MAC Makeup

MAC Fix+ Rose Romanced My Dry Skin

April 28th, 2009 by Karen 46 Comments

mac-rose-romance-fix-rose

I’ve had an itchy trigger finger with my new bottle of MAC Fix+ Rose ($17). The stuff’s so great I haven’t been able to keep my hands off it!

MAC took spring and rose waters and infused them with minerals, and the resulting face spray feels about as refreshing on my skin as anything I could imagine.

Too bad it’s limited edition…

It was released with the A Rose Romance collection, so it won’t be around forever.

I think MAC’s original Fix+ Spray ($17) pales in comparison. Fix+ Rose just feels more hydrating to me and doesn’t leave the same heavy film I seem to get with Fix+ Spray.

tabby-cat-smelling-roses

As for the fragrance?
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MAC Trip 3 Neutral Lips: Swatches and Pics

April 27th, 2009 by Karen 35 Comments

mac trip 3 neutral lips

Um, do you remember the exclusive MAC Trip palettes we were talking about a few weeks ago?

As if they weren’t enough to drive me to drink: behold! Take a look at the 3 Neutral Lips Palette (*swoons*), another travel exclusive from MAC. Everything about it is rocking my world — the packaging, the colors and even the box.

mac-trip-neutral-lips-and-tabs

Neutral Lip is one of the three lip palettes in the limited edition collection (available at select airports this spring and summer). It includes one gloss and two lipsticks in nude colors.

Poetic License: a light, creamy peach
Expensive: a shimmery pinkish beige
Plastique: a shimmery, peachy bronze

mac trip 3 neutral lips poetic license
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MAC Splashproof Lash Mascara Lengthens and Curls, But Does It Thicken?

April 24th, 2009 by Karen 23 Comments

mac splashproof lash macara

Ah, the wonders of makeup bribery!

Yesterday I bought MAC’s Splashproof Lash Mascara in Blacksplash ($12), but before throwing down the credit card, I struck a deal with myself.

The “payment” for the mascara would have to come in the form of seven 45-minute sessions on the stair stepper machine at the gym. Hello, sweaty beast.

I figure the whole makeup-in-exchange-for-cardio thing 1) helps get my booty looking cute in time for summer and 2) provides me with an excuse to try a new waterproof product! 🙂

mac splashproof lash mascara wand

Splashproof is MAC’s only waterproof mascara, and I’ve been told it lengthens, thickens and separates lashes without clumping or flaking. Right now it’s being sold with the new A Rose Romance collection, but it’s also part of MAC’s permanent collection.

Last night I applied two layers before my first 45-minute stair session and paid close attention to how it performed…

First, it glided on without clumping or flaking, so application-wise it’s a star.
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MAC A Rose Romance Pictures, Swatches and Review

April 23rd, 2009 by Karen 46 Comments

mac rose romance display

Roses are red, violets are blue; the MAC A Rose Romance collection arrived today, what say you?

At first I wasn’t sure I would dig it, but after previewing a few items last week and checking out the full collection today, I’m a fan.

mac rose romance summer rose
Beauty Powder in Summer Rose

mac rose romance blush of youth
Beauty Powder in Blush Of Youth

If you wear cool tones well, you’ll probably find a lot to like in this collection of lip, eye and cheek makeup (with some face, nail and perfume products thrown in for good measure!).
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MAC A Rose Romance Just A Pinch Gel Blush Face of the Day

April 19th, 2009 by Karen 48 Comments

mac a rose romance just a pinch gel blush fotd

After seeing swatches of MAC’s upcoming A Rose Romance collection, a few of you gals asked to see a face of the day using Just A Pinch Gel Blush.

Of the A Rose Romance products I’ve tested so far, this one’s my favorite. Just A Pinch applies with full pigmentation, blends easily and doesn’t streak at all.

The sheer, reddish rose shade looks similar to Benefit’s Benetint liquid blush, and the thin, moist gel formula feels similar in consistency to Tarte’s Cheek Stains, making it the hybrid love child of two of my favorite blush products.

MAC, if you’re listening, I love this stuff! Please release it in more shades.

mac a rose romance circa plum pigment of summer eyeshadow

Today, I complemented the blush look with a few other A Rose Romance items. On my eyelids I added Circa Plum Pigment, and I applied Of Summer Eyeshadow on the brow bone. Then, to warm up the purple colors, I added two eyeshadow shades from MAC’s permanent collection into the crease — Soft Brown and Sable.

I think the eyes look soft, so I tried a slightly bolder lip, layering Tender Tryst See Thru Lip Color beneath a mix of Steal My Heart and Virgin Kiss Lipglasses (all from A Rose Romance).

What do you think?

