MAC Cosmetics

The $21 MAC Brow Sculpt Brow Pencil: A Dupe for the Infamous Tom Ford Brow Sculptor?

November 16th, 2016 by Karen 21 Comments

mac brun brow sculpt brow pencil brun — Yes, I really do get this excited about filling in my brows…

Yes, I really do, because Raul is hella annoying.

I’ve been filling in my brows lately with this awesome $21 MAC Brow Sculpt Brow Pencil. It’s been out a while, and it comes in shades you might recognize if you’re a MAC fan, like Brun and Cork. MAC took some of their existing eyeshadow colors that are commonly used to fill in brows, and put them in handy-dandy pencils.

The reason I think this one is all sorts of awesome is because it totes reminds me of my favorite-ist brow pencil (yes, I said favorite-ist) — well, my former favorite-ist brow pencil — the Tom Ford Brow Sculptor, which is hella expensive, dude. It’s $45 (used to be $44).

Have I told you about the time I put two of them in my cart and floated out of my body? Like, I literally floated out of my body. I had an out-of-body experience because of how expensive they are, and I’ve been scouring the makeup jungle for years looking for something similar but less pricey like this MAC pencil.

It has a twist-up tip with a skinny triangle shape (like the Tom Ford pencil) that covers a good surface area, so I’m not sitting there drawing in every little hair with a tiny tip for hours… I can finish my brows pretty quickly with this one.

I also love the level of pigment. The colors aren’t as rich or intense as some brow pencils, which I think is a good thing in this case. I don’t much like pencils that are super soft or pigmented because if I forget and keep drawing, and keep drawing, and keep drawing, I end up with Groucho Marx/scary Frankenstein brows, at which point it’s hard to go back.

You know how it is — once you have too much on there, it’s hard to remove pigment and back up. I’ve gotten in that situation many times before, and it isn’t fun.

mac brun brown sculpt — The face you make when your favorite Tom Ford Brow Pencil is $45

MAC Brow Sculpt Brow Pencil ($21)
Permanent, available now at MAC stores and online

Available in Omega (a light ash blonde), Cork (warm blonde), Flight (taupe blonde), Taupe (light taupe), Brun (taupe brown), Lingering (medium brown), Spiked (deep brunette) and Stud (deepest black brunette)

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Smoky, Cool and Shimmery Plum With the Tarte Pretty Paintbox Set, Bite Beauty Cashew and MAC Dancing Flowers

November 14th, 2016 by Karen 8 Comments

tarte pretty paintbox fotd — Feeling plummy today with Tarte’s Pretty Paintbox from the holiday 2016 collection

Look. At. This. Makeup.

Where was a going that I needed to put on makeup like this? I don’t know… I don’t think I was going anywhere. I wish I could say that I was going out to dinner or something, but I think the most exciting thing I did while I was wearing this look was take out the trash…

I did run into my neighbor, though, and we talked about her dog a little, so at least somebody got to see the fruit of my labor IRL.

I’m wearing the Bite Beauty Multistick in Cashew here, and I tell you — it’s the best color! It’s underneath a bunch of things on my lids. I sort of used it as an eyeshadow lid primer.

I think it’s SO beautiful, especially with colors like the ones I’m wearing.

Eyes: Bite Beauty Cashew Multi-Stick, Tarte Pretty Paintbox eyeshadows (Van Gogh With It in the crease, and First Impressionism, Hot MOMA and Get Surreal mixed on the lids), Tarte Tarteist Black Eyeliner (from the Wingworkers holiday set), Tarte Tartiest Mascara (from Pretty Paintbox)

Cheeks: Moment blush, Authentic highlighter and Unique bronzer from Tarte Pretty Paintbox

Lips: Dancing Flowers from the MAC Nutcracker Sweet Retro Matte Plum Kit

I’m wearing kind of a rosy taupe-ish brown in my crease, and there’s some shimmery cool-toned purplish gray action happening on my lids that I made by mixing a bunch of colors in this Tarte palette (I marked them with hearts down below).

I grabbed a bunch of shades with the same brush, buffed them on the back of my hand, and then popped them on my lid.

It’s just a phase I’m going through. I like making my own colors. It makes me feel like I’m a mad scientist in a beauty lab or something…

OK, so, my lid color is very cool toned, but I think it balances with the warmth of the browns in my crease. I like that juxtaposition, but of course you could totally stick to one or the other using just cool-toned shadows or warm-toned shadows, and still do a look like this.

