MAC Cosmetics

5-Minute Makeup: Bright Berry Lips and Glowing Taupe Lids

November 22nd, 2019 by Karen 19 Comments

mac craving lipstick — Yes, Bay Area people will wear scarves and thermals when it’s 63 degrees outside. ?

So…you know those mornings when everything goes smoothly, and you even have extra time to do a load of laundry or stop by the drive-through coffee shop to get a latte before you start your day? On top of that, you also get to work 15-minutes early (so you don’t have to drive around the block two times to find good parking)?

Yeah…this was not one of those mornings. LOL!

I don’t know what happened, but Connor and I made it out the door by the skin of our teeth. We made it, though!

And I still managed to 1) get out of my pajama bottoms (although I seriously considered wearing them to the bakery, HA HA HA!), and 2) put on 5-minute makeup.

I grabbed what was within reach and moved with a quickness. Funny thing is, I even got compliments on my makeup today!

You know, sometimes the quickie looks are the best ones…

I think the bright berry lipstick really helped. Berry is great when you’re rushing because it’s just so colorful, and it instantly brightens up your face, but it’s usually also less labor-intensive than red or bright pink.

Also, you can pair it with a bunch of different colors. Purple and gray work, but a lightly shimmering taupe is my go-to to wear with berry. If you’re ever in a serious time crunch, go with a berry lipstick, 100%.

mac art library nude model palette k — When you have a photoshoot in your car…

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Cat Eye Flicks and Bright Lips (The Purple Edition): A Wednesday Makeup Formula

November 20th, 2019 by Karen 17 Comments

mac tailored to tease lipstick k — Purple power!

Question for you… How do you feel about formula dressing?

LOL! Pardon me for a moment, but I had to laugh there, because “formula dressing”? Sounds like something you put on a salad.

But I digress…

If you’ve flipped through the pages of a fashion magazine in the past decade, you may have read talk of having an “outfit formula,” something you can always turn to when you want to look sharp. Maybe it’s a white t-shirt, high-waisted jeans and a black blazer, or maybe it’s something else.

Once you figure out a formula that works for you, then you can tweak it ever-so-slightly (perhaps by replacing the black blazer with a black motorcycle jacket), but essentially, you go back to the same formula over and over because it works.

I’m a HUGE fan of translating this idea for the realm of makeup, and I do “makeup formulas” all the time.

I’m wearing one of mine in these pics — cat eye flicks and bright lips.

It’s quick and easy and gives you a lot of bang for your makeup buck, IMO. Also, crucially, it doesn’t make me think too hard, and I’m not reinventing any wheels, because I know that both of the main elements in the look work for me. Still, there’s plenty of room within the look to jooj it up in different ways.

Basically, I was in the mood to wear purple, so I started with a smudgy purple cat flick (which I did with a matte dark purple eyeshadow and an angled brush).

I like the whole smudgy/diffused effect because the imperfect edge leaves lots of room for error. I can fudge it a little (or a lot), and even though it might not look perfect, it’s usually passable, which is good enough when I’m in a hurry.

Next, I matched it with a bright matte purple lipstick, and side note: I just thought of another version of this I could do… How about layering a shiny purple gloss on top of this lippie? I think that would be super cool too!

This is just one of the makeup formulas I use often. Apply, lather, rinse and repeat! 🙂

mac tailored to tease lipstick — You think I’d be smiling more since I’m having a surprisingly OK hair day!

mac art library nude model — It doesn’t have to be complicated.

Makeup worn in this look

Eyes: MAC Art Library Nude Model Palette (Sugar Plum and Dance in the Dark as liner, Nude Model and L.E.S. Artiste on lids, and Outre in crease), ESUM Dual Eye Pencil in Rose and Aubergine (tightline), MAC Extended Play Perm Me Up Mascara (lashes) ESUM Brow Defining Pencil and MAC Brow Set (brows)

Cheeks: Charlotte Tilbury Ecstasy Blush

Base: Make Up For Ever HD Concealers in Y41 and Y31 mixed with MAC Strobe Cream (foundation), MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural in Golden Tan, Estee Lauder 24H Concealer in Medium Deep (under eyes), Tatcha Luminous Dewy Skin Mist

Lips: MAC Retro Matte Liquid Lipcolour in Tailored to Tease

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

MAC Unsung Heroes: Smoked Almond Lipstick

November 18th, 2019 by Karen 17 Comments

mac smoked almond lipstick swatch — MAC Smoked Almond, a.k.a. THE BEST.

