First time at a MAC store... help me spend my money!

I am going on my very first vacation ever (at the age of 21) to florida this weekend. During my trip I will be going to a shopping mall and they have a MAC store/counter, not sure which... but regardless I'm excited. I have just recently gotten into high end makeup after years of pining for it. My birthday is coming up and my amazing boyfriend got me a visa giftcard so I could spend money on our shopping trip. I plan on hitting up the sephora and the mac store, my only problem is... I have NO idea what to get!!!

Currently the only high end make up i have is the naked palette and benefits erase paste. I am using bare minerals foundation and loving it, so I dont think I'll need any foundation or concealers.

I have tan skin (not sure what my undertones or anything are... I'm excited to finally go to MAC and find out!) I'm pretty sure i have yellow undertones. I tan easily and never burn. I have blue green eyes and caramel/goldeny medium brown curly hair. I have VERY pigmented red lips, so most lipsticks/glosses don't look great on me because my natural lip shows through.

Basically, what I'm asking is, if  you had some money to blow and had essentially zero high end make up, what would be some of the things that you would get? I'm open to pretty much any suggestions and appreciate any input! I understand most of the items probably depend on my skin tone and how they look on me etc, but what are some products that are worth the higher price tag and what are some that maybe I should just skip because I can get drugstore dupes?

I would definitely get a few MAC brushes, or even a Sephora collection brush roll. Good quality brushes are a necessity!!

If you are getting MAC eyeshadows I'd suggest getting a 15-pan (or even 4-pan) pro palette instead of the potted eyeshadows are they are cheaper this way. Same goes for blush, you can get a 6-pan blush palette and the pan refills are cheaper.

Lip Erase from MAC might be a good idea too, since you have such pigmented lips. It hides your natural lip colour so you can more easily wear lipsticks and glosses.

A high end foundation is always great too!!! If you explain your skin type to the ladies at Sephora I'm sure they'd be able to find you a perfect one. A lot of people love Bobbi Brown, MUFE and Chanel foundations.

Lucky girl!!! Have fun spending all your monies and

Go for a foundation and maybe a good highlighting eyeshadow. My Personal favorite eyeshadows are as follows. I am light to tan skin tone but I like to think most of these colors would work for just about anyone (Just an opinion.) 

Naked Lunch (shimmery tan)(my all time favorite brow highlighter)

All that Glitters (Golden Tan)( I use this for a lower 1/3 color, or an all over color when I'm lazy)

Black Tied (Black with sparkles) (I use this as a liner or for smokey eye)

Da Bling (a rich pink) (Great summer color, really rich pink) 

Deep Truth (Navy blue)(I use this as a liner if I"m wearing a lot of black. I also use this with Da bling                          and make a blue and pink smokey eye

I have a bunch of MAC eyeshadows but the ones I use the very most are listed above. I also agree with the previous poster. Getting a pallet is way more economical than buying single pots. I was buying pots until recently due to my stubborn need to have zero space. Now that I'm on a pallet I have more space and more money. Both very important. Eye shadows are 14.50 in the pot and 11 bucks in a pro pallet pan. (at least here in MN). Also don't forget back to Mac. Any 6 empty cases, pots, or packaging get you one free lipstick at a counter, or one free eyeshadow or blush (? not sure on the blush) at a store. I hope all this has been helpful. 

Even though you have a gift card I would purchase only eye shadows that you feel are different from what you have seen anywhere else as well as blushes. I would purchase Mac paint pots and their blot powder. As far as foundations of any kind I would only get a sample of the foundations so you can try them out and purchase the ones you like later on. I know you are happy about purchasing the high end products but in some cases you can come out better with purchasing the cheaper prices.

Thanks everyone for your input! I knew asking you more experienced makeup buyers would be a good idea! knowing me i would have totally gone out and bought like 10 potted eyeshadows and then I would have come home and read on here or somewhere else saying that I should have bought pans and a palette!