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The MAC Studio QuikTrik Sticks

November 7th, 2016 by Karen 8 Comments

mac studio quicktrik stick — There’s a new stick in town…

I’m no She-Ra/She-Hulk, but those push-ups and rows I’ve been doing in my high-intensity interval training classes must be paying off, because I accidentally broke two of these MAC Studio QuikTrik Sticks.

Mostly, it’s because they’re very soft, and in some ways, that’s great, because it makes them so easy to blend. On the other hand, though — broken sticks. Don’t press too hard.

These creamy $32 sticks do a bit of everything. They’re like blushes, contouring products and highlighting sticks in one.

Kinda sorta like MAC’s version of the NARS Multiples (except not explicitly recommended for use on your lips and eyes), they’ve been available for while, and MAC says they’re for use all over your face.

I’ve only used them as blushes and for highlighting so far, so if you’ve used them on your lips and eyes, please let me know how it’s gone for you.

They’re super creamy, super soft, easy to blend, and they look a little dewy on the skin, right? They’ve got that glow happening that I love.

The formula stays a bit — gosh, what’s the right word? — tacky? Wet?

I don’t want to say “wet,” so I’ll just say “creamy” instead. It stays creamy for an hour or so before completely drying down, and that makes them easy to blend. Of course, if they dried down to a powder more quickly, they would probably last longer…

On my combination skin, without anything else on top of them, they last between 4-6 hours, which isn’t bad. You could probably also extend that by layering a powder product on top and, depending on what you used, still keep the shine. For instance, you could add a powder blush with a sheen or a highlighter with a sheen or sparkle. But that’s if you’re hardcore.

MAC Studio QuikTrik Sticks
$32, available in six limited edition shades; available now online and in-stores through December 15, 2016

“Transformation is only a swipe away with M·A·C Studio QuikTrik Stick. Offering endless options for highlighting, contouring, bronzing or just adding the perfect pop of colour, these double-ended, multi-use sticks debut in smart shades to enhance your look anywhere, any way you choose. This multi-tasker’s creamy formula is sheer enough to provide subtle yet buildable colour. Who doesn’t love a little face time?”

— maccosmetics.com

Shades
BARE END / EARTHNUT – Bare End: Light golden champagne shimmer / Earthnut: Muted medium beige

SOFTLY DOES IT / TIGHT AND TAWNY – Softly Does It: Very light pink shimmer / Tight and Tawny: Light taupe

GINGER SPIKED / COUNTERPOINT – Ginger Spiked: Soft pink with fine spun gold shimmer / Counterpoint: Midtone bluish pink

A LATTE SHEEN / SEMISWEET – A Latte Sheen: Light copper with gold and silver shimmer / SemiSweet: Muted golden bronze

MISS CUPCAKE / TOMATO – Miss Cupcake: soft pinky peach with fine spun golden shimmer / Tomato: Vivid bright coral

ALL AFLUSH / HERE YOU GO – All Aflush: Rose with copper sparkle / Here You Go: Deep reddish burgandy

mac studio quicktrik counterpoint ginger spiked — Wearing Counterpoint and Ginger Spiked

mac studio quicktrik stick swatches — Ginger Spiked/Counterpoint, Miss Cupcake/Tomato, All Aflush/Here You Go

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MAC Spellbinder Shadow: This Shine Has Powerful Pull

October 24th, 2016 by Karen 10 Comments

mac spellbinder collection — The MAC Spellbinder Shadows. On the left from top to bottom: Aphrodisiatic, Blue Karma, Cosmic Clash and Mysterious Influence; on the right: Retrograde, Gravity’s Pull, Higher Power and Dynamically Charged

This is probably as close as I’m going to get to sci-fi makeup this week. They’re the new MAC Spellbinder Shadows, and they have magnetized particles — which is weird and freaky and cool.

I held a paper clip above one of the pots, and you can see the particles cling to it…

Ooh, science. 🙂

These eight new $22 limited edition loose powder shadows look kind of like cream shadows in their pots, but they aren’t. They’re loose, but they’re ionized and bound together by a magnetic charge.

