MAC Makeup

Neat and New to Me: MAC Matte Blush in Coppertone

July 21st, 2015 by Karen 20 Comments

mac coppertone blush — MAC Matte Blush in Coppertone ($22)

Neat and New to Me

Unlike my Unsung Heroes series, which features permanent collection products I’ve known and loved a long time, the Neat and New to Me series showcases permanent collection products that slipped under my radar for a while, but then I discovered them! — and now I think they’re neat and new to me.

This peachy brown matte blush’s name reminds me of going to the beach back in the day, back when it seemed like every family had a bottle of good ol’ Coppertone sunscreen with them.

Oh, the way it smelled! — like long sunny days, sand in your toes, salt water in your hair, ham and cheese sandwiches… Or was that just in my family? LOL!

I can’t deny that I was hoping MAC Matte Blush in Coppertone ($22) would smell the same way, but alas, it doesn’t. It has the familiar non-fragrance of a regular blush.

Even so, this Coppertone is anything but regular. It’s similar (but not identical) to MAC Gingerly Blush — like the two of them could be sisters. Coppertone, with her deeper, richer red, would just be the bossier, more outgoing older beach babe sister.

When I wear it on my cheeks, I feel like I’ve just spent an entire day playing in the sand and riding the rides at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk (I haven’t done that in YEARS).

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Neat and New to Me: For the Love of Ginger! MAC Sheertone Blush in Gingerly

July 17th, 2015 by Karen 20 Comments

Neat and New to Me

Unlike my Unsung Heroes series, which features permanent collection products I’ve known and loved a long time, the Neat and New to Me series showcases permanent collection products that slipped under my radar for a while, but then I discovered them! — and now I think they’re neat and new to me.

Ginger!

I am surrounded by ginger…

I’ve been drinking a lot of ginger ale this week because my tummy’s been obnoxiously gurgly, and I’ve also been, at times, simultaneously wearing MAC Gingerly Blush ($22).

Maybe this is more than a coincidence…or maybe it isn’t, and I just have a need to find deep connections between totally unrelated things (story of my life).

My fridge has an entire shelf dedicated to ginger ale. THANKS TUMMY TROUBLES. — My fridge has an entire shelf dedicated to ginger ale…

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Fri-Yay Makeup Fun: Repurpose Your Daytime Makeup With a Quick, Colorful Pop

July 17th, 2015 by Karen 37 Comments

Sometimes — OK, all the time — when I’m doing my makeup and getting ready to go out, especially after a long week, I don’t like to start from scratch, so to make it a little easier on myself, I’ll repurpose whatever I’m wearing that day, and just freshen it up and add a slight twist, like this colorful green lower lash line.

It takes two things: 1) a colorful eyeliner and 2) a complementary eyeshadow. For this look here, I chose two shimmery green shades — MAC Eye Shadow in Steamy and MAC Eye Kohl in Minted.

I lined my lower lash line with the liner, then smudged out the edges with a pencil brush. Then, I patted the eyeshadow directly on top of the liner to intensify the color and shimmer.

After an additional coat of mascara and some gloss, it’s done and Fri-yay ready! 🙂

(Note: also approved for evenings at home spent chilling on the couch with Tabs.)

mac steamy minted — MAC Eye Shadow in Steamy and MAC Eye Kohl in Minted

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Just Like a Single Strand of Pearls, the New MAC Cremesheen Pearl Lipsticks and Cremesheen Glasses Should Stand the Test of Time

July 16th, 2015 by Karen 22 Comments

Why is it that I know I’d be utterly destroyed — as in completely heartbroken and shattered into a zillion tiny pieces — if my favorite strand of pearls were ever to be crushed, but I’m thrilled by the idea of there being actual crushed pearls in my MAC Cremesheen Lipsticks and Cremesheen Glasses?

I guess it’s just one of life’s many mysteries. I guess.

Of course, there aren’t actual crushed pearls in the MAC Cremesheen Lipsticks and Cremesheen Glasses that launched online today with the MAC Cremesheen Pearl collection (also coming to MAC stores and counters July 23).

I just like to pretend. 🙂

Naaaw, girl! The new collection of 10 lipsticks and five glosses, all in shades of pink, coral and red with Asian-inspired names, only appears to have been sprinkled with tiny bits o’ pearl so that your lips look lusciously lacquered and luminous like a strand of pearls, and the effect is — ooh-la-la! — so classy.

mac cremesheen pearl lipstick — MAC Cremesheen Pearl Lipstick in Pickled Plum

For the collection, MAC put a pearlescent twist on their familiar Cremesheen Lipstick and Cremesheen Glass formulas. With these shades, “pearlized pigments” give the classically creamy, luscious Cremesheen finish a subtle, shimmery glow.

Subtle is the key word, too. This ain’t no drag queen disco diva glitter (although that definitely has its time and place). These Cremesheens have more of an effervescent glow.

