Product Reviews

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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P.S. I Love You, MAC Casual Colour Cream Blush in P.S. I Like You (From the New MAC Mia Moretti Collection)

March 24th, 2015 by Karen 17 Comments

The new Casual Colour in PS I Like You from the new MAC Mia Moretti collection — The new MAC Casual Colour cream blush in P.S. I Like You ($21), from the MAC Mia Moretti collection

P.S. I love you…P.S. I Like You.

OK, that wasn’t confusing or anything! 🙂

I keep wanting to call this new Casual Colour cream blush by a different name. Officially, it’s called P.S. I Like You, but, well, I love it.

I really, REALLY love it, and its epic 8-hour wear time is just the icing on the cake/tip of the tabby’s tail/start of the DJ’s set.

So I’m gonna start calling it P.S. I Love You instead.

MAC PS I Like You swatch — A swatch of P.S. I Like You; for reference, I’m an NC42 in MAC.

DJ says what now…?

Yeah, this one is from MAC’s new collaboration with DJ Mia Moretti, who, I just learned (I think I read it in this month’s Glamour…or was it Allure?) was the inspiration for Katy Perry’s song, International Smile (you learn something new every day!).

Anywho, that’s one of my favorite Katy Perry songs.

The epic wear time is just the beginning, too, for this lovely carnation pink blush. It’s also smoother than John Legend’s voice. I don’t notice any problems with patchiness on my cheeks, not even on the dry areas, and it’s very kind to my pores. I barely have to do any blending at all.

And don’t even get me started on the finish.

The finish!

It’s dewy and glossy at the same time (and stays that way all day long), but not to the “point of no return chicken grease” shiny. I feel like it makes my cheeks look glowing and healthy and all that good stuff.

I know that spring has barely sprung, but I’m already thinking about my summer makeup bag (and spending lazy days next to the pool). This will definitely have a place in it.

I like to wear it on bare skin, or layer it on top of a sheer foundation, tinted moisturizer or BB cream.

Because it’s quite pigmented and bright, a tiny dab should do ya.

Wearing PS I Like You on my cheeks and lips — Wearing MAC P.S. I Like You on my cheeks and lips…

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MAC Blue Peep Fluidline From the MAC Is Beauty Collection: Little Bo Peep May Have Lost Her Sheep, But I Found a Perfect Fluidline

March 23rd, 2015 by Karen 32 Comments

I’m gonna go out on a limb here and assume that MAC Blue Peep Fluidline does not have anything to do with Little Bo Peep (of nursery rhyme fame), but for the record, I am picturing Little Bo Peep going to a MAC counter and sitting down and telling the MUA, “Put all that ish on me, and make it bright!”

And all her sheep would be right next to her…

That would be cute. 🙂

The day I walk into a Nordstrom and see sheep at the MAC counter — that will be a great day.

A super cool, rare gem, Blue Peep is a bangin’ bright gel liner re-promote in the MAC Is Beauty collection, and I can’t remember the last time I saw it. I think it’s one of those pieces MAC doesn’t release very often.

Even though it’s a Fluidline, it doesn’t perform the same as all the others. They vary because some of them have shimmer or glitter, and some of them just adhere a little better to the skin than others. Blue Peep is one of those for me that does everything right.

It’s super smooth and pigmented, and when I brush it on my skin, I don’t see any patchy areas, which happens sometimes when I use some of the other Fluidlines.

Yes, there’s a sea of turquoise liners out there, it’s true, but I find that most of them have shimmer or glitter. It’s rare to find a flat matte turquoise liner like this one that doesn’t look dull. Blue Peep is so vibrant and intense that you just can’t miss it.

MAC Blue Peep Fluidline — MAC Fluidline in Blue Peep

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Let This Pearl Blossom on Your Cheeks: MAC Beauty Powder in Pearl Blossom From the MAC Is Beauty Collection

March 20th, 2015 by Karen 22 Comments

Magic in a pan.

And I’m not just saying that because of my strong emotional ties to this Beauty Powder.

Barbie Loves MAC! — also known as “my gateway MAC collection.” I remember that Pearl Blossom was one of the pieces I bought in my little MAC Barbie haul (this was back in 2007), and even though it’s a re-promote in the new MAC Is Beauty collection, I still get fired up about it.

Because it’s just so versatile. There are so many things you can do with MAC’s Beauty Powders (which are basically like the Hourglass Ambient Powders, from before the time there were Hourglass Ambient Powders), especially light pink Pearl Blossom, which also has silvery pearl. You can wear it as a blush, or a highlighter, or if you have lighter, cool-toned skin, lightly dusted all over your face as a brightening powder.

I love Pearl Blossom’s finish because it isn’t overly frosty. I use it mostly as a highlighter, targeting the soft, subtle iridescent sheen on the tops of my cheekbones, down the bridge of my nose, in the inner corners of my eyes, and above and just below the arch in my brows.

MAC Pearl Blossom Beauty Powder — MAC Beauty Powder in Pearl Blossom

MAC Pearl Blossom Beauty Powder Swatch — For reference, I’m an NC42 in MAC

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MAC Dives Into the Deepest Blue With New Pro Longwear Fluidline in Siahi From the MAC Is Beauty Collection

March 19th, 2015 by Karen 21 Comments

Siahi…

It’s like diving into the deepest, bluest, most secluded stretch of ocean in the world. So of course I would like it, right? 🙂

Even though I don’t dive.

I totally don’t dive! I’m claustrophobic, but I do love the ocean, and I do love this color.

Siahi…

You might remember it from back in the day because it’s a re-promote. It also appeared in the Mickey Contractor collection a few years ago, and I loved it then, as I love it now.

It looks like a National Geographic photo of a secret ocean… You know when you see those pictures of untouched places that man hasn’t come along yet to pervert? That’s Siahi. It’s a deep, complex, intense teal ocean blue, and what makes it special isn’t just the richness of the color, but the finish as well. It’s ever-so-slightly metallic.

Other products I’m wearing in this look…

MAC Eye Shadow in Bouffant
MAC Eye Shadow in Soft Brown (permanent)
MAC Eye Shadow in Saddle (permanent)
MAC Pro Longwear Fluidline in Lowlights
MAC False Lashes mascara (permanent)
MAC Beauty Powder in Alpha Girl
MAC Beauty Powder in Pearl Blossom
MAC Lipstick in Make Me Gorgeous

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New $6.50 NYX High Definition Blush: On Days When My Face Is on the Oily End of the Sebaceous Spectrum, This Powder Blush Is a Dream

March 17th, 2015 by Karen 22 Comments

Wearing the new $6.50 NYX High Definition Blush in Baby Doll (and that’s NYX Intense Butter Gloss in Funnel Delight on mah lips)

The Curse of the Black Pearl is a freakin’ cakewalk compared to The Curse of Combination Skin (which I have). I mean, it’s not like I’m dealing with undead skeleton pirates or anything, but hella moody skin that alternates between bone dry and Oil Slick City comes with its own set of problems, man.

May I present to the court Exhibit A: the new $6.50 NYX High Definition Blushes.

On days when my face is on the oily end of the sebaceous spectrum, this powder blush is SUCH a dream (they’re just $6.50 each). When I wear it, my cheeks look like I just found out that I won the lottery, and subsequently told my curmudgeonly feline boss to suck it — all that naturally glowing lit-from-within jazz that comes with telling someone off or doing a vigorous wop to Push It or, I dunno, making out with your knee (Ha! That’s how I used to practice kissing…).

And then there’s the soft, smooth powders, which feel like fairy dust and blend like powdered sugar; the cray-cray amount of pigment; and the 8-hour wear time — hot dayum! — which all add up to placing these on the cusp of legendary drugstore makeup status.

NYX High Definition Blush in Coraline — High Definition Blush in Coraline

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The Little Black Book of Bronzers Bronzer Collection by Too Faced Cosmetics: If You Like Bronzer, This Book Has All the Right Contacts

March 16th, 2015 by Karen 22 Comments

The last time Too Faced released a Little Black Book of Bronzers, it was HUGE!

No, literally, it was huge… The palette (or, as Too Faced refers to it, the “bronzing wardrobe”) held eight full-size Too Faced Bronzers, which was very cool if you were/are into the whole “bigger is better” aesthetic, and also very cool if you ever dreamed of owning a palette so gigantic that it could cover half of your body.

This time around, the sequel to The Little Black Book of Bronzers is sleek.

Ish. Sleek-ish.

It’s basically the same idea, except that the pans are smaller this time (0.08 ounces each, instead of 0.28), and the price is too ($49 vs. $139)

So, while you may lose the ability to use it as an improv table for TV dinners or breakfast in bed, and it no longer functions as an umbrella with which to shield yourself from the sun while lounging on the beach with Zac Efron…it’s a lot easier to tote around.

Plus, you know what they say: “Good things come in small packages.” If the original was an oversized coffee table book, this one is the paperback.

Too Faced also tweaked the lineup a little, swapping Bronzed and Poreless for Dark Chocolate Soleil, their newest shade.

Other than that, there’s a good variety of shimmery finishes and mattes, and none of them are excessively warm or orange.

The Little Black Book of Bronzers Bronzer Collection with a full-size Too Faced Bronzer pan for scale — With a full-size Too Faced Bronzer pan for scale…

With eight bronzers, there’s one to go with every mood, outfit and moment in yo’ life. Like, have you ever wondered what bronzer to wear to go to your ex’s house to pick up those Biggie CDs that homeboy never had the decency to return?

Well, how about deep shimmery bronzed Beach Bunny? — because you’d want to recreate a glow that says, “Hey, fool. Ever since we broke up, I spend every Sunday by the pool at the Four Seasons with my new billionaire boyfriend.”

Ya know, that kind of thing. 🙂

The Little Black Book of Bronzers Bronzer Collection with an iPhone 6 plus for scale — With an iPhone 6 Plus for scale…

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