For some reason, I'm crazy excided for fall this year. Usually I would be sitting in the corner and mourning the best season of them all - summer, duh - but not this time around! I'm actually looking forward to foggy crisp mornings, hot sugary drinks, cozy nights in, and amazing fall shades. Not only the ones you can spot in nature! 

I've always had a soft spot for bold burgundy and violet lip numbers, and fall is just the perfect season to rock them, don't you agree? But that's not to say the nudes get to take a time out. They're still very much in front of my makeup drawer, especially if they're matte!

To find out which exactly I'll be carrying in my bag this upcoming season, watch the video below! There's some nude and some bold options, and I made sure to include hand and lip swatches as well this time so that you can see them in all their glory. And remember, don't skidaddle before telling me what you'll be wearing on your lips this fall! 

MAC's Candy Yum Yum is a lipstick that has been a part of my professional makeup kit for almost two years now. I tried it on when I first got it, decided it didn't suit me, and never again used it on myself up until a week ago. I've had an urge to rock a bright pink lip ever since I saw Hilary Duff's Sparks music video, and since this is the only truly bright pink lippie I own, I decided to give it a second go. I'm so glad that I did, because I love it! I have no idea why I hated it the first time around. To see how I created the whole makeup look, check out my 'Get Ready with Me' video below.

If there's one thing I can do when it comes to makeup, it's blending. I think it's one of the most essential makeup skills and I just love it. My make-up school instructors could confirm it, haha. I can spend hours on blending out the eyeshadow, which is where a blending brush comes in. I don't know what I was doing before owning one. Seriously, if you do your makeup and don't own a blending brush, I don't know how you do it. Go get one!  

MAC's 217 is probably one of the most talked about make-up brushes and rightly so. It is flippin' amazing. I've had one for two years now and I can without a doubt say it's my all time favourite. I'm actually considering picking up a few extra ones, because you can never have too many blending brushes. Am I right or am I right, ladies?

Now, as you can imagine, MAC brushes are not the cheapest of them all. The 217 will set you back for about $24. Being a make-up artist, I can justify such purchase, as I know the brushes will serve me well and be the gift that keeps on giving, but if you don't want to spend so much money on a single brush, I have a few other options for you.

By the way, these are not the only blending brushes I own. I think I have about five more and no, I'm still not done with buying. I always seem to be running out of clean ones, whether I'm doing my own make-up or someone else's. I told you I have a problem... 

Anyway, today I decided to concetrate only on those two dupes in my collection that are most similar to MAC's 217. One of them is a $1 ebay brush from China, and the other Sigma's E25, which you can get for $14 (I have the travel version with a shorter handle). These are all 'old' brushes. I really wanted to wait for at least a year before giving you any reviews, as I wanted to see how they would hold up. For the reference, I got the Sigma one first, over five years ago now, I bought the MAC one two years ago and the ebay one a year and a half ago.

Top to bottom: MAC 217, Sigma, Ebay

Long story short, they all do their job, but there are slight differences between them. Compared to the MAC one, the brush from ebay is a bit longer and wider, which makes it a little less comfortable to hold and a bit harder to work with. It is bulkier, heavier, and the hair area is wider/larger as well. Because of that, it is definitely less precise. I've also noticed that the bristles got a bit scratchy after a while, the brush started losing its shape and the occasional hair falls out every now and then. Having said that, this is not a horrible brush, especially considering its price tag. I still get use out of it, but only when all my other brushes are dirty, since they are of better quality and I obviously gravitate towards those first. I mostly use the ebay dupe for blending out cream eyeshadows, because I find that the cream products require a 'heavier hand' and I rather use a cheap brush over an expensive, more delicate one to distribute and blend out the product. 

Moving on to the Sigma dupe. This is one of the oldest make-up brushes in my collection and the one that still looks and feels as good as it did when I first got it. In that regard, it's even better than the MAC brush, with which I started noticing the occasional scratch two years down the line. When it comes to the handle, the brushes are pretty much identical, the only difference being that the handle of my Sigma one is a lot shorter, because I have the travel version, as mentioned before. The normal version is obviously longer. I don't know how they would compare in terms of weight, though. My Sigma handle seems more hollow, if that makes sense, so I assume even the regular version is a bit lighter. Now on to the bristles. The size to me is completely the same, but there is a difference in how the hair feels like. The Sigma brush is softer and fluffier, while I find the MAC one more dense. I tend to use MAC's 217 for the initial crease bledning and Sigma's E25 for the outer edge finishing touches.

