MAC Lovely Love Lace Collection

“Every couturier has forever had a fascination with the mysterious and alluring qualities of lace. From Evita to marlene Dietrich to some of the best-dressed of our red-carpet modern stars, it’s a long love affair. This salon-intimate collection is all about a dramatic, intense, smoky eye, with shadows that flash frosty grey to deep blue. Kohl Power is brought back for a limited time in a favorite shades plus a new blackened marine blue.

And naturally, 44 Lash adds the depth and desire. Lips stay pleasingly pale and nail lacquer in Light Affair adds ahit of danger. If ever there was a moment to do away with the winter doldrums and add some instant intrigue, this is it.” –MAC Cosmetics

The collection has a release date of Dec. 26 and includes:

Lipstick ($14)
Pretty Please Pale – pearl pink
Intricate Frosted – cool taupe

Lipglass ($14.00)
Icescape Sheer – pale pink with pearl
Utterly Discrete Sheer – icy mauve

Eyeshadow ($14.50)
Pincurl – dusty white
Hypnotizing – frosty grey mauve
Love Lace – frosty grey-ish blue
Suave Intentions – frosty silver blue

Kohl Power Eye Liners ($14)
Sense of Style – deep dark blue
Raven – red with black pearl
Feline – black

Nail Lacquer ($12)
Light Affair – creamy taupe grey

Swatches at The Next Best Thing to Going Shopping Yourself.

New MAC Releases--Warm and Cozy

NEWS FLASH: Available now---early!! This collection should launch on Dec. 26th (that's soon!). I tend to choose warm shades as evidenced by my ridiclous collection of bronze eyeshadows and coral blushes. I also think this is a great name for a winter collection!  It includes:

Lipstick  ($14.00)

Spiced Tea Warmed bronze brown (Glaze) (Limited Edition)

Warm Me Up Creamy mid-tone neutral pink (Amplified) (Limited Edition)
Siss Muted golden beige (Satin) (Permanent)

Lipglass  ($14.00)
2N Creamy neutral yellow pink (Cream) (Limited Edition) (Repromote)
Feeling Dreamy Pale neutral pink with pink pearlized pigments (Frost) (Limited Edition)
3N Neutral brown with gold and pink pearlized pigments (Frost) (Limited Edition) (Repromote)
Light That Fire! Mid-tone burnt coral with pearlized pigments (Frost) (Limited Edition)

Eyeshadow  ($14.50)

Chamomile Creamy pale yellow (Satin) (Limited Edition)

Modelette Mid-tone warm camel (Satin) (Limited Edition) (Repromote)

Milled Cider Dark warm brown (Satin) (Limited Edition)

Embark Deep rich brown-black (Matte) (Permanent)

Shadesticks ($16.50)

Nurture Frosted pale neutral pink beige (Limited Edition)

Relaxed Frosted dark chocolate brown (Limited Edition)

Cuddle Frosted light golden yellow (Limited Edition)

Warm & Cozy Frosted burnt amber with red and gold pearlized pigments (Limited Edition)

Mineralize Skinfinish ($27)

Comfort Golden bronze (Limited Edition)

By Candlelight Golden pink (Limited Edition)

Nail Lacquer  ($12)
Blissed Out Creamy light nude (Limited Edition)
Dim the Lights Creamy warm dark chocolate (Limited Edition)

Tinted Lip Conditioner   ($14.50)
Close for Comfort Pinkish brown (Limited Edition)
Feelin’ Good Light neutral beige (Limited Edition)

Lip Conditioner Stick SPF 15 &Tube ($13.50)

Mineralize Face & Body Lotion  ($29.50)
This gentle non-sensitive, rich moisturizing lotion can be used on the face and body and is free of fragrance and colour.

Care Blends Essential Oils  ($19.50)
Sweet Orange + Lavender This nourishing oil leaves skin feeling energized and moisturized with the look of a healthy glow

Grapefruit + Chamomile This oil will help soothe, calm and clarify the skin with a soothing aroma

As usual, check out swatches at my friend Karla's blog here.

MAC Holiday 2009 - Baroque Boudior

“Decadent, luxurious…
Liaisons get even more Dangereuse! The vintage look of the Baroque Boudoir has inspired our special, limited edition cache of high-style collectibles for lips and face, in silverized and silk-screened packaging containing favourite bring-back luxe formulas.”

I'm a sucker for packaging and this looks elegant and a bit European to me so I'm on board. The release date for this collection is November 25.

