Makeup and Beauty Blog | Makeup Reviews, Swatches and How-To Makeup
A beauty blog blooming with fresh makeup reviews, swatches and beauty tips from your friendly neighborhood beauty addict
I was totally expecting to fall in love with these new limited edition $16 MAC Suntints because 1) I’ve been enjoying everything I’ve tried from the MAC Hey, Sailor! collection so far, and 2) I really liked last summer’s Suntints from the Surfbaby release, but the three new shades, well…
They just aren’t doing it for me.
Abalone
Sea Mist
Suntints SPF 20 Liquid Lip Balm from the left: Sea Mist, Au Rose and Abalone, $16
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I love blush more than drag queens love high heels, more than club kids love glow sticks, and more than cat ladies love fat, fluffy kittens with blue eyes and pink collars with rhinestones.
Coral and warm peach blushes are frequent summer stars, like the two $21 limited edition Powder Blushes from the MAC Hey, Sailor! collection, available online now at maccosmetics.com and coming to North American counters and stores May 24.
It’s interesting, but peachy Launch Away! and pinkish golden coral Fast Fleet aren’t what I typically expect from summer blushes. Maybe that’s why I like them so much.
I’m used to seeing brighter colors and bolder shimmer on cheeks in summer, but these babes seem fairly subdued by comparison, with a low-key soft focus satin finish.
Both are very forgiving, especially when it comes to my pores and fine lines, and they last an admirable 8-10 hours on my combination dry/oily cheeks.
Launch Away!: If you like NARS Sex Appeal blush, you just might love this easy-to-blend peach. It takes two layers to show up on my NC42 skin, but if you’re lighter than I am, you could easily get away with one. Launch Away! might not play well with very dark skin tones, but pale pretties who like the way they look in warm colors are in luck.
MAKEUP AND BEAUTY BLOG RATING: A
Fast Fleet: One light layer of this pigmented pinky golden coral delivers plenty of color. I love how it doesn’t compete for attention with the intense orange and red lip colors in the Hey, Sailor! collection, and I can’t wait to pair it with some of my bright MAC permanent line lip faves like Lychee Luxe, Cockney and Lady Danger. If you wear bold reds or coral lip looks often, ding-ding-ding! We have a winner here. 🙂
MAKEUP AND BEAUTY BLOG RATING: A+
Wearing Powder Blush in Fleet Fast
Don’t tell the rest of my makeup this…but I’ve been showing product favoritism toward highlighting powders lately, as evidenced by the forlorn, shimmery creams and liquids gathering dust in the corner of my office.
Currently docked in the port of my daily makeup bag? The new MAC Hey, Sailor! Highlight Powder in Crew ($29).
High-Light Powder in Crew, $28
The four purple, pink, orange and yellowish beige shades in this superfine pressed powder swirl together seamlessly, creating a combined color that adds a peachy, pinkish beige glow to the skin.
No glitter here! Crew’s pearly sheen glows softly, like light passing through a seashell (very Becca-esque). From some angles, I think it even looks matte.
And second to the snazzy design on the pan, the finish is my favorite thing about High-Light Powder in Crew.
It’s just so forgiving! — unlike highlighting powders super high in shimmer and shine, which can call attention to every single flake and pore on my cheeks. Crew, on the other hand, makes my skin glow without highlighting (pun intended) every imperfection.
It’s a fresh-faced look, like I’ve been tooling around the Bay on a sailboat with Detective Stabler, the wind sweeping my hair as we share guava mimosas and feed each other grapes and cheese.
Mmm…cheese (SIDE NOTE: the non-dairy experiment is not going well).
High-Light Powder in Crew; Powder Blush in Fleet Fast and Launch Away!
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Hey, Sailor! (That never gets old.) Why yes, I am wearing MAC Riviera Life Lipglass
Oh. My. Gawd! You’re not gonna believe this (and you’d be wise not to), but I had a run-in with Ry-Ry! It was yesterday in line at Starbucks. There I was, just minding my own beeswax, when in walks Mr. Ryan Gosling himself!