The shades are all on the darker end of the spectrum, like dark blue, brown and plum — so they’re very moody and very fall. They’re also very bling-worthy and shiny.

MAC Spellbinder Shadow
$22 each, available now online in eight shades
Available in-store October 20 through December 1, 2016
#MACSpellbinder

I gotta say, though…I expected these to be easier to work with than MAC’s other loose pigments because of the whole magnetic action, but they aren’t. When I did this look, I got shadow all over the place — all over my desk, all over my hands, all over my face.

I should not have done my foundation first; it took a while to clean everything up…

But you do get high-wattage, super dramatic, super frosty drama with these, and incredibly enough, they don’t highlight my fine lines. If you want your eyes to sparkle from a mile away, these are great for that.

“A shadow made of ionized, magnetically charged pigments that cling to lids like velvet. Black, ionized pigments are magnetically charged, fusing the loose powder together so it magically maintains its form and dimension. Features eight shades in a metallic finish.

“Apply using fingers, brush or sponge. Works best after application of Prep + Prime 24-Hour Extend Eye Base.”

—maccosmetics.com

mac spellbinder jar — The MAC Spellbinder jar packaging

mac spellbinder closeup — I’m wearing Aphrodisiatic (outer lid), Blue Karma (inner lid, applied wet), Mysterious Influence (lower lash line) and Dynamically Charged (crease)

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MAC Nutcracker Sweet Holiday 2016 Gift Sets: The Warm Eye Compact Eye Shadow X 9

October 19th, 2016 by Karen 9 Comments

mac nutcracker sweet warm eye compact — Wearing MAC Era, Woodwinked, Lady Fingers and Twelve Chimes on my lids

So, that shade right there? — one-two-three-four from the left? That’s Woodwinked.

I know! I didn’t realize it until I was halfway through an eye look yesterday morning. I was scooting along, doing my makeup, when I thought, “That one looks really familiar,” but it didn’t look too familiar, so I flipped it over, saw the name and said, “Holy sh*t! That’s Woodwinked. How can that be Woodwinked??”

I couldn’t believe my eyes. I had to keep flipping the compact over, back and forth. One of my favorite MAC colors of all time (here’s a look with it from 2013!) is in this palette, but it doesn’t look or feel like the Woodwinked I know.

M∙A∙C Nutcracker Sweet
Available online October 20, 2016
Available in stores on October 27, 2016 through December 8, 2016
#MACNutcrackerSweet

Basically, that set the tone for how I feel about the Warm Eye Compact Eye Shadow X 9 palette, one of three X 9 palettes in the MAC Nutcracker Sweet holiday collection.

Like the other two — Smoky and Cool — it has nine eyeshadows, a dual-ended brush and snazzy packaging. Some of the colors are re-promotes, like Woodwinked, Era and Showstopper, and some are new.

I really like the Cool palette from this collection, but it set a high bar for me, and I think that’s influencing how I feel about the Warm palette now.

The Warm Eye Compact Eye Shadow X 9 ($39.50) — Showstopper (Matte), Twelve Chimes (Lustre), Beyond Gorgeous (Veluxe Pearl), Unwind (Veluxe Pearl), Lady Fingers (Matte), Era (Satin), Woodwinked (Veluxe Pearl), Filament (Lustre) and Whirling (Lustre).

It’s one of three X 9 palettes in the MAC Nutcracker Sweet holiday collection (the other two are Cool and Smoky).

The set also comes with…

The 214/213 Dual-Ended Brush

mac nutcracker sweet smoky eye compact — MAC Nutcracker Sweet Warm Eye Compact Eye Shadow X 9

MAC Nutcracker Sweet Warm Eye Compact Eye Shadow X 9 — Top row swatches (from the left): Filament, Whirling, Era, Woodwinked, Unwind; bottom row: Lady Fingers, Twelve Chimes, Showstopper, Beyond Gorgeous

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MAC Nutcracker Sweet Holiday 2016 Gift Sets: Plum Eye Bag and Smoky Eye Bag

October 18th, 2016 by Karen 8 Comments

mac nutcracker sweet plum eye bag — Wearing from the MAC Nutcracker Sweet Plum Eye Bag, Pro Longwear Paint Pot in Stormy Pink, Extra Dimension Eye Shadow in Smoky Mauve, False Lashes Mascara, and the Technakohl Liner in Purple Dash. Also wearing NARS Blush in Unwritten on my cheeks and MAC Cremesheen Lipstick in Kingdom of Sweets.

