MAC Cosmetics

Current Foundation Routine —> All About That Base

January 15th, 2019 by Karen 30 Comments

OK, it’s true, I seemingly have a new foundation routine every two seconds because I like to switch things up all the time. Lately I’ve been using a slightly different combo of some old faves, and I’ve been getting a lot of questions about what I’ve been doing with my skin. So I guess it’s working for me! Here’s the product lineup in order from start to finish…

MAC Fix+: A few spritzes on bare skin
MAC Prep+ Prime Natural Radiance: One pump applied all over face
MAC Mineralize Timecheck Lotion: One pump on oily spots (forehead, nose, chin)
MAC Studio Fix Fluid Foundation in NC42 mixed with a few drops of Pinklite Strobe Cream (1-3 very thin layers)
Charlotte Tilbury Magic Away Liquid Concealer in shade 7 (under the eyes) and shade 8 (on cheeks and around nose)
MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural Powder in Golden Tan
MAC Fix+: A few more sprays after all of the powder products have been applied (powder, blush, bronzer, highlighter, etc.)

I’d call this a medium-coverage base. The coverage is just shy of full, and I like that this combo doesn’t feel heavy, but there’s still enough coverage to even out the skin.

It does take time, though. Definitely more than a one-minute job with tinted moisturizer and concealer applied with my fingers and buffed out with a brush or sponge (which is also a totally legit process, but also a totally different look).

If you’re gonna go this route, I recommend doing a couple things…

1. Wait for your face primer to dry

I usually apply my face primer at the start of my makeup, then do my brows and eyes to give the primer time to absorb. If I’m in a hurry, I’ll wait a minute or two, and then blot down as much as I can with a tissue or paper towel, but you basically want the primer to have fully absorbed so it can do its thing. You don’t want to jump to the next steps while it’s sitting on top of your skin.

2. Thin layers are key!

OH, THE MAGIC OF THIN BASE LAYERS. I could talk about this for ages, but here’s the gist of it: If you’re going for a good amount of coverage but don’t want your base makeup to look like cake frosting, use multiple thin layers of foundation and/or concealer, as opposed to just piling a ton of product on bare skin.

The thin layers will give you the coverage you want without looking like batter.

It does takes time and effort, though…

Apply each thin layer with your fingers or a sponge or brush, and blend it in with a buffing brush (you want to get the layers as close to your skin as possible). Also, wait for the previous layer to dry (at least a minute or two) before applying the next one, and repeat until you reach the coverage you want.

It’s like walking around with a goat in your arms…

[Continue reading…]

Crazy About Creams! MAC Pro Longwear Paint Pot

January 9th, 2019 by Karen 15 Comments

mac groundwork indianwood paint pot — Long-time loves of my cream eyeshadow life

This month I am CRAZY ABOUT CREAMS. Stay tuned for some of my favorite cream makeup products all throughout January.

Waxing philosophical about my favorite MAC cream shadows in a series called “Crazy About Creams” is the right and proper thing to do because I am, indeed, crazy about the MAC Pro Longwear Paint Pots.

I almost can’t believe I’m saying this because I remember when I fell in love with them in the mid-Triassic Period (It was actually the Fafi collection in 2008, so it’s been — GULP — more than a decade!) The Paint Pots are staples in my MAC collection, and I restock them ALL. THE. FREAKIN’. TIME.

They’re $22 cream shadows that come in a glass pot, and you can wear them by themselves or layered with other products.

If you have fine lines on your lids like a vertically challenged beauty blogger/cat lady we know, they’re lovely because you can get a lot of color on your lids with them (or a little if you sheer them out) without losing a natural skin-like texture. The Paint Pots are just pure color without any thickness or heaviness.

My favorite way to wear them is on their own, and they last all day long for me — yes, even without eye primer.

Obviously, since the Paint Pots are creams, you can use your fingers to apply them, but I prefer brushes because they’re more precise.

For simple, fast, fresh looks, the Paint Pots are great. I’ll start by laying down the shadow where I want it using a flat brush before buffing out the edges with a tapered blending brush. Then I’ll do a little liner, then mascara, then brows (of course!), and I’m done, which is what I did for these pics where I’m wearing Groundwork in my crease and Indianwood on my lids.

Also, if I’m feeling up to it, I’ll dab a small amount of face highlighter on my brow bone and in the inner corners to make my eyes look bigger and less hooded.

Never underestimate how much a little highlighter on those two areas can open up your eyes.

The Paint Pots come in a bunch of neutrals shades, and I’m wearing my faves here. Groundwork is a matte taupe, and I use it to sculpt my crease so that my eyes look deeper set. Indianwood is a golden bronze with shimmer, and it’s perfect for a sheer wash on the lids.

Both Groundwork and Indianwood, incidentally, go perfectly with MAC Coffee Eye Pencil.

Oh, and here are two pro tips! Store your paint pots upside down to keep them from drying out (you can also see the names more easily), and if you’ve had a Paint Pot for a while and discover one day that it’s dry (like if you can see the edges of the cream pulling away from the jar), you can revive it by swirling a drop or two of your favorite face oil in the pot with a brush.

Then you can buff that brush loaded with your Paint Pot and oil mix on your lids for a sheer wash of color.
[Continue reading…]

MAC Makeup Ready Skin

January 9th, 2019 by Karen 8 Comments

Nope, I’m not mad about it! MAC’s latest launch of makeup primers is…unsurprisingly, all about primer, and yeah, it’s one of those releases comprised of re-promoted stuff (same products, new boxes).

Of course, there will be the usual hemming and hawing about this, but since almost all of the items in Makeup Ready Skin are things I’ve used and loved for years, I repeat: I’m not mad about it. There are things in this release that deserve the extra attention.

Also, I’m aware that there are peeps out there in Makeup Land who don’t see the point of primers. I can appreciate that… There are lots of makeup “must-haves” that I find totally unnecessary, but I don’t feel that way about primers. I love ’em. I think they make a huge difference in terms of wear time and how smooth my skin looks (especially in pics) when I use them.

And I’m a really big fan of face primers, because OH, HAI, PORES.

MAC Prep + Prime Fix+ ($27)

Q: How many bottles of this setting spray have I used over the years? A: So many. I even take a travel-sized one with me when I travel.

Fix+ is the first AND last thing I use whenever I apply makeup. As soon as I sit down, I spritz a few sprays all over my face — psst, psst! The light mist moisturizes my skin and dampens it, getting it ready for everything else I put on (lotion, primer, whatevs). It helps the next products I use absorb better than they do when my skin is dry.

Then, after all is said and done, I spray Fix+ again at the end of my rigmarole when I finish my last blend, usually right after the powder products. I do it to lock everything down and take the edge off any powdery-ness.

I ? Fix+! It’s ride-or-die for me.

Strobe Cream in Pinklite ($34)

Also a huge fan of Strobe Cream. I wear it on bare skin for no-makeup makeup days, or I mix it into MAC Studio Fix Foundation, which is nothing short of magical. If you want to set it with powder, I recommend Mineralize Skinfinish Natural Powder, which is THE BEST face powder in the MAC line IMO.

There are a few different Strobe Cream shades, but the only one I really use is Pinklite — the original Strobe Cream color. It’s a pearly pink that looks good on everyone.

Prep + Prime Natural Radiance ($42)

Another underrated primer I love. MAC has two versions of it — yellow and pink — and even though I’ve used both…I really can’t tell the difference between them on my skin from an arm’s length away.

I mean, if I really get up in there with a magnifying mirror, sure, I can see tiny pink bits of glitter in the pink one, but they’re both fab. One pump moisturizes my combo skin and smooths out my pores enough to be noticeable.

mac makeup ready skin 2 — Fancy packaging

FYI, Natural Radiance doesn’t minimize pores as aggressively as UD Optical Illusion or Make Up For Ever’s primer (the one in the gray tube). I think of it as more of an everyday look, so if you like natural-looking skin as much as I do, it could be a good fit for you.

