MAC Flat Out Fabulous Lipstick - Review

Hi Everyone,

Being a 'Budget-product lover', I had always stayed away from buying MAC products. Sure, I lusted after the lipsticks like crazy .. (lol I wont lie to you..) but never got myself to buy any :-) In 2015, the (Makeup) Universe said "Enough of this wishful thinking...there you go!!" & one by one, I saw MAC lipsticks dropping into my life through some divine (read - Weird!) intervention ;-) One of these beauties is 'Flat Out Fabulous' (FOF) which the Husband very sweetly bought for me on one of his trips.

Keeping my 'concise posts' aim in mind, I'm here to share a quick review of this lil beauty with you today -

Price: Around Rs.1500/-

Shade: Flat Out Fabulous is a bright, plum-toned fuchsia shade which would compliment all skin tones - Light to Medium & Medium to Dark. It's a beautiful, happy shade & is best worn during the day.

Texture & Formula: FOF, being a Retro Matte (more dry than regular MAC Matte), slightly tugs while applying & dries out your lips a bit once it settles down. Exfoliating & moisturizing your lips before hand is definitely a MUST with this one. Mostly, all MAC Retro Matte lipsticks tend to dry out the lips, so I've got no specific complaints here .. I'm pretty used to it now!

Pigmentation: FOF goes on slightly patchy due to the sheer dryness of the product. It requires to be swiped at least 2-3 times to get completely opacity. Layering it is a good idea & I do that quite often.  ;-) Here are the swatches of shade -

Left: 1 swipe; Right: Multiple swipes

Wear-time: FOF lasts on my lips for about 4-5 hours not considering meals & drinks. It seems to slightly fade away from the inner part of the lips after a meal & glass of water. I don't always remember to 'touch-up' my lipstick, but FOF has never left me 'bare-lipped' (lol if that's a word!).

Overall Experience: I have loved wearing this shade because it just seems to brighten up my day :-) I have just recently got this lipstick some time ago & have worn it about 6-7 times till now. But please believe me when I say that I have been asked about which lipstick I'm wearing....every single time!

*** Lol, nope I aint gonna Photoshop those undone brows!! I'm a busy Mommy & sometimes it shows...BIG DEAL ;-) ***

Anyway, I love my matte shades & have gotten used to the dry feeling that comes with especially the MAC ones. So yes, this shade dries out your lip quite a bit but is rather lovely to sport if you like 'purpley-pink' (plz tell me people use this word...or is it just me? lol). Flat Out Fabulous is beautiful & I prefer to wear it with white/off-white tops & black ones, where I know the lipstick (rather than the clothes) will take center-stage. I also wear it with pink & purple toned kurtas, where somehow it seems to match them & hence doesn't stand out that much :-) See THIS Instagram photo with my lil one.

Do you own any other MAC shades that you'd like to share here? Do you have a similar shade, by another brand, that you wish to recommend? Leave me all the information in the comments section below!

Hope you liked this quick review. Until the next post, Ciao!!

Colorbar Kiss-Proof Lipstain in 006 Mauve Dusk - Review

Hi Everyone,

My friend P calls me 'Makeup Matte-y'... she means to say 'Maatey' ;-) but that's okay; the points we lose for bad jokes, we make up for... in our Love for each other ;-) So when she uses my fav lipstick formula for the pun, you know this kid knows me from wayyy back lol. And if you follow the blog for some time now, you too might know that I prefer Matte lipsticks over creamy ones. Not that I don't like creamy formulas, but here are some simple (& obvious!) reasons why Matte formulas rock my world -

1. Mattes last longer
2. I feel I look better with Matte lipsticks.
3. Wearing a matte lipstick means being able to kiss my loved ones without having to worry about staining their faces...I love them a lot, but I don't need to 'Paint my Love' geddit? lol sorry I think only I found that funny!! P, my friend, I need a membership for LJA - Lame Jokes Anonymous.

Anni-wayyy...read on to know why the Colorbar Kiss-Proof Lipstain intrigued me :-)

Price: Rs.900/- This was a serious ouchie! but I saved up & got myself this one. Being a budget product junkie, this is one of the more expensive lipsticks I own!!

Shade: 'Mauve Dusk'...I love how this product is named. Not a bright Mauve but a dusky one. True to its name, its a beautiful, deeper mauve that brightens up your face, without screaming for attention. This is a very pretty shade that can be sported by all skin tones :-)

Hand swatches:

Swatch freshly applied 

Swatch after drying for around 2mins

Texture & Formula: This is a lipstain, but works like a liquid lipstick. It has a very creamy, easy-to-work with' texture & glides on smoothly on the lips. You will see some shine in the beginning & will definitely need to give it about a minute or two, to dry out & set to a matte finish. This isn't an 'on-the-go' lipstick than one can quickly slap on without a mirror; while working with a liquid lipstick, you must be willing to spend a few moments on precision :-)

Once this baby sets to matte finish, there's no way this would budge. After drying to a matte finish, the lipstick is extremely & I mean extremely comfortable to wear. I'd say it's almost 95% transfer-proof (or 'Kiss-proof, like they'd like to call it!), with only the slightest bit of transfer; otherwise, this doesn't leave your side like a true BFF!!

Pigmentation: The formula is deeply pigmented. One swipe deposits true colour on to your lips, however I like to wait for the first coat to dry (around 2 mins) & then wear a 2nd coat to extend the wear-time further.

Wear-time: The Colorbar Kiss-Proof Lipstain stays on my lips for about 4-5 hrs straight with 1 coat & 2 coats last on me for about 5-6hrs, which I'm very impressed with!! Meals & drinks might result in slight fading, but that's the case with any liquid lipstick, as they tend to fade/transfer when they come into contact with any beverage & food.

Overall experience: I'm really impressed with this 'lipstain' as it tends to give me a great 'matte finish' without drying out the lips. I also like the flexible doe-foot applicator on this one, as it makes going over the borders of the lips so easy! The applicator is designed well as it tends to pick up the correct amount of product required for one full application. The packaging is totally travel-friendly which makes this one a staple in my handbag.

I like to usually pair this up with any Purple-toned Kurti or simply make it stand out with a 'one-toned' outfit. In the pics, I have paired it with a deep-green kurta :-) I like to keep the overall makeup simple when I want to let this lipstain take center-stage. So let's recap -

Pros:

• Beautiful matte finish 
• Extremely comfortable on the lips
• Gorgeous mauve shade
• Long-wearing formula
• VVIPoint - The lipstick totally rocked the 'Kiss-Proof' test .. it absolutely DID NOT BUDGE! Lol before you get any ideas, I'm talking about my lil baby boy. And don't worry I didnt just 'TEST' it out on my baby, I happen to be a very 'constant pecks on forehead' kinda Mommy anyway.

Cons:

• Price :-( 900/- is slightly expensive & I'm glad I got the shade I liked; no scope for experimenting with other colours.

Hope you liked this review! Have your tried any Colorbar Kiss-Proof Lipstains? Colorbar also has Velvet Matte Lipsticks, have you tried out those? Which is your current favourite lipstick & always travels in your handbag? Let me know in the comments section below :-)

Until the next post, Ciao!!!