MAC Cosmetics

MAC Flamingo Park Collection | Overview, Swatches

January 21st, 2016 by Karen 28 Comments

There should be a video right up here in this post, but if it isn’t appearing for any reason, you can click here to watch it on YouTube.

GIRL, you know how I feel about flamingos! Those beautiful pink and coral feathers…that graceful neck…those long legs…that stylin’ beak! They’re my second favorite animal behind teh kittehs, and if there were such thing as a “Crazy Flamingo Lady,” I’d qualify, no doubt.

I’m happy to report that said beautiful bird is front and center in the new spring MAC Flamingo Park collection.

Behold…

mac flamingo park powder blushes — MAC Flamingo Park Powder Blushes

mac lifes a picnic blush — MAC Flamingo Park Powder Blush in Life’s a Picnic

mac pink swoon blush — MAC Flamingo Park Powder Blush in Pink Swoon

mac lets be friends blush — MAC Flamingo Park Powder Blush in Let’s Be Friends

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MAC Unsung Heroes: Satin Taupe Eye Shadow

January 19th, 2016 by Karen 21 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.

I swear, you just can’t go wrong with the classics. I wore MAC Satin Taupe Eye Shadow the other day for the first time in months. It’s a shimmery grayish purple in the MAC permanent line, and it’s been around since the days of the dinosaurs!

OK, not that long, but it has been around a while. It was one of the very first MAC shadows I ever picked up, and, and it wowed me from the start…

It’s just so dang pretty!

I didn’t do anything fancy with it this week — just the same standard-issue Satin Taupe look I’ve been doing for, oh, the past zillion years.

I needed to put on some makeup to record a video, so I lined my eyes with black liner, then took that same liner and smudged it on my lids and lower lash lines. Then I buffed out the black liner with a MAC 217 before patting Satin Taupe directly on top and blending everything together. A quick sweep of cool matte brown MAC Omega in my crease, and that was it. All done.

Easy, elegant and damned fast — which led me to think, “Dude, Karen! Why do you make things more difficult than they need to be? You should be doing this all the time!”

It was one of those “Doh!” forehead-to-palm moments when I question my life choices, LOL!

Anyway, with Satin Taupe, we’re talking must-have (yes, it’s that serious). You’ve probably seen it around in limited edition palettes here and there… Here it is in a couple of recent ones (MAC Brooke Shields Gravitas and the MAC Nordstrom Naturals palettes), but you can also find it as a single in the permanent line.

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A MAC Viva Glam Ariana Grande Lipstick Face of the Day

January 13th, 2016 by Karen 39 Comments

This is the most makeup I’ve worn in weeks.

OK…two months.

I KNOW! For someone who lives, breathes and dreams about this stuff, I haven’t been doing too well in the actual “putting on makeup” department.

It’s just a phase, which happens sometimes, and I’ll get through it. Maybe my makeup today will be the first step. I’ll start with this warm reddish smoky eye and MAC Viva Glam Ariana Grande dark plum lips, then build up to false lashes tomorrow. Then, on Friday, it’s global makeup domination! Er…or something like that.

Lips

Even though El Hub says that this lipstick makes me look “vampiric,” I love it. If you’ve had your eye on this one (and, seriously, it’s so gorgeously matte and darkly plummy, how could you not?), it just arrived on counters and the MAC website today with its cute cohort, MAC Viva Glam Ariana Grande Lipglass ($15).

mac viva glam ariana grande — MAC Viva Glam Ariana Grande Lipstick ($17)

I’m wearing the Lipstick here, by the way, with MAC Cyber World Lip Pencil, because, for the life of me, I just can’t do this color directly from the bullet. It’s too dang hard, homie! Something like MAC Nightmoth Lip Pencil would totally also work if you happen to have it around.

Eyes, Cheeks and Skin

I swear, one of these days I’ll swap out the Tartelette In Bloom Palette that’s been chillin’ in my makeup bag for the past two months, but it’s still up in the mix for now…
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MAC Viva Glam Ariana Grande

January 5th, 2016 by Karen 24 Comments

There’s a video review in this post, but if it’s not appearing, you can click here to watch it on YouTube.

Turn up the music! — and perhaps hide that doughnut you’re planning to eat for your afternoon snack, because it might get licked… WHOA! That ended up sounding a lot naughtier than it did in my head.

Anyways! MAC Viva Glam’s newest ambassador is none other than pop star and infamous doughnut licker Ariana Grande, and [insert ridiculously impossible vocal run here] her new Viva Glam Lipstick and Lipglass hits all the right notes. I’m feelin’ it (especially the lipstick).

The quick deets on the two-piece MAC Viva Glam Ariana Grande collection:

MAC Viva Glam Ariana Grande Lipstick — a deep, dark plum ($17)
MAC Viva Glam Ariana Grande Lipglass — a light, shimmery pink ($15)
Available on the MAC website starting January 13 and in stores at all MAC locations January 21

As always, thank you for watching. 🙂

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

I Want These Boots…

December 18th, 2015 by Karen 22 Comments

My justification for these Packable Tour Boots in Military Red (they’re $150, OMG!) by Hunter is that El Niño is coming/almost here, and I’m not about to mess with El Niño, man.

If The Niño is going to unleash his wrath on my feet and the surrounding area, I need to be prepared. Plus, hello! — they’re red, so they’ll match MAC Velvetease Lip Pencil in Anything Goes, my new favorite red lipstick.

Having red rain boots to match your red lipstick is of the utmost importance! I know you feel me on this!

