Face of the Day (FOTD)

A Monday MAC Face of the Day With a Few of My Current Obsessions: Costa Riche Liner, Cantaloupe Blush and Heroine Lipstick

December 16th, 2013 by Karen 26 Comments

MAC Heroine Lipstick and Costa Riche Liner — It’s MAC Heroine Lipstick to the rescue!!

Do you ever feel like putting every piece of makeup that you’re currently obsessed with (in other words, everything and the kitchen sink) on your face at the same time?

Yeah…that’s kind of what happened to me here, LOL!

I’ve got a major crush on MAC Costa Riche (please don’t let it be discontinued, please don’t let it be discontinued, please don’t let it be discontinued…), so that’s what I based my makeup on today. I’m wearing it here on my lower lash and water lines.

With Costa Riche being a warm-toned brown, I also busted out a few of my favorite MAC browns in the same vein, namely Bamboo, Saddle and Swiss Chocolate, which I think are great mattes to wear in the crease if you like warm reddish and orangey browns (cool-toned gals, check out MAC Wedge and Omega; also very pretty).

So…you might remember Swiss Chocolate from last week’s MAC stress shopper’s diary. I’m actually wearing a bunch of stuff from that same vid, like the two Prep + Prime Highlighters, Shaping Powders and MAC Cantaloupe Blush, too.

See, told ya! Everything and the kitchen sink. 🙂

I’m starting to believe that every gal (and blush-loving boy) needs Cantaloupe in their life. It’s like the perfect balance of peach and coral, and it always seems to brighten my look, without competing with whatever else I may be wearing.

Definitely worth a swatch next time you visit a MAC Pro Store. I think it’ll be a lovely spring/summer shade.

Last, but not least, those lips! The star attraction: MAC Heroine Lipstick, a powerfully opaque purple matte from a previous collection, but recently added to the MAC permanent line. It’s available now on counters and at maccosmetics.com.

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A Gold and Warm Brown Face of the Day With MAC and Rouge Bunny Rouge (and a Tip for Doe-Eyed Looks)

December 9th, 2013 by Karen 24 Comments

Rouge Bunny Rouge Embrace of Cashmere — Today felt like a gold and warm browns kind of day…

You might think that my down-filled winter coat gets all the credit for keeping me warm right now, but nope — that’s not why I feel downright toasty today (although the coat is helping, because DUUUDE, it’s cold outside!).

I’ve been going through a gold phase, and when I woke up this morning, the first thing I wanted to do — well, after putting on thermals, two pairs of socks and the aforementioned coat — was bust out the warm browns to wear with some shimmery gold shadows.

Ah… So warm and toasty. 🙂 I used one of my favorite easy eye makeup tricks, too. It’s a good way to add extra kick to metallic looks, and make your peepers appear rounder (think “more doe-eyed”).

Rouge Bunny Rouge Embrace of Cashmere, MAC Woodwinked, MAC Bamboo, MAC Soft Brown, MAC Ricepaper — MAC Ricepaper along my brow bone, MAC Bamboo in the crease, MAC Soft Brown in the crease and lower lash line, MAC Woodwinked on the lid and Rouge Bunny Rouge Pigment in Embrace of Cashmere in the center of the lid

For the gold effect here, all you need are two golden shimmery eyeshadows — one lighter than the other. Today I chose two shades that aren’t too far from each other because I wanted to keep my blending to a minimum. I went with MAC Woodwinked for the darker gold and Rouge Bunny Rouge’s new Loose Glitter Pigment in Embrace of Cashmere ($26) as the lighter shade.

I started by sweeping a warm matte brown in the crease, then patted the darker gold on the lid, blended the two together to erase any harsh lines and patted the lighter gold in the center of the lid, just above my iris.

MAC Teddy, MAC Powersurge, MAC Blacktrack and MAC Carbon — MAC Blacktrack and MAC Carbon Eye Shadow on my upper lash line, MAC Teddy Eye Kohl on my upper water line, MAC Powersurge Eye Kohl on my lower lash line and MAC Extended Play Gigablack Lash Mascara on my lashes

The lighter color in the center completes the gradient that goes from the darker gold in the outer corner of the lid (the side closer to your ear), to the lighter color in the center, to the darker gold again in the inner corner.

And the gradient makes the magic happen. 🙂 It’s what makes the eyes look slightly rounder, while the lighter metallic color flashes in the light to give a little extra something to the overall look.

Rouge Bunny Rouge Embrace of Cashmere with MAC Woodwinked — MAC Woodwinked with Rouge Bunny Rouge Embrace of Cashmere in the center

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An Urban Decay Face of the Day With Naked3: A Rosy Gold Daytime Smokey Eye

November 20th, 2013 by Karen 26 Comments

Whoa, boy. I am a sleep-sheepy today…but that wasn’t going to stop me from playing naked.