What’s an unsung makeup hero? For me, it’s an oftentimes underrated makeup morsel, a permanent collection product that scoots under the radar screen of many makeup lovers but regularly rocks my world. The long-running Unsung Heroes series features some of my favorites.

Warning: do not attempt to picture an almond hunched in a doorway, puffing away at a cigarette when you think of the words, “smoked almond,” because once you see something like that in your mind’s eye, you’ll wonder 1) what would ever possess an almond to smoke in the first place, and 2) why said almond wouldn’t know that smoking was bad for it.

Every day for the past week before my shift has started at the bakery, I sit in my car in the parking lot and apply a layer of this beautifully bright rosy brown lipstick on my lips, and every time I do this, I say the same thing to myself in the mirror.

“SO PIGMENTED!”

I’m talking intensity to the extreme.

And yet despite its intensity, Smoked Almond isn’t one of those tricky lippies that is SO saturated that it becomes a pain in the bum and you end up needing a PhD in chemistry to apply it. You can still totally do it freehand, straight from the tube, while half-asleep, WITHOUT a lip liner or brushes or a Christmas miracle, for that matter. Smoke Almond’s creamy consistency practically melts onto lips the moment it touches them. No dragging whatsoever. Just a smooooove glide.

My lips tend to dry out and practically shout, “MOAR moisture!” from the rooftops, but Smoked Almond, which has MAC’s Amplified formula, has enough hydration to keep ’em happy all day long.

mac smoked almond — Smoked Almond on my lips

This is a fantastic everyday/daytime color to keep around if you have many rosy or rosy brown blushes like NARS Amour or Charlotte Tilbury Ecstasy in your collection. It’s also long-wearing and doesn’t move or scoot once you lay down a layer, and it feels lighter than a kitty whisker kiss on your cheek.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Product Spotlight: MAC Opalescent Powder in Rising Star, From the New Starring You Holiday 2019 Collection

November 14th, 2019 by Karen 7 Comments

mac rising star — Shoot for the Stars, Rising Star!

This Rising Star from MAC ? is shooting straight to the top of my list of “Best of the Best Makeup to Wear With MAC Teddy.”

(Wait…doesn’t everyone keep that list around?)

Of all the things in the new MAC Starring You holiday makeup collection (which is the sub-collection of makeup within the mega collection of LE holiday items, including the kits and palettes), warm golden Rising Star ($36) face powder is the 1) most wearable eye product IMO, and 2) the kindest to fine lines, which makes it the star of the show in my book.

And, oh yeah, it looks amazing when you wear it with MAC Teddy! (Totally key.)

Rising Star is a warm golden pressed powder in the MAC Opalescent Face Powder fam. It’s a pressed powder with finely-spun grains of granulated powder that practically float atop your skin, and it’s designed to be worn as a highlighter.

Are you familiar with the Hourglass Ambients? If so, MAC’s Opalescent Face Powders are very similar in terms of texture and finish, but with slightly higher shine.

As a highlighter, it gives cheeks a soft, subtle candlelit glow…but I like to take my cues from MAC artists who use it as an eyeshadow! That’s where I think it really shines (pun intended).

I buff it on top of my lids with a MAC 217, and it automatically adds a glam “Charlotte Tilbury-ness” to my lids, especially when I wear it atop a base of MAC Teddy liner.