I really hope these comparisons will help you out with deciding which one to pick up in case you're planning to get a blending brush. I tried to be as detailed as possible, but if I missed something, feel free to drop me a question and I'll make sure to answer it. Also, let me know if you know of any other potential 217 dupes. I've heard that Zoeva's 227 is supposed to be pretty good as well. Maybe I'll pick up that one next...

Guess who managed to stay in focus throughout the whole video this time? Yup, me! I feel so proud of myself, haha. This video is a tutorial for the makeup look I was wearing back in my London Fashion Haul video. One of my viewers requested it, and I thought now would be the perfect time to put it up, since spring is approaching and bright lip colours are coming back. Lady Danger by MAC will definitly be my lipstick shade of choice this season. Do you already know which lipstick you will be rocking this spring?

P.S. If you're from Slovenia, where we can't get MAC, and you're looking for a similar shade of lipstick, you can check out Etude House's Vivid Pop Stick in shade number 7 in my online store. It's pretty much identical. 

As the main focus of this look is a bright bold lip shade, I decided to keep it neutral and minimal on the eyes and used Wet'n'Wild's Walking on Eggshells Palette. Such an amazing (American) drugstore gem! But more about it in one of my upcoming posts where I'll give you the full review along with swatches. For now, you can see it in action in the video below! :)

MAC's Antiqued eyeshadow is besides my Lorac Pro Palette (review here) without a doubt my most used fall eye makeup product. This is my third MAC eyeshadow and I hope there will be many more joining my collection. I just love them! Antiqued is a very pretty warm coppery shade that I think would suit every single eye colour out there. It has the prettiest metallic finish, and feels very soft and velvety. When you start blending it, I feel like it loses some intensity, but it can be built up, so I don't think this is too big of a problem. You can see the swatch of the shade below, but if you would like to see how it looks like on my eyelids, you can watch 'My Everyday Fall Makeup Look' video. Oh, and before you trot off, please let me know about your favourite MAC eyeshadows. I'll have a chance to buy them again when I go to London in January and I don't want to be unprepared and overwhelmed when I step inside the store again. I'm determied to make a list of the eyeshadows I need to buy or check out before I sit on an airplane this time. 

MAC is a store I always pop into if I'm the area that has one. I love the quality of their products, but what I love even more are their large shade selections. It is impossible to not find a lipstick or an eyeshadow that is right up your alley. But at the same time, it can be quite overwhelming if you visit the store for the first time and are not looking for specific shades. Been there, done that. I actually walked out of the store empty handed at least twice for that reason.

But when I had a chance to visit the store in Santa Monica, I promised myself not to make that mistake again. Luckily, I was at the store alone and not in a hurry, so I could swatch my life away. And the lovely ladies who worked there were such gems! I was really impressed with their customer service. They offered to disinfect every single lipstick that I was interested in so that I could try them directly on my lips, which turned out to be a very useful thing.

I was determined to find my go-to neutral fall shade and of course I first started picking up the very known and popular nude shades such as Creme Cup, Angel and Shy Girl, which all looked great when I swatched them on my hand, but they looked horrendous on my lips. They didn't suit my skin tone at all. This is why I'm really happy that I was able to try them on my lips before purchasing them, because I saved myself a lot of money and disappointment.

After trying on all the popular shades and being a bit depressed because none of them worked on me, I started picking up a bit darker colours and soon found the winner - Hot Gossip. Hot Gossip is a very lovely pinky mauve shade that is a few shades darker than my natural lip colour and is appropriate for day and night looks.

