It’s getting hot in here… No, in here — inside the MAC Temperature Rising Makeup Bag ($34)

Recently added to the rapidly growing list of ways I’m turning into my mother (a list that also includes hits like “#25: Washing bars of soap so they look nice and clean in the soap dish” and “#18: Writing lists for everything”) — “#37: Putting bags within bags.”

My mother is notorious for doing this.

At any given moment, there are at least five or six smaller bags inside her purse, each dedicated to storing something different, like medication, snacks, office supplies, first aid, gadgets…

And wouldn’t ya know it? Slowly but surely, I’m going that route.

Never mind that the roomy Poverty Flats Perforated Satchel I’ve been toting around already has three deep pockets on the sides (what is it with me and deep pockets lately??), I’m also putting other bags inside it…

…like the new $34 MAC Temperature Rising Makeup Bag, which has been holding some of my beauty booty essentials.

This slim zippered bag looks deceptively small, but it actually fits a ton of stuff.

Things I need quick access to go in the front pocket — iPhone, tubes of gloss, stuff like that.

What I can fit inside the MAC Temperature Rising Makeup Bag

Behold! The mighty MAC 109 Small Contour Brush! ($35; lens flare not included)

1. Standing in the spotlight on a massive stage in front of thousands of adoring fans, with your cheekbones contoured like WHOA! — as confetti, balloons and glitter rain down upon your glorious form
2. Wondering how you ever lived without it
3. Marveling at how perfectly the diminutive, rounded brush head fits into pans of MAC Eye Shadow singles and the hollows of your cheeks
4. Contemplating how strange it is for you to want different 109s for bronzer, blush, another one for powders, highlighters, two more for foundations (one for liquids and another for creams, both of which it easily applies) and another one strictly for buffing…
5. Considering time travel, specifically going back in time 10 years to gift yourself with a 109 and a pan of MAC Refined Golden, and while you’re there, reassuring yourself that you’re doing just fine, so keep up the good work
6. Singing Debbie Gibson’s Only in My Dreams at the top of your lungs in the shower (using a bottle of shampoo as your microphone, of course) and yelling, “That was for you, 109!!” at the end of the song
7. Blurting out, “Whoa there, cowgirl!” to no one in particular after you get a look at how many bristles it leaves on your face, because it sheds A LOT — more than any other MAC brush you’ve ever tried
8. Questioning your sanity after spending $35 on a makeup brush, good or not, that sheds as much as the 109…
9. Sighing with relief after washing and drying it for the first time, which dramatically cuts down on the future shedding
10. Gushing to all your girlfriends and makeup-lovin’ guy friends about how great the 109 is, but also warning them about the shedding and suggesting that they give it a good washing beforehand

From the left for size: 109 Small Contour Brush, 116 Blush Brush and 129 Powder/Blush Brush

The brush head perfectly fits into pans of MAC Eye Shadow singles as if it were designed for ‘em

PRICE: $35
AVAILABILITY: A permanent collection product available now at MAC counters, stores and also online
MAKEUP AND BEAUTY BLOG RATING: B+ (an A if it didn’t shed so much at first)

Pretty stoked about…

This purple cauliflower.

Stopped by the farmers’ market yesterday and picked it up on a whim.

Have you ever tasted one of these before? I haven’t, but I’m going to steam it and toss it in some lemon vinaigrette and capers tonight.

It’s supposed to be sweeter than regular cauliflower… We shall see!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

That’s MAC Nude on Board Pro Longwear Bronzer ($30) below my cheekbones…

While I’m willing to give up some things in the interest of streamlining — spare toothbrushes (do you really need more than one of them?), clothes that no longer fit me and that fourth half-empty jar of Tiger Balm — I refuse to relinquish any all-important necessities like shoes, handbags, earrings, jeans, lipsticks and, in the summer months, bronzer because, I mean, you just never know, right?

You just never know…

You just never know when a freak cold front will blow through town in the middle of August (well…), and you’ll want to warm up with MAC’s Nude on Board Pro Longwear Bronzing Powder.

It’s perfect for times when I need a little extra warmth and contouring — but less than full-on “tiara and feather boa” levels.

Nude on Board Pro Longwear Bronzer, $30

A golden tan powder, Nude on Board leaves my skin lightly toasted, and like MAC’s Refined Golden Bronzer (from the same Temperature Rising collection), its micro-fine flecks of golden glitter, much finer than grains of sand, give skin that extra something-something.

It’s a subtle effect, but I think that’s the beauty of it.

To apply, first find a fainting couch… Then, leisurely lower yourself down onto it, and languidly apply the satiny smooth powder just below your cheekbones.

It won’t take much muscle at all, as the application is darned-near effortless.

Yeah, it brings out yo’ lazy like that!

Nude on Board Pro Longwear Bronzer on NC42 skin

Here I’m wearing MAC Refined Golden Bronzing Powder just below my cheekbones…

Like Tabs the Cat, star of screen, stage and glossy magazines, MAC’s $25 Refined Golden Bronzing Powder does it all, deepening tans, thereby allowing me to live out my bronzed beach surfer babe dreams (irrespective of the fact that I spend most of my time with my butt in front of a computer), and sculpting cheekbones like Michelangelo sculpted marble and clay. We’re talkin’ real-deal contouring here.

To my eye, it’s the darkest and most intense of the Temperature Rising collection’s four powder bronzers, making it ideal for skin tones NC42-ish and darker.

So refined…

Flecks of golden glitter spice up this pan of deep golden tan, which I probably would have liked even without the glitter for the color itself, which never looks muddy, ruddy or dirty on my skin, perhaps due to the golden undertones.

Did you say, “hrmpf!” when I said, “glitter?” Not to worry. MAC didn’t go overboard with this glitter (not that there’s anything inherently wrong with going overboard on glitter). This isn’t Bollywood-caliber shimmer, which I also like.

MAC Refined Golden on NC42 Skin

Sure, I’ll take a dip! A MAC Sun Dipped Pro Longwear Bronzer ($30, from the new Temperature Rising collection).

The following is an excerpt from an actual email conversion between blogger and makeup/cat enthusiast Karen and her longtime friend and surf buddy Cindy that took place on the morning of Friday, May 17, 2013.

Immediately following this exchange, Karen swept MAC’s new Sun Dipped Pro Longwear Bronzer on her face…

KAREN: When was the last time we went surfing together?
CINDY: I don’t know. Hawaii in 2006?
KAREN: That can’t be right.
CINDY: Yeah, I think so. It was right before your wedding.
KAREN: Seriously? Why are we so lame? We have to fix that.
CINDY: You could always go with me to Ocean Beach.

[NOTE: Ocean Beach is cold. It runs along the Great Highway on the west/Pacific side of San Francisco, and it's so cold that just thinking about it is making my fingers and toes numb.]

KAREN: That’s not happening unless we’re being chased by zombies and the only way we can escape is by surfboard.

You know that moment when the water drips down the back of your wetsuit? Yeah, I hate that.

Okay, now I’m freezing cold. BRB! Need to put on some bronzer.

These are days of my life…

Don’t you feel warmer after putting on bronzer? Or is that just me…?

A light dusting of MAC’s new $33 Sun Dipped won’t turn Ocean Beach into Waikiki, but I think it does make me look tanned and toasty and gives me a sunnier outlook, too.

It can’t only be the power of suggestion, either. Sun Dipped has a sunny secret weapon: red tones!

Of the four powder bronzers in the MAC Temperature Rising collection, it’s by far the reddest one, and the one that most naturally simulates 30 minutes of fun in the sun.

A swatch on my NC 42 skin