Makeup Tips/How To

MAC To The Beach: A Bit of Blue for a Rainy Spring Day

May 17th, 2010 by Karen 63 Comments

mac to the beach

Well, ladies, spring was allegedly on the menu until these storm clouds blew into town…

mac to the beach tutorial 2

mac to the beach tutorial

Come on, Mother Nature, what’s the deal? Where are my 80-degree days? I want hotness, so I can read my gossip mags while I sip iced tea by a swimming pool and daydream about MAC To The Beach. 🙂

mac to the beach

MAC To The Beach Makeup Look Featuring a Bit of Blue for a Rainy Spring Day

Today I’m wearing my new “I’m living in complete denial about the weather” makeup look, which features gold, peach, coral, blue and bronze.

Even though it still makes use of some of the brighter colors from the MAC To The Beach collection (among other things like these and this), I think it’s a little daytime-friendlier than the orange and green liner look I tried last weekend.

If you decide to give this or something similar a try, please share any suggestions for duplicate or similar products you discover. Substitutions are ALWAYS welcome (a girl’s gotta have options!). 🙂

Grab your board, girl, and let’s ditch this rain! You know where we’re headed…
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MAC Unsung Heroes: Woodwinked Eyeshadow Fakes a Good Night’s Sleep

May 13th, 2010 by Karen 46 Comments

MAC Woodwinked Eyeshadow ($14.50) rocks harder than Metallica. 🙂 Like a beauty BFF, this shimmery shadow’s been with me through good times and bad. Brown in the pan, it applies like a lovely warm gold, and I find myself still reaching for it often because it’s one of those disbelief-suspending shades able to fake a good night’s sleep.

If I had to pick one shadow to have with me after an all-nighter, Woodwinked would be it. A few swipes of this permanent collection shadow on my lids, and I swear I look well rested.

The MAC Unsung Heroes series features some of my favorite products from MAC’s permanent collection…

MAC Unsung Hero: Powersurge Eye Kohl

MAC Unsung Heroes: All That Glitters Eyeshadow Is Not Just Another Gold

MAC Unsung Heroes: The Technakohl Liners

MAC Unsung Hero: Groundwork Paint Pot

MAC Unsung Hero: Nymphette Lipglass

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Tokidoki Perfetto Eyeliner in Donutella, and One Way to Wear Pink

May 6th, 2010 by Karen 44 Comments

What’s up, chica? How’s your day been? Rocking hard, I hope, like old school Van Halen (insert headbang [HERE]).

One of my favorite morning rituals lately involves a cup of green tea (with honey, YUM!) and your comments. This morning I was looking at the comments on Saturday’s Tokidoki Perfetto Liner post. Lots of us were brainstorming ideas for ways to wear Donutella, the funky pink liner in the pictures.

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15-Minute Morning Makeup: Easy Peasy Neutrals with Urban Decay and MAC

April 27th, 2010 by Karen 75 Comments

Lately my morning makeup’s been like Switzerland (neutral). 🙂 I know it’s just a phase, but I haven’t been wanting to spend the time, ya know? Here’s a simple eye that only takes about 15 minutes to do. It features black liner and shimmery brown shadow with just a bit of blending and smudging.
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MBBTV #10: Even Eyebrows Need Love, or The Case of the Sasquatch Brows

April 16th, 2010 by Karen 8 Comments

Wow, brows have come a long way, baby. Back when I was in high school, no one ever tweezed, waxed or filled in. We just walked around with naturally big, bushy eyebrows and never gave it a second thought. Oh, gawd, my senior pictures…

Today we have more doodads and products to make ’em look better, which is cool because my untamed brows should never again see the light of day. 🙂

Products mentioned in the video…

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

One Easy Way to Rock MAC Art Supplies

April 1st, 2010 by Karen 46 Comments

How’s it going, ladies? Remember the pink/purple Rock N’ Roll look we talked about last week? It featured a few products from the new MAC Art Supplies collection which swooped down on MAC counters today. This morning I thought I’d revisit the look and add some notes this time around for a brief tutorial.

A little bit of background…

Inspiration for the winged purple liner goes to ’80s hair metal band Motley Crue. I was listening to them on iTunes when it came to me. Here I’m wearing a toned-down version of the wing for daytime wear, but you could always ramp it up for evenings with a thicker line and a bigger flick.

It’s a pretty simple look in that it’s low on blending and doesn’t require bunches of different brushes. I’m imagining it as a way for makeup beginners or ladies new to color to take a pair of pretty pink and purple eyes for a test drive around town.

Fellow headbangers, if you do end up giving this or something like it a try and feel like sharing, please do! 🙂 Take a picture of yourself and send it to me at karen@makeupandbeautyblog.com. I’d love to see what you come up with.
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MBBTV #4: I’m Loving Benefit High Brow Lifting Pencil

March 14th, 2010 by Karen 12 Comments

How’s it goin’, ladies? Are you having a good weekend so far? Doing anything fun? I am SO GLAD the sun came out again today. With yesterday that makes two whole days in a row! We’ve been seeing a little more of it lately… It’s beginning to feel like spring.

Today I’ve got sun and eyebrows on my mind, specifically Benefit’s $20 High Brow pencil. Have you seen it before? Here’s a quick look in this video.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Episode 4 Link:

Benefit Hi Brow ($20)

Makeup and Beauty Tips from Olympic Speed Skater Allison Baver

March 11th, 2010 by Karen 10 Comments

I’m still kinda fired up after the excitement of last month’s Olympic Games… There was something epic about it all, ya know? — about seeing top athletes chase big dreams. It was like watching the journeys of the heroes in Greek myths!

Olympic athletes train hard to reach the games, and for some, like US speed skater Allison Baver, there are times when the goal seems out of reach. After shattering her leg in a race last year (she collided with teammate Katherine Reutter), Allison underwent intensive rehab to make it to Vancouver, where she and her speed skating teammates earned a Bronze Medal in the 3000m relay.

I chatted with her this morning and learned that she’s not just a bad-ass on the ice. Allison also loves makeup! And she’s a total girly girl. 🙂 She credits her positive attitude with helping her stay focused and shared a few of her favorite makeup and beauty tips.
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