Viva Glam Nicki

I think its pretty safe to say this is going to be a massive one within the Blogging and YouTube communities. I don't religiously follow MAC collections, nor do i usually care or go out of my way to get my hands on them. But a few weeks ago, i was casually browsing the MAC website, as we all do ;) and there was the advertisement for the Viva Glam Nicki Minaj. My jaw dropped in excitement, quite literally. I fucking love Nicki Minaj, and that is an understatement. Previous to this i didn't have my email set up with MAC for releases, because if theres anything i need, I'll usually read or see it around Blogs or YouTube, but i put my email down for this bad bitch. I was not going to miss out on this one after the Iris Apfel collection not long ago.

So Wednesday (22nd Feb) emails went round for the early release, i wasted no time and ordered it right away. I didn't even look at the colour or finish. I would never do this with any other collection, ever, but i thought Nicki deserved special treatment. All was well until delivery. All i have to say is fuck you Yodel.

I saw Vivianna from Vivianna Does Makeup and Cole from Coleyyyful had already got theirs on Friday (thought it was quite ironic actually pink Friday har har har), but I'd not had mine, i tracked my order and it was due to come on Friday too.. and then i went into panic when Liv from Icklelivzi tweeted saying Yodel had lost her order. And sure enough i got home and Yodel had delivered my order to a completely random street in my village with the same house number. What kind of company does that? SRSLY. So some random person whom I'd never met had signed for my parcel, and I, ME, had to go and retrieve it. MAC postal is quite sleek and interesting looking, someone intrigued or who knew MAC only had to open it and realise they had a lipstick that wasn't even out for another week yet. When i got there though she was an old lady and hadn't touched it, thanks Yodel, so thoughtful.

With that out of the way, to no surprise i love this lipstick so much. I'm quite pale, and have dark red natural pigmented lips, so baby pinks look like a chalky hideous mess on me, and i feared this would be like that, but it isn't at all. Vibrancy was to be expected, and it doesn't disappoint, but the Satin finish leaves it feeling creamy as well. And as for staying power, my momma went for a meal last night wearing it (yes) and it was still there when she arrived home. I wasn't actually aware of this until i bought a viva glam, but all the proceeds go to HIV and AIDS, which is an amazing thing for a huge company like MAC to do. Was i the only one who didn't know this?

I've mentioned before that i don't live near a MAC at all, other than Nottingham (which I've now found haha) and after this delivery, I'm not feeling amazing about ordering online again, meh. One last thing i will say is, my 4 month puppie loved licking this lipstick of my lips, he ended up with it all over his mouth, y he so cute.

Benefit Thrrrob.

I'll be the first to admit I'm a little late on the Benefit box powder band waggon, and i can't say my first impressions of benefit where impressive. I did both a post and video on my Christmas wish list, and i put the Benefit Powda Wowza on there, it seemed value for money, and a good way to get a taster of the Benefit infamous blushes. However Christmas came and went, and so did the majority of January, and it still hadn't turned up. I can't even put it down to ordering too close to Christmas, i ordered within the first week of December. And just to add to my disappointment, the compact is a seasonal purchase, that they mainly release for just Christmas. My babe of a Grandma ordered me a singular blush instead, if I'd have been able to choose which one, i probably would have asked for Coralista as it was the one i was most looking forward to trying in the Powda Wowza compact.

Benefit is loved so much, being a sucker for packaging i was also curious, but with the Christmas ordeal, i wasn't anticipating much. Thrrrob is actually the perfect colour for me. Its a very barbie pink with just the right amount of gold shimmer, but lacks in pigmentation. I find as a general rule, go light handed with blush, i have pale skin, so that's just life, but with this, i feel like I'm going back in with my brush for more. I tried to swatch the blush for the post, but what with my camera, and the lacking pigment, it just wasn't happening. On reading other reviews, just nosey for everyone else's opinion, I've noticed a recurring comment about it being chalky. I can see exactly how that would be if you were much more tan than me, but for my colouring, there is no problem.

The blush has made it to my everyday draw, and i do really like the effect it leaves. But the pigmentation is a really disappointment for the price tag. £23.50 are you being deadly serious? Natural Collection blushes are 10x the pigmentation, and are £1.99, you could get 11 of them, for the price of one of these. I probably would ask for another box powder for a birthday or Christmas, but never would i justify spending £23.50 on what is essentially a cardboard box, with a nice but crap pigment powder inside.