Mineralize Timecheck Lotion ($32)

This lightweight primer smooths pores to a greater degree than Natural Radiance, and it also mattes down the skin to hide shine. I like to use it on areas that I don’t want to be super dewy, like the center of my forehead.

Fast Response Eye Cream ($32)

An oldie but goodie for smoothing your under-eye area before concealer. I also like to mix it into liquid concealers to sheer them out for a more natural look.

Prep + Prime Lip ($18.50)

This is the only item in the collection that I’m just “meh” about… It’s like a fancy clear lip balm.

On-The-Go Prep Set ($35)

By the way, there’s also a cute little limited edition trial kit in the collection for $35 with a bunch of MAC priming products, so if you’re new to the world of MAC primers, that would be a good way to go.

One last thing…

Ask me anything! If there’s anything else you’d like to know about any of these products, LET ME KNOW. After years of using them, I know them pretty well.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. Happy hump day. ?

MAC Unsung Heroes: Coffee Eye Pencil

January 8th, 2019 by Karen 32 Comments

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.

A picture of MAC Coffee Eye Pencil ($18) with a big-@ss cup of ☕ coffee? So meta, I know! Oh, and not just any big-@ss cup of coffee. This was my second cup of the morning.

Dude, I wake up at 5! An obnoxious level of caffeine is the only way I get through life these days.

I’ve mentioned MAC coffee a few times lately, but I’ve been hesitant to give it the “unsung heroes” treatment because, for reasons unknown, it vanished from the MAC website, which was sacrilegious craziness to me because it’s the best dark brown matte pencil I know.

It really is. I wear it more than all of my other MAC liner loves.

Yes, even more than Teddy, Costa Riche and — I can’t believe I’m about to type this — Powersurge.

Ever since I discovered the power of pencils that *aren’t* black, I’ve been all about brown liner (it’s the whole “black liner looks so harsh on me now that I’m older” thing).

mac coffee swatch — Livin’ that NC42 life, yo.

mac mineralize foundation loose medium dark — Wearing Chanel Les Beiges Healthy Glow Natural Eyehadow Palette, MAC Coffee liner, MAC Gingerly blush, MAC Retro Matte Liquid Lipcolour in Burnt Spice and MAC Dazzleglass in Tangerine Tropica

This particular dark chocolate brown doesn’t have red undertones, and it does all the right things for me. It works on my water lines (both upper and lower), doesn’t irritate my eyes (and, GIRL, everything irritates my eyes these days), and it doesn’t smudge unless I want it to.

It’s not as soft as a gel or a soft kohl, so it doesn’t glide along like those formulas, but perhaps that’s why it sticks to skin so well. I can wear MAC Coffee all day long without any transferring onto my lower lash line or up into my crease.

(Don’t worry — you won’t be tugging to apply it. It’s hard, but it’s also very pigmented and not dry at all, so no skipping, if that makes sense.)

Be warned: Once you try MAC Coffee, you’ll become addicted…just like real coffee.

Speaking of coffee…

[Continue reading…]

Gloss + Liquid Lipstick + Stain = MAC Versicolour Varnish Cream Lip Stain

December 3rd, 2018 by Karen 10 Comments

Not once, but twice over the past week have I wondered aloud, “What is this exactly?”

The first time I was out getting dinner with the family.

Actually, it was during dessert (I got spumoni ice cream, which, who’d a thunk that cherry, pistachio and chocolate would go so well together?).

The second time was the first time I was trying the new MAC Versicolour Cream Varnish Lip Stains.

mac versicolour varnish 2 — I wonder… What’s the plural of doe-foot??

These creamy, shiny glosses are kinda different and cool. They have a non-sticky formula, and they fade over time to a matte lip stain. They come in a whole bunch of colors, too, for $22.

