Makeup

MAC Lunar Illusions Collection in Action With Swatches on NC42 Skin

January 6th, 2020 by Karen 8 Comments

mac lunar illusions 2020 — The new MAC Lunar Illusions collection, available now

OK, I totally get it. MAC-aholics are always questing to find “The Newest Newness,” but every now and zen (hint, hint), a MAC collection comes along that puts the classics in the spotlight. And ya know what? I’m not mad at it.

The new Lunar Illusions collection highlights so many MAC must-haves. The Now and Zen eyeshadow palette alone is packed with greatest hits like Soft Brown (LOVE), Honey Lust, Omega, Expensive Pink and good ol’ Tilt, which is a beautiful bluish green…and that’s just for starters!

The shades may be repromotes, but that LE packaging is a fresh twist, so if you’re on the market for a replacement tube of Ruby Woo Lipstick, why not grab one of these for fun?

mac lunar illusions swatches nc42 skin — From the top: Lipsticks ($20 each), Lipglasses ($18.50 each), Blush Split Pan ($31), Eyeshadow X 9 ($33). Not pictured: Extra Dimension Skinfinish ($37).

mac lunar illusions eyeshadow — Lids: Eyeshadow X 9 in Soft Brown, Omega, Honey Lust and Tilt. Cheeks: Blush Split Man in Pinch O’ Peach and Modern Mandarin (mixed together). Lips: Marrakesh Lipstick topped with Magically Delightful Lipglass.

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A Quick Eye-Opening Tip for Hooded Lids

January 3rd, 2020 by Karen 16 Comments

urban decay light liner — Clockwise from the white on the upper left: Urban Decay Yeyo, Urban Decay Scorch, Urban Decay Goldmine, Urban Decay Heartless, Esum Rose and Urban Decay Cuff

Here’s a quick tip for my ladies with hooded eyelids, because mine are getting more and more hooded every day! Here’s what you can do to make your eyes and your lid real estate look a little larger.

You’ll need two things…

A slightly shiny liner in a shade lighter than your natural skin tone. Mind you, it doesn’t have to be sequinned diva-caliber glittery. An essence of pearl is ideal, and apply this along your upper lash line.
A darker liner with which to tightline, and a dark brown or inky black will work, but you could go with a dark purple or navy, too. Tightline your upper waterline with it, and really try to get in between the roots of your lashes.

With these two liners working together, the darker one will make it look like you’re wearing dark liner on your upper lash line (it also has the added bonus of making your lash base appear thicker, which is always a plus), and will also make that area look further away in 3D space, i.e. more recessed, while the shimmery lighter liner will catch light along your upper lash line and make it look more pronounced, completing the overall illusion of making your lid space appear larger than it is.

Pic on the left is with the lighter liner on the upper lash line and the darker line on tightline. Pic on the right is with a dark black liner on the upper lash line and waterline. See how my eyes on the left look much less hooded?

I’ve been doing this a lot lately with dark brown MAC Coffee and light, shimmery bronze Urban Decay Scorch, a combo that works well with my NC42 skin, and I think it makes my eyes look much less hooded than they do when I wear a straight-up black or brown liner on the upper lash line alone.

If you have a lighter skin tone, try a very light, shimmery peach like ESUM Dual Eye Pencil in Rose and Aubergine, and use the shimmery peach on your upper lash line and the dark purple to tightline.
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Potent Pigments Glisten and Gleam in the MAC Patent Paint Lip Lacquers

January 2nd, 2020 by Karen 7 Comments

mac lacquered up — New MAC Patent Paint Lip Lacquer in Laquered Up

If pop culture history has taught us anything, it’s that reality stars come and go, but makeup trends will change, only to return again at some future date like Halley’s Comet.

(Side note: Speaking of reality TV stars, am I the only one who thought that the craziest thing about Flavor of Love was that the prize for winning the show was Flavor Flav himself?)

I digress…

I hope the release of the new MAC Patent Paint Lip Lacquers ($22 each) signals that glossy lips are poised to make a comeback. While I’m not mentally prepared to revisit all of the accoutrements that accompanied them in the early aughts (the frosty brow bone, pencil thin brows, hip-hugging jeans, and the camisole tops, a.k.a. my clubbing uniform, HA HA HA!), I’m more than ready for lipgloss to step into the limelight again.