It’s an easy and elegant eye look, which is totally my style, and best of all, the powder lasts all day. I wore this eye makeup to the bakery the other day, and it stayed put for a solid 14 hours!

mac rising star k — Rising Star Powder layered on top of a base of MAC Teddy liner

mac rising star look — Makeup worn in this look

Makeup in this look

Eyes: MAC Teddy (base), MAC Rising Star (lids), Charlotte Tilbury Filmstar Bronze & Glow (crease), MAC Extended Play Perm Me Up Lash (lashes), MAC Concrete and It Cosmetics Prow Power (brows)

Base: Estee Lauder Double Wear mixed with Becca Backlight Priming Filter

Cheeks: NARS Amour (this looks really great with MAC Smoked Almond lipstick)

Lips: Charlotte Tilbury Pillow Talk, MAC Smoked Almond, NARS Chelsea Girls

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

The MAC Holiday 2019 “Starring You” Collection! (Swatches on NC42 Skin)

November 13th, 2019 by Karen 7 Comments

mac starring you holiday 2019 collection — The new limited edition MAC Starring You Holiday 2019 collection, available now

As the name would imply, “you,” or “we,” are intended to be stars of this show — the MAC Holiday 2019 “Starring You” collection show — since it’s starring…you, buuuut as much as I love ya, the real stars of this show are the glitter and frost.

Sorry! But yeah. Lots. O’. Glitter.

This release is all about big bling.

Quick MAC backstory: every year, MAC releases a massive limited edition holiday collection that includes a bunch of gift sets and at least one large makeup collection. The swatches here (all on my NC42 skin) are of the products in this year’s makeup collection.

First, the LE packaging stands out with glossy black compacts and tubes and caps sprinkled with multicolored disco glitter, and it’s very disco ’70s over-the-top glam. 🙂

Me like.

It definitely makes a certain kind of impression…that we are here to have a party!

Also, I mean, I guess one could wear every product here on their face at once, because why not, right? Life is short. Might as well wear all the glitter you can, but for me, that would be a lot of look, especially to wear to work during the day. So, I’m much more likely to pick just one element, maybe two at the most, of bling, and keep the rest of my makeup low-key.

My favorite things in this collection are the intensely pigmented, sparkly loose eyeshadows, which are amazingly still totally wearable. Definitely give the purple and coppery bronze ones a swatch (the coppery bronze one looks like a loose eyeshadow version of MAC Teddy!).

I also like the glosses, which, like the eyeshadows, are shimmery, but still subtle enough to wear to most jobs.

My faves are the lightest colors — Counting Stars and Young Star — which look like nude, glossy lips when you pair them with MAC classic liners like Subculture and Whirl.

mac holiday 2019 swatches — Swatches of the entire Starring You makeup collection on my NC42 skin

mac starring you kiss of star lipsticks — Kiss of Stars Lipsticks, $20 each

mac starring you spellbinder — Spellbinder Shadows, $25 each

mac starring you face powder — Opalescent Powders, $36 each

mac starring you holiday 2019 packaging — Glitter, glitter everywhere!

OK, if it’s MAC Holiday collection time already, then the holidays are officially near! 🙂

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Space Buns and Sparkly Purple Lids

November 12th, 2019 by Karen 11 Comments

triple hair buns — I may or may not have about a billion bobby pins in my hair at the moment.

I’m sure this tri-bun hairstyle has an official/formal name, but I intend to call it “space buns,” because there’s something undeniably Star Wars about it…

If I were hurtling through space on a rocket bound for Mars, and I was required to wear my hair up (to protect the sensitive electronic equipment from static discharge, you see), you better believe I would NOT be rocking a basic low pony.

SPACE BUNS ALL THE WAY, GIRLFRIEND.

Side note: Connor calls this a “pony hairstyle” because she’s into horses at the moment.

Maybe it’s the stars twinkling in the firmament…but sparkles and space buns just seem *right* to me, hence the purple glitter in this look.

mac wishful thinking — Wearing some newness from the MAC Holiday collection

I got a few compliments from my coworkers when I wore this to the bakery the other day. 🙂 It was nice. I think it was because this is one of those looks that isn’t too over the top in terms of base and lips (I kept the foundation super sheer and the lips glossy and subtly sparkly, which boosts the wearability for daytime), but I think the glitter is punchy and fun enough to catch your eye.

If you like this type of makeup, you need to follow Katie Jane Hughes on Instagram ASAP. She’s a celeb makeup artist known for her sheer base, the wings she does, and her penchant for sparkle. It’s very inspiring!

