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Let’s Do a Marilyn Makeup Look While We Wait for MAC Marilyn Monroe

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mac marilyn monroe tutorial final look

I can’t wait for the new MAC Marilyn Monroe collection to arrive on counters October 4! I’m serious. I can’t wait!!

I tried, but I couldn’t, so I didn’t. 🙂

Today I decided to try my paws at a look inspired by Marilyn and Hollywood pinup girls using products I already have. For the heck of it, I tried to use colors that at least sounded similar to the ones from the upcoming release, based on the official MAC color descriptions.

I left myself lots of leeway here and basically just tried to have fun, Marilyn-style.

The products I substituted for MAC Marilyn Monroe collection colors…

  • MAC Eyeshadow in Shroom in place of MAC Eyeshadow in Preferred Blonde (described as a pale champagne beige)
  • A mix of MAC Eyeshadow in Swell Baby and Waft in place of MAC Eyeshadow in Showgirl (a dark blueish grey)
  • MAC Lipstick in Lady Danger in place of MAC Lipstick in Scarlet Ibis (a bright orange-red)
  • MAC Pro Longwear Lip Pencil in Kiss Me Quick in place of MAC Lip Pencil in Redd
  • MAC Pro Longwear Lipgloss in Boundlessly Beige in place of MAC Dazzleglass in Phiff! (a sheer yellowish peach)
  • MAC Blush in Blushbaby in place of MAC Powder Blush in The Perfect Cheek (a neutral pinkish beige)
  • MAC Beauty Powder in Pearl Sunshine in place of MAC Beauty Powder in Forever Marilyn (a sheer pale peach)
  • MAC 36 Lash in place of MAC 35 Lash

I snapped some pics, too, in case you wanted to follow along. 🙂

If you’re ready, let’s jump right in!

The first thing I did was apply my foundation and fill in my brows…

mac marilyn monroe tutorial 1

Then, I spread MAC Paint in Sublime Nature all over my lids.

mac marilyn monroe tutorial 2

After that, I patted Shroom on top…

mac marilyn monroe tutorial 3
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An Everyday Plum, Beige and Peach Fall Makeup Look for Work, School or Walks With Your Cat

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mac prunella sable tutorial final top

Shh… Do you hear that? Wait — let me open up my window so it’s easier to hear.

That rustling sound outside? That’s the sound of fallen leaves from the old oak tree blowing in the wind. Haven’t heard that sound in a long, long time…

It’s even a little chilly out today. I noticed it earlier when I took Tabs outside for his walk. That crunch-crunch-crunch of brown and yellow leaves under our feet, the crisp edge in the air — you know what’s up! Fall is back.

And as the seasons change, so does my makeup. I’ve been wanting to wear more fall-ish looks lately, like this little number with plum, beige and peach.

A few weeks ago I was all about dewy finishes and glow, but now I’m really interested in mattes, I think because they just seem polished and appropriate for this time of year.

From start to finish, assuming everything goes well and I don’t get distracted by, oh, say something like Friday Night Lights, this look normally takes me about 15-20 minutes. This time took a little longer because I wanted to snap these pics for a tutorial.

If you’re looking for a new fall makeup look for work or school, I hope you give this one a try, and if you do, let me know how it goes. 🙂

First, before we get started, let’s round up all of the tools and products we’ll need… Brand-wise, I mostly used products from MAC, Becca, Burberry and Hourglass here, but of course, you can swap out any of these things for similar colors from other brands.

Makeup

Tools

Next, using the Hourglass Foundation/Blush Brush No. 2, I prepped my skin with primer (I’m using MAC Prep + Prime Natural Radiance) before applying MAC Face and Body Foundation in C5 all over my face, and where I felt I needed extra coverage, like on my chin (dumb-@ss hormonal breakouts!), I applied a little more, pressing the product into my skin with the brush.

mac prunella sable tutorial 1

Then, I filled in my brows with a MAC 266 Small Angle Brush and MAC Eyeshadow in Concrete and curled my lashes with the always reliable Sonia Kashuk Lash Curler.

mac prunella sable tutorial 2

Next up — eyeshadow! I spread MAC Paint in Sublime Nature all over my lids with a finger. It served as a base for the next eyeshadows layered on top, helping them stay put and intensifying their colors.

mac prunella sable tutorial 3

Here, I lined my upper lash lines with MAC Prunella…

mac prunella sable tutorial 4
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Share a Tip Tuesday: Whip That Water Line Into Shape!

