The clouds parted, angels sang, and there they were — the four makeup brushes that rocked my world. Here’s a short video on the MAC makeup brushes I couldn’t live without. 🙂
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
MAC Makeup
MAC Brunette Blonde Redhead Eyeshadow, Lipstick, Lipglass and Mineralize Skinfinish Swatches
I. DON’T. CARE that it’s strange. I can’t help that my favorite set in MAC’s new Brunette Blonde Redhead collection is Redhead. Makeup rules were meant to be broken, right?
Here are some MAC Brunette Blonde Redhead swatches, hot and fresh out the kitchen (sorry, I’ve been listening to R. Kelly all day). 🙂
Here’s everything *except* for the three Brow Set gels — Girl Boy, Clear and Show Off. Already part of the permanent collection, the Brow Gels are available for peeping and purchasing at the MAC counter and online.
Brunette Mineralize Skinfinish is the shizz! I wanna take the pan and just rub it all over my bod like a makeup pervert.
I’m also lusting after Quick Tease Lipglass and Deep Shade Eyeshadow…
From left to right:
- Chignon Lipstick: shimmery plum with pink pearl
- What A Do! Lipstick: frosty pink coral gold
- Quick Tease Lipglass: shimmery plum
- Soft Wave Lipglass: shimmery peach
From left to right:
- Deep Shade Eyeshadow: shimmery royal blue
- Henna Eyeshadow: shimmery gold khaki
- Femme Fi Eyeshadow: shimmery gold beige
- Brunette Mineralize Skinfinish: shimmery coral
I think most of the Blonde collection shades are too cool for my skin tone, but my pale beauties should have plenty o’ fun with them.
Two colors that did make my heart skip a beat were Strawberry Blonde Lipglass (I can see this pairing perfectly with a classic cat eye) and Top Knot Eyeshadow (hello, smokey eye hawtness!).
From left to right:
- B-Babe Lipstick: frosty cool pink
- All’s Fair Lipstick: shimmery purple pink
- Strawberry Blonde Lipglass: shimmery red pink
- Peroxide Lipglass: shimmery white pink
From left to right:
- Pincurl Eyeshadow: shimmery white pink with a touch of gray
- Knight Eyeshadow: shimmery slate blue gray
- Top Knot Eyeshadow: shimmery charcoal with purple glitter flecks
- Blonde Mineralize Skinfinish: shimmery cool pink
Redhead’s my favorite of the three sets. The gold, pink and peach color palette makes a lot of sense to me, but I like the others almost as much.
On my wish list: all the Redhead eyeshadows, Red Devil Lipglass and Redhead Mineralize Skinfinish.
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Enter One Final Giveaway of 2008: MAC Brunette Blonde Redhead
UPDATE: The contest is closed, and I’ll be announcing the winner shortly. Thanks for entering!
Get ready to flip, whip and work that hair because MAC’s new Brunette Blonde Redhead Collection is about to land on MAC counters nationwide, HAAAAAAY!
The mega huge release features three distinct sets — Brunette, Blonde and Redhead — with more than 30 total products (30 pieces of makeup and three brushes). Each of the three sets is made up of products designed to complement a different color hair. Clever, yah?
Click here and here to see full listings and swatches.
The MAC Brunette Blonde Redhead Giveaway
No matter what your haircolor, chances are you’ll find something to like in this collection.
Enter today’s year ending MAC giveaway by signing up to receive my updates by email or by leaving a comment on this post (or both!). If you’re already signed up for the updates, you don’t have to do anything else to be entered to win — you’re already entered — but you can double your chances by also leaving a comment on this post (a comment about anything at all). 🙂
The Prize
One lucky winner will ring in the new year with six items from the MAC Brunette Blonde Redhead Collection ($85 value).
- What A Do! Lipstick: neutral pink coral
- Soft Wave Lipglass: tan bronze
- Henna Eye Shadow: dark gold
- B-Babe Lipstick: rich pink
- Red Devil Lipglass: coral orange
- Flip Eye Shadow: bronze gold
How to Enter
Again, there are two ways to enter, and you can do both of them to double your chances.
- If you haven’t already signed up to receive Makeup and Beauty Blog daily email updates, then enter your email in the pink box below (or click this link).
- If you have already subscribed to the email updates but want to double your chances, add a brief comment at the bottom of this post (be sure to use a valid email address).
