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Karen

Shore Enough, the MAC Hey, Sailor! Blushes Are Softer Than Usual Summer Fare

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mac fleet fast

I love blush more than drag queens love high heels, more than club kids love glow sticks, and more than cat ladies love fat, fluffy kittens with blue eyes and pink collars with rhinestones.

Coral and warm peach blushes are frequent summer stars, like the two $21 limited edition Powder Blushes from the MAC Hey, Sailor! collection, available online now at maccosmetics.com and coming to North American counters and stores May 24.

It’s interesting, but peachy Launch Away! and pinkish golden coral Fast Fleet aren’t what I typically expect from summer blushes. Maybe that’s why I like them so much.

I’m used to seeing brighter colors and bolder shimmer on cheeks in summer, but these babes seem fairly subdued by comparison, with a low-key soft focus satin finish.

Both are very forgiving, especially when it comes to my pores and fine lines, and they last an admirable 8-10 hours on my combination dry/oily cheeks.

The two new Hey, Sailor! Powder Blushes

Launch Away!: If you like NARS Sex Appeal blush, you just might love this easy-to-blend peach. It takes two layers to show up on my NC42 skin, but if you’re lighter than I am, you could easily get away with one. Launch Away! might not play well with very dark skin tones, but pale pretties who like the way they look in warm colors are in luck.
MAKEUP AND BEAUTY BLOG RATING: A

Fast Fleet: One light layer of this pigmented pinky golden coral delivers plenty of color. I love how it doesn’t compete for attention with the intense orange and red lip colors in the Hey, Sailor! collection, and I can’t wait to pair it with some of my bright MAC permanent line lip faves like Lychee Luxe, Cockney and Lady Danger. If you wear bold reds or coral lip looks often, ding-ding-ding! We have a winner here. 🙂
MAKEUP AND BEAUTY BLOG RATING: A+

mac fleet fast
Wearing Powder Blush in Fleet Fast

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The Many Highlights of MAC High-Light Powder in Crew

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mac hey sailor high light powder

Don’t tell the rest of my makeup this…but I’ve been showing product favoritism toward highlighting powders lately, as evidenced by the forlorn, shimmery creams and liquids gathering dust in the corner of my office.

Currently docked in the port of my daily makeup bag? The new MAC Hey, Sailor! Highlight Powder in Crew ($29).

mac crew highlight powder
High-Light Powder in Crew, $28

The four purple, pink, orange and yellowish beige shades in this superfine pressed powder swirl together seamlessly, creating a combined color that adds a peachy, pinkish beige glow to the skin.

No glitter here! Crew’s pearly sheen glows softly, like light passing through a seashell (very Becca-esque). From some angles, I think it even looks matte.

And second to the snazzy design on the pan, the finish is my favorite thing about High-Light Powder in Crew.

It’s just so forgiving! — unlike highlighting powders super high in shimmer and shine, which can call attention to every single flake and pore on my cheeks. Crew, on the other hand, makes my skin glow without highlighting (pun intended) every imperfection.

It’s a fresh-faced look, like I’ve been tooling around the Bay on a sailboat with Detective Stabler, the wind sweeping my hair as we share guava mimosas and feed each other grapes and cheese.

Mmm…cheese (SIDE NOTE: the non-dairy experiment is not going well).

mac hey sailor high light powder

mac crew highlight powder

mac hey sailor swatches highlighter blushes
High-Light Powder in Crew; Powder Blush in Fleet Fast and Launch Away!
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Neon Helps Nails Do the Bright Thing: Dazzle Your Digits With This Easy Neon Nail Art Look…and Then Enter to Win $600 in Prizes!

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neon nails 1

This series is brought to you by Buxom Color Choreography Eyeshadow. Buxom wants to inspire you to live life vividly.

You know why summer is one of my favorite seasons?

Okay, I mean besides the sun, the warm weather, the blockbuster movies, the lighter traffic on the highways (because school is out), the beach days, swimming pools, and aaaaaaall of that stuff. Besides all of that, do you know why summer is one of my favorite seasons? 🙂

One word: color! Summer is a fantastic excuse to go buck wild with color.

For those three months, it’s everywhere you turn — on lips, cheeks, eyes, and yes, also nails.

And what better way to celebrate the coming color storm than with some of the neat neon nail colors popping up in summer collections.

Here’s an easy neon nail art tutorial that you can do even if you’re pressed for time. And you can also try some different color combinations to suit your mood.

Step 1: Start with a bright base

neon nails 2

First things first, apply a base coat, followed by a layer (or two) of your favorite neon nail polish. Here, I’m using a creamy bright orange (just because I think it’s summery and fun).

