MAC Makeup

Coral? We Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Coral! The MAC Temperature Rising Lipsticks Take Lips on an Alternate Route to Summer

May 2nd, 2013 by Karen 18 Comments

Oh, my gosh, it’s happening! The annual coral migration has begun.

Every year around this time huge flocks of corals migrate from their winter hideaways to makeup counters everywhere, gathering in large numbers wherever there are lip displays.

It’s one of my favorite things. 🙂

When the corals come back in spring and summer, it’s like, it reminds me that the world will keep turning… Frozen yogurt will keep tasting great, the Real Housewives of My Butt will keep screaming nonsense at each other on Bravo, and RyGos will keep looking hot under pretty much all circumstances.

But some makeup lovers don’t get that fired up about coral. I have a friend who refuses to wear it on her lips because she says it makes her feel like a “South Beach grandma” (her words).

Gotta be honest, I don’t get it (SERIOUSLY, HOW COULD YOU NOT LOVE CORAL?!), but I can appreciate wanting to be different and going against the flow, which brings me to the four new lipsticks in the MAC Temperature Rising collection.

MAC Temperature Rising Lipsticks from the left: Altered Beige, Caliente, Feel My Pulse and Sheer Seduction — From the left: Altered Beige, Caliente, Feel My Pulse and Sheer Seduction

See that? No coral whatsoever. Instead, MAC went a riskier route with beige, violet and bronze, and you know what?

I think it works.

MAC Caliente Lipstick — Caliente, a super dazzle violet with a Dazzle finish

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5 Things MAC’s Ripe For Love Powder Blush Would Say if It Could Talk

May 2nd, 2013 by Karen 22 Comments

MAC Ripe for Love Blush — Wearing the new, limited edition $23 MAC Ripe for Love Powder Blush on my cheeks from the Temperature Rising summer 2013 collection

5 things MAC’s Ripe For Love Powder Blush would say if it could talk

1. Ditch your boyfriend.

Boyfriend, girlfriend, whatever. Your tanned skin and I, we belong together, just the two of us, you and I.

I don’t care where we go. I don’t care what we do. I don’t care, pretty baby, just take me with you. Let’s hit that beach we talked about, sip umbrella drinks, and nap all day long because I’m from MAC’s Temperature Rising collection. And I’m hot like that.

At night, you can put on that look I like with the chocolate smokey eyes and glossy copper lips, and then dust me on top of some bronzer on your cheeks before we head out.

Oh, the trouble we’ll find…

2. I’m officially called a mid-tone peach but…

…I think of myself as a papaya.

A juicy, ripe papaya begging to be devoured. Don’t even bother with a spoon. No shame! Just bite into that thing, and let the juices dribble down the side of your chin in slow mo.

3. I hate your shoes.

Blergh! Especially the flat Life Stride pair that you ~~borrowed from the cafeteria lady~~ wear when your feet ache.

Screw that. My name is Ripe for Love, hello! — so I’m all about, pardon my French, the fracking pumps. One layer of me on your cheeks (that’s all you’ll need because I’m pigmented like whoa!) and you’ll be glowing like Halley’s Comet.

Why? Because I’m THAT good, if I do say so myself.

4. I have a softer side…

It’s true. My scene, like my friends in Temperature Rising, is more about sultry summer nightlife, where molten metallics throb and glittery glosses throw air kisses with shimmering bronzed skin.

But look, I’m not all about seduction. I also have a softer side.

I can go from Do Me Baby to Let’s Wait A While in the flick of a wrist. All it takes is the gentlest caress of my feather-light powder on your cheeks, so we can do all kinds of things together, like go to the ice cream shoppe, your next book club meeting, work — heck, even that froo-froo yarn store where you fondle all the skeins but never actually buy anything.

I promise, I’ll behave.
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Four Mallards Walk Into a Bar… Wait, I Mean, Behold the MAC Bare My Soul Eye Shadow X 4 Quad!

May 1st, 2013 by Karen 24 Comments

Because I generally try to avoid bubbling vats brimming with bacteria, I’m not the type to spend my summer nights hot tubbing (unless it’s with RyGos or J-Ren). But if I were, my dream scene would look something like this:

So totally feeling this makeup!

I was so excited about the MAC Temperature Rising collection’s highlighted skin, metallic, glossy lips and strong focus on smoldering eyes that toe a slightly menacing line between seductive and spooky that I tried to paint a picture of it over the phone to my mom (who never wants to talk about makeup), and the best I could come up with was, “The girl in the promo pic looks like Nelly Furtado sitting in a hot tub at night under a heat lamp wearing Mrs. Roper’s jewelry. Oh, and she’s sandwiched between two dudes from Magic Mike.”

With three neutral powder eye shadows and a single smokey green pan, Bare My Soul ($44) must be a hit among cool, stylish mallards… It has a brown, a taupe, a gold and a coppery green.

Quack! See, Mallard duck colors. The slightly shiny finish even says, “I’m a mallard duck, yo.”

