5 Makeup Products I want to buy

Hey Dolls and Gents!
You'd think by now I would no more buy anything related to makeup.
I am blessed to have a large collection and I understand I don't need to have every color and formula under the sun. But I'm also very good at keeping my makeup well organised - daily items in one storage and the rest in categories, same as for my closet where daily items are on rack and everything else sorted by type. This means I know exactly what I have, what I am running low on and what I do not have.
For now, I am holding off any purchases, but if I were to buy something (say I won a voucher or got a gift card or it was my birthday), here is what I'd want to add to my collection.

Note that the pictures are from the MAC website and Sephora website, I do not own copyright for them nor would claim they're mine - obviously it's a wishlist so I didn't buy the products yet.

1- MAC Fix+:
I had this before and finished it, so this would be a repurchase. I do not have any product that is quite like this setting spray. I only have makeup fixing sprays which while being nice and effective, are not at all moisturising and won't do much if I accidentally overpowder.

2- A brown Lipstick:
I was going through all the lipsticks I have and the predominant color is RED. While I have a wide range of colors, as I was preparing an Olivia Pope inspired makeup, I realised I did not have a brown based lipstick. It makes sense because I do not gravitate toward such colors, but now that I have this tutorial in mind, I badly want one. I am hesitating between a MAC one and Clinique chubby stick since it is what Kerry Washington uses.

3- MAC Gold Deposit:
This is probably the highlighter that suits me the most. But for now, I have one from theBalm, been using it when filming and it looks great. The planner in me is thinking, I don't want to buy another highlighter while I still have that one and the lustre drops. I usually prefer to only have 1 or 2 items max in each category. Also given how little I need, I'm sure it will take at least 1.5 years for me to hit pan on the powder highlighter.

4- MAC Hover lip liner:
I know everybody and their grandma have been raving about the Kylie Jenner lip. I don't really care about that Whirl lip pencil, I don't follow fads, I just do what works for me.
I tried Hover all over the lip and it was perfect.
I need to finish 4 or 5 lipliners first before justifying this purchase... but I will get there.
You will be mine my precious.

5- A Z-Palette:
These have been around for quite some time, but since I don't buy online, I was never able to find one.
I see that Sephora have Z-palettes so I need to get my hands on one.
I can fit my entire makeup routine in one of these and it would be the perfect addition to my streamlined travel packing routine.

10 products I stopped buying from the US and why

Hey dolls and gents;
If you follow me on social media, you know that my biggest indulgence is traveling to teh US whenever I can. I save for months and as soon as I reach my travel budget, I hop on a plane and go.
I used to compulsively buy everything I need on a daily basis. I remember once I traveled to cincinnati, and I didn't have anything in my bag. First thing after I reached the hotel was to go to the Macy's that was few meters away. I bought everything from socks to undies to makeup and even my suitcase.
In 2013, I went to NYC 3 times and I loaded on drugstore items each time. That is when I realized I have a problem. Especially that since then, we had 2 malls in Casablanca and few stores started opening in Morocco.
As of 2014, I decided to be more targeted in what I bring along. My only trip was in October and I was quite moderate.
Here are the items that old Ouga would have bought and why I did not bother this time.

1- Rinse off Conditioner
As a curly girl, my biggest struggle is finding good products for my hair texture.
I know it is counterintuitive to say this because I live in Morocco, Africa. Alas I have to travel to another continent to find products suitable for African hair.
Every bottle weighs 1 kilo and I noticed that even when I lug back 4 huge bottles, they still won't last me a year. So I decided to start buying local cheap conditioners especially that I am no longer as strict on the no-silicones thing. I figure that paying twice the price is still OK since I have the product available whenever I want. The few dollars savings do not justify the extra weight in my luggage.
If you are curious about my hair routine, here it is in video:

2- Body Butters
I have an important stock of body butters because I would buy at least 3 tubs each time I travel.
Now, the body shop opened in Morocco so no need to stock up. And it would take me at least 2 years to finish everything I have in stock.

3- Secret Deodorant:
This has been my favorite for years. Then one day, I went overboard and bought so many that I got bored with it. I think I might be at my last stick now. When it's done, I will use some of the Avon deodorants I have in stock. Once all of these are done, I might try the Lavanilla deodorant because I heard so much about it. But this won't happen till at least a year or 2 :)

4- EOS Lip Balms:
I discovered these randomly and since then, every time I traveled I'd buy 5 or 6.
At the end of the day, I realised I don't love them that much and I can have many other lip butters available in Morocco. As of now, I have 3 open and 2 in backup and I will not repurchase.