I mean playing with naked — Urban Decay Naked3.

Just a few shots of the look I’m wearing. I think it’s a little more wearable and daytime-friendly than the look I did on Monday.

I also incorporated some colors from the Naked and Naked2 palettes, just to see how well they’d work with Naked3’s rosy gold.

I think it went well.

Quick breakdown of what I used!

On my eyes I’m wearing…

The Urban Decay Naked3 Palette (shimmery rose gold Liar on my lids and glittery blackened rose Blackheart in the outer corners)
The Urban Decay Naked Palette (Buck, the matte brown shade, in the crease)
The Urban Decay Naked2 Palette(Foxy, the matte beige shade, on the brown bone)
UD’s new 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil in Blackheart, glittery blackened rose from the new Blackheart and Darkside liner duo (along my lower lash lines)
UD’s new 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil in Perversion, a true black from the new Perversion and Pistol duo (water lines)
UD’s new 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil in Venus a shimmery beige from the Venus and Crave duo (worn as a base all over my lids under the other products)
Clarins Be Long Mascara (my lashes)
MAC Brun Eye Shadow (brows)

On my cheeks and lips that’s…

Tarte’s Off the Cuff Blush Palette (the apples of my cheeks)
MAC Give Me Sun Bronzer (below my cheekbones)
Urban Decay Revolution Lipstick in Naked

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A Face of the Day With a Few Tried-and-True Shades From MAC’s Permanent Line: A Smokey Brown Cat Eye, Pink Cheeks and Lips

November 14th, 2013 by Karen 24 Comments

MAC Mulch Cork Bamboo FOTD — Wearing a few all-star brown eyeshadows from MAC’s permanent collection

I can’t even begin to describe to you the chaos swirling around me right now. Almost every single one of the houses in my neighborhood is under some kind of construction — I am so not exaggerating — and behind the cacophony of hammering and sawing is poor Tabs pacing the house while adding his own mewling and grumbling (“Mrrroooow!”) to the symphony of sound.

I am *this close* to completely loosing my sh*t…

Safe place! Safe place!

The only thing preserving my sanity has been this song: Sail, by Awolnation, which I’ve been trying to play loud enough to drown out the noise outside.

That whole entire album (Megalithic Symphony) is my power jam right now. I listen to it and pretend that all of the banging going on outside is part of the song, haha.

SAIL!

The ruckus started right after dawn and hasn’t let up. By 11 I felt like I needed the makeup equivalent of a large vanilla shake and a basket of fries, also known as comfort food, so I fell back on a look I do all the time with some of my favorite things from MAC’s permanent line.

More classy than flashy (hopefully), it’s a softly smoky golden brown eye with black cat liner, pink, barely-there matte cheeks and glossy pinkish gold lips. I used to wear this look a lot when I worked in the city and still do whenever I want to look pulled together but not over the top.

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A Glittery Gold MAC Stroke of Midnight Party-Appropriate Face of the Day

October 31st, 2013 by Karen 32 Comments

MAC Stroke of Midnight Face of the Day — It’s a glitter jamboree! — thanks to the new MAC Stroke of Midnight Eye Shadow X 5 Compact in Smoky

Glitter like this deserves more than a night on the couch in the living room ~~eating Mini Snickers~~ waiting for trick-or-treaters and watching old episodes of Long Island Medium on Tivo, but eh — what ya gonna do?

I’ll just pretend I’m at a party. 🙂 Why yes, thank you for asking. I would like to dance. And certainly, I will have one — or three — of those mini Snickers.

I’m wearing a few things here from the new MAC Stroke of Midnight and Nocturnal holiday collections, as well as a couple products from NARS and Urban Decay.

The MAC Stroke of Midnight and Nocturnal holiday products I’m wearing…

MAC Stroke of Midnight Eye Shadow X 5 Compact Smoky — MAC Stroke of Midnight Eye Shadow X 5 Compact in Smoky ($39.50 US and $47.50 CAN)

MAC Stroke of Midnight Eye Bag in Gold — Stroke of Midnight Eye Bag in Gold ($39.50 US and $47.50 CAN)

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Last-Minute Halloween Costume Ideas: A Fall Fairy Using the MAC Rick Baker and Divine Night Collections

October 24th, 2013 by Karen 30 Comments

My inspiration for this Halloween look was a fall fairy prancing home through a damp, leaf-covered forest floor early in the morning after an all-night dance party with her fairy friends.

To really sell the fairy angle better, I even got some elfin ears, but, uh, getting those suckers to peek through when your hair is teased out “to here” and there are leaves and berries all over the place is really hard!

Hey, man. I tried.

