MAC Makeup

A Little Bit of MAC Club

December 4th, 2024 by Karen 4 Comments

I’m hesitant to say that I’ve got my makeup mojo back because I feel like the moment that I say that I’ll revert to just wearing brow pencil and tinted sunscreen for three years, as one does, but I’m gonna go ahead and risk it and say that it all started with a little bit of Club.

You know, MAC Club eyeshadow? Of course you do. It’s a classic.

Last week, out of nowhere, I thought to myself, “I really need to wear Club.” It’s been years since I’ve wanted to deal with complicated eye makeup, but I got the urge, so I went with it.

My makeup collection is pretty barren compared to the thick of MBB’s beauty blogging days, but I’ve held on to this ancient Monster’s Bride palette from —I don’t even wanna say the year. LOL! I’ve always loved the shadows, especially Club.

I took a little bit of Club, popped it on my lids and smoothed out the edges with a fluffy brush dipped in face powder.

Oh, and this is when I figured out that you can leave behind the urge to blend eight different eyeshadows on your lids, but you cannot leave behind the urge to smooth out your eyeshadow edges into a nice gradient, ha ha ha!

Anyway, like I said, Club. It will forever be etched into my heart as the eyeshadow that helped me get at least a little bit of my makeup mojo back. Since that day last week, I’ve felt like putting at least one shade on my lids. I figure that it’s not too hard, right? I can do that. Plus, I want to do it.

So yeah, lately I’ve been wearing one shade of eyeshadow from my lash line up until my mid crease area, and you know what? It makes me so, so happy.

And that’s all I really want for makeup, you know? I just want it to make me feel happy when I wear it.

I want to feel good when I have it on, and for right now a little bit of MAC eyeshadow feels really good.

Wish me lots of makeup luck, and I’ll send lots your way, too because why not? ‘Tis the season to wear a little eyeshadow!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Lip of the Day: The Newly Reformulated MAC Maximal Velvet Teddy, Eclipse Adventures and What’s for Lunch

April 9th, 2024 by Karen 7 Comments

First things first, I’m not mad at the newly reformulated Velvet Teddy Maximal Lipstick by MAC. I know!

I thought I’d be grumpy about it after taking Sweet Deal for a spin last week and feeling underwhelmed by the experience, but the wear time on Velvet Teddy 2.0 is almost as good as the original, and it’s less drying on my lips.

If Velvet Teddy is a frequent flyer in your makeup rotation, don’t worry. This new version does alright.

Secondly, I totally forgot to mention the eclipse when I was writing the Monday Poll yesterday morning. I didn’t remember it until I saw a couple of telescopes and various eclipse-related accoutrements on campus.

I was oddly thrilled by the low-tech things, including the shadows created by the colander and by the eclipse glasses.

Did you catch it at all yesterday? I hope you did because even though we didn’t get totality here in Northern California, it was still very cool.

Last but not least, a totally random question. What’s for lunch today? I’m mostly asking on behalf of my tum. LOL!

I’ve been coming home for lunch lately, and to save time, I usually set aside some leftovers or make a sandwich the night before so I can just walk through the door and gobble something down. I didn’t do that last night, though, so I have no lunch plans yet. I need some inspo!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Lip of the Day: MAC Sweet Deal Maximial Lipstick

April 2nd, 2024 by Karen 6 Comments

There are some things one could always rely on like the sun rising and setting, internet cats doing silly things, chin hairs spontaneously sprouting in the middle of a meeting and MAC matte lipsticks gripping onto one’s lips for dear life.

That feeling of the distinct MAC matte formula cemented to my pout—there was nothing like it!

MAC’s newly reformulated take on matte lippie via the MAC Maximal lipsticks removes that “grippy” feeling that made MAC lipsticks so long lasting. I’m wearing the shade Sweet Deal here, by the way. It’s a neutral pink.

In some ways, this new version is refreshing. It’s so lightweight that I often forget that I’m wearing it. It’s comfortable, and the matte finish is so smooth and beautiful—a modern take on matte, even. But it just doesn’t last as long. I drink a cup of coffee and it’s gone.

I used to apply an OG MAC Matte lippie in the morning and it would still be around after lunch. I think when they decided to swap the old formula in lieu of this new version, they decided that ladies and gents and everyone in between wouldn’t mind the limited wear time.

