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Chilled and Party Ready: MAC Reelers and Rockers Eye Palette

Nov 102010

MAC’s Holiday 2010 A Tartan Tale collection includes Reelers and Rockers ($36), a mix of cool and metallic tones. In the past, I loved to buy MAC’s Holiday eye palettes, routinely purchasing two or three. The price-per-shadow is low, they are usually cute/fun and I love the convenience of a palette for travel.

This year, after reviewing my own collection, I realized that most of MAC’s 2010 eye palettes would be duplicative. I ordered only one-Reelers and Rockers-online, because it has the most of my favorite MAC finish–Veluxe Pearl. I’ve loved several –some have a sheen that glows without glitter, they apply smoothly and beautifully.

After I ordered this online, I saw this in a brick and mortar store and worried, “what was I thinking?” This palette did not seem to be my style at all. I was very tempted to return it without trying it out, but that seemed to break the first rule of beauty blogging–> Don’t judge a palette by its cover (or something like that).

Reelers and Rockers comes in a gift-able uber cute yellow box:

MAC Liberty of London – Prim & Proper Blush

Blush, MAC 3 Responses »

Mar 212010

MAC’s Liberty of London Prim & Proper Blush ($18.50) appears in the pan to be a peachy-brown nude that would look perfect with the gray and purple eyeshadows in the collection. The blush, which is listed as a “neutral nude matte” on MAC Cosmetic’s website, is lighter and peachier than most of the nudes that I have in my collection.

The texture of the blush does not seem to be a true matte–rather, there is a bit of life and reflectivity to the blush. It does apply as a beautiful nude, although it pulls a little more pink-mauve than I expected from looking at the blush in the pan:

I applied swatches several different times on my arm and on my face, and each time I got a nude with a touch of peach, but also a strong pink-mauve pull. Side by side, Prim & Proper looks a bit similar to MAC’s Sunbasque in the pan. However, when applied Prim & Proper has a much stronger pink and very subtle sheen. On the other hand, Sunbasque is much oranger, browner and more sparkly.

Prim & Proper may be a “your mileage may vary blush.” That is, it seems to be a nice nude on everyone, but some reports indicate that it applies as a peachier nude on some. On me, however, the blush has a much pinker tone particularly compared with Sunbasque’s orange. I certainly don’t already have a blush this color and so I’m happy with my choice, although I’m a little confused that at the way that the color looks applied. I strongly recommend trying this yourself before committing because the color application seems to be a bit different on everyone.

Shopping Report: MAC Pro, Ceasars Palace (Las Vegas, Nevada)

Blush, MAC 1 Response »

Jan 072010

MAC sells a Pro line of products in selected stores, referred to as “MAC Pro Stores,” in major cities throughout the world. I find myself in a Pro store only once or twice per year, and with only a few exceptions have received excellent service in every one of them. I’m not sure whether the company has better hiring or training in those locations but their associates are usually a few steps ahead.

Ceasar’s Palace in Las Vegas has an enormous selection of shops (called the “Forum”) that has been upgraded and expanded over the years. It includes a MAC Pro store. If you enter from the Strip, you must go up some escalators and travel through the reproduction Roman streets to locate it. Ceasar’s is always very busy, and I can imagine that the MAC Pro store gets an enormous amount of traffic.

I was greeted by a sales associate who, typical of MAC makeup artists, was an expert wearing their products. I asked to explore MAC’s Pro blushes, especially Taupe which I had heard was an excellent color to contour the cheeks.

The MAC artist quickly informed me that MAC had discontinued Taupe.

Sigh.

MAC has a reputation for issuing limited releases and short product cycles. It makes economic sense from their perspective (it must, they do it so frequently!) For makeup buyers, this scarcity means committing to buy now or risk paying outrageous prices on eBay later. Fortunately, my brilliant makeup artist found a pro pan version of the product. See, I told you they know their stuff. These pro pans can be easily placed into one of MAC’s blush palettes, which look like this (first one closed, second one open):

For $12, this palette is a nice way to accommodate six blushes in a very small space. The palette’s spaces and the back of MAC’s pro pan blushes are both magnetized, so it’s very easy to create and change the palette.

My patient MAC makeup artist helped swatch nearly all of the MAC Pro blushes. Another artist pitched in too. At the end, the backs of our hands were swatched in vibrant colors, sometimes with the same color in varying degrees of heavy to light. By the time I left, I owned six MAC Pro blushes ($15.50 each) to fill my new palette. Each is pressed powder held in a little metal pan, sold in a cardboard sleeve. I’ll be reviewing and swatching these in the days that follow.

Holiday Makeup for the Rest of Us, Part 1

Dior, Giorgio Armani, Highlighter, MAC 2 Responses »

Dec 182009

I love the idea of fantastic makeup looks, like this one at the left from Sephora. It’s so artistic and glamorous! But to be honest, I’m not confident in my ability to pull off something so dramatic. Even so, there are evenings when we all want to have a special look. Here are a few ideas that can give you a little glamour and glow, without going over the top.

First, sometimes I line the eye area with a bright metallic using a very thin brush. In this picture, I’m using Shu Uemura’s 2R, which sells for $14. The brush is so tiny that it’s easy to draw a very thin line that doesn’t overwhelm. One can draw a soft line under the eye, or dab a bit near the inner corner. Another look is to add a line of silver or gold just above a black liquid liner on the upper lashline. I dampen the brush first, to intensify the color.

Second, one can add some sparkle to the shoulders using a product like MAC Reflects Glitter. This product has the same effect as the fairy dust — it catches the light in a very dramatic way. For that reason, it can look over the top when applied to the face. It’s sort of fun to wear sprinkled on the shoulders or decolletage for New Year’s Eve. The product is a little unusual and hard to control–it seems to jump around, well, like fairy dust. To make it “stick,” it should be placed over a thin layer of something emollient, such as Vaseline or MAC’s cream color base (Pearl and Hush are nice choices). Keep in mind that the MAC Reflects are not considered eye safe, you really don’t want one of these glitter bits to get into your eye. Pictured here is MAC Reflects Silver. The product comes in a variety of colors, sells for $19.50. There are a very few colors on MAC’s online site, although more colors are available at MAC’s Pro Stores (there is a list of these on MAC’s website) or by calling 1-800-588-0070 (U.S.).

Third, especially if MAC’s Reflects seem a little too dramatic, there are a lot of beautiful highlighters that provide glamour without the glitter. My favorites include Dior’s Star Shimmer Powders ($43), Becca’s Shimmering Skin Perfectors ($41) and Armani’s Fluid Sheers in #1 or #7 ($58). Highlighters add light and a glowy texture to the skin. Any of these can confidently be worn on the face or body without concern that one is going over the top. A touch of the Armani can be added to foundation for a little extra subtle glow.

More about this topic in the days that follow…. In the meantime, enjoy every moment that you can this season!

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