What are your thoughts on these brands

[Little_baeuty22]

Hey everyone,
I'm looking into three brands: NARS, MAC, and Smashbox. What are your thoughts on their products?

Little_beauty22

[iheartmakeup123]

I can't speak for NARS and Smashbox products as I have never tried them but there are tons of Youtube Gurus who talk about them a lot (lollipop26 talks a lot about NARS). As for MAC I can give you some advice but if I don't answer any of your questions accurately I suggest you go to Youtube and type in "MAC Starter Kit" and plenty of youtubers have videos on them. A couple of youtubers I like that have those videos are:

allthatglitters21
michele1218
lisasz09
juicystar07
meganheartsmakeup

And many more! As for things I love:

FACE: MAC foundations aren't very popular items as a lot of people find them to break them out and also have a very heavy coverage. If you're looking for a powder with a nice natural light coverage I would recommend MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural. It has a light to medium coverage (the coverage is buildable) and the powder lasts forever without making you look powdery or cakey at ALL. I have combo skin and this works great for me. Just go to the MAC store and ask them to help you find your shade. MAC has many powder blush finishes that range in colour. I don't know your skintone but I have 2 powder blushes from MAC that I love: Sunbasque (sheertone shimmer finish) and Dainty (which is a mineralize blush). I have two cream blushes which I also love, but many people prefer MAC's cream color bases (for face, lips and eyes) because they are less oily than the cream blushes. The cream blushes I have are Blossoming and Sweet William.

Eyes: I would recommend you get a paintpot. A paintpot is basically a cream eyeshadow that comes in a pot and dries to a sort of sheer lightweight film on your eyelid that helps eyeshadow adhere to your eye better. (Similar to an eyeshadow primer, but they are different color bases). I would recommend Barestudy (a shimmery neutral color), Painterly (a matte skintone color if you have pink based skin), or Soft Ocre (which is good if you have yellow undertones).

I don't have any MAC eyeliners or mascaras (I hear the mascaras aren't very popular) but there are many reviews on Youtube of these items. I have 10 eyeshadows and the ones I would recommend are:

Mulch
Woodwinked
Retrospeck
Shroom
Print
Silver Ring
Sumptuous Olive

LIPS: I love the MAC Tinted Lip Conditioner SPF 15 in Petting Pink. It's a really great tinted lipbalm that smells and tastes like Vanilla pudding, is very long wearing, conditioning and moisturizing. It comes in a variety of shades. I don't really wear lip gloss in general, but I've had MAC "lipglasses" in the past and I would recommend lustreglasses as they are less sticky and go on smoother and are more lightweight. I love MAC lipsticks because there are different colors and finishes for everyone. If you want to know more about MAC lipstick finishes, EnkoreMakeup has a video of them on Youtube. The only finish he didn't include was Cremesheen, which is a creamy, pigmented, glossy finish. The lipsticks I would recommend are:

Sweetie (lustre finish)
Viva Glam VI Special Edition (lustre, I don't know if they still have this one)
High Tea (lustre)
Lovelorn (lustre)
Syrup (lustre)

I have mainly lustre finishes as you can tell, haha. I really hope this helps you and you can get more help by going to www.maccosmetics.com, do your research on forums and Youtube, and most importantly and in my opinion the best thing to do is visit your nearest MAC store or counter. The artists working there are lovely and (usually :S) always more than welcome to help.

Good luck!!

-iheartmakeup

[iheartmakeup123]

The artists are more than WILLING to help I meant. Haha sorry, brain's fried tonight. :P

-iheartmakeup123

[bextacyaddict]

nars: the only products ive tried from nars are their blushes, and i LOVE them!
mac: im a total mac whore. its the brand that i use most in my videos and in real life. they have such an amazing range of products and shades/colours to match every skin tone! such a versatile brand!
smashbox: never tried, but ive heard amazing things about their lipglosses!

[kelbra]

Hi- I just ordered a cream blush that is a lilac color by Mac. I have dry skin and a recent purchase of a blush stain by Biore (sp?) was too sticky. My daughter loves Mac. I love this website as a new member as I love to discuss makeup. I have some items by Smashbox and really liike them. I have some eyeshadows from Nars that I like.

[teal1066]

My skin is very dry.so i do not use much.Could you suggest which will be better for dry skin.