There are 13 shades in this new line of lively lip lacquers, and MAC punched up the pigments to the max, so each full-coverage swipe evenly and completely covers your kisser. They also combine the thin, non-sticky viscosity of a Cremesheen with the endurance of a Lipglass, so the result is a long-lasting, opaque, comfortable gloss that stays put for hours.

I’m an NC42, and the shade I wear most is deep rosy mauve Lacquered Up, because the middle-of-the-road rose tone goes really well with the brown, purple and gold eyeshadows I love to wear so much.

I was most excited about the lighter nude shades like Magic Mirror and Lacquered Up — they’re so very early 2000s! — but they’re a touch too pastel on my tan skin to wear on their own, so I like to layer a darker lip pencil like Subculture or Cork with them for depth.

And while I’m not usually one to wear a greige-lavender gloss to run errands around town, even I have to admit that the pale purple looks kinda cool.

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Ringing in the New Year With Warm Browns and a Splash of Blue on the Waterline

January 1st, 2020 by Karen 12 Comments

urban decay stay naked threeesome in naked swatches — There’s a 100% chance I’m wearing pajamas right now.

First, hello and welcome to 2020, my friend! ? Hope you’re having a happy new year so far!

Second, I know there must be a scientifically explainable reason why warm orange browns look sooooo good with blues (is it because orange and blue are on opposite sides of the color wheel?), and my left brain knows this, yet when I see the two colors happening on my face, my right brain steps in and is like, GIRL, YES. My heart begins to flutter, and I get that tingly crazy makeup lady feeling in my toes! It’s one of those electric color combinations I love to wear.

I wore the combo yesterday to work at the bakery, where, speaking of color, I made the most beautiful blush pink buttercream frosting. Check it…

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Made the most beautiful blush-colored buttercream frosting at the bakery today! I would love this as an opaque pastel nail polish. ?? ? Also, watching the frosting get fluffier is the most satisfying thing.?

A post shared by Karen | Makeup and Beauty Blog (@karenmbb) on Dec 30, 2019 at 9:19pm PST

I KNOW. I’m going to shop my nail polish stash for a similar opaque pale pink today.

But first, back to the warm browns and blue…

I knocked this out in about 10 minutes yesterday because, basically, it’s just a neutral look with a slice of color on the lower waterline.

If you’re wearing something like this and going about your business, most people won’t be able to tell that you’re wearing blue liner, but ya know, if I were to run into you at TJ’s and we’re chatting about the Mini Brie Bites, if you’ve got blue liner on like this, then I’m gonna be like, “BABES, whatcha got there? Tell me about this business on your waterline.”

This blue, by the way, is one of my MAC favorites. It’s called Take the Plunge, and it’s one of the Technakohls (which I love for the waterline because they don’t move), but (SAD PANDA) I just looked on the MAC website, and it appears to be missing in action. So, if you can’t find it, try something like Urban Decay Mainline, or really any of the dark blue/teal 24/7 Glide-Ons. Basically, if it’s a dark blue/teal, you’re good!

If you struggle to get bright colors to look bold on your waterline, you’re not alone. It’s common for blues like this to look muddy, especially if you wear liner on your upper lash line or upper waterline, because they can get mixed in with the blue and tone it down.

So here’s whatcha do…
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Behind the Scenes at the Bakery…and a Chocolate Smoky Eye

December 26th, 2019 by Karen 11 Comments

zoeva cocoa blend and caramel melange eyeshadow palettes — Powered by chocolate cake

Since I started moonlighting as a professional (still novice!) cupcake baker last October, and have been working in the back of the house at a local bakery, I’ve been exploring ways to merge the wonderful worlds of cupcakes, and cookies, and cakes, and other kinds of baking…and also makeup.

For instance, there are ways in which cupcake and cookie baking are similar. Like, for instance, the basic process you go through to make cakes and cookies is the same. First, you pull together your dry ingredients and your wet ingredients, and then you alternate the wet the with dry.

It’s also the same things when I’m baking at for fun at home, with the biggest difference being that everything is scaled up to crazy high proportions at the bakery. Like, the other day, I baked 15 chocolate cake layers for a single day’s worth of orders! This is compared to at home, where I’ll maybe make three layers, at the most.

