MAC Makeup

The MAC Huggable Lipcolours: For When Pigment Needs to Hug It Out

April 23rd, 2015 by Karen 12 Comments

OK, so…what the heck is it about wearing lipstick that instantly makes me feel so much better? That little splash of color is like a nap, doughnuts, ice cream and chocolate rolled into one.

I almost want to hug it out with these pretty lippes, the appropriately named MAC Huggable Lipcolours ($20 each, coming to the MAC website May 7, and a week later to MAC counters and stores).

Do you remember this line of medium-coverage lipsticks? (Cue flashback to waaay back in 2013.) Of the 10 slick, moisturizing shades coming out next month, all of them, with the exception of Fashion Force, look new to me (as far as I’m remembering now).

They last from 2-3 hours for me and have that classic MAC vanilla flavor and scent.

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What Are 5 of Your Favorite Errrthing Products Right Now (Not Necessarily Makeup)?

April 2nd, 2015 by Karen 28 Comments

5 Errrthing Products Right Now — What are your 5 favorite “errrthing” products right now?

er·rr·thing
/ˈerˌTHiNG/
pronoun

all things; all the things of a group or class.
“he taught me errrthing I know”
synonyms: each item, each thing, errr single thing, the lot, the whole lot
antonyms: nuh’in
the current situation; life in general.
“how’s errrthing?”

At any given moment, chances are something’s rocking my boat, like a giant life-sized Ryan Gosling body pillow, Charlie the rainbow pegasus, vegan thumbprint oatmeal cookies, etc., etc.

You know how it goes. 🙂

Here are five of my current favorite errrthing products right now.

1. Kerastase Spray À Porter ($36 for a 150ml bottle)

Kerastase Spray a Porter — Kerastase Spray À Porter

This week, in a shock to everyone (including myself), I’ve actually had the motivation to, ya know, do something with my hair other than throw it into a bun and fugghetaboutit. So, out came the Kerastase Spray À Porter.

I hadn’t used it in a while and didn’t realize how low I was until I was halfway through styling my mop yesterday and heard the nozzle go pffffft.

WHAT WAS THAT!?

Good thing Karen from the past was forward-thinking enough to realize that current timeline Karen would get into this situation, and therefore stored a backup bottle in the hair products drawer.

Yeah, this stuff is the ISH. I know I’ve probably been gushing about it for a year, but it’s basically a styling spray that does a little bit of everything, and it does it all so well that you might not even need/want anything else.

It texturizes, volumizes, gives light hold (not too crunchy), enhances waves and lifts roots. You can even use it as a dry shampoo to absorb oil in a pinch.

I don’t even know why I keep trying other hair products with Kerastase Spray À Porter around.

Oh, wait! — I do know. It’s called short-term beauty memory, haha!

2. Cuisinart Smart Stick 2-Speed Hand Blender ($59.95)

GURL, you know my cooking usually falls somewhere in the spectrum between “questionably edible” and “downright gross,” but I’ve been trying to be better lately and cut down on processed foods, and eat more of the bountiful fruit of the loins of the earth…

My mom got me this Cuisinart Hand Blender for Christmas last year, and I kid you not, I use it almost every freaking day.

I use it to make smoothies, beat eggs, purée soup, do my hair…

NO! Not that last one. 🙂

I also have a regular blender, but I don’t like lugging it out, and then having to clean it up and put it away again.

I know, First World Kitchen Problems.

This hand blender, though, is so easy to store and clean, and it just works. I used it to make this Pink Power Detox Smoothie this morning, by the way, and it was BOMB.

I would’ve taken a picture of it but, as usual, I inhaled it too quickly, haha! (the smoothie, not the blender)
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The MAC Is Beauty Collection: Salon-Style Indulgence and Super Glamorous Makeup to Bring Out Your Inner Glamazon

March 29th, 2015 by Karen 45 Comments

mac is beauty review — Lustre Lipstick in Highlights

If you’ve ever spent half the day at the salon — which, incidentally, I totally have — chances are good you’ll either like or love the MAC Is Beauty collection (available starting Monday, March 30, 2015).

Where many MAC collections embrace an edgier, almost anti-establishment/counter-culture vibe, this collection hangs out in the salon on the completely opposite end of that spectrum. It says, “Yeah, it’s cool to get your glam on.” For me it’s all about putting your hair up in curlers (yay!), indulging in a little pampering and hanging out with your girlfriends.

And, for the record, I’m on board with that. 🙂

A big chunk of the release is devoted to liners, with some Kohls, a Penultimate Liquid Eye Liner and 16 Pro Longwear Fluidlines.

Many of them are re-promotes, it’s true, but whether they’re encores or new, there are some beautiful shades here, like Siahi, Blue Peep and Brassy…which is downright effing gorgeous.