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MAC Unsung Heroes: Prep + Prime Fix+

July 14th, 2015 by Karen 25 Comments

mac fix plus — From the left: MAC Fix+ Lavender, Real Techniques Contour Brush, Fix+ Yuzu, Fix+ Coconut and Fix+ Rose

I am totally fixated on MAC Fix+, and the obsession is so real that I can’t even figure out how many bottles I’ve gone through in my life.

Ten? Twenty??

No, it’s gotta be more than that… I usually get a new bottle about every two or three months.

I know that I talk about Fix+ a lot, but I use it every single day (I even bring a small bottle on trips).

Also known as MAC Prep + Prime Fix+, it’s a refreshing $22 mist in the MAC skincare line that you spray on bare skin or other products to moisturize and set your makeup to help it last longer. It contains water packed with vitamins and minerals and infused with a blend of green tea, chamomile and cucumber. Just spray it directly on your face for a subtle sheen.

I usually use it right when I start applying my makeup to moisturize my skin, and then again when I finish to help my face products last longer.

Starting when I’m bare-faced, before I’ve put anything else on, I spray Fix+ all over my face, where it adds a light layer of moisture and creates a wet surface upon which to more easily blend foundations, tinted moisturizers and BB creams. The end result just looks more natural and “lived in” (particularly if you tend to be heavy-handed with your product application).

After finishing my makeup, when I’m all done with my eyes, face and lips, I spray another misty layer all over my face to mellow out the powdery texture.

And there are also some other things you can do with Fix+, like using it to wet your eye brushes (it intensifies the shimmer and color of powder eyeshadows), to amplify highlights on your cheekbones and to blend foundation.

Yup!

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Intensify Your Highlights With This Super Simple Tip

July 10th, 2015 by Karen 11 Comments

Glisten up!

OK, are you glistening?

Good. Because if I could, I would open all of the highlighters in the world above my head and just pour ’em all over me, LOL! All I wanna do is glisten, and I wanna do it all day long.

To say that I’m a little highlighter cray-cray at the moment would be a bit of an understatement, and I’ve been playing with some different techniques, like this one that I recently learned from a makeup artist buddy of mine named Candace. (HI, CANDACE! If you have time, check out her YouTube channel.)

This trick is simple but totally intensifies the glistening effect in a way that doesn’t leave my skin looking frosty.
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5 Things You Should Know About MAC Upward Lash Mascara

July 10th, 2015 by Karen 21 Comments

5 Things You Should Know About MAC Upward Lash Mascara ($22)

You might feel compelled to say, “ONWARD AND UPWARD!” to your lashes every time you open the tube — and yes, it is perfectly normal to talk to your lashes (well…).
The compact brush might remind you of other compact things, like kittens! You may even start to think, “Hey! I should get another kitten or two, or 12.”
The glossy black finish makes my lashes look exactly like the fur of this black cat in my neighborhood that I’ve been trying to befriend for, like, ages. Bribing the neighborhood cats with treats usually works, but this cat is wise to my tricks.
Oh, well. Sooner or later, I’ll wear her down.
Your (and by “your” I mean “my”) current MAC mascara love, Extended Play Gigablack Lash, will start to wonder if your three-year love affair is over because you haven’t reached for it in days.
Reassure it by stroking it gently. Try not to look like a pervert.
Friends may mistake your tube of Upward Lash for an XXL tube of MAC Lipstick, because doesn’t it look like one?!
OMG! Can you imagine?

Anyway, feel free to toy with their emotions by saying, “Yes, it’s a giant tube of MAC Lady Danger.” 🙂

The nitty-gritty details about MAC Upward Lash

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The New MAC Veluxe a Trois Collection Veluxe Pearlfusion Shadows Blend So Easily That You’ll Clutch Your Pearls

July 10th, 2015 by Karen 39 Comments

mac veluxe a trois collection top — Wearing all three shadows from MAC Veluxe a Trois Veluxe Pearlfusion Shadow in Fabulous Three

Well clutch mah pearls! Did I read that right? Was I just invited to a Veluxe a Trois? *fans self* Oh, my heavens! I’m not exactly sure what a party like that entails…but if the MAC Veluxe Pearlfusion Shadows will be there, I’m in! — as long as I don’t have to take off my cat tee shirt and stretchy pants, of course.

MAC Veluxe a Trois. Um…why does this collection’s name sound like the title of a dirty movie?

Or is that just me?

It’s probably just me…

Never mind! 🙂

In the opinion of this one cat-obsessed makeup fiend, the MAC Veluxe Pearlfusion eyeshadow formula is one of the MOST underrated MAC formulas of them all, and soon (August 13), when the new MAC Veluxe a Trois collection arrives, there will be six new trios with the Veluxe Pearlfusion formula.

Boom. There, I said. One of the most underrated MAC formulas of them all.

HEADS UP! The Veluxe a Trois collection launched early at Hudson’s Bay and is currently, as of right now, available online.

mac veluxe a trois — The six Veluxe Pearlfusion Shadow trios from the new MAC Veluxe a Trois collection

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