Makeup and Beauty Blog | Makeup Reviews, Swatches and How-To Makeup

Lip Look: Resolutely Red Lipstick from the Upcoming MAC in High Def Collection

August 22nd, 2009 by Karen 41 Comments

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It never hurts to be prepared, whether in life OR in makeup, I always say. If/when an occasion ever demands a glossy, brick red lip with HELLA gold glitter, MAC’s totally got us covered.

For my lip look today I layered Lustre Lipstick in Resolute Red, a creamy brick red from the upcoming MAC in High Def collection (more on that in a few), on top of Cremestick Liner in Red Enriched.

And to really make it scream par-TAY, I added a mixture of Clear Lipglass and Gold Glitter.

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Lipstick in Resolutely Red

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Swatch of Resolutely Red

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Resolutey Red lipstick and Cremestick Liner in Red Enriched without Clear Lipglass and Gold Glitter
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Retro Roundup: One Year Ago on Makeup and Beauty Blog

August 22nd, 2009 by Karen 11 Comments

So, what were we talking about this time last year? Here’s a hint: It starts with MAC and ends with cherry. 🙂

Mmm…

How Would You Describe Your Signature Makeup Look?
“…a simple, subtle smokey eye. I call it signature because I wear it all the time, LOL! It takes no more than 15 minutes to do, and I think it’s appropriate both for work or a night on the town.”
MAC Cult of Cherry Face of the Day with Spiced Chocolate Quad
“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).”
Clean and Clear Soft In-Shower Facial Passes with Flying Colors
“Over the weekend, a gang of tiny pimples set up shop on my chin. I used In-Shower Facial on Monday, and by this morning the three baddest members of the gang had all but disappeared — and this was without a secondary acne treatment. Purified pores was what I wanted, and that’s exactly what I got.”
Beauty Sleep, Interrupted
“Tabs says hi! He’s in the doghouse today because he was naughty yesterday. He kicked kitty litter all over the floor and felt like meowing all night long. With my help he put together this little story that he hopes you enjoy. :)”

MAC Cult of Cherry Face of the Day Using the Shadowy Lady Quad
“I am *lurving* the colors in this quad, particularly Smudged Violet and Shadowy Lady. I dig wearable purple shades. I think Deep Truth, the shimmery blue, is also gorgeous, but I’ll have to work with it a bit more.”
9 Things I Wish I Could Do
“…6. Be able to ride a bike without having to hold on to the handle bars; 7. Get my parents to understand what a blog is; 8. Have coffee with El Hub at a Paris cafe and spend the afternoon at the Musee d’Orsay…”
Looking for Cheap, Stylish Ways to Organize Your Makeup?
“Most arts and crafts stores stock unvarnished wooden boxes in assorted shapes and sizes. They make perfect (and affordable) makeup storage containers. I spied these boxes, each ranging from a whopping $1.50 to a staggering $3, at my local Ben Franklin Craft Store this afternoon.”
9 Things I Would Like to Try
“A fancy honeymoon. El Hub and I just had our second anniversary. With our jobs and whatnot we never went on a fancy honeymoon. I can’t complain, but I’d sure love to go to Italy!”
MAC Kirsch Face of the Day: A Dark Shade for Day Walkers
“day | walker; noun; 1. a sub-species of vampire from European folklore, which unlike traditional vampires is able to survive in full sunlight; still must drink the blood of the living by biting their necks with long pointed canine teeth.”

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Saturday Surfing

August 22nd, 2009 by Karen 7 Comments

Saturday surfing

Hard Candy nail polish is back from the dead! — All Lacquered Up
A 4-step summer makeup video by Carol Shaw of Lorac Cosmetics — Sephora Beauty and the Blog
Like I needed another excuse to eat chocolate — Daily Beauty Reporter Blog
How to bring a pimple to a head — BellaSugar
Awkward family photos… The name says it all — Awkward Family Photos
9 things to do when you’re feeling stale — Chase Jarvis
NARS fall collection swatches — Karla Sugar
If you’re anything like me, this video will make you go AWWW (wait until the end) — YouTube
I swoon for these red Valentino shoes — Manolo’s Shoe Blog
Top 10 MacGyver tricks — Lifehacker

Saturday shenanigans?

G’morning and happy Saturday to ya. 🙂

I feel like I’ve been up since the dawn… of time. I set the alarm for 6:30 because I’m still trying to turn myself into a morning person. Depending on how much caffeine I’ve consumed prior to any given moment, it’s hard to tell how well the experiment’s working.

What are you up to today? No plans for me except for some puttering around, maybe laundry, maybe reading the September issue of Marie Claire and playing around with Obviously Orange Technakohl liner.