Wait until that’s completely dry before moving on to the next step…

Step 2: Add your stripes

neon nails 3

Tabs, a self-proclaimed feline expert in stripes, insisted that I do mine freehand, painting them directly on my nails. For this look, I used a bright creamy neon pink.

Before I let the brush touch a nail, I try to remove as much excess polish from the brush as I can by running it against the mouth of the bottle. Then, with the lightest touch I can manage, I draw each stripe, beginning at the base of the nail and brushing up toward the tip.

When I’m done with the first layer, I wait for it to dry, and then repeat the process (if necessary, depending on the opacity of the color you’ve chosen) for extra intensity.

Now, you can draw your stripes anywhere you want. Remember, this is all about you going buck wild. 🙂 But I prefer to draw them slightly off the center of each nail.

Why? Because I like my stripes like I like my cat — bold and kinda chunky!

But thin stripes are cool, too. I’ve done it both ways.

If you have trouble painting your stripes freehand, clear scotch tape can help. Just lay two strips of tape down along the sides of each nail to create a homemade stencil, and then paint in the middle.

neon nails 4
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Mid-Week Beauty Report, May 16, 2012: My Latest Skin Care Crushes From Sephora

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caudalie hydrating water nourishing body lotion firming concentrate

Well, I finally finished my beloved tube of Caudalie Vine Body Butter last weekend, and yes, it was just like Maxwell House Coffee (good to the last drop).

Polishing it off also left a void in my heart that I knew only one thing could fill, and the name of that thing starts with the word, “Sephora.”

Okay, that doesn’t make any sense at all, but you know me. Anything to try something new! 🙂

I stopped by Sephora on Monday night to look around, and here are three things (among many others) that caught my eye…

1. Caudalie Nourishing Body Lotion

caudalie nourishing body water

As soon as I stepped foot in the store, I made a beeline for the Caudalie display. I’m still on a Caudalie kick, so I’m taking their Nourishing Body Lotion ($36 for 8.4 counces) out for a test drive.

With summer approaching, this is about the time I usually switch to lighter body lotions that don’t feel so heavy on my skin.

This one, for normal and dry skin types, contains antioxidant grape polyphenols and ginkgo biloba (of cognition-enhancing fame) to help keep skin soft and firm.

I’ve only been using two days, including today, and I already love it. It’s rich and moisturizing but doesn’t leave my skin greasy, and it absorbs more quickly than the Vine Body Butter.

If you’ve ever sniffed Caudalie’s Hand Cream before, it has the same light, fresh grassy scent.

So refreshing after a shower… It might be too early to say this, but I think I found my new summer moisturizer for my bod.

Ingredients: Aqua (Water), Glycerin, Caprylic / Capric Triglyceride, Vitis Vinifera (Grape) Seed Oil, Butylene Glycol, C14-22 Alcohol, Sesamum Indicum (Sesame) Seed Oil, Potassium Cetyl Phosphate, Palmitic Acid, Stearic Acid, C12-20 Alkyl Glucoside, Dimethicone, Parfum (Fragrance), Sodium Acrylates Copolymer, Caprylyl Glycol, Hydrogenated Polyisobutene, Sodium PCA, Cetyl Alcohol, Lonicera Caprifolium (Honeysuckle) Flower extract, Borago Officinalis Seed Oil, Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seed Oil, Phospholipids, Polyglyceryl-10 Stearate, Tocopherol, Vitis Vinifera (Grape) Seed extract, Ginkgo Biloba Leaf Extract, Sodium Hyaluronate, Benzyl Benzoate, Citronellol, Coumarin, Geraniol, Hexyl Cinnamal, Butylphenyl Methylpropional, Limonene, Linalool, Hydroxyisohexyl-3-Cyclohexene Carboxaldehyde

2. Caudalie Firming Concentrate

caudalie firming concentrate
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The MAC Hey, Sailor! Lipglasses Present, “Sailing on a Riviera Life” (Starring Ryan Gosling)

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mac riviera life lipglass
Hey, Sailor! (That never gets old.) Why yes, I am wearing MAC Riviera Life Lipglass

Oh. My. Gawd! You’re not gonna believe this (and you’d be wise not to), but I had a run-in with Ry-Ry! It was yesterday in line at Starbucks. There I was, just minding my own beeswax, when in walks Mr. Ryan Gosling himself!

He had on a tight white t-shirt, drawstring linen capri pants and a pair of brown boat shoes. I couldn’t see his rippling abs through his t-shirt…but I knew they were there. Watching me.

So he walks over, right? Right over to me, because I’m the last person in line, and says, “Can I buy you a drink?”

I’m like, “Shyeah!”

I tell him I’ll take a Grande Soy Chai Latte — no foam, please — and he asks if I want to go out sailing on his schooner.

I don’t know what a schooner is, but what the hell am I gonna say — no? I tell him, “Sure, Ryan, but before we go, I gotta touch up my Lipglass.”

