Makeup and Beauty Blog | Makeup Reviews, Swatches and How-To Makeup

Pre-Emmys Shenanigans and a Dress Poll

August 22nd, 2014 by Karen 58 Comments

It’s almost time! OMG. Two more sleeps ’til I leave for the Emmys with Dove in Los Angeles. I head down there on Sunday, and the show is Monday night.

Here are the two gowns I rented from Rent the Runway. It’s important that I see how they move and look in pics because, you know, the paparazzi from Crazy Cat Lady Weekly will be there, and I want to look my best. Obvs.

Yup, I said gowns. Plural. Because I also ordered a backup (hey, how many times does someone get to go to the Emmys?), a black mermaid silhouette dress by Monique Lhuillier, which I got in case the hot pink Badgley Mischka Fluorescent Chiffon Gown made me look like a rejected extra from Toddlers and Tiaras.

I’m barely five feet tall, so this is a legitimate concern.

Anywho, Tabs votes for the pink.

What do you think? (This is a non-binding poll. I can still wear whatever I want, and I’m leaning toward the pink.)

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With MAC Matchmaster Concealer, Concealing Is Personal

August 22nd, 2014 by Karen 17 Comments

Babe, if we could harness the technological power behind MAC’s new Matchmaster Concealers and direct it toward conquering the planet, we’d probably lock that ish down in half a day. Earth would be ours.

MAC Matchmaster Concealers from the left: 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0, 5.0, 6.0 and 7.0 — A look at eight of the 12 Matchmaster Concealers, from the left in 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0, 5.0, 6.0 and 7.0

Right when I swatched these shades, I didn’t think any of them would work well for me, because all of them seemed pretty peachy. I thought they’d look too jarring on my olive skin.

But then I started working shade 5.0 on to my forehead, cheeks, nose and chin, and shade 4.0 under my eyes. As I did so, they seemed to self-adjust to my skin…

Wearing MAC Master Concealer: Before and After — Before (left) and after (right). That’s shade 5.0 on my forehead, cheeks, nose and chin, and shade 4.0 under my eyes

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The New MAC Studio Sculpt Superblack Lash Mascara, As Seen Through the Eyes of the Mascara Monster

August 22nd, 2014 by Karen 8 Comments

The new MAC Studio Sculpt Mascara in Superblack Lash ($17), coming September 4 to MAC counters and maccosmetics.com

“More!” the mascara monster roared. “I WANT MORE!”

She growled, baring her fangs, and her lips curled back. It was the deep, low growl that signaled danger was near. I steeled myself for her usual hissy fit.

“I know you want more,” I said, “but decent length, a good amount of separation and a jet-black carbon color are what you’ll get with MAC’s new Studio Sculpt Mascara in Superblack Lash.”

The mascara monster stomped her feet like a T. rex in four-inch Louboutins. “More!”

“Look,” I said, “it’s basically the same as the Sculpted Black Studio Sculpt Lash Mascara MAC released earlier this year, but richer and darker. Remember when I fed you Sculpted Black back in March? It was that one with the wand that looked like teeth…”

MAC Studio Sculpt Superblack Lash — With a MAC Lipglass for scale

The mascara monster paused to consider this for a moment and then grunted, which I took for a “yes.” She appeared to relax somewhat, and then nodded, as if to say that she was ready to proceed.

“You liked that one just fine,” I said, “especially the brush’s teeth. You thought they made it super easy to separate your lashes, and you appreciated the lack of flaking and smudging, but, eventually, you grew dissatisfied, as you always do, and proceeded to grumble about craving more volume and better curl hold.

“This new Superblack Lash creates the same exact lash look. The separation and length are there, but it doesn’t add a ton of volume. Oh, and would you look at that? It’s more expensive. MAC raised the price a dollar from $16 to $17.”

MAC Studio Sculpt Superblack Lash mascara — Before and after yo!

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For You, What’s One Major Skin Don’t?

August 22nd, 2014 by Karen 36 Comments

My major skin don’t is to never, ever, under any circumstances — not even when Tabs just barfed on the carpet and I’m running late to get out the house and won’t be able to clean it up until after I get home, by which time it’ll be all dry and crusty — skip wearing sunscreen.

Even when I’m just spending the day looking at kittens on Instagram at home, I still wear it.

For you, what’s one major skin don’t?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S.

Yellow!

August 22nd, 2014 by Karen 3 Comments

Saw these beautiful hibiscus in my next door neighbor’s yard this afternoon and had to share them with ya. 🙂

Bravo, Mother Nature. Bravo.

“Cat Enthusiast”

August 21st, 2014 by Karen 12 Comments

I got some basic business cards from Staples today just in case I run into Matthew McConaughey at the Emmys and he asks me for hair gel recommendations.

