MAC Makeup

Currently holding one of the top spots on my List of Silly Fears, right under 1) the inevitable zombie apocalypse, and 2) dressing like a cougar in a too-tight teenage girl’s dress?

Tarantula lashes.

You know what I’m talking about. The tipping point after which long, lush lashes venture into predatory hairy spider legs territory.

To be honest, mascara and I have totally gone there many times (accidentally, of course). Sometimes it happens when I get a little too enthusiastic with the layering…

If you’re as bothered by the idea as I am, let the new MAC Extended Play Gigablack Lash mascara ($16 and available in a single shade called Intense Black) allay your fears.

Gigablack is the latest incarnation of MAC Extended Play (the “Blanche Deveraux” mascara from last spring), and the latest addition to MAC’s permanent mascara line.

It’s similar to the original Extended Play in how well it separates and lengthens lashes while ensuring that they still look natural — but not too natural, if you know what I mean.

No hairy spider leg-like lashes here. 🙂

Wearing two or three coats, my lashes look long, smooth and dark, yet still feel soft and light, and they remain that way for 15-16 hours (!) without flaking or smudging.

So, what’s the big diff between this new version and its predecessors? Two words: carbon pigments. MAC added ’em to the formula to make the black color more intense.

But that’s not the only thing…

My first thought when I saw MAC’s new Antique Diamond Pro Longwear Paint Pot?

Skinny Jeans. Benefit Skinny Jeans, because like my beloved Skinny Jeans cream shadow, Antique Diamond also has that grayish khaki thang going on.

But yeah…that’s just about where the similarities end. As soon as I got Antique Diamond on my lids, I could see that it wasn’t a lot like Skinny Jeans. I think both shadows are fab, but they are very, very different.

Olive green Antique Diamond looks lighter, cooler toned and shinier to me (hello, frosty finish!). Like, in trying to think of the inspiration behind it, I’m thinkin’…frozen lichen on the side of a tree on a sunny winter’s day?

Whatev, I like it. 🙂

Doesn’t it seem more delicate than Skinny Jeans? Could have something to do with Antique Diamond’s fine flecks of silver glitter.

Don’t get me wrong — I Skinny Jeans. I just think Antique Diamond is a little daintier, like if Skinny Jeans were motorcycle boots, Antique Diamond would be a pair of kitten heels.

I’ll usually pat a layer on my lids with a finger, and then, to offload a little of the color, buff it down by gently running a MAC 217 all over the lid, leaving behind an almost transparent tint of cool olive green (so pretty!) loaded with silver shimmer.

And it lasts from that first bite of French toast at breakfast till that last piece of pizza at night…

(Yes, someone’s hungry for junk food right now.)

[Continue reading…]

Last night I met a friend of mine, Joanie, for dinner in the city (Delarosa restaurant). She’s also a makeup nerd makeup enthusiast, so I wanted to go buck wild with a coral and green eye look using the new Guerlain Coup de Foudre palette and some false lashes, because I knew she’d “get it,” if you know what I mean (LOL, do you ever do that with your makeup buds!?), but per usual, time got away from me, and I ended up having to bolt out of the house at the last minute with what I was already wearing — a simple eye look with liner, mascara and MAC’s shimmery, silvery peach Pro Longwear Paint Pot in Vintage Selection ($18.50).

Wouldn’t ya know it? Even in the dim lighting of the restaurant, halfway through a convo about red smokey eyes, Joanie asked me about the glitter glittering on me.

“Ooh, girl,” I replied between bites of polenta smothered in gooey cheese and tomato sauce. “That’s MAC’s new Vintage Selection Pro Longwear Paint Pot! Lemme tell ya about it…”

It’s a cream eye shadow, comes in a pot, and it’s one of those Jekyll and Hyde shades that looks deceptively mellow when you open it, but get it on your lids, and it’s, “Wow! Sparkly glitter-o-rama!”

My favorite thing about it? — other than the shimmery specks and how well it layers? With or without a primer, it lasts on my lids for hours! I can put it on at 10 in the morning, and it’s still going strong, with no fading and only the faintest creasing, at 8 o’clock at night.

Here’s to hoping that these four new Large Eye Shadows from MAC are the closest I ever come to having snakes on top of my eyes!

Not that I have anything against snakes (of the reptilian variety). My aversion to slithering creatures doesn’t extend to snakes. It’s more of an anti-worm policy (they’re so slimy and squiggly, YUCK!). I’m definitely not anti-snake.

I actually think they’re pretty cool and inspiring, really. All sleek, graceful and frightening at the same time, kind of like Grace Jones in Conan The Destroyer.

And speaking of Conan, these snake-patterned 0.10-ounce pans are also pretty huge (twice the size of MAC’s regular 0.05-ounce pans).