What do hot mallards have to do with MAC Temperature Rising, the release to which Bare My Soul belongs?

Absolutely nothing, far as I can tell. 🙂 Well, the mallard part doesn’t, but the colors sure seem conducive to summery smokey eyes with copper, gold, bronze and brown.

I’ll use the taupe and gold for dusting all over my lids (and/or highlighting) and the chocolatey bronze and coppery green for deepening and smoking out my look.

MAC Bare My Soul swatches from the left: Romantico (a light taupe bronze with a Veluxe Pearl finish), Bare My Soul (a frosted gold with a Lustre finish), Friendly (a deep bronzy chocolate with a Veluxe Pearl finish) and When in Rio (a deep green with a copper pearl and a Frost finish) — Swatches from the left: Romantico (a light taupe bronze with a Veluxe Pearl finish), Bare My Soul (a frosted gold with a Lustre finish), Friendly (a deep bronzy chocolate with a Veluxe Pearl finish) and When in Rio (a deep green with a copper pearl and a Frost finish)

The coppery green, also known as When in Rio — jinx! You owe me a Coke if you thought, “That’s a Club dupe.” It reminds me a lot of MAC Club on my NC 42 skin, except a little more brown and less red.

I swear these powders feel softer than the powders in the past few limited edition quads, but I’m not totally sure why… Sure do like it though.

PRICE: $44
AVAILABILITY: Coming May 16 to maccosmetics.com and May 23 to MAC counters and stores
MAKEUP AND BEAUTY BLOG RATING: B+/A-

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

The Four Glittery New MAC Temperature Rising Lipglasses Turn Up the Heat on Summer Eye Looks

April 30th, 2013 by Karen 28 Comments

MAC Soft Serenade Lipglass — Soft Serenade Lipglass

“It was a steamy night — hot like Manila in July — and I was feeling naughty.”

That could either be the beginning of a bad piece of pulp fiction or a commercial for MAC’s new 28-piece summer collection, Temperature Rising. Either way, it sounds hot, right?

MAC Temperature Rising Lipglasses from the left: Liquid Passion, Soft Serenade, Underdressed and Rhythm — From the left: Liquid Passion, Soft Serenade, Underdressed and Rhythm

If last year’s dimpled, cheerful Hey Sailor was a celebration of pin-up girl fun in the sun, this year’s Temperature Rising is like meeting a boy at a dubstep club and dancing your @ss off past curfew.

Steamy neutrals, feverish flecks of gold and copper and sizzling taupe, peach, magenta and charcoal set this new 28-piece collection ablaze.

It’s hot stuff! — and I want to watch it burn all day and night…

Stay hydrated, because the four Lipglasses ($16.50 each) in this launch can cause overheating, especially if you like wearing neutral lips with bold summer eyes.

Together, creamy nude Liquid Passion (like a peachier version of Spite); pearly, neutral pink Soft Serenade; pearly, plummy bronze Underdressed and pearly magenta-violet Rhythm complete an entire wardrobe of neutral summer lips, covering you for everything from bronze smokey eyes to eye looks with shimmery blues and greens.

MAC Temperature Rising Lipglass Swatches from the left: Liquid Passion, Soft Serenade, Underdressed and Rhythm — Swatches from the left: Liquid Passion, Soft Serenade, Underdressed and Rhythm

MAC Liquid Passion Lipglass — Liquid Passion Lipglass

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Satin Breathes Life Into These MAC Nudes From the New MAC Nudes & Metallics Collection

April 24th, 2013 by Karen 18 Comments

MAC Nudes & Metallics: Wholesome Lipstick — Wearing the Nude shades from the new MAC Nudes & Metallics collection

First things first: I have accidentally typed the words, “MAC Nudes & Metallica,” one too many times this afternoon.

Second thing: get your butt back in that chair! I know, I know… Another neutral collection for eyes, lips and cheeks?!

But check it. There’s an Olivia Pope-esque elegance to the nine pieces in the MAC Nudes sub-collection, so don’t whip your ponytail just yet. These are the kinds of neutrals I’d wear to a corner office gig if I had a Prada and Gucci budget.

Nudes, the quieter neutral half of the new MAC Nudes & ~~Metallica~~ Metallics collection, is available now exclusively at MAC Pro stores.

The blush and the four splendid, expensive-looking eye shadows feel soft, like tracing fingers across silk sheets, and the satin finish breathes life into the sheer pink and tan shadow shades, each of which comes in a warm and cool tone.

As for the four creamy Lipsticks, MAC’s Amplified finish gives them a slight sheen that’s sure to garner some attention (although if your lips are very pigmented like mine, you might want to blank them out first with concealer to accentuate the nuances among the colors).