Baroque Boudoir Lipstick - $22
Prive Creamy light blue pink (cream)
Treasured Creamy warm nude beige (cream)
Baroque Boudoir Creamy dark plum (Cream)

Baroque Boudoir Lipgloss - $22
Preciousness Sheer metallic pink with white pearl (frost)
The Lap of Luxury Sheer baby pink with white and pink pearl (frost)
D’Nouveau Sheer dusty rose with light pink pearl (frost)

Baroque Boudoir Compact/Sheer Mystery Powder - $60
Light Medium Pale ivory
Medium Plus Tan beige

Boudoir Clutch - $65
Unexpected and chic clutch with a crinkle brushed nylon fabric in black.

MAC Magic, Mirth & Mischief and Holiday Part 2

These Mineralize kits complete the Magic, Mirth and Mischief collection. They retail for $59.50 and are exclusive to freestanding MAC stores and the MAC website. Each contains a mineralize skinfinish (MSF), a mineralize blush, a mineralize eyeshadow duo, and a 181 mini kabuki brush. The Brush sets are always popular and are a great value, especially if you are trying to build a collection of high quality brushes.

Pinkzapoppin! array of Light Flush Mineralize Skinfinish, Dainty Mineralize Blush, Love Connection Mineralize Eye Shadow (Duo), and the 181SE Mini Buffer. A series of circular perforations echoing our holiday dot pattern allow you a glimpse of the sparkling wonders within. A limited-edition M∙A∙C exclusive.

 Fun in the Sun selection of Shimpagne Mineralize Skinfinish, Nuance Mineralize Blush, Play on Plums Mineralize Eye Shadow (Duo), and the 181SE Mini Buffer. A series of circular perforations echoing our holiday dot pattern allow you a glimpse of the sparkling wonders within. A limited-edition M∙A∙C exclusive.

 
Morning, Noon and Knight Everything Eye Brush Set - $49.50
An exclusive kit of five key brushes: 194SE, 204SE, 224SE, 266SE and 275SE in a small, rectangular makeup bag of polished silvery-pewter vinyl, the zip adorned with a round bead and grosgrain ribbon detail. Limited edition.
 

Do the Trick Buff and Line Brushes - $49.50

An exclusive brush kit of five key buff-and-line brushes: 168SE, 187SE, 209SE, 219SE and 252SE in a small, rectangular makeup bag of polished silvery-pewter vinyl, the zip adorned with a round bead and grosgrain ribbon detail. Limited edition.

Wave of a Wand Sweep and Define Brushes - $49.50

An exclusive kit of five key brushes: 129SE, 190SE, 212SE, 227SE and 275SE in a small, rectangular makeup bag of polished silvery-pewter vinyl, the zip adorned with a round bead and grosgrain ribbon detail. Limited edition.

MAC Holiday 2009 - Part 1

MAC has a huge selection of holiday sets this year. Even though I'm not completely smitten with MAC,  I do like to string them along in case I need a last minute makeup look for that fantasic Holiday party. The Holiday sets make great gifts and/or stocking stuffers. I usually end up with one for my daughter but this year maybe I'll treat myself too.

There are two lip bags. Each includes a lipstick, lipliner & gloss in a silver bag adorned with a large pink bead and ribbon for $36

Put a Spell on You Pink - Dream lipstick, Dervish lipliner (one my favs) and Baby Sparks Dazzleglass (pictured)

House of Mirth Deep - Fantastia lipstick, Get Rich Quick dazzleglass & Cedar Rose lipliner

There are two eye bags to choose from. Like the lip bags, the eye bags (wow I have a hard time saying that--what an unfortunate name!) come in a silver bag with a blue bead and ribbon for $36

Naughty Noir Eye Bag which includes Shimmertime pigment,  Blacktrack fluidline, Zoomblack zoomlash and the 209SE eyeliner brush. (pictured)

Alakazam! Chocolate Eye Bag this kit features Melon pigment, Rich Ground fluidline, Zoomblack zoomlash (promo sized) and the 209SE eyeliner brush.

