Can I just raise my crazy cat lady coffee cup to you for your great advice in the comments on this post the other day? Thank you!
I read every single comment, and I’ve just been thinking about them and taking everything you said to heart.
Honestly, sweets, what would I do without you? For all of these years… I don’t even know. From makeup advice to baby advice to keeping my head above water. Thank you! You’re wonderful. 🙂
So like I said, I’ve been taking everything you said to heart, and last weekend I just did what I could handle, which was 20 minutes using some non-neutral shadows.
I used two from the new MAC Bangin’ Brilliant collection — which, yeah, you may have noticed that bright teal and that neon yellow waving at you from across the room up there, LOL! — and gave myself 20 minutes.
I told myself, “You know what? If it turns out sloppy, fine. I haven’t done any fancy blending in a while, so whatever happens, happens. No pressure.”
And this is what happened! I ended up with a lightly smoky, sort of purplish, coralish shimmery look. And even though I could’ve done it better, and the perfectionist in me is kind of poking me in the ribs, at least I did it, ya know? At least I tried something a little ambitious this time, and I’m happy about that.
So, the shadows here — part of MAC Bangin’ Brilliant — they launched last month at select MAC locations and online. The release was called a “collection” (airquotes), but really, it was mostly just an introduction to some bright new Eyeshadows, Dazzleshadows, Powder Blushes and Lipsticks that were added to the MAC permanent line.
Here are pictures of 12 of the 14 eyeshadows, which are $16 each.
The underlying (albeit in your face) theme here is brights, and one of these days, hopefully soon, I’ll get that shimmery teal shadow, Teal Appeal, on my lids. 🙂
I used two of the Bangin’ Brilliant shades for this look — Fashion’s Field Day, which is like a pinkish coral; and Oh My Mocha!, which is a purplish brown — and I didn’t really have any trouble with them with fallout or blending or anything like that.
I can’t even begin to tell you how FAST I whipped those shadows on there because there was no need to do any cleanup. Then again, these are shimmers, which are generally (always) much easier to blend than mattes. They just are.
So this is just to say thank you for your advice! I’m taking it easy on myself, ya know, trying not to push myself too hard, but it sure was nice to do something other than the same old winged liner, neutral lids and nude lip I’ve been wearing so much since Connor Claire was born.
Thank you, thank you, thank you! I can’t say it enough.
Radio find!
Oh! Something else I almost forgot to mention. Last weekend I spent a lot of time listening to my new favorite radio station (102.1 “the throwback station,” LOL!).
SERIOUSLY, SO OBSESSED. Basically, they play old-school hip-hop.
Granted, not all of the songs they play are from way, way back, like, some of them are only two or three years old, but that’s OK! I’m fine with that.
The other day I heard them play SWV, then The Fugees, OMG! I was so happy. So yeah, if you like that old-school hip-hop, check it out. You can stream it online, which I’m stoked about.
On that note, I leave you with this song, an old-school throwback that has been stuck in my head for days, and now it’ll get stuck in yours, mwhahaha! 🙂
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
We just got a new throwback R&B and hip hop station here in Detroit, 105.1 The Bounce! So good.
I love this eye look! The colors are very pretty.
Ooh, I’ll have to look into it! I hope they have streaming on their website. 🙂
How far are you from Detroit? Random but I was just looking at houses for sale over there just for fun.
I think they do have streaming! I’m 30 – 45 minutes from Detroit, but I grew up about 3 hours north of here. A lot of my mom’s family lives in the area though, because she grew up in SE Michigan.
Ahh OK. You’re like the same distance I am from SF (30-45 minutes). I’m probably never going to leave the Bay Area, but sometimes I like to look at places to live around the country just for fun. Detroit has some really nice ones, and they’re affordable, too!
Anywho, happy Tuesday to ya.
It’s so nice to see MAC adding so many brights. I’ve been lusting over some of the new funky lipstick shades, as well.
These shadows have your name written all over them, and I can see you rocking those blues.
Speaking of blue, I tried a blue lipstick from the collection today just for fun and looked cray, per usual, haha! It’s fun though. 🙂
I’m so glad you found the energy and inspiration to play with makeup again! I think the look you created looks amazing, you can tell your perfectionist self that she’s oh so wrong! I get it though, my perfectionist self never lets me paint my nails in a hurry because the result is not 100% flawless when I do. I’m learning to fight back though!
Thanks, Lulle. 🙂 It was a lot of fun to play with color again, even if it was just for a short amount of time.
Oh, and again, congrats on your new job! I’m very happy for you, I know you’ve been looking for a while. You’re going to do great!
