mac

MAC Charlotte Olympia Collection: Golden-Age Glam

March 18th, 2016 by Anna Oh 32 Comments

Hi, everyone! MAC is back with one of the most exciting releases of the year, the MAC x Charlotte Olympia Spring 2016 Collection, and this is one of the bigger MAC collections, too, with an emphasis on lips and accessories.

For those not familiar with the designer, Olympia is a luxury shoe and accessories designer obsessed with the bygone era of old Hollywood glamour and unafraid of a little humour.

The MAC x Charlotte Olympia collection has strong retro-glam vibes packaged in adorable printed boxes. They’re a collector’s dream come true.

MAC Charlotte Olympia — Charlotte Olympia for MAC Spring 2016

mac charlotte olympia spring 2016 — Wearing Retro Rouge Matte Lipstick!

There are no fewer than three different types of lip products (lipsticks, lip pigments, and pro lip liners), and all of them are in various shades of red.

You know how every now and then you’ll bump into a friend looking for their “perfect red lipstick”? Well, you should direct their attention to THIS collection, because each red is GORGEOUS, but just a little different.

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Some Weekday Glitter Featuring the New Shiseido Synchro Skin Foundation

March 14th, 2016 by Anna Oh 23 Comments

anna oh art beauty illustration fashion gold glitter — It’s all about the eyes! Glitter eyes

Hi everyone!

The other day I was having coffee with a few girlfriends — probably the BEST time to get makeup inspiration — and I fell in love with one of my friends’ pretty glittery eyeliner. I tried it out myself and found it to be an awesome way to pull off a little glitter during the day. I call it a “weekday glitter” look, and I hope you’ll be into it as much as I’ve been!

One of the key components to this look is nice and even skin tone. I used the new Shiseido Synchro Skin Foundation ($45 for 1oz) in a custom mixture of Golden 2 and Neutral 3. The foundation comes in Golden, Neutral, and Rose undertones ranging between 1 and 5. For some reason, the range isn’t complete, but we will probably find more colors coming with demand.

shiseido synchro skin foundation swatches — Shiseido Synchro Skin Foundation in Golden 2 and Neutral 3

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The MAC Face and Body Collection Dives Into a New Dimension of Skin Sculpting and Defining

September 12th, 2012 by Karen 36 Comments

mac face and body collection

“Almost done! Be down in five minutes!”

I wonder if boys are born knowing that that phrase up their actually means that they’re gonna be waiting at least another 30 minutes, or if it’s knowledge they acquire over the years.

Poor El Hub… Sometimes I think I can actually hear his eyes rolling when I yell to him from upstairs, “Almost done! Be down in five minutes!”

It’s all the little bits, ya know? Those are the things that can really add up to take so much time — the things like shading, contouring, highlighting and texturizing we do to give our makeup extra bamf!

You know how it goes… Like J. Renner told Ellen, you start with the basics. “Brows, lashes, lips — frame the face!” (at about 3:34 in the video). But then somewhere along the way, the makeup train derails. Next thing you know, you’re holding five brushes in one hand and two palettes in the other, and the sink is covered in fallout.

Possessed! That’s how you look, but you feel like the queen of the world! 🙂

If those little beauty bits — the things like sculpting, defining and adding texture to your skin — light your fire like they light mine, don’t miss the new MAC Face and Body collection, a 27-piece release.

It includes 13 travel-sized bottles of MAC Face and Body Foundation (1.7 ounces for $27 each, versus $35 for the regular 4-ounce bottles), six Pro Scultping Creams ($20 each), six shimmery Pressed Pigments ($21 each) and two brushes ($25 for the MAC 215, and $35 for the MAC 163).