The shade is not completely opaque and has slight pink and white/silver shimmers that add a lovely sheen to your lips. I would describe the formula as creamy, but not buttery. It doesn't feel particularly hydrating, but it doesn't dry out your lips either. Also, the staying power is pretty average - about two hours - but since this is a neutral and not highly pigmented shade, I'm personally not bothered by it. It wears off gradually and doesn't leave a tint or those annoying outer lines on your lips, so you don't need to be worried about constantly checking yourself in the mirror to make sure there are no makeup disasters going on.

It is a great on-the-go shade. I personally am in love with it and have been wearing it A LOT for the past month. I forgot to take a proper photo of me wearing it, but you'll be able to see it in action when I put on 'My Go-to Fall Everyday Makeup Look' video. Which lipsticks have you been enjoying lately? Do you have any go-to fall lipsticks from MAC as well?

Here it is, the video everyone's been waiting for! I ended up splitting my USA haul in two parts, so today I only have the beauty part for you. I uploaded the beauty haul first, because most of you told me you wanted to see  it first. I hope you'll enjoy watching it, and don't forget to leave me some comments and give this video a thumbs up if you like it. :) 

P.S. I'll have the fashion & random haul up in a few days. 

Today I have a very special guest here on my blog - Jessica from The Mod Mermaid. She has an amazing blog, makes awesome youtube videos, and is overall a wonderful and funny girl that I really hope to meet in person one day. I need to get my badonkadonk to New York ASAP, haha. Oh, by the way, Jessica and I are looking for sponsors to launch our own reality TV show 'Two Beauty Bloggers Under One Roof: London Edition'. I'm sure it would be pretty hilarious! 

P.S. It's Jessica's b-day today, so be sure to pop over her blog and wish her a happy birthday once you finish reading the post. And yes, this is a command. Ok, I'll stop blabbering now and finally let your read Jessica's post. :D

• Revlon Lip Butter in Strawberry Shortcake | a semi-sheer, blue-based pink; perfect to give your lips a cotton-candy wash

• Revlon Lip Butter in Tutti Frutti | a semi-sheer (these lip butters are very buildable and blendable!) bright tangering-orange color; coral lovers will go cuckoo bananas for this shade! if you're not totally comfortable with a bold color on your lips this'll be great because it's toned down by the sheer formula (again, am I making any sense? LOL)

• Maybelline Color Sensational Vivid in Shocking Coral | again, coral lovers rejoice! This lipstick is a gorgeous coral color that leans more to the pink than the orange, but it looks so gorgeous on the lips and will be flattering on virtually any skin tone. It's a bright color, but one of those brights that's honestly so wearable! Personally, I'd recommend this entire range of colors, but I figured I'd keep this list to 5 ;)

• MAC  Flamingo | Don't hit me, this was a limited edition shade that came out last January in the Iris Apfel collection. I wasn't going to include it but it's honestly a color I get so much wear out of in the spring/summer. It's a pink, yet with a hint of color that's semi-opaque. I don't know what to say but look at that color! It justscreams spring lippie! Give this one a google and I'm sure you'll be able to find something super similar!

• MAC Show Orchid | a gorgeous, fushcia-bright-berry-hot pink (phew, that was a mouthful) and opaque shade that looks like a stunning flower petal. It's bright but there's something so wearable about it (to me at least, I'm not too shy with brights). It's new to my collection but I already see myself getting a LOT of wear out of this one.

Day 6 of my UAE vacation was definitely my favorite one. We spent the day at the Jumeirah Beach Park - I don't have any photos to show you because you're not allowed to take them there - and then went to my favorite shopping centre 'The Dubai Mall' in the afternoon. We stayed there until very late, when all the shops started to close, but I really wish I would have an additional day for shopping. Because I ran out of time to go to all the shops I had planned to, and because almost all the stuff from my to-buy list turned out to be sold out, I have to admit I was quite disappointed with my shopping experience by the end of the day. UNTIL my mother surprised me with the last two items because she felt sorry for me, of course. :)

By the way, thank god for my relative from Australia! She is now on the hunt for the three pairs of shoes I wanted to buy in Dubai, so if you happen to live in Melbourne and see a lady with curly hair running around the city with bags of shoes in one hand and a measuring tape in the other - that's her!

Now back to Dubai and my collective shopping haul. Here is what I had managed to snatch up...