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MAC Pink 4 Friday Lipstick by Nicki Minaj

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The very, very limited edition MAC Pink 4 Friday Lipstick by Nicki Minaj ($14.50), available online December 3, 10 and 17 while supplies last.

A wee bit o’ backstory: Nicki Minaj is a rapper. She’s worked with a lot of famous hip hop/RNB artists over the last two years and just recently released her debut album, Pink Friday. Her makeup style’s kinda out there, which I think makes her a good fit for MAC.


You’re officially the bomb.com if you can name the background sample used in this song.

Anywho, what do you think of this lipstick? Too pink? Not pink enough? DO TELL, Barbies!

Two Ways to Win MAC Viva Glam Gaga Lipstick

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WINNER: The giveaway is closed now, and the winner is Amanda! Congratulations, Amanda! If you entered but didn’t win this time around, keep trying, and click here to enter any ongoing giveaways before you jet. 🙂

You wanna talk about shocked? I was practically floored the first time I clicked to play this YouTube video of young Stefani Germanotta tickling the ivories at NYU. I’m serious — forget that goofy meat dress. This girl can SING!

Flash forward to 2010. It was a cold and blustery February in much of the country. Stefani was now Gaga, and she, MAC and Ms. Cyndi Lauper decided to heat things up with a pair of new Viva Glam Lipsticks.

If you haven’t already gotten your hands and lips on Viva Glam Gaga Lipstick ($14.50), a cool-toned pink with a high-shine lustre finish, have I got a giveaway for you. 🙂

MAC’s Viva Glam lipsticks and the MAC AIDS Fund they go to support are two of my favorite things about the brand, and I can’t wait to give this blueish pink beauty a good home.

A Makeup and Beauty Blog Giveaway!

Win a MAC Viva Glam Gaga Lipstick

  • One (1) MAC Viva Glam Gaga Lipstick (a $14.50 value).

  • 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 — Are you more tropical beaches or alpine forests? More Katy Perry or Lady Gaga? More MAC or Chanel? Or, heck, just talk about lamps. 🙂
  • Second, you can enter by following me on twitter Twitter @karenmbb and retweeting (RT) the following message:
    • Follow @karenmbb and RT to Win MAC Viva Glam Gaga Lipstick http://bit.ly/gVEQF7

  • The deadline to enter is Friday, December 3, 2010 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 Amanda! Congratulations, Amanda! If you entered but didn’t win this time around, keep trying, and click here to enter any ongoing giveaways before you jet. 🙂

Two Ways to Win a MAC Tartan Tale A Lady & Her Tricks Buff & Line Brush Collection Set

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WINNER: The giveaway is closed now, and the winner is Nikki! Congratulations, Nikki! If you entered but didn’t win this time around, keep trying, and click here to enter any ongoing giveaways before you jet. 🙂

So how was your Thanksgiving, young lady? Lots of good food and conversation, I hope.

Ours was an overeaters’s paradise punctuated by mounds of turkey, mashed potatoes and stuffing, with gravy cascading down it all like a waterfall of YUM! It was a magic carpet ride down a tryptophan dream piloted by my mother-in-law, and she did a delicious job. I’ll be recovering from, and trying to work off, the calories for weeks.

Unless I figure out how to cast a magic makeup slimming spell…

I mean, it’s possible, right? After all, a lady casts spells with light and color like a magician wows the stage — assuming, of course, that she has the right tools for the job.

Like any good illusionist, a lady can never have too many tricks (or brushes) up her sleeve, but the lady doesn’t rely on trick mirrors, marked cards, trap doors and coins with two tails. Her props are tools like the brushes in the limited edition MAC Tartan Tale A Lady & Her Tricks Buff & Line Brush Collection ($49.50).

Which reminds me, are you ready for another giveaway? 🙂

You could take your show on the road with this prize. It’s a kit with a studded plaid bag containing travel-sized versions of MAC’s 168 Angled Contour Brush, 187 Duo Fibre Brush, 209 Eye Liner Brush, 219 Pencil Brush and the 242 Shader Brush.

A Makeup and Beauty Blog Giveaway!

Win a MAC Brush Collection Set

  • One (1) MAC A Tartan Tale A Lady & Her Tricks Buff & Line Brush Collection set (a $49.50 value).

  • 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 — you could tell me about your all-time favorite makeup brush, walk me through a simple magic trick, or talk to me about fashion, pets and plaid.
  • Second, you can enter by following me on twitter Twitter @karenmbb and retweeting (RT) the following message:
    • Follow @karenmbb and RT to win a MAC Tartan Tale A Lady & Her Tricks Buff & Line Brush Collection Set (a $49.50 value) http://bit.ly/fh1FsL

  • The deadline to enter is Sunday, November 28, 2010 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 Nikki! Congratulations, Nikki! If you entered but didn’t win this time around, keep trying, and click here to enter any ongoing giveaways before you jet. 🙂

Which Brush Do You Use to Line Your Lashes?

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Last week reader JJ was looking for a specific kind of brush recommendation…

Wondering what brushes you used to apply your eye makeup… especially for the shadow below your lower lashline. I can never manage to create the thin shadowing you’re sporting here.

-JJ

Seriously, JJ, it took me a forever and a day to find (and a recommendation from a friendly MAC makeup artist), but the MAC 214 Short Shader Brush was the answer to my prayers. It makes drawing hella tight, thin lower lash lines as easy as 1-2-3.

The fibers are made from goat hair, and it’s a little expensive for a brush ($24.50). Actually, it’s quite expensive for a brush; MAC raised the price after I made the video up at the top.