Those MAC shadows are so gorgeous! Wow!
Super pretty, right? Which one’s your fave?
Gorgeous! This video makes me laugh/cringe, but I love(d) that song so hard.
Me too. I have both the original and the remix, LOL! You know what, though? I do have to say that the denim shorts and the white top combo the sisters are wearing still hold up. I’d probably rock that now if I could!
I’m into it and oh my mocha are coming home with me asap. I lurves me some warm shades like that to enhance my green eyes. I love how it looks blended out like that.
OMG KAREN WILL YOU MARRY MEEEEE!!! Lol! WHY are we such kindred spirits?! Gurl, SWV, the Fugees, ANYTHING old school hip hop & R&B. That’s my jam. Fur reals. My radio is programmed to 3 old school radio stations here. Well, one is an R&B station but that might as well be old school because it’s quickly disappearing. And your eyeshadow look? That’s your, “I only had twenty minutes to get ready” look? I almost wanna throw my delicious peach at you. Almost. Were you also listening to Beyoncé’ ‘I Woke Up Like This’ as you were doing your makeup? The look is stunning, per usual. Anywho, kudos to you for baby steps. Really would hate to see you if you had an hour to do your makeup. You’d prolly paint the Mona Lisa on your face. And you’d still be fierce. And Mona would have winged eyeliner & perfect brows. Sips tea (pinky up) while eating my yummy peach in honor of your lovely baby steps (while listening to SWV) ?
Ruddy and I’m Into It immediately stood out for me! *hearteyes*
The eye look is beautiful Karen! I love the peachy colors on you.
Also, holy throwback Batman, never seen the video to that song (though I had the Free Willy soundtrack CD woop woop) and watched the whole thing just now. The fact that they were wearing riding gear on the beach but were in jean shorts to actually ride made me lul though. ^_^
I never noticed that! Why weren’t they wearing riding gear on the horses? How odd! I also just realized that the kids playing instruments in the background don’t really look like they’re playing the actual song, LOL!
So great to see you had fun with your look. I love shimmery pinks on my lids. Sometimes I just do a wash of that, swipe a bright orange lipstick on the way out the door and call it a day. Lol. Your 20min look is a 1000x better.
Your eye look is fab!! And you’re totally rocking the Crystal Gayle hair – it’s so long and lovely! 🙂 I love how you put In the Shadows and Shock Factor next to each other for the pic. It’s one of my favorite color combos (in the pans, of course!).
I’m glad that you’re easing in and changing things up at your own pace. Be good to yourself – you deserve it!! 🙂
And I’m so glad you found that station. Sometimes there is nothing better than the happy surprise of hearing some “old” songs that you love!
I think it came out looking great! I’m going to do a purple smoky eye tonight as I’m going out tonight for the first time in months.
Zinc Blue is my JAM! Look at that intense color!
I don’t listen to radio much nowadays, but 102.1 sounds familiar to me. I’ll tune in because I love 90s hip hop.
I don’t listen to much radio either, but I think you’ll like it. 🙂
I miss everything about that era! From her super long curly nails to it being ok for women to wear clothes in a music video! Oh, and TALENT! So nostalgic.
LOL, I know right? It’s almost shocking to see ladies wearing long pants and long-sleeved shirts, OMG!
Pink eyeshadow intimidates me, but the look you did seems so wearable. I’m going to give it a try- we can break out of our ruts together!! Also, I’ll call your SWV ear worm and raise you…”I get so weak in the knees I can hardly speak, I lose all control and something takes over me”…you’re welcome ?
Hi Niki,
I looooove that song! I even have the version of it with just the vocals (oooh la la). So, pink can be super scary, but there are ways to make it less frightening, and one of my faves is to layer a more neutral color underneath it to sort of tone it down a little. Golds, ambers and coppers work well. Here I used Clinique Chubby Stick in Ample Amber as a base on my lid. Mixing shades makes for more interesting colors, plus it makes it easier to wear those brights.
Hooray, you’re getting your groove back! Love the look! You’re making me want to see a blue and yellow look now. Or blue and green. Can we put in requests?! That’s mine!! Love the Fugees. Oh and I feel you on the realtor.com lurking. I love looking around in other cities. Lived in Detroit until quite recently and yes, you can get good deals there! Have to really research neighborhoods, though, and public transit is a long time coming.
I’ll add blue/green combo to my list. I wonder if I could do a blue and green look in 20 minutes… Where there’s a will, there’s a way, LOL!
I do most of my house lurking on trulia.com, haha. I don’t know why it’s so fun but it is! What was it like living in Detroit? Why did you decide to move?
Oh man!! That Teal Appeal!!