MAC Makeup

Look Book: Glittery Demi-Cut Crease Cat Eyes, Levels of Glitter, and More MAC Snow Ball

November 16th, 2017 by Karen 13 Comments

mac snow ball pigment glitter kit pink k pink lips — Wearing the MAC Snow Ball Pigment and Glitter Kit in Pink on my lids.

Look Book is a new MBB series, but I think of it as “a makeup playground.” It’s a place to try new looks, talk about techniques and products, and hopefully — hopefully — get inspired to try new things. 🙂

I have plans, my friend — makeup plans for the future — and they involve me continuing to wear glitter on my lids through my 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s and beyond. 🙂

Why?

Because I don’t believe that glittery makeup has to be relegated to just one or two decades along your makeup journey. I 100% believe that there are always ways to work a little sparkle into your step.

I think it helps to think of glitter as, not just something you completely splash all over your lids, but as an accent that you can incorporate into your look in levels, which is what I did in this glittery demi-cut crease with glittery cat eye liner and a glittery dot accent in the inner corner.

By the way, before we get into it, I just want let you know that I used some limited edition makeup kits (the Pigment and Glitter Kit in Pink, Lip Gloss Kit in Rose, and the Mascara Kit) from the MAC Snow Ball collection, which is out now.

I also used all three of the Snow Ball brush kits (Basic, Advanced and Mini).

In addition to those, I also sprinkled in some MAC permanent products, of course, and everything is listed at the bottom of the post. If you have any questions about anything — the kits, the permanent things, why I did something a certain way, whatever — holler at me in the comments, and I’ll drop my two cents.

[Continue reading…]

Look Book: Rose Gold Glistening Glow With a Pop of Purple and MAC Snowball

November 13th, 2017 by Karen 15 Comments

mac snow ball glitter pigment gold — The MAC Snow Ball Pigments and Glitter kit in Gold on my lids

Back with the second post in a new series called Look Book! — which is a little different from the Face of the Day series. I like to think of the Look Book as an experimental space for makeup looks, for sure, but also a place to talk about technique, products and basically anything that strikes my (or your) fancy. If we discover some new ways to approach our makeup, find new things to try and figure out new ways to feel inspired along the way, mission accomplished.
🙂

The original theme for this look was “rose gold glistening glow,” but I think I ended up with more “rose gold sweaty glow,” since it turned out shinier than I anticipated… LOL! Oh, well. That’s OK, though, these things happen when you’re experimenting with makeup. The big upside of this is that I found a new way to wear lipstick! (More on this in a second.)

mac snow ball collectkon look k — When you look kinda sweaty but you’re still into it…

Wearing a few kits from the MAC Snowball holiday collection

All of the makeup I’m wearing in this is listed down below. I used a bunch of the LE holiday kits from the MAC Snow Ball collection that are on counters now, including the Snow Ball Pigment and Glitter Kit in Gold ($29.50), two of the Lip Bag kits ($39.50 each) — initially, I put on the Lip Bag Kit in Nude, but then for fun I swapped the nude lips for matte red lips using the Lip Bag Kit in Nude Red.

I also used the Snow Ball Mascara kit ($29.50), and the Basic ($49.50), Advanced ($49.50) and Mini ($29.50) brush kits from Snow Ball.

mac snow ball pigments glitter kit nude red lip kits — MAC Snow Ball Pigments and Glitter Kit in Gold, the Lip Bags in Nude and Red, and the Mascara Kit

mac snow ball brush kit — MAC Snow Ball Brush Kit in Basic, MAC Snow Ball Brush Kit in Advanced, and MAC Snow Ball Brush Kit in Mini

But the star of the show for me, by far, is Holiday Crush, the rose gold lipstick from the Snow Ball makeup collection, which I actually used as an eyeshadow base.

SAY WHAT?!

Lipstick as an eyeshadow base

Yeah, lipstick lids. Just when I thought I knew everything about lippies, BAM! — I see a makeup artist using a lipstick as an eyeshadow base. So I gave it a try too.

mac snow ball glitter pigment gold 2 — Surprise! The eyeshadow base is actually a lipstick — MAC Snow Ball Lipstick (from the Snow Ball makeup collection) in Holiday Crush, a metallic rose gold.

