Karen

The MAC Future Face Collection

February 15th, 2011 by Karen 7 Comments

The MAC Future Face Collection

STUDIO FIX FLUID SPF 15 FOUNDATION — N18, NW18, NW22, NW33, NW44, NW46, NW48 and NW58. $26.50 each.
STUDIO MOISTURE TINT SPF 15 — Medium Plus, Tan Beige, Dark Plus and Neutral Tan Beige. $29.50 each.
190 FOUNDATION BRUSH — A brush to apply liquid or cream foundation. $32.
150 LARGE POWDER BRUSH — A brush to apply loose or pressed powder. $42.
STUDIO CAREBLEND/PRESSED — Light (a soft pale beige), Light Plus (a pale golden beige), Medium (a soft creamy beige), Medium Plus (a tan beige), Medium Dark (a caramel beige), Medium Deep (a rich golden tan), Dark (a deep caramel) and Dark Deep (a rich golden bronze). $23 each.

Available in North America on February 17, 2011 at all MAC counters, stores and online; internationally in February 2011.

A Travel Exclusive: MAC Packed These 3 Cremesheens To Go

February 15th, 2011 by Karen 41 Comments

MAC Packed to go 3 cremesheens double dare
Cremesheen in Double Dare on the lips

G’morning and happy Tuesday, cutie pie.

I thought you might like to see another of those MAC travel exclusives, and this one’s a real trip (LOL!). It’s called 3 Cremesheens, and it’s part of the new MAC Packed to Go collection.

Like all of MAC’s other travel exclusives, 3 Cremesheens will spend most of its time at select domestic and international airports and duty free stores when its flight arrives this spring (prices will vary by location).

I’d originally heard that the set would include Boy Bait, one of my favorite Cremesheens, but that appears incorrect. The set I have came with a pretty light pink called Right Image instead.

MAC Packed to go 3 cremesheens box

MAC Packed to go 3 cremesheens box 2

MAC Packed to go 3 cremesheens box 3

MAC Packed to go 3 cremesheens box 4

MAC Packed to go 3 cremesheens tubes
From the top light pink tube to the bottom: Right Image, Over Indulgence and Double Dare
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MAC Future Face: Studio Careblend/Pressed Powder Q&A with Nick Gavrelis

February 15th, 2011 by Karen 8 Comments

Q&A with Nick Gavrelis Vice President, Global Product Development, Face and PRO, MAC Cosmetics

Q: What makes the Studio Care Pressed Powders such a valuable addition to the MAC powder lineup?
Studio Careblend Pressed Powder fuses high technology with botanical extracts to give “real women” and make-up artists a unique, creamy feel to the touch. The luxurious powder glides onto skin, yielding an undetectable finish without a dry powdery look — leaving the skin feeling tremendously comfortable.

Q: What is so unique about the coverage and finish the Studio Careblend Pressed Powder provides? Can it be used alone or should it be used layered with other products?
Studio Careblend Pressed Powder provides sheer to medium coverage with perfect skin adhesion that helps to create a more flawless, refined look to skin. Studio Careblend Pressed Powder’s versatility allows users to apply it alone, over moisturized skin, atop foundation to set, or simply to touch up and perfect skin throughout the day.

Q: What are the Skincare benefits of the new Studio Careblend Pressed Powders?
Studio Careblend Pressed Powder has a super comfortable, weightless cream-like feel on skin, thanks to our unique botanical complex that consists of Safflower Seed Oil, Meadowfoam Seed Oil, Shea Butter, Olive Oil and Lecithin. This “Comfort Complex” helps contribute not only to the beautiful skin adhesion and flawless finish look, but it also ensures that the powder will be non-drying, non-powdery and extremely comfortable to wear for all skin types.

Q: What are some of the technologies used to develop this product make it stand out?
This is truly a modern, next generation pressed powder. It is formulated with a combination of micronized treated pigments and luxurious ultra fine Venetian particles and worked in a special Crosspolymer and other ingredients to give the most luxurious glide and application with amazing, undetectable skin adhesion — looks like flawless skin, not pressed powder! Then, with the addition of the botanical “Comfort Complex,” we help the skin to feel its best and look its best, without the dry, chalky look of powders from generations past.

Q: MAC is known for testing our new products backstage at Fashion Weeks — what was the reaction from our artists to the Studio Careblend Pressed Powders?
The reaction from our Sr. Artists and MAC PRO Team backstage during fashion week in NY, London, Milan and Paris has been amazing! They love the luxurious feel and ultra smooth, non-powdery looking application they get… Finally, a Powder that looks like silky skin!