8 Lip, Eye and Face Kits:

Heavenly Dish Neutral Lip Kit - $22.50

Floating Lightly Pale neutral pink beige (Lustre Lipstick)

Heavenly Dish Sheer mid-tone neutral pink (Satin Lipstick)

Barely Visible Glossy pale nude with pearl (Lipglass )


Possessed By Pink! Lip Kit - $22.50

Tickled Dark plum (Lustre Lipstick)

Laugh A Lot Creamy mid-tone blue pink (Lustre Lipstick)

Sweet Smile Glossy mid-tone pink with pearl (Lipglass )


6 Sorceress Eye Shadows - $36 I think this is the prettiest one

Magnetized Light frosted lavender (Veluxe Pearl)

Altered State Deep frosted blue purple (Veluxe Pearl)

White Rabbit Frosted soft white (Frost)

Edge of Dark Charcoal with silver pearl (Lustre)

Hold My Gaze Mid-tone cool green grey (Satin)

Hypnotizing Frosted grayed mauve (Frost)


6 Devil May Dare Warm Eye Shadows - $36

Dare Ya! Light frosty peachy pink (Veluxe Pearl)

Devilishly Dark Rich brown with gold pearl (Veluxe)

Oh My Darling Pale frosty cream (Satin)

Prankster Mid-tone frosted olive (Veluxe Pearl)

Sorcery Blackened burgundy (Satin)

Gold Tease Frosty mid-tone gold (Frost)


6 Mystic Cool Eye Shadows - $36

Cool Incantation Opalescent white gold (Frost)

Shhh, Don’t Tell Pale neutral pink (Frost)

Blue Enchantment Dark frosted turquoise (Satin)

Rose Potion Mid-tone frosted rose (Veluxe)

Deep Secret Deep frosted indigo (Frost)

Violet Vow Deep cool brown (Satin)


6 Smoke and Mirrors Eye Shadows - $36  great smoky eye kit

Fire in Her Eyes Frost neutral beige (Frost)

Black Magique Black with gold pearl (Veluxe)

Deception Frosty golden brown (Frost)

Spell No. 9 Soft muted pink beige

Wide-eyed Wonder Mid frosty grey taupe (Frost)

Smoke & Mirrors Dark chocolate brown (Satin)

For the Blush Lovers, two Face Kits--

Hocus Focus Colourful Face Kit -$38

Pretty Baby Soft baby pink (Beauty Powder)

Peachykeen Mid-tone peach with pearl (Sheertone Shimmer)

Sunsparked Pearl Frost warm beige with pearl (Beauty Powder)


Fab-racadabra Bronze Face Kit - 38

Golden Muted gold tan with gold pearl (Bronzing Powder)

Sunbasque Gilded peach with pearl (Sheertone Shimmer)

Buffed & Polished Frosty bronzed gold (Pressed Iridescent)

Stay tuned for Part 2! Once again, I can't begin to do justice to swatching when KarlaSugar's blog is around so click here to see swatches.

MAC Magic, Mirth & Mischief

You probably already know my feelings about MAC--some great products but definitely not geared toward the mature woman and they have bastardized the term "Limited Edition". Still, I look forward every year to the Holiday collections.  Magic, Mirth & Mischief seems to run high on sparkle; the mineralized eye shadows are heavy on the glitter. I'm intrigued by the blushes--they are getting a lot of buzz already and the nail polishes look good too. Here's a quick peek:

LIPSTICK - $14

Pervette -Soft bright pink with violet opalescent shimmer (Glaze)

Utter Fun- Fuchsia cherry pink (Lustre)

Surprise Me- Mid-tone peach (Lustre)

Total Wow!- Blue pink berry (Glaze)

DAZZLEGLASS - $18

She-Zam -Sheer silver with silver and red pearl

Jingle Jangle -Sheer yellow peach

Phiff! -Yellow pink with red and sapphire pearl

CREMESHEEN GLASS - $18

Ever So Rich- Sheer lilac

Partial to Pink- Light creamy yellow pink w/light gold pearl

Boy Bait -Light neutral beige with pearl

SOFTSPARKLE EYE PENCIL - $14.50

Iris Accents- Pale violet with silver pearl

Nightsky -True black with silver pearl

MINERALIZE EYE SHADOW DUO - $19.50

Devil-May-Care Rich light violet/Silver (Frost)

Under Your Spell -Light yellow peach pink/Rich copper (Frost)

Mayhem -Dirty brown gold/Silver (Frost)

Midnight Madness- Dirty grey brown/Gold (Frost)

It’s A Miracle -Deep blue burgundy/Gold (Frost)

Blue Sorcery -Bright Turquoise/Silver (Frost)

MINERALIZE BLUSH - $21

Superdupernatural- Mid-tone coral (Frost)

Conjure Up- Dirty, mid-tone plum (Frost)

NAIL LACQUER - $12

$$$$$ Yes- Metallic silver foil (Frost)

Lucky Number- Metallic blue pink (Frost)

See swatches by my friend and fellow blogger KarlaSugar here

Can We Talk?

