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Set Phasers on Mineralized! The MAC Heavenly Creature Collection Shoots for the Shimmery Stars

June 28th, 2012 by Karen 30 Comments

mac cusp of dawn
MAC Heavenly Creature Mineralize Eye Shadow in Earthly, Aurora and Sky on my eyes; Mineralize Blush in Ring of Saturn and Solar Ray on my cheeks; Mineralize Skinfinish on my upper cheekbones; and Lipstick in Cusp of Dawn on my lips

Space: the final frontier. These are the voyages of the Starship MAC Heavenly Creature. Its mission: to explore celestial shimmer, to seek out soft, glowing skin and gorgeous galaxies of color, to boldly go where no woman has gone before!

Long-range scanners reveal a 35-piece planetary formation with forests of Duo Fibre brushes and mountains of Mineralize makeup and skin care. At our current speed and heading, we should intercept the collection, which is available now online, in the North American Nebula, orbiting above MAC counters and stores July 5, and internationally later the same month.

Like Captain James T. Kirk, the collection is impossibly good looking.

According to the ship’s manifest, our cargo includes…

Nine Mineralize Eye Shadows ($20 each), four Mineralize Skinfinishes ($29 each), four Mineralize Blushes ($23.50 each), five Lipsticks ($14.50 each), five Cremesheen Glasses and False Lash Mascara, the 187 Duo Fibre Face Brush ($42), 188 Small Duo Fibre Face Brush ($34) and 286 Duo Fibre Tapered Blending Brush ($34) brush, Mineralize Charged Water Cleanser ($23), Mineralize Charged Water Moisture Gel ($37), Moisture Eye Cream ($35) and Mineralize Volcanic Ash Exfoliator ($28).

Captain’s log, stardate 2012.28.6

I put on my moon boots this afternoon and beamed down to the planet’s surface with Science Officer Tabs and 10 crewmen from the marble-ous collection.

mac center of the universe
Mineralize Skinfinish in Center of the Universe

mac center of the universe
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MAC Unsung Heroes: Ambering Rose Blush

June 27th, 2012 by Karen 33 Comments

mac ambering rose blush

Reddish gold, reddish-reddish gold, what? Reddish gold, reddish-reddish gold, huh? Reddish gold, reddish-reddish gold, wussup?

Okay, so MAC Ambering Rose Blush ($20) recently prompted me to do two things. 1) It prompted me to try to find out if there really is such a thing as an ambering rose (she wrote, as she googled “ambering rose,” which turned up this, this and this), and 2) it prompted me to want to get the word out about this gorgeous reddish gold.

I think it looks ah-may-zing on medium and darker skin tones, in particular skin tones from NC and NW 40 on up, but it doesn’t disappoint on fairer maidens, either, especially when applied using a fan brush (like Sonia Kashuk’s $8 Duo Fibre Brush) and a very light touch.

mac ambering rose blush

How much red and gold Ambering displays depends on your skin tone. On my NC 42 skin, I get realms of red and golden shimmer with just a hint of apricot. The color reminds me of a sheerer, less intense, but more golden version of NARS Taos, and I started incorporating it into my regular rotation of pink blushes earlier this year to mix things up a little.

To Blushbaby, another love of mine, I say, “I still love ya to bits,” but there are days when mama needs a break from the standard same-o, same-o.

mac ambering rose blush swatch

mac ambering rose blush
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Like Baskin-Robbins, The New Permanent Line of MAC Nail Lacquers Comes in 31 Flavors

June 20th, 2012 by Karen 33 Comments

MAC Nail Lacquers

Dude, there are moments — like when you’re pulling up your Spanx and have to pause to take a breath — and there are MOMENTS. And right now, with the rise of runway nail polish coverage and nail art going mainstream, it seems like nails are having the second one, the one IN ALL CAPS!!! With exclamation marks!!!

You kids today… 🙂 Believe it or not, but there was a time when the only places you could get nail polish were drugstores (and dinosaurs ruled the earth!). Now, you can’t swing your Kate Spade purse at a makeup counter without knocking over a new nail polish display (whoops, my bad!).