[Continue reading…]

Look Book: A MAC Snow Ball Kit Makeup Look With Smokin’ Shimmery Taupe Lids

November 7th, 2017 by Karen 3 Comments

mac snow ball eye bag smoky gold — Wearing the MAC Snow Ball Eye Bag in Smoky Gold from the MAC holiday collection.

Look Book! This is the first in a new series of makeup look posts I’ll be doing that will be kind of like faces of the day, which are like, “Here, look at my makeup,” except not. They’ll be open spaces to try different makeup looks, because I’ve been in a rut for the past two years, and I want to get out of it. Sometimes I’ll get into technique. Sometimes there will be quick commentary on the products. Fun things like that.

I totally went into this look thinking I’d do something outside my comfort zone, and I even gave myself one of those pre-game pep talks, like “Karen, you’re going to push yourself! You’re going to do something cray!” — but I still ended up totally staying in my lane with these smoky taupe lids and glossy nude lips.

LE. SIGH. I don’t even know why I fight it… I end up doing these subtle smoky looks like 99% of the time, all the time now. It’s my wheelhouse, man!

mac snow ball mini lip gloss kit — Glossy nude lips with a sprinkle of sparkle

[Continue reading…]

MAC Snow Ball Eye Compact/Gold

November 6th, 2017 by Karen 11 Comments

I learned two shocking factoids — absolutely shocking! — related to vision and eyes in the last week, and the first is that you’re supposed to replace your contact lens cases every three months in order to avoid getting an eye-borne bacterial infection (I saw it in a random video about contacts that someone posted on Facebook).

Were you already aware of this? Because I had no idea. Apparently, I’m disgusting, because I usually keep my cases until I lose a cap, OMG!

Also mind blowing: the MAC Snow Ball Eye Compacts, ’cause they’re shockingly good.

Unlike the majority of the MAC holiday palettes I’ve seen over the past something-number of years, most of which have been passable, but not really memorable, the two in this year’s Snow Ball holiday collection are downright memorably great.

The first is called Rose Gold, and it’s my favorite of the two, but the other one, Gold, is no slouch either. I just think it’s maybe a smidgen less epic than Rose Gold…but we’ll come back to that in two swishes of a tabby’s tail.

Either way, with both of them, the quality is there, and I’m all for it!

Like the Rose Gold Compact, the Gold one is $29.50 and comes with six powder eyeshadows. Two of the shadows are flashy, glittery Dazzleshadows (there’s a white gold and a yellow gold), and other four are powder shadows in MAC’s regular eyeshadow formula (a satiny nude peach; a mid-tone satiny brown; a matte charcoal; and a sparkly, glittery grayish black that isn’t quite as sparkly as the two Dazzleshadows).

[Continue reading…]

MAC Unsung Heroes: MAC Studio Fix Fluid Foundation

November 2nd, 2017 by Karen 17 Comments

mac studio fix fluid foundation nc42 — I’ve had a love affair with this foundation for almost 10 years now.

Chances are, if we bumped into each other at — UGH! — The X in San Francisco in the late ’90s or early aughts (it was a place Jen and I used to go clubbing, and in retrospect it was pretty gross), I was wearing MAC Studio Fix Fluid Foundation ($29) on my face and partying all night long.

Studio Fix Fluid is one of those foundations that you can put on your face, and you know that no matter what you’re doing — dancing, sweating, making out with strangers (um, not that I did that), dancing in cages (not that I did that either!) — you know, that Studio Fix will keep going and going and going and going.

A medium-coverage matte liquid foundation, Studio Fix is one of my two all-time fave MAC foundations (the other one is Face and Body). You can easily ramp up the coverage to full by using additional layers, but I wouldn’t use more than two or three, because you can completely mask red areas and pigmentation spots with just two layers, I’m not kidding, and if you go beyond three, it starts to look cake face-y.

Of all the MAC liquid foundations, I think Studio Fix is the best at controlling oil. It sucks it all up! I can really tell when I’m looking between my eyebrows, which is the oiliest area on my face. I don’t see any shiny spots there when I use Studio Fix. It completely obliterates oil without drying out my combo skin.

