MAC Cosmetics

The MAC Beth Ditto Pro Longwear Lipcremes: A Study in Contrasts

June 2nd, 2012 by Karen 20 Comments

mac beth ditto heart hangover
MAC Beth Ditto Pro Longwear Lipcreme in Heart Hangover on my lips

Sure, I’ll take a salty caramel, but I think I’ll pass on the chocolate-covered bacon.

It’s a big seller, you say? Really…? Who buys it? Yeah, I guess I can see it as a novelty, mixing contrasts like that. I guess that’s also what MAC had in mind with the new MAC Beth Ditto Pro Longwear Lipcremes ($17 each).

I don’t know. Something about the mix of quiet colors and bold brights just feels right to me.

LOL! No, not like chocolate and bacon. 🙂 Probably more like salt and caramel.

The hushed hues in You’re Perfect Already (a neutral pale pink) and Love Long Distance (a light mauve) look like they were made with lighter lovelies in mind, while bronzed beauties and darker divas might fall in love with lush, vivid Heart Hangover (a deep purple), Dear Diary (a bright neon pink) and BOOYAH!! (a bright orange).

If you’re new to the Pro Longwear Lipcremes, you’re in luck (here’s a review)!

They’re like the MAC Amplified lipsticks, version 2.0. Creamy, moisturizing pigments with a touch of vanilla flavor and scent, and they last all day long on me, even through drinks and meals.

MAC Beth Ditto Pro Longwear Lipcremes from the left: Heart Hangover, Dear Diary, BOOYAH, You’re Perfect Already and Love Long Distance

mac beth ditto pro longwear lipcreme swatches
Swatches from the left: Love Long Distance, You’re Perfect Already, BOOYAH, Dear Diary, Heart Hangover

mac beth ditto pro longwear lipcreme comparison swatches
Love Long Distance, Snob, Pink Popcorn, You’re Perfect Already, Innocence Beware, BOOYAH, Watch Me Simmer, Reel Sexy, Dear Diary, Girl About Town, Quick Sizzle, Heart Hangover, Approaching Storm and Paramount
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The MAC Casual Colour Nail Lacquers Are Like Jeans and a Tee

June 2nd, 2012 by Karen 10 Comments

MAC Casual Colour Nail Lacquers from the left: Delicate, Fiestaware, Please Me and Style Tip

There’s a time and a place for crazy glittery nail polish, but when you’re more in the mood to kick back, there’s also MAC Casual Colour ($16 each).

The four new laid back limited edition nail lacquers released with the MAC Casual Colour collection get nails ready for everyday tasks, like grocery shopping, watering the plants, cleaning the back of the stove and catching the bus on time. Nothing too outrageous here. Just four basic, user-friendly, wearable shades.

Here I’m wearing two coats on each of my nails…

The MAC Casual Colour Nail Lacquers from the left: Delicate, Style Tip, Please Me and Fiestaware
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The MAC Beth Ditto Nail Laquers Look Sweet, But $16 Buys a Lot of Starburst

June 1st, 2012 by Karen 14 Comments

mac beth ditto nail lacquer

I can’t decide if the new candy-colored MAC Beth Ditto Nail Lacquers ($16 each) remind me more of Starbursts or Jordan Almonds…but Nocturnelle, the black crÃ¨me, has to be licorice.

The lot of ’em (all limited edition) had me craving candy and humming happy tunes all afternoon.

I applied three coats of three of them, the brighter ones — Near Beth Experience (the light yellow crÃ¨me), Life and Beth (the milky peach crÃ¨me) and Vagabondage (the mid-tone lavender crÃ¨me) — and two coats of Nocturnelle.

Is it just me, or do these remind you of candy…?

And they’re not half bad as nail lacquers, either. I think MAC’s stepped up their nail polish game over the past few years. I used to have big issues back in the day with their durability, and with their finishes falling a little flat, but these high-shine shades here would probably shine just fine without a top coat.

They also seem to be getting more durable. With MAC’s more recent shades, when I wear them with a good base coat, I can usually get at least 6-7 days before chipping; if I add a top coat, that tacks on a couple more days.

MAC Beth Ditto Nail Lacquer swatches from the left: Nocturnelle, Vagabondage, Near Beth Experience and Life and Beth
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Polka Dots, Robots and MAC Beth Ditto Powder to the People

June 1st, 2012 by Karen 14 Comments

mac beth ditto powder to the people

If science fiction movies have taught me anything, it’s that aliens and robots live among us, and 99.9% of the time, they’re not here to party.

As we await the development of a foolproof means of rogue robot/alien detection from the scientific community, most of us still depend on tried-and-true, old-fashioned techniques…

…like dogs. They’re pretty reliable robot detectors (see: the Terminator movies), but since my employment contract with Tabs includes a clause prohibiting close canine contact, I need something else.