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I love liner. Love wearing it on my water lines. Love the way it intensifies eye looks, but getting that stuff to stay put can be a bear.

Here are a few tricks I use to whip my water lines into shape…

Let’s wait a while…

After I apply a layer of liner, I wait about 10 minutes for it to dry, and then reapply. That second layer really seems to up my mileage.

Push on some powder

Somewhere out there is a lovely Chanel makeup artist who gets credit for this trick (thank you, wherever you are!). After lining your water lines with a pencil, pat a matching eyeshadow on top using a soft, firm brush. It sets the liner and extends your wear time.

Brush-wise, I like the Definition Liner Brush No. 10 from Burberry ($32) for this (although any good, firm eye brush with a little give should also work, like a skinny concealer brush). It’s downy soft, and the pointy tip is all about the details. Perfect for placing shadow along the water lines.

Bring on the Bobbi Brown Long-Wear Eye Pencils!

There’s no shortage of long-wearing liners out there now, but Bobbi Brown makes a great one. Her Long-Wear Eye Pencils ($24) are some of the best I’ve used. They glide along my skin like makeup figure skaters, without caking or breaking up later. Plus, no tears! — and they come in six shades. The one I have is called Jet (a midnight black).

Thanks for stopping by for another edition of Share a Tip Tuesday! 🙂 You left so many great ideas for makeup storage solutions in the comments on last week’s post. My cluttered counters thank you.

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Share a Tip Tuesdays: Unconventional Makeup Storage Ideas

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Organized chaos. 🙂 That’s how I describe my current approach to organizing my makeup, and I’m always looking for new ways to store products and make them easier to find.

To that end, I’ve made some of my best makeup storage discoveries in some pretty unlikely places, like fabric stores and discount retailers with home sections like Marshall’s and T.J.Maxx.

Fabric, arts and crafts stores are veritable cornucopias of great storage ideas (with excellent prices compared to The Container Store!), and JoAnn is one of my faves.

That’s where I found that clear ArtBin box up at there at the top with 18 compartments for $7!

Shoot, that same thing would probably cost three times as much at The Container Store.

I’m guessing it was designed for beads and buttons, but I use it to store my MAC Paint Pots and Benefit Creaseless Creams.

Something tells me it doesn’t mind…

It’s also great for storing the MAC single eyeshadows I keep meaning to depot, and the compartments are just big enough to fit most products that come in tiny tubes.

And ArtBin makes a similar container for pencils called the Prism 6-Compartment Box (about $7 in stores, or $9 online). I use mine for eyeliners and to organize lip pencils by color, but it’d make a pretty good storage bin for glosses, too.

Oh, and you know those clear shoeboxes that you can get at The Container Store? Nice thing about them? They’re the perfect size for nail polishes.
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Share a Tip Tuesdays: Try This Tip to Spice Up Your Smokey Eyes

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share a tip tuesdays smokey eyes

Here’s one simple trick to take your smokey eyes to the next level: blend a little bronzer along the edge of the eyeshadow on your lids and along your lower lash lines with a fluffy domed brush like the MAC 217.

Nothing too dramatic, but I think it gives a dash more depth and dimension to the look, especially when I’m wearing a shimmery shadow and use a matte bronzer for this trick. The contrast between the matte and shimmery products just werks.

If you don’t wear bronzers, no worries. You could give it a try with your favorite brown eyeshadow, or maybe even a blush. 🙂

Thanks for playing Share a Tip Tuesdays! Here are some of the makeup cleanup tips you left on last week’s post in the comments. Some great tips here…

“I always do the wings of my eyeliner before I line my upper lashline; since I have a monolid the wings are all you really see, so I perfect those first.”
–Christine

“While working with glittery pigments, you can use some medical tape to gently lift off any fall out from the cheeks/under eye. The adhesive picks up the loose glitter but leaves the base makeup intact. I saw a makeup artist use this trick, pretty neat I’d say!”
— Ankita

“One trick I’ve learned recently is to pat my setting powder into the skin. I always used a powder brush to brush and set my powder, but have since switched to a flat top brush to really dig the powder into the skin. This guarantees that my foundation will last all day and the oiliness is under control for a little while longer. Plus, I don’t get that heavy buildup powder can sometimes show. I also use this technique with certain foundations. I’ll spread, then pat.”
–Nadege

