Less than three weeks ago, I went to London to do makeup on two editorial photoshoots I had planned with my friend Emily Jones with whom I've already worked twice in the past. We keep coming and going between Paris and London for our photoshoots and they always turn out so great ! This time we had planned one photoshoot in the morning at Kyoto Garden and it was just magical, stressless, quiet and it was a moment I really enjoyed. In the afternoon, we'd planned on shooting a more grunge editorial in SoHo and what is awesome is that in all my trips to London, I'd never been to SoHo ! While we changed the models and were traveling to the next location, we came across a doughnut shop ; Crosstown.
In case you're wondering, yes, you are indeed seeing no less than three Spice lipliners from M.A.C. in the picture. Yes, I might be crazy, but I'm also crazy in love with Spice.
You know me, I'm no nude junkie. In fact, I avoid nude makeup as much as I can. But there's something about Spice that just makes me come running back to it every time.

M.A.C. Cosmetics | Lipliner in Spice
I didn't even remember buying this lipliner color until I dug in my makeup stash one day, looking for a nude lipliner to wear on its own - yes, I'm saying "dig" like I don't have lipliners and makeup laying around the apartment. I bought my first Spice lipliner during the Black Friday sale one or two years ago, when I think there was a bug on the M.A.C. website: if you bought a kit including a RebelEyes Gel Liner, a Bespoke For ProLongwear Lipliner and a Vamplify Lipgloss, it cost 38€ and everything else you put in your bag was 38% off. I remember spending exactly €282 on M.A.C. that day. I bought all the lipliners and matte lipsticks I wanted and that was how I started building my makeup kit.
Anyway, I dug out the Spice lipliner only a few months ago to wear it to work and I was sold. It's a kind of warm-toned nude brown that was actually one of the colors that made M.A.C. famous since the top model Linda Evangelista also wore it. What more can I say? It's matte, it suits me whereas I'd always thought that a) nudes didn't suit me and b) warm nudes didn't suit me.
I'm an NC20 which means I'm pretty light, my skin is golden but I've got an olive undertone to it, being of Moroccan descent, that allows me to wear cool-toned colors without trouble. In a nutshell, I can wear both warm and cool-toned colors but I'd always thought that warm-toned colors looked awful on me - till this. And that's what's important about Spice, it has changed my mind about a whole range of products I thought I couldn't wear and that's partly what I look for in products, for them to be different and make me think differently. Spice is now part of my go-to product stash forever (how dramatic does this sound ?).
I'm an NC20 which means I'm pretty light, my skin is golden but I've got an olive undertone to it, being of Moroccan descent, that allows me to wear cool-toned colors without trouble. In a nutshell, I can wear both warm and cool-toned colors but I'd always thought that warm-toned colors looked awful on me - till this. And that's what's important about Spice, it has changed my mind about a whole range of products I thought I couldn't wear and that's partly what I look for in products, for them to be different and make me think differently. Spice is now part of my go-to product stash forever (how dramatic does this sound ?).

M.A.C. Cosmetics | Lipglass in Spice
After my orange blush craze came my lipgloss craze and I'm still not over it. When I started being crazy about lipglosses (around the time M.A.C. released their Cherry Mochi lipglass and I thought I looked super hot with it on my lips), I started checking out all the Lipglasses and Dazzleglasses we have at the store and I found the Spice Lipglass. Uh oh.
I hesitated for the longest time because I always want to buy makeup at the store, it's like I'm a sales assistant, a makeup artist, and a customer at the same time. I hesitated because I wasn't sure I would wear this often and as expected, with all the new collections we have and the new products I buy for myself and my kit, I don't. Still, I love wearing this on top of the lip liner because it brings me two things I love - a highly lacquered finish and a full color. Whenever I'm late for work and only have time for nude, I'll grab my Spice lipliner and coat it with this - that shine though, makes me feel like a 90's hot babe when I pair it with a crop top and my Nike Air Monarch shoes!
I hesitated for the longest time because I always want to buy makeup at the store, it's like I'm a sales assistant, a makeup artist, and a customer at the same time. I hesitated because I wasn't sure I would wear this often and as expected, with all the new collections we have and the new products I buy for myself and my kit, I don't. Still, I love wearing this on top of the lip liner because it brings me two things I love - a highly lacquered finish and a full color. Whenever I'm late for work and only have time for nude, I'll grab my Spice lipliner and coat it with this - that shine though, makes me feel like a 90's hot babe when I pair it with a crop top and my Nike Air Monarch shoes!
SHOP THOSE BABIES HERE !

I've been a big fan of the Equivalenza Body Mists for years now - I can't remember exactly when I discovered the brand but I know it was when I was living in Troyes so it must be at least three or four years ago. I was in my body mist craze phase and I was collecting and buying body mists from any and every brand I could find. Three or four years have passed now, I have much fewer body mists and the only ones that I keep coming back to are the Equivalenza Body Mists.
Uh-oh. New makeup alert. It was just a classic Monday off for me, I was looking for new makeup, new products, things I hadn't already seen. I'd never bought Hema makeup before. It's not that it's expensive. It's just that it's affordable but not affordable enough that I can buy the whole range without feeling guilty (and poor) so I'd never bought anything from them before. Yet, that day, I was feeling like spending money and getting new stuff and when I saw the new Before Anything Else (B.A.E.) range, I was hooked.
About Me

I'm Ibtissam, a 26-year-old Frenchie based in London.
A freelance copywriter and Content Writer, I am also a Fashion & Beauty Makeup Artist.
Hit me with anything artistic and I'm pretty sure to appreciate it. Welcome to The Rouge Velvet!
Read More
Popular Posts
FIND ME HERE
Blog Archive
-
▼
2019
(115)
-
▼
May
(9)
- Lisbon | Nata De Lisboa
- London | CrossTown Doughnuts
- M.A.C. Cosmetics | Spice Lipliner & Lipglass Combo
- Equivalenza | Body Mists
- 6 Months Working at M.A.C. : A Life Transformation
- Intermittent Fasting | OMAD : On Eating 7 Meals Pe...
- Hema | New Vegan B.A.E. Makeup Range
- M.A.C. Cosmetics | Extra Dimension Blush Palette
- My Paris Hanami
-
▼
May
(9)