I think one of the reasons I like them so much is because they feel like my favorite MAC glosses…which I can’t recall the name of right now.

Dangit! What are those called again? I’m having a brain fart… They’re the moisturizing ones that feel thinner than a Lipglass? Something-something glasses?

Not Lipglass. Not Dazzleglass…

Wait! — CREMESHEEN GLASS! Aaah!

The Versicolours feel just like them, only thinner.

“Captivate with a lip colour hybrid that’s glossier, higher coverage and harder impact than ever before. Its watery-light formula glides on creamy and comfortable to impart long-wearing, saturated full coverage and an always-fresh wet finish. Find entrancement in its 12-hour, intense staining power – promising to last far into the day and night.”

— maccosmetics.com

When they go on, they’re VERY pigmented and shiny. It’s like, BAM! — color and shine. And that goes for all of them.

Over the next 10 minutes or so they start to feel thicker — almost like a liquid lipstick — and fade into a stain.

Even though I’m more drawn to the dark pinks and reds in the collection, I think the best shade of the whole bunch is rosy nude Bitten Babe because it doesn’t stain my lips unevenly like the other colors do to where I get a dark or bright spot in the middle of my lips, which then fades into a lighter stain toward the edge of my lips.

I guess that’s a high fashion-y lip look, but I’m partial to evenly stained color, a la Bitten Babe, which I’ve been wearing a ton. It starts as a glossy, rosy pink but turns into a nude pink stain by midday, where it lasts for about four hours.

mac bitten babe before — Fresh coat of Bitten Babe

mac bitten babe after — After two hours…

More deets…

They aren’t particularly moisturizing or drying…so they’re somewhere in the middle in terms of moisture.
Unsurprisingly for MAC, they smell like vanilla, and I don’t detect a flavor.
They don’t settle into my lip lines (yay!).
The darker stains last longest — like 6-7 hours.
The reds all kinda look alike on me… Go figure.

[Continue reading…]

MAC Patrick Starrr Slay Ride Holiday Collection: Swatches and a Rose Gold Look

November 30th, 2018 by Karen 14 Comments

mac patrick starrr holiday collection 2018 1 — Take a Sleigh Ride with Patrick Starrr

I think it’s safe to say that Patrick Starrr sleigh-ed 2018.

Get it? Sleigh-ed?? ?

OK, sorry, you know how I am with puns.

The mega influencer/YouTuber/all-around “It Boy” is launching yet another collab with MAC, and it’s pretty intense for a holiday collection. There are five lipglosses, three lipsticks, a huge over-sized Mineralized Skinfinish that’s almost as big as my head, a translucent loose setting powder, two eyeshadow palettes and three pigments, and the whole shebang drops December 3rd.

mac patrick starrr holiday collection 2018 — Va-va-voom!

Patrick Starrr’s known for bringing the glam, so there’s lots of sparkle, shine and cheeky innuendo. The products have names like “Shady Santa” and “Ride My Sleigh.”

I just swatched the collection and took a few things out for a spin while I returned almost all of the clothing I bought on Black Friday… Side note: The jig is sooooo up. I officially loathe shopping for clothes because apparently I’m terrible at it now and can no longer dress myself without professional help. ARRRGHHHH!

I did, however, keep this $10 scarf from Old Navy, which happens to go with the rose gold eyes I wore using Patrick’s Oh Holy Eyes palette.

mac patrick starrr holiday k1 — Wearing the Eye Shadow X 6 in Oh Holy Eyes and the PatrickStarrr Pigment on my eyes, and MAC Vintage Rose Cream Colour Base (discontinued) and Mineralize Skinfinish in Baby Its Gold Outside on my cheeks.

Some thoughts on the products…

Eye Shadow X 6 in Oh Holy Eyes: Swatches smoothly and intensely, but when the shadows are applied dry, they’re sheer on my lids. The shimmers are pretty frosty, too, so I had to buff like crazy to take the shine down a few notches.

