MAC Makeup

MAC Nutcracker Sweet Holiday 2016 Gift Sets: Patentpolish Pink and Nude Kits

October 17th, 2016 by Karen 14 Comments

mac fearless — Wearing MAC Fearless Patentpolish from the Nutcracker Sweet Pink Patentpolish Kit ($35)

Excuse me while I touch up my lips…

Sorry, I couldn’t help myself. I had one of these cute MAC Patentpolish minis in my hand, and I had to do it. You just can’t not do it.

These are so tiny! I swear, all we need now are a bunch of cute kittens. That would be heaven. 🙂

These are two more of the gift sets from the new MAC Nutcracker Sweet holiday collection, and I know we’ve been talking a lot about MAC Nutcracker Sweet lately, but it’s a big collection!

Each of these two $35 kits — Nude and Pink — has four mini MAC Patentpolish Lip Pencils, which are normally $21 each for the full-size versions in the permanent collection.

So, I had a major MacGyver moment the first time I tried to open one of these. They open like little drawers, and for the life of me, I could not get the pencils out. They were really wedged in there.

I ended up using a bobby pin that I’d been using to pin my bangs back and sort of jimmied it into the side to pop them out one at a time.

Just FYI.

M∙A∙C Nutcracker Sweet
Available online October 20, 2016
Available in stores on October 27, 2016 through December 8, 2016
#MACNutcrackerSweet

All of these shades are re-promotes from the permanent line, so if you’ve been collecting MAC for a while and already have some of the Patentpolishes, you may already have some of them. If you don’t, though, this might be a chance to get a good deal on a bunch of them at the same time.

Quality-wise, I think these are just as good as the full-size Patentpolishes in the permanent collection. They look and feel exactly the same — same non-sticky, lightweight, moderately moisturizing formula and lip balm-like consistency.

One thing that makes the Patentpolishes so great is that you can build up the coverage in layers from medium to full, but because they feel like a lip balm, their wear time is limited. I have to reapply them every two or three hours, but it’s not a big deal because they’re so easy to have around. You just twist them up and apply. You don’t even need a mirror.

Nude Patentpolish Kit ($35)
Pleasure’s All Mine, a pale warm nude (perm)
It’s Really Me, a warm nude (perm)
Revved Up, a creamy peach (perm)
French Kiss, a warm Caramel (perm)

Pink Patentpolish Kit ($35)
Patentpink, a washed out lilac (perm)
Fearless, a deep bluish pink (perm)
Hopelessly Devoted, a bright clean fuchsia (perm)
Ruby, a mid-tone rose (perm)

mac nutcracker sweet patentpolish kits — MAC Nutcracker Sweet Patentpolish Kits in Pink and Nude

mac nutcracker sweet pink patentpolish swatches — Pink Kit swatches from the left: Patentpink, Fearless, Hopelessly Devoted and Ruby

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MAC Nutcracker Sweet Holiday 2016 Gift Sets: The Cool Eye Compact Eye Shadow X 9

October 17th, 2016 by Karen 18 Comments

mac-nutcracker-sweet-cool-eye-compact-k-final — I’m wearing Performance Art, Marzipan, Quite Spoiled, Absurdly Pretty, Sugar Plum and Nutcracker from the MAC Nutcracker Sweet Holiday 2016 collection Cool Eye Compact Eye Shadow X 9 ($39.50)

In the closet in my office there’s a homage to hoarders/makeup storage area with a bunch of acrylic drawers stacked one on top of the other, inside of which I keep my very favorite workhorse products that I truly love.

Most of the items I review, I give away to friends or family or the women’s shelter, but I put the stuff that I want to keep for myself into those drawers.

One of them is dedicated to MAC Eye Shadow palettes, and whenever I’m in a hurry and just want to throw some makeup on without really having to think about it, that’s my go-to drawer. I know that I can pull anything out of it and basically be OK.

I’m going to put the MAC Cool Eye Compact Eye Shadow X 9 palette in there. 🙂

But I’m not going to stick it in there because it’s the most mind-blowing palette. I’m going to stick it in there mostly because of shock value!

I’m kind of shocked that I like it as much as I do, because I rarely love the MAC holiday eyeshadow palettes, to be honest. I don’t think most of them are as good as the singles in MAC’s permanent line.

But this one is.

I really don’t want to say, “I was surprised that I like this,” but I was really surprised that I like this! It’s actually very good, and I keep trying to find ways to talk myself out of liking it, because I’m just so used to not liking the holiday palettes. The more I use this one, though, the more I like it.

M∙A∙C Nutcracker Sweet
Available online October 20, 2016
Available in stores on October 27, 2016 through December 8, 2016
#MACNutcrackerSweet

OK…now let me back up a little. This is one of three X 9 palettes in the MAC Nutcracker Sweet holiday collection. We looked at the Smoky one the other day, and I’ll have a review of the Warm one coming soon, but I think this one is my favorite of the group.

I don’t recognize any of the colors, either. I went to the MAC website and typed in their names, and none of them came up, which is cool because MAC’s Eye Shadow palettes are usually heavy with re-promotes.

So many mattes, too! So many of them. MAC holiday eye kits also tend to go all out on shimmer, with maybe a light sprinkling of mattes, but this one has quite a few.

I love using mattes in the crease, on my lower lash line and also as liner. Of course, you can also use shimmers the same way, but I think that if you’re a lady of a certain age, mattes are more forgiving.

The Cool Eye Compact Eye Shadow X 9 ($39.50) — Enchanted Beauty (Lustre), Absurdly Pretty (Matte), Raspberry (Matte), Plum Darling (Lustre), Performance Art (Lustre), Nutcracker (Satin), The Wrong Man (Satin), Sugar Plum (Matte), Marzipan (Matte) and Quite Spoiled (Satin).

It’s one of three X 9 palettes in the MAC Nutcracker Sweet holiday collection (the other two are Warm and Smoky).

The set also comes with…

The 214/213 Dual-Ended Brush

mac nutcracker sweet cool eye compact — MAC Nutcracker Sweet Cool Eye Compact Eye Shadow X 9

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15-Minute Makeup: Glossy, Grungy Glam With MAC Driftwood Liptensity, MAC Tailor Grey Paint Pot and Rouge Bunny Rouge Eye Gloss

October 15th, 2016 by Karen 19 Comments

Good morning, friend! 🙂 It’s a rainy day here in Novato-ay. Seriously, summer is long gone now. There are piles of wet leaves outside, and the sky is dark grey.

How’s your weekend coming along? What are up to? I’m taking it nice and slow. The only thing I kind of rushed through is my makeup. I’m still on that 15-minute makeup kick, and this is my latest try. I was going for glossy, grungy glam.

I wish I had somewhere special to wear makeup today… Actually, no I don’t. I just want to stay inside where it’s warm and watch TV on the couch.

I did this whole look in 15 minutes, just to try something different than my usual neutral lids and neutral lips.

I used cool-toned MAC Tailor Grey Pro Longwear Paint Pot, a cream shadow, and just kind of smushed that all over my lids with a finger. Then I took a black liner and lined my lash and water lines with it, then smushed that too. And because I was gonna put an eye gloss on top of it anyway, I didn’t make it too neat.

It was actually really messy and looked very scary, but then I put the gloss on top, and it all melted together into glossy, grungy goodness.

Then I added layer upon layer of my favorite waterproof mascara, Urban Decay Cannonball Ultra Waterproof.

I think the most important thing to remember about eye gloss is that it isn’t meant to look perfect and precise, and you just have to embrace that; otherwise, all you see are the imperfections.

I guess that’s a weird life lesson, too…

Like, when I close my eyes and look down, you can see that my liner has transferred into the crease, but it’s purposefully messy. Plus, it only took 15 minutes. When you only have a short time for your makeup, you can’t expect to do everything perfectly.

What’s super cool about gloss is that you have so much room for error. It’s supposed to look messy, and sometimes that’s great.

mac tailor grey — In my mind, this eye makeup would look like this all day…

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MAC Nutcracker Sweet Holiday 2016 Gift Sets: The Smoky Eye Compact Eye Shadow X 9

October 14th, 2016 by Karen 8 Comments

mac nutcracker sweet smoky eye compact — MAC Nutcracker Smoky Eye Compact Eye Shadows in Kid, Swiss Chocolate and Dance in the Dark on my eyes; NARS Make Believe and Albatross Blushes from the Sarah Moon Recurring Dare Palette on my cheeks and MAC Saucy Little Darling Lipstick on my lips

Band ten hut!