I miss the ability to put my lipstick on and just forget about it for a few hours, but I guess some things never change, including the desire to reformulate a perfectly good lipstick.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Checking In: Taylor Swift Week, Red Lip Drama and Work Things

January 26th, 2024 by Karen 11 Comments

On Sunday, Connor declared that it was going to be Taylor Swift week at our house, so we’ve been listening to Taylor Swift music all week long. My new favorite Taylor song is “Bejeweled.”

It’s one of those songs that took a while to grow on me. When I first heard it, I thought, “Eh, it’s okay,” but the more I listened to it, the more I liked it.

I also wore red lipstick every day to work as a homage to T-Swift! In the pic above I’m wearing MAC Retro Matte in Feels so Grand.

You know how sometimes when you put on red lipstick, one side looks a little wonky, so you try to correct it, and then next thing you know, the other side looks wonky, and you correct the other side, but then another part starts to look funny, and it goes on and on and on? That’s what happened here. Miraculously, it eventually worked out, and I made it to work on time.

Speaking of work, it’s been going great. I enjoy helping instructors and students, and every once in a while I get to flex my writing and editing skills.

The pace is very different compared to what I’m used to in marketing/creative in the private sector. People actually hang out, ya know, at the water cooler. It’s so wild to me, especially after years of solely interacting socially on Zoom. When you work online, there’s never really that time to just run into someone in the hallway or the break room and chat. It’s refreshing.

I do find, though, that even though I enjoy the social aspects of the job, that I need time to be by myself throughout the day. Occasionally I’ll go into my office and just retreat (I call it “hermit crabbing”) for a while so I can be alone.

Speaking of offices, I recently realized that there are things about shared office spaces that I haven’t had to think about in forever.

(TMI moment ahead, by the way.)

I used to eat whatever I wanted during lunch because it was just me and Rosie at home, but now that there’s other people in the mix — forget about it.

I realized that there are certain, ahem, gassy foods I now have to avoid at lunch if I’m going to be amongst other people. One cannot just eat lentil soup without suffering the consequences!

The other day I brought an eggroll in a bowl dish with tons of shredded cabbage, and it was so hard to, uh, keep things to myself, if you know what I mean.

Did I mention that I share an office with someone, and we have a window that can’t open? HA HA HA!

Anywho, overall work’s been fine. It’s such a big weight off my shoulders knowing that I have something steady that’s not going anywhere (knock on wood because you never know).

It’s allowed my mind to have lots more mental space to be creative.

Hope things are going well with you. Happy Friday!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Vintage Vibes with a Reddish Orange Lip | A Movie Recommendation

December 7th, 2023 by Karen 14 Comments

Some mornings, you wake up and think to yourself, “I’m gonna wear a bright reddish orange lip just like Judy Garland did in the days of yore.”

Hey man, it totally happens! 🙂

I just watched “Meet Me in St. Louis” for the first time, and I’m so impressed that the makeup from this film from 1944 doesn’t look dated. The reddish orange lip that pops up in many of Judy’s scenes is so beautifully classic.

I remembered after I put on my lipstick this morning that in the movie Judy’s often had a touch of shine to it, but I couldn’t deal with that today, LOL! I can’t be the only person who wears a shiny red lipstick and makes a massive mess. It’s like my secret super power to get it all over my face, my teeth, my clothes — I gotta say, when it comes to bright lips, matte finishes are so much easier for me to wear, especially if I pair a matte liner like I did here (Urban Decay Bang) layered with a matte liquid lipstick (MAC Resort Season).

I like musicals and prefer shows and movies that aren’t too scary, and I thoroughly enjoyed “Meet Me in St. Louis.” It’s very sweet and easy to watch, and there’s quite a few songs that I recognized from just hearing in pop culture. Watch it if you get the chance! I found it on MAX.

Now I wanna ride a trolley

You probably know this one

Another thing I love about Judy’s makeup is how the makeup artist from the movie, Dottie Ponedel, goes all the way Judy’s blush. I wish I could wear that much in real life because I looooove blush, but these days, I feel like if I put too much on I look bananas. If I could pull it off, though, I’d swipe as much as I could on, every day, all day, ha ha ha.

Have you watched any good movies lately?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. If you’ve got a moment, please send some good vibes this way. I’m waiting to find out if I got a job or not, and I could use the good thoughts. I’ll send you some too, if you want ’em.