There’s also Shade, which I actually had a conversation about at the salon the other day. I was getting my bangs trimmed by my friend Alis, who’s both a hairdresser and a MAC-loving makeup artist, and we were talking about Fluidlines when she mentioned a shade that she loved. It was Shade! — and it’s actually in this release!

It’s a deep, beautiful dark green — like a mysterious green that almost looks black. Alis, who’s a redhead, said it’s a ride-or-die shade for redheads, but my brown eyes and I lurve it too.

Regarding the Eye Shadows in the collection…I really wanted to freak out (in a good way) about them, but I haven’t. Not as much as I hoped/thought.

I’ve tried three of the four so far, and they just seem sort of OK to me. One of them, chalky pale pink matte Yogurt, is a little sheerer and harder than I’d like, and another, Veluxe Pearl Bouffant, takes a little too much elbow grease to show up well on my NC 42 skin.

But I digress… Enough talk. More pics. 🙂

MAC Is Beauty: The Eye Shadows

mac bouffant — MAC Veluxe Pearl Eye Shadow in Bouffant, $16

mac yogurt — Matte Eye Shadow in Yogurt, $16

mac wow factor — MAC Satin Eye Shadow in Wow Factor, $16

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This MAC Pro Longwear Paint Pot Really Is a Genuine Treasure: MAC Pro Longwear Paint Pot in Genuine Treasure From the MAC Philip Treacy Collection

March 27th, 2015 by Karen 26 Comments

mac genuine treasure — Wearing MAC Pro Longwear Paint Pot in Genuine Treasure from the new MAC Philip Treacy collection on my lids

Like Vanessa Williams in 1991, I saved the best for last. 🙂 This Paint Pot really is a genuine MAC Philip Treacy treasure.

Like, if you were chasing a rainbow astride a teal pegasus pony with a rainbow mane high up in the pretty blue sky surrounded by pink clouds, at the end of the rainbow, you’d find Genuine Treasure…instead of a black cauldron filled with gold, although that would also be extremely convenient and nice.

Really, though, this Paint Pot is more like a glitter top coat, and I call it that because pigment-wise, it’s actually pretty sheer.

I built it up in the swatch below so you could get a better feel for the color, but when you apply it to skin, what you get is mostly glitter.

You can wear it on top of other eye products, or wear it on bare lids, which is what I did last Sunday (because who doesn’t like to wear a little glitter on a Sunday sometimes?). I applied it on my bare lids, added a couple coats of mascara, and then went furniture shopping and beignet eating. It was fun.

Genuine Treasure is handy if you need/want to get party ready, and you don’t have a ton of time between work and the shindig.

As a Paint Pot, which are among the longest-wearing things in the MAC eye makeup stable, it has a cream formula. You just twist off the little top and apply with either an eyeshadow brush or fingers (for this one, I recommend fingers).

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The MAC Philip Treacy Collection: Bold Lips, Glittery Eyes and…Hats!

March 26th, 2015 by Karen 19 Comments

mac no faux pas — Wearing MAC Matte Lipstick in No Faux Pas from the new MAC Philip Treacy collection

12 things to know about the MAC Philip Treacy collection

It’s pronounced “tree-see” (not tree-say), and it’s available now (LE, available starting March 26, 2015).
Blacktrack is a re-promote.
With the High-Light Powders, the silver is an overspray.
Blue Peep Pro Longwear Fluidline is abso-friggin’-lutely beautiful.
Royal Wink Pro Longwear Fluidline isn’t as pigmented as I’d like.
If you get one lipstick from the release, let it be No Faux Pas (it’s one of the more comfy MAC mattes I’ve worn).
The High-Light Powders are probably better for pale princesses than darker divas (they look a little ashy on my NC42 skin).
Genuine Treasure Paint Pot is like a golden glitter top coat for your lids.
False Lashes mascara is also a re-promote, and it’s great at thickening and making your lashes look really dark (but not so good at holding a curl).
This collection is based on hats. 🙂
I’m seriously considering “that hat life” because apparently I don’t do my hair anymore.
I’m not wearing hats in any of these pictures because I gave them all to Goodwill in a cleaning fit/frenzy at the beginning of the year.

London-based Philip Treacy is a big deal maker of hats, and the MAC Philip Treacy collection was inspired by three of his coiffure-covering creations…

mac nude pink — High-Light Powder in Nude Pink, $32

mac blush pink — High-Light Powder in Blush Pink, $32

mac philip treacy lipsticks — From the left: Matte Lipstick in No Faux Pas, Stain Lipstick in Cardinal and Satin Lipstick in Hollywood Cerise ($16 each)

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The MAC Mia Moretti Collection: This Creamy, Summery Collection Spins a Casual Beauty Beat

March 26th, 2015 by Karen 20 Comments

mac umbrella sky — Wearing MAC Amplified Lipstick in Umbrella Sky from the Who’s the DJ? Lip Palette X 6 in the MAC Mia Moretti collection

With the MAC Mia Moretti collection available now, you might be wondering, “So, who is a MAC Mia Moretti girl?”

That’s a great question. I’m glad you asked. 🙂

I think she’s a girl who likes to wear makeup that isn’t too fussy, and by that I mean that I don’t see her grabbing three shades to contour her cheeks (I’m with you, girl). Maybe she’s at a music festival with daisies in her hair, dancing around — perhaps in a puddle, who knows? And she may or may not be wearing shoes.

She probably is, however, wearing tinted moisturizer or BB cream. Maybe a cream blush on her cheeks and a little highlighter. She’s also quite possibly a free-spirited girl with a sense of style and adventure.

All of these pieces are creams, which I think are a little more laid back than powder formulas. There are no powders here.

I think the kicker is the crazy palette with the blue, green and purple, which is not, despite appearances, an eye product. It’s actually a lip palette. A kind of cuckoo crazy lip palette, and all of the lipsticks in it have MAC’s Amplified formula, which I usually like, but I’m not a huge fan of it here.

I think that may be due to the super pastel colors. They just aren’t playing well with my lips. They’re settling into my lip lines and, quite frankly, when I wear the blue and green, I look like a crazy-pants.

I think you have to abide by a certain aesthetic to really rock these (and it’s not me).

mac whos the dj — Who’s the DJ? Lip Palette X 6, $40

mac puttin on the spritz — Casual Colour in Puttin’ on the Spritz, $22

The new Casual Colour in PS I Like You from the new MAC Mia Moretti collection — Casual Colour in P.S. I Like You, $22

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I Flip My Hair for MAC Pro Longwear Fluidline in Brassy, One of 16 Fluidlines in the MAC Is Beauty Collection

March 25th, 2015 by Karen 16 Comments

MAC Brassy Fluidline — Wearing MAC Pro Longwear Fluidline in Brassy from the new MAC Is Beauty collection on my upper lash lines

No, I have not taken up the science of metallurgy, nor have I purchased mining rights along a river someplace. This post is not about mining, blacksmithing, alchemy, mineral rights, or trumpets or trombones or other instruments in the brass section (go French horn!).

I believe this MAC Pro Longwear Fluidline is called “Brassy” because of the new MAC Is Beauty collection to which it belongs, which has references to beauty salons and, you know, “getting your hair did,” and low-lights, and that kind of thing. I’m assuming that “Brassy” is in reference to what can happen sometimes to your hair.

Mind you, I’m not totally sure about that, but I’m making an educated guess. I think the name has to do with brassy-colored hair, which I’m guilty of having when I don’t go in to get my highlights touched up often enough. My hair turns brassy.

When I tried to explain this phenomenon to El Hub, he looked thoroughly confused, like I was saying that my hair turned bright gold.

“Brassy’s a thing, babe!” I had to tell him. “Girls will know what it is.” 🙂

Brassy, a metallic golden bronze, is one of 16 Pro Longwear Fluidline gel liners in the new MAC Is Beauty collection, and I can’t recall ever seeing it before.

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MAC Amplified Lipstick in Make Me Gorgeous Channels Potent Flamingo Power

March 25th, 2015 by Karen 21 Comments

ALL FLAMINGOS, EVERYTHING!!

Not completely randomly, that’s how I feel about MAC Make Me Gorgeous Lipstick.

I will always and forever be, first and foremost, a crazy cat lady, but, I don’t know…I’ve been kinda feelin’ the flamingos lately.

I mean, they have those gorgeous pink and coral feathers, and that graceful swooping ‘S’ shape of their necks, and that pose where they stand on one leg for hours and hours.

Seriously, how do they even do that??

They also love the water, which I can totally identify with because I’m a true-blue water baby.

Do you think I might be a combo crazy cat/flamingo lady?

I wonder…

MAC’s intense coral-pink Amplified Lipstick in Make Me Gorgeous is my lipstick spirit animal, and if I were invited to migrate with a flock of flamingos while wearing this lipstick, I’d probably fit right in.

I’m so glad MAC decided to release the color in their Amplified formula! I think the Amplifieds are among the best of the best products available at MAC. If you want a bright, bold lipstick that applies smoothly and lasts all day long without drying out your lips, the Amplified formula is the way to go, and I think Make Me Gorgeous would belong in the Amplified Hall of Fame (if there were one) alongside Impassioned, Vegas Volt and Girl About Town. It’s just as creamy, smooth, punchy and vibrant.

Of course Make Me Gorgeous has MAC’s signature vanilla flavor and scent, which I quite like. I think it’s just subtle enough.
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