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A beauty blog blooming with fresh makeup reviews, swatches and beauty tips from your friendly neighborhood beauty addict

MAC Style Black FOTD: Greasepaint Stick in Black with Young Punk Eyeshadow

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mac style black fotd

Rise and shine, ladies. 🙂 TGIF!

This shimmery purple eye comes courtesy of two products from the new MAC Style Black collection, the Greasepaint Stick in Black and Mineralize Eyeshadow in Young Punk. That’s Young Punk layered on top of the stick on my lids.

Also in the mix: the Eye Kohl in Smolder along the waterlines (upper and lower), Young Punk along the lower lash line and two coats of the new Zoom Fast Black Lash Mascara on my lashes.

I was shooting for something wearable enough for a business meeting…

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Oh — remember the Origins GinZing Eye Cream-concealer trick for dark circles we talked about the other day? I used it for this look, mixing GinZing with Laura Mercier Secret Concealer and applying under my eyes.
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10 Days of Giveaways: Queen by Queen Latifah

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The giveaway is now closed, and I’m contacting the winner by e-mail. Good luck!

queen-by-queen-latifah

10 Days of Giveaways keeps chugging along with today’s celebrity fragrance, a tribute to one of my favorite celebs, the very talented Queen Latifah. 🙂 She raps, acts, sings and brought to market a lovely fragrance fit for — you guessed it — a queen.

The prize

One lucky lady will take home a bottle of Queen by Queen Latifah (a $59 value).

With notes of Italian bergamot, mandarin, rose, jasmine and sandalwood, it almost makes me feel like royalty.

How to enter…

2ways2enterEntering is easy. There are two different ways, 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. 🙂

Speaking of Queen Latifah, I’m bumping Ladies First in iTunes right now.

Follow me
Second, enter by following me on Twitter and retweeting (RT) the following message:

RT @karenmbb: RT to Win Queen by Queen Latifah http://bit.ly/4rMdRt

Recap…

  1. Enter by leaving a comment at the bottom of this post, and don’t forget to use a valid email address so I can reach you if you win.
  2. Follow me on Twitter and retweet the following message:

    RT @karenmbb: RT to Win Queen by Queen Latifah http://bit.ly/4rMdRt

I’ll pick the winner at random from among the people who enter by 11:59 p.m. PST on Friday, September 25.

Успех!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

The giveaway is now closed, and I’m contacting the winner by e-mail. Good luck!

MAC Dazzleglass Creme, Zoom Black Zoom Fast Lash: A Quick Look

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mac dazzleglass creme 1

Yikes! Only time will tell if we MAC it through all of these concurrent releases today, ladies. It’s as if MAC’s trying to give us makeup conniptions! 🙂

Say howdy to the new Dazzleglass Creme glosses ($18) and Zoom Fast Black Lash Mascara ($13). They join Style Black on counters today.

Remember those sheer, non-sticky Cremesheen Glass glosses from earlier this year? Well, these Dazzleglass Cremes kinda look like shimmery versions.

I see some nice colors here, but I really haven’t been able to concentrate on ’em yet because of that blasted Zoom Fast Black Lash. It just looks so awesome! The newest member of MAC’s mascara family, MAC says it delivers incredibly dark, midnight black lashes. With hella high hopes, I grabbed a tube to test. I’ll let you know how it turns out!

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From left to right: Perfectly Unordinary, My Favourite Pink, Do It Up and Creme Allure

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Soft Dazzle, Luscious Spark and Amorous

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Sublime Shine and Totally Fab

mac cosmetics dazzleglass creme swatches perfectly unordinary my favourite pink do it up creme allure 5
Perfectly Unordinary, My Favourite Pink, Do It Up and Creme Allure

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Soft Dazzle, Luscious Spark and Amorous
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MAC Style Black: Everyday Edgy

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The scene is hawt! We’re backstage at Fashion Week, a post-runway mixer with models, makeup artists and designers, sipping sparkling wine and talking MAC.

“Action!”

The camera cuts to MAC’s latest launch as it arrives on counters today, the drama-for-your-mama Style Black.

The edgy 18-piece collection for lips, nails and eyes features dark, shimmery purple, gold and, of course, black. For my Joy Division-lovin’ goth chicks — homies, this is YOUR release!

More into neutrals instead? No worries. MAC even remembered to include a few items appropriate for everyday wear.

More wearable than I expected

Style Black knocked me back at first, intimidating me a little, but upon closer inspection I found some pretty wearable goodies as well.