I’ll be all, “Matt, baby, here’s my card. Call me and we’ll talk.”

“Cat Enthusiast” is code for “crazy cat lady,” by the way, haha.

The MAC Studio Sculpt Defining Powders Have a Super Natural-Looking Power

August 21st, 2014 by Karen 18 Comments

Well, well, well…

I think I just found my new BFF off-duty/weekend face makeup product. MAC’s new Studio Sculpt Defining Powder ($32) has a finish like an ocelot…in that it’s elusive — the finish, I mean (cats on the brain). It has that elusive real skin-like finish that isn’t easy to find in a face powder. No matter how much I pack it on, it doesn’t look fake, caked-on or powdery.

With an ultra-fine, super sheer formula and a delicate sheen, I think it looks very natural on the skin.

Even when I threw caution to the wind and applied several layers of Medium Deep using a kabuki brush (in the interest of makeup science, of course), I still couldn’t see any tell-tale traces of powder. It was as if I wasn’t wearing anything on at all.

But yet my pores looked smaller, my skin tone looked nice and even, and I couldn’t see my freckles at all. It’s the old “no-makeup” makeup effect, and I love it.

Available in eight shades, the MAC Studio Sculpt Defining Powders are part of the new Studio Sculpt Collection, a 10-piece release heading permanently to all North American MAC locations and maccosmetics.com September 4 (through October 30). Internationally, it’s slated to arrive some time in September.

MAC Studio Sculpt Defining Powder in Light — Light

MAC Studio Sculpt Defining Powder in Light Plus — Light Plus

MAC Studio Sculpt Defining Powder in Medium Plus — Medium Plus

MAC Studio Sculpt Defining Powder in Medium Dark — Medium Dark

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In the MAC Artificially Wild Collection, MAC Takes Nudes Underground With Dirty Mauves, Sooty Greys and Golden Beige Browns

August 21st, 2014 by Karen 24 Comments

Did you ever read Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? It’s the Phillip K. Dick story that inspired Bladerunner, and in it there are these ultra realistic android animals, like robotic dogs and cats, that some people have as pets because many of the real animals are driven extinct during a world war. Only the mega rich can afford to have living, breathing pets. Everyone else’s animals are artificially wild…

Which brings me to this: MAC Artificially Wild.

Based on MAC’s promo pics for the 22-piece release, truth be told, I was kinda freaked out. The camo, the dark shadows under the model’s eyes — it seemed potentially drab and depressing, and I couldn’t see myself feeling good in a look like that.

But I liked the overall idea. Nudes, with a subversive, fight-the-power angle. Instead of regular warm, buttery browns and beiges, there were dirty mauves, sooty greys, golden beige browns and a light sprinkling of khaki.

In the end, the call of the wild was too strong to resist. After playing with the products, I started to come around…

It was kind of like when you see a dress that you’d never pick out for yourself on a hanger, but just for kicks, you try it on, and then you think, “OK. Yeah. I can work this.”

Cheek products for contouring

There are some cool things here…like the cheek products, in particular. A couple of ’em contour and carve out cheekbones better than Michelangelo. I really like the Powder Blush in Taupe, which transforms my chubby cherub cheeks into chiseled choppers capable of cutting concrete.

I think Cream Colour Base in Breaking Ground deserves mentioning. A purplish gray mauve, you can use it below your cheekbones to create well-placed shadows on your face. Chanel did something like it a while back with a powder blush called Notorious… Breaking Ground is basically a cream version.

MAC Eye Shadow in Artificial Earth — Artificial Earth

MAC Eye Shadow in Marsh — Eye Shadow in Marsh

MAC Eye Shadow in Natural Wilderness — Eye Shadow in Natural Wilderness

MAC Powder Blush in Next to Skin — Powder Blush in Next to Skin

MAC Powder Blush in Pink Cult — Pink Cult

MAC Cream Colour Base in Breaking Ground — Breaking Ground

MAC Cream Colour Base in Au Nature — Cream Colour Base in Au Nature

Icon

MAC Lipstick in Shitake — Lipstick in Shitake

MAC Lipglass in Obviously Bare — Obviously Bare

MAC Lipglass in De Nude — Lipglass in De Nude

MAC Eye Shadows in Artificial Earth, Stony, Marsh and Natural Wilderness — From the left, Eye Shadows in Artificial Earth, Stony, Marsh and Natural Wilderness

MAC Powder Blushes in Taupe, Next to Skin and Pink Cult — Powder Blushes in Taupe, Next to Skin and Pink Cult

MAC Cream Colour Bases in Breaking Ground and Au Nature — Cream Colour Bases in Breaking Ground and Au Nature

Lipsticks in Icon and Shitake

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Which dress should I wear to the Emmys?

Cheek products for contouring