Even MAC is getting in on the action with a new permanent line of nail lacquers coming this summer (July 5 to North American MAC stores, Nordstrom MAC counters and maccosmetics.com; international locales can expect them this September; $16 each US, $19 CDN).

Now, nails are nothing new to MAC. They’ve actually been painting paws for years with limited edition releases and special nail-focused collections like 2009’s Jin Soon, but this represents their first permanent polish line.

mac nail lacquer swatches 1

I’m pretty stoked about the range of colors because, like Baskin-Robbins, there are 31 of them in all, spread out among three different finishes in pearl, frost and cream. Most are new additions, but a few we’ve seen before in limited edition collections (like Snob, which we saw in Fashion Sets and Fiestaware, which we saw in Casual Colour). You’ve got your dainty tea-and-crumpets nudes on one end and your deeper hues and tough girl shades on the other.

mac nail lacquer swatches 2

This week I’m playing/painting with five of them, all of which feel thick and remind me of Essie’s nail polishes more than Zoya’s.

I haven’t been wearing these particular shades for long, but if they’re like MAC’s other nail polishes, wear time should be alright. I’ve usually gotten about a week when I wear them with a base coat and a little longer with a top coat as well.

mac nail lacquer swatches 3
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Press On, Ruffians

June 19th, 2012 by Karen 1 Comment

Another shot of the MAC Ruffian Manicures, $25 each. Available now exclusively online at maccosmetics.com.

Even Ruffians Like Long Nails: The New MAC Ruffian Manicures in Spectator, Demoiselle and Demilune

June 18th, 2012 by Karen 24 Comments

mac ruffian manicure

Press on, fellow lacquer lover! Press on…these new beige, red and black temporary press-on nails from MAC.

Leave it to MAC to make press-on nails neat again… They took something I enjoy doing — painting my nails — and said, “Yeah, but check this out.”

The 24 nails in each of the three new MAC Ruffian Manicure sets come in a variety of nail shapes and sizes, and they aren’t just pre-painted in solid colors. They’re like straight up nail art!

In the first set, Demilune, a black matte sits atop a golden chrome strip along the base; Spectator, the second set, bookends a glossy cream-colored center with glossy black stripes; and the third set, Demoiselle, paints thin white and black arches at the very tip and base of a gorgeous, glossy red.

mac ruffian demilune

All three sets are available online now in North America ($25 US, $30 CDN) and coming in September to select international locations.

They’re designed to be applied to bare, natural nails, and they’re pretty easy to apply…except for one potential sticking point, but more on that in a sec.

It’s nice that the sets come with 24 nails each, so you stand a good chance of finding 10 among them to fit the shape and size of each of your fingernails (MAC, what about mah toes?!).

When you go to put these on, be careful lining them up along the base of your cuticles before pressing them down, because that adhesive? — that stuff is no joke. Way stronger than Lee Press-On Nails from back in the day.

Granted, the adhesive is probably not strong enough to keep your nails from moving while you play an epically long piano sonata or type out a novel…but it should be sticky enough for a night on the town.

And despite the uber-glue, the nails are still relatively easy to remove. Just ease each one off by peeling slowly from the side. If you’re careful, you should be able to get in another 3-4 uses before the adhesive loses its mojo.

I think it’s also cool that they don’t leave behind any sticky residue once they’re removed.

mac ruffian manicure spectator
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For Lips to Go With a Hip Victoriana Aesthetic: The MAC Ruffian Collection Lipsticks

June 18th, 2012 by Karen 18 Comments

Wearing MAC Ruffian Gold Lipstick, $14.50

Slowly but surely, one Marshall’s visit at a time, I’m moving away from my natural tendency to dress like a 13-year-old skater boy from The Valley and toward a hopefully more fashionable future as a 30-something-year-old woman with killer shoes and a quirky Cali girl sense of style…

…she wrote, sitting at her desk in an over-sized O’Neil surf tee and a pair of board shorts with cargo pockets.