According to the Girl Next Door, MAC Put This Look in a Box

February 14th, 2011 by Karen 39 Comments

mac packed to go collection

What would you do if I told you that MAC put a look in a box? Would you want to set it free?

Before you answer that, what if I also told you that the neutrals in this particular box don’t bite? No, they’re much too sweet for biting. As a matter of fact, the shades in the MAC Look in a Box: Girl Next Door kit ($40) are sugar and spice and everything nice (i.e. charming), like the kind of makeup you’d wear to meet a new beau’s mom for the first time.

The limited edition 2011 travel exclusive boxed set, one of three from the MAC Packed to Go Collection, comes with five products, a few of them full-size items from the MAC permanent line, and a couple of hard-to-find limited edition shades from previous releases.

(2) Eyeshadows in Grand Entrance and Smoke & Diamonds: Remember these two from 2009’s Love That Look? Well, the names are the same, but MAC changed the finish. When they came out with Love That Look, they sported the limited edition Starflash finish, but these have the MAC Frost finish instead. Frankly, I like both finishes and think the differences between them are subtle. Color-wise, however, I think the new colors are a shade lighter than the originals.
Iridescent Power in Belightful: This sheer and shimmery peachy gold highlighting powder had its coming out party back in 2008 with the fabulous MAC Fafi Collection. This version’s the spitting image, too, right down to the big chunks of golden glitter.
Zoom Lash in Zoomblack: Like “Drag Queen Lashes Light,” or the mascara a diva would wear to Sunday service, what we have here is a repromote from the MAC permanent line. It subtly thickens while it lengthens to take lashes up a notch or two.
Cremesheen Glass in Deelight: This creamy neutral rosy pink feels smooth and non-sticky on my lips, and if you find yourself falling in lurve, it’s also available now on the MAC website.

MAC Packed to Go Look In A Box: Girl Next Door
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MAC Future Face Collection: The Studio Careblend Pressed Powders

February 14th, 2011 by Karen 15 Comments

MAC’s introducing a new line of powders called the Studio Careblend Pressed Powders ($23 each) to the permanent line in the upcoming Future Face Collection, which launches February 17.

Along with the new powders, the Future Face Collection will include repromoted MAC Studio Fix Fluid Foundations ($26.50 each), Studio Moisture Tints ($29.50 each), the 190 Foundation Brush ($32 each) and the 150 Large Powder Brush ($42 each).

Tabs with the MAC Future Face Collection Studio Careblend Pressed Powders

MAC says the Studio Careblend Pressed Powders offer sheer to medium coverage, feel weightless and can be worn alone or atop foundation. Find them in the following shades…

Light — a soft pale beige
Light Plus — a palte golden beige
Medium — a soft creamy beige
Medium Plus — a tan beige
Medium Dark — a caramel beige
Medium Deep — a rich golden tan
Dark — a deep caramel
Dark Deep — a rich golden bronze

MAC Future Face Collection Studio Careblend Pressed Powders
MAC Studio Careblend Pressed Powders clockwise from the left: Light Plus, Medium Dark and Dark

Makeup and Beauty Blog Monday Poll, Feb. 14

February 14th, 2011 by Karen 118 Comments

the makeup and beauty blog monday poll

You might be wondering, “So what the heck is this Monday Poll thing anyway?”
Well, it isn’t much of a poll. It’s more just a constantly evolving (devolving?), somewhat random list of questions I’ve been putting out to readers every Monday morning for the past three years, which I guess makes this somewhere around Vol. 157. I’ve always enjoyed reading your answers in the comments, and I hope you enjoy reading mine.

Mood:

A little sleepy but otherwise not too shabby, tabby.

Outfit:

I’m about to let Jillian Michaels hand me a beat down, so I’m dressed for impending sweaty misery: cropped heather gray yoga pants, a pink t-shirt and a brown zip-up sweatshirt (it’s cold today!).

Your favorite sweet treat?

Ice cream when it’s warm and cupcakes when it’s cold.

One thing that always cheers you up?

Pulling up to a metered parking space and finding time left on the clock. It’s the small things, ya know? 🙂

Your favorite kind of weather?

Sunshine, mid-70s with a light breeze. Ideally, it would also be around late May/early June, which is when my spring allergies subside.

Did you enjoy high school?

I did. I felt safe, protected, and I didn’t worry about too much.

A pet peeve?

At restaurants when I find leftover lipstick stains on my glass. YUCK!

Something about yourself that surprises people:

That I have a pretty good sense of humor. I guess people don’t expect me to be funny (do I ever look serious??).

