MAC Cosmetics

MAC Unsung Heroes: Prep + Prime Fix+

July 14th, 2015 by Karen 25 Comments

mac fix plus — From the left: MAC Fix+ Lavender, Real Techniques Contour Brush, Fix+ Yuzu, Fix+ Coconut and Fix+ Rose

I am totally fixated on MAC Fix+, and the obsession is so real that I can’t even figure out how many bottles I’ve gone through in my life.

Ten? Twenty??

No, it’s gotta be more than that… I usually get a new bottle about every two or three months.

I know that I talk about Fix+ a lot, but I use it every single day (I even bring a small bottle on trips).

Also known as MAC Prep + Prime Fix+, it’s a refreshing $22 mist in the MAC skincare line that you spray on bare skin or other products to moisturize and set your makeup to help it last longer. It contains water packed with vitamins and minerals and infused with a blend of green tea, chamomile and cucumber. Just spray it directly on your face for a subtle sheen.

I usually use it right when I start applying my makeup to moisturize my skin, and then again when I finish to help my face products last longer.

Starting when I’m bare-faced, before I’ve put anything else on, I spray Fix+ all over my face, where it adds a light layer of moisture and creates a wet surface upon which to more easily blend foundations, tinted moisturizers and BB creams. The end result just looks more natural and “lived in” (particularly if you tend to be heavy-handed with your product application).

After finishing my makeup, when I’m all done with my eyes, face and lips, I spray another misty layer all over my face to mellow out the powdery texture.

And there are also some other things you can do with Fix+, like using it to wet your eye brushes (it intensifies the shimmer and color of powder eyeshadows), to amplify highlights on your cheekbones and to blend foundation.

Yup!

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5 Things You Should Know About MAC Upward Lash Mascara

July 10th, 2015 by Karen 21 Comments

5 Things You Should Know About MAC Upward Lash Mascara ($22)

You might feel compelled to say, “ONWARD AND UPWARD!” to your lashes every time you open the tube — and yes, it is perfectly normal to talk to your lashes (well…).
The compact brush might remind you of other compact things, like kittens! You may even start to think, “Hey! I should get another kitten or two, or 12.”
The glossy black finish makes my lashes look exactly like the fur of this black cat in my neighborhood that I’ve been trying to befriend for, like, ages. Bribing the neighborhood cats with treats usually works, but this cat is wise to my tricks.
Oh, well. Sooner or later, I’ll wear her down.
Your (and by “your” I mean “my”) current MAC mascara love, Extended Play Gigablack Lash, will start to wonder if your three-year love affair is over because you haven’t reached for it in days.
Reassure it by stroking it gently. Try not to look like a pervert.
Friends may mistake your tube of Upward Lash for an XXL tube of MAC Lipstick, because doesn’t it look like one?!
OMG! Can you imagine?

Anyway, feel free to toy with their emotions by saying, “Yes, it’s a giant tube of MAC Lady Danger.” 🙂

The nitty-gritty details about MAC Upward Lash

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The New MAC Veluxe a Trois Collection Veluxe Pearlfusion Shadows Blend So Easily That You’ll Clutch Your Pearls

July 10th, 2015 by Karen 39 Comments

mac veluxe a trois collection top — Wearing all three shadows from MAC Veluxe a Trois Veluxe Pearlfusion Shadow in Fabulous Three

Well clutch mah pearls! Did I read that right? Was I just invited to a Veluxe a Trois? *fans self* Oh, my heavens! I’m not exactly sure what a party like that entails…but if the MAC Veluxe Pearlfusion Shadows will be there, I’m in! — as long as I don’t have to take off my cat tee shirt and stretchy pants, of course.

MAC Veluxe a Trois. Um…why does this collection’s name sound like the title of a dirty movie?

Or is that just me?

It’s probably just me…

Never mind! 🙂

In the opinion of this one cat-obsessed makeup fiend, the MAC Veluxe Pearlfusion eyeshadow formula is one of the MOST underrated MAC formulas of them all, and soon (August 13), when the new MAC Veluxe a Trois collection arrives, there will be six new trios with the Veluxe Pearlfusion formula.

Boom. There, I said. One of the most underrated MAC formulas of them all.

HEADS UP! The Veluxe a Trois collection launched early at Hudson’s Bay and is currently, as of right now, available online.

mac veluxe a trois — The six Veluxe Pearlfusion Shadow trios from the new MAC Veluxe a Trois collection

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The MAC Patentpolish Lip Pencils Are Going Permanent

July 9th, 2015 by Karen 45 Comments

mac patentpolish lip pencil 1 — 14 of the 15 new MAC Patentpolish Lip Pencils ($20 each), available now online and at MAC stores and counters

Your tongue twister for the day…

“The Patentpolish Lip Pencils are now permanent.”