Yes, I was a band geek, and yes, I was also, to sound even more band geekier (?), a squad leader, so I knew all of the commands and stuff. 🙂

Ugh! I shouldn’t have admitted that in print, but hey, the packaging for this MAC Nutcracker Sweet Smoky Eye Compact Eye Shadow X 9 looks like a bad uniform (I spent a majority of my teenage years in one).

It’s one of three eye palettes in the Nutcracker Sweet holiday collection, and it’s the smoky one. There’s also a cool-toned one and a warm-toned one.

As usual for a MAC holiday collection, there are lots of kits and sets. MAC goes hawd during the holidays, and I’m just kind of marching my way (haha, band reference) through all of them.

M∙A∙C Nutcracker Sweet
Available online October 20, 2016
Available in stores on October 27, 2016 through December 8, 2016
#MACNutcrackerSweet

OK, first things first…but don’t these look a little like the Urban Decay Naked palettes? Especially this one with the neutral colors?

I don’t know… *shoulder shrug* I’m not saying that anybody did any copycatting, but I think there’s a resemblance.

The Smoky Eye Compact Eye Shadow X 9 ($39.50) — Too-dle-oo (Frost), Deception (Frost), Sweet Dreams (Matte), Kid (Veluxe), Dewdrop (Lustre), Cake & Biscuits (Matte), Swiss Chocolate (Matte), Dance in the Dark (Matte), Licorice Lane (Matte)

The set also comes with…

The 214/213 Dual-Ended Brush

mac nutcracker sweet eye compacts — All three of the MAC Nutcracker Sweet Eye Compacts with an iPhone 6S Plus for scale. This post is about one of them, the Smoky Eye Compact Eye Shadow X 9.

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MAC Nutcracker Sweet Holiday 2016 Gift Sets: The Gold Pigments and Glitter Kit, and the Bronze Pigments and Glitter Kit

October 13th, 2016 by Karen 18 Comments

mac nutcracker sweet gold — Wearing Heritage Rouge Pigment and Reflects Gold Glitter from the MAC Nutcracker Sweet Gold Pigments and Glitter Set on my eyes; Magic Dust Powder in Sweet Vision on my cheeks and MAC Matte Lipstick in Leap of Delight on my lips, all from the MAC Nutcracker Sweet Collection

Baby love, the times, they are a-changin’, because for once I think I might actually be able to finish an entire jar of MAC Pigment. In my entire history of wearing MAC, I’ve never finished a jar.

You know that they’re big, right? They’re HUGE, but these minis are actually bite-sized and handleable.

There are two pigment and glitter sets in the new MAC Nutcracker Sweet holiday collection, along with a bunch of other sets. One of them has a bronze theme, and the other one gold, but both sets are super cute.

If you don’t know anything about the MAC Pigments, basically, in a nutshell, they’re loose, concentrated eyeshadows and glitters, which, on the one hand, are great if you want big, flashy “Oh, hey there, look at me!” eyes that practically beam from across the room, but on the other hand, they’re messy.

That’s the main reason I don’t use them often… The permanent collection jars have a wide mouth, and FOOF! — I’m always tipping them over and getting glitter in my brows, my ear, my bra. It’s a mess.

But these mini jars have a smaller mouth, which makes them easier to handle. I just tap a little on a paper towel and pick it up from the towel with my brush, and if there’s any left over, I kind of scoot it back into the jar.

So, in the process of doing the look I’m wearing in these pics (I’m wearing the Sweet Gold kit, BTW), I discovered that my new favorite thing in the whole wide world is inner corner glitter. It is basically the sh*t.

M∙A∙C Nutcracker Sweet
Available online October 20, 2016
Available in stores on October 27, 2016 through December 8, 2016
#MACNutcrackerSweet

As a glitter person, I usually like to just splash it all over my eyes, but if you take a little of the glitter (here I’m wearing Gold Reflects, the gold glitter from the gold kit), pick it up with a wet brush (something like MAC Fix +), and concentrate most of it in the inner corner and fade that out as you move toward the center of your lid, I think it looks really cool.

Maybe it’s just me, but I think it completely distracts from my dark circles while still being flashy and fun.

Between these two kits, I recognize several of the colors in the Gold kit, like Gold Reflects Glitter and Heritage Rouge, from the permanent line, but I don’t recognize anything in the Bronze kit, so if you’re looking for something more exclusive and unique, the Bronze kit might be the one to pick up.

