Product Reviews

Kick Back and Relax, Because It’s Time for MAC Casual Colour

June 4th, 2012 by Karen 30 Comments

mac casual colour weekend getaway
MAC Casual Colour in Keep in Casual

Casual Fridays? Pish-tosh! I vote we do Casual Mondays and Tuesdays instead. 🙂

Excuse me while I put my feet up before we chat, and feel free to let down your hair. This is an informal makeup event — a very casual affair hosted by the eight new limited edition MAC Casual Colours ($20 each).

Like stretchy pants, and conversations with friends you’ve known for years, these multi-purpose lip and cheek creams are verrry comfy.

Perhaps it’s no surprise that some of them are also a little lazy when it comes to color. The differences between a few of them — Have a Lovely Day, Keep It Loose, Lazy Sunday and Relaxation — are somewhat lost on my pigmented lips and NC42 skin. With those few, lighter lasses should have better luck discerning the subtle differences between the colors.

MAC Casual Colour clockwise from the purple pot on the lower left: Evening Stroll, Have a Lovely Day!, Keep It Casual, Keep It Loose, Lazy Sunday, Out for fun, Relaxation and Weekend Getaway

MAC Casual Colour swatches from the left: Evening Stroll, Have a Lovely Day!, Keep It Casual, Keep It Loose, Lazy Sunday, Out for fun, Relaxation and Weekend Getaway

mac casual colour evening stroll
Evening Stroll
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The MAC Beth Ditto Zoom Lash Mascaras Take Lashes from Basic Black to Lightly Tinted in 1-2 Coats

June 4th, 2012 by Karen 27 Comments

MAC Beth Ditto Zoom Lash Mascara from the left: New Hue, Plum Reserve and Blue Charge

During the week, I usually reach for reliable, basic (boring?) mascaras in brown or black, but even reliable standbys can seem a little uninspiring after a while.

Now, whenever I feel like I’ve “hit the wall” on basic black and brown and need a change, I can turn to one of the new MAC Beth Ditto Zoom Lash Mascaras ($15 each), three new limited edition tinted mascaras in Plum Reserve (a light violet-ish purple), New Hue (a blackened burgundy) and Blue Charge (a deep navy blue).

If Yves Saint Laurent Majorelle Blue Volume is your party shade, then the Beth Ditto Zoom Lash mascaras want to be what you wear to work.

For comparison, the formula feels a little thicker than MAC Extended Play, another mascara I’ve been wearing lately.

From about an arm’s length away, all three of these could pass for basic black. But get a little closer (don’t be shy!), and they reveal their true colors.

When I wear ’em, I like to start by swiping the brush against the mouth of the tube or a clean tissue to remove any excess, which seems to reduce their tendency to clump and deposit stray mascara on my lids.

Then, I apply one coat on freshly-curled lashes before using a lash comb to further separate my fringe, and after that first layer dries, I repeat the process with a second layer to intensify the color.

Two layers is probably my sweet spot for lashes that look noticeably longer, thicker and lightly tinted, with just a slight relaxing of the curl.

mac beth ditto zoom no mascara
No mascara!

mac blue charge
Two coats of Blue Charge
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The MAC Beth Ditto Pro Longwear Lipcremes: A Study in Contrasts

June 2nd, 2012 by Karen 20 Comments

mac beth ditto heart hangover
MAC Beth Ditto Pro Longwear Lipcreme in Heart Hangover on my lips

Sure, I’ll take a salty caramel, but I think I’ll pass on the chocolate-covered bacon.

It’s a big seller, you say? Really…? Who buys it? Yeah, I guess I can see it as a novelty, mixing contrasts like that. I guess that’s also what MAC had in mind with the new MAC Beth Ditto Pro Longwear Lipcremes ($17 each).

I don’t know. Something about the mix of quiet colors and bold brights just feels right to me.

LOL! No, not like chocolate and bacon. 🙂 Probably more like salt and caramel.