Now, see if you can say it five times fast!

The Patentpolish Lip Pencils are now permanent.
The Patentpolish Lip Pencils are now permanent.
The Patentpolish Lip Pencils are now permanent.
The Patentpolish Lip Pencils are now permanent.
The Patentpolish Lip Pencils are now permanent.

Can you do it? If you can, I vote that you reward yourself with one or more of these MAC Patentpolish Lip Pencils, but you don’t have to do it today. Feel free to take your sweet time, because…THE PATENTPOLISH LIP PENCILS ARE NOW PERMANENT! 🙂

These $20 twist-up pencils have the texture of a balm, the patent-leather finish of a high-shine gloss and the precision of a husky writing implement. If they look familiar, that’s probably because they are. Some of them made appearances in limited edition collections last year.

mac patentpolish lip pencil 2 — MAC Patentpolish Lip Pencils from the left: Clever, Fearless, French Kiss and Go For Girlie

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The White Tee Trick (Also Known as Two Pops of Color) Using MAC Giambattista Valli Lipstick in Tats and the Kristin Perry Showered in Neon Necklace

July 8th, 2015 by Karen 16 Comments

mac giambattista valli tats k — Two pops o’ color!

One of the quickest, most colorful ways I know to dress up a standard-issue white tee ensemble is by incorporating twin pops o’ color like a bright lip and a colorful necklace.

When the two pops complement each other, like the hot pinks in the new MAC Giambattista Valli Lipstick in Tats and the Kristin Perry Showered in Neon Necklace, this trick is both quick and easy.

But the complementary color thing isn’t an unbreakable rule, or any kind of rule for that matter. The thing is just to have two focal points. As long as you have that down, you should be good.

I call this “The White Tee Trick” because, apparently, everything in my life needs an ONICL (Official Name Involving Capital Letters). 🙂

mac giambattista valli tats — MAC Giambattista Valli Lipstick in Tats

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MAC Dazzleglass in Boys Go Crazy From the MAC Le Disko Collection, and a Sticky Situation

June 22nd, 2015 by Karen 26 Comments

mac boys go crazy — Wearing MAC Dazzleglass in Boys Go Crazy from the new MAC Le Disko collection ($20)

If getting your hair stuck in your lipgloss ever becomes a thing — and since we live in a world where teenagers dye their hair gray and mascara wands vibrate, I feel like this is a distinct possibility — gimme a tube of MAC Dazzleglass, and I’ll be sooo set.

Seriously, these glosses are mad sticky! — like stickier than a MAC Lipglass even.

I’ve worn Dazzleglasses before, and they always get stuck in my hair, even when I wear my hair up in a pony or braid it.

Shoot, I could shave my head a la Charlize in Mad Max: Fury Road, and I bet that random strands of hair would still find their way to my lips. The stickiness is that serious.

But dat glitter tho!! Here I’m wearing MAC Dazzleglass in Boys Go Crazy ($20) because I wanted to see how the eye look I did earlier with the Dazzleshadows from the new MAC Le Disko collection would look with an intense, sparkly lip.

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A Friday Date Night Face of the Day With Some Classic MAC Eyeshadows (Saddle, Wedge, Brun, Mulch and More)

June 19th, 2015 by Karen 20 Comments

I’m counting down the seconds to date night tonight with El Hub. We’re going to watch the new Pixar movie, Inside Out, which I’m very excited about because I’ve read great reviews. Plus it takes place in the San Francisco…Bay Area represent! 🙂

I was in the mood to wear a little makeup tonight, but I wasn’t in the mood to think too hard (such is the case most Fridays), so I fell back on a classic combo of neutral MAC Eye Shadows from the permanent line that I always like wearing — Saddle and Wedge on my lids and in the crease, Brun and Mulch in the outer corners, Ricepaper to highlight the inner corners and brows, and Feline Kohl on my water lines.
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A Little Obsessed With MAC Tropic Tonic Matte Lipstick

June 17th, 2015 by Karen 48 Comments

If there were a book titled, “Chicken Soup for the Makeup-Lover’s Soul,” I bet the cover would have a picture of something coral, because a lot of the time when I feel stuck in a rut or just generally blah, I turn to coral.

Like MAC Tropic Tonic Matte Lipstick, my latest coral crush. It’s one of the new $16 Matte lipsticks MAC recently added to their permanent line.

Like a slightly redder Vegas Volt with a flat matte finish instead of MAC’s Amplified finish, it looks particularly fetching (I think) with black winged liner.

Très retro-fabulous.

You can find it now online and at MAC stores and counters.