I’ll choose the winners at random from among the people who enter by 11:59 PM PST on Wednesday, December 31. The contest is open to all US and international readers. Good luck, and HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
Save 25% on MAC Holiday Sets at MAC Pro Stores
I had some last minute Christmas shopping to do today, so I spent the afternoon hoofin’ my way through the open air Ala Moana Shopping Center in downtown Honolulu. I found a MAC Pro store (What are MAC Pro stores?) and couldn’t pass up the opportunity to look around.
Do you know if there’s a MAC Pro store near you (click here to check)? If there is, all MAC Pro stores nationwide are currently running a 25% off sale on select Holiday 2008 sets. The sale runs only until the stores have cleared out their inventory of sale items, so don’t delay!
MAC Holiday 2008 inspiration? Check out some earlier coverage.
Fellow MAC-aholics, MAC products rarely go on sale. I’m just sayin’… 🙂
Happy MAC sale!
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
5 Ways to Wear MAC Chill
Yea! It’s MAC Chill day, and I stole a few minutes with the MAC artists at a counter out here to talk about the new collection.
I was a little disappointed to confirm that the mysterious lovely bronze shade from last week’s MAC Chill swatch adventure is, in fact, not a part of the collection (shoot!).
Chill looks like it’s going to be a lot of fun. I’m waiting until I get home (and relying upon your impressions in the comments) to really delve into the collection, but I picked up a few eye looks to try.
MAC Chill Eye Look #1: Smokey and Silver Holiday Party Eye
For a holiday party smokey look, begin by applying the new Mont Black (black with gold flecks) on the lid with a MAC 252 Flat Shader Brush. Next, add Apres-Ski into the crease with a MAC 217 Blending Brush, and then grab the 252 again to highlight the brow bone with Vellum. Finish the look by wetting a MAC 266 Small Angled Brush with a spritz of MAC Fix+ (to intensify the color) and applying Arctic Gray with it to the lower lash line.
MAC Chill Eye Look #2: Smokey and Silver Holiday Party Eye, Version 2.0
For a little fun with pink eyeshadow, try lining the lower lash line with a mix of Arctic Gray and Wintersky applied with a MAC 266 Small Angled Brush (wet with MAC Fix+). Then, apply Mont Black, Apres-Ski and Vellum (an opalescent white and purple, a duochrome) in the same way as Look #1.
MAC Chill Eye Look #3: Smokey and Silver Club Eye
Basically a super amplified version of Look #1. Start by applying Blackground Paintpot onto the lid and just barely into the crease. Then, pat Mont Black directly on top with a MAC 252 Flat Shader Brush. Next, apply Apres-Ski into the crease with a MAC 217 Blending Brush. After highlighting the brow bone with Vellum and a MAC 252 Brush, use the 217 again, this time to apply Reflects Transparent Teal directly on top of the Vellum. Finish with a pair of MAC 41 lashes on the upper lash line.
MAC Chill Eye Look #4: Black and Gray Day Eye
Apply Apres-Ski on the lid with a MAC 252 Flat Shader Brush. Then, using a MAC 217 with a light touch, apply a sheer layer of Mont Black into the crease. Next, apply Vellum on the brow bone with a 252. To complete the look, apply a thick black line on the upper lash line using Penultimate Eye Liner in Rapidblack.
MAC Chill Eye Look #5: Easy Gray Day Eye
With a MAC 217, apply Apres-Ski all over the entire lid. Then, with the same brush, apply Arctic Gray directly on top of it.
More MAC Chill Ideas
- For a pale pink lip to go with each of the eye looks above, try layering Ice Scape Lipglass beneath Snowscene Lipglass.
- If you prefer taupe lips, try a layer of Naked Frost Lipglass (a shimmery taupe) beneath Snowscene.
- Reflects Glitters are a great way to ramp up your nail colors. They’re loose glitters, and the collection includes two different colors. To use ’em, dump a smidge of one of the Reflects Glitters onto a piece of paper, and then dip your wet nail polish brush into it before applying to nails. Try Reflects Transparent Teal with pink or clear shades and Reflects Antique Gold with browns.
A Smokey Eye Tutorial with MAC Cosmetics Metal Urge Gilded Ash Cream Shadow and Cocomotion Pigment
Smokey Eye ‘Til I Die!
I don’t know if I’ll ever tire of doing smokey eyes. There are just so many different ways to work the look, like this spin on a daytime eye for work. It’s a method I learned from my favorite MAC artist, Jen, using products from the MAC Metal Urge and Red She Said collections.
