamDonald.com

Is it possible that a brand could be any more fun that Jelly Pong Pong?

I’ve been using their products for quite a few years now, from back in the days of the infamous Hump Balm!

Most recently though, I took away a handful of their products on my sunny funny holiday to Turkey, and they all came in handy!

As the ultimate sparkly girly, I had to take the crystalliser away with me.  4 sparkly powdered glitters, with a handy little puff to dust them on with.  The mix of colours is great, the packaging is somewhat space age, yet stylish and they definitely add a sexy shimmer to a tan.  My only criticism is that you can’t ‘dispense’ individual colours, they all come out together.

I took some other not-quite-so-glittery products too; the Jelly Flush is a push up cheek and lip flush, that smells like peaches and jam, and looks like strawberry jam with little pips throughout!

This was wonderfully cooling on my cheeks, yet added a soft glow, literally, as the name suggests, a flush of colour.

And as a fan of the lipgloss category, my makeup bag wasn’t complete with some gourmet lip therapy!  I happen to have both Honey and Sugar, and couldn’t decide which to take, so of course, they both came too.

Neither has a colour that comes out on your lips, but the honey is a golden colour to look at and the Sugar, a shimmery white.  I wasn’t overly bothered about the lack of colour, I was using them for their therapy properties, which I’m pleased to say added a very gentle and soft sheen and a heck of a punch of moisture to dry lips.  The sugar one feels like its exfoliating, but you can put it on and leave it on, no horrid bobbles!

And while I’m here, though they didn’t come away with me, I’ve had the Muffin and Meringue duo sat on my desk for a few weeks, giving myself regular daily doses.  Enormous tubes, they don’t have a traditional applicator built in, you just unscrew the lid and blob some onto your finger, then smear that on, and depending on whether you want red or pink tinted lips would depend on whether you chose the shimmery pink Muffin or the berry red of the Cherry Meringue.

All gorgeously packaged, all lots of fun, and all designed to release the inner sparkle in all of us.

Sam Donald

www.SamDonald.com

Its here, its launched, its live, and I can talk about it!

OPIs Swiss Collection.

Oh, its frosty, yet snuggly, warm, yet chilly, you can picture images of snowy white log cabins, with roaring fires and hot mugs of chocolate, and even a nice glass of burgundy to warm you up on a cold evening.

I certainly don’t need to talk about OPI’s quality, I never do!  They’re gorgeous, they’re smooth, they stay on, even for a nail polish novice.  And you know what?  With the exception of Cuckoo and Yodel, all the colours are pretty much timeless and ageless….

Have a look at these images, and just have a ponder as to which 1, 2, 11 you’re going to buy…

I’m a fairly fickle makeup artist as far as gel and cream pot liners go.  I rarely, if ever, use them under eyes, preferring to use them as top liner optical illusions, so when I was shopping at the Pixi Store in London a few months back, and in need of a new black gel liner, I was more than happy to select theirs, simply called Gel Liner.

It’s been in my pro kit ever since, and has been used on every eye and eye shape since!

I particularly like the creaminess of this, its very like Clinique’s gel liner, both of which have such a lovely consistency that one swipe is enough to do one eye.  No-one likes to have to keep going back to a pot for more product, and those of us who are sticklers for hygiene don’t want to have to use 4 or even 6 brushes on one client to avoid double-dipping.

So for the first time, in a long time, I will choose to restock this liner rather than just buying any old gel as and when I need it, based on the shop I’m standing in, I will make the conscious effort to rebuy the Pixi one (I quite fancy the Jade one!)!

but my eyeliner purchasing didn’t stop there.  I also bought one of their Endless Silky Eye Pens in no 2, Blue Black.

This is one of those clever/quirky/strange/wierd (delete as appropriate) products that has changing colours.  Its not a duochrome, its something different.

The pencil looks black at first glance, but when you swipe it, it appears to have deep blue sparkles.  Get it in sunlight and it takes on a purple hue of Cadbury proportions!

Its very creamy and whilst it does become smudgeproof, the initial creaminess means its workable and blendable meaning it’s a shadow style too.

What a good job I’m back in London in a few days, I certainly intend to get more shades of both the gel liner and the silky pens, I particularly like the look of Black Tulip and Deep Plum, but Black Cocoa looks equally nice… maybe I should buy them all?!

Sam Donald

www.SamDonald.com

I’ve been testing this for MAF for about 7 weeks now and feel happier about my eyes than I have in years.

The Crystal Clear Rollaway Serum is designed to reduce dark circles and firm skin, thus reducing the lines and wrinkles.

It’s not an overnight product, you do have to keep at it, but even in the early days, when there was nothing to see, just the feel of this under my eyes made me feel more confident about how I look.

Sometimes, just feeling good about yourself is enough, but the added bonus of this product actually working, and geuninely softening the lines around my eyes makes it a great buy from the first moment you put it on.

Having been blessed with baggy eyes, those didn’t shrink as such, but the crinkles and wrinkles (as Sam calls them!) have definitely shrunk, and my skin feels less saggy and a little tighter.  Concealer goes on much better now, and it doesn’t seem to sit in the lines anymore.  Probably because the lines are smaller.

Okay, so its not one of these instant shrinker spanx-for-your-face products like Genie or Eyesential, but the critical me can see the difference, and that’s okay.  I don’t need the world sticking their faces right upto my nose to see how different I look, feeling better and knowing that I look better is enough for me, and I shall definitely be buying this again, and I want to thank Sam for letting me be her guinea pig at trying this, even if she did have to keep nagging at me to write this review…

Helen Lawson

xjenniex2008 aka http://all-that-glitters-and-sparkles.blogspot.com/ and @jennifer1986!  a long standing MAF forum regular, and product tester, Jen’s been doing quite a bit of testing for MAF over the last few weeks, and this is just one of them!

I tested this in the shade Blancmange. On first impressions the packaging is quite cute, it doesn’t look cheap. It smells very sweet, you know how in America you get a lot of Grape flavoured things? It smells like that which is actually quite nice. I would say this is more of a balm it doesn’t make my lips glossy at all and my lips seem to soak it up quickly, but it does have vitamin E in. 

The only place I know where you can buy Miners is their own website and these sell for £2.99.

Kylie Toft tries out The Balm’s tinted gloss.

This is a really lovely product and I’ve loved testing it. The flavour is awesome, reminded me of banana shrimps! Yum yum. 

My lips are very dry but this product has really helped them and they feel in much better condition. It stays on for quite a while and I loved the slight tint to it- I used ‘Girly Girl’. 

On the downside it costs about £14 so is out of my price range.  However if money was no object I would definitely buy it again.