Makeup and Beauty Blog | Makeup Reviews, Swatches and How-To Makeup
A beauty blog blooming with fresh makeup reviews, swatches and beauty tips from your friendly neighborhood beauty addict
Pics and swatches of two of the five new MAC Pro Lip Palettes ($40 each US, $47.50 CDN). These cuties strut into MAC Pro stores and maccosmetics.com in North America August 23, and internationally next month.
Pro Lip Palettes in 6 Modern Browns (left) and 6 Editorial Oranges (right)
6 Editorial Oranges
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Just some swatches and pics of bits from the new 24-piece MAC Styleseeker collection, which roams onto MAC counters, into stores and up on maccosmetics.com in North America August 23, and internationally next month.
Powder Blush in Supercontinental (left) and Hidden Treasure (right)
Powder Blush in Supercontinental
Powder Blush in Hidden Treasure
Eye Shadow X 2 Marche Aux Puces (left) and Culturalized (right)
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I’m wearing RGB Minty on my fingers (from Popsugar’s new monthly Must-Have Bag subscription service for July) and Zoya Arizona on my toes.
How about you? What are you wearing on your nails?
G’morning, friend! 🙂 I feel 1000% better today. Oh, sweet sleep, how I love thee so…
This is probably gonna make me sound terribly “vintage,” as in the “Get off my lawn, you pesky kids!” definition of the word, but I went to bed at 8:30 last night…
Tabs was like, “What the hell, Mom?! It’s not even dark yet. I thought we had plans to party tonight ’til the break of dawn.”
Sorry, Tabby. Mommy tired.
OH! I started another book, another young adult science fiction one called Enclave, by Anne Aguirre. I read that in bed last night until I passed out.
5-second summary? BOOM! It’s the apocalypse (of course), and everyone lives underground in abandoned subway tunnels. The main character, Deuce, is a teenage girl/huntress trying to navigate her way through the world in a time of great change.
If I hadn’t been so tired I would have kept reading all night long. It’s been that good so far.
This is kinda weird, but here’s the trailer for the book (I know, trailers for books)…
The Enclave book trailer
Okay…there’s some cheese in there, and the dude looks nothing like I picture him in my head, but it gives a little taste of what the book’s about.
Anywho, I hope things are going well out there. Anything new to report? I’ve got a full tank of positive vibes over here, so if you need a refill, just holler. I’ll zap some over to you with my hands, Sookie-style. 🙂
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
Topshop Nails in Cosmic Karma, $10.
Don’t you just love the itty bitty pieces of glitter?
I ate one when I went to Off the Grid (food trucks!) in Larkspur last Sunday. Summer squash, arugula and beets with a spicy mayo sauce on the side, yum!
Where’s home base? For my eyebrows, most of the time it’s at the corner of MAC Concrete Eyeshadow and the 266 Small Angle Brush, but over the past couple of weeks, the new Make Up For Ever Aqua Brow ($20 and available in seven shades) and I have stamped some pretty impressive locations in our makeup passport, from a series of treadmill sessions in a sweltering room, to a blisteringly hot blacktop parking lot where a pack of food trucks roam, to a humid East Bay afternoon.
No matter how hot, sticky or overheated I got, Aqua Brow didn’t budge, even when I was bathed in sweat from head to toe after daydreaming about Jeremy Renner a rough 6-mile run.
From the left: #25 Ash, #35 Taupe and #40 Brown Black
Make Up For Ever made this brow-filling gel for makeup artists, but you and I can use it, too. 🙂 Designed to fill, define and intensify brows with a concentrated waterproof formula able withstand hot summer days and sudden thunderstorms, it comes in a tube and dries to a powder with a satiny finish.
A tip for the three dudes who read MBB (bless your hearts!), you can use Aqua Brow to fill in mustaches and sideburns, too.
MUFE claims the essential oils and carnauba wax (palm wax) they used render Aqua Brow virtually melt-proof.
All seven shades join MUFE’s permanent line next month, with #10 Light Blonde, #15 Blonde and #25 Ash heading to Sephora stores (but they’re available now online) and Make Up For Ever Boutiques; and #20 Light Brown, #30 Dark Brown, #35 Taupe and #40 Brown Black coming exclusively to Make Up For Ever Boutiques.
So far my brows and I have tried #25 Ash, #35 Taupe and #40 Brown Black. I think that Ash, while a tad lighter than my natural brow color, matches my dyed hair pretty well, and if you’re a brunette, it should work well for you, too.
From the left: #25 Ash, #35 Taupe and #40 Brown Black
Before (left) and after application of #25 Ash (right)
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I’m all for streamlining my makeup bag and only carrying the products I know I’ll need (although I do like to have options when it comes to things like lipgloss), and I’ll never turn my back on a great multitasking product, like MAC Bare Study Paint Pot, which can work as a base or a standalone shadow, but when it comes to concealers? — I generally like to keep my bag stocked with two different shades, one a few shades lighter than my natural skin tone for concealing dark circles and for brightening my under-eye area, and a second shade that more closely matches my skin tone for covering up blemishes, small scars and discolorations on my face.
Back when I first started wearing concealer, I was all about keeping a streamlined makeup bag, so whenever I left the house, I’d bring just a single light concealer shade, which I used under my eyes, and wherever else I felt I needed to on my face.
Little did I know at the time, but the light shade I was using, which was a little lighter than parts of my cheeks, chin and forehead, was actually drawing more attention to my trouble spots, like a makeup spotlight.
Oh, noes!
Nowadays, I usually bring 2-3 concealer shades with me (usually two, but sometimes three). For my under-eye area, I’m back to using an old love of mine, MAC Select Moisturecover Concealer ($18).
That area up there under my eyes gets really dry, but Moisturecover couldn’t care less. It handles my dry under-eye area better than anything else. The medium-coverage formula also looks natural and doesn’t settle into my fine lines (yea!). The only downside, and it’s not a deal-breaker for me, is that I do have to reapply it after about eight hours of wear.
Most of the time I wear it in shade NW25, even though I’m color matched to NC42, because I think the peachy tones better counteract the purple tones under my eyes (especially when I’m dog tired, like today).
Ladies and gents with hyperactive sebaceous glands (read: oily skin) might want to try MAC Select Cover-Up ($18), MAC’s version for oily skin, or MAC Pro Longwear Concealer ($18).
Speaking of Pro Longwear Concealer, I think it’s really great for my face in general. Being super concentrated, a little goes a long way, and it’s awfully stubborn, in a good way. In other words, it doesn’t budge. 🙂
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Butter London Lippy and Nail Polish in Toff on my lips and nails
Looks like matchy-matchy is in this fall. Quite a few lines have been releasing matching lip and nail products lately, like MAC, Sonia Kashuk and Butter London for fall 2012 (shown below), and can I just say? — I love this trend! 🙂
It reminds me of the sirens of the silver screen — so classic, elegant and pulled together — and with so many colors out there to choose from, it’s one of those rare trends in which everyone can find something to wear.
As some food for thought, here are three combinations featuring Butter London’s new Lippy Butter ($17 each) and 3-Free Lacquer ($14 each) shades, available online now at butterlondon.com.
From the left: Lacquer and Lippy Butters in Toff, La Moss and Queen Vic
If you prefer more neutral/natural-looking colors, you could try a creamy rose like Toff.
Butter London Toff…I use hands a lot when I talk, so I think it’s kinda cool to have nails that play off the the color on my lips!
But if you want more drama-for-your-mama, then how about something vampy, like dark wine La Moss?
Butter London Lippy and Nail Polish La Moss
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