MAC Makeup

MAC Unsung Heroes: Costa Chic Lipstick

July 29th, 2011 by Karen 38 Comments

Okay, sure, it might look a little South Beach swingin’ seniors in its tube, but please, PLEASE, if you have any coral lipstick love in your heart, promise me you’ll try MAC Costa Chic ($14.50) at least once.

This frosty light coral unsung heroine has a distinctly old school flava I like. It reminds me of a hipper, updated version of the Revlon Orange Flip lipstick my granny wore back in the ’80s (and still wears to this day).

Since it is quite bright, I usually pair it with neutral eyes, and I think it looks particularly fetching with black winged eyeliner. When I’m in the mood to wear a retro cat eye but don’t feel like wearing it with a strong red or pink lip, I’ll often reach for Costa Chic.

And sometimes I like to layer it beneath coral lipglosses (like MAC Evolution Revolution) to visibly upgrade the fun. 🙂

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MAC Opulash Optimum Black Mascara: More of a Good Thing with Even Better Curl Hold

July 26th, 2011 by Karen 49 Comments

It looks like Prep + Prime Powder and Turquatic aren’t the only MAC products getting makeovers next month.

Last year’s totally tubular MAC Opulash mascara started out, like, totally rad, but now it’s getting even radder with a souped-up sibling called Opulash Optimum Black ($16).

It’s basically like the original, except in a darker, more intense shade of black.

Both the original formulation and the new MAC Opulash Optimum Black are referred to as “tube mascaras.” The formulas envelop lashes in a “tube” of mascara. Generally, the term is used to describe long-wearing, durable products ideal for humid climates, yet most are removable with warm water (counterintuitive, I know, considering how well they usually handle humidity).

I’ve used the original Opulash on and off since the first time I tried it last year, and I like the look. It’s very distinct, with uniform thickness from lash root to tip.

The original one’s also great with lifts — like Patrick Swazye was for Jennifer Gray in the last scene from Dirty Dancing (one of the BEST moments in movie history!) — and I reach for it sometimes when I want a lifted, even fringe with good volume. It delivers pumped up, noticeble lashes that are just shy of drag.

And based on the time I’ve spent with it, this newer version, Opulash Optimum Black, lifts lashes while volumizing just as well as the older version, with the added bonus of better curl hold.

Bare lashes (top); with two coats of Opulash Optimum Black (bottom)
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Where Have You Been, MAC Turquatic? Oh, Getting a New Outfit, I See

July 26th, 2011 by Karen 27 Comments

mac turquatic 2011

You’re cruising down the Pacific Coast Highway on your way to meet friends for dinner. The sun just set, and the sky’s a mix of orange, pink and violet where it meets the sea on the horizon. Your swimsuit fits in all the right ways, and you’ve got the windows down to dry your hair. You don’t really know the hot boy who sits in dangerously low-hanging board shorts in the passenger seat, but he seems sweet. You’ll get to know him better soon.

That is MAC Turquatic. Light and watery, it’s like a cleaner, crisper, less sugary sweet version of Dolce & Gabbana’s Light Blue, and it’s my absolute favorite MAC scent, hands down.

When rumors surfaced earlier this year about it being discontinued, and it started disappearing from MAC counters, stores and the MAC website, I freaked!

But it turns out MAC was just phasing out the old bottle (WHEW!) and replacing it with a stylish new one that’s like a fresh sea breeze. Come August 11, Turquatic docks permanently on counters and in stores, in three sizes, a Rollerball ($20 US; $24 CDN), a small 20ml bottle ($27.50 US; $33 CDN; the exact same size as the old bottle), and the super-sized 50ml bottle shown here ($49.50 US; $59.50 CDN).

The fragrance hasn’t changed, but its attire has. Officially, the fragrance notes are still sparking mineral water, fresh lotus leaves, Corsican cedrat (a citrusy fruit similar to lemons and lime) and a warm blend of anemone (a flowering plant in the buttercup family), orris (root of the iris plant) and blue cedar.

mac turquatic 2011
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Even If Pressed, I’d Have Trouble Finding Fault with MAC Prep + Prime Transparent Finishing Powder

July 25th, 2011 by Karen 40 Comments

mac prep prime transparent finishing powder pressed

Sometimes I wonder whether MAC has my house bugged or if they’ve recruited Tabs as a spy. I’m serious. The company always seems to know my secret makeup desires, even when I haven’t shared them on the blog.

It’s uncanny. Take MAC Prep + Prime Loose Powder, for instance, and how many times in reference to it I’ve said, “I wish MAC made a pressed powder version of this.”

Maybe I just watch too many cop shows, but when I heard that MAC planned to add a pressed version of Prep + Prime to their permanent line next month, the first thing I did was glance at Tabs.

“Are you spying on me?” I asked.

Of course he didn’t answer… Typical behavior for a spy. 🙂

I can’t say for certain that this was a case of corporate cosmetics espionage, but honestly, who cares? I’m just glad I might not have to wrestle with jars of the loose powder to get Prep + Prime’s glowy, airbrushed look on trips anymore.

mac prep prime transparent finishing powder pressed closed

mac prep prime transparent finishing powder pressed open

mac prep prime transparent finishing powder pressed

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MAC Unsung Heroes: Fast Response Eye Cream

July 25th, 2011 by Karen 36 Comments

What good is a fast-acting beauty product if it takes forever to find?

Not much, which is why I like to strategically place tubes of MAC Fast Response Eye Cream ($30) where I can reach them in a hurry. To that end, I keep one in my travel makeup bag, and another atop my dresser.