I have refrained from posting about every new MAC Collection on this blog. There are several reasons for this:

• The brand seems to have a lot of bright trendy offerings that I don't feel are appropriate for women 40 and over
• I don't enjoy shopping at MAC cosmetic counters because their sales associates are notorious for bad customer service. As a customer I like a relaxed atmosphere where I can peruse at my leisure and not have to listen to blaring Rap music--call me old school.
• It irritates the heck out of me that they have a Limited Edition collection coming out constantly! I really think MAC has abused this concept, it's a marketing ploy that has reached the point of being ridiculous and many times there are "re-promotes" in the collection which means that the item was in a earlier limited edition collection and is being re-promoted, in other words recycled--grrrrr!!! 
• When I shop at a cosmetics counter, I look at the makeup the sales associate or makeup artist is wearing, it helps me to determine if I like how the brand looks after it's applied and gives me a good idea of the skills of the person behind the counter.  The SA's/MA's at my MAC counter are as outrageous as they can be--this does not instill confidence in me. They also have a high turnover so no one knows much about the line with the exception of a woman I my friend and I call Ursula. And I don't mean the magnificent Ursula Andress, but Ursula the Sea Witch from the Disney movie Little Mermaid. She looks like this. I'm not even kidding.

This is definitely not to say that there aren't some great products: eye shadows, foundations, lipsticks, the entire line is excellent quality and priced well, but in my opinion (take it for what it's worth) there are plenty of other lines that are high quality, priced well and aren't so annoying. Don't misunderstand me, I have lots of MAC makeup which I love, I just cherry pick the line and don't go as Rachel Zoe would say, Bananas over all the LE collections. There I said it.

So, for at least this time around, I am going to rely on my friend and fellow blogger, Karla at The Next Best Thing To Going Shopping Yourself blog to talk about the collections and provide swatches. 'Nuff said.

MAC Style Black here. I don't know about you but black lipstick is just not appealing to me

MAC Trend F/W  here  This is worth taking a look at, Tone Grey e/s quad and 4 limited edition lip products.

MAC Hi-Def here which is mostly foundations with 4 LE lipsticks and re-promotes (there's that word) & brushes.

MAC DSquared here

I would really like to hear your views on this subject so please let me know in the comments how you feel about MAC. Give me an idea of how you would like me t present the collections in this blog; just an overview, detailed, or compete reviews with pictures, swatches, etc?

To Shimmah or Not to Shimmah?

Women have been told over and over to give up shimmery eye shadow after 35. Who says? I say rules were meant to be broken—with limitations. Even Bobbi Brown who was so against anything shimmery a few years ago has relented. Hence, her Shimmerbrick blushes and Shimmerwash eye shadows.

The trick as always is subtlety. Yes, give up the glitter. I lived through the age of disco, with my spandex leotard and matching wrap skirt, doing The Hustle and I don't want really want to go there---again. I just can't get behind MAC pigments or the loose glitter shadows many brands carry. Not only will glittery eye shadows date you, but they settle into fine lines and wrinkles. I know I have crow’s feet but I don’t have to advertise it for goodness sake.

Now in my opinion,  a little shimmer never hurt anyone. I’m not talking bling bling, but a slight sheen is attractive and makes your eyes pop. In fact, if people are concentrating on your eyes, they won't notice those crow's feet as much. A few brands I’ve tried and like are Lorac, Benefit Velvet eye shadows and Becca. Chantecaille, and Shu Uemura’s pearl finish are also great choices.

This is what I'm talkin' about!

Another option is a combination of matte and shimmer. I always like a bit of shimmer under the brow bone while a matte shadow on the lid looks polished and work appropriate.

Make sure you are using a good eye shadow base, it will smooth out any crepeiness (is that a word?), help your eye shadow adhere and last all day without creasing. A good eye cream morning and night is essential for those of us over 40 to keep eyes hydrated.

Bright colors are trendy and fun, but keep the colors to a minimum if you are worried about defining lines and wrinkles. In the words of Helena Rubenstein: Whether you are sixteen or over sixty, remember, understatement is the rule of a fine makeup artist. And after all, you are your own makeup artist!