mac cosmetics

MAC Unsung Heroes: Retro Matte Liquid Lipcolour in Burnt Spice

April 25th, 2018 by Karen 14 Comments

mac burnt spice — Why do I keep smiling like a coy piano teacher? I do not know.

What’s an unsung makeup hero? For me, it’s an oftentimes underrated makeup morsel, a permanent collection product that scoots under the radar screen of many makeup lovers but regularly rocks my world. The long-running Unsung Heroes series features some of my favorites.

Burnt Spice… That name always cracks me up. I picture the (hopefully it didn’t actually happen, and if it did, I’m sorry) rejected member of the Spice Girls who got cut at the last minute and therefore did not experience worldwide fame and fortune. She still holds a grudge against Baby, Sporty, Scary, Posh and Ginger…

LOL.

Matte rosy brown Burnt Spice MAC Retro Matte Liquid Lipcolour adds just enough color to my face without overwhelming whatever else is going on, and it superbly complements smoky and winged eye looks IMO. And bright blush.

It reads as a nude on my NC42 skin #nudelipsforlife #nudelipsforever and may look more lusciously brown and dramatic if you’re a lighter lass.

mac burnt spice swatch — MAC Burnt Spice

MAC’s liquid lipsticks are some of my favorites out there because they don’t make my lips peel or crack. I thought I was the only person who was all about them for that reason, but nope! I was texting with my friend Jen, who’s really not even a hardcore makeup person like you and I are, a few weeks ago, and she said that she loves Topped With Brandy. The Retro Matte Liquid Lipcolours are the only liquid lipstick formula that doesn’t dry out her lips, and I was like, “Me, too!” And when a liquid lipstick formula can ignite zeh passion in someone who’s only marginally interested in makeup, you know it’s good.

That was my long-winded way of saying it isn’t drying. ?

[Continue reading…]

MAC Pink Hearts Glitter | Better Than Photoshop

April 17th, 2018 by Karen 12 Comments

The other day I covered up what the beauty/fashion world calls my “imperfections” — the freckles on my cheekbones, acne scars on my cheeks, the chicken pox souvenir in the center of my forehead that I got when I was three — with big ol’ heart-shaped glitter from MAC, and you know what occurred to me?

WE SHOULD BE DOING THIS, LIKE, ALL THE TIME. Screw Face Tune and Photoshop. This is much so cooler.

Weirdly enough, these glitter hearts, which are even more epic in person, do a bang-up job of sticking to my skin. I wore them all day long without any glue (just on top of my usual foundation and powder), and only two hearts fell off.

[Continue reading…]

MAC NICOPANDA | Can You Guess Which of These 5 Looks Was Done By a Child?

April 13th, 2018 by Karen 12 Comments

Can you guess which of these looks was done by a real, live human child? And by “child,” I don’t mean my inner child. ? I mean the other child who also resides at this address. (The two-year-old one.) HAHAHA!

Is it look one, two, three, four or five? I know, it’s quite a mystery…

I was inspired by the visuals for the MAC NICOPANDA collection (which is available meow, BTW). There’s something very “Matisse meets Jem and the Holograms” about it…

It’s cray but I love ❤️ it.

mac nicopanda visuals — Not to be confused with Kung Fu Panda…

The colors are mostly pastels, mint green, pink and violet interspersed with darker shades like navy blue, gray and a dark plum, which I like because those are colors I wear all the time, although normally with browns.

I get a cool, edgy, artsy-fartsy theatrical performance vibe, like this is makeup that androgynous club kids who are tight with the bouncer and never wait in line might wear.

So, the theme isn’t exactly my gig right now (my scene is Club Toddler in My Living Room), but I’m feenin’ hard for the packaging, because the second-grade me who loved all things Hello Kitty is going bananas ? over the panda heads.

I would’ve traded all of my hologram AND scratch-and-sniff stickers to get hold of one of the lipsticks or glosses, and, funnily enough, those are my favorite things from the collection.

[Continue reading…]

MAC x PatrickStarrr Me So Chic Face Kit | The Power of Gold Stars

April 12th, 2018 by Karen 9 Comments

mac patrick starrr me so chic — MAC x PatrickStarrr Me So Chic

So I’ve been doing The Five-Minute Journal now for about a month, and the big thing that’s helped me stick to it — and this is major because I’ve started and stopped more projects than I can count — is something so simple and really very elementary, and by ‘elementary’ I mean something that kids in kindergarten probably still do (because I did it about a bazillion years ago).

This: tracking your progress every day with gold ⭐ stars. (I use hand-drawn Sharpie stars because I couldn’t find gold sticker stars anywhere in my town.)

Every day you complete a task, and for me it’s filling out a page in the journal, you stick a star on the calendar, and after ‘X’ number of days, you treat yourself to a reward. ???

mac patrick starrr me so chic k down — With my trusty gold Sharpie by my side! I’m wearing the quad, lipstick, gloss and blush duo from the MAC Patrick Starrr Me So Chic Face Kit.