Rocking a full Style Black makeup ensemble at once might make for a fun night out (Halloween, perhaps?), but I can see myself more often sticking to just one or two of the edgier elements at a time.

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Tabs does Style Black

For instance, I might try a bold eye with the Greasepaint Stick in Black (lovin’ the blue and purple shimmer!) layered beneath one of the Mineralize Eyeshadows on the lid but toned down with a nude lip.

Or, maybe a dark lip with Night Violet Mattene lipstick and a softly lined eye (smudged along the lash lines) using something like the Smolder Eye Kohl. 🙂

What stands out?

I like several things from Style Black but love the Greasepaint Stick in Black, the Mineralize Eyeshadows in Gilt by Association and Young Punk, the Cream Colour Base in Black (*can’t wait* to layer it beneath a shadow for smokey eyes) and Night Violet Mattene. Of everything, these four also struck me as the most user-friendly.

Oh! And skin care junkies, consider the Volanic Ash Exfoliator, a gently moisturizing exfoliator I first fell in love with last year (glad to see it here, too!).

What do you think so far? What moves (or doesn’t move) you?

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From left to right: Cream Colour Base in Black and Bat Black

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Mineralize Eyeshadows in Blue Flame, Cinder Fella, Gilt by Association and Young Punk
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Angelina Jolie: Her Best Hair?

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Angelina Jolie: Her Best Hair?

Through her humanitarian work, traveling as Goodwill Ambassador for the UN Refugee Agency to more than 20 troubled spots around the world, Angelina Jolie (born Angelina Jolie Voight on June 4, 1975) may have done more to change the way modern celebrities are perceived than anyone else in Hollywood today.

With an Academy Award (Girl, Interrupted, 1999), a growing family and one foin-ass boo, Jolie seems to have it all.

As for her look — the luscious lips, smokey eyes and the estimated 13 tattoos she has have often overshadowed her hair, but I think she’s always worn it well.

Which of Angelina's hairstyles do you like best?

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Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

MAC Style Black Swatches

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Top row: Cream Colour Base in Black, Cream Colour Base in Bat Black, Mineralize Eye Shadow in Blue Flame, Mineralize Eye Shadow in Cinderfella, Mineralize Eye Shadow in Gilt By Association, Mineralize Eye Shadow in Young Punk

Bottom Row: Glimmerglass in Bling Black, Glimmerglass in Blackfire, Glimmerglass in Blackware, Lipstick in Black Night, Mattene Lipstick in Night Violet, Mattene Lipstick in Midnight Media, Greasepaint Stick in Black, Penultimate Eye Liner in Rapid Black

What say you? Yay or nay?

Dismiss Dark Circles with Origins GinZing Eye Cream and Concealer

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origins-ginzing

We tried to work things out, but it just wasn’t meant to be. My dark circles and I have decided to separate.

Truth is, I’ve been seeing someone else…

He’s the GinZing Eye Cream by Origins ($30), and he goes on sale next month.

A fluffy moisturizer for gals who need extra help in the eye brightening department (hello!), it contains ginseng to hydrate and reduce puffiness and shimmery silica and mica illuminators (in light pink) to brighten and minimize the look of dark circles.

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On its own, I think GinZing’s a great hydrating eye cream, but it doesn’t do much for dark circles. Ah, but combine it with under-eye concealer, and it goes from great to extra fantastic!

BACKSTORY: Some under-eye concealers (both liquids and creams) can look heavy and obvious when applied solo. Unfortch, that’s a lesson I learned the hard way.

Thankfully, my eyes were opened when a kind MAC artist taught me a trick: Mix and apply equal parts concealer and eye cream under the eyes.

The concealer/eye cream combo totally removes the cakey look while still covering up dreaded dark areas.

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In terms of eye brightening, GinZing’s shimmery illuminators totally take the concealer/eye cream trick to the next level. I’ve mixed it with both liquid and cream concealers and have really liked the results.

Putting in extra hours at work? Staying up late to study? If you’re ready to leave your dark circles behind, consider giving GinZing a try. Makeup and Beauty Blog Rating: A+

Positive reinforcement

In trying times, I find that a little makeup motivation (some call it bribery, but whatev) can help. I’ve been running a lot of errands lately, trying to get stuff ready for the move, and there haven’t been enough hours in the day (there never are).

Sometimes I veer off my task list, and I’ll use the promise of makeup to keep my eye on the prize.

Here are some goodies I’ve been thinking about:
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