Mac Fleur de Force v Alessandra

As much as I love Mac and their limited edition collections, I've never really felt the need to sit myself down the morning of a release and refresh until I could order my chosen limited item before it sold old. But, when Fleur de Force announced she was releasing her own lipstick with Mac I knew I had to at least try to grab myself one.

Lipsticks are a bit of a love of mine, anyone who knows me will tell you this, and I've always been a massive fan of Fleur. Since I started blogging she's been a massive influence and inspiration, and I generally know when she recommends something I tend to love it too. Hence the lipstick excitement. So when May 8th came, I was straight on the Mac site and popping her lipstick in my bag. While I was there, I also decided to pick up Alessandra's version as well. Now, she's not someone I knew about beforehand (I do now and I am totally in love FYI - girl crush), but when her lipstick was described as a neutral pink I couldn't help myself. I'm so drawn to those shades right now and I'm always on the hunt for the perfect everyday pinky nude. So this found itself in my shopping basket as well. Hit pay, and voila - they fell through my letterbox a couple of days later. But what did I think?

FLEUR DE FORCE

Description: Cool beige
Finish: Cremesheen
So, I was a bit on the fence about this lipstick when I read the description. I'm not really a cool toned lipstick lover, or a beige lipstick lover, so I wasn't sure how I'd feel about it when it came through. Having said that, I do love the cremesheen formula - it's really the only non-matte/satin formula I really like - so I was super excited about that.
When I swatched this when it came through I was still a bit iffy - it wasn't as cool toned as I thought it would be, thankfully, but it was quite beige toned. However, I really liked this when I put it on my lips. It may be the only beige nude I've ever actually liked so I'm SO happy I picked this up. It doesn't feel cool on my lips at all, and again is the only cool tone I've found that actually flatters my skin tone. The beige shade is also actually the perfect nude shade for my lip colour. For me, this has become my go to everyday, not doing anything, low key shade. My no make up, make up lipstick. I've reached for this so much more than I thought I would.
It's a beautiful shade, and I'd definitely recommend it for anyone who likes lipstick, but doesn't want much colour with it.

ALESSANDRA

Description: Neutral pink
Finish: Lustre
The shade description drew me in, but I have to say I couldn't for the life of me remember what a lustre finish was like. Essentially it's got a medium colour pay off, it's got a glossy finish to it. It's very similar to cremesheen I find, but may not quite as high on pigmentation - it's a touch sheener I think. Personally I would have guessed it was a cremesheen if I didn't know otherwise with this shade.
Anyway, when I swatched this I got very excited. It was basically the perfect my lips but better shade, and it didn't disappoint on the lips either. This is frigging beautiful, so much so I'm tempted to buy a second one so I never run out. This has shot it's way up to one of my favourite all time lipsticks, and I reach for this all the time. It's perfect as an everyday shade as it is a nude shade, but it has enough pink colour to it to keep it warm and make a difference. I'm so, so happy I ended up putting this in my basket last minute as well. This is definitely one every girl should have in their handbag.
This would actually be a really good shade for a wedding, if you're the bride or bridesmaid, it's got just enough colour to show but it's not too in your face which is what you want on the day.
I actually can't get enough of it - I'm wearing it as I write this and it's just a beaut.

If you can still get a hold of either of these, I would definitely pick them up. Mac lipsticks in general are such good quality, and these two shades are the perfect additions to any collection. If I had to pick one as my favourite, it would be Alessandra, simply because I think this shade suits me more and I have been reaching for it more than Fleurs. However, Fleur's lipstick is still an absolute beaut so I would still highly recommend it.

Which would be your favourite?

Much love, Lisa May

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Where I've Been

So yes, I said this year would be the year of the blog, and yes, I've been completely MIA for the past couple of months. It wasn't intentional to begin with, time just kept getting away from me and I kept putting the blog off. As more time went on I decided to take a break from the blog, as it was simply stressing me out thinking about it and knowing I hadn't posted in a while. Sometimes you just need a break right? Well, I did, because there was so much else going on - something had to give.

So what's been going on?

THE HEN PARTY
So on it's own, planning a hen party can be a touch stressful, but not a good enough reason to push my little old blog to the side. And you're right, it wasn't. However, my besties hen party ended up coinciding with one of the most stressful fortnight of my life it felt like. And I'll explain more on that in just a moment... I know some people think Hen Parties can be really, really stressful. I think I was very lucky as everyone I was trying to organise was very easy to do so, and no one really tried to be difficult. So that was good. But the closer I got to it, the more I felt like I had to do and prepare and time just disappeared. It was an amazing weekend, and the bride had a great time which is the main thing, and for me it was the perfect excuse to stop thinking about everything else.

THE NEW JOB
So, the week before I went on the hen do, I found out I was being offered a new job. Very exciting, and I was so so happy, but to be honest - any new job is stressful. The lead up involves research into to the company, making sure you finish everything up in your current job so you leave on a good note, and that general fear that you may not be able to do that job. It was totally unplanned but it was an opportunity that I couldn't turn down. I have now started the new job, and I really like it, and I like what I'm doing, but there's so much information going on it my head right now. There's a bit of information overload going on. When you first start a job there's a feeling that you need to prove yourself, and your worth. Like yes, you did hire me for a reason and yes, I'm the right person for the job. It's a lot of pressure, and teaming this with the hen party and the next thing... Oh god. So much stress.

THE NEW HOUSE
Oh yeah. Once upon a time I bought my first house, and at the same time I had recently started a job. I swore I would never move and start a new job at the same time again. OH LOOK WHAT I'VE DONE! It was totally not planned. Moving house, yes that was completely planned and we knew we wanted to do that this year and started back at the end of January. Moving house at any time is stressful, there's so much to think about, manage, balance and do that it just screams restless nights and wine binges. Add a new job into the mix... In the space of two weeks we accepted an offer on our house, got a new job, had our offer on our dream house accepted, and had a hen do that I organised. Oh yeah, now you start to understand why my blog went a bit quiet.

I love my blog, I really do, and I love planning and producing new content. I have really missed it, and now things are starting to calm down a little bit, I definitely want to get back into it. We should be moving into our new house very soon (touch wood, fingers crossed) and everything else has come together, so I'm feeling a bit more me.

So thank you to everyone who has still stuck around, and still wants to see content on here. You guys are awesome...

Much love, Lisa May

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