MAC Makeup

The MAC Patentpolish Lip Pencils Are Going Permanent

July 9th, 2015 by Karen 45 Comments

mac patentpolish lip pencil 1 — 14 of the 15 new MAC Patentpolish Lip Pencils ($20 each), available now online and at MAC stores and counters

Your tongue twister for the day…

“The Patentpolish Lip Pencils are now permanent.”

Now, see if you can say it five times fast!

The Patentpolish Lip Pencils are now permanent.
The Patentpolish Lip Pencils are now permanent.
The Patentpolish Lip Pencils are now permanent.
The Patentpolish Lip Pencils are now permanent.
The Patentpolish Lip Pencils are now permanent.

Can you do it? If you can, I vote that you reward yourself with one or more of these MAC Patentpolish Lip Pencils, but you don’t have to do it today. Feel free to take your sweet time, because…THE PATENTPOLISH LIP PENCILS ARE NOW PERMANENT! 🙂

These $20 twist-up pencils have the texture of a balm, the patent-leather finish of a high-shine gloss and the precision of a husky writing implement. If they look familiar, that’s probably because they are. Some of them made appearances in limited edition collections last year.

mac patentpolish lip pencil 2 — MAC Patentpolish Lip Pencils from the left: Clever, Fearless, French Kiss and Go For Girlie

[Continue reading…]

The White Tee Trick (Also Known as Two Pops of Color) Using MAC Giambattista Valli Lipstick in Tats and the Kristin Perry Showered in Neon Necklace

July 8th, 2015 by Karen 16 Comments

mac giambattista valli tats k — Two pops o’ color!

One of the quickest, most colorful ways I know to dress up a standard-issue white tee ensemble is by incorporating twin pops o’ color like a bright lip and a colorful necklace.

When the two pops complement each other, like the hot pinks in the new MAC Giambattista Valli Lipstick in Tats and the Kristin Perry Showered in Neon Necklace, this trick is both quick and easy.

But the complementary color thing isn’t an unbreakable rule, or any kind of rule for that matter. The thing is just to have two focal points. As long as you have that down, you should be good.

I call this “The White Tee Trick” because, apparently, everything in my life needs an ONICL (Official Name Involving Capital Letters). 🙂

mac giambattista valli tats — MAC Giambattista Valli Lipstick in Tats

[Continue reading…]

7 Covetable Coral Lipsticks That’ll Make You Go Completely Crazy for Coral

June 29th, 2015 by Karen 24 Comments

Some people go cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs. I go crazy for coral…lips, which I will totally wear any time of year, but fiendishly in summer.

This time of year I wear coral lips. A lot. Practically every other day! I mean, coral as a color in summer? That never goes out of style.

And when it comes to coral lips and permanent colors, here are seven of my faves… 🙂

1. MAC Amplified Lipstick in Vegas Volt

Vegas Volt. Something must be powering all those slot machines and lights. Maybe it’s Vegas Volt. It’s the coral I wear when I feel like kicking doors down in my four-inch heels.

Intense, opaque and potent enough to send a lightning bolt of pigment straight to your soul. It’s $16 and available now at MAC counters, stores and online.

2. Urban Decay Revolution Lipstick in Streak

Urban Decay Streak Revolution Lipstick 10 — Urban Decay Streak Revolution Lipstick in Streak

Flamingoes. Creamy coral pink Streak reminds me of flamingoes. 🙂 This fresh, summery coral kicks so much @ss when worn with dewy skin, teal or gold liner, and mountains of mascara. It’s $22 and available now online and at Urban Decay counters, Ulta, Sephora and select Macy’s stores.

[Continue reading…]

MAC Dazzleglass in Boys Go Crazy From the MAC Le Disko Collection, and a Sticky Situation

June 22nd, 2015 by Karen 26 Comments

mac boys go crazy — Wearing MAC Dazzleglass in Boys Go Crazy from the new MAC Le Disko collection ($20)

If getting your hair stuck in your lipgloss ever becomes a thing — and since we live in a world where teenagers dye their hair gray and mascara wands vibrate, I feel like this is a distinct possibility — gimme a tube of MAC Dazzleglass, and I’ll be sooo set.

Seriously, these glosses are mad sticky! — like stickier than a MAC Lipglass even.

I’ve worn Dazzleglasses before, and they always get stuck in my hair, even when I wear my hair up in a pony or braid it.

Shoot, I could shave my head a la Charlize in Mad Max: Fury Road, and I bet that random strands of hair would still find their way to my lips. The stickiness is that serious.

But dat glitter tho!! Here I’m wearing MAC Dazzleglass in Boys Go Crazy ($20) because I wanted to see how the eye look I did earlier with the Dazzleshadows from the new MAC Le Disko collection would look with an intense, sparkly lip.

