Product Reviews

What a Magnetic Glow! The New MAC Magnetic Nude Extra Dimension Skinfinishes in Magnetic Appeal, Superb and Fairly Precious

December 23rd, 2013 by Karen 14 Comments

Wearing the new MAC Magnetic Appeal Extra Dimension Skinfinish (a medium tan with a fine golden sheen) on my upper cheekbones and down the bridge of my nose

My glow in these pics is not due to a recent and sudden increase in cardiovascular activity, the sprinkling of fairy dust or a new skin cream made with firefly particles.

Shopping Is My Cardio Sweater by Wildfox — Workin’ on my fitness

It’s actually due to the new MAC Extra Dimension Skinfinishes from the Magnetic Nude collection.

The three MAC Magnetic Nude Extra Dimension Skinfinishes, $30 each US and $35 CAN — The three Magnetic Nude Extra Dimension Skinfinishes, $30 each US and $35 CAN

In short, I think these highlighters are fabulous. Just really beautiful, flattering rose gold and peachy gold shades that don’t look stark or harsh on the skin (which can happen sometimes with metallic highlighters).

MAC Superb Extra Dimension Skinfinish, from the new Magnetic Nude collection — Wearing Superb (a soft peachy nude with multidimensional shimmer) on my upper cheekbones

Like the Extra Dimension Eye Shadows and Blushes, these easy-to-blend Skinfinishes have a hybrid cream, powder and liquid formula. They last all day long (10+ hours on me), and should work well for just about everyone, from makeup beginners to pros, and gals/guys of all ages.

MAC Fairly Precious Extra Dimension Skinfinish, from the new Magnetic Nude collection — Wearing Fairly Precious (a peach with dimensional pearly sheen) on my upper cheekbones

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If My Cheeks Could Talk, They Would Tell the MAC Magnetic Nude Extra Dimension Blushes in At Dusk, Autoerotique and Pleasure Model To Stop Futzing Around and Go Permanent

December 20th, 2013 by Karen 18 Comments

Wearing MAC Pleasure Model Extra Dimension Blush on my cheeks

I can see myself clutching these three blushes against my bosom, falling to my knees and screaming “Why? WHY!?” at the top of my lungs.

In this fugue state/daydream, I’m alone at the top of a hill in the pouring rain under an angry sky as thunder booms all around me.

Suddenly, RyGos appears out of nowhere, and when he pulls his shirt up to reveal his chiseled, almost porcelain abs, the clouds above our heads part, the rain immediately stops, and finches following sunbeams down through the opening in the clouds start singing.

Ah… I refuse to believe that this scenario is not entirely possible. 🙂

Anyway, it’s absolute and total crap that At Dusk, Autoerotique and Pleasure Model from the new Magnetic Nude collection aren’t permanent blushes in the MAC line.

The four new MAC Magnetic Nude Extra Dimension Blushes, $25 each US and $29.50 CAN — The three new Magnetic Nude Extra Dimension Blushes, $25 each US and $29.50 CAN

MAC Pleasure Model Extra Dimension Blush, a soft terracotta with pearl and a Satin finish — Pleasure Model Extra Dimension Blush, a soft terracotta with pearl and a Satin finish

MAC At Dusk Extra Dimension Skinfinish Blush, a dirty cool pink with a Satin finish — At Dusk Extra Dimension Skinfinish Blush, a dirty cool pink with a Satin finish

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Our Destination: An Extra Dimension of Easy, Shimmery Eye Makeup With the MAC Magnetic Nude Collection Extra Dimension Eye Shadows

December 20th, 2013 by Karen 14 Comments

That’s the new MAC Magnetic Nude Extra Dimension Eye Shadow in Amorous Alloy on my lids, a Natural Flirt on my brow bones and Sweet Heat in the inner corners

It’s cool, I’ll drive. I want you and your blending brush to relax. 🙂

Where are we going, you ask?

Well, it’s quite a journey. We’re going to a different dimension — an Extra Dimension, if you will — where easy shimmer and smokey eyes rule.

No, it’s in our timezone, and we’re not even leaving Earth’s orbit (or going into cryo sleep). We can actually get there in my Mazda. All we have to do is meet at a MAC counter on December 26, because the inter-dimensional highway opens when the five Extra Dimension Eye Shadows from the new MAC Magnetic Nudes collection debut that day.