The reward part is totally key, but ya know…you don’t have to buy yourself a Lambo or anything. A trip to your favorite lunch spot so you can buy that bougie $20 salad you love so much (*cough* Blue Barn Tostada Salad *cough*), a new eyeliner, or — ooh! — a spa treatment (I WISH). I’m going to get myself some workout pants from Senita because I’m all about that high-waisted life these days.

mac patrick starrr me so chic k side — Gold stars!

Even though this system is low-tech, it’s very effective. I don’t know if it’s something hidden deep inside the folds of the most primitive part of my brain, but I love seeing those stars pile up week after week. It feels like a good habit.

The Five-Minute Journal has enough pages for six months, and I’ve got about five more left.

I can’t wait to see my calendar filled this gold stars. 🙂

Speaking of stars…

The MAC x PatrickStarrr Me So Chic Face Kit ($49.50, coming April 19 to the MAC website and select MAC counters)

I feel like I’m wearing makeup that the girls in my high school marching band’s color guard wore in the late-’80s/early-’90s. Like, gimme an over-sized flag, a sequined outfit, shiny flesh-colored tights, and I’m be good to go!

I think the blush duo (a matte warm bronze and satiny peach) flatters my NC42 skin, but my eyes get watery when I wear the purples in the quad. Also, the nude lipstick and gloss… I think they’re pretty, but they’re pretty easily duped, too.

I like the MAC x PatrickStarrr Me So Fleek Kit more than this one…

[Continue reading…]

The MAC Patrick Starrr Me So Fleek/Patrickstarrr Full Face Kit

April 4th, 2018 by Karen 16 Comments

mac patrick starrrr me so fleek — I wore this MAC Patrick Starrr Face Kit to Trader Joe’s yesterday and had a moment.

It’s not like a Mariah Carey diva spotlight shot down from the heavens in the middle of Trader Joe’s yesterday, but one might as well have. I was standing in front of the eggs gawking at an empty section on the top shelf where the liquid egg whites were supposed to be. Connor was sitting in the cart, and I looked at her and said, “THERE’S NOOOOO MORRRRRRRRE!” perhaps a little too loudly (and my family wonders where she gets her expressive tendencies).

I was wearing, by the way, one of the two new MAC Patrick Starrr Face Kits with purple matte lips, a peachy mauve lid with blue liner, and plum cheeks…

It was subtle though. 🙂 It wasn’t too crazy for Trader Joe’s at two on a Tuesday afternoon, and I know this because none of the seniors from the nearby senior center shot me side eye while I was eyeing the pre-made salads.

mac patrick starrr me so fleek k1 — I’m wearing the MAC Patrick Starrr Me So Fleek Full Face Kit, and the lip is Queen P Lipglass.

mac patrick starrrr me so fleek k2 — Hey Boy Hey Lipstick is super pigmented, but it’s still easy enough that you can apply it straight from the tube, which is what I did here, without needing a lip brush or lip liner. It’s more pink and purple than MAC Heroine (in case you were wondering if it was a dupe)

Cut back to scene: me standing there with my arms outstretched to the heavens (the florescent ceiling lights) and saying, “THERE’S NOOOOO MORRRRRRRRE!” and this dude who was restocking a display of asparagus nearby said, “There’s no what, miss?”

And I was like, “EXCUSE ME? Did you call me MISS?” And I momentarily forgot that I wanted the egg whites to make overnight oats for my breakfast tomorrow because nobody — and I mean NOBODY — calls me miss anymore.

I mean…I feel like I look pretty young for my age, but I get called ma’am now, and it doesn’t help that I walk around with a grumpy piano teacher face all the time because I’m so friggin’ tired, and my lips are pursed, my jaw is clenched, and my hair’s up in a severe bun so the baby doesn’t pull it when she’s TT-ing (toddler tantrum-ing). But yesterday my locks were loose and flowing, and I was wearing this Me So Fleek Face Kit.

So I was workin’ it, son. 🙂

mac patrick star me so fleek swatches — Eye Shadow X 4/Play With Me (In Living Pink, All’s Rosy, Hickie, In the Shadows), Take Me Home Powder Blush Duo, Retro Matte Lipstick in Hey Boy Hey, Lipglass in Queen P

[Continue reading…]

MAC Is Taking Us Waaaay Back With the MAC Throwback Lipsticks

March 23rd, 2018 by Karen 15 Comments

mac throwback collection lipsticks — From the new MAC Throwback collection: Shrimpton (Satin), Bronx (Matte), Icon (Frost), Skew (Frost), Marrakesh (Matte), Spanish Fly (Frost) and Rocker (Matte) Lipsticks

AHHHH! Allow me to fly my MAC freak flag for a second, because I can remember with shocking clarity the night I wore MAC Skew Lipstick, one of the seven lipsticks in the MAC Throwback collection, to my friend Cindy’s birthday party in 2002.