He had on a tight white t-shirt, drawstring linen capri pants and a pair of brown boat shoes. I couldn’t see his rippling abs through his t-shirt…but I knew they were there. Watching me.
So he walks over, right? Right over to me, because I’m the last person in line, and says, “Can I buy you a drink?”
I’m like, “Shyeah!”
I tell him I’ll take a Grande Soy Chai Latte — no foam, please — and he asks if I want to go out sailing on his schooner.
I don’t know what a schooner is, but what the hell am I gonna say — no? I tell him, “Sure, Ryan, but before we go, I gotta touch up my Lipglass.”
He says, “No worries, boo. I hope you like the Riviera, because that’s where we’re going. Flight leaves in an hour.”
“…”
I’m shocked. Totally speechless. And then it hits me — what about my cat!? El Hub will probably understand — I mean, it’s Ryan Gosling! — but Tabs?
And then, as if sensing my concern, Ryan gently places his finger on my lips and says, “If you’re worried about Tabs, he can come too.”
I just about died!
But then I woke up. 🙂
Send Me Sailing (please, Ryan?)
Talk about rude awakenings. But I still felt somehow close to Ryan in that moment, like, connected by the dream, so I shut my eyes really tight and wished for the dream to come true…
Sure enough, it worked!
Well, mostly. Not the part about Ryan Gosling (damn!), but the part about the Lipglass from the MAC Hey, Sailor! collection.
The five $15.50 Lipglasses in the release drop anchor on MAC counters and maccosmetics.com on May 24. They range from pale to bright warm shades of peach, coral and orange, punctuated by red and gold.
The MAC Hey, Sailor! Lipglass lineup includes…
- Cut Loose: a white golden pearl
- Orange Tempera: a pale peach
- Riviera Life: a bright tangerine
- Blessedly: a pale, rich coral
- Send Me Sailing: a bright yellowish red
Send Me Sailing: A heat spell hits Russian Red! I feel like I’ve been waiting decades for a color like this — a warm-toned version of Russian Red Lipglass!
It lasts for hours, but when it does eventually wear off, it leaves behind a beautiful deep red matte stain on my lips. So pretty!
I think it looks beyond gorgeous on top of MAC Cockney and Lady Bug lipstick.
Sure, because it is so pigmented, it likes to migrate, but I work around that by lining my lips first with a lip liner like Pro Longwear Lip Pencil in Throw Me a Line!, also from MAC Hey, Sailor! But any yellowish red liner should do. You might try MAC Pro Longwear Lip Pencil in Kiss Me Quick…whose name reminds me of The Cure.
MAKEUP AND BEAUTY BLOG RATING: A+
Riviera Life: If you like Caqui from the Blogger’s Obsessions collection or Morange lipstick from MAC’s permanent line, you might like this opaque, bright tangerine orange as much as I do.
It’s spiced with fine flecks of golden shimmer and hasn’t met an orange, coral or reddish coral lipstick in my collection that it doesn’t like to be layered with. You might try it with MAC Lady Danger, So Chaud or Crosswires.
One layer lasts for hours, until it leaves behind an orange lip stain (almost like getting two MAC products for the price of one).
OOH! I just thought of something I’d like to try… What about pairing Riviera Life with an eye look of nude shadow on the lids and a couple layers of blue mascara? I think that sounds like fun. 🙂
MAKEUP AND BEAUTY BLOG RATING: A+
Orange Tempera: I like this creamy pale peach just fine — it’s much lower maintenance than the other shades I’ve tried — but I feel like MAC cheesed out by re-releasing this color so soon after the Fall Colour collection.
It layers like a champ, but I find myself using it sparingly. If I’m not careful, it can look milky on my lips.
As a side, doesn’t it seem like MAC recycles colors more often than they used to?
MAKEUP AND BEAUTY BLOG RATING: B
Lipglasses from the left: Orange Tempera, Riviera Life and Send Me Sailing, $15.50 each
Orange Tempera, Riviera life and Send Me Sailing
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Rimmel Match Perfection Blush in 004 Medium/Dark
Drugstore nirvana. That’s what it feels like when I find a new drugstore blush that perfectly matches my skin tone. I get a real buzz from it, like a sweet treat sugar high. OOH! What glosses can I pair with it!? All that possibility, and oh — so much money saved!
A good drugstore blush can have a powerful therapeutic effect on my brain. I just wish my health insurance covered blushes…
Rimmel’s new $10 Match Perfection Blushes (available in four shades) cost less than the average co-pay, and while they might look like standard blush trios in their big pans, they have a sci-fi-ish formula containing blue sapphire pigments that allegedly emulate your natural skin tone.
Rimmel says they adapt to the colors and contours of the face, creating a natural flush, and you can either wear the colors in the trios separately, or swirled together to create a single shade, which is the way I’ve been wearing them this week.
001 Light
002 Light/Medium
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Wearing Dior Addict Ultra-Gloss in Pareo Orange, a shimmery orange with golden glitter
Okay, let’s just get this out of the way: yes, these Dior Addict Ultra-Glosses ($28) make your jeans fit a little funny.
I giggled the first time I saw it. 🙂 The bulky rectangular tubes could pass for potion props on the set of a Harry Potter movie! Oh, no Voldemort. I’d stuck one in a front pocket the other day and caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror.
“Uh…what’s that bulge?”
Not exactly streamlined — but they sure look adorable in makeup bags and purses.
As for how well they work, there’s nothing funny about it. I’m addicted! — in a good way, though. Not in the “I can’t live if living is without you!” way where you throw a brick through your ex’s apartment window.
These mega moisturizing, super sparkly glosses have been accompanying me everywhere (although not usually in the front pocket of my pants), making my lips look juicy and plump with loads of moisture and a blinding spotlight-like shine.
I’ve tried five of the featherweight shades, including all three from the Summer Croisette collection, (Brown Panama, Orange Pareo and Pink Croisette).
Dior Addict Ultra-Glosses from the left: Gold Sunrise, Brown Panama, Prety Rose, Pink Croisette and Pareo Orange
Swatches from the left: Gold Sunrise, Brown Panama, Pretty Rose, Pink Croisette and Pareo Orange
Gold Sunrise, a sheer, shimmery cool lemon gold
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Mysterious things that confuse me…
The color of this intense crystal blue twist-up liner, with its flecks of tiny teal glitter, looks like it was inspired by a crystal-clear tropical bay.
It’s really cute! When I swatch it on the back of my hand, a single swipe delivers long-wearing, rich color that lasts through rigorous rubbing and several hand washings, and even though the formula is a little on the dry side, it still applies smoothly…at least on the back of my hand.
Remember when all it took was a single tube of Strawberry Lip Smackers?
Now that I’m hopelessly addicted to makeup, I spend hours every day (okay, more like several minutes) contemplating my lipstick, lip liner and gloss.
And those are just the lip products! 🙂
Don’t get me wrong — most of the time, I love it. I love the process, but sometimes I miss those old Lip Smacker days when my makeup was always easy.
If you’ve ever wondered whatever happened to those no-pressure lip looks, I think one of them may have been hiding in this tube of Dior Addict Lip Balm in 003 Crystal Coral ($30).
New for summer, this pigmented coral reminds me of a Revlon Lip Butter, only much more luxurious. It’s a super fancy limited edition luxury lip balm fortified with moisturizing shea butter and lip plumping hyaluronic acid spheres, and it shimmers ever so slightly on my lips.
It’s a truly loveable lip balm in charming pink packaging, and it almost couldn’t be any easier to use (unless it applied itself). No lip liner, no brush, no mirror — nada. The hardest part is probably pulling it out of my purse.
