Collections

If you’ve ever spent half the day at the salon — which, incidentally, I totally have — chances are good you’ll either like or love the MAC Is Beauty collection (available starting Monday, March 30, 2015).

Where many MAC collections embrace an edgier, almost anti-establishment/counter-culture vibe, this collection hangs out in the salon on the completely opposite end of that spectrum. It says, “Yeah, it’s cool to get your glam on.” For me it’s all about putting your hair up in curlers (yay!), indulging in a little pampering and hanging out with your girlfriends.

And, for the record, I’m on board with that. 🙂

A big chunk of the release is devoted to liners, with some Kohls, a Penultimate Liquid Eye Liner and 16 Pro Longwear Fluidlines.

Many of them are re-promotes, it’s true, but whether they’re encores or new, there are some beautiful shades here, like Siahi, Blue Peep and Brassy…which is downright effing gorgeous.

There’s also Shade, which I actually had a conversation about at the salon the other day. I was getting my bangs trimmed by my friend Alis, who’s both a hairdresser and a MAC-loving makeup artist, and we were talking about Fluidlines when she mentioned a shade that she loved. It was Shade! — and it’s actually in this release!

It’s a deep, beautiful dark green — like a mysterious green that almost looks black. Alis, who’s a redhead, said it’s a ride-or-die shade for redheads, but my brown eyes and I lurve it too.

Regarding the Eye Shadows in the collection…I really wanted to freak out (in a good way) about them, but I haven’t. Not as much as I hoped/thought.

I’ve tried three of the four so far, and they just seem sort of OK to me. One of them, chalky pale pink matte Yogurt, is a little sheerer and harder than I’d like, and another, Veluxe Pearl Bouffant, takes a little too much elbow grease to show up well on my NC 42 skin.

But I digress… Enough talk. More pics. 🙂

MAC Is Beauty: The Eye Shadows

12 things to know about the MAC Philip Treacy collection

1. It’s pronounced “tree-see” (not tree-say), and it’s available now (LE, available starting March 26, 2015).
2. Blacktrack is a re-promote.
3. With the High-Light Powders, the silver is an overspray.
4. Blue Peep Pro Longwear Fluidline is abso-friggin’-lutely beautiful.
5. Royal Wink Pro Longwear Fluidline isn’t as pigmented as I’d like.
6. If you get one lipstick from the release, let it be No Faux Pas (it’s one of the more comfy MAC mattes I’ve worn).
7. The High-Light Powders are probably better for pale princesses than darker divas (they look a little ashy on my NC42 skin).
8. Genuine Treasure Paint Pot is like a golden glitter top coat for your lids.
9. False Lashes mascara is also a re-promote, and it’s great at thickening and making your lashes look really dark (but not so good at holding a curl).
10. This collection is based on hats. 🙂
11. I’m seriously considering “that hat life” because apparently I don’t do my hair anymore.
12. I’m not wearing hats in any of these pictures because I gave them all to Goodwill in a cleaning fit/frenzy at the beginning of the year.

London-based Philip Treacy is a big deal maker of hats, and the MAC Philip Treacy collection was inspired by three of his coiffure-covering creations…

With the MAC Mia Moretti collection available now, you might be wondering, “So, who is a MAC Mia Moretti girl?”

That’s a great question. I’m glad you asked. 🙂

I think she’s a girl who likes to wear makeup that isn’t too fussy, and by that I mean that I don’t see her grabbing three shades to contour her cheeks (I’m with you, girl). Maybe she’s at a music festival with daisies in her hair, dancing around — perhaps in a puddle, who knows? And she may or may not be wearing shoes.

She probably is, however, wearing tinted moisturizer or BB cream. Maybe a cream blush on her cheeks and a little highlighter. She’s also quite possibly a free-spirited girl with a sense of style and adventure.

All of these pieces are creams, which I think are a little more laid back than powder formulas. There are no powders here.

I think the kicker is the crazy palette with the blue, green and purple, which is not, despite appearances, an eye product. It’s actually a lip palette. A kind of cuckoo crazy lip palette, and all of the lipsticks in it have MAC’s Amplified formula, which I usually like, but I’m not a huge fan of it here.

I think that may be due to the super pastel colors. They just aren’t playing well with my lips. They’re settling into my lip lines and, quite frankly, when I wear the blue and green, I look like a crazy-pants.

I think you have to abide by a certain aesthetic to really rock these (and it’s not me).