He says, “No worries, boo. I hope you like the Riviera, because that’s where we’re going. Flight leaves in an hour.”

“…”

I’m shocked. Totally speechless. And then it hits me — what about my cat!? El Hub will probably understand — I mean, it’s Ryan Gosling! — but Tabs?

And then, as if sensing my concern, Ryan gently places his finger on my lips and says, “If you’re worried about Tabs, he can come too.”

I just about died!

But then I woke up. 🙂

mac send me sailing
Send Me Sailing (please, Ryan?)

Talk about rude awakenings. But I still felt somehow close to Ryan in that moment, like, connected by the dream, so I shut my eyes really tight and wished for the dream to come true…

Sure enough, it worked!

Well, mostly. Not the part about Ryan Gosling (damn!), but the part about the Lipglass from the MAC Hey, Sailor! collection.

The five $15.50 Lipglasses in the release drop anchor on MAC counters and maccosmetics.com on May 24. They range from pale to bright warm shades of peach, coral and orange, punctuated by red and gold.

The MAC Hey, Sailor! Lipglass lineup includes…

  • Cut Loose: a white golden pearl
  • Orange Tempera: a pale peach
  • Riviera Life: a bright tangerine
  • Blessedly: a pale, rich coral
  • Send Me Sailing: a bright yellowish red

Here are my thoughts on three of the five Hey, Sailor! shades…

Send Me Sailing: A heat spell hits Russian Red! I feel like I’ve been waiting decades for a color like this — a warm-toned version of Russian Red Lipglass!

It lasts for hours, but when it does eventually wear off, it leaves behind a beautiful deep red matte stain on my lips. So pretty!

I think it looks beyond gorgeous on top of MAC Cockney and Lady Bug lipstick.

Sure, because it is so pigmented, it likes to migrate, but I work around that by lining my lips first with a lip liner like Pro Longwear Lip Pencil in Throw Me a Line!, also from MAC Hey, Sailor! But any yellowish red liner should do. You might try MAC Pro Longwear Lip Pencil in Kiss Me Quick…whose name reminds me of The Cure.
MAKEUP AND BEAUTY BLOG RATING: A+

Riviera Life: If you like Caqui from the Blogger’s Obsessions collection or Morange lipstick from MAC’s permanent line, you might like this opaque, bright tangerine orange as much as I do.

It’s spiced with fine flecks of golden shimmer and hasn’t met an orange, coral or reddish coral lipstick in my collection that it doesn’t like to be layered with. You might try it with MAC Lady Danger, So Chaud or Crosswires.

One layer lasts for hours, until it leaves behind an orange lip stain (almost like getting two MAC products for the price of one).

OOH! I just thought of something I’d like to try… What about pairing Riviera Life with an eye look of nude shadow on the lids and a couple layers of blue mascara? I think that sounds like fun. 🙂
MAKEUP AND BEAUTY BLOG RATING: A+

Orange Tempera: I like this creamy pale peach just fine — it’s much lower maintenance than the other shades I’ve tried — but I feel like MAC cheesed out by re-releasing this color so soon after the Fall Colour collection.

It layers like a champ, but I find myself using it sparingly. If I’m not careful, it can look milky on my lips.

As a side, doesn’t it seem like MAC recycles colors more often than they used to?
MAKEUP AND BEAUTY BLOG RATING: B

mac orange rivera life send me sailing lipglass
Lipglasses from the left: Orange Tempera, Riviera Life and Send Me Sailing, $15.50 each

mac hey sailor swatches lipglasses
Orange Tempera, Riviera life and Send Me Sailing
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What Do Cosmic Chameleons and Rimmel Match Perfection Blush Have in Common? Not as Much as I’d Hoped

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rimmel match perfection blush
Rimmel Match Perfection Blush in 004 Medium/Dark

Drugstore nirvana. That’s what it feels like when I find a new drugstore blush that perfectly matches my skin tone. I get a real buzz from it, like a sweet treat sugar high. OOH! What glosses can I pair with it!? All that possibility, and oh — so much money saved!

A good drugstore blush can have a powerful therapeutic effect on my brain. I just wish my health insurance covered blushes…

Rimmel’s new $10 Match Perfection Blushes (available in four shades) cost less than the average co-pay, and while they might look like standard blush trios in their big pans, they have a sci-fi-ish formula containing blue sapphire pigments that allegedly emulate your natural skin tone.

Rimmel says they adapt to the colors and contours of the face, creating a natural flush, and you can either wear the colors in the trios separately, or swirled together to create a single shade, which is the way I’ve been wearing them this week.

rimmel match perfection blush stack

rimmel match perfection blush 001 light
001 Light

rimmel match perfection blush 002 light medium
002 Light/Medium
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