Archive for the 'MAC Makeup' Category

For many moons, I have struggled to become one with the purple eyeshadow (hello, Barney), and, apparently, I’m a glutton for punishment because this morning I thought I’d give it another try.

I work at the literary agency today, and I didn’t want to look like a purple drag queen, so I decided on a light purple eye with blue accents using a few colors from the MAC Naughty Nauticals collection.

Most of the products I used for this look are by MAC, but I also used a few things by Too Faced, Lancome, Lola Cosmetics, Chanel, Laura Mercier and Becca Cosmetics.

I used two layers for the eyes.

The first eye layer…

1. Too Faced Shadow Insurance primer on the entire lid (layered beneath everything else)
2. MAC Nice Vice Paint pot in the crease (layered on top of Shadow Insurance)
3. MAC Pearl Cream Color Base on the lid

The second eye layer…

1. MAC Rice Paper Eye Shadow on the browbone and lid
2. MAC Illegal Cargo Eye Shadow in the crease
3. MAC Meet the Fleet Eye Shadow in the outer V
4. Lancome Noir Le Stylo Waterproof Eyeliner on the upper water line
5. Lola Lagoon Socialeyes Gel Eye Color on the lower water line
6. MAC Bell-Bottom Blue Pigment on the lower lash line

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All soaps, shower gels and exfoliating scrubs have one glorious thing in common: they make us feel clean and pretty. And most of the time, cleansers and scrubs — true to form — look and smell clean and pretty, too.

Oh, but not so with MAC’s Volcanic Ash Exfoliator ($19). To be blunt, it looks like dirt — magical dirt.

As you might expect, it’s the jet black volcanic ash in the product that makes it look the way that it does. The feeling I got looking at my arms and legs in the shower after I worked the fine, scrubbing grains onto my freshly rinsed skin was one of impressed confusion. I was impressed because the product felt effective (like a good, deep cleanser) and confused because my skin looked covered in soot. COOL!
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I’ve had sun on my mind lately and felt inspired this morning to reach for a few brighter-than-bright items from MAC’s Neo Sci Fi collection. I didn’t really feel like going buck wild with a lot of blending or a wide variety of products with my look today, and I limited myself to just two (!) eyeshadows. Oh, and because I woke up a little late this morning (surprise!), I only had 15 minutes to get ready for work.

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The MAC Cool Heat collection debuts today, and not even 2,500 miles of open ocean can stand in its way. Here’s a quick Hawaii-inspired face of the day with a few of the products.

On the eyes I used…

1. Too Faced Shadow Insurance on the entire lid (underneath all of the other products)
2. MAC Soft Brown Matte in the crease
3. MAC Climate Blue Eye Shadow on the upper lash line
4. MAC Warm Chill Eye Shadow on the inner corner of the eye lid
5. MAC Cool Heat Eye Shadow on the lower lash line
6. Chanel Inimitable Mascara in Noir Black on the upper lashes

Of the Cool Heat products I’ve used so far, Climate Blue Eyeshadow moves me the most. I love its soft texture and dark blue color.

The rest of the look…

Brows

• MAC Concrete Eye Shadow

Dark circles (yep, they came with me on vacation!)

• MAC Select Moisturecover Concealer in NW 25
• Laura Mercier Secret Brightening Powder #2

Face

• Becca Luminous Skin Colour SPF 20 in Nut
• Becca Stick Foundation SPF 30 in Coffee
• Stila Bronzing Powder in Shade 02

Cheeks

• MAC Sheertone Shimmer Blush in Spaced Out (from the Neo Sci Fi Collection)

Lips

• MAC Cremestick Liner in Pink Treat
• MAC Slimshine Lipstick in Tropic Glow
• Chanel Glossimer in Astral

These pictures were taken at Haiku Gardens, just steps away from my in-law’s house. It’s a beautiful garden with a pond (and resident turtles) and a small chapel for weddings. Haleiwa Joe’s Seafood Grill, perched on a hillside overlooking the garden, is packed every night with diners from the area. It’s also one of comedian Adam Sandler’s favorite hangouts when he visits the island.