I ain’t afraid of no ghost!

who-you-gonna-call

With my coffee this morning I looked through the pics I took last night on the SF Ghost Hunt tour… The tour started at the historic Queen Anne Hotel, the site of a former girl’s school around the turn of the last century. Legend has it that the friendly ghost of a woman named Mary Lake, the head mistress of the old school, still haunts the joint.

While ghost busting on the second and fourth floors, I snapped a ton of pictures with my trusty Canon Powershot. In some of the pics, odd glowing spots can be seen…
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Comment to Win MAC Dazzleglass

April 16th, 2009 by Karen 328 Comments

Update: This giveaway is closed. I’ll be announcing the winner soon. Thanks for entering!

mac-dazzleglass-giveaway

Glitter: it’s not just for drag queens, Mariah Carey and the Sparkle Motion dancers. Yes, you, too, can twinkle with the best of ’em thanks to MAC’s brighteningly glittery Dazzleglass lipgloss.

As little as one layer of Dazzleglass’s glittery goodness transforms puckers from blah to bangin’ in no time flat.

Enter to win two of them today!

The prize

mac-dazzleglass-giveaway-2

One lucky lady will win two MAC Dazzleglass lipglosses, one in Stop! Look! and the other in Moth To a Flame (a $36 value).

How to enter…

There are a couple ways to enter the giveaway, and you can do both of them for two chances to win.

First, enter by leaving a comment at the bottom of this post. In it, tell me your favorite MAC product of all time!

EEK! This is a tough one for me… I guess it would have to be Lychee Luxe Lipglass, aka the ultimate coral lipgloss!

Second, you can enter by subscribing to my updates by email (if you haven’t already). They’re once-a-day emails with my daily posts. You’ll get drugstore makeup reviews, makeup looks, beauty product news and, sadly, crazy cat lady humor.
(Note: if you’re already subscribed, you’re automatically entered to win.)

Recap…

Enter by leaving a comment at the bottom of this post, and don’t forget to use a valid email address so I can reach you if you win, or…
Sign up for my updates by email if you haven’t already. Just enter your email address using the form below, or click this link.

I’ll pick the winner at random from among the people who enter by 11:59PM PST Friday night.

Maika’i Pomaika’i, lovelies!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

MAC A Rose Romance: Some Great Questions

April 15th, 2009 by Karen 33 Comments

mac a rose romance summer rose beauty powder blush fotd hella cranky
Cranky face of the day, boo!

Do you ever have those days when you just feel BLAH from the moment you crawl out of bed? This morning I woke up to one of those, feeling super cranky and sure I was headed for further fussiness until two things happened. Oddly, both had something to do with roses. 🙂

guns-and-roses

First, I heard Guns N’ Roses’ Sweet Child O’ Mine on the radio. Day-am, that is one great song…

Growing up in the East Bay, I had to keep my Guns N’ Roses tendencies on the ‘low because everybody — EVERYBODY! — listened to hip hop, which I love too, but if you listened to metal where I grew up, you risked being labeled a pariah.

It’s been years since I heard Sweet Child. To this day it moves me, and after rockin’ out to it this morning, I began to feel a little better.

mac-a-rose-romance-summer-rose-beauty-powder1

Then, I read through some of your comments on yesterday’s MAC A Rose Romance post, and thanks to your ideas and a couple swipes of Beauty Powder and See Thru Lip Colour, I was back to my usual chipper self. 🙂

Again, MAC has soothed the savage beast.

And speaking of MAC, you gals brought up some great questions about the new collection yesterday.

Summer Rose Beauty Powder

mac a rose romance summer rose beauty powder karen fotd
Beauty Powder in Summer Rose on Cheeks

MBB Babe L asked:

Do you think they’d work well as a blush?

Hey, L, I think Summer Rose Beauty Powder would work well as a blush, but I’d recommend it for girls okay with having to apply several layers.

It goes on as a sheer, plummy pink, and the finish has just the slightest touch of pearl in it, which is where I bet it gets its subtle glow. On me as a blush, I think it looks gorgeous and natural, like I’ve just come back from a brisk walk.

It took five layers to get the color to show on me (it’s *very* sheer), but I like the final look, so I don’t mind the effort. If you’re lighter than I am, you could probably get by with just two or three.
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MAC A Rose Romance Plays It Cool

April 14th, 2009 by Karen 31 Comments

mac a rose romance

This afternoon I had my way with 11 of the 23 pieces from MAC’s upcoming A Rose Romance collection (arrives April 23), and judging from these plums and pinks, the collection looks hella cool — as in tones. 🙂

Most of these shades draw from the cooler end of the color spectrum. With my coloring that means I may have to inject some warmer colors into the mix to pull them off, but pale beauties who look good in cooler colors could easily rock these shades in a heartbeat.

Lips

See Thru Lip Colour

mac a rose romance tender tryst see thru lip colour
Tender Tryst tube

mac a rose romance tender tryst see thru lip colour wand
Tender Tryst wand
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