Am I the only girl out there who thinks watching The Golden Girls and playing with makeup constitutes a good time? I hope not, LOL!
Earlier this afternoon, with MAC’s Cherry Blossom face chart laid out on the floor in front of me, I did some experimenting with MAC Cult of Cherry’s Spiced Chocolate Quad, Plum du Bois blush, Creme Cerise lipstick and Cherry Blossom Lipglass.
Face charts for Cult of Cherry and MAC’s other makeup collections are available on the MAC website. The charts indicate which products and brushes to use for different looks, and, in some cases, indicate the proper placement of color.
The Cheeks and Lips
In the Cherry Blossom chart, the eyes are bold, but the cheeks and lips are soft and subtle. I reached for Plum du Bois and, following the chart, swirled some on my cheeks with a MAC 187 brush (aka the skunk brush).
Then, I lined my lips with Sublime Culture Cremestick Liner, filling them in with Creme Cherise Lipstick. I topped them off with a layer of Cherry Blossom Lipglass.
The Eyes
Eye Products I Used
- MAC Concrete Eye Shadow
- Nanogold, Sweet Chestnut, and Spiced Chocolate Eye Shadows from the MAC Spiced Chocolate Quad
- MAC Pink Couture Shadestick
- MAC Zoom Lash Mascara in Zoomblack
I prefer to do one eye at a time, working each one to completion before I move on to the next eye. Some women prefer to work on both eyes at the same time, completing a step on one eye and then repeating it on the other, since they already have the correct brush in hand. I think it boils down to personal preference. For me, it’s faster if I finish one eye before moving on to the other.
The Eyes: Step by Step
- First, using a MAC 266 brush, I shaded in my brows with Concrete.
- Then, I highlighted the brow bone by dusting Nanogold onto it with a 252 eye shader brush.
- I applied Pink Couture Shadestick onto my lids, blending out the edges with my finger.
- Then, I swept Sweet Chestnut Eye Shadow directly on top of the Pink Couture Shadestick with a 217 blending brush.
- To add more depth to the eye, I added Spiced Chocolate Eye Shadow into the crease with a 219 pencil brush.
- With the same brush, I ran Sweet Chestnut Eye Shadow along the lower lash line.
- To finish the eye look, I curled my lashes, and then added two coats of Zoomblack mascara onto both the upper and lower lashes.
All done, my little cherry blossom! 🙂
After coffee with my friend in the city this morning, I stopped by H&M to plunder the accessories aisle.
I love H&M for accessories. They have a great selection of cheap, stylish earrings. I found these two pairs below — a cool $2.90 each!
Isn’t H&M incredible? I loves me a bargain!
What have you got lined up for this evening? I think I may go out to dinner with El Hub. I’m in the mood for Japanese food. Ooh! I could wear the blue earrings.
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
Love it!!! I tried to play with my same quad today and used the Brash color, which I must say, wasnt looking so hot on me. In fact I looked kinda clownish! I did pick up Mauvement though and dusted that on top to tone things down a bit!
Meaghans last blog post..MAC’s Starflash/ Lustre Twin Collection Review and FOTD
I Love this look on you!!
You look sooo pretty! I am obsessed with pink makeup.. eyeshadows, lippies, everything. But I really love this look on you!! 😀 Hope you had fun at dinner!
Hey Karen!
I LOVE this look! I’m desperately lemming for Swwet Chestnut. Maybe it looks a bit like Cranberry?
You look so cute 😀 Hope you had a great time rocking the blue earrings while eating some delicious Japanese food.
Hugs!
Erus last blog post..Bye, Raycious 🙁 Irasshai, Primavista.
Lovely FOTD ^^
Unfortunately all of my make-up plans are cancelled as we didn’t leave on holiday this morning. My right foot is now in a cast, a tiny crack in my foot. *pouts*
Karen Bs last blog post..Bummer
Ooooh – purty! I can’t wait to get my sticky, little fingers on this quad.
I love this look. You look gorgeous!!
Hope you had a great time at dinner.
gios last blog post..Know your ingredients: Mica
Muy caliente Karen! 🙂 I hope you had a good evening. Here in FL, Hurricane Fay is running over us all since early yesterday. It’s still raining until Sunday. Good thing I already stocked up some food, otherwise T__T
Daos last blog post..FOTD Smokey Blue: Avon Palette in Action!
That is really a stunningly gorgeous look on you! The red-pink tones really enhance your eyes! On me they would make me look like I had been crying! 😉
Have a great weekend!
this is the quad I’m most interested in. Looks great on you, and I love the lips. I’m having a bumming Saturday morning right now….I think I will play around on mac’s website and check out those face charts!
so I have another brush question: do you have both the 187 and 188? if so which do you prefer for blush application? I need a new brush to use with my nars dolce vita blush (so gorgeous but very pigmented)….I was thinking of picking up the 188….
Looks gorgeous. I ordered online and seeing this lets me know I ordered the right quad! I also got tempting quad, kirsch, and then I went to the store(ha!) and picked up plum de bois and my first pigment-heritage rouge…I liked this collection a lot more than I thought I would…my wallet sobs!
This is such a pretty look on you! and I love me some H&M! I could spend hours in there!
wow you look so pretty!! i couldnt imagine creme cerise looking good on ne one [just cuz its such an odd color] but it looks amazing on you!!!!
oOO This is such a pretty look! I love the black h&M Earrings too! I love H&M!
Lydias last blog post..New Eye Enhancers from Covergirl Review
Oh Karen, thank you for being a friend! =)
Please do a FOTD with the shadowy lady quad – I’m having fun experimenting but I still need more ideas! Also, I’m slowly learning to love color on my lips again – I’m wearing lightly ripe today over cream o’spice liner.
Wow, I think that’s one of the best make up looks that you’ve done!
The Golden Girls is my favorite show and I (obviously) love make up. It’s totally a perfect combination!
Hi! I have been following ur blog for three months and I think ur funny and real. I love ur passion for makeup and im just startin to get into it. lol I actually did the gold and black smokey eye from u and it was awesome. I love the mac cult of cherry especially the spiced choc quad. Imma earthtone gal. I do have a question. Im following the makeup tips u give and I like the blending of the colors but if I might add why did u put the sweet chestnut on the lower lashline? When I saw it I thought it was overkill. It makes ur eyes look scary and diseased. Other than that it would’ve been cool. Remember to enhance the beauty and not hide it. Girl you are fierce! keep those fotd commin cause that’s how learn how to blend and develop my own style. BTW I see ur cat and it looks exactly lke my trixie. Take care and have a nice weekend 😉
Hi Meaghan,
How do you like Mauvement? That’s one I’m kinda iffy about!
Hi Brenda,
Thank you! 🙂 Happy Saturday!
Hi Nosh,
Thanks, girlie! Do you ever wear bright pink eye shadow? That’s a shade that I’m *fascinated* by but can’t get myself to go there.
Hope you are having a good weekend so far. 🙂
Hi Eru,
It was delicious! You know I gotta get my sushi roll on at least once a week. I crave it badly!
I am guessing that Sweet Chestnut is similar to Cranberry. I haven’t had the chance to go back to the MAC counter but I will check next time I am at the mall.
Hey, where are you in your book?
Hi Karen B.,
Oh no! Sweetie, what happened? I know you are very athletic so this must be a real bummer. I hope it gets better soon. Sending you get well vibes…
Hi Jessica F.,
Wheeee! It’s a great quad. Sweet Chestnut turned out to be much more wearable than I thought it would! You will *love* it!
Hi Gio,
Thank you, hon. Dinner was delish! How was your evening? Did you rock a fierce makeup look?
Hi Dao,
I’m glad you stocked up on food… good thinking! Are you okay? I hope things aren’t getting too hairy.
Hi Glosslizard,
Enjoy Yosemite! Here’s to hot showers and running water at campsites! *raises glass*
Hi Amanda,
I have the 187. I haven’t tried the 188, but I *really* like the 187 because it allows me to put brighter colors on with much more control than the regular blush brush. It dunno how much smaller the 188 brush head is but the 187 isn’t really that big. It fits nicely onto the apples of my cheeks.
It’s also a fantastic bronzer brush, too!
I got a huge jones for the Dolce Vita lipstick and that blush looks to die for!
Hi Kelly,
I am right there with you, girl. I will have to wait until mine stops smoking, LOL. How do you like Plum du Bois? It’s super pretty, yah?
Hi Tiffany,
LOL, H&M is like a frickin’ black hole for me. I go in and next thing I know three hours have passed, I’m starving and I’m holding a bucketful of earrings. There are two stores in SF and I find that I do better in the smaller one. The main store is like three levels and it’s just waaaaaaay to much stimulus.
I remember when it first came to SF people flocked to it like it was some sort of miracle!
Hi Vivien,
Thanks! I felt a bit so-so about it but with the Lipglass on I like it much more. Hope you’re having a great Saturday!
Hi Lydia,
I love that they were less than a latte, LOL. H&M rules!
Hi Lexi,
“Travel down the road and back again…”
🙂 That’s great that you are trying new looks with your lips! Are you feeling comfy with Lightly Ripe?
Regarding the quad, sure thing! I just printed out one of the “Bing” face chart and I’m contemplating it right now. But off the top of my head my gut tells me if I was in a hurry for work I’d do Light Fall all over the eye, Deep Truth on the lid and just barely in the crease, and Shadow Lady on the lower lash line. You know me, the queen of lazy looks, LOL.
I just got back from a run so hopefully I can rock a look out while catching up on more Tivo’d eps of (you guessed it) The Golden Girls.
Hi Marissa,
Thanks! 🙂 Who’s your favorite Golden Girl? I gotta say Sophia will always have a special place in my heart.
Karen, this look is HAWT! I love it!! I really like how the lipstick works as a nude-but-not-washed-out lip. It really looks perfect with the eyeshadow too.
Oh, and H&M is a sad, sad addiction. There’s one a few blocks from work (next to an Urban Outfitters, another store I like) and I have to fight the temptation to go in there all the time. My best friend lives in Canada and apparently doesn’t have H&Ms in her neck of the woods…I think we spent 2 hours in there! 😉
…forgot to write “I think we spent 2 hours in there when she visited me last time”. It’s been a long day. 😉
Hi Elle,
Thank you! Hey, did you have your MAC appointment today?
LOL, whenever I go to the City I purposefully park at the garage that’s located one block away from the “small” H&M. That place is like accessories CRACK. If I still worked nearby one I’d want to go every day, too, girl. You are *not* alone!
Nice look! I’ll have to try out my quad tonight before I leave to hang out with my girls. This should look alright with Lightly Ripe yeah??
Hi Lehea,
Yup! Just keep the cheeks light. Have fun tonight with your girls. 🙂
Thank you for the CoC look! Beautiful!! 🙂 Is it a good thing there aren’t any H&M’s in my area?? LOL
LOL, there are two here also, and one is way bigger than the other. The problem is that the huge one is way closer, so I end up wandering around in there for ridiculous lengths of time. I actually went with a friend on opening day, thinking it wouldn’t be that huge of a deal, but it was sooo crazy! I have never seen a shopping frenzy like that in my life!
Hiya Karen!
Nope, the appointment’s tomorrow. 🙂 I’ll spill on the details here for ya!
Accessories crack is right! LOL. I also like Aldo for cute earrings and gloves/scarves during the winter…they have some great sales!
You’re welcome! Dorothy is my favorite Golden Girl, I love her no nonsense attitude and sarcasm.
Hi Daya,
Yes, you are lucky! Otherwise you’d find yourself constantly tempted. 🙂 Hope you’re having a good weekend!
Hi Tiffany,
It’s crazy how much time one can spend up in the H&M. If they had a snack bar or a cafe inside, then I’d probably never leave. 🙂
Hi Elle,
Have fun! Be ready to leave with your wallet smoking. Or perhaps it just might spontaneously combust! You must be prepared. 🙂
Oh, I didn’t know Aldo sold accessories. It’s been a while since I’ve been in there, though… I do remember they did have lots of cute shoes!
Hi Marissa,
Dorothy is fabulous! What I love about that show is that it still holds up so well. The writing is very witty and it still can make me laugh out loud!
This look is fantastic on you! I am definitely going to get the Tempting quad instead of Spiced Chocolate though. I think the Spiced Chocolate shadows have too much red undertone in them for me!
The irony is that it happened during training. We were doing some warmingup exercises on the grass and my toes got stuck. My toes stopped but the rest of my foot wanted to go on and it cracked :s It’s only a tiny crack but they put me in a cast that I can’t walk on so it wouldn’t get any worse.
I’m just bummed as I’m supposed to be on holiday in England now. *pouts*
I did see Tia Hellebaut get her gold medal at the Olympics though so I guess it’s a tad of comfort.
Karen Bs last blog post..Oh my effing Iker
That look is fab-you-lous on ya, Karen! The Sweet Chestnut colour especially brightens your skintone.
On another note, seeing your haul at H&M made me go out to the nearest one to pick up a pair of those black peacock-y earrings. I’ve never really gone into H&M before, but now I think that’s changed…their accessories rock!
