MAC Makeup

MAC Make-Up Art Cosmetics Face of the Day with the Notoriety Quad

August 21st, 2009 by Karen 45 Comments

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Hola, my Salt n’ Pepas. Before you read any further, I swear to you this MAC Make-Up Art Cosmetics face of the day started off totally normal (see above).

With the Notoriety quad in hand, I followed the MAC online face chart for the Cocomotion eye look, tweaking it just a little by swapping Arena eyeshadow for Shroom and Cork for Brownscript.

I was pretty happy with how the golden reddish brown eye turned out, so I proceeded to snap some pictures like I normally do…

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But things took an odd turn when I uploaded them into this post.
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MAC Make-Up Art Cosmetics: Something for Everyone

August 20th, 2009 by Karen 59 Comments

mac makeup art cosmetics 1a

Shh… Do you hear that sound, ladies?

It’s the sound of millions of MAC fans being kept on their toes.

Seeing the new MAC Make-Up Art Cosmetics collection at the mall today, I had to overlook my preconceived notions of typical fall makeup and remember what I was supposed to be seeing.

MAC chose to name this collection “Make-Up Art Cosmetics” for a reason. It’s the company’s name, after all, and I’m guessing they intended for it to reflect more than just a season.

Remember Cult of Cherry last fall? Or Smoke Signals the fall before that? Both releases epitomized fall makeup with sultry smokey eye colors and vampy lips (mrow!).

With Make-Up Art Cosmetics, however, MAC stitched together a crazy quilt of colors running the gamut from neutrals to brights to bliggity bling-bling — a release representative of the company itself.

mac makeup art cosmetics 2a

Widespread appeal

I really get the feeling MAC tried to include something for everyone.

The subdued neutrals, elegant greens and sheer purples in the Richard Phillips set appeal to the Chanel lover in me, while the vibrant eyeshadows, liners and pigments of the Maira Kalman and Marilyn Minter sets feed my hard-core color cravings and glitter pangs.

mac makeup art cosmetics 3a

It’s a HUGE collection, too, with neutrals for my makeup-shy mom and brights for my makeup-obsessed BFF. Either one could walk away from the MAC counter with something new to wear.

What caught my eye?

Mostly the products in the Richard Phillips set — Notable blush, the Notoriety Eyeshadow palette and the New Spirit Lipglass (funny how they all start with the letter N!) — all great neutrals for work or other responsible daytime looks.

I’d really like to hear your take on this collection. What do you think MAC meant by choosing to name it Make-Up Art Cosmetics, and does it deliver? Let me know what you think in the comments.

Product shots

MAC Makeup Art Cosmetics Swatches Private Viewing
Private Viewing quad

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Notoriety quad

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Photo Realism quad

MAC Makeup Art Cosmetics Swatches Lipstick
Lipsticks from left to right: Front Lit, High Strung, Lovin’ It, Hold the Pose, Full Body

MAC Makeup Art Cosmetics Swatches Lipglass
Lipglasses from left to right: Young Thing, Personal Taste, New Spirit, On Display
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Unsung MAC Makeup Hero: A Gorgeous Golden Girl

August 18th, 2009 by Karen 33 Comments

mac-gorgeous-gold

MAC never rests for long on their laurels, and they don’t give fans a lot of time to digest the many fantastic shades in their permanent line because they’re always bringing out new limited edition ones.

Take Gorgeous Gold, for instance. Like Patina and Arena, two of my favorite MAC permanent collection ladies, I paid her no mind for years.

She’s not your average shimmery gold shadow. Gorgeous Gold’s complex and unusual and unlike any other color in my stash.

It goes on like a cool lemony gold, at certain angles flashing to a shimmery green — kinda like getting two colors in one. 🙂

mac-gorgeous-gold-swatch

One of my favorite daytime looks lately has been padding Gorgeous Gold on my lids and lining my upper lash line with MAC Humid. It’s easy, casual and makes my brown eyes *pop*.

