Bad MAC cosmetics store experience

I've accepted the fact that at most MAC stores, I will get little to no customer service, luckily I'm the type who likes to just stick her fingers into everything and figure out what to get by myself. However, today's poor MAC store experience tops it all.

I ended up going to the store in the Roosevelt Fields mall. I had to return holiday sets that I had gotten before they had gone on sale (important detail). I was looking at the new Dame Edna collection and no one approached me at all. Next thing I hear is a sales associate greet another girl in the store and assist her. Fine, I went to the counter and I planned on just returning the items since I had visited the MAC counter at Nordstroms earlier in the day and the SA's there were very nice. I waited by the counter and when I finally get someone's attention, I decided to purchase the lipsticks I was interested in (thinking I might get better service) so I told the girl which colors I wanted and she went to grab them... she comes back to the counter and another SA tells her that xyz items are for this girl behind me and this girl gets ringed up BEFORE me. ok...fine. She rings up my stuff and I realized that she discounted my holiday sets even though I had paid full price as shown by my receipt. I point this out and she actually asks another SA about it and the other SA says-"Yes, if she paid full price, she gets the full price back." I thought that was common sense but apparently not. No apology on this mistake or the slooow pace and I finally get to leave the store.

I was so annoyed that I purchased anything at all from that horrible store that I decided to return the items. I walked around and thought maybe I would cool down but I went back to return the items and it took absolutely forever. I felt a bit better that 2 other people before me on line seem to be getting ignored as well but I must have counted three people, not on line, who got ringed up before me. Finally I was able to return my items and not have any ties to that evil store. Now I know why I do not ever go to these stores and I should stick to the MAC counters in department stores.

Loreal HIP Kohl Eyeliner

While browsing through the make-up aisles at Target, I spotted some new products from the Loreal HIP line. They are now introducing a loose kohl eyeliner very similar to the Terracotta loose kohl eyeliners from Guerlain.

The colors available were black, brown, navy, teal, burgundy and gold. I already had the brown, black and teal ones from Guerlain so I decided to pick up the navy, burgundy and gold- a bit of an overkill but who knows if I would find them again. All colors have a bit of shimmer to them, although I found burgundy to stand out the best. The gold was pretty enough-not to0 brassy, but on my skin tone it did not stand out very much. I tried to layer it over a black eyeliner and it did offer a nice shimmer. The navy was fairly straight forward, quite dark with less shimmer than the burgundy.

These liners do have a stick applicator kind of like the Guerlain eyeliners, although the tip is more pointed and reminded me a bit of the artisan liner applicator from Lancome. I wore the burgundy for a few hours and there was a bit smudging after a few hours, although the color stayed true. I also was not able to use the Loreal applicator to apply the kohl in the traditional eastern fashion where you hold the applicator with your eye closed to line the inner eyelids; I was only able to use it the in the western fashion of drawing a line.

My only major dislike is that with loose kohl eyeliner (at least for me) the loose power gets all over the place when I'm trying to apply it. (My favorite remedy for this is to use a bit of scotch tape to pick up any loose particles from my cheeks.)

The Loreal HIP kohl eyeliners offer a cheaper alternative to the Guerlain ones It's a nice product if you've never tried this type of liner and would like to give it a shot, or if you are a fan then it offers a chance to expand your color choices.

Smashbox 'Muse' Cream Eyeliner Artist Pencil Set Review

Smashbox has introduced a 'muse' make-up collection. The overall theme seems to be a softer color palette and the ability to combine colors to personalize your looks. The item that stood out for me was the cream eyeliner pencil set. I was able to get these pencils through Nordstrom.

They are very creamy pencils and even smoother to apply than the Mac pearlglide eyeliners-there's no tugging at all! They smudge very easily so these would be a great pencils for a smoky eye look and you can easily blend the colors together for your own work of art as the blurb indicates. Although there isn't much staying power since they are meant to be smudgeable.

The colors are as followed:
Antique Gold is an olive color with a golden sheen
Lapis is a dark blue with a metallic sheen
Imperial is a dark purple with a metallic sheen (similar to pearlglide in Rave, but not as glittery)
Slate is soft black color with very little sheen

Top to Bottom: Slate (with Mac PG in wolf next to it), Antique Gold,
Lapis, Imperial (with Mac PG in Rave next to it)

The colors are pretty vibrant but the staying power is kind of low, but it maybe good for layering over other shadows for a smoky eye look Overall it's a nice set to have but if you're looking for a very strong, bold eyeliner that stays-it may not be right product.