Face of the Day (FOTD)

For one precious hour last Saturday afternoon I got in some quality me time. El Hub had gone to the bookstore for something, so I had the place to myself. I plopped down on the living room floor with a bowl of chilled grapes, started an episode of Law and Order: SVU (lovin’ ya, Detective Stabler!) on the Tivo and reached for a few items from MAC Red She Said.

My mind was racing with thoughts of Tabs and other troubles, and I needed to distract myself with something uncomplicated, like Inter-view Mineralize Eye Shadow ($17.50), Enough Said Beauty Powder Blush ($18), Quiet, Please lipstick ($14) and Miss Dynamite Dazzleglass ($17.50).

From left to right: Enough Said Beauty Powder Blush, three shades from the Interview Mineralize Eye Shadow trio

I tried this brown, bronze and navy blue smokey eye. When I was done with the look, I walked around the room by myself, pretending I was contemplating impressionist paintings in a fancy art gallery.

Here’s how I did this look…

The Eyes

1. I started by priming my lids with a layer of MAC Painterly Paint Pot applied with a fingertip.
2. Next, I layered a mix of the brown and bronze shades from the MAC Inter-view Mineralize Eye Shadow Trio onto the inner two-thirds of my lid using a MAC 252 eyeshadow brush.
3. Still with the same brush, I patted the navy blue shade from Inter-view onto the outer third of the lid and just barely into the crease, concentrating most of the color on the side closer to the ear.
4. Then, I wet a MAC 239 eyeshadow brush with a spritz of MAC Fix+ and swept the wet brush head across the pan of bronze eyeshadow to load the brush and applied the rich, wet shadow to the inner third of my lid. With the edge of the brush, I lined the lower lash line.
5. Using MAC Technakohl liner in Graphblack, I lined my upper and lower water lines.

To finish the eyes, I curled my lashes with the (legendary) Shu Uemura lash curler and added a couple coats of MAC Zoomlash mascara in Zoomblack.

The Cheeks

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I knew I’d be working closely with the new girl at work today, training her on our filing system and some billing stuff, so I wanted to look as polished and semi-reliable (ha!) as possible. I decided to wear this soft, smokey pink and brown eye. It has just the teeniest touch of sparkle and draws heavily on a few of MAC’s recent collections, including Emanuel Ungaro, Suite Array and Sheer Minerals.

The look was actually my second choice this morning. At first I’d wanted to wear blue, perhaps coupled with high heels, a feather boa and something with sequins, but I didn’t want to end the day thought of as the crazy chick at work, so I went with the upstanding and responsible citizen look instead. 🙂

1. First, I primed my lids with a layer of Benefit Birthday Suit cream shadow applied with a fingertip.
2. Next, I layered the light pink shade from the MAC Rose Suites Eye Shadow Duo directly on top of Birthday Suit using a Sonia Kashuk Large Eye Shadow Brush.
3. With the same brush, I swept MAC Mineral Eye Shadow onto the lid and just barely into the crease, concentrating most of the color on the outer third of the lid (the side closer to the ear).
4. Then, with a MAC 239 eye shadow brush, I applied the dark pink shade from the MAC Rose Suites Eye Shadow Duo in the outer third of the crease and, softly sweeping with a MAC 217 blending brush, soften away any harsh lines.
5. Using MAC Rave Pearlglide liner, I lined my upper lash line…
6. … and lined my lower lash line with Lancome Le Stylo Waterproof in Noir. Sweeping with the Le Stylo’s sponge tip end, I diffused the color until all that remained was a very faint line.

To finish the look, I curled my lashes with my trusty Shu Uemura lash curler and added two coats of Chanel Exceptionnel mascara in Smoky Noir.

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You know how Picasso went through his blue phase? Well, for my look today I thought I’d follow Pablo’s lead.

Once I made up my mind about blue, I cleared space on the bathroom sink and set out some products from the recent MAC Suite Array collection.

I hate having a lot of errands and household chores to do over the weekend, but sometimes that’s just how it goes. I did this blue and purple eye while I whined my way through five loads of laundry.

1. I started the look by priming my lids with Too Faced Shadow Insurance primer to give the shadows extra staying power.
2. Next, I applied MAC Rave Pearlglide Eye Liner onto the lid.
3. I swept the dark shade from the MAC Blue Zone eye duo directly on top of the liner with a Sonia Kashuk Large Eye Shadow Brush.
4. With the tip of my ring finger moving in a circular motion, I rubbed in the pan of the light shade from the MAC Blue Zone eye duo. I patted the finger onto the center of each lid to deposit the color.
5. Then, I lined both my upper and lower water lines with MAC Black Russian Pearlglide liner. Thanks to readers Tricia and Vero for bringing to my attention that MAC’s Pearlglide liners aren’t approved for use on the water line. It’s best to skip the Pearlglide in this step and use something like MAC Technakohl liner instead. Thanks, Tricia and Vero!

To finish the eyes, I curled my lashes and added two coats of Tarte 4 Day Lash Stain mascara (I’m going to review this soon).

I kept the cheeks light with Clinique Fresh Bloom Allover Color in Almond Blossom and topped off the look with a soft pink lip using MAC Modesty Creamsheen Lipstick and Stila Grapefruit Lip Glaze gloss.

How was your day? Did you do anything fun? The highlight of my day was the brief hour I went out for lunch with El Hub. We had Puerto Rican at Sol Food in San Rafael. It’s one of my favorite places up here and really hits the spot when you’re in the mood for home cookin’ (and carbs!).

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen