Video

The MAC Vamplify Collection!

August 28th, 2015 by Karen 15 Comments

What’s Going On!?

And I mean that both literally, and also in reference to one of these new $20 Vamplify Lipglosses. What’s Going On is the hot, intense fuchsia shade.

I haven’t felt this amped about a MAC lip product launch in a while. First time I tried one on, I was about ready to drop my stretchy pants, no joke! 🙂 These lipglosses are what your brain cooks up when you’re having a really fantastic makeup dream that you never, ever want to wake up from. There’s just So. Much. Pigment. I needed someone to pinch me at first because I wasn’t sure if I was straight trippin’.

And there’s so much to love about them beyond the pigments and colors. If these fly off the shelves, I won’t be surprised.

Here are swatches and pics, but I go into a lot more detail in the video.

As always, thank you for watching! I hope you like these as much as I do.

mac vamplify pro longwear lip pencils — 11 of the 12 MAC Vamplify Pro Longwear Lip Pencils ($20 each)

mac vamplify collection reds — MAC Vamplify Lipglosses from the left: Suggestive (an intense blue-red), Tease Don’t Touch (an intense true-red), Flash Drive (an intense coral-red), Push Some Buttons (an intense orange-red) and Everybody’s Talking (an intense coral)

mac vamplify collection pinks — MAC Vamplify Lipglosses from the left: What’s Going On (a hot intense fuchsia), A for Attitude (a hot pink) and Speed Up (a bubblegum pink)

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MAC Brooke Candy for Fall 2015

August 25th, 2015 by Karen 15 Comments

Now, if you’re me, your first reaction to finding out about the new MAC Brooke Candy collection might have been, “Who the heck is Brooke Candy?” (I had to Google her.) I gotta hand it to MAC, because following their limited edition collaborations has been a good education in cutting-edge pop culture. My playlists are ever-expanding with new artists and performers.

I still have to listen to some of Brooke’s beats, but she seems kinda edgy…kinda raunchy, but raunchy can be hella entertaining sometimes (i.e. Lil’ Kim).

The new three-piece limited edition MAC Brooke Candy mini release arrives exclusively on the MAC website August 27, and since there are only three products, there’s not a lot to it — just two lipsticks and a liquid eye liner.

The lipsticks have an interesting formula called Amplified Cream, which is a little creamier and shinier than the regular Amplifieds, which I love, but the liquid eye liner, Boot Black, hmm… Of all the MAC liquid liner options, it’s my least favorite. Sucks that I can never get a crisp line with it, and it makes me feel like a 3-year-old trying to do liquid liner, or like liquid liner was put on this earth to torture me (“Liquid liner is your enemy, not your friend!”).

But I digress…

Let’s start the video! 🙂

mac brooke candy — MAC Brooke Candy packaging…

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Late Summer Sephora Haul!

August 24th, 2015 by Karen 17 Comments

My No. 1 rule when I shop at Sephora is to never, EVER walk around the store with a basket, because if I do, I’ll just keep dropping more and more things into it until eventually — whoops! — there goes all my fun money for the next few months.

I tell myself that I can only leave the store with what I can physically carry in my hands, but that doesn’t always work… You’d be amazed at how much stuff a short Filipino girl can carry, haha! 🙂

On my last trip I grabbed a few things — some re-stocks, some new things I’ve been wanting to try and at least one doodad (maybe two).

As always, my friend, thank you for watching.

Products mentioned

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Hourglass Fall 2015 Arch Brow Sculpting Pencils

August 21st, 2015 by Karen 21 Comments

I’m not ready for the return of skinny, practically nonexistent ’90s-style brows (when I practically plucked mine into oblivion) because I’m enjoying the current big, bushy brow trend too much.

I JUST CAN’T, HOMIE! I hope the bushy brow trend lasts another two or three decades, but just in case it doesn’t, I’m going to “live in the now!” as they say, and embrace the current state of the brow-o-sphere. Hopefully the newly expanded Arch Brow Sculpting range by Hourglass is a sign that bold brows aren’t going anywhere soon.

Hourglass just added six new $32 permanent collection shades for fall 2015, bringing the total up to nine. There are colors for blondes, brunettes, gingers (I’m lookin’ at you, Chelsea!) and black-haired babes, and you can find them all now at Hourglass counters and online.

Products mentioned

Hourglass Arch Brow Sculpting Pencils in Platinum Blonde (new), Blonde, Warm Blonde (new), Auburn (new), Soft Brunette, Warm Brunette (new), Dark Brunette, Ash (new) and Natural Black (new), $32 each

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

MAC Viva Glam Miley Cyrus II and Trend Forecast Spring 2016

August 20th, 2015 by Karen 8 Comments

MAC Viva Glam Miley Cyrus II Lipstick is very red — warm orangey red — which I don’t quite understand because MAC calls it bright orange, but ya know…I like the color, so I’m not gonna split hairs. 🙂

Sadly, my well of Miley Cyrus fun fact trivia does not run deep… I think she was dating or engaged to a Hemsworth, wasn’t she? The one who played Gale in The Hunger Games?