Any ideas for ways to wear an orange eyeliner? I’m stumped.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

MAC Nailed It with MAC Nail Trend F/W ’09 By Jin Soon Choi

August 21st, 2009 by Karen 30 Comments

mac nail trend fw 09 swatches

I’m keeping my fingers and toes crossed that MAC’s Nail Trend Fall/Winter ’09 Jin Soon Choi collection nail polishes break my MAC nail lacquer curse.

I haven’t always had the greatest luck with MAC’s nail polishes. Most have chipped like Cheetoes, but I’m hoping the Jin Soon Choi collection breaks the cycle.

A fixture in the fashion biz for more than 20 years, nail artist Jin Soon worked with MAC on this release. They aimed for trendy and chip-resistant, with rich lacquers and full coverage.

Colors in the collection include…

Cool Reserve: a dirty, grayish lavender cream
For Fun: a creamy purple
Dance All Night: a creamy brick red
Rich, Dark, Delicious: a creamy blackened brown
Dry Martini: a creamy khaki olive green
Beyond Jealous: a creamy blackened bluish green
Underlacquer: a base coat
Overlacquer: a top coat

The shades arrive on counters this Thursday. I took a quick look at two of them today.

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Nail Lacquer in For Fun
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MAC Make-Up Art Cosmetics Face of the Day with the Notoriety Quad

August 21st, 2009 by Karen 45 Comments

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Hola, my Salt n’ Pepas. Before you read any further, I swear to you this MAC Make-Up Art Cosmetics face of the day started off totally normal (see above).

With the Notoriety quad in hand, I followed the MAC online face chart for the Cocomotion eye look, tweaking it just a little by swapping Arena eyeshadow for Shroom and Cork for Brownscript.

I was pretty happy with how the golden reddish brown eye turned out, so I proceeded to snap some pictures like I normally do…

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But things took an odd turn when I uploaded them into this post.
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Rockin’ Bad Mama Jama Eyelashes with Make Up For Ever Smoky Lash Mascara

August 21st, 2009 by Karen 28 Comments

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I’ve been lovin’ my naturally wimpy lashes lately thanks to Make Up For Ever Smoky Lash Mascara in Extra Black ($22). This waterproof delovely does everything a good mascara should, adding dramatic length and volume and holding a mad crazy good curl all day long (it has a densely bristled brush like the one that comes with Diorshow Plum mascara).

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Smoky Lash flat-out refuses to smudge, not even after a sweaty 90-minute hip hop class. Between my Cabbage Patch and Kid N’ Play the other night (it was an old-school theme), I couldn’t help but bat my eyelashes in the mirror; they just looked so BILLBOARD. Big, bad and bold, I tell ya, like Heavy D and Chubb Rock in their prime. 🙂 Makeup and Beauty Blog Rating: A

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

MAC Make-Up Art Cosmetics: Something for Everyone

August 20th, 2009 by Karen 59 Comments

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Shh… Do you hear that sound, ladies?

It’s the sound of millions of MAC fans being kept on their toes.

Seeing the new MAC Make-Up Art Cosmetics collection at the mall today, I had to overlook my preconceived notions of typical fall makeup and remember what I was supposed to be seeing.

MAC chose to name this collection “Make-Up Art Cosmetics” for a reason. It’s the company’s name, after all, and I’m guessing they intended for it to reflect more than just a season.

Remember Cult of Cherry last fall? Or Smoke Signals the fall before that? Both releases epitomized fall makeup with sultry smokey eye colors and vampy lips (mrow!).

With Make-Up Art Cosmetics, however, MAC stitched together a crazy quilt of colors running the gamut from neutrals to brights to bliggity bling-bling — a release representative of the company itself.

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Widespread appeal

I really get the feeling MAC tried to include something for everyone.

The subdued neutrals, elegant greens and sheer purples in the Richard Phillips set appeal to the Chanel lover in me, while the vibrant eyeshadows, liners and pigments of the Maira Kalman and Marilyn Minter sets feed my hard-core color cravings and glitter pangs.

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It’s a HUGE collection, too, with neutrals for my makeup-shy mom and brights for my makeup-obsessed BFF. Either one could walk away from the MAC counter with something new to wear.

What caught my eye?

Mostly the products in the Richard Phillips set — Notable blush, the Notoriety Eyeshadow palette and the New Spirit Lipglass (funny how they all start with the letter N!) — all great neutrals for work or other responsible daytime looks.

I’d really like to hear your take on this collection. What do you think MAC meant by choosing to name it Make-Up Art Cosmetics, and does it deliver? Let me know what you think in the comments.