As she gazed off into the distance with sweet thoughts of makeup, mango bars and frozen yogurt on her mind, MAC Wonder Woman was totally oblivious to the danger closing in from above…
Surprise Attack
Kindergarten Eye Tricks: Eye Makeup to Connect the Dots
Eye makeup can be hard. Like, really hard. So hard, as a matter of fact, that sometimes it makes me wish I were back in grade school, painting with my fingers and coloring outside the lines.
Ah…good times. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if eye makeup could be that easy and simple? Well, today it is, because we’re time traveling back to kindergarten to connect the makeup dots.
To be honest, I never really liked connect the dots. I’d always bring that giant book home with me, the one with the thin pages that ripped whenever I tried to erase on them, to find that someone else from class had already done at least one of them, and then my whole experience would be ruined. Gah!
But today, that’s not important. What is important are the skills we learned connecting those dots.
Let’s start with a question: have you ever tried to draw an even, gorgeous line with liquid eye liner but just weren’t able to do it? Well, it happens to me almost every time, so rather than trying to draw one continuous line across the entire lash line, let’s start by making small dots across it, with one right at the inner corner, a few along the way, and one directly at the outer corner (I usually make about 6-10 dots per eye, depending on the size of the person’s eyelid).
(You might even number your dots, and who knows? — maybe start a new couture trend.)
After letting the dots set for a few seconds, connect them, one by one, until you reach the outer corner. By almost sketching with a series of very small dashes that eventually coalesce into a single, solid line, you can reduce the impact of an unsteady hand, ensuring an even line, and maintain a consistent line width/thickness. Conversely, you have more control over where you want the line to begin thickening, if at all.
Now that we have our liner laid down on our lash line, we can even go beyond it. It’s easy to go wrong with a winged liner look that ends up pulling the eyes down. All it takes is not aiming the tail correctly or getting the line weight just right.
No worries. Grab a note card or other thick piece of paper because we’re going to use the straight edge as a guide.
Place the edge so that it touches the outer corner of one eye, and angle it so that it passes pretty much through the middle of the indent at your temple. For most people, this results in a very flattering placement that opens and widens the eyes. Now, draw your liner of choice along this edge, moving the tip in ever so slightly as you move along the edge, thus thinning and eventually bringing the line to a point (rather than a blunt end).
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Two Ways to Win the MAC Semi Precious Mineralize Eyeshadows in Jade’s Fortune and Rare Find
- WINNER: The giveaway is closed now, and the winner is Naj! Congratulations, Naj! If you entered but didn’t win this time around, keep trying, and click here to enter any ongoing giveaways before you jet. 🙂
Good morning! Rise and shine, pal o’ mine. It’s the weekend, and a troupe of wild turkeys in bowler hats are performing show tunes right outside!
Okay, not really, but wouldn’t that be cool? 🙂
I’m on my way out the door but wanted to give you morning greetings (GREETINGS!) — oh, and also mention the movie I saw last night. We rented
I Am Number Four. Now, masterpiece of filmmaking, it is not, but I’m a sucker for sci-fi (you know this about me), and I enjoyed it a lot. If you liked Jumper, it reminded me of that. Good looking, fast-paced, interesting ideas, but uninspired acting (sorry, Quinn Fabray). Worth a rental if you like sci-fi and just want to let your mind wander for a while.
I don’t know if you’re aware of this, but Tabs was originally cast as the lead. He was let go after an outburst on the set (something to do with the catering and gravy). Rather than abandon the project, the producers brought in Alex Pettyfer to take over and changed the movie’s name…
Enough about movies! It’s time to get on with our day, and what better way to start than with a chance to win MAC? You know what that means. It’s…
One lucky lady will win…
- One (1) pan of MAC Mineralize Eyeshadow in Jade’s Fortune (a $20 value) and
- One (1) pan of MAC Mineralize Eyeshadow in Rare Find (a $20 value)
Jade’s Fortune
Rare Find
Don’t these two of the 12 MAC Mineralize Eyeshadows from the upcoming Semi Precious Collection look like little works of art? They can be worn dry for a sheer effect or wet for something bolder.
- There are two ways to enter, and you can do both of them for two chances to win. First, you can enter by leaving a comment at the bottom of this post, a comment about anything at all, like, the name of your favorite painter. Do you have a favorite museum? Do you consider yourself an artistic person? When was the last time you drew a picture? — you get the idea. Oh, and your comment doesn’t have to be about art. That’s just what’s on my mind right now.
- Second, you can enter by following me on
Twitter @karenmbb and retweeting (RT) the following message:
- Follow @karenmbb and RT to Win 2 of the MAC Semi Precious Mineralize Eyeshadows http://bit.ly/iXe9ZK
- The deadline to enter is Sunday, June 26, 2011 at 11:59PM (PT).
- Entrants must enter using a valid email address and/or Twitter account to win.
- A maximum of two (2) entries per person — one within the comments at the bottom of this post, and a second entry via Twitter addressed to me @karenmbb.
- Contest is open to individuals of any country who have reached the age of majority according to their local laws (18 in the United States with these exceptions: Alabama and Nebraska, 19; Mississippi, 21).