MAC Magnetic Nude Extra Dimension Eye Shadow — The five new Magnetic Nude Extra Dimension Eye Shadows, $19.50 each US and $22.50 CAN

Sorry in advance if my car is dirty… I don’t have plans to clean it. Also, please ignore the turntables in the backseat (it’s a long story).

MAC Magnetic Nude Swatches, Extra Dimension Eye Shadows from the left: A Natural Flirt, Sweet Heat, Platinum Love, Amorous Alloy and Silver Dawn — Extra Dimension Eye Shadows from the left: A Natural Flirt, Sweet Heat, Platinum Love, Amorous Alloy and Silver Dawn

You might remember first seeing the Extra Dimension Eye Shadows for spring 2012. The relatively new formula combines a cream, liquid and powder shadow in a single pan.

MAC Magnetic Nude Extra Dimension Eye Shadow Review — Additional eye makeup in this look: MAC Bamboo Eye Shadow (lids), MAC Swiss Chocolate Eye Shadow (crease), MAC Teddy Eye Kohl (water lines and lower lash lines), Chanel Inimitable Mascara (lashes) and Covergirl Bombshell Intensity Liner (upper lash lines)

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I Can’t Deny My Attraction to the New MAC Magnetic Nude Collection Fluidlines in It’s Physical, Our Secret and Chilled

December 18th, 2013 by Karen 19 Comments

MAC Fluidline in It's Physical on my lids, Our Secret along the lower lash lines and Chilled in the inner corners — Wearing MAC Fluidline in It’s Physical on my lids, Our Secret along my lower lash lines and Chilled in the inner corners

I honestly did not intend for this post to turn into a novel about the three Magnetic Nude Fluidlines, but the more time I spend with them, the more I think they’re just about the most exciting Fluidlines I’ve seen in a really long time.

The three new MAC Magnetic Nude Fluidlines, $16 each US and $19 CAN — The three Magnetic Nude Fluidlines, $16 each US and $19 CAN

My friend Courtney (hey, Court!) summed it up well in a text she sent me today. “I’m drooling over that Magnetic Nudes Collection! And I’m not a nudes kind of girl!”

There’s just something special about these three Fluidlines that drew me to them right away. The attraction was straight. Up. Magnetic.

Let’s start with It’s Physical.

I swear, pics do not do this shade justice.

MAC It's Physical Fluidline, a brown with purple pearl and a Pearl finish — It’s Physical Fluidline, a brown with purple pearl and a Pearl finish

Officially, MAC describes It’s Physical as a brown with purple pearl, but on me it’s more of a purplish brown duochrome with hot pink and gold glitter — elements that can border on cray but work in the BEST possible way in this case.

I tried to capture the fine glitter flecks as well as I could, but in real life, this color is much livelier, more sparkly and more dynamic. I don’t know why the camera missed most of the pink glitter, but you can see a little flash of it in the left eye up in the pic up top, right in the middle of my lid. But when you see this color in person, it’s much more obvious.

The Fluidlines are usually used as gel liners, like for cat eyes, but they can also double as cream shadows and eyeshadow bases. It’s Physical works in all those ways, but I like it best worn as a cream shadow.

Here’s what I like to do: pat it on my lids with a 239, and then, right away, buff out the edges, drawing the shadow up toward my brow bone. Buffing brings out the brown tones and adds some smoke to the look. I think it also coaxes out more of the pink glitter.

It’s important to work quickly with this color and all of the Fluidlines if you plan to wear them as eyeshadows, because they dry really fast.

After buffing, I pat 2-3 additional layers along my lower lash line and in the outer corner to create a gradient. Whack a little Smolder along my water lines and bam! — a glittery, smokey purplish brown eye that takes very little effort. LOVE IT!

It’s Physical is the star of this show, for sure, but I think the two other colors are just as beautiful and totally worthy of your makeup bag. Like It’s Physical, they work great as liners, eyeshadow bases and standalone cream shadows.

Metallic reddish brown Our Secret, the only Fluidline in this launch without flecks of glitter, is my second fave shade.