Here’s a quick look at four pieces from the collection and a few first impressions…

mac accentuate
Peachy beige Pro Sculpting Cream in Accentuate

mac coffee walnut
Deep, dirty cool brown Pro Sculpting Cream in Coffee Walnut
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For Corporate Climbers and Business Beauties, the MAC Office Hours Collection Puts in the Overtime

September 11th, 2012 by Karen 23 Comments

mac office hours collection
Eyes: Pro Longwear Eyeshadows in Linger Softly and Bloom On; Cheeks: Pro Longwear Blushes in Eternal Sun and Baby Don’t Go; Lips: Pro Longwear Lipglass in Boundlessly Beige

Cubicle crusaders, overworked assistants and every other late-night office dweller logging in extra office hours every week, say it with me now!

We’re not gonna take it!

NO, we ain’t gonna take it!

We’re not gonna take it…ANYMORE!

We’re saying “No!” to wimpy wear time and makeup that malfunctions while we’re working overtime (which reminds me, anyone who says that working for a plus-size kitty supermodel is an easy gig obviously hasn’t done it before).

“No!” to the naysayers who say that it’s wrong to wear anything but bone or brown in the workplace.

“NO!” We demand delicious pops of pink, coral, plum and red to go with our office neutrals.

It’s time for our blushes, eyeshadows and glosses to work as hard as we do! Time for long-lasting makeup capable of keeping up with our busy schedules! Time for makeup able to log in just as much overtime as we do while still looking stylish!

Yes, the time has come for all of those tired, played-out pieces with weak wear time to step aside, and make room for the new 25-piece MAC Office Hours collection.

mac office hours collection

Starting with that first sip of coffee in the morning, all the way until your after-hours snack (don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone about your secret chocolate stash), the MAC Office Hours Collection never goes home early. When it comes to wear time, this limited edition collection of MAC Pro Longwear products for lips, cheeks and eyes just plain shreds!

The MAC Pro Longwear products are still relatively new, but I feel like I’ve loved them forever. I mean, finding MAC Pro Longwear Concealer was almost a life-changing experience. Remember Styledriven from last fall? — with the Pro Longwear products for lips and eyes? Office Hours feels like an extension of that collection to me.

It’s office makeup, MAC-style. Okay, sure, the overall look has “super-wearable” stamped all over it, but MAC included just enough color to hint at the rebel that resides behind most button-down shirts, pinstriped suits and sensible shoes.

The color palette includes shades of nude, pink, peach, beige, red and rose for lips; ivory, rose, brown, camel, red, mauve, gray and blue for eyes; and coral, beige, pink, rose, brown and plum for cheeks.

Here’s a quick look at six of the pieces…

mac linger softly
Pro Longwear Eyeshadow in Linger Softly

mac linger softly
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Rappers Delight in a Plum From the 212: The New MAC Yung Rapunxel Lipstick by Azealia Banks

September 7th, 2012 by Karen 37 Comments

mac yung rapunxel

I can’t rap to save my life, but you already knew this, right? 🙂

Oh, what I wouldn’t give to be able to spit bars on the fly…

Because if I had to battle someone on a street corner, I’d be so screwed!

A rap attack

But hey, I guess if I’m ever overwhelmed with the urge to drop some beats, I could just wear the new MAC Lipstick in Yung Rapunxel ($15) instead.

This creamy deep plum is the product of MAC’s new collaboration with rising New York rapper/singer/lyricist Azealia Banks.

Azealia Banks, 1991

The name, Yung Rapunxel, is also her alter ego.

I’d never heard of her before the lipstick, but I gotta say — I’m diggin’ her style. It kinda has a ’90s house music vibe to it…if Lil’ Kim lived in the house. Or something like that.

As for the lipstick, I like. It’s definitely dramatic, and I think the semi-matte finish goes well with it.

I get the sense that Yung is one of those colors that would look really fab on gals with very light or very dark skin tones.

mac yung rapunxel

mac yung rapunxel swatch
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MAC Unsung Heroes: Face and Body Foundation

September 7th, 2012 by Karen 34 Comments

mac face and body foundation

While there are many things I’ll miss about the world after the coming zombie apocalypse — hot showers, modern dentistry and Frosted Strawberry Pop Tarts among them — few losses will be missed as much as MAC Face and Body Foundation, one of my much-loved creature comforts.

