MAC vs NYX Serengeti : MAC Dupes

I received the NYX trio in Serengeti today and I did some swatches. I quickly got online and had to compare them to some MAC swatches. The NYX shadows come in soooo many colors, and the color payoff is wonderful! What you see in the container is what you get. These are extremely good quality for the price. You can find the trios anywhere from 5-8 dollars. So at less than 3 dollars a color, there is no need to buy anything else! The trios also fit into MAC and Coastal Scents palettes. I am determined to slowly collect all the NYX and Coastal Scent hot pot colors, they are so cheap and you can do about any look at a fraction of the cost for any MAC eyeshadow. You can make the color appear lighter or darker depending on the color you want to achieve. I did all my swatches over a tan/cream jumbo eye pencil, and here are the colors the swatches matched. Sorry I don't have photos, my camera is still broken!!!

MAC color - NYX colors from Serengeti Trio

Gorgeous Gold - yellow color over a white base

Goldmine - yellow color over a nude base

Juxt - middle green color over nude base

Swimming - darkest green color over nude base

Bitter / Lucky Green - middle green and yellow mixed over nude base
*(This matches Lucky Green better because bitter is matte)

Humid - Darkest green over dark base

DIY: Make your own makeup kit or palette

So I stumbled across this on youtube, I watched several different videos for this, so I decided to do a photo tutorial on the whole process! Here are the main two videos I used to do this, if you want to view them. (depot eyeshadows) (cd eyeshadow palette)

These are the supplies you will need to depot your eyeshadows
a large plate
an old wash rag (a clean one!)
eyeshadows, blushes, any makeup in compacts or kits
rubbing alcohol (70% is good, but if you can find higher, go ahead)
a skinny knife or metal nail file



First step, fill your plate with a shallow layer of alcohol, shown above



Then, carefully take your knife and place in between the metal container holding the eyeshadow, and the plastic compact. Try prying from the edge or a corner, but pry carefully, try not to break the eyeshadow or stab it with the knife!



If you are successful, you will be able to take out the little metal plate and the eyeshadow, yay! Depending on the brand and what glue they use, this will be either easy, or not, lol.



Now place all of your depotted products into the plate. Be sure the alcohol is shallow, we don't want to soak the eyeshadow and make it soft. It's ok if you get a little on it, it will evaporate. Let all of these soak for 5-10 mins, to soften up the glue. You may need to soak them longer, depending on the glue used.



Next we wipe off all the glue, ewww, and get glue buggers on your fingers and wash rag!



You now have clean bottoms to make your own makeup palette!

Supplies you will need to make your custom palette:

depotted eyeshadow, blush, etc
cd case (I used an old aol case as well)
magnet sheet or strips with peel off sticky backing
optional: photo paper or printer paper

***NOTE*** Some cheaper products will store the makeup in aluminum, which is not magnetic,
so you will need to omit the magnet and use double sided tape or glue or whatever, be creative!

First we need to measure our cd case (or box, or whatever) OR, if you are feeling froggy, just wing it (not recommended for perfectionist)





Now we cut the magnet to size, peel off the sticky back, and stick it onto the bottom
(if your makeup isn't in magnetic metal, just use glue or double sticky tape and nevermind the magnet) Soooo now we have a magnet lined box, as shown above.





Now we arrange the makeup like so, one is a cd case, the other is an old aol case (yes, I got my eyeshadow wet, we can't all be perfect, he he)








Next we take a photo of our arrangement and write the names of the colors and brand if you desire. You can print it out and write it on the paper or use a photoshop type program to type over the picture, like I did!








And here you have your finished product! Make sure you print your picture out the same size as your cover so it fits inside. I didn't do one for the aol box but you could glue it on the inside and decorate the outside, fun fun!

Money Saving tip: Don't throw away those broken eyeshadows!!!

Ok, so I saw this video on youtube. (clicky to view) I was so ready to try this. I had two broken eyeshadows that I picked up for like $1.00 each at a bent can store. They are pretty pricy eyeshadows, one is a HIP Duo by L'oreal and the other is a single eyeshadow by Prestige. They were broken, but I liked the colors and was determined to use them. Thanks to this video, they are pressed back into the containers like new! (or almost, anyway) So here is a video, I did a pretty crazy job, I was holding the camera and fixing the eyeshadow, lol. But I am sure you can do a nicer job. View the original video, this gurl does a great job and has other good videos too! My videos have no sound because I have a playlist on my blog, just click on the play botton, find something you like!

Here are the supplies you will need:
broken eyeshadow
old scrap material or old shirt cut up into small squares (one square for each eyeshadow)
rubbing alcohol (70% or above is best)
eye dropper or small measuring spoon
small bowl or container (to put alcohol in)
a quarter for pressing, or just use your fingers!