MAC Our Secret Fluidline, a metallic brown with reddish pearl and a Pearl finish — Our Secret Fluidline, a metallic brown with reddish pearl and a Pearl finish

It’s basically like a gel liner version of MAC’s must-have Teddy Eye Kohl…

I know, right?! Beautiful on its own patted and buffed on the lids, maybe with some Teddy on the water lines.

Oh, and if you like reddish brown eyeshadows like Swiss Chocolate, and coppery colors like Amorous Alloy Extra Dimension Eye Shadow, also from the Magnetic Nude collection, you could get tons of use out of it.

MAC Chilled Fluidline, a frosted white gold with a Pearl finish — Chilled Fluidline, a frosted white gold with a Pearl finish

Chilled, the third shade, is a frosty white gold with golden glitter — also super pretty, particularly as an inner corner highlight or patted and buffed on the lids. I bet you could also wear it on the brow bone, or maybe even the upper cheekbones.

Fluidlines from the left: Chilled, It's Physical and Our Secret — Fluidlines from the left: Chilled, It’s Physical and Our Secret

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Get Your Lips Red-y for the Mistletoe With Kissable Cola-Flavored Lush Santa Baby Lip Tint

December 13th, 2013 by Karen 15 Comments

Like a cola-flavored Icee, this new red Lip Tint by Lush is super chill…

Chill, as in relaxed. It’s not cold or anything, although I think it does taste and smell kinda like a cold Coca-Cola Icee, probably on account of the cola flavoring derived from cherry and date extracts.

I think of Santa Baby less as a lip tint and more as a sheer matte lipstick in pot packaging. Like a matte lipstick, the finish is flat, and there’s a good amount of pigment in it, ensuring that you can actually (hopefully) see the red color on your lips. I can, and I can still also see my natural lip color peeking through.

It’s all very casually cool…like a sweet pair of distressed jeans or a broken-in leather jacket.

I apply it with my fingers and skip the lip liner, and then have to reapply about every 3-4 hours after that.

In an emergency (uh…a makeup emergency?), it’ll even double as a cream blush.

And the lightweight, non-sticky formula feels like next-to-nothing on my lips, which I like.

Lush Santa Baby Lip Swatch — Santa Baby Lip Swatch

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Lifting Brows One Swipe at a Time, the New Too Faced Instant Attitude Brow Lift

December 11th, 2013 by Karen 14 Comments

Hey, lady, can I give you a lift?

Well…I never say yes to strangers trying to pick me up, but since you’re a pencil, and you’re offering to lift my brows, why not? 🙂

Please excuse my weird expression at the top of this post. I figure, life is too short to not laugh at yourself while applying $20 Instant Attitude Brow Lift by Too Faced, LOL!

Trust me, though, it gets better after the buffing…

A new addition to the Too Faced line, Instant Attitude launches with the rest of the spring 2014 collection tomorrow (Dec. 12). It’s a chubby eye pencil that comes in a matte vanilla shade designed to create the illusion of higher arches.

Apply it beneath your brow bone, or along the entire length of each brow like I’m doing here, and then buff down with a finger or brush (I used Too Faced’s Lid Brush from the fab Shadow Brushes Essential 3-Piece Set).

The result? Instantly lifted brows! Oh, yeah…

Too Faced Instant Attitude Brow Lift before — Before…

I actually do this trick all the time for pics and video. How does it work? Well, generally, applying lighter colors makes that part of the face look as if it’s closer to the viewer (think highlighting). Lighter colors beneath the brow, like with this pencil, bump up that area visually, giving it a bit of a lift.

Too Faced Instant Attitude Brow Lift after — And after…

You can do this with a bunch of different products, too, like concealers, eyeliners — anything, really — as long as it’s several shades lighter than your skin tone.

This new pencil from Too Faced is ideal for this on account of how easy it is to buff into the skin. I usually do this trick with a MAC Chromographic Pencil in NW25/NC30, which I have to swipe more than a few times to soften and remove any harsh lines.

Instant Attitude, by comparison, blends quicker. Swish, swish and done.

Too Faced Instant Attitude Brow Lift Box — Packaging

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Bulletproof Brows By Too Faced Cosmetics Blazes Through Building Sweat-Proof Brows

December 11th, 2013 by Karen 32 Comments

Too Faced Bulletproof Brows — Wearing the new Bulletproof Brows by Too Faced

Chocolate: 1. Treadmill: 0.