[Continue reading…]

How to Get the Most Out of the MAC Dazzleshadows From the MAC Le Disko Collection

June 22nd, 2015 by Karen 17 Comments

mac le disko dazzleshadow — Are you ready to boogie? Because I am! — in MAC Dazzleshadows from the new MAC Le Disko collection

WANTED — One illuminating disco floor (complete with square floor tiles that change color to the beat of the music) and silver disco ball for impromptu office party. I’ll provide music and cat (because what’s a disco party without a chubby tabby? — a HELLA BORING disco party, that’s what). You bring your slickest bell-bottoms and signature moves.

En lieu of cover charge, arrive wearing one of the new Dazzleshadow eyeshadows from the new MAC Le Disko collection, and enter the front door doing The Hustle. 🙂

[Continue reading…]

A Friday Date Night Face of the Day With Some Classic MAC Eyeshadows (Saddle, Wedge, Brun, Mulch and More)

June 19th, 2015 by Karen 20 Comments

I’m counting down the seconds to date night tonight with El Hub. We’re going to watch the new Pixar movie, Inside Out, which I’m very excited about because I’ve read great reviews. Plus it takes place in the San Francisco…Bay Area represent! 🙂

I was in the mood to wear a little makeup tonight, but I wasn’t in the mood to think too hard (such is the case most Fridays), so I fell back on a classic combo of neutral MAC Eye Shadows from the permanent line that I always like wearing — Saddle and Wedge on my lids and in the crease, Brun and Mulch in the outer corners, Ricepaper to highlight the inner corners and brows, and Feline Kohl on my water lines.
[Continue reading…]

How to Keep Your Makeup Looking Fresh in Hot Weather

June 17th, 2015 by Karen 35 Comments

how to keep your makeup fresh in hot weather — Sweating like Keith on the banks of the Mississippi…

There was a moment last week on Magazine Street in New Orleans when El Hub and I were sitting at a booth in a cafe while sipping iced strawberry lemonades to cool down when I officially realized just how unfathomably hot and muggy summertime New Orleans is/was. I was leaning back in the booth and spacing out, just staring blankly at a ceiling fan and the artwork on the walls when I leaned forward, and I felt the back of my sticky, sweat-soaked dress literally peel away from the vinyl.

Yup, ’twas pretty gross.

I think I sweated through that entire trip, but I also got some extra sweaty hands-on experience getting my makeup to stay put in hot, humid weather.

Gotta love silver linings. 🙂

I could’ve just gone barefaced and not worn anything, but where’s the fun in that?

Things to help your warpaint last through hot and/or humid weather…

Primer
Powder
Setting spray
Blotting papers (which we’ll talk about in a minute)

For me, these are all hot-weather non-negotiables.

In cooler climates, when it comes to makeup improv and leaving things out of my routine, I usually have a more go-with-the-flow attitude, but when faced with extreme heat and humidity, I think it really helps to use these products if you don’t want your makeup to slide off your face.

Primer

Starting with primer, I used two last week (the Make Up For Ever Step 1 Skin Equalizer Smoothing Primer and NARS Pro Prime Smudge-Proof Eyeshadow Base pictured above), one for my face makeup and one for my eyes.

Really, there are dozens, if not hundreds, of different kinds of primers out there, but I look for ones that do these two things to really help my makeup last longer: 1) smooth out the surface of my skin, and 2) latch onto whatever I happen to layer on top of them, be it BB cream, foundation, concealer, powder, what have you.

To apply a face primer, I blot my skin first with a tissue to remove any excess oil or moisture. Then I massage the primer on my oiliest spots — my cheeks, nose, chin and forehead.

After that, I do the same thing with eye primer, blotting first, then applying it to my lids, into my brows (to help my brow products last longer), and under my eyes (to keep my concealer in place).

I give them about five minutes to absorb, then blot one more time with a tissue before applying my foundation, concealer, etc., on top.

Powder

mac mineralize skinfinish natural — MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural in Medium Tan and a Chanel travel-size face brush

[Continue reading…]

A Little Obsessed With MAC Tropic Tonic Matte Lipstick

June 17th, 2015 by Karen 48 Comments

If there were a book titled, “Chicken Soup for the Makeup-Lover’s Soul,” I bet the cover would have a picture of something coral, because a lot of the time when I feel stuck in a rut or just generally blah, I turn to coral.

Like MAC Tropic Tonic Matte Lipstick, my latest coral crush. It’s one of the new $16 Matte lipsticks MAC recently added to their permanent line.

Like a slightly redder Vegas Volt with a flat matte finish instead of MAC’s Amplified finish, it looks particularly fetching (I think) with black winged liner.

Très retro-fabulous.

You can find it now online and at MAC stores and counters.