Makeup and Beauty Blog | Makeup Reviews, Swatches and How-To Makeup
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It’s officially, finally spring — and for me that means pink lippies!
To be honest, I wear some of these lipsticks year round (especially ColourPop Clueless)…but I am somewhat seasonal with my makeup. I do think it’s fun to change my look with the seasons, and here are my current top pink spring lippies this year.
I went with lots of different finishes and colors this time (here were my pink spring picks last year). Whatever your style, I hope this list gives you some ideas.
Hi everyone!
Guess what? I learned a new Photoshop trick! Just in case you didn’t notice, but I have gained the power of artificial lens flares. Beware, photography! Yep, it’s totally cheesy/fabulous, but this new MAC collection practically asked for it.
This is the MAC Future MAC collection, and it’s available online right now and coming to stores April 7th.
The collection is all about the next generation of hyper-luminous Mineralize products and new horizons of colour, and true to their description, the lip and skin products have amazingly unique textures and sparkle.
Keep reading to sneak a peek at the future of beauty…for April at least!
I don’t know if I mentioned this in my last fragrance review, but floral scents are some of my favorites. Rose, in particular, but jasmine and gardenia also rank way up there in my tops, so when I got the chance to sniff the new MAC Air of Style, I took a deep breath and jumped at the chance.
First? The layers. I love the different layers.
New for spring 2016 and available now in the MAC permanent line, Air of Style is a slightly heady, luxurious mix just mellow enough for everyday wear.
The description from MAC makes me feel a little dreamy…
“Contemporary top notes of red dates and wild peonies set the tone for your can’t-be-tamed attitude, heightened with an infusion of white pepper. A bouquet of absolute tuberose, orange blossom, and jasmine at the heart gets the pulse racing and feels unabashedly bold with the opulence of ylang ylang and orris. The appeal is magnified by a background of leather blended with rare woods and vetiver — all juxtaposed with creamy hints of tonka beans and golden drops of amber crystals, leaving a lasting sensation of warm intimacy.”
That’s quite a mouthful, but they’re not wrong! “Warm intimacy” is a perfect way to describe this powerful potion.
I’ve been wearing it consistently over the past week, and it seems to have blended into my skin in the most fabulous way. I wore a shirt to bed that I’d worn all day after applying the rollerball, and waking up to the diluted but still present scent still on my clothes was exactly as MAC described it: warm and intimate.
It’s officially spring! And it seems like El Niño (and Karl the Fog) got the memo here in the Bay, because we’ve had nothing but sunshine for the past few days.
Also, now that it’s warming up, I’m busting out the lip stains, which might be my favorite beauty items for the spring/summer months.
They’re crucial! They’re great for naked face days, no-makeup-makeup days, and basically all days that ends in “-day.” I like them because they’re low maintenance, and they last. One of my all-time favorite lip stains is the one I get from a cherry Popsicle. 
But today I’m bringing you one of the latest launches from MAC, the MAC Versicolour Stain Collection, which is a gloss/stain fusion formula available in 16 shades ranging from nudes to peaches, oranges to fiery reds, and magentas to deep purples. There’s a shade (if not, like, three of them) for everyone, and they’re going to be permanent!
The formula is smooth and feels quite nourishing. These are also hella pigmented, with the exception of Long Live the Night, which is a nude. I wore Preserving Passion (a deep wine) one day last weekend, and it lasted all. day. long.
I started the day wearing it as a gloss, and the shine started to wear down about an hour or so later, but my lips retained a satin finish for most of the day after, progressively fading to a matte stain over the course of many hours.
Lip stains can be intimidating because if you mess up, well…you’re done for, but the Versicolour tube and applicator makes application a lot easier than usual. The applicator is a pointy doe foot that doesn’t pick up too much product (for me, anyway). The stopper is also a lot lower than the lip of the actual tube, which makes wiping excess product off of the applicator a breeze.
While I love the convenience of doe-foot applicators, they sure do load on the product sometimes, and that always gets me into trouble, so, needless to say, I’m a fan of lip stain reservoirs.
The collection has a flirty, summer-lovin’ color story that is only enhanced by the shade names. I wouldn’t call the collection groundbreaking…but I do think that these really are quite exquisite lip stains.