Working at the bakery has been really cool because I’ve been learning a lot, but I’m always kind of afraid that I’ll do something horribly wrong, like burn a big-@ss batch of 600 sugar cookies…

Another difference between baking at home and baking at the bakery is how we perform prep tasks in piecemeal, and over the course of a few days.

At home, I’m the one who preps the ingredients, prepares the batter, bakes off the cakes or cupcakes, and decorates from start to finish.

You don’t even wanna know how much butter is in this big mixer right now…

But at the bakery, tasks are broken down into very specific subtask lists, so that at any point in time, one of the other bakers can pick up where another baker has left off. It’s incredibly efficient that way!

This look I’m wearing here, which I did with the Zoeva Cocoa Blend and Caramel Melange palettes, was inspired by that mega chocolate bake off I mentioned!

The Zoeva Cocoa Blend (left) and Caramel Melange (right) eyeshadow palettes

Oh, and here’s another big thing I’ve learned working at the bakery…and it’s likely incredibly obvious: people really, really, REALLY like chocolate cake.

Because we make a lot of chocolate cakes, and chocolate is considered one of the “foolproof” recipes. At the bakery, they give it to the newbies like me because, unless you’re a complete hot mess, you can’t muck it up. It’s an oil-based cake, so you just dump all of the ingredients into a container and mix them together, and you’re pretty much guaranteed to get a moist cake!

I used two food-inspired palettes by Zoeva in this chocolatey smoky eye… It turned out a bit pinker than I’d like, but you know, sometimes you get to that point and you can’t really go back, so you just go with it. LOL! 🙂

Your friendly neighborhood baking addict,

Karen

A Face Full of MAC Classics

December 24th, 2019 by Karen 7 Comments

As a makeup hoarding enthusiast, I’ll be the first to admit that the thrill of the hunt — the quest itself — to find new makeup to fall in love with, is one of the motivating factors for why I like makeup and beauty so much.

There’s always something new to discover, right? A new technique to master? A new finish, new formula, a new plant-based ingredient discovered deep in the jungle, a brand new brand, a classic brand re-brand, a secret formula, an ancient skin care secret, a new GWP, BOGO, or a gorgeous LE palette?

At the same time, there are days when I just want to take it back to beauty “comfort food” — the old standards I know so well, and that I know work for me, and for me, that’s always MAC. I’ll always be a MAC girl at heart. ?

In this look, I’m wearing some classic MAC colors I’ve loved for more than this entire decade. It seems weird to say that, but I did the math; it’s true!

There’s a hint of color in the liner, but everything else on the lids, cheeks and lips is neutral.

I like this look because I can wear it anywhere and everywhere. The lids are softly defined with cooler-toned browns in the crease and a sparkling peach from lash line to crease (to create the illusion of more deeply set eyes, since mine are getting more hooded by the second!).

There’s also lash definition by way of the liner, which is *not* a stark, inky black, or even a brown. Instead, I’m wearing an eyeshadow called MAC Club, which is a beautiful shimmery peacock feather that goes from teal to green to gray to dark brown. It’s GORGEOUS.

So, yeah, I’m wearing that along my upper lash line.

On the lower lash line, I’m wearing a pencil liner that I also consider a MAC staple, MAC Powersurge. It’s a warm, shimmery bronzed gold, and it adds a little something-something, but it doesn’t get all up in your face. It’s one of my favorites! I think it’s even subtler and less intense than a brown liner. I wore it every day for almost a year.

On my cheeks, I’m wearing the first MAC blush I ever fell in love with, MAC Blushbaby… It’s a matte pinkish beige.

And, on my lips, I’m wearing an updated take on an early-2000s lip. Yup, you know that light, glossy nude lip everyone was wearing back in the day (along with their low-rise jeans and camisole top, of course)? I got there with MAC Stripdown lip liner, MAC Honey Love Lipstick, and good ol’ Angel Lipglass.

Oh! — I just realized that I forgot to add a swatch of MAC Teddy liner, which I tightlined with.

I wish I could take credit for this combination of eyeshadows, but I can’t. It’s from the most unlikely palette from years and years ago, from, like, Halloween! I never thought I’d fall in love with it, but I use it almost daily. Remember the Monster’s Bride palette? I don’t use the green color (ever), but everything else is a workhorse, so if you’re building a MAC palette, I can recommend all of these colors 100%.