Perhaps something like the new Powder to the People from the MAC Beth Ditto collection ($38).

mac beth ditto powder to the people
Powder to the People

In my experience, the robots I’ve encountered — I can’t speak for the aliens — have often struggled to understand certain aspects of the human condition, like emotion, music and other forms of creative expression.

Powder to the People, a limited edition polka-dotted powder for eyes and cheeks, definitely pushes one to think creatively with their makeup, by asking things like, “What should I do with this offbeat collection of sheer, semi-matte pink, peach, brown, blue and yellow?”

That’s the kind of creative thinking liable to expose masquerading robots and aliens.

Where a human might see Powder to the People’s multicolored dots (which aren’t over-sprays) and get the creative urge to whip up a watercolor eye look instead of the bright, shiny eye makeup they usually wear, a robot would get confused.

“Danger! Danger! Multiple makeup choices…does not compute.”

But as a human, you’re designed to handle creative decisions. You might decide to highlight your eyes and cheekbones with the powder and a MAC 224 Tapered Blending Brush (although I’d probably steer clear of the blue on days other than Halloween), or use a smaller face brush like the MAC 109 to carefully swirl the pink, brown, yellow and peach shades together (again, avoiding the blue) to create a blush.

Humanity has its privileges. 🙂

Next time I find myself at a MAC counter beside someone I suspect of being a robot or alien, I’m gonna slip Powder to the People in front of them and ask, “How would you wear it?”, all the while, watching their eyes…

The eyes are the key…

mac beth ditto swatches
Powder to the People shades swatched individually on the left and swirled together on the right
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This Week, the MAC Spotlight Shifts to Beth Ditto and Casual Color, Two New Collections from MAC

May 31st, 2012 by Karen 38 Comments

MAC Beth Ditto and Casual Colour collections
Wearing MAC Beth Ditto Shade & Smoke Shadow/Liner in Beth Mask on my eyes, Powder to the People on my cheeks and Pro Longwear Lipcreme in Dear Diary on my lips

Turn it up, y’all! That sailor wants to party. Isn’t that right?

Hey, Sailor! You want to party, right? Well there’s a party over here! 🙂

Come on, girls and guys, let’s turn up the music, kick off our heels, and let down our hair. It’s time for two new collections to take center stage at MAC.

The 24-piece Beth Ditto and 17-piece Casual Colour collections are already busting moves online, but the counter party doesn’t start till next week, June 7 here in North America, and internationally later the same month.

For the Beth Ditto collection, MAC collaborated with the singer-songwriter herself, and I pumped up her jams (thanks, YouTube!) while I swatched and took pictures today.

Look at those marvelously bright Pro Longwear Lipcreams down there in Dear Diary (two words: neon pink) and BOOYAH!! (a bright orange).

From a marketing standpoint, you just can’t go wrong with a name like “BOOYAH!!” I mean, if a reviewer didn’t like the color, what are they gonna say? “I hate BOOYAH!!”

BOOYAH!! With a name like that, it’s just hard to paint it in a negative light.

Not that I would, because I think it’s great.

Listening to Beth, with my arms, eyes and lips all covered in makeup, I had the urge to roller skate around my neighborhood with my boombox today. Good thing I can’t find my old roller skates…but I did air snap, neck roll and vogue in my room more than once this afternoon. 🙂

I feel like MAC captured Beth’s ferocity (fierceness?) very clearly in the collection’s lipsticks. They’re bold, and they make a statement, like she does in some of her videos with adventurous makeup.

The only thing is, I’m not so sure that same ferocity also comes across in the eye products…

The Shade & Smoke Shadow/Liners and Zoom Lash Mascaras are quieter than I expected.

Shh… Like the cooks in the MAC kitchen were having a party, and then all of the sudden someone starting banging on the walls and threatening to call the cops unless they turned the music down, so they did.

I will say that I really like their flexibility. You can wear them separately or layered together. I’m not sure yet if they’re approved for use on the water line, but I’ll find out and let you know.

The watercolor quality of the colors in Powder to the People also surprised me. From the look of the bright polka dots in the pan, I expected more POW! — vibrant pops of color. But on my skin, the shades actually apply rather muted and sheer.

I need to spend more time with the collection before deciding whether it makes me want to dance or gives me the blues. For now, though, big snaps for the the Pro Longwear Lipcremes. That much is for sure.

As for the the second collection, the laid-back, brunch-ready Casual Colour, I tried three of the eight potted lip and cheek creams in Lazy Sunday (a baby pink), Weekend Getaway (a cool rose crÃ¨me) and Out for Fun (a cool coral crÃ¨me).