“I do my eyes first and I noticed this ‘scooting’ problem with fallout you speak of. So what I do now is apply only my face primer before I do my eyes. The primer keeps the fallout from sticking and sinking to the skin — so its very easy to brush off afterwards. I then go back and apply foundation after eyes!”
— Slick

“Whenever I’m out of eye makeup remover I grab the nearest facial moisturizer, put some on a q tip and erase any mistakes. It works like magic!”
— Gabi

“A few months ago, I decided to start using a new baby shampoo to start cleaning my makeup brushes. I decided to use Johnson’s Baby No More Tangles Extra Conditioning Shampoo. This baby shampoo is awesome at cleaning my makeup brushes!!! I was able to quickly clean all of my makeup brushes in half the time it took me to clean them with Johnson’s regular baby shampoo. Each of my brushes’ bristles looked great after I cleaned them. They also did not have any residue that some brush cleaners and other baby shampoos can leave behind. I highly recommend this baby shampoo for cleaning all types of makeup brushes.”
–Nadia A

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3 Beauty Lessons Learned on a Trip to Tahoe

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Man, oh man, I sure do love to travel. The food, seeing the sights, sampling the local cuisine, meeting people from other walks of life, the food…

I’m detecting a trend here! 🙂


The Lychee shave ice from Organic Ice, a little shave ice shack at South Shore on Lake Tahoe


The crab cake sliders from Riva Grill


The fire roasted medley from Base Camp Pizza
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Easy on the Eyes: Try This Shimmery Peach, Brown and Black Look With Your Favorite Neutral Palette

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easy eye makeup peachy shimmer 0

Urban Decay’s Naked Palette shocked the beauty world back in 2010, not with bodacious primary colors and sparkly gobs of gorgeous glitter, but with elemental earth tones and wearable neutral shades.

Since then, many brands have joined the basics bandwagon, coming out with neutral eye palettes of their own.

I love neutrals almost as much as I love bolds — well, maybe even more (although it’s hard to resist a pair of pigmented purple cat eyes).

If you have a neutral eye palette waiting patiently in your makeup bag, give it some love today. Here’s an easy (always important) neutral eye look featuring matte black and brown shades and a shimmery, peachy gold.

I’ll be using eyeshadows from Anastasia’s new She Wears It Well Palette ($34), specifically Sunset (a shimmery, peachy gold), Onyx (a matte black matte) and Toffee (a matte brown).

anastasia she wears it well palette

Before we jump in, let’s go over the recipe…

Bear in mind that these are only suggestions. You don’t have to use the exact same colors or brushes to follow this tutorial.

Right! With that out of the way, are you ready to get neutral-ized? 🙂

1. Bringin’ it back to basics

easy eye makeup peachy shimmer 1
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Shimmer Turns the Wrong Side of the Bed Right: An Early Morning Makeup Tip

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a makeup tip for glowy skin
Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector in Moonstone on the left and MAC Strobe Cream on the right

Hmm… I wonder what Tabs is doing right now.

I’m typing this on my laptop at the little desk in my hotel room in Tahoe (Stateline, on the Nevada side of the lake) while El Hub quietly snores behind me like a husky, little angel. Between you and me…I’m hoping that my clacking on the keyboard wakes him up so that I can innocently ask him to go get me some coffee from the Starbucks in the lobby. 🙂

Tabs is back at the Novato offices of Makeup and Beauty Blog, probably working from his cat tower in the living room.

I bet he’s probably thinking (and laughing maniacally!) about how he woke me up early yesterday…

At exactly 4 a.m., he stealthily approached the bed while El Hub and I were still sawing logs, somehow made it up on to the comforter without making a sound (amazing considering that he weighs almost 20 pounds), and then threw himself on my bladder!

Whether it was for sport or gravy, the world will never know…

Needless to say, it woke me up, and not on the right side of the bed, so out came the shimmery face lotion.

a makeup tip for glowy skin

Perfect for partying till the break of dawn (ZOMG! I can’t believe there were mornings I’d walk through the door at 6 a.m.!) or for pet owners/assistants with acrobatic, time-insensitive cats, these little bottles are potions of face-perking power!

Like yesterday, I rubbed a dollop of the shimmery lotion all over my face, after my sunscreen but before my foundation (and/or tinted moisturizer, if I were to wear one), using my fingers, but sometimes I’ll use a foundation brush.
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