Wearing the Nude shades from the new MAC Nudes & Metallics collection

First things first: I have accidentally typed the words, “MAC Nudes & Metallica,” one too many times this afternoon.

Second thing: get your butt back in that chair! I know, I know… Another neutral collection for eyes, lips and cheeks?!

But check it. There’s an Olivia Pope-esque elegance to the nine pieces in the MAC Nudes sub-collection, so don’t whip your ponytail just yet. These are the kinds of neutrals I’d wear to a corner office gig if I had a Prada and Gucci budget.

Nudes, the quieter neutral half of the new MAC Nudes & Metallica Metallics collection, is available now exclusively at MAC Pro stores.

The blush and the four splendid, expensive-looking eye shadows feel soft, like tracing fingers across silk sheets, and the satin finish breathes life into the sheer pink and tan shadow shades, each of which comes in a warm and cool tone.

As for the four creamy Lipsticks, MAC’s Amplified finish gives them a slight sheen that’s sure to garner some attention (although if your lips are very pigmented like mine, you might want to blank them out first with concealer to accentuate the nuances among the colors).

Are you ready? Let’s get Nude…

Bare Minimum Eye Shadow, a soft and sheer pinkish nude with pearl and a satin finish ($15)

Body Conscious Eye Shadow, a warm and sheer mid-toned nude with a satin finish ($15)

Exposed Eye Shadow, a sheer, neutral, mid-toned warm nude with a satin finish ($15)

MAC Subverted Lipstick…

Late last night, outside in a field under the light of the full moon (or was it the lamp on the nightstand by my bed?), I brought a frosted, deep plum lipstick from the MAC Nudes & Metallics collection up to my lips and thought, “On my list of favorite supernatural things…turning into a vampire ranks way down near the bottom.”

There’s the whole blood thing, the vampire politics, the aversions to garlic and ultraviolet light, the blood…

It just seems so very, very depressing.

But I guess if I weren’t given a choice in the matter and suddenly found myself turned into a vampire, I wouldn’t be taking my style cues from the squeaky clean Cullens up in Forks. Hell, no! I’d go the Underworld route (mostly because of the interesting makeup potential).

Picture it: dark eyes, dark lips and chiseled cheeks. Frosted deep reds, browns, berries and purples.

Seductive meets sumptuous meets scary, like the nine pieces from the MAC Metallics collection, one of two sub-collections from the limited edition Nudes & Metallics release, available now exclusively at MAC Pro stores.

Clad in any mix of Metallic’s four lipsticks, four eye shadows and its solitary blush, you’ll be so ready to pursue your prey. As you confronted him/her/them (whatevs, you’re hungry!) in a dark alley, they wouldn’t know whether they should attempt to run away, try to make out with you, or ask you what you’re wearing on your eyes, cheeks and lips.

Here’s a quick look at eight of the nine pieces…

Brazenly Eye Shadow, a deep metallic purple with a Veluxe Pearl finish ($15)

Crimson Tryst Eye Shadow, a deep metallic dirty berry with a Veluxe Pearl Finish ($15)

Deep Fixation Eye Shadow, a metallic brown with a Veluxe Pearl finish ($15)

The new bareMinerals Marvelous Moxie Lipstick in Never Say Never ($18)

Go ahead, poke fun at me for saying “hella” all you want, babe, but I’ll always, always own that sh*t.

It’s just something I picked up growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area.

I also learned not to wear shorts with a tank top when I visit SF in July (because it can get downright cold!), and I automatically drop my “the’s” when referring to BART trains and MUNI. (SF Lingo 101: we say, “I took BART,” or “I took MUNI,” instead of saying, “I took the BART.”)

Yep, I’m a Bay Area girl through and through.

We may not host the headquarters of as many makeup lines as Paris and New York, but we’ve got some pretty bangin’ beauty brands reppin’ the Bay, like San Francisco-based bareMinerals.

Cheeseball!

And just like San Franciscans did back in the day, fans of bareMinerals this year can look forward to another summer of (lip) love, with a massive new launch of Marvelous Moxie Lipsticks, Lipliners and Lipglosses.

Next month, the brand is adding a total of 46 new permanent collection lip products, all priced from $15-18 each.

I KNOW!

bareMinerals Marvelous Moxie Lipliners, Lipsticks and Lipglosses

Seeing as how I change my lip color, oh, about every five seconds, I’m really excited.

Cute tubes and pencils!

This afternoon I made out with nine of the new products, and based on that, we have some pretty playful pigments and creamy textures to look forward to, and coverages varying from super saturated to soft and sheer.

Here we go! Bring on the summer of lips…

bareMinerals Marvelous Moxie Lipsticks in Light It Up, Never Say Never and Speak Your Mind

The NARS Pierre Hardy Nail Polish Duos

If I ever procure my dream shoe closet (one so vast that you can’t see how far back it goes, and the walls are lined with shelf upon shelf of heels from floor to ceiling), it’ll have one entire row dedicated to the six new Pierre Hardy for NARS Nail Duos.

A collaboration with famed French footwear and accessories designer Pierre Hardy, the new limited edition summer line, inspired by high heels, pits six pairs of polishes together like shoes.

Note: you do not have to wear heels to strut your stuff in these six $29 duos (but you might want to anyway). Your toes would look just as cute if you wore them in flip-flips.

I’ve never put on a pair of Pierre Hardy shoes, but based on the nail polishes and blushes in his collection with NARS, I want to.

Apparently, homeboy likes pigment! — because NARS pumped a ton of it into these polishes, and with the exception of the light yellow shade, Sharks Left, they deliver pretty good coverage from one or two layers.

To keep the fairly thick formula, which dries to high gloss finish in less than 10 minutes, from getting gooey on my nails, I empty as much as I can first from the brush before applying.

NARS Pierre Hardy Easy Walking Nail Polish Duo: Easy Walking Left (a shimmery golden bronze) and Easy Walking Right (a creamy yellowish tan)

NARS Pierre Hardy Sharplines Nail Polish Duo: Sharplines Left (a creamy peach) and Sharplines Right (a creamy dark brown)

I’d really appreciate it if we could just get all of the cheesy wedding puns out of the way now before we discuss the new Here Comes the Bobbi Brown Bride Luxe Collection; otherwise, they’ll distract me every minute of the way (like cat fur on my clothes).

So…

Hey! These new limited-edition Luxe pieces are walking down the aisle now at Nordstrom stores and online (ba-dum-bum!).

Ooh! With her new collection, Ms. Brown is lifting the veil (tee-hee!) on her new eye shadow palette, a travel brush set, a 6-pan palette and highlighter.

Wow! What do I have to say about the new Bobbi Brown Bride Luxe Collection? Two words: I do.

Ah… Much better. Now I can concentrate on the collection itself, which I checked out the other day at Nordie’s.

First thing I thought of when I saw it? Cake.

Mmm… Cake.

A flashback from the day after my wedding…

After swatching the collection, I have a feeling that the $60 Luxe Eye Palette would probably work best on brides-to-be with light and medium skin tones, so if you’re around my shade or darker (MAC NC 42/Bobbi Brown Honey), the colors may all look alike, or nearly so — all similarly sparkly and sheer.

Bobbi Brown Luxe Eye Palette ($60)

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