These products suffer from an unfortunate name…

Eye Bags.

I keep thinking of my under-eye bags and, like, are these going to make my eye bags looks worse?? Why would I want something called an “eye bag”?

Haha!

OK, I think they meant to say that they’re bags that contain products for your eyes, and not that they’re designed to give you eye bags.

I get it.

There are two of ’em in the MAC Nutcracker Sweet collection — one Smoky, one Plum — and each one comes with a Paint Pot, a Technakohl Liner, an Extra Dimension Eye Shadow and a False Lashe Mascara, and surprise! — they’re all full size. So you get all that stuff and a bag for your eye bag products for $42.50, which is a pretty good price, seeing as how a Paint Pot is normally $22 and an Eye Shadow is $20.

M∙A∙C Nutcracker Sweet
Available online October 20, 2016
Available in stores on October 27, 2016 through December 8, 2016
#MACNutcrackerSweet

From reading about these before getting my hands on them, I thought I was gonna be all about the Smoky Bag because I love smoky looks, but nuh-uh. The Smoky one? Just OK. Plum is where it’s at.

Turns out the Smoky one is just too frosty for me — the combination of the frosty Paint Pot, and then when you put the frosty Extra Dimension Eye Shadow on top of that, and then the black liner, Graphblack (old-school fave), it’s just too much frost. For me, it’s just too shiny, but if you like super shiny, you may like the Smoky one more.

I like the Plum one’s mix of finishes. Like, you get the matte base, so you get a little of the matte peeking through when you pop the shinier Eye Shadow on top, so it seems more complex and elegant. It doesn’t just look like a frost fest, vis-à-vis the Smoky Eye Bag.

I keep laughing… Smoky Eye Bag. 🙂

The Plum Eye Bag ($42.50)
Stormy Pink Pro Longwear Paint Pot permanent)
Smoky Mauve Extra Dimension Eye Shadow in Smoky Mauve (permanent)
Technakohl Liner in Purple Dash (permanent)
False Lashes Mascara (permanent)
All are full size

The Smoky Eye Bag ($42.50)
Dream Scene Pro Longwear Paint Pot (not sure if it’s a re-promote, but I can’t remember seeing it before)
Fathoms Deep Extra Dimension Eye Shadow (permanent)
Technakohl Liner in Graphblack (permanent)
False Lashes Mascara (permanent)
All are full size

mac nutcracker sweet eye bags — The MAC Nutcracker Sweet Eye Bags with an iPhone 6S Plus for scale

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MAC Nutcracker Sweet Holiday 2016 Gift Sets: The MAC Nutcracker Sweet Lip Bags

October 18th, 2016 by Karen 11 Comments

mac candy cane — Wearing Candy Cane Lipstick from the MAC Nutcracker Sweet Red Lip Bag

It’s hard to talk about something that’s isn’t quite inspiring, but also isn’t junk.

I mean, I’ve been sitting here for gosh knows how long trying to say that I like the Red Lip Bag more than the Nude Lip Bag, but I think they’re both good deals.

These two bags are from the MAC Nutcracker Sweet holiday collection, and in the plus column, they come with three full-size MAC products — a Vamplify gloss (LOVE the Vamplifies), a Pro Longwear Lip Pencil and a Lipstick — for $39.50, but I wish they also came with a MAC sharpener, because I have a bunch of Pro Longwear Lip Pencils, and I’ve tried sharpening them with other pencil sharpeners, like the Chanel one and the Urban Decay one, but the only sharpeners that work well with them (for me) are from MAC.

When I sharpen the Pro Longwears with other sharpeners, the tips get stubby and easily break. And the actual pencil part doesn’t sharpen correctly either. It’s weird. I ended up getting a MAC sharpener specifically to sharpen my Pro Longwears, so if you do get one of these bags (or one of the MAC Pro Longwears), seriously, get yourself a sharpener too. It’ll help.

As for the two bags themselves, honestly, maybe a little snooze-worthy…but it all depends on whether you already have the goodies. For $39.50, you get items worth $58, which could be a great deal.