Are you ready? Let’s get Nude…

MAC Nudes & Metallics: Bare Minimum Eye Shadow — Bare Minimum Eye Shadow, a soft and sheer pinkish nude with pearl and a satin finish ($15)

MAC Nudes & Metallics: Body Conscious Eye Shadow — Body Conscious Eye Shadow, a warm and sheer mid-toned nude with a satin finish ($15)

MAC Nudes & Metallics: Exposed Eye Shadow — Exposed Eye Shadow, a sheer, neutral, mid-toned warm nude with a satin finish ($15)

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Sink Your Fangs Into the Metallics From the New MAC Nudes & Metallics Collection

April 24th, 2013 by Karen 29 Comments

MAC Nudes & Metallics: Subverted Lipstick — MAC Subverted Lipstick…

Late last night, outside in a field under the light of the full moon (or was it the lamp on the nightstand by my bed?), I brought a frosted, deep plum lipstick from the MAC Nudes & Metallics collection up to my lips and thought, “On my list of favorite supernatural things…turning into a vampire ranks way down near the bottom.”

There’s the whole blood thing, the vampire politics, the aversions to garlic and ultraviolet light, the blood…

It just seems so very, very depressing.

But I guess if I weren’t given a choice in the matter and suddenly found myself turned into a vampire, I wouldn’t be taking my style cues from the squeaky clean Cullens up in Forks. Hell, no! I’d go the Underworld route (mostly because of the interesting makeup potential).

Picture it: dark eyes, dark lips and chiseled cheeks. Frosted deep reds, browns, berries and purples.

Seductive meets sumptuous meets scary, like the nine pieces from the MAC Metallics collection, one of two sub-collections from the limited edition Nudes & Metallics release, available now exclusively at MAC Pro stores.

Clad in any mix of Metallic’s four lipsticks, four eye shadows and its solitary blush, you’ll be so ready to pursue your prey. As you confronted him/her/them (whatevs, you’re hungry!) in a dark alley, they wouldn’t know whether they should attempt to run away, try to make out with you, or ask you what you’re wearing on your eyes, cheeks and lips.

Here’s a quick look at eight of the nine pieces…

MAC Nudes & Metallics: Brazenly Eye Shadow — Brazenly Eye Shadow, a deep metallic purple with a Veluxe Pearl finish ($15)

MAC Nudes & Metallics: Crimson Tryst Eye Shadow — Crimson Tryst Eye Shadow, a deep metallic dirty berry with a Veluxe Pearl Finish ($15)

MAC Nudes & Metallics: Deep Fixation Eye Shadow — Deep Fixation Eye Shadow, a metallic brown with a Veluxe Pearl finish ($15)

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More Runway Than Everyday: The Six Cream Colour Shadows in MAC’s Limited Edition Fall ’13 Forecast/Eyes Palette Pull a Disappearing Act

April 10th, 2013 by Karen 19 Comments

MAC Fall 13 Forecast Eyes — That there is Rustic Red and Purple Fusion on my lids and lash lines from the MAC Fall ’13 Forecast/Eyes palette

Cue the lights! Music! Now Models, hit the runway! And you, vertically-challenged 30-something cat lady girl, hit the hallway! The show is about to begin!!

Straight off the catwalks of Paris and New York (and the hallways of Novato), beside the Fall ’13 Forecast/Lips palette (SO GOOD), comes MAC’s new $40 Fall ’13 Forecast/Eyes palette of six new Cream Colour Shadows in fashion-forward fall colors.

The moderately pigmented, easy-to-build colors in the pocket-sized palette range from rockstar Oil-Slick Black to admin assistant Oyster.

The first time I patted one of these thin, slightly sticky cream shadows on a bare lid, I purred, then oohed and ahed at how easy it was to blend with the other shades. Then I thought, “Now when I walk Tabs, I can pretend I’m walking a Marc Jacobs catwalk.”

BAM! Pop that hip! 🙂

MAC Fall 13 Forecast Eyes Swatches — MAC Fall 13 Forecast Eyes swatches from the left: Oyster, Scarab Green, Smoked Indigo, Rustic Red, Oil Slick Black and Purple Fusion

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The MAC Extra Dimension Skinfinishes Sculpt and Spotlight Skin, Getting You Ready to Take the Stage

April 9th, 2013 by Karen 28 Comments

The three MAC Extra Dimension Skinfinishes ($30 each for a 0.31-ounce pan) round out the new MAC In Extra Dimension collection. Face and cheek duos, they have a luminous liquid-powder formula, and I’ve been alternating between two of them this week in Definitely Defined and Shape the Future.

Putting a highlighter and bronzer together in each pan takes the guesswork out of figuring out which colors go together (love that), but man! — these bronzers sure do shimmer.

The effect gets a little lost in these pics, but in real life it’s like WHOA! The other day I applied one of these as a contouring color before heading out to run errands, and I swear — I looked like a backup dancer on Beyonce’s Super Bowl performance.

MAC Definitely Defined Skinfinish, a silvery pink and a soft rose with shimmer

MAC Shape the Future Skinfinish, an iridescent pastel pink and a soft brick with light shimmer

Definitely Defined on the left and Shape the Future on the right

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