I’m using some new MAC products from the very sparkly Staring You holiday collection, by the way. This collection, which is out now, has new Spellbinder Shadows in glittery holiday shades (you might remember these ionized eyeshadows from 2016).

mac starring you holiday 2019 — The new, limited edition MAC Starring You holiday 2019 collection, available now

Two things if you plan on picking up one of these loose shadows: 1) most definitely DO NOT skip wearing an eyeshadow base; and 2) apply it using a stiff, flat eyeshadow brush, or your fingers.

If you’d like to chat more about the Spellbinders, drop me a comment. I’m happy to help!
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Autumnal Dessert: 15-Minute Makeup With Chocolatey Reddish Brown Smoky Eyes and Matte Rosy Brown Lips

November 8th, 2019 by Karen 11 Comments

nars balboa — A classic fall combo: brown lids/brown lips

Luckily, I was wearing this chocolatey reddish brown smoky eye yesterday because I spent the majority of my shift at the bakery prepping dry chocolate cake mix from scratch…which may or may not have left me covered in a fine layer of cocoa powder.

(By the way, you haven’t lived until you’ve almost tipped an industrial-sized vat of cocoa powder on top of yourself. Yes…my life is a thrill a minute, I know. Side note: Holy crap, there’s SO MUCH SUGAR in chocolate cake mix!)

About the look

Apparently, the universe wanted me to be covered in chocolate in both the makeup and culinary sense, and these chocolate smoky eyes were super simple to do with a quick smudgy eye base from an opalescent bronze pencil eyeliner, which I topped with a matte reddish brown eyeshadow.

Matchy-matchy?

When I first started wearing eye makeup about one billion years ago, I believed that if you wore any matte finishes, then everything — your liner, your eyeshadow and your base — also had to be in a matching matte, but that’s so not the case. You can totally mix and match your finishes, which is what I did here with the pearly base and the matte eyeshadow to create a satin finish.

Feel free to play and layer different finishes if you don’t already, because you never know what you’ll cook up!

Playing with blending

Also, experiment with your blending. I’m normally inclined to “blow out” my eyeshadow, a.k.a. “blend out the edges so they fade out smoothly,” but I went for more definition at the edges in this look by choosing to not buff out the edges as much as usual… I kinda like it!

The more obvious edges of the eyeshadow are framed by a bolder brow, which I whipped up by mixing brow pencil with an eyeshadow.

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3 Tips for Wearing Red Eyeshadow (and a 20-Minute Makeup Look)

November 6th, 2019 by Karen 18 Comments

viseart libertine — I may or may not be in my pajamas, FYI.

Fall-inspired look, TAKE TWO.

I think this one’s a little closer in terms of vibe to the Thanksgiving baking accouterments I found at Michael’s the other day… More fall, and less summer, with shimmery reddish copper lids, bronze cheeks and nude-beige lips.

I wore it to the bakery the other day… The bakery in my kitchen, THAT IS! Had this on while trying to work out the pumpkin/pecan cupcake situation (yes, this is a thing I’m working on). In a nutshell, I think I found a good balance between a spicy pumpkin cupcake, and brown sugar pecans, but that’s a story for another time…

As for this look, here are some things you may find helpful when wearing reddish copper eyeshadow, or really any shadows with red tones:

1. Full-coverage foundations make a HUGE difference

You know me; I like to wear as little as possible in terms of base products, but whenever I try to do minimal foundation/concealer that incorporates any sort of copper, coppery red or red eyeshadow, I look tired, messy and juuuuust not right. Babe, if you’ve got anything remotely red happening on your lids, then go for full-coverage foundation. A full-coverage base balances with the red eyeshadow’s POW! very nicely, methinks.

2. Tightline with a black liner

You need something like a black liner to add a visible “break” or barrier between your red eyeshadow and the whites of your eyes; otherwise, it can look kinda “off.” If black seems too harsh for you, try a dark brown.

3. Do your eye makeup first

Why? Because you want absolutely NO red underneath your lower lash line, and you’ll want to completely remove it before doing your base. Then, after you clean up, apply a concealer. I’m usually team “Skip the Under-Eye Concealer,” but in this case, I’m thoroughly on board, because, again, it can look weird if you skip it.

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