Also, they’d match the little red lipstick kisses on this sweater I got from A Pea in the Pod last month (on sale, haaay). 🙂

I can’t seem to find it on their website anymore, but if you’re moved by it, it might be on the rack in their stores (here’s a link to their store locator). It’s warm, comfy, isn’t scratchy (because NOBODY has time for scratchy sweaters), and I’d still want to wear it if I wasn’t pregnant.
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MAC Retro Matte Liquid Lipcolour Video Review & Swatches

December 16th, 2015 by Karen 31 Comments

Swatching all of these new MAC Retro Matte Liquid Lipcolour lipsticks yesterday was an adventure because they’re CRAZY pigmented. They’re liquid mattes, which means they can be a little drying (purr usual), or SUPER drying when it comes to my super sensitive lips, especially after applying and removing 15 of them, but with good lip prep beforehand, you should be fine.

After all, only crazy people put on 15 liquid lipsticks one after another.

MAC Retro Matte Liquid Lipcolour

$20 US each/$24 CAD
Available January 7, 2016 at all MAC locations (permanent line)

Fashion Legacy – an intense fire truck red

Feels So Good – a deep true red

High Drama – a deep, dark plum

Dance with Me – a deep cranberry red

Lady-Be-Good – a warm mid-ton nude

Tailored to Tease – a bright fuchsia

Oh, Lady – a deep wine

Recollection – an intense bright violet

Quite the Standout – a bright orange-red

To Matte With Love – a bright raspberry

Personal Statement – a shocking pink

Divine-Divine – a light creamy pink

Mademoiselle – a bright creamy coral

Back in Vogue – a peachy nude

Rich & Restless – a mid-tone pinky salmon

As always, thank you for watching! 🙂

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

The MAC Velvetease Lip Pencils: Video Review & Swatches

December 15th, 2015 by Karen 22 Comments

Just a quick video review and swatches of the new MAC Velvetease Lip Pencils. They’re available now online ($20 each, 12 shades) and coming to stores and counters December 17 into the permanent line.

The MAC Velvetease Lip Pencils

Anything Goes, a matte rosy fuchsia

Temper Tantrum, a matte bright orange coral

Lover’s Lane, a matte deep orange

Frolic, a matte mid-tone peachy pink

Oh Honey, a matte warm chocolate

Aim to Please, a matte dirty mauvey brown

Just My Type, a matte clean blue fuchsia

Just Add Romance, a matte deep red

Tease Me, a matte light pink

Promise Me, a matte soft beige nude

Velvet Teen, a matte deep blackened plum

Reddy to Go, a matte deep brick red

Have you gotten your lips on these yet? What do you think?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

MAC Faerie Whispers Collection: First Look

December 8th, 2015 by Karen 26 Comments

mac faerie whispers collection foiled eyeshadows 1 — MAC Faerie Whispers collection Foiled Shadows from the left: In Your Eyes, Feminine Wiles and Sweet Illusion ($20 each)

What do fairy (or faerie) whispers sound like?

I think it’s safe to assume they aren’t incredibly loud. Because of the whispering. Obvs… And I imagine they’re also high pitched and chipper, kind of like a piccolo.

A well-played piccolo, because a badly played piccolo is… NUH-UH. Trust me, as a former flautist, I know this.

I think that if a MAC Faerie were to flitter along — and this isn’t the first (or second or tenth) time I’ve fantasized about MAC fairies before, LOL! — she’d likely land on your shoulder and softly say into your ear, “Hello! Ooh, I love eyeshadow! Would you like to talk about it?”

Clearly, I spent too much of my childhood in an imaginary world…

Actually, I’ve also spent most of my adulthood in an imaginary world, LOL!

mac faerie whispers collection foiled eyeshadows 2 — MAC Faerie Whispers collection Foiled Shadows in Fairy Land (left) and Enchanted Forest (right), $20 each

mac faerie whispers beauty powder — MAC Faerie Whispers Collection Beauty Powders in Pearl Sunshine (left) and Sparkling Rose (right), $22 each

MAC regularly releases a collection shortly after Christmas each year, and this year, that collection is the very spring-like, glowing, ethereal MAC Faerie Whispers.

Most of the time, their post-Christmas collections lean sort of cool in terms of color temps, but this one has a lot of warm tones in it. It arrives December 23 on the MAC website and flutters into stores and counters December 26, where it remains through February 6 next year.

MAC Faerie Whispers Collection Powder Blushes in Cheek Pollen (left) and Spellbinder (right), $22 each — MAC Faerie Whispers collection Powder Blushes in Cheek Pollen (left) and Spellbinder (right), $22 each

mac faerie whispers lipsticks — MAC Faerie Whispers collection Lipsticks from the left: Lustre Lipstick in Gossamer Wing, Frost Lipstick in A Sprinkle of Magic, Cremesheen Lipstick in Midsummer Night and Cremesheen Lipstick in Among the Fireflies ($17 each)

This is just a quick overview while I continue testing the products, and I’ll have a more detailed review in a few days.

But my first impressions? Shine. Various degrees of it, from subtle sheen to lustrous metallic.

As for the big news, it’s probably the new Foiled Shadows, a completely new formulation. I popped a couple of them on my eyes this morning… Incidentally, I’m wearing two different eye looks right now! One eye is completely purple, and the other one is golden brown, and so today will probably be the day when at least 10 different people knock on my door and I have to answer it this way.

But I digress…

mac faerie whispers cremesheen glass — MAC Faerie Whispers collection Cremesheen Glasses from the left: Softly Lit, Calypso Beat, Just Superb and Enchanter ($20 each)

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