Eyes

I’ve been belting tunes and chair dancing to a lot of old-school Whitney lately (RIP, Whit), and I’ve also been thinking back to when I Wanna Dance With Somebody took the pop music world by storm. Do you remember that? Whenever my friends and I would hear those first few notes start playing on MTV, we’d all drop whatever we were doing and tear into the living room, turn up the volume and start dancing.

Those were good times… 🙂

This was back before I was allowed to wear makeup, but it didn’t stop me from admiring Whitney’s bold ’80s eye looks.

I bet the new MAC Eye Shadow X 4 quad in Shop & Drop ($38), one of three quads in the new Shop MAC collection, would have been a big hit back then with its smokey purples, pinks and grays.

The first time I saw these four eyeshadows in Sugar Snack (a light pink matte), Hypnotizing (a frosty grayish mauve), Power Boosted (a pearly violet) and Shop & Drop (a deep blue satin), I thought, “Better for cool-toned babes,” but after getting to know ’em better, I think they’re also neutral enough for gals with warmer skin tones like mine.

Swatches from the left: Sugar Snack, Hypnotizing, Power Boosted and Shop & Drop

[Continue reading…]

Guilty pleasure No. 437: Butter sugar sandwiches

A layer of butter topped with sugar and sandwiched between two slices of soft, melt-in-your-mouth fresh Wonder Bread.

Oh, whatever! You know you loved those, too. 🙂

Loaded with fat, sugar and other carbs, they’re the perfect junk food trifecta (although not exactly the healthiest snack in town). Buttery manna from heaven.

When I was a kid, every afternoon when I got home from school, my babysitter would make one for me, and I’d eat it while watching Scooby Doo.

Ah, memories…

Gosh, I just got so hungry all of a sudden. Why don’t I fix us both a butter sugar sandwich (they really are quite good), and then we’ll play with the buttery yellow eyeshadow in the new MAC Eye Shadow X 4 quad in Colour Added ($38).

It’s the yellow pan in the picture below, and the color shares the same name as the quad.

I think it’s my favorite of these four shadows…

Doesn’t it remind you of a golden pat of butter with grains of sugar melting on top? Or is that just me? 🙂

Wait until you see it on skin! It does this shifty thing in the light, one minute going from a satiny, light yellow butter color, to a richer yellow gold, to a golden beige. It’s kinda neat, and I don’t think I have anything quite like it in my eyeshadow collection.

Believe it or not, it’s even pretty wearable, too, just like the rest of the colors in this limited edition eyeshadow quad (one of three in the new Shop MAC collection).

In the quad, light yellow Colour Added is joined by a satiny neutral called Laundry Daze (essentially a beige), a slate gray called Self-Serve and a shimmery turquoise called Pre-Packaged.

The turquoise and yellow shades are generous with pigment but don’t throw their weight around, and I really like the effect.

By putting together two neutrals with two user-friendly brights, MAC’s created a quad for makeup lovers who crave a little color, but don’t necessarily want to wear LOUD NEON BRIGHTS!

[Continue reading…]

As much as I and use the MAC Fluildine gel liners, I don’t think I’ve ever reached the bottom of one of them — not even my beloved pot of Blacktrack.

“Ultra-smooth, Fluidline’s gel formula provides the precision of a liquid liner with a silkier, softer finish. Goes on ‘foolproof’ with a brush in an easy dip-and-stroke action. Long-wearing. Smudge-proof. Lines up in a rich array of colours and finishes.”

–maccosmetics.com

Maybe that’s why I don’t get the urge to squirrel away multiple pots of the Fluidline colors, because each one lasts me so wondrously long.

Ah, but I did feel that urge today for the first time in ages — the urge to stock up on one (or two) spare pots of a new Fluidline — and the dang thing has such a perfect name!

They call it Added Goodness ($15), and for very good reason. MAC introduced this shimmery blackened mauve and two other limited edition Fluidlines, soft black Midnight Snack and blackened brown Wholesome, with the recently released Cook MAC collection.

Hark! — dost thou loins tremble? Don’t worry if they do. 🙂 Some products have that effect on people. I felt joy wash over me the first time I swept Added Goodness on my lids. Then, when I read the words, “coming soon,” on the MAC website, code for “temporarily out of stock,” I felt a tinge of sadness…

But it lifted the instant I spotted Added Goodness over at nordstrom.com.

It’s just such an interesting color (and it even shimmers!), that mix of mauve and black — rich enough for darker skin tones but not so intense that it appears harsh on lighter lasses.

[Continue reading…]

“Okay, can I just say that I’m in love with your eyeshadow?”

“Oh, this? Thanks! It’s from a limited edition quad over at MAC.”

“LOVE the satiny tan and frosty orange… They look like great alternatives to brown and beige.”

“They are! And I think the other two shades — there’s a matte coral and a frosty reddish copper — are just as fun and wearable as these.”

“OOH! I’ve been in a rut lately with neutrals and could use a little makeup inspiration. What’s it called?”

“Call Me Bubbles.”

“I’m sorry…?”

“Call Me Bubbles.”

“Okay… Bubbles, what’s the name of the quad?”

Haha! Sorry, I couldn’t resist. 🙂 The MAC Call Me Bubbles Eye Shadow X 4 quad ($38) specializes in breaking makeup lovers out of ruts. One of three quads in the new limited edition Shop MAC collection, it hosts four powder shadows in Call Me Bubbles (a light satiny tan), Fresh Daily (a frosty orange), Full of Flavour (a matte coral) and Brash (a frosty reddish copper).

At first glance, I thought these shades might not be very wearable, but I’ve totally changed my tune.

The colors have character and seem interesting to me — sort of conservative with an edge, like jeans and a t-shirt worn with a pair of crazy shoes.

Swatches from the left: Call Me Bubbles, Fresh Daily, Full of Flavour and Brash

Lately, they’ve been replacing my standby neutrals in a couple of different looks…

For an everyday eye look, I’ve been wearing Call Me Bubbles (the tan) applied from lash line to brow bone, Fresh Daily (the orange) swept in the crease, and thick cat eye liner along the lash line (here, I’m wearing Paul & Joe Waterproof Gel Liner in Black). I think the combination of tan and orange puts a neat twist on regular cat eyes.

[Continue reading…]

That’s it! I’m drawing a line in the sand!

Oh…did I say sand? I meant, “on my lids and lash lines,” and I’m using MAC Pearlglide Intense Eye Liner in Black Line ($15) to do it. 🙂

OBSESSED!

That’s how I am about Black Line. It’s one of seven Pearlglide Intense Eye Liners in the new MAC Vera collection, and it’s my undisputed runaway favorite of the bunch.

Vera marks an encore performance for the Pearlglide clan. Their look-at-me-shimmer and rich, intense colors have played limited engagements in previous MAC collections before, but, much to my delight and the delight of many MAC fans, rumor has it they’re being added to the permanent line this time around.

Described as a deep black with golden pearl, I think Black Line is much more interesting and lively than that. Sometimes, when I catch myself in the mirror with it on, I see a blackened khaki with greenish golden glimmer and think, “Is that still Black Line on my eyes?”

Last night I wore it out to dinner with the girls in what I thought turned out to be a nice spin on a clean, classic eye. First, I applied a wash of neutral shadow all over my lids with MAC Soba, then a bronze liner along my lower lash and water lines with MAC Powersurge, and then used Black Line to line my upper lash lines.

Pearlglide Intense Eye Liners Industrial, Petrol Blue, Black Swan and Black Line
[Continue reading…]