LOL! Okay, it’s a process. A really, really slow process. 🙂

But one of the best parts of this slow-going effort to take my wardrobe more seriously has been figuring out what makeup to wear with different looks.

Like for my current fashion phase, beachy summer dresses, I’ve been gravitating toward neons and brights.

How long the phase will last, however, is hard to say…especially now that I’ve seen the new MAC Ruffian collection.

mac ruffian lipsticks

Looking for a lipstick to wear with a streetwise Victorian style? Something to go with that tweed jacket and that top with the bell-sleeves and ruffles, perhaps?

If so, it’s MAC Ruffian time.

The six-piece online exclusive is a collaboration between MAC and Ruffian, the NYC-based design duo of Brian Wolk and Claude Morais. Their clothes have an upscale, vintage vibe, with ready-to-wear (but hard to afford) pieces ranging from $800 for a shirt to $1,800 (!) for a jacket, and fans include edgy actresses Maggie Gyllenhaal and Kirsten Dunst.

For the MAC Ruffian collection (available online now in North America, and coming to select international MAC locations this September), Brian and Claude directed their design aesthetic into three Lipsticks ($14.50 US and $17.50 CDN) and three Ruffian Manicure sets ($25 US and $30 CDN) in classic, timeless shades of red, gold, beige and peach.

mac ruffian gold red naked
From the left: Ruffian Gold, Ruffian Red and Ruffian Naked Lipsticks

I took a break from summer brights and neons today to try the three lipsticks, and the first thing that came to mind: Chanel. And then Sir Arthur Conan Doyle… Or something he might have written, had Sherlock Holmes investigated a crime against Chanel (NO!). “It has long been an axiom of mine that Chanel should influence more things.”

True dat. 🙂

The red and gold are reminding me of 2010’s Shanghai-inspired Chanel Noir’ Et Or.
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What’s Your Current Favorite Lip Product Combo?

June 12th, 2012 by Karen 26 Comments

mac youre perfect already in synch

Lately, my lips and I have been loving this little pink combo here. It’s a combination of three different products, pale neutral pink MAC Pro Longwear Lipcreme in You’re Perfect Already, bright yellowish pink MAC Lip Pencil In Synch (in In Synch?) and baby pink bareMinerals Marvelous Moxie Lipgloss in Show Off.

I dunno… I feel like I’ve been more adventurous than usual with my eye makeup lately (than usual for me, LOL!), and so I like my lips a little mellow so that they don’t end up overwhelming the rest of my look.

This combo here? Pretty mellow, and I like that it’s neutral enough to wear with warm or cool eye colors.

First, I line with In Synch, feather out the edges with a finger, and apply a layer of MAC Pro Longwear Lipcreme in You’re Perfect Already directly from the tube.

Then, after blotting with a tissue or, sometimes, with the back of my hand, I apply one layer of bareMinerals Marvelous Moxie Lipgloss in Show Off.

That’s it! And one of my favorite things about this triple play? None of the products dry out my lips.

mac youre perfect already in synch

mac youre perfect already in synch swatch
Swatches from the left: MAC Lip Pencil in In Synch, MAC Pro Longwear Lipcreme in You’re Perfect Already and bareMinerals Moxie Lipgloss in Show Off

How about you? What’s your current favorite lip product combo?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

MAC Unsung Heroes: MAC Iridescent Powder/Loose in Silver Dusk

June 10th, 2012 by Karen 8 Comments

mac silver dusk

Remember MAC Golden Bronze, that savant of shimmer, and maestro of multitasking, that helps you get your shimmer on in multiple ways?

Well, Golden Bronze has a cool cousin, MAC Iridescent Powder/Loose in Silver Dusk ($23), a shimmery, silvery pinkish beige that likes to party with cool skin tones.

Like Golden Bronze, you can use it as a highlighter, and for that I usually apply it with the MAC 224 Tapered Blending Brush on my upper cheekbones, down the bridge of my nose, on my cupid’s bow and in the center of my chin; or, mix it with your favorite foundation, moisturizer or body oil for a glint of extra glow.

mac silver dusk

mac silver dusk swatch
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