Lip of the Day: MAC Quite the Standout | Some Good News

December 6th, 2023 by Karen 29 Comments

Do you ever find seemingly random piles of items from nature near your door? At our house, there’s always a pile of something. LOL! Rocks or sticks or pinecones or acorns — this morning it was a stack of fallen leaves, all the size of one’s head or bigger.

Connor’s always gathering and collecting treasures from the great outdoors. 🍂🍁

Anywho, I needed to wear something fun and joyful today because I got some good news from the doctor’s office this morning. Long story short, the health issue I’ve been concerned with for months doesn’t appear to be THE BIG SCARY THING that I feared.

It’s been a couple of draining weeks on my end taking tests and waiting for results. I can’t even begin to tell you how happy I am to wear a colorful red lipstick to celebrate (hopefully) making it to grandma status someday in the very, very far distant future.

The warm orangey red I’m wearing today is MAC Retro Matte Liquid Lipcolour in Quite the Standout. I feel like it has a vintage vibe to it.

Enjoy the rest of this beautiful day. And as cheesy as it sounds, if you get the chance, take a moment to please tell your body “thank you” for everything it does for you, especially if you’re reasonably healthy.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Checking In: Chocolate Epiphanies, Too Faced Better Than Chocolate Palette, Second Interviews and Shiseido

November 29th, 2023 by Karen 3 Comments

I don’t know when it happened, but sometime within the last few months, I switched from being on Team Milk Chocolate to Team Dark Chocolate, which is crazy to me because for years now, I’ve said to anyone and everyone who’ll listen that dark chocolate tastes like punishment, LOL!

They say that your sense of taste changes as you get wiser, so this isn’t a big surprise, but still.

It’s kinda weird to be at the checkout counter at Trader Joe’s and reach for impulse chocolate and buy dark instead of milk. Side note, who am I kidding? It’s not impulse chocolate when you buy it all the time. LOL!

Anywho, while we’re on the subject of chocolate, it’s been a minute since I’ve worn a Too Faced palette. I tried out their new Better Than Chocolate palette recently just for funsies to see if I still was feeling it…

It’s like a mashup between their Better Than Sex and Chocolate Bar themes.

Sigh, I dunno. Their first Chocolate Bar palette came out a decade ago (!), and I can’t believe they’re still recycling the same idea. One would think that in 10 years they could whip up something new, but I guess they really like to stick close to what they know.

Blending and pigment were fine, but I felt like the warm browns pulled very red on my skin (I’m an NC 42 in MAC, by the way). It’s a very distinct type of look, and I’m not always a fan of it on my skin tone because I feel like it makes me look like I’ve been crying, so I probably won’t be adding this palette into my regular rotation anytime soon.

Oh goodness, speaking of regular rotations, apparently now I’m on the “second interview” merry-go-round. I had one on Monday via video and a second one in person yesterday.

I defaulted to my usual MAC neutral lipstick, Velvet Teddy, to keep things “profesh” (air quotes), but after I saw myself in pics, I kinda wish I wore a brighter lip.
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A Lil’ Fall Makeup Edit: Playing with Plum

November 16th, 2023 by Karen Leave a Comment

You know those days when you just cannot deal with your hair? Yeah, I’m having one of those right meow. LOL!

Alright, so remember the lip liner and lip balm trick from yesterday’s post? I did the same thing today but with a plummy lip with MAC Plum Lip Liner and Laneige Lip Glowy Balm in Gummy Bear.

Side note, if you’re gonna go the lip liner route, it helps to have a pencil sharpener dedicated solely to your lip products. That way, you don’t ever have to deal with black or brown eyeliner bits getting all up in your soft pinks and whatnot. I use and like the one by NARS.

So I tried something a little different today; I started with the plum lip and then put on the rest of my makeup afterwards. I recently saw in a video about dark lips about how putting them on first helps you gauge how much makeup to wear with the rest of the look.

I think in my case, it totally helps because I’m always trying to see how little makeup I can get away with (it’s my jam these days).

Try it the next time you feel like wearing darker lipstick and tell me how it goes.

As for the rest of the look, to echo the plum vibe, I swept NARS Sin blush on my cheeks and Chanel Rouge Noir (one of their eyeshadow-liner-kohl sticks) on my upper lash line.

Before you jet, I just had to share this chicken enchilada recipe with you! I made it yesterday for the first time with some rotisserie chicken from Costco and it was SO GOOD.

You’ll have to excuse the pic with the half-eaten pan of enchiladas, LOL! We were really hungry. I served it with a salad and cut apple pears for dessert. Yum!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen