MAC Makeup

The MAC Wash and Dry Collection Brushes, Makeup Bag, Bronzers and Pro Longwear Waterproof Brow Sets

May 5th, 2015 by Karen 12 Comments

Hmm… Just five quarters left!

That should be enough for this last load of MAC Wash and Dry collection products. We have two brushes, a makeup bag, four bronzers and some bits for brows.

Beginning with the brushes and bag…

MAC Wash and Dry Collection: Brushes and Bag

THE BRUSHES

How many are there in the release? There are two brushes in the collection — the 125 Split Fibre Dense Face Brush ($38.50) and 126 Split Fibre Large Face Brush ($46)
Uh…what’s a Split Fibre Brush? Good question. The brush heads are like two sides of a coin and have natural fibers on one side, and synthetic fibers on the other, so it’s designed to work with both cream (the synthetic fibers) and powder products (the natural fibers).
They’re surprisingly handy. Mostly, I’ve been using these for applying products and blending them out, and I’ll apply whatever I’m working with — bronzer or blush, for instance — with one side of one of the brushes, and then I’ll flip the brush over and blend out the edges with the other side. It’s akin to having two different brushes in one.

Both sides feel soft, with the synthetic bristles being slightly stiffer, which makes them ideal for picking up lots of product (like with the Studio Sculpt Bronzing Powders).
How well do they work overall? I think the 126 Split Fibre Large Face Brush ($46) is probably the better value. I like the size of the brush head. It’s big, so it covers a lot of surface area and is good for quickly erasing and diffusing edges. I’ve used it with bronzer, powder and blush, and it works well for them all. It’s a true multitasking tool — yes, on the expensive side, as it’s almost $50 (!), but it’s well-made and versatile.
As for the 125 Split Fibre Dense Face Brush ($38.50), it’s an adequate contouring brush, and it looks cool…but unless you plan to contour every day, you may not get as much use out of it as the Face Brush.
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The MAC Wash & Dry Collection Powder Blushes in Crisp Whites and Hipness

May 4th, 2015 by Karen 16 Comments

I’m keepin’ it quick this time with a brief breakdown of both Powder Blushes in the soon-to-arrive MAC Wash and Dry collection (May 14 online, May 21 in stores and counters).

First, let’s say “Hi!” to Hipness (then we’ll look at Crisp Whites).

MAC Hipness Powder Blush

The succinct two-sentence summary? Hipness is a warm, peachy coral-ish powder blush with a barely-there satin finish that could almost pass for matte. In fact, it fooled me at first glance, but then I took a closer look at it and saw petite pearlescent particles.

The tech specs? I’m fine with one layer of this highly pigmented powder, which lasts seven or eight hours on my sometimes/places dry, sometimes/places oily combination cheeks. Great on its own, it’s hot dayum! — phenomenal blended with a bronzer (and more on that in a sec).

Have we met before? Why, yes, we have. 🙂 Double-check your MAC collection, because Hipness has performed at this venue before. You may recall it from (2008’s Fafi or 2010’s MAC to the Beach.

For whom would it work well? Bronzed beauties (and barons) are in extra luck. Hipness looks bright, but not excessively bold, on my NC42 skin. If you’re a lighter lass, however, you can still have fun with Hipness. Try mixing a little with bronzer, and then applying that powder potion to your cheeks. The bronzer will tone down the brightness a bit and, bonus! — could save you a little time, because then you wouldn’t have to apply blush and bronzer separately (assuming you would).

This is one of my all-time favorite gotta-get-out-the-door-now tricks, and I actually think that it takes this particular blush to the next level of effortless-ness, no matter what your skin tone.

How do I feel about Hipness? I feel good. I feel good about Hipness. 🙂 I think it’s very flattering and natural-looking, especially when layered or mixed with bronzer. I’m happy to see it making an encore performance in MAC Wash and Dry.

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The MAC Wash and Dry Collection Technakohl Liners: This Time Around, Practice Made a Perfect Blue

May 4th, 2015 by Karen 15 Comments

So. Much. Yes!

Rarely does a liner sweep me off my feet.

I think the last one was MAC Costa Riche. Or was it was BECCA Cabrera…? I’m pretty sure it was one of those two.

Whenever it happens, since it doesn’t happen very often, I almost immediately panic a little. One of my first thoughts is usually along the lines of, “How am I going to function when I wear this down to a nub, which I’ll most certainly do?” Or, how much am I going to freak-the-eff out when I can’t find one of my backups? Because let’s be real — if it’s that good, I’m probably getting a backup. Or two. OK, three.

Seriously, though, I think MAC’s new Technakohl Liner in Practice Makes Perfect is…well, perfect. They should have just called it Perfect and cut out any confusion. I think it’s just about perfect in every single way.

It’s a deep, rich, intensely pigmented bluish green pencil liner with a twist-up tip. Fab for lash lines, of course, but I love, love, LOVE it on my water lines (especially the lower water lines). I think it does wonders for browns eyes, in particular, and I swear mine look more milk chocolatey when I wear it.

It’s fairly no-fuss, too. Compared to some blue liners, where I feel like I have to apply four or five layers to ramp up the intensity to a decent level, I just use two layers of this and I’m good.

On top of that, it’s incredibly smooth and doesn’t migrate or make my sensitive eyes water. I usually reapply after about five hours to freshen it up, which isn’t bad, and even then I’m only adding a little.

Ooh! — the color goes really well with blue, green and khaki clothing (and accessories), and I bet it would also complement gold shadows and golden brown shadows nicely, too.

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Lustrous Lips Are a Lipglass Away With the MAC Wash and Dry Collection

May 1st, 2015 by Karen 18 Comments

Boy howdy! These new MAC Wash and Dry Lipglasses will make you tumble dry into some seriously high heat!

Honestly…what does that even mean? I think I might be scraping the bottom of the barrel for new laundromat references. I mean, one can only make so many before they’re tapped.

Laundromats and makeup — leave it to MAC to come up with something crazy like that.

mac wash and dry collection lipglass — The four MAC Wash and Dry Lipglasses from the left: Girl on Board, Laundry List, Hot/Cold and Domestic Diva

There are four $16.50 Lipglasses in the new MAC Wash and Dry collection, and all I have to say about them is this: “Hello, brights!” I would happily roll in the haaay with the three vivid shades. Bronzed beauties, in particular, will probably like bright creamy orange Laundry List (like a glossy version MAC Morange Lipstick), creamy true red Hot/Cold and shimmery pink Domestic Diva. Spreadable like butter, they apply easily and evenly on my lips, but I do feel like the red and orange shades benefit from the help of a lip brush, because they’re hella pigmented.

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The MAC Wash and Dry Collection Lipsticks: Helping Lips Look Lovely While Cleaning Up Their Act

May 1st, 2015 by Karen 14 Comments

Oh, yeah, it’s about to get sudsy in here!!

Wait — what do you mean you don’t have any quarters?

None?? Not even one quarter…?

Who shows up to a laundromat without any quarters?

LOL! I’m just kidding. 🙂 That’s alright. I brought enough quarters for both of us. Have a seat here next to me, and we’ll contemplate the four lipsticks from the new MAC Wash and Dry collection while we wait for our laundry to finish.

Steam Heat: This vivid yellowish red hangs tough from the moment you put it on until the end of the final rinse cycle. And shoot, it doesn’t stop there. In other words, it lasts a really long time — like six, or maybe even seven hours, but that’s only if you can manage to resist that bag of Trader Joe’s cheese puffs in the closet, which is to say that it doesn’t last through meals.

I swear…whenever I open one of those bags of cheese puffs, it is physically impossible to NOT eat at least half the bag in one sitting.

But I digress…

Tumble Dry: Almost better than that moment when you realize that your last load of laundry is done, hurray! This warm-toned light peachy coral nude with soft shimmer is very easy to wear and moisturizing. Sheer enough to allow my natural lip color to peek through, it still packs enough pigment to make an impression.

It’s a perfect summery shade.

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MAC Wash and Dry Collection High-Light Powder in Freshen Up: Before and After

April 30th, 2015 by Karen 15 Comments

In less time than it takes to throw a load of delicates in the wash (read: very little time; i.e. super fast), you can “freshen up” your cheekbones with MAC Freshen Up, the brand’s newest highlighting powder, coming soon as part of the Wash and Dry collection.

So, what’s the 411 on Freshen Up?