I can’t imagine life in the badlands without it…

This sheer-to-medium coverage liquid foundation is just one of those fantastic MAC performers ($33 for the 4-ounce bottle above), and it’s the only foundation I’ve been wanting to wear these days.

mac face and body foundation bottle

Yesterday morning while walking Tabs outside on his leash, we saw that the leaves have started to turn yellow and fall from the trees. There’s also a new chill in the air early in the mornings.

Yup, it’s fall. Or darn near. And now that it is, I feel like it’s time for a more dressed up face look — something less dewy and casual than my spring and summer routine with NARS Pure Radiant Tinted Moisturizer.

mac face and body foundation swatch
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Party Till the Break of Dawn With Lightweight, Long Lasting MAC Prep + Prime Natural Radiance

September 4th, 2012 by Karen 30 Comments

mac prep prime natural radiance review

Tabs loves big bashes as much as the next cat celebrity. In fact, he’s known among members of the A-list cat community for throwing some of most lavish shindigs and soirees in the feline world. Of course, as his assistant, I get saddled with the prep work, while he gets to have all the fun.

Today he has me scoping out potential venues for his upcoming Halloween bash. Views are a must, which means it has to be a climbing friendly venue with some height (maybe something like this). He also wants a no-host gravy bar, fresh sushi, catnip cocktails and a DJ (I’m interviewing some dude named David Guetta for the job tonight).

Somewhere in there, I also have to order 723 custom-made kitty masks and schedule 22 menu tastings (not surprisingly, the only part of the party planning process Tabs likes).

So, yeah…it’s fixin’ to be a long night.

I guess it’s a good thing I’m wearing the new MAC Prep + Prime Natural Radiance. 🙂

mac prep prime natural radiance product shot

One word: awesomeness!

Like the Highlander of face primers, there can be only one! — and for me right now that one is Natural Radiance ($40 for a 1.7-ounce bottle). (At least for now, LOL!)

It’s a lightweight gel primer with a texture halfway between an airy mousse and a creamy lotion; the consistency reminds me of Clinique’s Dramatically Different Moisturizing Gel.

Applied after moisturizer but before foundation, it’s designed to extend the wear time of face makeup and blur fine lines, pores and imperfections, making the skin appear (almost) flawless, and ready for you to pop your favorite face products on top.

mac prep prime natural radiance ingredients

mac prep prime natural radiance swatch
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MAC Unsung Heroes: Prunella Eye Kohl

September 3rd, 2012 by Karen 31 Comments

mac prunella

Tabs has won a number of prestigious awards over the years, like the one he frequently cites in his email signature, “Winner of People magazine’s 2010 World’s Sexiest Tabby award,” but ya know, I’ve won a few awards of my own.

World’s Sexiest Tabby, 2010

No, not for my groundbreaking research in cat phrenology. My awards have typically been for less…influential endeavors, like my last place award in the 2007 Amateur Karaoke Championships (Western Division).

What a joke, too. That was supposed to be my year…

I’d planned to sing Easy Lover by Phil Collins, a song I knew like the back of my hand, but replaced it with Maria from West Side Story at the last minute.

It was an unorthodox move, to be sure, but a gamble that I felt confident would pay off in the end.

Wrong. I thought that with so many other entrants also singing Phil Collins songs, I’d pull ahead, but then I screwed up the lyrics to the song…

In the song, when I should have been emoting, “Mah-ree-ahh, Mah-ree-ahh, Mah-reee-ahhhhh,” my brain short-circuited, and I sang “Pru-nella, Pru-nella, Pru-nellaaah” into the microphone instead.

Prunella, like the name of today’s unsung makeup hero, the $15 MAC Eye Kohl in Prunella.

Seriously, how was I to know that this shimmery, blackish plum would infiltrate my psyche at such an inopportune moment? 🙂

mac prunella swatch
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