The entire MAC Cool Heat Collection…

Eye Shadows, $14 each

Solar White (frost) - frosty muted white gold
Warming Trend (veluxe pearl) - frosty light taupe
Warm Chill (frost) - frosty seafoam green with gold pearl
Gulf Stream (frost) - frosty mid-tone blue green with green pearl
Cool Heat (frost) - frosty teal with multi-dimensional pearl
Climate Blue (velvet) - mid-tone violet blue with pink pearl
Blue Flame (veluxe pearl) - dirty metallic navy blue

Slimshine Lipsticks, $14.50 each

Tropic Glow (frost) - blue pink with silver pearl
By Degrees (frost) - neutral brown pink
Gentle Summer (frost) - light clean yellow pink with white pearl
High 90’s (frost) - clean pink orange
Swelter (frost) - sheer clean red

Scents, $22.50 each

Turquatic - notes include cedar, lotus leaves
Turquatic Heat - notes include lotus flower, jasmine, Tahitian tiare flower

If these colors appeal to you, get out there and snag your Cool Heat loot! If you’re a US resident and live near a MAC store, print and bring this coupon with you to the counter to get 15% off your purchase.

I enjoyed snorkeling at Shark’s Cove yesterday and saw lots of amazing fish. I believe I even swam with a few different schools (unless we were all just headed the same way). How academic, LOL!
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Happy Monday! Talk about unexpected. I woke up this morning feeling extra spunky — and that was even before my first cup of coffee. It’s standard operating procedure for me to wake up on Mondays feeling grouchy, so to celebrate this minor miracle I decided to go big and bold with a full face inspired by the hot pink lip I wore a few days ago in this cosmopolitan-inspired lip look.

These lips stand out from a mile away, so I went with a soft pink and silver eye to add some semblance of balance to the look.

The first layer of eye makeup…

1. MAC Girl Friendly Paint Pot on the browbone and crease
2. MAC Shimma Paint on the lid and barely into the crease

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I’ve scoured the earth searching for the ideal makeup removing wipe. Okay, well, maybe not the earth, but I have scoured the Bay Area, and I have yet to find a wipe that doesn’t smell weird, doesn’t hurt my eyes, doesn’t cost too much or doesn’t dry out too quickly due to packaging design flaws.

Although I’ve tried wipes by so many other brands, I always resisted buying MAC Wipes because I just couldn’t bring myself to pay $24.50 per pack.

Then, a few weeks ago, before a trip to the MAC Pro Store, I did some long overdue makeup math. I’d just run out of Neutrogena Makeup Remover Cleansing Towelettes ($9 per pack of 25) and realized that the cost of the bulk pack of 100 MAC Wipes for $24.50 came out to just 25 cents per wipe (versus 36 cents/wipe for Neutrogena’s). Hello, bargain!

That day I bought my first pack of 100 MAC Wipes, and I’m glad I did.
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Shhh… I have a secret beauty tip. If you ever wake up looking like an extra in Michael Jackson’s Thriller video, reach for MAC Woodwinked eyeshadow ($14). Its warm, golden shimmer restores life to dead tired eyes.

And good thing it does because I needed it this morning. I was CRANKY! I haven’t slept well this week and for the third day in a row woke up looking like a zombie. When it got time for me to get ready for work, I really wanted to just leave my ratty hair uncombed, throw on some sweats and skip my makeup altogether (gasp!).

But I knew that walking around like that all day long would have made me feel even worse, so I threw on a dress and picked up my pan of Woodwinked.

Fifteen minutes later, zombie girl had left the building. Woodwinked made my eyes look bright, alert and awake. Easy, and fewer calories than a latte.

The basic eye…

1. MAC Shroom eyeshadow applied directly beneath the highest point in the arch of each eyebrow
2. MAC Neutral Pink eyeshadow on the browbone
3. MAC Saddle eyeshadow in the crease
4. MAC Woodwinked eyeshadow on the lid, barely into the crease and along the lower lash line
5. MAC Kitschmas Pigment on the inner third of the eye (side closer to the nose)
6. MAC Technakohl liner in Graphblack on the upper and lower waterlines

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