Makeup and Beauty Blog | Makeup Reviews, Swatches and How-To Makeup
A beauty blog blooming with fresh makeup reviews, swatches and beauty tips from your friendly neighborhood beauty addict
I had a lot of fun with MAC Club eyeshadow today. Its versatility makes it great for creating quick, daytime smokey eyes. I had about three seconds to put on my makeup this morning, and I owe this look to MAC Club. Paired with a few new products from Fafi and the N Collections, MAC Club helped me finish this look in 10 minutes.
Believe it or not, but there is a completely rational explanation (as soon as I think of it) for why my nails are different colors in this picture.
MAC’s new Beauty Powder Blushes hit counters next Thursday, March 13. The blush junkie in me cannot wait to check these babies out! Infused with fine, pearl shimmer, each of the eight limited edition shades promises to deliver a subtle, natural glow.
“The trick to wearing it is to find a shade right for your skin tone because ultimately what you want is a perfectly natural veil on your face,” says Gordon Espinet, Vice President of Makeup Artistry for MAC Cosmetics.
I’m all for perfectly natural cheeks, so I’m stoked about this release.
Beauty Powder Blushes ($17.50) are coming in the following shades:
What say you about Beauty Powder Blushes?
I didn’t end up making it to the video store last night, so no Dirty Dancing for me, but Step Up was on TV. Watching that temporarily scratched my dance movie itch. I have a huge weakness for cheesy dance flicks with characters pirouetting, stomping, and boom-boom-kacking their way through life obstacles, and getting to watch Channing Tatum shake his stuff doesn’t hurt, either.
The sun’s out today, so I’m getting ready for a nice, long run around the neighborhood. I hope you’re having a good day so far.
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
And if you enjoyed this post, check out this one here: MAC Russian Red Lipglass Face of the Day
MAC’s Cream Color Base in Pearl ($16.50) makes colors really pop, taking eyeshadow to a brighter, bolder, and more diva-superstar level. With Cream Color Base, your eyeshadow is like an A-list celeb; without it, it’s like Jen Bunney from The Hills. It’s one of those products that every eyeshadow junkie needs to have in her makeup bag.
Pearl’s a soft, pale gold-colored product with just a touch of shimmer. Layered beneath powder eyeshadows, it intensifies color. To the touch, it feels like a cream blush. The picture below shows 1) MAC Parrot eyeshadow by itself and 2) applied on top of a layer of Pearl:
Pretty, yah? Pearl comes in a standard issue blush pan, so what I do is pick up the product from the pan with a synthetic flat brush like the MAC 239 and apply it directly onto the lid area (not the crease or the browbone), while trying to avoid applying too much. It’s easy to overdo it with Pearl. Too much can cause caking and lead to the product migrating around the eyelid.
Girfriend, I’m busy frolicking today, but you know I couldn’t leave you hangin’! Pastels aren’t usually my style, but today the makeup gods chose to bestow enough courage upon me to attempt this pink and blue eye, inspired by Shiseido’s spring makeup look.
Here’s the Shiseido version:
And here’s my attempt:
Excuse the big hair. It’s looking very ’80s Jersey shore, I know, but when I wear it wavy it has a mind of its own!
To get this look I used…
Lid and crease
– MAC Rollicking Paint Pot
– MAC Parrot eyeshadow
Brow bone and in the crease
– MAC Girl Friendly Paint Pot
– MAC Frisco eyeshadow
– MAC Fafi Quad 1 – Pink Venus eyeshadow
Today’s Lip Look: MAC Fafi Strawbaby lipstick ($14) with Squeeze It lipgloss ($14). I rocked this fruit-inspired look while I sat at the computer working on a writing assignment today.
These juicy lips accompanied a stylish outfit of blue pajama bottoms and a red fleece pullover, both from the esteemed fashion house of Old Navy. The hair was kept unbrushed and then swept up into a ratty ponytail to complete the un-showered, filthy freelance writer look.
Am I ready to work the red carpet? Um, no — not unless un-showered is the new clean. But I finished the first part of my assignment, hooray! I plan to share details of the project with you as soon as I can.
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
P.S. Your weekend isn’t over yet! Here are the week’s best posts from Splendicity and the Beauty Blog Network![Continue reading…]
Anyone else terrified by goats? I know I can’t be the only one. They’ve got those creepy horizontal pupils that look ready to teleport you across the River Styx, and at the petting zoo they’re always really naughty; they walk right up and try to snatch the food from my hands or chew on my t-shirt or shoelaces.