MAC Nutcracker Sweet Gold Pigments and Glitter Kit ($35) — English Gilt Pigment (not perm), Reflects Gold Glitter (perm), Rust Glitter (perm) and Heritage Rouge Pigment (perm)

MAC Nutcracker Sweet Bronze Pigments and Glitter Kit ($35) — Sugar Rush Pigment (not perm; don’t think I’ve seen it before), Stardream Pigment (not perm), Handsome Prince Pigment (not perm) and Reigning Riches Glitter (not perm)

mac nutcracker sweet pigment glitter sets — The MAC Nutcracker Sweet Pigments and Glitter Kits next to an iPhone 6S Plus for scale

mac nutcracker sweet gold pigments and glitter — MAC Nutcracker Sweet Gold Pigments and Glitter Kit: English Gilt Pigment, Reflects Gold Glitter, Rust Glitter and Heritage Rouge Pigment

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The MAC Nutcracker Sweet Holiday 2016 Collection

October 12th, 2016 by Karen 24 Comments

mac saucy little darling — From the MAC Nutcracker Sweet holiday 2016 collection, the Eye Kohls in Powersurge (as a base all over my lids), Feline (upper lash and water lines) and Prunella (lower lash and water lines), Magic Dust Eye Shadows in Dark Lullaby (lids), Mustache (upper lash line), Rabblerouser and Pretty Dainty (crease), Forward March (just underneath my inner brow bones) and Dance Flowers Dance (tear duct)! The lipstick is Saucy Little Darling.

M∙A∙C Nutcracker Sweet
Available online October 20, 2016
Available in stores on October 27, 2016 through December 8, 2016
#MACNutcrackerSweet

This is gonna sound pretty band-geeky of me (well, I was a band geek), but some of the best flute parts EVER are in the MAC…

Wait — the MAC?

I almost said “in the MAC Nutcracker Sweet,” what!

I meant to say, “in the [actual] Nutcracker Suite,” as in the piece of music from the ballet, and I know this because I played it in high school.

Nutcracker Sweet! In MAC’s case, it’s spelled S-W-E-E-T, and if that doesn’t get your attention, I don’t know what planet you’re from. 🙂 Because I love sweet things, and this collection is definitely sweet.

MAC always goes big for the holidays. This post is just about the color collection. There are also a bunch of kits and sets which I’ll be wearing and testing over the next week.

So what do you think of the limited edition packaging?

mac nutcracker sweet — MAC Nutcracker Sweet for Holiday 2016

I think it’s SO pretty — the bright pink, plum and those touches of gold. Right away, my eyes went BIG, and not just because I spotted three of my favorite liners of all time — Prunella, Powersurge (don’t even get me started about Powersurge) and Feline. Yes, they’re re-promotes, I know, but there are also some new things in this collection, like the Magic Dust Eye Shadows, which are indeed magically dusty, but not in a bad way. More like magic makeup fairy dust.

Seriously, why aren’t all MAC eyeshadows like these? They’re smooth, sensationally soft, and when I was swatching them, I kid you not, I just kept going ooh, ah, give it to me…

OK, that sounded kind of nasty…

Let’s just start with the lip products, shall we?

Lips…

Cremesheen Lipstick in Kingdom of Sweet ($18)

mac kingdom of sweets — Cremesheen Lipstick in Kingdom of Sweets

WHAT IS IT? I usually shy away from creamy, pale pastel pinks like Kingdom of Sweets because they’re infinitely difficult to wear, especially if you have dry lips. They settle into my fine lip lines, but Kingdom of Sweets doesn’t.

SHOULD YOU GET IT? Yes. Hell, yes. I hardly ever wear colors like this, but I want to wear this one right now. It’s smooth, comfortable and easy to use, which are all the things I want from a pale pastel pink lipstick.

Matte Lipstick in Flamboyish ($18)

mac flamboyish — Matte Lipstick in Flamboyish

WHAT IS IT? I wanna be Flamboyish! This hot pink is BRIGHT, and it reminds me a lot of Candy Yum Yum, which, I believe, is slightly lighter.

SHOULD YOU GET IT? I’m on the hot pink train, toot-toot! Destination Hot Pink Matte Lipstick-ville. So yes, I would hop on the Flamboyish train. It’s smooth for a matte, which, as you know, can be difficult to wear. It’s also opaque.