M∙A∙C Nutcracker Sweet
Available online October 20, 2016
Available in stores on October 27, 2016 through December 8, 2016
#MACNutcrackerSweet

Both bags come with a Vamplify lipgloss, which is a major selling point, because I think the MAC Vamplifies are fantastic. Intensely pigmented like a lipstick, they feel good like a Cremesheen, and they’re easy to use because of the angled doe-foot. You can get really into the corners with it.

The MAC Nutcracker Sweet Red Lip Bag ($39.50)
Vamplify in Suggestive, an intense bluish red (permanent collection, regularly $20)
Lipstick in Candy Cane, an intense blue-red (LE, $17 value)
Pro Longwear Lip Pencil in Trust In Red, a bright cool reddish cream (permanent collection, $21 value)
All three are full size

The MAC Nutcracker Sweet Nude Lip Bag ($39.50)
Vamplify in Tuned In, a mid-tone rosy nude (permanent collection, $20 value)
Lipstick in Magic Spell (LE, $17 value)
Pro Longwear Lip Pencil in In Control, a brown mauve (permanent collection, $21 value)
All three are full size

mac nutcracker sweet red lip bag — From the Red Lip Bag: Pro Longwear Lip Pencil in Trust in Red, Lipstick in Candy Cane and Vamplify in Suggestive

mac nutcracker sweet nude lip bag — From the Nude Lip Bag: Pro Longwear Lip Pencil in In Control, Lipstick in Magic Spell and Vamplify in Tuned In

mac nutcracker sweet lip bag scale — The Lip Bag and the box that it comes in with an iPhone 6S Plus for scale

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MAC Nutcracker Sweet Holiday 2016 Gift Sets: Patentpolish Pink and Nude Kits

October 17th, 2016 by Karen 14 Comments

mac fearless — Wearing MAC Fearless Patentpolish from the Nutcracker Sweet Pink Patentpolish Kit ($35)

Excuse me while I touch up my lips…

Sorry, I couldn’t help myself. I had one of these cute MAC Patentpolish minis in my hand, and I had to do it. You just can’t not do it.

These are so tiny! I swear, all we need now are a bunch of cute kittens. That would be heaven. 🙂

These are two more of the gift sets from the new MAC Nutcracker Sweet holiday collection, and I know we’ve been talking a lot about MAC Nutcracker Sweet lately, but it’s a big collection!

Each of these two $35 kits — Nude and Pink — has four mini MAC Patentpolish Lip Pencils, which are normally $21 each for the full-size versions in the permanent collection.

So, I had a major MacGyver moment the first time I tried to open one of these. They open like little drawers, and for the life of me, I could not get the pencils out. They were really wedged in there.

I ended up using a bobby pin that I’d been using to pin my bangs back and sort of jimmied it into the side to pop them out one at a time.

Just FYI.

M∙A∙C Nutcracker Sweet
Available online October 20, 2016
Available in stores on October 27, 2016 through December 8, 2016
#MACNutcrackerSweet

All of these shades are re-promotes from the permanent line, so if you’ve been collecting MAC for a while and already have some of the Patentpolishes, you may already have some of them. If you don’t, though, this might be a chance to get a good deal on a bunch of them at the same time.

Quality-wise, I think these are just as good as the full-size Patentpolishes in the permanent collection. They look and feel exactly the same — same non-sticky, lightweight, moderately moisturizing formula and lip balm-like consistency.

One thing that makes the Patentpolishes so great is that you can build up the coverage in layers from medium to full, but because they feel like a lip balm, their wear time is limited. I have to reapply them every two or three hours, but it’s not a big deal because they’re so easy to have around. You just twist them up and apply. You don’t even need a mirror.

Nude Patentpolish Kit ($35)
Pleasure’s All Mine, a pale warm nude (perm)
It’s Really Me, a warm nude (perm)
Revved Up, a creamy peach (perm)
French Kiss, a warm Caramel (perm)

Pink Patentpolish Kit ($35)
Patentpink, a washed out lilac (perm)
Fearless, a deep bluish pink (perm)
Hopelessly Devoted, a bright clean fuchsia (perm)
Ruby, a mid-tone rose (perm)

mac nutcracker sweet patentpolish kits — MAC Nutcracker Sweet Patentpolish Kits in Pink and Nude

mac nutcracker sweet pink patentpolish swatches — Pink Kit swatches from the left: Patentpink, Fearless, Hopelessly Devoted and Ruby

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