Anti-goat bias initially made me reluctant to give the Shu Uemura 7.5EX brush ($35) much love. The word “goat” (strike one) is etched into the brush’s handle, and the white, fan-shaped brush head is made from — you guessed it — goat hair (strike two). I’m glad I was able to overlook my problem with goats, though, because the 7.5EX deserves love.
MAC Fafi Fashion Frenzy blush on the left, Hipness Blush on the right
Soft and luxurious, the bristles of Shu’s 7.5EX brush feel nothing like the dirty, coarse hair of goats at the petting zoo. The Shu Uemura Web site describes the 7.5EX brush as having a “light” touch, meaning that when you use it to apply powders, the color applies sheer, not intense. Not just for blush, this InStyle Best of Beauty Buy can also be used to blend or to dust away loose powder.
This morning I was in a hurry but wanted to wear a bright blue-pink blush. I know from experience that if I rush while using a regular blush brush, I end up with scary-clown-who-haunts-children’s-nightmares cheeks, so I grabbed the 7.5EX brush instead.
Wearing a big, goofy smile (the goofy part is key!), I applied MAC Fafi’s Fashion Frenzy to the apples of my cheeks, lightly drawing color upward at an angle toward my ears. With just a few swipes my cheeks looked pinched and flushed. I can’t wait to use this brush with my other bright cheek shades, MAC’s Dollymix (hot pink) and Frankly Scarlet (bright red).
If you have a few bright blushes in your color collection that you don’t use enough, give them another try with the 7.5EX, a brush designed for powdered products. Blush newbies who have a tendency to use too much color might dig it too because its fanned bristles make it almost impossible to over-apply color.
Don’t be afraid to go bold with your blush colors. With the 7.5EX in your arsenal, go forth and be bright!
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
What kinds of things inspire your makeup looks? I get a lot of my ideas for looks from magazines, other beauty blogs and books, but some of my favorite looks are based upon things in nature, especially flowers. I’m a sucker for flowers.
Can you spot the mini calla lilies in my wedding bouquet?
Pretty, yah? I love all flowers, but lilies are my favorite, so whenever El Hub gets me flowers, he always throws in a lily or two for good measure. Last week’s Valentine’s bouquet contained a handful of pink stargazer lilies.
I still have the bouquet in my bedroom. When I awoke and saw them this morning, I decided I wanted to wear a lip color today that reminded me of pink lilies! I grabbed two hot pink cuties from the MAC Fafi collection — Fun ‘n’ Sexy lipstick ($14) and Cult Fave lipgloss ($14) — and went to work building my look for today.
Fun ‘n’ Sexy lipstick reminds me of the bright pink Wet n’ Wild lipsticks I wore as a teenager, ha!
Here’s the pink stargazer inspired result…
To get this look, I first lined my lips with MAC’s Pink Treat Cremestick Liner and then applied two coats of Fun ‘n’ Sexy with a MAC 316 lip brush. I topped it off with a layer of Cult Fave applied directly from the lip gloss applicator.
It’s raining here in San Francisco today, but this pink lip combo puts a little springtime pep in my step. A girl can never have enough pink lip combos, right? What’s your favorite?
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
I finally got my paws on MAC Fafi yesterday, and all I have to say is MEOW! Love it. This morning I busted out a few things from the collection — Fafi Eyes 1 Quad, Nice Vice Paint Pot and the Not So Innocent Lipstick — and created this subtle gold and black smokey eye for work.
A few days ago, after the super-spy MAC Fafi swatch mission, I fell in love with Fafi’s Paint Pots (love Nice Vice!) and lipsticks but wasn’t floored by the eyeshadow quads. I changed my tune after playing with the Fafi Eyes 1 Quad ($36) this mornin’. The colors work with my skin tone (so far the shades “Hey” and “Vanilla” are my faves), and the textures apply like butter. If you love neutral eyeshadows, I think you’ll dig this quad.
Now, on to the look! New to semi-complicated makeup? Don’t despair. If you’ve ever worn at least two eyeshadow colors at a time, then you can certainly handle this. Yes! You! Can!
Products I used to create the look…