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15-Minute Makeup: Feline Meow With L’Oréal Voluminous Liner Noir, MAC Tabby, NARS Bengali, Bite Beauty Multistick in Papaya, Hourglass Vanish and Lilah B.

October 5th, 2016 by Karen 12 Comments

loreal voluminous liner noir — Is black liquid winged liner ever a good idea when you’ve only got 15 minutes to put on your makeup?

I think I was going for “crazy cat lady in the suburbs” with this ensemble, which I wore yesterday. You know how I mentioned that I’ve been trying to wear more makeup lately? I just wasn’t really into it after having the baby. Well, I’m still out of practice, but I’m trying to push myself a little by wearing makeup every day, and sometimes it turns OK, but sometimes it looks like this.

There are a few things going on with this look. First, there’s, like, a patch here on my chin where I sort of didn’t blend the foundation, but that’s because I spent most of the 15 minutes I spent on the liner — just drawing it and correcting it, and redrawing it.

I thought that I could just use this liner from L’Oréal and some tape for the wings, and that once I did those things, the look would basically be done, but the takeaway lesson here is that if you’re going to attempt a 15-minute makeup look…don’t do black liquid liner…unless you want to be really stressed out, because I was REALLY stressed out the entire time.

Fifteen minutes just wasn’t enough time to do a great job on this.

One side of the liner looked a little thick, while the other side looked a little wonky, so I had to bust out a Q-tip to try and fix it.

It was a mess.

I’m also wearing Hourglass Vanish Seamless Foundation, and despite the big glob on the side on my cheek that I didn’t blend, it turned out OK.

That’s Bite Beauty Multistick in Papaya on my cheeks and lips and some eyeshadows from NARS.

Honestly, the eyeshadow here was basically an afterthought. I did the liner first, and then the shadow on my lids afterward (MAC Tabby cream shadow). And just used neutrals for the rest.

EYES: MAC Pro Longwear Waterproof Colour Stick in Tabby, NARS Bengali and Madrague II eyeshadows, MAC Carbon Eyeshadow, L’Oréal Voluminous Liner Noir Eyeliner, L’Oréal Voluminous Feline Noir Mascara and Chanel Stylo Yeux in Agape

FACE: Make Up For Ever Ultra HD Invisible Cover Concealers in R40 and Y33, Hourglass Vanish Seamless Finish Foundation in Beige, Lilah B. Flawless Finish Foundation in b. classic

LIPS AND CHEEKS: Bite Beauty Multistick in Papaya

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

MAC Unsung Heroes: Pro Longwear Waterproof Colour Stick in Lilacked

September 29th, 2016 by Karen 13 Comments

mac lilacked — MAC Pro Longwear Waterproof Colour Stick in Lilacked ($22)

What’s an unsung makeup hero? For me, it’s an oftentimes underrated makeup morsel, a permanent collection product that scoots under the radar screen of many makeup lovers but regularly rocks my world. The long-running Unsung Heroes series features some of my favorites.

Honestly, why doesn’t all makeup come in sticks? It would make my life waaaaay easier.

This is my new favorite thing in the whole wide world — even though I’m pretty sure I say that all the time.

Sorry. 🙂

It’s MAC Pro Longwear Waterproof Colour Stick in Lilacked, and it’s $22 and part of the permanent line.

The Colour Sticks are stick versions of the MAC Pro Longwear Paint Pots (ones I love: Constructivist, Soft Ochre and Bare Study).

SO MANY brands make their own cream shadows sticks, but MAC’s are some of my favorites, and I like them for a couple of reasons. First, there’s obviously the colors. There’s a wide range, but I don’t have anything else quite like Lilacked in my collection.

It’s a peachy golden lilac, kind of like if MAC Satin Taupe Eye Shadow had a makeup baby with MAC Woodwinked, and then that baby grew up and got together with NARS Lhasa and popped out another makeup baby…

Granted, that’s a lot of makeup babies.

I like the consistency and the way it feels, too, because most cream shadow sticks are either super thick and hard to push around on my lids, or they’re too thin and slippery and hard to control. They just end up all over the place.

The MAC Pro Longwear Sticks, on the other hand, feel just right, and I can put them exactly where I want, which avoids one of my big struggles with eyeshadow, which is when I put something on my lids and it goes all over the place, and before you know it you’ve got, like, shimmery black eyeshadow from your lash lines up to your eyebrows.

They also last. I can put them on in the morning, and they’re still going strong at night.

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