Oh, and then there’s the wayward one I found, with all of two drops remaining, in the passenger side door compartment of my car the other day. Poor thing probably thought I’d forgotten it was there (I didn’t.

Needless to say, I kindasorta love this cream. 🙂

It’s been a member of MAC’s permanent makeup line for years; I think I started using it circa 2001.

What is it exactly? Well, it’s a caffeinated, quick-absorbing eye cream to reduce puffiness around the eyes and diminish the appearance of dark circles, while smoothing and firming up the skin.

It also contains subtle light diffusers that really seem to brighten my under-eye area and soften the look of my fine lines, too, which, with this dumb-@ss insomnia I’ve been having, works out great.

I did some digging into the effectiveness of topical caffeine in skincare products, and it appears the jury’s still out. There’s some evidence to support that it might diminish under-eye circles over time (and a few studies have shown that it might be helpful in other ways), but it’s probably not a miracle in a tube/jar.

Either way, Fast Response is widely loved as a lightly hydrating eye cream, especially for normal and oily skin types, but my favorite way to wear it is paired with MAC concealers, a trick I learned from a friendly MAC artist. Combined, they cover dark circles yet don’t look heavy or obvious.

Just mix a couple drops of MAC Fast Response Eye Cream in with some concealer, and buff the blend under your eyes using a fluffy brush like the 224 or 217. The result? — flawless, natural-looking coverage, almost like you’re not wearing any makeup at all.
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MAC Unsung Heroes: Soft Ochre Paint Pot

July 22nd, 2011 by Karen 50 Comments

mac soft ochre paint pot

Welcome to the Age of the Eyeshadow Primer, young lady. Right now there are loads of them out there to choose from, many of them un-tinted, like Urban Decay Primer Potion, Too Faced Shadow Insurance, and my current go-to girl, NARS Pro-Prime Smudge Proof Eyeshadow Base, to name just a few.

But there’s another great way to prime your lids, and all it takes is the right long-wearing cream eyeshadow.

Since they’re pigmented, some of them (especially the neutral ones) can also be used as color correctors, and they’re a great way to give depth to your other favorite eyeshadows. MAC calls their line of cream shadows Paint Pots, and one of my absolute faves of all time (okay, at least the past four years) is also my Unsung Hero today, Soft Ochre ($16.50).

Why Soft Ochre?

MAC Soft Ochre Paint Pot ($16.50) touched down a few years ago with the MAC N Collection of neutrals and nudes, and shortly after that it was added to the company’s permanent line. It’s a neutral yellowish beige with a matte finish, and many gals consider it one of the line’s primo primers.

I think it looks great worn all by itself on my lids with some liner and mascara, but I also use it to extend the wear time of other shadows and to intensify shadows that contain yellow or gold tones.

Dang if it doesn’t brighten my eyes as well as anything. It also evens out the skin tone on my lids — mighty convenient when I’m chronically sleep deprived, as I’ve been this week.

mac soft ochre paint pot

mac soft ochre paint pot
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MAC Unsung Heroes: Ricepaper Eyeshadow

July 18th, 2011 by Karen 47 Comments

mac ricepaper eyeshadow

I know I did not just hear you say that you don’t have MAC Ricepaper Eyeshadow ($14.50) yet because that, my love, would be a makeup travesty of epic proportions.

EPIC!

Okay, maybe not epic. But large. Let’s say, bigger than a breadbox? 🙂

Shoot, I can’t even remember when I first started wearing Ricepaper (I think it was around 1999), but I do remember that it changed my life (as only good makeup can).

mac ricepaper eyeshadow

This shimmery, pigmented peachy gold is one of those colors I find I’m able to wear every single day, and I almost do. I probably reach for it at least a few times a week and wear it most often as a wash over my lids, or along my brow bone as a highlighter (I think it lifts the arches), or at the inner corners of my eyes when I feel I look tired.

It’s quite the team player, too. It maintains an excellent working relationship with many MAC neutrals, like Soba, Saddle, Soft Brown, Brown Script, Cork and Smoke & Diamonds, and I think it also works well as an accent color for brights that go well with golds, like blues and teals. Freshwater and Aquadisiac are two of its biggest fans.

How do you feel about peachy golden Arena? Similar pigmentation and same soft, buttery texture, but I think Ricepaper looks lighter and peachier to me. Both colors work together really well.

mac ricepaper eyeshadow
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MAC Me Over with the 226 Small Tapered Blending Brush

July 16th, 2011 by Karen 19 Comments

MAC 226 Small Tapered Blending Brush

To: MAC Cosmetics I look forward to the day MAC does us a solid by finally adding the beyond awesome MAC 226 Small Tapered Blending Brush ($24.50) to their permanent eye brush lineup, but until then I guess these periodic appearances will just have to do.

To say the 226, which makes one of its periodic limited appearances next month in the MAC Me Over Fall 2011 Collection, is just one of my favorite MAC brushes of all time would be like saying New York is a nice little town. I’ve actually had nightmares about losing it, no joke. It’s fan-frickin’-tastic for applying color into the crease, and I it so much that it always comes with me whenever I travel. I literally never leave home without it, LOL!

Basically, the 226 is like a thinner, pointier version of the famed MAC 224, which many MACaholics adore for applying color into the crease. I love it, too, especially for applying under-eye concealer and for blending out harsh lines, but when it comes to crease work, I prefer the shorter bristles of the 226.

The 224’s larger, fluffier brush head covers a wider area than the 226 does, depositing more shadow than I need on my lids. The 226’s shorter bristles and more compact brush head, on the other hand, not only fit the size and shape of my crease area better than the 224, but I don’t think its bristles splay out as much, and therefore give me more control over the eyeshadows I apply.
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