The lightest color — satiny beige Mylar — you can use as an all-over eyeshadow base to brighten your eye makeup, or, you can even use it as an eye or a cheek highlighter. (Side note: I just looked this up on the MAC website, and it’s MIA; sad panda. 🙁 But you can sub it with Shroom.)

The lighter cool-toned matte brown is Omega, which I’m wearing in the crease. It’s great for pushing a hooded lid back *and* for filling out brows (I’m wearing it mixed with Brun in my brows in this look). It’s great if you want a really ashy brown brow, but you don’t want it to look too gray or too harsh.

If you have any gaps in your brow, it’s particularly great for filling in sparse spots.

MAC Brun, LOVE OF MY LIFE. Wearing it in my brows and outer crease.

Club is the liner, which I applied with an angled brush wet with MAC Fix+.

Carbon, I’m not really wearing in this look, but it’s your standard-issue black that you can wear with anything and everything.

While we’re on the subject of MAC classics, please list the MAC classics you love down below. I’m curious!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. I saw this earlier today, and now I can’t stop laughing! It’s a trailer for the Christmas movie Elf (one of my favorites), recut and reimagined as a thriller… 🙂

What Are Your Go-To Makeup Multitaskers at the Moment, and Why Do You Love Them?

December 20th, 2019 by Karen 12 Comments

multi taskers honest beauty — Got nothin’ but love for these marvelous multitaskers

One of my grandest multitasking loves could be considered basic…but it’s a wonderful workhorse. It’s MAC Brun Eyeshadow, and I use it as a brow filler, an eyeliner and, yes, as an eyeshadow.

Dark brown Brun is neither too warm nor too gray, and its satin finish looks almost matte when it’s on skin.

Also, yeah, it’s surprisingly easy to blend. 🙂

I’ve been wearing it for north of a decade now (YIKES), and it’s one of my tried-and-true MAC faves. It’s truly a staple.

That said, I also ❤️ me some Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Concealer, which is practically a dupe for the much more expensive Charlotte Tilbury concealer with the sponge thingamabobber!

Works fab as a full-coverage under-eye concealer because it stays put and doesn’t settle into fine lines, but it also sheers out beautifully, so you can easily transform it into a foundation if ya want. Just buff it down with a brush dampened with MAC Fix+, or mix it with a little MAC Strobe Cream, and then set it with a touch of powder (if you feel so inclined).

Lastly…and this may sound a bit odd, but I’ve been doing my makeup in the car a lot lately before my shift starts at the bakery, and the liquid lipsticks by Honest Beauty have been perfect for long-lasting lip and cheek color.

So that’s me! How about you? What are your current go-to makeup multitaskers?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. TGIF! ?

Product Spotlight: MAC Antiqued Eyeshadow, and Bronzed Purple Smoky Eyes

December 19th, 2019 by Karen 5 Comments

What the world needs now is love, sweet, love…and it also needs all the women who ~~hoard~~ love makeup to shop their stashes, because when you dig into what you actually have, you find gold!

Case in point: I was knockin’ around my makeup collection to find something to recreate this look Olive Wilde rocked by Mélanie Inglessis, and that’s when I rediscovered the wonder that is MAC Antiqued Eye Shadow.

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Director #oliviawilde at the #sxsw #booksmart premiere! #makeupbymél #smoked

A post shared by Mélanie Inglessis (@melaniemakeup) on Mar 11, 2019 at 9:15am PDT

Antiqued is a deep reddish bronze with a pearly finish in the awesome MAC Veluxe Pearl eyeshadow family (so it’s soft, easy to blend and buffs out without any resistance). You can grab it as a single pan for $7 or with an eyeshadow case for $17.

It’s one of those colors that you can pretty much wear with any warm orange brown in the crease. (Try MAC Saddle, MAC Soft Brown or MAC Texture, and reddish browns like Swiss Chocolate play well with it, too.)

Purple also pairs well it, and you can either do purple liner on the lash line or the outer corner, or you can do what I did here, which is layer it atop a purple liner base like NARS Nagoya.

Speaking of eyeliner…try Antiqued with either MAC Teddy or MAC Costa Riche. ‘Tis magical!

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