Featured Products
I use quite a few different products for this look, but the most important MAC ones (because of their overall influence on the look) are…
- MAC Brushed Metal-X Cream Shadow in Gilded Ash ($16.50): shimmery, gray-khaki cream eyeshadow
- MAC Cocomotion Pigment ($19.50): shimmery brown-gold loose eyeshadow
- MAC Mineralize Eyeshadow in Inter-View ($17.50): Shimmery brown, navy blue and bronze mineral eyeshadow trio
How to Get the Look
For me, the easiest way to do a smokey eye is to layer textured products. Here, I layer powder eyeshadow, pigment and cream shadow.
I start by dotting Laura Mercier Eye Basics in Wheat over my entire lid. It’s a primer used here to prevent creasing and helps the eye makeup last longer.
With my finger, I blend Eye Basics evenly over the the entire lid.
Next, I load a MAC 217 Blending Brush by swiping it across the pan of Gilded Ash, and then brush the shadow onto the lid and just barely into the crease.
I repeat the previous step several times, building upon the color, and fading it from the lid into the crease.
Then, with a MAC 252 Large Shader Brush, I apply Cocomotion Pigment into the crease and use a MAC 224 Tapered Blending Brush to mellow out any harsh edges.
Next, I take the 252 and sweep MAC Ricepaper Eyeshadow underneath the entire brow, concentrating most of the color at the highest point of the brow’s arch.
Grabbing my trusty 224, I run the brush head along the edges of the color to soften any obvious lines.
Then, to enhance the smokey effect a little bit more, I pat the dark brown shade from the Inter-View eyeshadow trio onto the outer third of my lid with a MAC 228 Mini Shader Brush.
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MAC Makeup for Work: Club and Woodwinked Eyeshadows
Happy Friday, ladies!
I’m feeling retro today — wait, let me back up.
Get it?
Retro MAC, that is! I’m sporting two of my very first MAC eyeshadow purchases, Club and Woodwinked (both part of the permanent collection). I could write sonnets on both of these colors, as they’ve seen me through a lot over the past few years.
Club, a shimmery duochorome, flashes from green to brown, and Woodwinked is a warm, shimmery gold. Today I paired ’em for this easy, breezy, work-friendly daytime eye.
Club and Woodwinked
This is one of the looks I wear when I want to look kinda chic but not overdone.
To start, I applied MAC Cream Color Base in Pearl on the lid with a MAC 239 Eye Shading Brush.
Then, I applied Club on the lid, Woodwinked in the crease and Malt eyeshadow on the browbone with a Sonia Kashuk Large Eyeshadow Brush.
After that, I blended away the harsh lines with the MAC 217 Blending Brush.
To line the eyes, I used MAC Fluidline in Blacktrack on the upper lash line with a Laura Mercier Flat Eye Liner Brush.
I applied MAC Powersurge Eye Kohl on the lower water line and then added a soft line of Woodwinked on the lower lash line with the ever-handy Sonia Kashuk Angeled Eyeshadow brush.
[Continue reading…]
MAC Cosmetics Chill Collection: Swatches and First Impressions
There’s a chill in the air this Christmas, and MAC gets all the credit. The MAC Chill collection arrives on counters this December 26, and I can’t wait!
The collection’s eyeshadows, Lipglasses, glitters and new pen eyeliner heavily feature shades of gray, pink and black.
I’m really stoked about the eyeshadows; they’re going to make some great smokey eyes.
The swatches here cover all of the products in the release except for two — Vellum eyeshadow and Naked Lipglass. I’ll got those up as soon as I can.
In the pics above and below there may also be a renegade shimmery-bronze Lipglass (#6). I’d thought I was swatching Naked (not literally, LOL!), but the shade doesn’t like a shimmmery taupe, which is how MAC had described it.
Eyeshadows
- 1. Arctic Gray: Frosty mid-gray
- 2. Apres-Ski: Matte dark brown-gray
- 3. Mont Black: Shimmery black with gold flecks
- 4. Winter Sky: Frosty neutral pink
Note: The missing shade, Vellum, is a pale white duochrome with violet shimmer.
Lipglasses
- 5. Frozen Dream: Shimmery mid-tone pink
- 6. * See note below
- 7. Snowscene: Shimmery white with pink, purple, blue and green glitter
- 8. Icescape: Shimmery pale pink
* Note: Swatch #6 could be a mistake. I had it listed as Naked, a sheer taupe with silver pearlized pigments, but that’s obviously not the right shade.
Glitters
- 9. Reflects Transparent Teal: Shimmery white and blue glitter
- 10. Reflects Antique Gold: Shimmery gold glitter
Penultimate Liner
- 11. Rapidblack: Deep black matte