In the Battle of Sweets Vs. Sweat, I can usually bribe myself into working out (“bribe” being the key word here), but I just couldn’t do it last night.

I’d planned to test the sweat-proof-ness of long-lasting new Bulletproof Brows by Too Faced, which I’d been wearing all day, but the Dark Chocolate Stars won in the end…

They always win… (*shakes fist!*)

Trader Joe's Mini Dark Chocolate Stars — Oh, my gawd, Becky… TOTES AMAZE-BALLS!

I actually did wind up testing Bulletproof on the treadmill later in the day, but we’ll get to that in a few. 🙂

A new Too Faced brow product recently launched with the spring Haute Chocolate collection, Bulletproof comes in just two colors — Universal Brown and Universal Taupe — and with the product, which comes in a round compact with a mirror, you also get a dual-ended tool with an angled brow brush on one end and a spoolie on the other.

Too Faced Bulletproof Brows Universal Brunette — $30 Bulletproof Brows in Universal Brunette (one of two shades; the other’s called Universal Taupe)

Too Faced says that Bulletproof Brows has a “cashmere clay formula” that works like a powder, gel, pencil and setting wax in one, and that’s supposed to translate to waterproof, smudge-proof and budge-proof brows in 60 seconds.

It works like Benefit’s brow zings but waaaaay better.

The drier formula might take a little getting used to, but once you figure out how much to apply (at first, I thought it was easy to go overboard with) and find the sweet spot, it looks effortlessly natural.

Good stuff. 🙂

I wore Universal Brunette in my brows yesterday for at least nine hours, and my brows looked full and fresh — no patchiness — the entire time. Even my brow bald spot (EFF YOU, RAUL!) stayed hidden.

Too Faced Bulletproof Brows before — Before Bulletproof…

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The New Too Faced Candy Bar Pop-Out Makeup Palette & iPhone Case, and the Life and Times of an International Kitty Supermodel’s Harried Pet Assistant

December 10th, 2013 by Karen 26 Comments

Wearing (and holding!) the new Too Faced Candy Bar Pop-Out Makeup Palette and iPhone Case ($25)

KAREN: “I’m so sorry, Mr. Lagerfeld, but I have to briefly place you on hold. Tabs’ emergency line is ringing, and I need to answer it.

(Picks up phone.) “Hello, Tabs the Cat Industries, LLC, Office of the President. This is a secure line. How may I assist you?”

TABS: “Meow.” (“It took you long enough.”)

KAREN: “Oh, hello, sir. Did you mean to call me on the emergency line? I have Karl on hold, and he’s kind of in a cranky mood…”

TABS: “Meeeeowww. Mrow.” (“No time for pleasantries, woman. What’s the status on the Too Faced Candy Bar Pop-Out Makeup Palette report I asked you to prepare?”)

KAREN: “Well, I was just about to type up the final draft and email it to you, but I can relay the highlights to you over the phone. Do you have a moment? I don’t want to interrupt your vacay on Kauai…”

TABS: “Mrow. Mrrow-mrow-mrow!” (“You know I’m always on the job, even on vacation! Give me the abridged version; I have two minutes before the limo gets here, and I don’t want to be late for my deep-tissue kitty massage at the Four Seasons.”)

KAREN: “Understood, sir. Well, let’s see, the essentials — it’s $25, limited edition, new for spring, and it comes with 11 powder eyeshadows, a matte bronzer and a matte blush. You can also pop out the palette and use the case as a cover for your phone, but it only works with the iPhone 5 (and possibly the 5s).

“I experienced some minor fallout from the shadows. As for blending, the mattes blended pretty well, as did the shimmers, although the lighter shimmers could use a little more pigment. The darker shades, however — in particular the purple and blue — made my eyes a little teary.

“Regarding the packaging, it’s cute, but the pans are rather small. I couldn’t help but accidentally cross-pollinate the colors.”

Too Faced Candy Bar Palette — The Candy Bar Palette in its case

TABS: “Mrrrwow?” (“The bronzer and blush?”)

KAREN: “I really like them both. Very pigmented, smooth, easy to blend. Again, the smaller pan sizes are kind of a pain because they don’t quite fit my bronzer and blush brushes easily.”

Too Faced Candy Bar Pop Out Makeup Palette Swatches — Swatches…

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