The hushed hues in You’re Perfect Already (a neutral pale pink) and Love Long Distance (a light mauve) look like they were made with lighter lovelies in mind, while bronzed beauties and darker divas might fall in love with lush, vivid Heart Hangover (a deep purple), Dear Diary (a bright neon pink) and BOOYAH!! (a bright orange).

If you’re new to the Pro Longwear Lipcremes, you’re in luck (here’s a review)!

They’re like the MAC Amplified lipsticks, version 2.0. Creamy, moisturizing pigments with a touch of vanilla flavor and scent, and they last all day long on me, even through drinks and meals.

MAC Beth Ditto Pro Longwear Lipcremes from the left: Heart Hangover, Dear Diary, BOOYAH, You’re Perfect Already and Love Long Distance

mac beth ditto pro longwear lipcreme swatches
Swatches from the left: Love Long Distance, You’re Perfect Already, BOOYAH, Dear Diary, Heart Hangover

mac beth ditto pro longwear lipcreme comparison swatches
Love Long Distance, Snob, Pink Popcorn, You’re Perfect Already, Innocence Beware, BOOYAH, Watch Me Simmer, Reel Sexy, Dear Diary, Girl About Town, Quick Sizzle, Heart Hangover, Approaching Storm and Paramount
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The MAC Casual Colour Nail Lacquers Are Like Jeans and a Tee

June 2nd, 2012 by Karen 10 Comments

MAC Casual Colour Nail Lacquers from the left: Delicate, Fiestaware, Please Me and Style Tip

There’s a time and a place for crazy glittery nail polish, but when you’re more in the mood to kick back, there’s also MAC Casual Colour ($16 each).

The four new laid back limited edition nail lacquers released with the MAC Casual Colour collection get nails ready for everyday tasks, like grocery shopping, watering the plants, cleaning the back of the stove and catching the bus on time. Nothing too outrageous here. Just four basic, user-friendly, wearable shades.

Here I’m wearing two coats on each of my nails…

The MAC Casual Colour Nail Lacquers from the left: Delicate, Style Tip, Please Me and Fiestaware
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The MAC Beth Ditto Nail Laquers Look Sweet, But $16 Buys a Lot of Starburst

June 1st, 2012 by Karen 14 Comments

mac beth ditto nail lacquer

I can’t decide if the new candy-colored MAC Beth Ditto Nail Lacquers ($16 each) remind me more of Starbursts or Jordan Almonds…but Nocturnelle, the black crÃ¨me, has to be licorice.

The lot of ’em (all limited edition) had me craving candy and humming happy tunes all afternoon.

I applied three coats of three of them, the brighter ones — Near Beth Experience (the light yellow crÃ¨me), Life and Beth (the milky peach crÃ¨me) and Vagabondage (the mid-tone lavender crÃ¨me) — and two coats of Nocturnelle.

Is it just me, or do these remind you of candy…?

And they’re not half bad as nail lacquers, either. I think MAC’s stepped up their nail polish game over the past few years. I used to have big issues back in the day with their durability, and with their finishes falling a little flat, but these high-shine shades here would probably shine just fine without a top coat.

They also seem to be getting more durable. With MAC’s more recent shades, when I wear them with a good base coat, I can usually get at least 6-7 days before chipping; if I add a top coat, that tacks on a couple more days.

MAC Beth Ditto Nail Lacquer swatches from the left: Nocturnelle, Vagabondage, Near Beth Experience and Life and Beth
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Polka Dots, Robots and MAC Beth Ditto Powder to the People

June 1st, 2012 by Karen 14 Comments

mac beth ditto powder to the people

If science fiction movies have taught me anything, it’s that aliens and robots live among us, and 99.9% of the time, they’re not here to party.

As we await the development of a foolproof means of rogue robot/alien detection from the scientific community, most of us still depend on tried-and-true, old-fashioned techniques…

…like dogs. They’re pretty reliable robot detectors (see: the Terminator movies), but since my employment contract with Tabs includes a clause prohibiting close canine contact, I need something else.