My goals for this look were to…

Make my skin look both muddy and shimmery, like I’d been prancing around in wet leaves. I figured that fairies partying all night long in the forest would tend to get a little dirty, but being magical creatures, they’d still retain their elfin glow.
Wear fall leaves in some big-@ss hair
Wear autumnal colors on my eyes
Freak out my neighbors — because that’s how I roll 🙂

It’s weird, but I think that even with the dirty skin, the look still ended up kind of bridal/Victoria’s Secret.

Too bad about the elf ears, because I think they would have taken the look to the next level.

If you’re on the market for Halloween makeup-based ideas, this one was actually pretty easy to achieve, as far as the makeup goes.

The (muddy) skin

Even though I wanted my skin to look dirty, I still started with my regular foundation, MAC Face and Body, to smooth everything out.

Next, for the muddy/glowy effect, I mixed MAC Monster FX Tinted Mixing Medium in Dirt from the Rick Baker collection ($22) with shimmery MAC Old Gold Pigment ($21), and then stippled that randomly around my face, neck, shoulders and arms with a MAC 159 Duo Fibre Brush (although any skunk brush should do).

When it was dry, to create sort of an earthy feel, I contoured my face with MAC Give Me Sun Bronzer.

Then, because I really wanted a noticeable glow, I highlighted my cheeks, nose and cupid’s bow with a bronze highlighter, MAC Mineralize Skinfinish in Perfectly Poised ($33), from the new Divine Night holiday collection.

The big-@ss hair

Today marked three days since my last shampoo/conditioner session, which I did because I wanted my mop to actually look a little dirty and “lived in.” I think that made it easier to go bigger with the hair.

I also used hot rollers yesterday, so I had some leftover curls.

To lift my roots and boost volume, I applied a dry shampoo to the roots and teased the top layers, then sprayed hairspray all over everything to keep it big.

Next, the leaves and berries, which I snipped from a couple of plastic garland strands I got from Joann (on sale for $4!), and tied them into pieces of my hair with some brown paper jewelry cord ($3), also from Joann.

The autumnal eyes and lips

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A Green, Brown and Gold Eye of the Day With the Be Merry Palette by Too Faced Cosmetics

October 16th, 2013 by Karen 20 Comments

I literally (OK, figuratively) have one foot out the door (haircut time!), but I wanted to show you pics I took of the makeup I’m wearing today. It’s the Be Merry palette from the $45 Be Merry Be Bright Holiday set by Too Faced.

Those are Be Merry products on my eyes and cheeks and Too Faced La CrÃ¨me Lipstick in Spice Spice Baby on my pout.

Too Faced Be Merry Be Bright — The Be Bright Palette

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A Face of the Day With a Dramatic Plummy Black Lip, and an Old Lip Trick From My College Days

September 27th, 2013 by Karen 27 Comments

MAC Strong Willed — Yeah, I’d walk my cat lookin’ like this…

True story: It was 1994. I was in my second year of college at Davis, and I’d become full-on obsessed with the idea of wearing a dark, almost black, matte red lipstick, but I couldn’t find the color at any of the drugstores in town.

It didn’t help that Davis was a small town out in the middle of nowhere. No, seriously, it’s pretty built up now (they have a Gap!), but back then it was just farms and cows as far as the eye could see.

Cutting-edge makeup (for the time) was not easy to track down.

Eventually, I realized that I probably wasn’t going to find what I wanted on a shelf. I was about to give up when, one day, inspiration struck!

With a black eyeliner, I lined and filled in my lips, and then layered my darkest red lipstick on top.

Eureka!!

I ended up rockin’ that look so hard to chem class, you don’t even know.

Today that same trick with eyeliner on my lips came in handy again while I was getting ready.

So, I’ve been wanting to try something like that Goth-ish look from Lorde’s Tennis Court video. In the video she wears a striking look with eyeshadow in a cat eye shape, with white liner on her lower water line and a dark, dramatically delicious purplish black lip.

Since there isn’t a lot of color on her eyes and cheeks, it puts the focus firmly on her lips.

Gah! I love it.

The eyes? Super easy. I used a few MAC neutral eyeshadow staples (Bamboo, Soba and Cork) to create the lifted, cat eye shape.

Wouldn’t you know it, though? The ONE TIME I needed the white eyeliner that I hardly ever use, I couldn’t find it, so I used a pale beige eyeliner on my water lines instead (Rimmel Scandaleyes in Nude).

I didn’t do much with my cheeks. Just some light contouring (using MAC Give Me Sun Bronzer) and highlighting (Becca Opal).

Last, but not least — the lips!

I really wanted them to look dark, almost black, so I ended up using — yup, you guessed it — an eyeliner, MAC’s Pro Longwear Eyeliner in Strong Willed ($19.50), a matte plummy black.

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