March 19th, 2009 | Karen | Filed in: Face of the Day (FOTD), MAC Makeup

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.
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March 7th, 2009 | Karen | Filed in: Face of the Day (FOTD), MAC Makeup

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.
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…
February 27th, 2009 | Karen | Filed in: Face of the Day (FOTD)

The mission: to duplicate Freida Pinto’s SAG 2009 makeup look!
This time around (check out my previous attempt), I added a drugstore makeup twist.
Version 2.0 relies on some Neutrogena products, like the Nourishing Eye Duo in Starry Night ($9), an eyeshadow duo with two shimmery shades of blue.

The first time I tried this look, I ended up with a bright teal eye with a crisp black eyeliner. For Version 2.0, I decided to aim for a shimmery grayish blue on the lid. I think it’s a little closer to Freida’s original look than my last try.
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February 6th, 2009 | Karen | Filed in: Face of the Day (FOTD), Makeup

Good morning, girls! Happy Friday.
It’s raining cats and dogs this morning! I’m just sitting here twiddling my thumbs while the coffee brews… I need it desperately this morning because Tabs went totally apesh*t last night, jumping on top of furniture, pawing at the walls and meowing at himself in the dark. I dunno. He gets like this when it rains. First, he meows to go out; then meows to come back in. Over and over, all through the night, ack!
Despite only getting two seconds of sleep, I’m in a pretty good mood. Not only is it Friday, but my attempt to re-create the blue and brown eye Freida Pinto wore to the SAG awards didn’t turn out half bad.

In the picture up top, Freida’s wearing a warm brown in the crease and a bluish gray shadow on the lid. I don’t know the exact products used for her look, but for my version I layered L’Oreal HiP Duo in Magnetic Fields on top of MAC Jadeye Fluidline.

It’s a little more teal than I wanted, but I like how it turned out.

For the rest of the eye, I used MAC Painterly Paint Pot as a base, MAC Soft Brown and MAC Brown Script in the crease and MAC Brule on the brow bone.
To line the eyes, I added MAC Blacktrack on the upper lash line, and to finish, layered Blacktrack and Magnetic on the lower.

I’m going to keep trying this look with other blue cream and powder shadows until I match the same smokey gray blue shade in Freida’s look.
January 31st, 2009 | Karen | Filed in: Face of the Day (FOTD), Makeup

Givenchy’s new Sari collection takes bold Bollywood glamor and blends it with sheer shades for spring.
Yesterday, I wore some of Sari’s apricots and oranges, daydreaming about spring. I went for a look with bright lips and sheer eyes, and now I can’t wait for warmer weather to wear these colors with a white cotton dress, gold baubles and dark brown strappy sandals, ooh!
Here’s a breakdown of the steps I took with my look…


I start with Precious Sari Glittering Eyeshadow in Maharani Gold, a liquid eyeshadow with small flecks of gold glitter suspended in a clear gel. It gives the eyes a shimmery gold base.

To apply, I sweep Maharani Gold onto the eyelid with the included doe-foot applicator, and then use my finger to spread it around evenly. It dries fast, so I make sure to bust a move and do this quickly!

Next, I add a subtle smokiness to the eyes by drawing a thick black line on the upper lash line with Magic Kajal Liner in Magic Black.
Magic Kajal Liner is an emollient and highly pigmented pencil liner. It’s easy to smudge and ideal for layering beneath power eyeshadows for smokey looks.
I then line both the upper and lower water lines with Magic Kajal. It smudges like crazy and tends to migrate onto the skin beneath the lower lashes after I apply it on the waterline. Because I want to keep the liner on the lower lash line looking sharp and crisp, I grab a Q-Tip soaked in Lancome Bi-Facil, and then clean up any smudged liner before moving onto the next step.

Almost done! Now for a few colors from the Prismissime Compact Powder in Maharani Apricots.
Using a MAC 239 Eye Shader Brush, I pat the center color (a shimmery golden brown) from Maharani Apricots directly on top of Magic Kajal on the upper lash line, drawing the color up into the crease.
Prismissime Compact Powder in Maharani Apricots contains nine mini-pans of sheer orange, brown and beige powders. Swirl a blush brush over the entire pan to mix the powders if you want to apply it combined color as a blush or highlighter. Or, use an eye brush to apply the colors separately.
To finish the eyes, I add some color into the crease by sweeping a matte orange brown shade (the color in the lower right-hand corner of the Maharani Apricots palette) into the crease with a MAC 224 Tapered Blending Brush.
That completes the eyes.


The cheeks and lips are just as easy.
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