A beauty blog blooming with fresh makeup reviews, swatches and beauty tips from your friendly neighborhood beauty addict
Wow, the first day of June already!? That leaves barely enough time for an NYX Spring Fling before summer. 🙂
The powders in NYX’s new $18 Spring Fling Palette are some of the softest I’ve ever felt from the brand.
So soft, in fact, that I think they might even be a little too soft for everyday use.
With its 12 powder shadows, two blushes and two lip glosses in a sweet, subdued mix of neutrals and pastels, the only thing missing is a pair of kid gloves to handle them.
Where shall we start?
China Glaze Summer Neons, available now at Sally Beauty.
One of Tabs’ favorite games. 🙂
Wearing MAC Beth Ditto Shade & Smoke Shadow/Liner in Beth Mask on my eyes, Powder to the People on my cheeks and Pro Longwear Lipcreme in Dear Diary on my lips
Turn it up, y’all! That sailor wants to party. Isn’t that right?
Hey, Sailor! You want to party, right? Well there’s a party over here! 🙂
Come on, girls and guys, let’s turn up the music, kick off our heels, and let down our hair. It’s time for two new collections to take center stage at MAC.
The 24-piece Beth Ditto and 17-piece Casual Colour collections are already busting moves online, but the counter party doesn’t start till next week, June 7 here in North America, and internationally later the same month.
For the Beth Ditto collection, MAC collaborated with the singer-songwriter herself, and I pumped up her jams (thanks, YouTube!) while I swatched and took pictures today.
Look at those marvelously bright Pro Longwear Lipcreams down there in Dear Diary (two words: neon pink) and BOOYAH!! (a bright orange).
From a marketing standpoint, you just can’t go wrong with a name like “BOOYAH!!” I mean, if a reviewer didn’t like the color, what are they gonna say? “I hate BOOYAH!!”
BOOYAH!! With a name like that, it’s just hard to paint it in a negative light.
Not that I would, because I think it’s great.
Listening to Beth, with my arms, eyes and lips all covered in makeup, I had the urge to roller skate around my neighborhood with my boombox today. Good thing I can’t find my old roller skates…but I did air snap, neck roll and vogue in my room more than once this afternoon. 🙂
I feel like MAC captured Beth’s ferocity (fierceness?) very clearly in the collection’s lipsticks. They’re bold, and they make a statement, like she does in some of her videos with adventurous makeup.
The only thing is, I’m not so sure that same ferocity also comes across in the eye products…
The Shade & Smoke Shadow/Liners and Zoom Lash Mascaras are quieter than I expected.
Shh… Like the cooks in the MAC kitchen were having a party, and then all of the sudden someone starting banging on the walls and threatening to call the cops unless they turned the music down, so they did.
I will say that I really like their flexibility. You can wear them separately or layered together. I’m not sure yet if they’re approved for use on the water line, but I’ll find out and let you know.
The watercolor quality of the colors in Powder to the People also surprised me. From the look of the bright polka dots in the pan, I expected more POW! — vibrant pops of color. But on my skin, the shades actually apply rather muted and sheer.
I need to spend more time with the collection before deciding whether it makes me want to dance or gives me the blues. For now, though, big snaps for the the Pro Longwear Lipcremes. That much is for sure.
As for the the second collection, the laid-back, brunch-ready Casual Colour, I tried three of the eight potted lip and cheek creams in Lazy Sunday (a baby pink), Weekend Getaway (a cool rose crème) and Out for Fun (a cool coral crème).
So far, so good. 🙂
They’re like Ryan Gosling’s character in Drive, slick and smooth. The finish has just the faintest suggestion of a sheen, and they’re super easy to apply.
Still have to test them for wear time, but I definitely like what I see.
Powder to the People
From the left: BOOYAH!!, Heart Hangover and Dear Diary
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If you’re looking for a solid exfoliating body bar that’s all about puppies, rainbows and heart-shaped bubbles coming out of a pink unicorn’s butt, you won’t find it in Lush’s Buffy Body Butter ($11.95).
Buffy will not listen to you talk about your feelings as you braid each other’s hair.
Nor will she quietly discuss the merits of gentle exfoliation with you over chamomile tea in a room filled with oversized pillows and dream catchers.
No.
Lush refers to this Buffy as “the original slayer” and says it’s “tough on rough bottoms” because it wants to kick metaphorical butt.
Your skin’s butt.
Dead skin cells? Destroys ’em. The solid 3.3-ounce Buffy Body Butter bar (what a tongue-twister!) vanquishes scaly skin with a semi-coarse concoction of ground rice, almonds and beans (?). And if 3.3 ounces doesn’t seem big enough, it also comes in a larger 7-ounce bar for $22.95.
Scaly shins? Toast. Lumps, bumps and scaly patches on pretty much any part of your bod — shins, thighs, elbows, heels, arms — succumb to Buffy’s skin-sloughing powers and the moisturizing might of cocoa and shea butters.
That other Buffy in the vampire-slaying business has to struggle to keep humanity safe from blood-suckers, but for the Buffy Body Butter bar, keeping skin exfoliated and moisturized is a piece of cake.
Just massage it over wet skin, and squeal with delight! — or mild discomfort, but more on that in a minute. It’s kinda like a rich, super scrubby soap.
Then, after rinsing, pat dry. No need for lotion or cream afterward, since Buffy leaves behind a thick layer of moisturizing butters and oils.
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Just a couple pics of some makeup from the MAC Beth Ditto and Casual Colour Collections, now online at maccosmetics.com.
Both collections dot MAC counters and stores in North America next Thursday, June 7.
International gals, look for MAC Beth Ditto at MAC counters and stores in June; Casual Colour also arrives in June, but at select MAC locations only.
More in just a few!
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
If you’re not already a fan of multi-product palettes, the NYX The Crimson Amulet Collection ($25) may confirm your worst fears about pre-stocked makeup kits.
Creams placed next to powders, gah! A dizzying array of 24 eyeshadows in a mix of matte and shimmery finishes lurk within this tomb, along with a teeny liquid liner indubitably designed for elfin hands.
Recently launched to coincide with the opening of the movie, Dark Shadows (four-word summary: Johnny Depp disco vampire), the limited edition palette of products for cheeks, lips and eyes harbors a supernatural society of bewitching nudes and brights!
I like the balance of serious colors and playful party shades, as well as the overall quality of the pieces and the number of products you get for the price.
If you maintain a pro-palette position, I think that’s enough right there to sway you.
But experienced NYX adherents might have a different take, one that flits between excitement over the eerily enticing Gothic packaging (isn’t there something very Flowers in the Attic about it?), and hardcore frustration.
I know I’ve definitely seen most of these colors before, like in the Nude on Nude palette, Butt “Naked” Eyes, Bohemian Rhapsody Casting Call and Haute Model.
Wisely for NYX, the palette has a built-in fail-safe: value.
For $25, you get 36 pieces! — all of high quality.
I think the HD Studio Eye Shadow Base, cheek products and lip products rock, but I would have liked to see more pigment added to some of the eyeshadows.
Unfortunately, the tiny liner seems like a bit of a throwaway product (dude, I can barely hold it properly, and I have small hands!), but I guess that’s what greatness like LORAC Front of the Line Pro is for. 🙂
The bejeweled Crystal Gloss Jewels and the Crystal Gloss Touch, $75-85 (!) each. Available now at Swarovski Boutiques and swarovski.com.