5- Lipsticks:
There was a time (circa 2011) where my entire lipstick collection was a 2 MAC lipsticks and 1 Lancôme Rouge. I had tossed all my Wet n wild and other drugstore lippies that I had hauled in 2006 (long story but let's say I went crazy on inexpensive makeup).
Then starting 2012, I started slowly building my collection. I probably have around 50 lipsticks and some of them are not open. Every time I went to the states I bought a dozen (or two) from the drugstore. I also was gifted many lippies.
I am proud to say that in my last trip, I only bought one Revlon matte balm and one burt's bees lip balm. If ever I go again, I will buy zero lip product (maybe the agave lip mask but it doesn't count).

6- Victoria Secret Bras:
These don't come cheap, but I felt like I didn't have any choice since in Morocco we have little choice and inflated prices. However, few months ago, I went on a mission to find good brassieres locally. I bought from La Senza and didn't like them, then got a couple from Etam, and judging by how many times I wore them, I think we have a winner. So as of now, I'm replacing all my bras with Etam ones but very slowly because they're bloody expensive.

7- OPI and Essie Nail Polish:
Here again, 5 or 6 nail polishes whenever I traveled. Also friends would always give me nail polishes.
But last time, I went shopping for an acrylic nail polish holder, I needed several sets and it wasn't enough to hold my 79 polishes. This stops now.

8- MAC Cosmetics:
This is my love brand, the first brand where I found my skintone, the first brand where I splurged while being happy and excited each time I stepped into a store.
MAC opened in Morocco few years ago so since then I exclusively bought from the local store. I didn't appreciate how everything used to be out of stock, but their supply is fixed now so I'm a happy customer.

9- Teas:
There was a time customs at Charles de Gaulle airport wanted to check my bag because I carried so many tea tins. I would go to whole foods and grab a dozen cans and be so happy about it.
Now, we have a wide tea selection in Morocco, I have found brands like Tchaba, and even found Tazo sold in Casablanca and Rabat.

10- Socks:
Believe it or not, my first purchase every time I set foot in America was several packs of socks that I would wear throughout my stay.
I mean seriously, socks can be bought everywhere. Time to stop this nonsense.

Daily Makeup Tray

Hello Glammies!

7 years ago, I spent an entire summer in the US. When back, I had nearly a suitcase of drugstore makeup.
As years went by, I bought high end products (Chanel, Guerlain etc.) but being on a budget meant I had fewer and fewer makeup items. Fast forward to 2 years ago and my makeup "collection" was:
Liquid Foundation - Concealer - Powder - Single Eyeshadow - Blush. All items were MAC and I had exactly one of each (except the powder because I had a backup). In 5 years, I went through the extremes!
Now, I like to think of myself as being in a happy middle: I have a healthy makeup collection and I grow it by being very data-based and doing a lot of research on every product. Yet, I have slightly more than I would use everyday. I no longer have a single eyeshadow (it was MAC's Smut if you were wondering), I now own lipsticks in few different hues etc.
While I love playing and experimenting with different products on my time off, I truly have no time to rummage through all my products every morning when I'm running late to work (ya I'm not a morning person..)
The solution? The daily makeup tray/station.
This can be a little storage unit, a dedicated mini drawer, a tray, cake stand, what have you!
The idea is simple: you put your daily "face" in it so that at any given time if you have to do your makeup while the clock is ticking, you know you have all your most reached/current must-use items in one place readily accessible.

Note: we all have seen our fair share of makeup collection videos where the vloggers go like: " this is my foundation section, this is where i keep all concealers, this is all highlighters etc." but gurl, you don't want to open each drawer and pick one item from each section every-single-morning.

I still don't have the much coveted Muji acrylic storage - though very tempted to get one from one of my trips and lug it back home- so I used what I have and stashed as many as my everyday products in this acrylic unit:

My daily makeup storage - Acrylic

What is on my daily makeup unit?

