Archives for February 2010

At the MAC Spring Colour Forecast release party last night, I stole a few minutes of a friendly MAC artist’s time to talk about the new Blush Ombres ($25) and Crush Metal Stacked Pigments ($32).

He (Jack) suggested a few ways to get more bang for your Colour Forecast-ing bucks.

Blush Ombre

Blush Ombre in Vintage Grape

What’s the deal with the newest members of the MAC blush family? What sets them apart? Well, each of the four moderately pigmented pressed powder blushes is really a combination of buildable colors in the same pan, a gradient that moves from light to dark tones, with a finish about halfway between shimmer and matte.

Tips and tricks

• To load a brush with a mix of tones from one of the pans, use a swirling action with a blush brush like the MAC 129.
• The lighter tones in each pan make great highlighters. For a look that glows, apply it with a blush brush like the MAC 116 along the tops of your cheekbones, down the bridge of your nose and on your temples.
• The darker (ooh, scary!) side of each pan can be used for contouring. For definition, load an angled face brush like the MAC 168, and sweep beneath the apples of your cheeks. 🙂

Blush Ombre in Ripe Peach

Blush Ombre in Azalea Blossom
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With more than 40 precious pieces of eye, lip and face makeup spread out among its four different color-themed collections, the new MAC Spring Colour Forecast release overwhelmed me at first. There’s *a lot* in it to digest, and when you’re prone to frequent bouts of makeup-related stimulus overload (like moi), it can be a bit much.

To explore the collection, I’ve been trying to bite off little bits at a time, my own Mini Makeup Missions. 🙂

It’s the approach I took last night at the San Francisco MAC Pro Store release party for Colour Forecast. I knew I wouldn’t be able to get hands-on time with everything, so I concentrated on products I knew I could use for a simple look I’d wear pretty often, in this case a neutral lip look with a little twist.

MAC Pro Store on Union Street, San Francisco

Like a lotta ya’ll, I usually reach for peach, pink or beige lip colors when I want to wear something conservative on my lips — something like shimmery golden peach/pink MAC Nymphette gloss, which I’m still deeply in love with.

Last night, though, I wanted to find something still neutral-ish, but with a little spice to shake things up.

I think I found it in these two purple Lipglasses ($14 each): Lavender Wind (a sheer purple with blue and gold shimmer) and Purple Rage (a shimmery, deep golden plum).

Purple Rage (left) and Lavender Wind (right)
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