Makeup

New MAC Mineralize Multi-Effect Lash Mascara: I Got 99 Problems But Shiny Lashes Aren’t One

August 6th, 2014 by Karen 7 Comments

Glossy like a glazed doughnut.

Mmm…doughnut. 🙂

This stuff will leave your lashes so shiny it’ll look like a stranger walked up and licked them. Shiny like the dew glistening on Ryan Gosling’s biceps when you ask him, “Where’s the gun show?” Shiny like Beyonce and Jay-Z’s massive stash of gold bars, which I’m sure they keep under the bed (next to Beyonce’s diary). Shiny like the glint on my bared fangs when El Hub told me first thing this morning, “We’re out of coffee,” and I was PMS’ing.

Mineralize Multi-Effect Lash in Charged Black, MAC’s latest mascara, and the first one to use their 77-Mineral Complex, is designed to create glossy-like-a-glazed-doughnut lashes that are both soft and flexible.

MAC Mineralize Multi-Effect Lash with a MAC Lipstick for scale — Mineralize Multi-Effect Lash with a MAC Lipstick for scale

The thing I can’t help thinking about it: Why 77 minerals? Why not 76 or 78?

But I digress…

I love how dark and glossy it looks on my lashes. I also like that there’s no flaking or smudging, but it doesn’t hold a curl very well, and it doesn’t add a lot of length (maybe a couple millimeters, like a mouse nibble’s worth).

It adds a tad more volume than my previous number one MAC mascara love, MAC Extended Play Gigablack Lash, but I think I’ll stick to Gigablack for now because of the extra length.

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Marc Jacobs Kiss Pop in Wham: Silver Space Pencil or Matte Coral Lipstick?

August 6th, 2014 by Karen 9 Comments

El Hub saw this packaging on my desk and started pawing at it like a monkey from Planet of the Apes. I had to explain to him that the tip of the crayon was fake, as in not real.

“Tip crayon. Not real. Ooh-ooh-eee-eee-eee!”

Wham, a matte coral, is one of nine Marc Jacobs Beauty Kiss Pop colors, and like the others, the color of the tube’s tip matches the color of the lipstick inside.

I was hoping these lipsticks would be more like the NARS Satin Lip Pencils, but they’re heavier, almost waxy. They don’t have that same sort of slip and glide, and the unscented/unflavored formula feels thicker than I thought it would be.

It’s also smoother than I expected and not as drying. In the comments when I mentioned these last week, a few gals said they had problems with patchiness and uneven application. So far, so good, though, for me. I wouldn’t call it perfect, because Wham does settle into my lip lines, but if I run my finger across my lips to pat it down, it’s tolerable.

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The MAC Electric Cool Eye Shadows Sparkle Like a Tesla Coil

August 5th, 2014 by Karen 14 Comments

Wearing MAC Electric Cool Eye Shadows in Coil, Gilded Thrill and Pure Flash — Wearing the MAC Electric Cool Eye Shadows from the MAC A Novel Romance fall 2014 collection, coming soon

Look ma, no…brushes!

Yes, girl. Put down that 217 and 224 ’cause you’re not going to need ’em with the MAC Electric Cool Eyeshadows ($21 US, $25 CAD).

Aptly named, these cream eyeshadows are, in fact, super cool — in a figurative sense. I don’t detect a cooling sensation on my lids when I wear them, but their marshmallowy formula is easy to apply and blend.

And that’s pretty cool. (*Does lazy girl makeup dance that bares a striking resemblance to the snake.*)

The Electric Cools are kinda like Chanel’s $36 Illusion D’Ombres at a lower price point ($21). Eight limited edition shades are on their way with the MAC A Novel Romance collection.

Not so much about precision, these shadows live for lived-in, (perhaps even) slightly messy eye looks, and they’re great if you want to create a quick, high-impact eye with a single product.

I think of these eight as two sides of the same family. On one side, there are what I like to call the glitter top coats — champagne Pure Flash, soft rose Love Power, light taupe Superwatt, gold Gilded Thrill, coppery bronze Coil and black Blacklit.

MAC Electric Cool Eye Shadow in Pure Flash — Electric Cool Eye Shadow in Pure Flash

MAC Electric Cool Eye Shadow in Love Power — Electric Cool Eye Shadow in Love Power

MAC Electric Cool Eye Shadow in Superwatt — Electric Cool Eye Shadow in Superwatt

MAC Electric Cool Eye Shadow in Coil — Electric Cool Eye Shadow in Coil

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A Novel Way To View Fall Lip Color: The Five New MAC A Novel Romance Lipglasses Skip Fall and Fast-Forward to Late Winter

August 4th, 2014 by Karen 12 Comments

MAC Lipglass in Talk Sexy, a dark purple — Hey, baby, it’s dark purple MAC Lipglass in Talk Sexy

Winter is coming… Looking at the Lipglasses in MAC’s new A Novel Romance collection, I can almost feel the socks on my feet (toe oppression!), the leopard-print cat lady gloves on my hands, the chill in the air and the extra 10 pounds of holiday chocolate in my belly. These colors sure don’t seem like typical fall colors.

