The Essie Resort 2012 collection, available now at beauty supply stores and salons.
Essie Resort 2012 Collection
Shades of Blue and Gray
I love the colors in this pic. Taken at dusk at Kalapaki Bay, Kauai, April 2012.
With the MAC Hey, Sailor! Pigments, Everything Old Is New Again
MAC Hey, Sailor! Pigment in Naval Blue
Here at Tabs the Cat Industries, LLC, Tabs insists that we recycle as much as we can — paper packaging, plastic bottles and jars, aluminum Fancy Feast cans.
He’s very eco-conscious that way.
And yet while he’s a big (literally) advocate of household recycling, he generally opposes the recycling of products within MAC’s limited edition collections.
Personally, I’m okay with seeing certain colors pop up every now and again. In some cases they’re a reminder to stock up!
But Tabs says otherwise. With him and makeup it’s always, “Meow! Meow! Meow!” (“New! New! New!”)
You know fashion-forward feline supermodels… Always trying to stay ahead of the trends. 🙂
I could feel him looking over my shoulder this afternoon, judging me, as I played with the new MAC Hey, Sailor! Pigments in Old Gold and Naval Blue ($21 each).
If you’ve been following MAC for a while, both colors might look familiar. Old Gold is a re-promoted shade from MAC’s permanent line, and Naval Blue, a limited edition color, launched earlier this spring with the MAC Chenman collection.
MAC gave them snazzy striped outfits (cute!) this time around, and then raised the price of each one by $1.
Sure, neither one breaks new ground here…but that doesn’t make me like them any less.
The two MAC Hey, Salior Pigments
Old Gold
MAC calls Old Gold highly frosted and tarnished, which accurately describes the way I think it looks on my NC42 skin, although I also see flashes of green in it from time to time. I love it.
It’s like it turns on a light behind my eyes, and it looks ah-may-zing with bright green shadows like Fresh Flare.
Picture a darker, greener version of MAC’s Gorgeous Gold Eyeshadow, and you’ve got Old Gold.
Super pretty, but take it for a spin at a counter first if you have very cool undertones, because it can be quite warm.
Makeup and Beauty Blog Rating: A
Naval Blue
Now, if you took MAC Deep Truth, darkened it, turned up the intensity, and added tiny silver sparkles, you’d create a color just like Naval Blue.
Interestingly, I think it looks bluer and less purple on me than it did when I had less of a tan.
I do think it’s pretty, but it’s probably not something I’d wear all over my lids to Trader Joe’s. Instead, I’ll wear it as a liner, applying it with a wet MAC 266 brush along my upper lash line for a cat eye look.
Makeup and Beauty Blog Rating: B
Swatches from the left: Deep Truth, Naval Blue, Gorgeous Gold, Old Gold and Goldmine
Naval Blue
Old Gold
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BOOM! These Neon Nails Hit Me Like a Ton of Bricks, or a Bright Orange Bazooka: The Essie Poppy Razzi Nail Polish Collection for Summer 2012
Lights, Camera, Action…Bazooka?
LOL! Which one of these things is doin’ its own thing? Maybe someday I’ll figure out what Bazooka, one of four bright shades in Essie’s Poppy Razzi release for summer 2012, is doing in this collection, but until then I’ll just try to enjoy the neon-ness of it all.
Lights (an electric pink), Camera (a brilliant coral), Action (a vibrant orange) and Bazooka (a bright orange) — again, Bazooka? What am I missing?? — are darn near picture-perfect summer shades. All four apply smoothly from my cuticles to nail tips, despite having a formula on the thicker side, which is pretty typical, from my experience, of Essie polishes.
All I need is one coat of Camera (my fave!) or two of Bazooka and Lights. Action, however, likes being babied. It goes on a little streaky, so I usually apply a third coat.
With a good base and top coat, I can get a solid seven days (at least) from these before any signs of chipping.
Lights
Camera
Action
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Enter the Makeup and Beauty Blog Buxom Photo Contest to Win a Prize Worth More Than $600
To enter, just upload a pic of yourself “Living life vividly!”
What could you do with a $500 Visa gift card?
How about a A $500 Visa gift card and an assortment of Buxom cosmetics?
Enter the Makeup and Beauty Blog Buxom Photo contest today, and you could be the lucky person asking yourself that very question, “What could I do with a $500 Visa gift card and an assortment of Buxom cosmetics?”
It’s easy to enter (details down below), and you probably already have a perfect picture of yourself that you could use. Something from a happy time. 🙂
Your pic doesn’t have to be makeup or beauty related, either, although it could (perhaps flaunting a bright mani, or smiling in a face of the day). It just has to portray you “living life vividly,” like how I’m jumping for joy in the pic above (see a few more examples here.
Yeah…you also don’t have to be jumping in your entry (I just like to jump!)
Here’s how to enter
- Visit www.flickr.com and upload a photo that displays you “living life vividly,” as well as a short caption (200 characters or less) that explains the photo.
- Mark the photo as “public” (so I’m able to view it).
- Tag it with the following tag:
- BuxomPhotoContestMakeupandBeautyBlog
- Simply post a link to your Flickr photo in a comment at the bottom of yesterday’s post (or on one of the next two upcoming posts in this series). NOTE: Enter on yesterday’s post, and not on this one here.
How will the winner be picked?
Tabs and I will choose the winner based on the following criteria…
- Creativity/originality (33%)
- The overall quality of your submission (33%)
- How well it displays you “living life vividly” (34%)
What’s the prize?
A $500 Visa® gift card and an assortment of Buxom® cosmetics, including two (2) Buxom Color Choreography eye shadow palettes, one (1) Buxom Big & Healthy Lip Polish, and one (1) Buxom Lash (volumizing mascara).
Approximate retail value: $609!
What about the small print?
- The contest is open to adults 18+ in the US only (sorry, international babes!)
- The last date to enter is June 12, 2012 at 11:59 PM Eastern Time
- Up to 3 entries per person (yup, you read that correctly: 3 entries per person)
Click here for the official rules, terms and conditions.
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
P.S. So far, I don’t think anyone has actually entered, so if you do the math, that means your odds of winning are currently VERY good, haha!
Funny — These MAC Suntint SPF 20 Liquid Lip Balms Have a Dry Sense of Humor
I was totally expecting to fall in love with these new limited edition $16 MAC Suntints because 1) I’ve been enjoying everything I’ve tried from the MAC Hey, Sailor! collection so far, and 2) I really liked last summer’s Suntints from the Surfbaby release, but the three new shades, well…
They just aren’t doing it for me.
Abalone
Sea Mist
Suntints SPF 20 Liquid Lip Balm from the left: Sea Mist, Au Rose and Abalone, $16
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Essie Poppy Razzi
A few brights on this lovely Friday morning! The Essie Poppy Razzi collection, available now at salons.
Random Acts of iPhone Photography, 04.18.12
Chocolate hearts, fava bean ravioli, a man in camo capri pants (a fashion do or don’t?) and other pics from my iPhone this week.