Pigment in PatrickStarrr: Fine shimmer? I like!

Mineralize Skinfinish in Baby Its Gold Outside: Intense and frosty.

Lipstick in Spank Me Santa: A smooth, opaque, WEARABLE rose

Dazzleglass in Twerk for Gifts: Surprisingly subtle glitter that isn’t gritty. Love this as a layering gloss for nudes and pinks.

Set Powder: Completely translucent (no flashback), but very, very matte.

mac patrick starrr holiday k2 — Lips: Spank Me Santa Lipstick and Twerk For Gifts Dazzleglass

[Continue reading…]

A Whole Lotta Lip Swatches

November 28th, 2018 by Karen 10 Comments

mac sweet assortment retro matte shiny pretty things — MAC Sweet Assortment: Retro Matte/Shiny Pretty Things holiday set

Heya, friend. How’s it going? I miss you. Hope you’re doing well. I’m chugging along…albeit slowly and not very productively. I’m in the midst of a midweek malaise, perhaps tied to the fact that it’s cloudy and drizzling. 🙁

It’s as if I’ve completely forgotten how to function normally or something!

I hope to regain the gift of gab again soon, but while I continue to quietly work through it, please enjoy this bevy o’ lip swatches…

MAC Sweet Assortment: Retro Matte/Shiny Pretty Things (a $69.50 limited edition holiday set)

This is a limited edition holiday set (one of many) available at MAC right now. I like it because all of the Retro Mattes are full size.

mac oh lady swatch — MAC Retro Matte Liquid Lipcolour in Oh Lady

mac dance with me swatch — MAC Retro Matte Liquid Lipcolour in High Drama

mac burnt spice swatch — MAC Retro Matte Liquid Lipcolour in Burnt Spice

mac fashion legacy swatch — MAC Retro Matte Liquid Lipcolour in Fashion Legacy

mac so me swatch — MAC Retro Matte Liquid Lipcolour in So Me

[Continue reading…]

3 Shocking Revelations (One of Them Makeup Brush-Related)

November 15th, 2018 by Karen 40 Comments

Why, yes, I do have a toothpaste ? collection.

1. It’s not a good idea to put your foot cream on the same shelf as your toothpaste.

You’d think this would be one of those self-preservation things most people would already know, like “Don’t touch a hot stove!” or “Do sniff the communal office carton of milk before you pour some in your coffee,” but noooooo. A few nights ago, as I was in the bathroom brushing my teeth before bed, I thought, “Hmm… This toothpaste tastes kinda funny…and why isn’t it foaming up?”

At which point I realized, “HOLY FREAKING CRAP, I’m brushing my teeth with foot cream.” ?

Following this, and after rinsing out my mouth for like 20 years, I moved my three tubes of toothpaste to another shelf…

2. If you put your robe on backwards, you can turn it into a slanket.

And by “backwards,” I don’t mean inside out.

OK, how the heck do I explain this…? More accurately, how do I explain how I figured it out? HA HA HA!

Alright, here it is: Instead of wearing your robe in the normal fashion, with the part that opens facing the front, put it on so that the open part is in the back, like a hospital gown.

Does that make ANY sense at all?

Here’s a picture of a slanket, BTW, in the event that you’ve been living on another planet for the past few years and have no idea what I’m talking about…

Don’t ask me why this seems warmer to me than wearing a robe the usual way. Maybe it’s because more material is covering the legs…? I don’t know, but I definitely haven’t been as cold as I usually am since I started doing it. To wit, I’m doing it right now.

PRO TIP: Cut off the tag on your robe to avoid itchiness!

3. The revamped MAC synthetic brushes are not built to last.

Earlier this year, MAC revamped their entire brush line, replacing the natural fibers with synthetic bristles, and you know what? Homegirl is NOT impressed. I’ve been using the new 224S since last May (the “S” stands for synthetic, I believe), and look…

mac 224s and 224 final — 224s throughout the years

[Continue reading…]