What say you about Gorgeous Gold? What other ways would you wear it?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. Speaking of MAC limited editions, the new Make-Up Art Cosmetics collection hit the website earlier today. I’ve been playing Fill the Shopping Cart for hours.

MAC Make-Up Art Cosmetics Collection Pictures, Swatches and MORE First Impressions

August 14th, 2009 by Karen 23 Comments

mac make up art cosmetics swatches

Dagnabbit! I was supposed to start my laundry and go running this afternoon, but has any of that happened yet? No, of course not. My internal MAC Monster demanded I feed her swatches and pictures instead.

And who could blame her? — four stinky loads of laundry versus MAC’s upcoming Make-Up Art Cosmetics collection?

Well, you know how that went. 🙂

Within the humungo collection (34 pieces in all) are three different sets, each one with products designed by a different contemporary artist (painter Richard Phillips, illustrator Maira Kalman and photographer Marilyn Minter).

The artists of the MAC Make-up Art Cosmetics collection

Today I took a look at nine of the items, a few from each of the three sets.

Product shots

mac make up art cosmetics reviews eye shadow x 4 quad in notoriety
Eye Shadow X 4 Quad in Notoriety ($36)

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Eye Shadow in Crest the Wave ($14.50)

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From left to right: Pigment in Push the Edge, Glitter in Gold ($19.50 each)

mac make up art cosmetics technakohl full of fuchsia obviously orange
Technakohl Liner from top to bottom: Obviously Orange, Full of Fuchsia ($14.50 each)

mac make up art cosmetics reviews personal taste on display
Lipglass from top to bottom: Personal Paste, On Display ($14 each)

mac make up art cosmetics reviews hold the pose
Lipstick in Hold the Pose, $14

Swatches

mac make up art cosmetics swatches 1 notoriety quad
Eye Shadow X 4 Quad in Notoriety from left to right: Skintone 1, Rich & Earthy, Skintone 3, Notoriety

mac make up art cosmetics swatches brights
From left to right: Technakohl Liner in Obviously Orange, Technakohl Liner in Full of Fuchsia, Eye Shadow in Crest the Wave

mac make up art cosmetics swatches pigments
From left to right: Pigment in Push the Edge, Glitter in Gold

mac make up art cosmetics swatches lip
From left to right: Lipglass in Personal Taste, Lipglass in On Display, Lipstick in Hold the Pose

mac makeup art cosmetics swatches on display
Lipglass in On Display
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MAC Make-Up Art Cosmetics Fall 2009: What Would You Get?

August 12th, 2009 by Karen 50 Comments

mac make up art cosmetics fall 2009 rp1
Art by Richard Phillips

I love it when cosmetics companies embrace the contemporary art scene like MAC has with fall’s Make-Up Art Cosmetics collection (arriving Aug. 20).

It’s something MAC has done before — hitching their thematic wagon to an established or up-and-coming artist — and it always seems like such a brilliant concept to me. Isn’t makeup, after all, just one of many forms of art?

For past MAC fall collections like Cult of Cherry and Smoke Signals, smokey eyes and dark lips took center stage. The color palettes differed, but both collections still fell along what I consider traditional fall makeup lines, with the addition of MAC’s much-loved theatrical flair! 🙂

With the massive Make-Up Art Cosmetics collection, however, MAC created three completely different sets of products (as far as I can tell), each set designed by a different artist.

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Art by Marilyn Minter

Painter Richard Phillips, illustrator Maira Kalman and photographer Marilyn Minter each created an interpretation of their artwork through MAC makeup.

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Art by Maira Kalman

The concept excites me, but I’m not sure what to make of the colors…
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A Week with MAC Studio Moisture Tint SPF 15

August 3rd, 2009 by Karen 14 Comments

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Homegirls, here’s a quick followup on the tube o’ MAC Studio Moisture Tint SPF 15 ($30) I picked up from the Baby Bloom collection a couple weeks ago.

I’ve been wearing Medium Dark (a caramel beige) for about a week now. It’s one of the five shades in the new line of super sheer tinted moisturizers.