I can’t remember what I had for lunch yesterday, but I remember wearing Skew 16 years ago with a blackened gray smoky eye (complete with glitter). I also remember touching it up beneath blue lights in a Castro dance club (and I may or may not have been a little tipsy) and thinking, “This is the best lipstick ever! This is the best night ever! I’m gonna dance like this forever!”

LOL. Ah, the good times I had with Skew. 🙂

I love this pink duochrome coral so much, and I went through several tubes. I can’t believe I didn’t realize it had been discontinued.

That’s MAC for ya. So many colors, so little time…

Like the other six lipsticks in MAC Throwback, Skew was cast aside!

OK, maybe that’s a little dramatic. It was “quietly retired.”

Well, now they’re back, at least temporarily.

mac throwback lipstick swatches — MAC Shrimpton (Satin), Bronx (Matte), Icon (Frost), Skew (Frost), Marrakesh (Matte), Spanish Fly (Frost) and Rocker (Matte)

[Continue reading…]

The MAC Liquidlast Liners Are Back (Remember These?)

March 22nd, 2018 by Karen 11 Comments

Pretty sure I mentioned this the other day, but yeah, my lids are getting progressively more hooded every day. I think it’s just a getting older thing, but now I appreciate long-lasting liners like the MAC Liquidlasts THAT MUCH MORE, because if you’ve got a hooded lid situation, finding a liner that doesn’t transfer up into your crease can be harder than finding a chupacabra unicorn.

Enter the MAC Liquidlast Liners. They’re long-lasting and water-resistant.

mac liquidlast swatches — MAC Naked Bond, Late Night, Coco Bar, Keep It Currant, Rich & Robust, Blue Me Over, Wet Road, and Misty Me

A bunch of them that just landed on MAC counters and the MAC website ($21 each), but you might remember them from back in the day. The Liquidlast Liners used to be part of the permanent collection. Then they went away, but now they’re back in nine shades, most of which are permanent.

The only LE colors are matte purple Rich & Robust, which I friggin’ love (GAH!) and shiny teal Blue Me Over.

mac rich robust liquidlast liner lash lines — Rich & Robust

To someone just passing by a MAC counter, they look a little like lip glosses, at least until you open them up and see the skinny, fine-tipped brush.

That brush, though? T-r-i-c-k-y to use.

mac rich robust liquidlast liner brush — It helps to unload almost all of the liner from the brush first.

The first time I used these years and years ago, I wan’t crazy about ’em because of the brush, but now I think I just didn’t know how to use it. I think I might know how now.

What I wasn’t doing then was unloading the brush enough before bringing it to my lids. Now I run the brush against the inside of the lip of the tube a bunch of times to get rid of the excess.

mac rich robust liquidlast liner — Rich & Robust on my upper lash lines. I’m also wearing MAC Kid and Uninterrupted Eye Shadows on my lids, and Powersurge liner on my lower lash line. The blush is Melon Pink from the MAC Padma collection, and my lipstick is Mittai Pink (worn as a stain), also from MAC Padma.

[Continue reading…]

The MAC Hint of Colour Lip Oils

March 20th, 2018 by Karen 6 Comments

Ya know, I revel in being the quirky neighbor who smiles like a maniac while taking pictures of the MAC Hint of Colour Lip Oils by some freesia on the side of the road.

freesia in the rain spring 2018 — Spring is (at least officially) here!

I don’t even care if people look at me weird. I just smile ? and wave ? like I’m supposed to be there… And, I mean, I’m not not supposed to be there. After all, who wouldn’t want to stop and admire lovely freesia? They’re beautiful, and when the freesia appear, winter is saying “Peace out!” Warmer days are comin’.

Like freesia, the MAC Hint of Colour Lip Oils, which are LE and available now for $17, are also cool. They look like they should be intensely pigmented, right? Like liquid nirvana? But they aren’t. They’re shockingly sheer, just like the name goes. They leave a hint of color, and I think that’s a good thing for lip moisturizers, because when my lips need moisture, I don’t want to deal with a mirror. I just want something easy, and an extra hint of color is also nice.

mac hint of colour lip oil swatches — Pale Princess, Dole to Diva, La La Love You, Candy Drop

These are basically super sheer, lightly tinted vanilla-scented glossy lip balms that feel exactly like the MAC Cremesheen Glasses to me. They aren’t sticky, and they only last an hour or two at the most, but they’re lip oils (more accurately, a mélange of five moisturizing oils with a gel formula), so I can’t spite them for that.

They aren’t complicated to use either. It’s not rocket ? science. Just slick ’em on when your lips are thirsty, then let them do their shiny, moisturizing thing. They’ll fade away to a matte tint, and the intensity of the tint slightly varies among the colors.

[Continue reading…]