I dunno…

I do know that she’s the latest MAC Viva Glam spokesperson and has a new Viva Glam Lipstick and Lipglass coming out next month, which I keep wanting to call Miley Cyrus Deux, because sometimes I go French when there is absolutely no need to do so…

Here’s a video look at them, along with MAC Spring Trend Forecast 2016. Just press “play” to begin.

mac viva glam miley cyrus ii — MAC Viva Glam Miley Cyrus II Lipstick ($17) and Lipglass ($15)

mac trend forecast spring 2016 — MAC Trend Forecast Spring 16/Eye ($40) on the left and Studio Eye Gloss in Money Honey ($22) on the right

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MAC Haute Dogs Collection Fall 2015

August 20th, 2015 by Karen 14 Comments

It’s time to raise the roof! (Get it? Sorry…) It’s MAC Haute Dogs time.

I wish I could have hired a professional dog actor to serve as my cuddly co-broadcaster for this video… I guess I could’ve put Tabs in a dog outfit, or better yet, dressed him up as an actual hot dog of the “meat in a tube” variety — complete with all the fixin’s, of course (but please hold the sauerkraut) — but you and I both know how either of those scenarios would have gone down. There would have been hell to pay, and the payment would have involved me being scratched-the-eff-up by some very sharp tabby talons!

MAC Haute Dogs is a pretty hefty fall release with 33 pieces, and here’s a look at 13 of them (limited edition products), along with thoughts on the MAC Mineralize formula, because the collection is heavy in the Mineralize department. Got some swatches in there, too. 🙂

mac haute dogs collection — 13 of the 33 pieces from the MAC Haute Dogs collection

mac haute dogs pure bred quad — MAC Haute Dogs Mineralize Eye Shadow X 4 in Pure Bred ($46)

mac haute dogs glimmer of gold quad — MAC Haute Dogs Mineralize Eye Shadow X 4 in A Glimmer of Gold ($46)

mac haute dogs posh pedigree quad — MAC Haute Dogs Mineralize Eye Shadow X 4 in Posh Pedigree ($46)

mac haute dogs lipsticks — MAC Haute Dogs Mineralize Lipsticks from the left: Fashion Pack, Rare Breed, Barking Gorgeous, Nose for Style and Labradorable ($23 each)

mac haute dogs collection glass — MAC Haute Dogs Mineralize Glasses from the left: Lap Dog, Sheer Coincidence, Modest, Dressed to the K9S ($23 each)

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Best of Benefit Sephora Exclusive Kits

August 17th, 2015 by Karen 21 Comments

If YouTube could figure out a way to transmit a glass of lemonade and a plate of cookies while people were watching videos like this one about the new Best of Benefit Sephora exclusive kits, they could take over this whole freakin’ planet, NO JOKE.

One cool thing about these kits, which are all exclusively available at Sephora, is that two of them contain adorable mini versions of completely brand new products.

Here’s a look at all three of them. If you have any questions about anything in the video, holla at me in the comments.

sephora best of benefit — The Sephora Best of Benefit Kits

benefit do the hoola — Benefit Do the Hoola Beyond Bronze Kit ($34)

benefit operation pore proof — Benefit Operation Pore-Proof Kit ($34)

benefit theyre real sexy run — Benefit They’re Real!: Sexy on the Run ($32)

Products mentioned…

Benefit Do the Hoola Beyond Bronze Kit ($34)
Benefit Operation Pore-Proof Kit ($34)
Benefit They’re Real!: Sexy on the Run ($32)

As always, thank you for watching. 🙂

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

The Fab 5, Vol. 8: Chanel

August 13th, 2015 by Karen 24 Comments

Those double Cs, man! They get me every time.

I’ve drooled over and chased after Chanel for… I don’t even know how long! Years and years. It’s one of my favorite beauty brands (and fashion and accessories, etc.) of all time.

Makeup-wise, their permanent collection is huge and daunting. At their counters, there’s a LOT of great stuff to play with and look at, and between the lipsticks, glosses, eyeshadows, blushes and more it can be overwhelming.

So where do you start? Hopefully this episode of The Fab Five gives you some ideas. It might even spark a lifelong love affair with Chanel, oui, oui! 🙂

I wear these five pieces almost daily. They’re the products I find myself grabbing over and over again.

The Fab 5, Vol. 8: Chanel (probably part one of two, haha)

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen