MAC Makeup

MAC To The Beach: A Bit of Blue for a Rainy Spring Day

May 17th, 2010 by Karen 63 Comments

mac to the beach

Well, ladies, spring was allegedly on the menu until these storm clouds blew into town…

mac to the beach tutorial 2

mac to the beach tutorial

Come on, Mother Nature, what’s the deal? Where are my 80-degree days? I want hotness, so I can read my gossip mags while I sip iced tea by a swimming pool and daydream about MAC To The Beach. 🙂

mac to the beach

MAC To The Beach Makeup Look Featuring a Bit of Blue for a Rainy Spring Day

Today I’m wearing my new “I’m living in complete denial about the weather” makeup look, which features gold, peach, coral, blue and bronze.

Even though it still makes use of some of the brighter colors from the MAC To The Beach collection (among other things like these and this), I think it’s a little daytime-friendlier than the orange and green liner look I tried last weekend.

If you decide to give this or something similar a try, please share any suggestions for duplicate or similar products you discover. Substitutions are ALWAYS welcome (a girl’s gotta have options!). 🙂

Grab your board, girl, and let’s ditch this rain! You know where we’re headed…
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MAC To The Beach: My Summery Saturday Face of the Day

May 15th, 2010 by Karen 25 Comments

mac to the beach

Hola, ladies. 🙂 Have you heard Katy Perry’s California Gurls? It put me in the mood for my makeup today, a summery look using products from MAC To The Beach. It’s a coral and green eye with a bright orangey bronze cheek and glossy orange lips, loosely based on the MAC promo picture from the collection.

mac to the beach
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What Are You Wearing on Your Nails?

May 13th, 2010 by Karen 57 Comments

Not that it was hot here today, but I felt like something warm on my nails, so I went with Scorcher. It’s the orangey red from the MAC To The Beach collection (the other color in the collection is the avocado-like In the Buff). I wore Scorcher on my tips and Chanel Jade on my toes.

How about you? What are you wearing on your nails today?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. I think I’m calling it a night — rather, I think I’ll step away from the computer and go grab a bite to eat with El Hub. Whatever you do, have a great night. Treat yourself to something for desert! 🙂 Tabs says hi. I know he wants to go to dinner with us… Sorry, tabby.

MAC Unsung Heroes: Woodwinked Eyeshadow Fakes a Good Night’s Sleep

May 13th, 2010 by Karen 46 Comments

MAC Woodwinked Eyeshadow ($14.50) rocks harder than Metallica. 🙂 Like a beauty BFF, this shimmery shadow’s been with me through good times and bad. Brown in the pan, it applies like a lovely warm gold, and I find myself still reaching for it often because it’s one of those disbelief-suspending shades able to fake a good night’s sleep.

If I had to pick one shadow to have with me after an all-nighter, Woodwinked would be it. A few swipes of this permanent collection shadow on my lids, and I swear I look well rested.

The MAC Unsung Heroes series features some of my favorite products from MAC’s permanent collection…

MAC Unsung Hero: Powersurge Eye Kohl

MAC Unsung Heroes: All That Glitters Eyeshadow Is Not Just Another Gold

MAC Unsung Heroes: The Technakohl Liners

MAC Unsung Hero: Groundwork Paint Pot

MAC Unsung Hero: Nymphette Lipglass

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MAC To The Beach: Breaking Waves and Hearts

May 12th, 2010 by Karen 51 Comments

FINALLY! After so many, many months of waiting, surfer girls, we’re going MAC To The Beach! — It’s a warm beach…and we’re walking along the shore, picking up sea shells, pretty pieces of coral, and starfishes like the ones that grace the limited edition packaging.

If I close my eyes and picture the delicious greens and corals in the collection, I feel relaxed and happy; if I listen hard enough and breath deeply, I can almost hear waves breaking and smell the salty air. 🙂

MAC To The Beach crashes onto North American counters May 27, but a handful of US and Canadian MAC stores will be hosting pre-release parties on May 18. To see if there’s a pre-release party in your area, give your local MAC store or counter a quick call.

Wrap it up!

Can I just take a second to marvel at the packaging? We’re talking ’70s, but in the best possible way.

mac to the beach review

The house I grew up in was built in the ’70s, and I remember some of these same colors (LOL!). Our kitchen walls were the exact same shade of pea green! Our countertops, the fridge, the dishes, and my mom’s treasured Pyrex mixing bowls were also in colors very much like the shades in To The Beach.

Well, they say everything old is new again, and I guess they’re right! 🙂 But coming across these shades in a West Elm or Pottery Barn would have been one thing; seeing them on a cosmetics counter is something else entirely. Way to go, MAC, for always pushing beauty forward, even when you’re looking back. Fusing the ’70s with an ocean theme? I mean, who does that?
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MAC Unsung Heroes: All That Glitters Eyeshadow Is Not Just Another Gold

April 30th, 2010 by Karen 55 Comments

There’s an old saying that goes, “all that glitters is not gold.” And it’s true, because sometimes All That Glitters is more like a shimmery golden beige. 🙂

I’m totally kicking myself for not getting to know MAC All That Glitters eyeshadow ($14.50) sooner. It’s been a member of the MAC permanent posse for years but just moseyed into my life last week.
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MAC to the Glitter Chunks in New Superglass Lipgloss: Supersize Me!

April 27th, 2010 by Karen 36 Comments

A lot of people don’t know this, but the lyrics to Parliament’s famous 1976 single, Give Up the Funk, originally went like this:

Ow, we want the chunk
Give up the chunk
Ow, we need the chunk
We gotta have that chunk [2x]

True story. 🙂

The bodacious bits of chunky glitter in the nine MAC Superglass shades ($18 each) are so big, eye-catching and IN YO FACE that they’re making me break into song (like so many things do!).

Why don’t you stick around?

I expected glitter chunks this big to make these glosses feel gritty, but the formula slides onto my lips. They’re sticky, though, despite how gracefully they glide. As a matter of fact, I think they may be a little stickier than MAC Lipglasses are, for what it’s worth.
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Wimpy Lashes, Meet MAC Opulash Mascara

April 26th, 2010 by Karen 68 Comments

I just love thickening mascaras that plump threadbare lashes, boo. 🙂

Say “hi” to MAC’s Opulash Mascara in Bad, Bad, Black ($14). It’s exclusive to Nordstrom stores for now, but it’ll be rolling out to other MAC counters soon.

With Opulash, MAC is venturing into totally tubular Clinique Lash Power/DiorShow territory. I’m sure you remember DiorShow, but how about Clinique Lash Power? With its “tubes” of mascara that surround each lash? Opulash also coats with tubes of mascara, and despite how long lasting it is, it still washes right off with nothing but warm water; no extra eye makeup remover required.

To remove it, I wet a cotton pad with warm water, hold it against an eye for a few seconds, and then gently slide down the length of the lash. It takes about three swipes to do a good job, but it’s a lot easier than having to bust out another remover.

The way it’s removed is pretty cool, but by far I think Opulash’s strongest point is how well it plumps up the volume from root to tip — and not just near the base (I’m talking to you, Givenchy Phenom Eyes!).
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