going nude: mac viva glam gaga 2 review, comparisons, and swatches.

I was finally able to go to MAC to pick up my Viva Glam Gaga today. Stopped by Borders on the way, so I was able to pick up the March issue of Vogue. I wasn't careful and accidentally chose one with a rip on the bottom. Dangit.
I was kind of hoping that the MAC store would be giving out free Gaga posters. No luck there.

I only bought the lipstick, but I might go back for the lipglass. In general, I'm not a huge fan of lipglosses, but I can make an exception if it's MAC and Gaga. The lipstick is a nice warm flesh nude shade. It doesn't apply as dark as it looks. The only other MAC nude color I am familiar with is Myth, which applies really light. Viva Glam Gaga 2 is a darker shade than Myth, and is more flattering on different skin tones.


Here are my other nude lipsticks. From left to right, Victoria's Secret Femme, MAC Viva Glam Gaga 2, and Revlon Nude Attitude.
And some swatches on my arm for color comparison. After getting this MAC one, I don't think I can go back to using the other two. The MAC formula is that good. It glides on smoothly and easily and goes on creamy, while the Victoria's Secret one is hard to apply and makes my lips look cracked and flaky. The only other formula that I can think of that might be better is the Yves Saint Laurent lipsticks, which are over twice the price of MAC.

Here it is worn. Left is before and right is after.
Kissy face. I tried doing a toothy smile, but I haven't been able to do one of those since 9th grade. The all came out looking really forced, so I decided against putting it in.

The color is pretty light. When I was looking in the mirror, in the bathroom light, it looked like my skin is darker than the lipstick. In most lighting, it looks about the same. I would like it to be a tad darker, but I do like this lipstick quite a bit.
I tried to take a closeup, but my lips are extremely non-photogenic. At least that's not too much of a concern as a style blogger.

Overall, I do recommend this lipstick. Like most nudes, it does tend to flatter the fair skinned more, but it is quite wearable on non-fair skinned people. My skintone is not particularly light, which is something I have to take into consideration when choosing out cosmetics. (Someone once said to me, 'if you have sun allergies, why is your skin so dark?').

Bonus time. I thought this kind of went with the nude theme. I'm currently wearing Chanel Inattendu nail polish. My grandmother bought it for me as a present last year before I returned to America. If it were a little less warm and orangy, it might possibly be my mannequin hands color. Chanel polish has the most flawless formula for application, but is too much of a splurge for me to buy. Thought the colors are great and the formula is great, Chanel varnish is really just for the name. For the time being, I'll just stick with dupes.

Beauty blogging is probably not for me.

Love, Kai