Perhaps something like the new Powder to the People from the MAC Beth Ditto collection ($38).

mac beth ditto powder to the people
Powder to the People

In my experience, the robots I’ve encountered — I can’t speak for the aliens — have often struggled to understand certain aspects of the human condition, like emotion, music and other forms of creative expression.

Powder to the People, a limited edition polka-dotted powder for eyes and cheeks, definitely pushes one to think creatively with their makeup, by asking things like, “What should I do with this offbeat collection of sheer, semi-matte pink, peach, brown, blue and yellow?”

That’s the kind of creative thinking liable to expose masquerading robots and aliens.

Where a human might see Powder to the People’s multicolored dots (which aren’t over-sprays) and get the creative urge to whip up a watercolor eye look instead of the bright, shiny eye makeup they usually wear, a robot would get confused.

“Danger! Danger! Multiple makeup choices…does not compute.”

But as a human, you’re designed to handle creative decisions. You might decide to highlight your eyes and cheekbones with the powder and a MAC 224 Tapered Blending Brush (although I’d probably steer clear of the blue on days other than Halloween), or use a smaller face brush like the MAC 109 to carefully swirl the pink, brown, yellow and peach shades together (again, avoiding the blue) to create a blush.

Humanity has its privileges. 🙂

Next time I find myself at a MAC counter beside someone I suspect of being a robot or alien, I’m gonna slip Powder to the People in front of them and ask, “How would you wear it?”, all the while, watching their eyes…

The eyes are the key…

mac beth ditto swatches
Powder to the People shades swatched individually on the left and swirled together on the right
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NYX Shows Its Softer Side With the $18 Spring Fling Palette for Eyes, Cheeks and Lips

June 1st, 2012 by Karen 20 Comments

NYX spring fling palette

Wow, the first day of June already!? That leaves barely enough time for an NYX Spring Fling before summer. 🙂

The powders in NYX’s new $18 Spring Fling Palette are some of the softest I’ve ever felt from the brand.

So soft, in fact, that I think they might even be a little too soft for everyday use.

With its 12 powder shadows, two blushes and two lip glosses in a sweet, subdued mix of neutrals and pastels, the only thing missing is a pair of kid gloves to handle them.

nyx spring fling swatches
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Leave the Business of Slaying Scaly Skin to Lush’s Buffy Body Butter Bar

May 31st, 2012 by Karen 24 Comments

lush buffy body butter

If you’re looking for a solid exfoliating body bar that’s all about puppies, rainbows and heart-shaped bubbles coming out of a pink unicorn’s butt, you won’t find it in Lush’s Buffy Body Butter ($11.95).

Buffy will not listen to you talk about your feelings as you braid each other’s hair.

Nor will she quietly discuss the merits of gentle exfoliation with you over chamomile tea in a room filled with oversized pillows and dream catchers.

No.

Lush refers to this Buffy as “the original slayer” and says it’s “tough on rough bottoms” because it wants to kick metaphorical butt.

Your skin’s butt.

Dead skin cells? Destroys ’em. The solid 3.3-ounce Buffy Body Butter bar (what a tongue-twister!) vanquishes scaly skin with a semi-coarse concoction of ground rice, almonds and beans (?). And if 3.3 ounces doesn’t seem big enough, it also comes in a larger 7-ounce bar for $22.95.

Scaly shins? Toast. Lumps, bumps and scaly patches on pretty much any part of your bod — shins, thighs, elbows, heels, arms — succumb to Buffy’s skin-sloughing powers and the moisturizing might of cocoa and shea butters.

That other Buffy in the vampire-slaying business has to struggle to keep humanity safe from blood-suckers, but for the Buffy Body Butter bar, keeping skin exfoliated and moisturized is a piece of cake.

Just massage it over wet skin, and squeal with delight! — or mild discomfort, but more on that in a minute. It’s kinda like a rich, super scrubby soap.

Then, after rinsing, pat dry. No need for lotion or cream afterward, since Buffy leaves behind a thick layer of moisturizing butters and oils.
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