• My MAC mixing Palette -- because Ouga scared of germs..
• A MAC quad I made which has: "Pure Orange" skin corrector - brow filler - brow highlight and a color I pick each week
• MAC Studio Fix Powder in NC45
• MAC paintpot in "Indianwood" -- just my favorite thing everrr
• MAC fluidline in "Blitz & Glitz"
• Yves Rocher "Pure Light" liquid foundation -- I got this in a Bloomingbox
• MAC prolongwear concealer in NW40
• MAC Zoom Lash mascara -- a mini size I got in a holiday set
• 2 Revlon Lip Butters -- I love these, I plan on stocking up on them!!
• 4 MAC lipsticks in everyday wearable colors

Wow that's a mouthful! it's almost unvelievable that pretty much everything I need fits in that one small unit..I couldn't fit a blush in there though :(

I will still be on the hunt for more acrylic items. 

The one in the picture was from Alpha 55, I went to get another one and they have been out of stock for so many months! I ended up buying a heart shape one but it is not as practical...

Meanwhile if you'd like to see my current makeup collection, here you go:

Stay Glamorous;
Love
Ouga

Prix des Produits MAC au Maroc: Produits Yeux

Hello les Glammies !!

Comme vous le savez je suis une fidèle utilisatrice des produits MAC

Quand la boutique MAC a ouvert ses portes au Morocco Mall de Casablanca, j’ai cherché sur le net les prix des différents produits mais je n’ai rien trouvé sur les prix au Maroc.

Donc j’ai décidé de compiler une liste des prix MAC au Maroc dans une série de posts.

Aujourd’hui, voici les prix des produits pour yeux :

·         Fard à Paupières individuel : 190 dhs

·         Fard à paupière recharge : 140 dhs

·         Palette vide 2 fards à paupière: Je ne sais pas encore

·         Palette vide 4 fards à paupière:  70 dhs

·         Palette vide 15 fards à paupière : 150 dhs

(Si tu comptes acheter plusieurs fàp de chez MAC ; c’est intéressant d’acheter les palette vides et de les remplir avec des fards à paupières en recharge car on économise 40dhs à chaque fois !)

·         Les correcteurs/cache cernes sont à 190 dhs (le mineralize est à 220 Dhs)

·         Pigments et Glitters : 240 dhs

·         Les mascaras sont entre 220 dhs et 250 dhs

·         Fluidline (Gel eyeliner) : 200 dhs

·         Paintpot (base crème pour fards à paupières) : 190 dhs

·         Crayon Khol : 160 dhs

·         Crayon Sourcils : 160 dhs

·         Crayon chromagraphic (à mine tendre) : 170 dhs

·         Faux Cils : 140 dhs

·         Colle pour faux cils : 110 dhs

Voilà, maintenant vous avez la liste des prix des produits MAC authentiques* en vente dans la seule boutique officielle MAC au Maroc.

 *attention ! plusieurs parfumeries vendent des produits estampillés MAC (ou même pas) qui sont des contrefaçons. Ces produits sous-standards sont fabriqués dans je ne sais quelles conditions

Review: MAC Zoom Lash Mascara

Hey bunnies!
My trusty MAC X mascara finally dried out and so I looked in my backup mascara stash and found a small one by MAC called Zoom Lash mascara.
I put it in my work makeup bag but only used it at work when I was in a hurry for a meeting.

MAC Zoom Lash

Après plusieurs mois d'utilisation (oui je sais, mais je ne jette pas mon mascara tant qu'il est bon), mon mascara X de chez MAC s'est désseché. En général, j'ai un petit panier avec les produits de secours, donc j'ai sorti mon petit Zoom Lash de chez MAC et je l'ai mis dans ma trousse maquillage boulot.

Zoom Lash mascara wand

At first, I hated it, didn't like how the wand was depositing too much product. But few seconds later, I saw that it was building up my lashes!
My lashes looked fuller and longer, and the best part is that I could add layers to build up the volume I want.
The skinny long wand also worked for my lower lashes which never happens with other mascaras as they smudge.

Zoom Lash mascara

A premier abord, je n'ai pas aimé ce produit, je trouvais que la brosse déposait trop de produits sur mes cils.. mais quelques secondes après j'ai vu que l'effet était très beau! En plus, je pouvais avoir plus de volume en ajoutant une autre couche de mascara.

Cette brosse est fine et longue, donc j'ai pu l'utiliser sur mes cils inférieurs sans soucis. 

I am happy with this mascara and will be using it for the next weeks.

Verdict: Je continue à utiliser ce mascara les prochaines semaines :) 

No Mascara