Hiya Karen!
My wallet *did* combust. Thanks for the warning, though–I needed it!
My regular MA was actually off sick today, but the MA I ended up instead with did a fantastic job. She did a bit of a switch on the Lightly Ripe look–used the whole quad on my eyes (I hope I get these colors right–Nanogold all over, Sweet Chestnut in the outer V, a bit of Spiced Chocolate in the crease and as a liner, and for something more dramatic she added a bit of Brash to the middle of my lid and blended that into the Sweet Chestnut shadow, and also added a bit of the Spiced Chocolate liner to the outer third of my bottom eye line). She also used the Cream O’Spice Cremestick liner underneath the Creme Cerise lipstick, topped with Liqueur lipglass, and finished it off with Blooming on my cheeks. I took a few pics (I seriously don’t know how you bloggers do it–manage to take such excellent photos of yourselves to post online) so if any of them look decent I’ll send one to ya or post it on here.
I also got suckered into buying the other quads (I haven’t bought a quad in forever so I figured why not?), but didn’t get to play around with them yet. She went through the other quads with me and suggested similar ideas–like with Tempting, using Next to Nothing all over the lid and browbone, followed by Dark Edge in the crease, Tempting in the outer V, and Sharp (which still scares me a bit to be honest) over the middle to inner lid. I also had to buy So Scarlet (beautiful), Lightly Ripe, and–gulp–all of the lipglasses. Haven’t decided if I’m getting any backups yet, though, (does anyone do that a lot? Get backups for LE items?) but so far I love everything I got. I didn’t fall in love with the Mattenes–too difficult to work with, IMO, and not worth it since I don’t really like matte lips to begin with–but everything else is so spot-on for fall.
I also got a new concealer–instead of my usual NC35 she recommended a different concealer in NW25. It ended up getting rid of my undereye circles a lot better, so I couldn’t say no! I’ve never bought NW anything, so hey, not bad to learn new things. She applied it with the 217 brush, also, which made it look really good. I actually look like I get a decent amount of sleep! 🙂
I’m wiped out until December for new makeup…seriously, MAC, slow your roll on the new collections!
Hope you’re having a good Sunday night Karen! I’m slowly recovering from the spending and putting away my makeup. Oh, I’m a dork. But at least I’m a well made-up dork right now. 🙂
Hi Erin,
Thanks! Have fun with your Tempting quad… it’s really pretty!
Hi Karen B.,
Oh no! 🙁 I really hope you recover quickly. How long will you be in the cast?
Hi Music_Is_Freedom,
I know! I could spend all day in there. They had some really great, long gold necklaces. Did you see them?
Hi Elle,
WOW! Fantastic haul! I will have to try those combinations that the MUA suggested. The look she did you sounds *hawt*! Yes, send me a pictutre!
Want to know something funny? The same thing happened to me with my concealer, too. I used to use NC but then switched over to NW after going to a MAC seminar. The makeup artist said that the majority of women look better with an NW concealer even if you’re technically an NC. I like applying it with the 217, too. Gotta love anything that stimulates sleep.
The Lipglasses were love at first sight for me, too. I didn’t buy any backups. I rarely buy any… the only time I wanted to was with the Barbie Loves MAC Beauty Powders. Gawd I love those powders. *tears*
Have fun with your haul! 🙂
I saw one that I liked, with a charm of a bird and a birdcage for a pendant. There was another one with some cool silver filigree-ish leaves, which I’d probably get. I’m more a silver-jewellery gal, but gold has such a rich look to it!
hi karen! you have such a wonderful blog. ive been eyeing this quad because of the beautiful browns and was pleasantly surprised at how it looks more burgundy on tan skin. and it looks really good on you. we have the same skin tone so im so inspired by your looks. i have a question though, are there particular colors you shy away from?
I have to stay in a cast until the 1st of September and then I have a check-up. I hope it’ll go well.
Karen Bs last blog post..Oh my effing Iker
Karen?
I was looking for the Cherry Blossom look because I’m going to Vegas with my family for the AVN convention and wanted to look a little more than standard at this thing. And I’m searching on the web and I find you! WTF? Hahahhaa! How have you been? Please e-mail me and find me on facebook! You look FAB by the way….
Miette
those ARE cute. hows the quality of H&M’s accessories?
Hey I know this is old, but this is probably one of my favorite looks on you.
Thanks, Shanda! Hope you’re having a nice day so far.