- Tabs and I (heretofore referred to as “T-Money and K-Dawg”) will select one (1) winner at random from the entries either left in the comments at the bottom of this blog post or addressed to @karenmbb on Twitter.
- The winner will be announced here within 48 hours of the deadline.
- Void where prohibited by law.
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
- WINNER: The giveaway is closed now, and the winner is Naj! Congratulations, Naj! If you entered but didn’t win this time around, keep trying, and click here to enter any ongoing giveaways before you jet. 🙂
MAC Semi Precious Lip Swatches and a Pre-Weekend Check-In
Completely and totally random (what else is new?), but this afternoon while I was doing these lip swatches of a few Cremesheens Glasses and Lipsticks from the new MAC Semi Precious Collection, that Adele song, Rolling in the Deep, started to play on the radio, but for some strange reason, the chorus sounded different to me…
We could have had it all,
Rolling with the sheep,
(Tears are gonna fall, rolling with the sheep)
You had my heart inside of your hand,
(You’re gonna wish you never had met me)
And you played it to the beat.
(Tears are gonna fall, rolling with the sheep)
LOL! Yes, I think I’ve lost my mind. 🙂 It’s been a long week — a good one, for sure — but a long one, and I’m really looking forward to this weekend.
Tomorrow I’m meeting my BFF Cindy at the de Young Museum in the city to check out an exhibit I’ve been wanting to catch called Balenciaga and Spain. After that, I’ve got a few errands to run, maybe work out, do some cleaning around the house — oh, and fool around with makeup, of course. That almost doesn’t need to be said, ha!
Do you have any plans? Whatever you’re doing, I hope you’re able to sneak in some time for yourself. It’s important, you know?
And speaking of important things, what do ya think of these MAC Semi Precious lip colors? They arrive on MAC counters and in stores July 7 in North America, and internationally some time next month.
Cremesheen Glass in Geo Pink
Cremesheen Glass in Looks Like Sin
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5 Summer Staples: Show Some Skin with These Body Care Basics
Summer’s the season to show off a little skin, and to this I roar “Hallelujah!” After what felt like the longest, wettest, dreariest winter and spring in this century so far, I’m beyond ready to finally free myself from my cotton/polyester oppressors. So long, long pants, wool socks and turtleneck sweaters. Peace!
Summers in this part of Northern California can get pretty hot, but before I venture out in a summer dress or park my posterior poolside in a swimsuit, I like to do a bit of body beauty prep first (don’t want my hairy sasquatch legs to frighten the neighborhood kids, ya know?). For this I turn to body care basics like the fab five listed below.
1. A rockin’ razor
Furry girl says what? This vorpal gift to hairy women everywhere hacks away hair like a machete cuts through jungle. The Gillette Venus Embrace ($12 for a starter kit that includes the razor, a shower pod/case and two spare cartridges; additional cartridges are sold separately) takes care of the hair on my legs, lady parts, ‘pits and toes (don’t front like you don’t know what I’m talking about 🙂 ), and it does it with five blades.
FIVE BLADES!
You’d think that maybe four blades would have been enough, but no. Turns out that five is the new four.
This mighty multi-bladed monster gives this mini-Chewbacca the closest shave of her life. When I use it, not only does my skin feel smoother than it does after I use other razors, but the Venus shaves so close that I find I don’t have to shave as often.
2. An easy-to-apply sunscreen
In my capacity as Tabs’ assistant/human servant, I have to be available at a moment’s notice, which means I don’t always have time to spend rubbing in sunscreen from head to toe.
When time is of the essence, particularly in summer, I like to have a good waterproof aerosol spray, and Banana Boat Ultra Defense Continuous Spray Sunblock ($10) is my current fave.
Just spritz on arms, legs and any other exposed parts, massage it in a little, and you’re done. It offers broad-spectrum protection against UVA/UVB rays and comes in three varying levels of SPF — 30, 50 and 85. It’s quick to dry and resists water like most cats incredibly well, ya know, just in case a shirtless Ryan Reynolds stops by to ask if you want to go swimming (I DO!).
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MAC Jade’s Fortune
I could seriously stare at this pan for hours.
MAC Mineralize Eye Shadow in Jade’s Fortune ($20 US/$24 CDN each), one of 12 Eye Shadows from the Semi Precious collection, available on MAC counters and in stores on July 7.
Just One Will Never Do
The Bobbi Brown Tortoise Shell Collection Just Can’t Wait for Fall
Fall? Even though we’re barely a week into summer? Yes, ma’am. Many in the makeup world already have their sights set on the season of autumn leaves and pumpkin pie.
From Ms. Bobbi Brown, the mistress of muted makeup, comes the new eight-piece Fall 2011 Tortoise Shell Collection (arrives next month), with colors that look like they’ll be perfect to wear with cozy sweaters, tweed blazers, corduroy pants and knee-high — wait, what? Oh, yeah, we’re talking about fall. 🙂
Here’s a quick look at five pieces from the release. Let me know what ya think.
Sand Tortoise Shell Eye Palette, $60
Bronze Tortoise Shell Eye Palette, $60
Tortoise Shell Mini Brush Set, $55
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