Eyes/lips/cheeks:

Nothing yet (gonna work out in a few), but I’m thinking about wearing the MAC Look in a Box: Girl Next Door set.

Weekly goals:

To put one foot in front of the other and keep moving forward. 🙂 Oh, and eat less crap!

Heya, Valentine. 🙂 I’m sitting here at my desk, looking out the windows and watching the rain come in sideways. It’s crazy stormy out here today!

It blew in earlier this morning at around three, and I know this because the wind was howling and woke me up. Since I couldn’t go back to sleep (seriously, I’m thinking about renaming the site Makeup, Beauty and Insomnia Blog), I started thinking about a bunch of things, including something I want to focus on this week — letting go of the past and moving forward.

Sometimes I feel like I get caught up obsessing over my many mistakes. Do you ever do that? This week I really want to try focusing on putting one foot in front of the other.

Anywho, enough of my late night deep thoughts. If you have a few minutes, come say hi. I love to hear from you.

To complete the Monday Poll, just copy the following list, and paste it with your answers in the comments.

1. Mood:
2. Outfit:
3. Your favorite sweet treat?
4. What always cheers you up?
5. Your favorite type of weather?
6. Did you enjoy high school?
7. A pet peeve?
8. Something about yourself that surprises people:
9. Eyes/lips/cheeks:
10. Weekly goals:

Together, you and I can make this week fan-frickin’-tastic. Are ya with me?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Make-Up Designory Love at First Sight Kit: Product Photos and Swatches

February 14th, 2011 by Karen 10 Comments

Here’s a quick look Make-Up Designory’s (MUD) new Love at First Sight Kit ($49.95, available now at mudshop.com).

The kit includes a…

4-Hole Eye Color Palette with Eye Color Eyeshadows in Opal Sky (an opalescent lavender blue), Pink Grapefruit (a shimmery golden pink), Vineyard (a shimmery warm burgundy) and Graphite (a shimmery gunmetal gray);
Sweet Color Creme Blush in Sweet Cheeks (a rosy pink);
Lip Glaze in Cupid (a buildable sheer pink); and
A Travel Cosmetic Pouch.

Make-Up Designory Love at First Sight Kit Product Photos and Swatches

Make-Up Designory Love at First Sight Kit Product Photos and Swatches
Swatches from the left to the right with the flash: Eye Colors in Vineyard, Opal Sky, Pink Grapefruit and Graphite; Sweet Color Creme Blush in Sweet Cheeks; and Lip Glaze in Cupid

Make-Up Designory Love at First Sight Kit Product Photos and Swatches
Swatches without the flash

A Curly Girl’s Tale: How I Grew to Love My Hair

February 14th, 2011 by Karen 82 Comments

This series is powered by Pantene.

A Curly Girl’s Tale: How I Grew to Love My Hair

Things were all kittens and ice cream until I turned 12. To quote my sixth grade diary, 12 was “a year of devastating change.”

The first event occurred that fall, when my best friend, who happened to be my next door neighbor and partner in crime since I was four, moved away to a mysterious place called “The Valley.”

The second event struck that winter, when the unthinkable happened: puberty. I’ll never forget the traumatic trip with Mom to J.C. Penney to buy my first bra.

Then, that summer, puberty took away my sleek, straight hair and replaced it with a big, frizzy mess.

And so began my rocky relationship with curly hair…

I guess technically my hair is more wavy than curly, but back then all I saw was a head of hair that on its best days resembled a lion’s mane.

As luck would have it, that look was in at the time. It was the ’80s, when curls and the spiral perm reigned supreme. Curly girls roamed the hallways at school. They moved in dense packs of frizzy hair, acid-washed denim jackets and Liz Claiborne purses.

It was just sheer dumb luck that my naturally curly hair happened to be “in” because I was shy and self-conscious at the time. Fitting in mattered above all else.

Truth be told, I had no idea how to handle my unruly waves. This was well before I discovered wide-tooth combs and conditioner washing, yet my hair and I eventually reached a sort of detente that would last for several years. I hadn’t grown to love it yet, but I didn’t hate it anymore either. Nope, I saved that for the ’90s.

By the time I’d gone to college, straight hair was all the rage again. I was back to hating my waves and envying the girls with their lovely linear locks.

The several bad haircuts that followed didn’t help. There was the poufy triangle cut that left me looking like a Bichon Frise, or the cut in which the left side of my hair was a full inch shorter than the right, or the razor-cut from hell (a frizzy nightmare!).

During those dark years, I spent hours in bathrooms with blow dryers and brushes, hopping from one straightening serum to the next to fry my hair into stick-straight submission.
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