It’s a limited edition warm-toned highlighter housing three satiny shades in one pan — a deep pinkish coral, a peachy coral and a yellow gold. Bust it out to add shimmer and shine to your skin. Interestingly, the shimmery golden overspray that coats the entire pan sticks around for a surprisingly long time — this, compared to other oversprays that seem to vanish into thin air after a couple swipes. The shimmer dust here settles into the little holes and crevices in the pan’s design, so even after it looks like it’s all gone, my brush continues to pick up some of the shimmer.

How do you use it?

I sweep the powder on the high points of my face — my cheekbones, down the bridge of my nose, on my Cupid’s bow and just above my brow bone — where I want to catch the light. Wear the shades individually, like by loading a small tapered eye brush (like the MAC 266), and then applying, or use a fluffier blush or a highlighting brush to swirl all three colors together. In this pic, I’m wearing all of them swirled together.

(Note: if you’re a lighter lovely, you’ll probably also be able to use Freshen Up as a blush, too.)

How well does it work?

Here’s the deal: with more of a satiny sheen than the high-shine finish that many traditional highlighters have, these powders remind me of the Hourglass Ambients. It takes a second to realize, “Oh! Homegirl is wearing highlighter,” so they don’t reach out and slap ya silly, in other words.

It’s more like a gentle tap. LOL!
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The MAC Wash and Dry Collection Veluxe Pearlfusion Shadow Trios Promise to Make Laundry Days and Lids Lovelier

April 30th, 2015 by Karen 21 Comments

Hey, bubbles. 🙂 Just in case you were looking for makeup to wear to the laundromat…

BOOM! MAC Wash and Dry.

Yes, domestic divas, a freaking laundromat serves as the backdrop for MAC’s new summer collection, Wash and Dry.

As a woman who has probably spent approximately one third of her adult life hanging out in laundromats (I didn’t have a washer/dryer until I moved into this condo), I feel qualified to say that this is by far the schmexy-est laundromat of them all.

First, you don’t have worry about running out of quarters, or about somebody stealing your cat t-shirts and stretchy pants out of the dryer, or about that creepy dude lurking in the corner who you suspect intends to flash you. None of those are issues at this facility. In fact, the odds of that man offering to touch up your eye makeup are far greater than the odds of him exposing his manly bits.

This collection is so much more fun than washing and folding clothes. 🙂

It’s a pretty substantial one, too, with four steamy lipsticks (one word: BRIGHTS), four glosses, a couple of blushes, two nail polishes and a bad-@ss highlighting powder (stay tuned for that review) — oh, and bronzers, of course, because it’s not a legitimate MAC summer launch without a guest appearance by Refined Golden, obvs.

For eyes, there are a massive number of brow products, a few liners, a waterproof mascara and three eyeshadow trios, which leads me to this…

I’m wearing Permanent Press, one of the $27.50 Veluxe Pearlfusion Shadow Trios from the collection, in this toasty brown, smokey cat eye today, and I had absolutely no trouble blending it, thanks to the silky — almost creamy — Veluxe Pearlfusion formula. It’s super lightweight, so melding the colors into each other doesn’t require a lot of effort with a blending brush.

You can wear them dry, like I’ve done here, for a dreamy metallic shine, or apply them with a wet brush for more of a goddess-emerging-from-the-surf (or the laundry soap suds, in this case) foil-like shine. Either way, they last from 7-8 hours on my combination lids when applied atop primer.
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The MAC In Extra Dimension Eye Shadows Are Becoming Permanent Fixtures in Spacetime

April 24th, 2015 by Karen 15 Comments

Apologies for just powering my way through this quick look at the new MAC Extra Dimension Eye Shadows, babe. I’ve got a hot date with two clear drawers from The Container Store (yup, operation Get My Sh*t Together is currently underway).

First, I’m so happy to see these being added to the MAC permanent line! I’ve loved ’em for years and have long hoped this would happen.

See…? Sometimes makeup dreams really do come true. 🙂

These long-wearing eyeshadows (I get 8-10 hours) have a super soft, almost creamy formula and come in various levels of shimmer, all with negligible (barely any) fallout. I think they’re abso-friggin-lutely heaven, and I’m sure I’ve gushed about them before…

If some of the shades below look familiar, you may be recalling them from past collections like last year’s Alluring Aquatic.

Here are pics and swatches of 16 of the 18 shades (not shown: Smoky Mauve and Silver Sun)…

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