First, they’re very pigmented. Every swatch below is just one coat, and I blotted all of the excess away in the bottom rows to give you an idea of how each shade looks as a stain. I have a good feeling that these will perform well on a wide variety of skin tones.
Long Live the Night – Pale warm nude
Constant Craving – Mid-tone blue pink
Tattoo My Heart – Bright pinky coral
Let’s Stay Together – Mid-tone warm pink
Ceaseless Energy – Bright raspberry pink
Hi, everyone! MAC is back with one of the most exciting releases of the year, the MAC x Charlotte Olympia Spring 2016 Collection, and this is one of the bigger MAC collections, too, with an emphasis on lips and accessories.
For those not familiar with the designer, Olympia is a luxury shoe and accessories designer obsessed with the bygone era of old Hollywood glamour and unafraid of a little humour.
The MAC x Charlotte Olympia collection has strong retro-glam vibes packaged in adorable printed boxes. They’re a collector’s dream come true.
There are no fewer than three different types of lip products (lipsticks, lip pigments, and pro lip liners), and all of them are in various shades of red.
You know how every now and then you’ll bump into a friend looking for their “perfect red lipstick”? Well, you should direct their attention to THIS collection, because each red is GORGEOUS, but just a little different.
What do you get when you mix exciting, emerging female musicians, a whole lot of creativity and makeup?
Here’s what: you get the MAC Future Forward collection (coming as a series of mini collections starting March 17th, exclusively online)!
Four future forward musicians partnered with the eponymous brand to release a unique collection that will launch in four parts and, you guys, it’s really great! (MAC has been bringing it!)
While all part of one cohesive collection, each of the musician sub-collections will launch as standalone capsules on separate dates.
This is important to note: if one of these unique products appeals to you (or if you’re a huge fan of the recording artist), then be sure to mark your calendar to snag your prize, because these pieces will not be launching simultaneously like in a traditional MAC collection.
I love that each product brings the spirit of its associated artist, while all of the items come together and look quite “spring” while doing so. (At least spring where I live in Wisconsin, which is often grey and punctuated with rich pops of beautifully unexpected color.)
And while some may not seem approachable for day-to-day wear (I’m lookin’ at you, Halsey lipstick), I’ve been loving just how versatile a non-neutral shadow palette and a gold liner can be.
Hi everyone!
The other day I was having coffee with a few girlfriends — probably the BEST time to get makeup inspiration — and I fell in love with one of my friends’ pretty glittery eyeliner. I tried it out myself and found it to be an awesome way to pull off a little glitter during the day. I call it a “weekday glitter” look, and I hope you’ll be into it as much as I’ve been!
One of the key components to this look is nice and even skin tone. I used the new Shiseido Synchro Skin Foundation ($45 for 1oz) in a custom mixture of Golden 2 and Neutral 3. The foundation comes in Golden, Neutral, and Rose undertones ranging between 1 and 5. For some reason, the range isn’t complete, but we will probably find more colors coming with demand.
One of my favorite things about being a makeup devotee is watching trends come and go, and I’m sure that fashion lovers feel the same flash of nostalgia when they see ‘90s styles come back in vogue that those of us who love all things makeup feel when brown lips make a comeback and are bigger than ever.
But even though I love following the trends, I’m not one for hopping on bandwagons all too often. Contouring? Only if it’s subtle. Strobing? I thought I was already highlighting — what’s different? I’m confused…
I’ll be honest with you ladies (and gentlemen), that’s why I am SO excited that brows are having their moment again. As a child, my grandmother praised my thick, arched brows and told me never to pluck them. So I didn’t (I listened to her), and though brow fashions have waned and waxed from thin back to thick, my brows have remained my own.
The MAC Brows Are It! collection is the brow collection for those who are proud of their brows, whether bold and defined or soft and natural. Whatever your outlook on brows, this collection has something for everyone!
The MAC Brows Are It! collection includes a wide breadth of products to help you create just about any brow look, in almost any natural shade imaginable. MAC’s website offers product breakdowns on different looks and recommends which of the many products released with the collection would work best for your personal preference.
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