I knew to only get foundation samples, i have crazy skin that reacts to just about everything, so I only ever buy foundation that I can try before I spend money on it. But i completely forgot about paint pots! Is it better to get a matte paint pot or a shimmery one? or should i go for one of each?

My sister is getting me a sigma brush roll for my birthday, so I want to wait to see what kind of brushes I get with that and which ones i like/don't like before I buy anymore. Truth be told, i'm quite happy with my ecotools brushes at the moment.

Are there any mac dupes in the naked palette? I don't want to spend 11 dollars on an eyeshadow just to come home and swatch it and find out its essentially the same as one of the eyeshadows I already have.

You guys are so helpful! I'm getting more and more excited for my trip now!!!!

I would get the 15 palette and start filling it up!  OR I'd get lots of pigments and maybe a fluidline.  That's about all I like from MAC

Mylar, Naked Lunch, Kid, All That Glitters, Cork, Wood-Winked, Tempting, Smut, Sable, Embark, Carbon and Knight Divine are all MAC dupes for the Naked palette (in that order, lol).
Not all of them are 100% dupes but they're ones you might want to steer clear of.

Face & Body foundation. MSFN. #187, #217, #222, #239 brushes. Blitz and Glitz Fluidline. Brush Cleanser. Prep & Prime Lip. Golden Olive & Vanilla pigments.

Hmmm. Tough question to answer. I guess my .10 is to get the tools necessary to do the job. I agree in investing in some good brushes!! I mix and match (pm me if you'd like details b/c I could go on and on here). 

Also, address what your goals are: are you typically a neutral/soft person? Do you go out often and are in need of more dramatic looks? Do you like liquid or gel or pencil liner...or all?  Are your lids oily? What do you think of pigments/shimmer? How often would you use them? I'd realllly try to address your own personal needs before purchasing from ANY brand.  If you can give more input I'd like to give my suggestions; but again, this is just my opinion /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

Best of luck and thumbs up on the gift card!

To me it really doesn't matter is the paint pot has a little shimmer or if it's matte because you don't really see the shimmer through the eyeshadow. I have about 5 of them some have shimmer to them and some matte and I like them all. I like them better the NYX jumbo pencil's everyone always rave about.

You lucky thing!!

Ok so here are some of my favourite MAC bits, starting with stuff I can't live without:

- 187 brush....even if you are getting a brush roll I still believe you NEED this brush!! It blends like no other in my opinion! /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

- Fluidline gel eyeliner (I use Blacktrack but they have a number of others if black eyeliner is not your thing) I use a 209 brush with this.

- Lip erase ... I use this on clients who want to experiment with lipcolours but like you have very pigmented lips. 

- Lipstick in Rebel ... my all time favourite colour!!

- Lipstick in Ruby Roo or Russia Red ... 2 beautiful reds and are used by Gwen Steffani & Dita Von Teese

- Mineralize Skin Finish Natural ... These give a really healthy finish to the skin. Ask the MUA there to match you up.

- Lip conditioner SPF 15 ... comes tinted or un-tinted

- Paint Pot in Painterly (matt nude) - if you are just gonna pick one paint pot then this is the one to start with IMO.

Other stuff I like:

- MAC eyeshadows ... these, Urban Decay and Illamasqua are my holy trinity of eyeshadows!

- Eye Kohl pencil liner ... I love Smoulder

- Powder Blush - these are really buildable so you can decide on the depth of colour you want

- 214, 217 and 219 eyeshadow brushes.

Have fun birthday girl!!!

Originally Posted by greeneyedlady /img/forum/go_quote.gif

Hmmm. Tough question to answer. I guess my .10 is to get the tools necessary to do the job. I agree in investing in some good brushes!! I mix and match (pm me if you'd like details b/c I could go on and on here). 