How does it stack up against my tried-and-true Laura Mercier Oil-Free Tinted Moisturizer?

Breaking up/out

I’ve had some rotten luck with MAC foundations in the past, and just like the others I’ve tried, Studio Moisture Tint didn’t get along with my skin. After wearing it for a week with MAC Blot Pressed Powder (which *never* gives me zits), I developed a smattering of little pimples all over my face.

On the bright side, they weren’t the volcanic-sized ones that hurt and take forever to go away, but still.

Sheer defeat

Ultimately, the coverage didn’t work for me either. I think it’s just too sheer — not that I can’t build up layers to increase the coverage, but it’s time consuming.

I usually think to wear tinted moisturizer on days when I don’t want to spend a lot of time on my makeup, so having to spend extra time layering kinda defeats the whole saving time thing.

MAC Studio Moisture Tint SPF 15

Price: $30
Use: An ultra-sheer tinted moisturizer with sunscreen
Makeup and Beauty Blog Rating: C+

MAC Studio Moisture Tint wasn’t my fave, but it still could be one of yours. If your skin gets along with MAC’s other foundations (and you’re looking for light coverage), you might want to give it a try.
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Unsung MAC Makeup Hero: MAC Patina, aka Quick-Change Artist

August 1st, 2009 by Karen 33 Comments

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Good morning, ladies. 🙂 I hope your weekend started well. Right now I’m on a mish to get to know another member of the MAC permanent eyeshadow line, and I’m holding a pan of Patina ($14.50) in my paw.

Like I did for years with MAC Arena, I overlooked Patina when I realize now that I probably shouldn’t have. It’s not the flashiest shade in MAC’s permanent collection, but once I tried it on I fell truly, madly, deeply in love.

Patina’s magic lies in her flexibility. In the pan, she’s a shimmery, brownish taupe with golden pearl, but on the face her color varies depending on the wearer’s skin tone.

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MAC Patina on NC 35 skin

On my tan NC 35 skin, I see a golden taupe (more purple than brown)…

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MAC Patina on NW 20 skin

…but she’s such a quick-change artist! On NW 20, she looks more like a lovely golden brown.

I’ve just started to experiment with Patina, so please share any ideas you might have for product combinations. I can’t help but wonder how she’ll look with eyeshadows in gold, brown, taupe, beige, peach or even purple.

Have you gotten to know MAC Patina before? Any ideas for colors to wear her with?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

I’m Seeing Stars Thanks to MAC Love That Look

July 26th, 2009 by Karen 35 Comments

MAC Love That Look

Christmas came early for MAC fans this week as the company moved up the counter release date for two of its collections, Love That Look and Baby Bloom.

Love That Look’s 12 Starflash Eye Shadows ($15), four Pearlglide Eye Liners ($15), makeup brushes and mascara (the brushes and mascara belong to MAC’s permanent line) were expected to arrive at the end of the month. Instead, they dropped last Thursday. 🙂

Starring frosty MAC Starflash!

The uber-frosty Starflash Eye Shadows headline this show, focussing tons of attention on the eyes, BAM!

There’s nothing subtle at all about these powder shadows, so be prepared for bling when you wear ’em.

How I might wear Starflash

I like frosty shadows in moderation and probably wouldn’t wear an eye look using Starflash alone, as super frosty eye looks tend to overload my bling-ometer. I prolly would, though, apply ’em on the lid, outer V or use them as liners, sweeping a matte color into the crease for contrast. That sounds pretty to me.

Swatches on NC35 skin

mac love that look starflash swatches review r1
From left to right: Smoke & Diamonds, Dreammaker, Fashion, Glamour Check!

mac love that look starflash swatches review r2
Unbasic White, Ego, Fashion Groupie, Grand Entrance

mac love that look starflash swatches review r3
One-Off, Rated R, Style Snob, Strike a Pose

mac love that look starflash swatches review r4
Black Russian, Fly-by-Blu, Molasses and Rave
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