Yes, it’s expensive, but if you like to push pigments right up against the roots of your lashes (and/or if you feel you’re a little clumsy with brushes), the 214 is worthy of a serious brush crush. The short, rounded bristles are a perfect combination of absorbent, in how they pick up a lot of product, and precise.
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MAC Unsung Heroes: The Marvelous Multitasking MAC 217 Blending Brush

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I was having coffee with my makeup artist friend, Melissa, last week, and in between bites of pumpkin pie we got into brushes. She brought up the marvelous multitasking MAC 217 Blending Brush ($22.50), one of my go-to faves.

With a goat hair fiber brush head, it applies and blends powder and cream products with much aplomb. I use it for everything from powder and cream shadows, to loose pigments, to under-eye concealer.


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Saturday Surfing and MAC Strobe Cream

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Photo by Ornesllaswouldgo

What up, buttercup? How are you doing today? I’m just over here playing with makeup and watching one of the funniest TV shows I’ve seen in ages! It’s called The League. Have you seen it? Seriously, I know almost nothing about fantasy football, but damn that show’s hilarious.

Speaking of funny TV shows, what do you think about Modern Family? That’s another one that gets me every time.

Back to that makeup I’m playing with… It’s a highlighting illuminator called MAC Strobe Cream ($30), and other than TV it’s been the highlight of my weekend so far. Ha! You know you’re a makeup junkie when a product can be the highlight of your day…

Ever since discovering how great the combo of Smashbox Photo Op Under Eye Brightener and MAC Pro Longwear Concealer work for me (BTW, isn’t Nancy’s concealer tutorial great!?), I’ve been looking for an illuminator to wear beneath foundation.

Thanks to my friend Marisol (and MAC), I think I found it!

Have I mentioned that a new MAC store opened just 5 minutes away? Marisol and I hit it after dinner last night (¡nos gusta Chipotle!), and she promptly sold me on Strobe, which she’s been loving for a while.


MAC Strobe Cream unblended (left) and blended (right)

Worn either alone or under foundations and tinted moisturizers, it imparts a very subtle brightening sheen — not a glitter, just a very soft pearl glow.

PRETTY!

I’m gonna put some on right now and head to Trader Joe’s, where I hope to appear all fresh and glowy as I cruise the frozen food aisle. 🙂

But before that, you know what time it is. Surf’s up!

Saturday Surfing: Sites I Surfed Today


Thanks to reader Amber for sending this hilarious cat video!

Have a fantastic Saturday, ya hear?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Have We Met Before, Bobbi Brown Glitter Liner?

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Bobbi Brown Glitter Eyeliner in Silver, $20

Above is what happens when your home team wins the World Series while you’re swatching Bobbi Brown Glitter Eyeliner in Silver ($20).

Last night was crazy! After the game we could hear loud booms off in the distance that I presumed were revelers detonating cherry bombs, or perhaps the start of that zombie invasion I’m always talking about.

I was ready to go into Apocalypse Mode and head for the hills! Survival kit? Check. El Hub, Tabs, emergency purse and this new Bobbi limited edition liquid liner? Check.

Why the liner? Ya know, because it’s nice to look good in the face of certain doom. 🙂

Glitter Eyeliner is part of the new Bobbi Brown Choose Your Glam collection for lips, eyes and cheeks.

While I’d like to have Bobbi’s Glitter Eyeliner in Silver with me in during a zombie outbreak — great pigment, a quick-drying liquid formula, reflective and therefore easy to spot from military helicopters surveying the area for survivors, waterproof but still easy to remove — it’s not altogether original.

Silver, one of two shades (the other being Gold), looks an awful lot like MAC Superslick Liquid Eye Liner in Nocturnal from fall’s Fabulous Felines collection — same shimmery silver, same style packaging, similar brush, same fantastically long wear time and thin texture.

bobbi brown glitter liquid eye liner review silver wand
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A Sexy [INSERT PROFESSION HERE] Halloween Makeup Look

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karen from makeup and beauty blog wearing mac a tartan tale moonlight night pigment 3

So is your sweet tooth ready for Halloween? I’ve been working mine out with caramels this week to get it in shape for Sunday.

For the first time in ages I actually have Halloween plans that don’t involve stuffing my pie hole with mini-Snickers at home. El Hub and I are going to a party on a big @ss boat! — well, technically, it’s a decommissioned aircraft carrier called the USS Hornet, and the party’s called the Monster Bash.

Now I just have to decide on a costume, and I did some brainstorming today…sexy brainstorming. 🙂

As a fallback, if I haven’t come up with something better, I may swing by the Halloween store to pick up one of those sexy [INSERT PROFESSION HERE] outfits — sexy nurse, sexy librarian, sexy devil or sexy dental hygienist (sexy bee keeper?).

And if that’s the case, I’ll need makeup to fit the part, makeup like this smoldering, shimmery green smokey eye with glossy hot pink lips.

karen from makeup and beauty blog wearing mac a tartan tale moonlight night pigment

It says, “Hey! I’m in costume! Pay attention to me!” But it’s not too complicated to throw together in a sexy rush.

I used products from the new MAC A Tartan Tale and Chanel Les Tentations holiday collections, with a dusting of makeup from Make Up For Ever, NARS and Fred Farrugia. If you have any similar colors haunting the corridors of your makeup stash, now’s your chance to put them to work!

mac a tartan tale swatches moonlight night teal undercurrent black swan pearlglide liner chanel tweed fuschia nars easy lover fred farrugia
Clockwise from left: Chanel Les Tissages de Chanel in Tweed Fuchsia, MAC Pigment in Moonlight Night, MAC Pigment in Teal, Fred Farrugia Matte Lip Duo in 06, NARS Lipgloss in Easy Lover, Make Up For Ever Aqua Eyes Waterproof Eye Liner in Mat Black 0L, MAC Pearglide Liner in Black Swan, MAC Pearlglide Liner in Undercurrent
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