What’s an unsung makeup hero? For me, it’s an oftentimes underrated makeup morsel, a permanent collection product that scoots under the radar screen of many makeup lovers but regularly rocks my world. The long-running Unsung Heroes series features some of my favorites.

It’s also extremely long-wearing. Like, my club days are so far behind me, so I’m not wearing Studio Fix all night long anymore, LOL! I do wear it all day long now, though, and I know that I can wake up at the crack of dawn, put this on, and when I take off my makeup at night, my foundation will look just as fresh as it did that morning.

[Continue reading…]

MAC Snow Ball Eye Compact/Rose Gold

November 1st, 2017 by Karen 7 Comments

In the case of the MAC Snow Ball Eye Compact/Rose Gold ($29.50), a whole lotta “no’s” equal one big YES.

First time I used this palette, I was simply blown away. There was no fallout, so no cleaning up afterward. And no layering! — which, you know, with MAC LE eye palettes, is shocking, because they aren’t usually as pigmented as the permanent collection eyeshadows, but these are potently punchy.

So, basically, no drama. None! I think this is — yes, I’m going to totally go there — the best LE holiday eye palette MAC has done in years.

mac snow ball eye compact rose gold eye closeup — I’m wearing No Curfew in my crease, Budding Passion and Shiver of Delight on my lids, Drama in the Show on my lash lines, and Winterlude as a highlight

[Continue reading…]

Introducing the MAC Velvet Matte Lipstick Collection

October 31st, 2017 by Karen 6 Comments

Sometimes velvet finishes can go really wrong, you know, like the red Pier 1 pillows that I ordered online for my couch. I returned them the same day they arrived because they looked a little too shiny — almost sleazy, like a threadbare velvet robe in a motel room with a heart-shaped waterbed.

Yep.

But when velvet goes right, it goes really right. It’s luxurious, rich and sophisticated, like the new $17.50 MAC Velvet Matte Lipsticks.

Dude! They totally get it right. They’re an example of when velvet goes really right.

New on counters now, the MAC Velvet Matte Lipstick Collection contains nine deep, dark reds, browns, purples and grays, all with blackened, moody tones that are perfect for fall.

A dark lipstick can be tricky, though, and not just on a technical level, in that you have to bust out a lip liner and a lip brush, but there are a couple things you can do to work them well. Like, the best ones get the formula and finish juuuust right, whereas the less-than-best ones can leave you with a patchy mess that looks like you got your lipstick at Party City in the Halloween section.

So, you can either end up looking super trendy, or super tacky, and I know this because I’ve danced on the tacky side… Not on purpose, though!

[Continue reading…]

MAC Unsung Heroes: Amorous Alloy Eyeshadow

October 31st, 2017 by Karen 3 Comments

mac amorous alloy — So moody… That’s Amorous Alloy on my lids, MAC Texture in the crease, and MAC Velvet Matte Lipstick in Beatrix on my lips.

It’s fall, and zillions of lips in our hemisphere are currently delighting in deliciously dark fall lip shades — like wines, berries, plums and deep chocolaty browns…

YUM.

But what are you gonna rock on your eyes, my love? You need something that won’t overshadow those bold, rich lips.

May I offer a suggestion please? Because that’s what I do? 🙂 Try MAC Amorous Alloy Eye Shadow, also known as “Sexy Metal,” which is my nickname for her.

Amorous Alloy is one of the MAC Extra Dimension Eye Shadows, a sub-genre, so to speak, in the MAC permanent eyeshadow fam.

What’s an unsung makeup hero? For me, it’s an oftentimes underrated makeup morsel, a permanent collection product that scoots under the radar screen of many makeup lovers but regularly rocks my world. The long-running Unsung Heroes series features some of my favorites.

The Extra Dimensions are powder shadows, but they feel crazy soft like creams. They’re also very easy to blend and long lasting. This particular color, Amorous Alloy, is a shimmery, highly pigmented reddish copper with a hint of brown.

[Continue reading…]