No wines, reds or berries here. Instead, they remind me of colors we’d see in an early winter collection released after the holidays.

Yeah, as in January.

MAC Lipglasses in Bared for You, Reckless Desires, Pure Fiction, Wanting More and Talk Sexy — Lipglasses in Bared for You, Reckless Desires, Pure Fiction, Wanting More and Talk Sexy

Perhaps MAC is playing with the notion of novel and looking at it as something other than a book. Like something new, a new way to think about fall lip colors.

These five new limited edition Lipglasses ($15 U.S., $18 CDN each) have the same super sticky texture, vanilla flavor and scent, and 3-5 hour wear time I’ve come to expect from MAC Lipglasses.

Three of the five are different takes on pale lavender, but don’t be scared! Surprisingly, they’re very flattering and wearable. They almost function as nude neutrals, and all three should look great with any of the collection’s three quads, particularly when worn with intense smokey eye looks.

MAC Lipglass in Wanting More — Lipglass in Wanting More

MAC Lipglass in Wanting More, a washed-out lavender — Lipglass in Wanting More, a washed-out lavender

MAC Lipglass in Pure Fiction — Lipglass in Pure Fiction

MAC Lipglass in Pure Fiction, a mid-tone violet pink — Lipglass in Pure Fiction, a mid-tone violet pink

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With the MAC A Passionate Quest Quad, Blue Is the New Purple

August 4th, 2014 by Karen 21 Comments

MAC loves purple quads.

No, not those purple quads. 🙂

I’m referring to purple quads like these…

They’ve been a recurring theme over the years (see: MAC Kelly Osborne Bloody Brilliant Quad, Archie’s Girls Eye Shadow X 4 in Spoiled Rich and the Private Viewing Quad from Make-Up Art Cosmetics, among many others), and with the new MAC A Passionate Quest Quad, their purple passion lives on. I think it’s one of their most interesting purple eyeshadow productions to date.

Those two shadows on the right side of the quad may look like pretty unassuming purples, but they each contain a surprising amount of blue.

Serenade, the lighter shade, is a mid-tone purplish pink with blue duochrome, while Stay Sultry is a dark navy violet.

The blue in both shadows advertises itself more clearly on my skin than it does in swatches, and it’s weird — layered on top of a black base, both shades look almost more like blue eyeshadows than purple.

A breakdown of the eyeshadows in this look: The Wrong Man (a light cool dusty pink) on my brow bones and in the inner corners), Serenade (a mid tone pinkish purple with blue duochrome pearl) on my lids and lower lash lines, Brazenly (a rich eggplant) in the crease and Stay Sultry (a deep violet navy) in the outer corners. Also, on my lash and water lines, I’m wearing MAC Fluidline Eye Pencil in Black Brilliance. Lashes are Ardell 105s.

It’s as if the quad has a split personality. If you were to split it right down the middle, you’d have a blue duo on the right, and a more traditional purplish pink duo on the left.

A Passionate Quest (limited edition) is one of three quads in the MAC A Novel Romance collection, and I’d say it’s probably the most dramatic — and that’s not just because of the blue surprise. MAC really swings for the fences with the darker shades in the bottom half of the palette.

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For Lips So Shiny the Sun Would Envy: Tarte LipSurgence Lip Gloss in Envy

August 1st, 2014 by Karen 4 Comments

Step away from the lip pencil!

Don’t worry. You’re not gonna need it with new Tarte LipSurgence Lip Gloss in Envy ($19), even though I thought I would when I saw the tube.

Turns out I didn’t.

Mauve-ish berry Envy, a limited edition gloss in Tarte’s 2014 fall collection and the latest gal to join Team Tarte LipSurgence, is filled to the brim with antioxidants and moisturizing ingredients, and it’s supposed to push your fine lip lines and wrinkles out of the picture.

The color looks much deeper and more intense in the tube than it does on my lips, where it applies quite sheer.

Actually, all of the LipSurgence Glosses are like that. Natural-looking lip color is the name of their game. Tarte purposefully dialed back the pigment to make sure that some of your natural lip luster peeks through.

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Master Makeup Sculptors Might Love BECCA Shadow & Light Bronze/Contour Perfector

August 1st, 2014 by Karen 11 Comments

I feel conflicted about BECCA’s Shadow & Light Bronzer/Contour Perfector…

Released earlier this summer, it’s a split pan powder bronzer ($49). The darker side is for sculpting and shading, the lighter golden side for highlighting and adding dimension.

Initially, it piqued my interest because it uses black undertones to simulate the appearance of shadows on the skin.

I thought that sounded neat.

BECCA Shadow Light Bronze Contour Perfector before and after — Before (left) and after (right)

After trying it out, yeah, in some ways, I do think it’s awesome. Like, it makes it easy to go from regular chubby-cheeked Karen to ’80s Duran Duran video vixen because it carves out cheekbones quicker than you can say “Cheese and sour cream, son!” in line at Chipotle, and it does it in dramatic fashion.