So far, so good. 🙂

They’re like Ryan Gosling’s character in Drive, slick and smooth. The finish has just the faintest suggestion of a sheen, and they’re super easy to apply.

Still have to test them for wear time, but I definitely like what I see.

mac beth ditto casual colour

mac beth ditto powder to the people
Powder to the People

mac beth ditto booyal heart hangover dear diary
From the left: BOOYAH!!, Heart Hangover and Dear Diary
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MAC Beth Ditto and Casual Colour Collections: A Quick Look!

May 31st, 2012 by Karen 16 Comments

mac beth ditto casual colour

Just a couple pics of some makeup from the MAC Beth Ditto and Casual Colour Collections, now online at maccosmetics.com.

Both collections dot MAC counters and stores in North America next Thursday, June 7.

mac casual colour beth ditto

International gals, look for MAC Beth Ditto at MAC counters and stores in June; Casual Colour also arrives in June, but at select MAC locations only.

MAC Unsung Heroes: MAC Iridescent Powder/Loose in Golden Bronze

May 28th, 2012 by Karen 28 Comments

mac golden bronze

The worst part about getting captured by makeup supervillians is the diabolical beauty limits they always to place on their captives. Only one highlighting product per person? You gotta be kidding me.

But being forced to pare down doesn’t have to be horrendous — not with MAC Iridescent Powder/Loose in Golden Bronze in the mix.

It lets you get your shimmer on in a multitude of ways, which is important, not only when you’re being subjugated by makeup supervillains, but pretty much any time, because variety, like the crushed red pepper chili flakes I’ve been putting on my food, is the spice of life. 🙂

With more of a pearly shimmer than a glitter like whoa!, Golden Bronze is one of the best kept secrets in MAC’s permanent line.

I first heard about it a few weeks ago from MAC Pro Artist Keri B, who couldn’t stop singing its praises.

First chance I got, I stopped by my favorite MAC counter (in the Nordstrom at Corte Madera) to take a closer look, and even the artists there had nothing but good things to say about it. “A little goes a long way,” and “It’s really easy to blend.” Golden Bronze was always popping up at MAC Pro training classes and photo shoots, they said.

Um, sold!

I’ve been wearing it a lot lately, also up to Napa yesterday, and I can’t believe it took me all this time to finally get a jar. I think it really gets along well with my warm skin tone, and I love that there are just so many different ways it can be worn. Ways like…

Applying it as a standard highlighter

For a lazy, sun-dappled glow like, “Look at me! I’ve spent my entire day getting massages and eating grapes by the pool,” I like to pat Golden Bronze on my upper cheekbones, down the bridge of my nose, on my cupid’s bow and in the middle of my chin with the MAC 224 Tapered Blending Brush, which has just the right precision for this kind of thing.

mac golden bronze

Mixing it with foundation

And for an airbrushed look with a golden sheen, I’ve been adding a dash of Golden Bronze to my MAC Studio Sculpt SPF 15 Foundation, and then buffing the mixture on my skin with the MAC 182 Buffer Brush.

It’s just a little something extra — a slight dewy sheen — and that’s one of the best things about Golden Bronze, how you can mix it in with so many different things!

Adding it to body oils and moisturizers (tinted ones and regular face moisturizers, too)

The next time you don an outfit where you show some skin, try sprinkling a little Golden Bronze into your favorite moisturizer, and apply that to your legs, arms and shoulders. It’ll give you a gorgeous golden glow.

Running low on lotion? No problem. Just buff Golden Bronze directly on to your skin. I like to use something like the MAC 182 Buffer Brush — something big and fluffy.

I love the way it makes my shoulders glow (super pretty when you’re wearing an off-the-shoulder shirt or tube top).
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MAC Hey, Sailor! What’s That on Your Nails?

May 26th, 2012 by Karen 12 Comments

mac hey sailor nail lacquer

Hey, Sailor! What’s that you’re wearing on your nails?

Oh, the two new nail lacquers from MAC’s Hey, Sailor! collection? Ya don’t say… Well, in that case, drop anchor for a spell, and tell me what you can about these nautical treats.

Hmm… They’re expensive, you say? Wow, $17? That does sound like a lot, even if the packaging is cute and limited edition.

But what about the individual shades? What do you think? Are they worth it?

TOUCH OF RED

I only need one or two coats of this bright, creamy yellowish red for full-coverage color, and it dries in a decent amount of time. Say 30 minutes.

I dig how well it matches the red lip products also released with this collection, but I feel like I’ve seen similar colors for much less…
MAKEUP AND BEAUTY BLOG RATING: B

MAC touch of red
Touch of Red
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