Also, address what your goals are: are you typically a neutral/soft person? Do you go out often and are in need of more dramatic looks? Do you like liquid or gel or pencil liner...or all?  Are your lids oily? What do you think of pigments/shimmer? How often would you use them? I'd realllly try to address your own personal needs before purchasing from ANY brand.  If you can give more input I'd like to give my suggestions; but again, this is just my opinion /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

Best of luck and thumbs up on the gift card!

Click to expand...

I agree!!!

I honestly wouldn't go off on eye shadows except for a few that would put together a really pretty day and evening look.  MAC do make some nice brushes, so I'd invest in some of those (217, 165, 187 are the softest multi purpose ones I've used and my faves since Sonia Kashuk @ Target can fill in the void for the others). Taking your personal needs into consideration, lip erase may also be a good idea. Since you're gonna be at a mall anyway, I'd go to a Bobbi Brown counter and check out her bronzers (LOVE!) At Sephora, I'd just browse and swatch whatever catches my eye cuz it's a place you can literally spend hours in playing. NARS make nice blushes and highlighters, Laura Gellar makes these baked blushes and highlighters that are LOVELY! LORAC makes nice everything (my experience so far). And the MUFE station is also awesome! And take advantage of everybody's sampling service. Its a nice way to try stuff out and decide if it works rather than buying a full size and having to return it later (so it's garbaged...)

But I agree that you should think about what you feel will make your makeup look better, and look for those items to add to your stash.

Thanks everyone for such good info!

This is so far what i've decided i'm 99.9% sure i'll be grabbing

-187 brush (i haven't really spotted anything quite like this one, and i've heard nothing but good things)

-Paint pot (probably rubenesque as I could see myself wearing just that for a quick easy work look with some liner)

-fluidline (blitz and glitz looks fun and i have a few gel/creme drugstore liners that work pretty well for me, but i havent ever seen a black with gold at the drugstore, and i LOVE gel liner)

I have a question about lip erase for anyone who uses or knows about it. I have very big pouty lips and I'm not quite sure how to explain this... but here it goes! My lower lip sorta pouts out and the to part of the middle of it is a different texture and a little wetter (sorry if this is weird!) So i have a problem making any lip color stick there, which is why i have to wear lip colors similar to my own coloring because its very noticible. If i can get my camera to work maybe i'll try and take a picture.... Would lip erase help with this problem?

And.... last question i promise. Does anyone know about the urban decay setting spray? I've read some good reviews about it places and I think i would like to try it. I'm also looking for a primer/mattifying lotion. Does MAC have any good ones? Or do you know of some I could try at sephora? I tried smashbox light as a sample and it broke me out something fierce.

Personally, I have not use the lip eraser but it is suppose to block out or mute your natural lip color so whatever lip product you put on your lips look smoother and have even color and you are suppose to get the true color of the lipstick or lip gloss. I know some people do this with their foundations and concealers as well. Mac does have a matte primer the price is about $18.00 and I have used it. It does a pretty good job at matting the skin, however on me my skin does not remain matte all day.  I use blot powder from Mac to keep my skin matte through out the day.One thing I have learned over they years is that some people rave about certain products that they love and when I would use them I wouldn't understand what the rave is all about so you just have to try products out and see what works for you.

I break out with the Smashbox primer too! The Laura Mercier primers are the BEST of the best but I like the NARS primer and the new Benefit one too.

My must have MAC products are:

$14.50  MAC eye shadow in Carbon (it's the blackest, most perfect eye shadow ever).

$14.50  MAC lip stick in Angel (it's a pretty light pink lip stick - also, for your pigmented lips, you can put concealer on them before lipstick, or buy a lip spackle to cover them up )

$14.50  MAC eye kohl in Smolder (it's the softest black eye liner pencil!  It's great for smudging a smokey eye and lining the water line (inside the eye))

$19.50  MAC blushcreme in Posey (it's hot pink and don't let that scare you!  It blends easily!  Also, it's great for traveling because you can use it as a cheek color AND a lip gloss)

Total cost, without tax:  $63.00 USD

Good luck!