MAC Relentlessly Red

Hurrah for new lipsticks!  Even more of a celebration when they are a prize!  I was lucky enough to win a MAC lipstick of my choice on Danielle's blog The Imperfect Beauty, and as I couldn't make a decision between Lady Danger or Relentlessly Red, I left it up to Danielle to decide my lipstick fate!

She chose Relentlessly Red, which I was so pleased about.  I actually thought that when these first came out, they were part of a limited collection, so I was really surprised and pleased to see Relentlessly Red in stock across MAC stores!

The formula is a Retro Matte, and MAC mattes aren't a formulation that I have tried before, so I was a little nervous to try as I've heard mixed reviews about this finish.  As with all mattes, your lips do need to be in pretty good condition so that dryness isn't emphasised when the lipstick is applied.  I couldn't wait to try this, and applied it over non-exfoliated lips and didn't find it drew too much attention to any dry patches.  It applied evenly, but did feel a little chalky on the lips without a quick slick of lip balm underneath.

The colour is like nothing I own already; it's a bright red which definitely pulls a bright fuschia within it.  The matte formula is absolutely gorgeous, and provides opaque lips in one swipe.  I say swipe...the matte lipstick does drag a fair bit, but not enough to bother me!  The finish is beautiful, and I feel very pin up when I have this shade on!  I've tried this with the MAC Cherry Lip Liner underneath, and it's great for really defining the lips for a lip this bright.  (The swatches shown don't have Cherry underneath, so you can see the true colour of Relentlessly Red, but keep an eye out on my Instagram - I'll be sure to show it there next time!)  The colour is so bold, and I definitely would recommend a liner underneath to get a nice lip shape - you can see in my swatches that the colour has bled slightly outside of the lip, so apply carefully over a lip liner with a lip brush for perfect definition!

The wear time on this shade is literally amazing.  I intended on wearing this all day in Milan, but plans changed and I worried that my tiredness could leave me with horrific looking lips if I didn't keep up with applications.  I wore this shade all day this week, and the wear time was literally all day.  The shade didn't disappear during or after eating or drinking, and it just started to fade on me at the end of my working day.  But the fade still packed a pretty decent colour punch.  Getting this off my lips was way more of a challenge than applying it!

So if this is my fourth MAC lipstick...which do I need to try next?  Have you tried Relentlessly Red?

The In Flight Beauty Bag

At half past midnight tonight, I'm setting off on my travels to go to Milan.  You already know what I'm planning on wearing, so I thought I'd share what I'm taking in my bag beauty wise!  I'm only going to Milan for the day, and will be back very early Sunday morning, so all I need to take is hand luggage.  Even though my flight is only a couple of hours, my day is going to be ridiculously long - I want my make up to be in tact, and I want to be able to look fresh and awake when I land even though I'll have had pretty much zero sleep.

I'll be applying my make up last thing tonight.  It seems a bit silly really to even bother with make up that late, but I still want to look presentable when I arrive and I won't have time to be applying make up on the journey down, or in the airport, as I'll be hopefully sleeping!  I will need some touch ups though, so I've packed a small selection of bits to help me out.

First up, I've got my trusty MAC Mineralise Skin Finish in Medium.  It's got enough coverage to even out my skintone, so I won't have to pack a separate foundation.  I can also use this during the day to help get rid of any shine.  To give me a flush of colour, I've picked my Maxfactor Miracle Touch Creamy Blush in Soft Pink.  I got this as part of a gift with purchase ages ago now, and it's so handy for popping in your hand bag and gives a gorgeous, natural flush.

To make my eyes more awake, I've picked out Benefits Eye Bright.  I'll be applying this to my waterline tomorrow morning and maybe even throughout the day to help disguise the fact that I am so damn tired, and hopefully reduce any red eyes.  I've also decided to bring a mascara to lift my lashes, and open my eyes.  This one is the Covergirl Clump Crusher.

For my lips, I've picked my newest lip balm which I bought from Poundland, and it's the Blistex Orange Mango Blast.  I have the Raspberry Lemonade Blast, and it smells and tastes amazing!  Citrus scents are said to be uplifting, so I'm grasping at straws and hoping this will help me out.  It's also going to be my base for my newest MAC lipstick, Relentlessly Red.  But, more about that next week - I'm trialling wear time when I wear it tomorrow!

As my make up will be on for a lot longer than usual, I wanted to make sure I had something to take my make up off when I start my journey home.  Flights are notoriously bad for your skin, so I'll be removing my make up as soon as I get on the flight home.  I'm packing a sample of Bioderma Sensibio H2O (review here) and a few cotton pads.  As my skin will need some serious hydration, I've also packed the Bioderma Atoderm PO Zinc Creme and the Bioderma Hydrabio Serum.

I might also pop a small hand cream in my bag, but I always get worried with how much liquids I'm actually allowed on a flight...  We'll see how much room I have left in my bag!  Looking at these pictures, I've realised I'm missing one critical thing...a mirror!  Queue me running upstairs to track one down...

Are you travelling away this year?  What would you take in your In Flight Beauty Bag?