After seeing Laura Mercier’s Mediterranean Sea Eye Mosaic eyeshadow palette ($35) in the Daily Beauty picture today, some of you gals suggested I try her in my face of the day.

That was all the prodding I needed… Here she is in all her shimmery turquoise, royal blue and golden bronze glory!

For the eyes in this look, I added MAC Rollickin’ Paint Pot ($16.50; limited edition, but a good dupe would be Estee Lauder’s Sea Mist for $17.50), Chanel Fluid Iridescent Eyeshadow in Delta ($32), Cargo Plant Love Eyeliner in Midnight Blue ($16) and MAC Mascara X in Black X ($12.50).

The Mediterranean Sea Eye Mosaic quad is probably my favorite eyeshadow palette so far this summer. The shadows virtually melt into the skin, pack intense color and blend with ease.

Don’t these shades look bangin’?

If the makeup gods forced me to choose between this quad or coffee for a week, I’d give up the java — OUCH! I’d be totally cranky, but at least my eyes would look smokin’ hot.

Continue Reading…

Can I get an AMEN from all the makeup procrastinators out there? Oh, you *know* who you are, LOL! When you should be finishing that assignment or organizing those files you bust out the makeup and brushes and do a two-hour eye look instead. I’m right there with ya, girlfriend.

I’ve got a paper due tomorrow, but instead of getting down to business, I spent half the morning playing with the new Dior Electric Lights Palette, AHHH!

Eyes

So far, I’m really liking Dior Electric Lights. The light blues don’t apply as frosty as I thought they might. That’s what I expected when I first swatched the colors on the back of my hand.

Another surprise: the light baby blue shade in the lower left hand corner applies surprisingly sheer, and it has a duo-chrome quality to it that totally reminds me of a blue MAC Stars N’ Rockets.

Continue Reading…

What’s up, ladies? TGIF! I hope it was a good week for you. Mine felt like it flew by quicker than Ralph Tresvant’s solo career. Exciting new spring makeup from DuWop, MAC and Dior helped to pass the time.

Yesterday I played with some of the new products and put my camera to the test. Stay tuned for full reviews of Fountain of Youth Foundation, Circle Block Concealer, Prep+Prime Transparent Finishing Powder and Coral Riviera Blush over the coming days.

Face and cheeks

• DuWop Fountain of Youth Foundation: I’m really liking the dewy finish of this light-medium coverage foundation. It looks natural, without looking oily, in both pictures and real life, but I’m still on the fence as far as the brush applicator, which seems to handle distribution better than it handles blending.
• DuWop Circle Block Concealer: I feel just so-so about this concealer/ corrector combo. The peachy color corrector does a decent job covering up dark circles, but finding the ideal ratio of corrector to concealer has been a little tricky. The first time I tried it I guessed wrong and applied way too much of the corrector, which left my under eye area looking orange and kinda gross. This one’s gonna take some practice to figure out.
• MAC Prep+Prime Transparent Finishing Powder: WOW! Color me blown away. This powder has game. It adds a natural glow to my skin and appears to soften the look of fine lines and pores. I also dig that it doesn’t look chalky or heavy in pictures. I’m in love…
• Dior Coral Riviera Blush: Um, hello hotness? This blush delivers a warm bronze, with a coral hue and shimmery golden glow all in one fell swoop. From the swatches, I expected more of a straight coral blush with golden shimmer, but a surprising amount of bronze showed up on my cheeks. And it’s the bronze tint that makes me think Coral Riviera’s gonna look smokin’ hot with a summertime tan.

The eyes and lips

Since I was in the mood for some color in the look, I went with a green and blue eye using Cargo Tahiti Palette and Benefit Bad Gal Waterproof Liner, finishing with a shimmery coral lip using Dior Addict Gloss in Coral Lame. Side note: Coral Lame was a limited edition gloss, but if you’re looking for something similar, try Laura Mercier Lip Glace Lipgloss in Bellini.

Continue Reading…

Hey, sweet thangs! Did you satisfy your sweet tooth with any bits of the MAC Sugarsweet collection today?

Though I still have to get my mitts on Aquavert Eyeshadow and Cakeshop Shadestick, I couldn’t wait to do a Sugarsweet face of the day.

I did a shimmery green and gray eye, peach cheek and coral lip with Club Eyeshadow and Lollipop Loving Lipstick — two colors from Sugarsweet which I already had in my MAC stash.

Since I’m still waiting to adopt Aquavert, I substituted it with MAC Warm Chill, a shimmery green eyeshadow from last summer’s Cool Heat collection. I patted Warm Chill on the lid, swept Club in the crease and then lined my eyes with MAC Eye Pencil in Coffee. For the lips I layered MAC Tinted Lip Conditioner in Gentle Coral beneath Lollipop Loving Lipstick (ooh girl, this combo is the shizz!). To finish the look I swept MAC Beauty Powder Blush in Eversun, a shimmery peach, on my cheeks.

Continue Reading…

Ladies, thanks to your recommendations I’m now officially obsessed with MAC Amber Lights eyeshadow, aka the ultimate pan of peachy bronze goodness.

Yesterday, I borrowed a few of your color combination suggestions for this plummy bronze eye.

I know spring is right around the corner and all, but the colors remind me of autumn leaves.

I used six MAC products for the look.

1. MAC Indianwood Paint Pot cream shadow: shimmery bronze
2. MAC Amber Lights eyeshadow: shimmery peachy brown
3. MAC Saddle eyeshadow: matte orangey brown
4. MAC Star Violet eyeshadow: shimmery plummy brown
5. MAC Shadowy Lady eyeshadow: matte plummy black
6. MAC Honey Lust eyeshadow: shimmery bronzy peach

It starts out with a thin layer of Indianwood Paint Pot patted over the entire lid. It’s a cream base that adds staying power to the powder eyeshadows and turns up the color intensity.

After Indianwood, I go straight for Amber Lights, aka my new eyeshadow crush, applying it on the lid with a MAC 239 Eye Shader Brush.

For added color and contrast in the crease, I follow Amber Lights with a sweeping of Saddle eyeshadow on the inner half of the crease using a MAC 217 Blending Brush. After that, I sweep Star Violet eyeshadow on the outer half with a MAC 224 Tapered Blending Brush.

I’m shooting for a little more of a smokey look, so I grab my trusty pan of MAC Shadowy Lady eyeshadow (remember her from the MAC Cult of Cherry Collection?) and pat her in the outer corner with the MAC 239.

After lining both the upper and lower lash lines with a MAC 209 Eyeliner Brush, I sweep some Honey Lust eyeshadow onto the brow bone and into the inner corner of the eye with a MAC 217 Blending Brush.

A few coats of mascara and concealer under the eyes, and then I move on to the lips and cheeks…

For the rest of the look, I decided to go with a strong lip and nearly-nude cheeks. I apply a single of layer of MAC O lipstick (a plummy red) on the lips and MAC Emote blush on the cheeks.

I think I’ll wear this look with my plum dress (or maybe a white top and chunky gold jewelry) out to dinner tonight…

Weird urges

Continue Reading…