Rediscovering why MAC is MAC

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I never got into the MAC craze. When I started beauty blogging, it seemed like MAC-fever had died down a bit and been replaced by lust for brands like Nars and Urban Decay. Oh, sure, I bought from the special collections like the rest of the lemmings. But I figured MAC’s permanent collection was passe. So when I read my friend Danielle’s post on permanent MAC items about a month ago, I was suddenly griped with the desire to figure out what this MAC stuff was all about, anyway.

I purchased three permanent eyeshadows– Cranberry (a red with bluish undertones and pink shimmer), Copperplate (the most wonderful soft matte grey you ever did see), and Sumptous Olive (a frosty antique gold with olive overtones). I’ll spar you my swatches as you can easily google excellent ones, but suffice to say that one of the things I noticed right away is how differently the colors in these shadows shows up when swatched than in the pan.www.brazenbeautyblog.com

I placed Sumptuous Olive all over the lid, and dragged it under the eye. Then, I put Copperplate in the outer V and crease. I paired it with some Laura Mercier soft dark pink lip gloss, a little shimmery bronzer (by Milani) and lots of mascara. (Cranberry isn’t used in the look below).

www.brazenbeautyblog.com

I really like MAC’s permanent eyeshadows, and a big shout out to Danielle at Bloomin’ Beauty for finally convincing me to put aside the shiny new toys and try some tried and true products. There is a reason that folks keep going back to MAC over and over again. Their creamy formula, incredible staying power, reasonable prices, and colors with depth, dimension and subtlety are truly worth exploring. I think I may just become a MAC devotee after all. I’ve always been a late bloomer!

I’m back from my months long work trip to NYC. I miss the city (it’s home) but it’s wonderful to be back in Hawai’i and finally feel able to have a regular blogging schedule again. I’ll show you all the booty I got in the city next post!

<3

Wake up tired March skin! Becca Shimmering Skin Perfecter in Moonstone

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One of the fun parts of being in New York City is having access to what-ever-my-little-heart-desires. I mean, NYC must be the make-up mecca of the world; I didn’t see this many available products when I lived in L.A., and Hawai’i… well. (Let’s not discuss make up and Hawai’i. I’ll cry.) Here in the city I walked into Sephora and found an entire section of Becca products, which I have never seen carried by them anywhere else!  I have often wanted to try Becca’s products, but have been reluctant to buy online as I don’t want to drop $41 dollars on a product I can’t test first. So here I was, in Sephora, double soy latte in hand, practically floating in joy; I picked up what must surely be their superstar product, the shimmering skin perfecter, and tested two shades– Pearl and Moonstone.

Becca Shimmering Skin Perfecter is described as a “sheer liquid highlighter and moisturizer” that “uses light-reflecting particles to subtly highlight the face and diffuse uneven skin tone”. It has to be one of the prettiest highlighters I’ve ever used– in other words, the hype, in my opinion, is worth it! I’ve tried a lot of highlighters and have tended towards pinky-peachy-silvery toned highlighters– Nars Illuminator in Copacabana and Mac’s Soft and Gentle Mineralized Skin Finish are two of my favorites. So when I tested out the Shimmering Skin Perfecter, I thought that Pearl would be my shade. To my surprise, their newest shade, Moonstone, won my heart.

Pearl and Moonstone are both light-toned with a dewy finish, in the true sense of the word dewy. They are the paler of the four options.  Pearl is more of a silver with underlying pinks and blues, while Moonstone is a well-balanced pale beige-gold. It’s similar in hue to The Balm’s Mary-Lou Manizer, although perhaps a touch less honey colored making it a more neutral shade than many of the highlighters I’ve tried– which tend to either lean quite warm or quite cool.  What makes Shimmering Skin Perfecter a stand out product to my mind, and more covetable than the Nars, Mac, or The Balm products mentioned previously, is it’s feathery light texture. As a moisturizing product, it sinks into the skin and provides that delicious unicorn, the “lit from within” look. I LOVE Moonstone. I think it is an absolutely stunning shade, and provides a nice alternative to the silver-leaning vs. gold-leaning highlighter dichotomy.

One of the things I have forgotten during my six years in warm climates is what a terrible month March is on women’s skin. It’s still freezing cold here (I had to buy warm clothes!), and people are tired and haggard. It looks like foundation is caked on women’s skin, heavily, drearily, hopelessly. I feel like, given these conditions, that I have finally grasped the purpose of highlighter in a way that I didn’t living in California. It brings back so much life to winter-dulled skin. Becca Shimmering Skin Perfecter in Moonstone is a great buy (to my mind) as it helped me feel like I looked awake and my skin more elastic and refreshed. It’s a touch pricey, but comparable to Nars’ prices, and I’ve read that their products last. I’ve only been applying a half a pump of product, and it is enough for around my eyes, my cheekbones, down my nose, and even above my eyebrows.

Sorry no pictures again, friends. I refuse to subject you to bad iphone shots, and my fancy camera is in Hawai’i.

What do you think about Moonstone? What are you favorite highlighters?? I would love to get some other recommendations!

I miss you ALL + Bliss Clog Dissolving Cleansing Milk

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Ach, goodness.

I mean, it’s been months. MONTHS. I’m working in New York City for a few months, and between the harried nature of adjusting to the NYC pace, living out of a suitcase with minimal make-up, and not having my (good) camera with me to photograph products, I kinda gave up on blogging.

But… I miss you. How are you? Anything new? Boyfriend? Scarf? EYESHADOW?

In addition to falling madly in love (again) with New York City, where I lived quite happily many years ago and left to do my PhD in Los Angeles, I am also loving Bliss Clog Dissolving Cleansing Milk. I ran out of my usual cleanser when I arrived, and in the mood to try something new I happened upon a Bliss counter in a department store.

Now, I’m not terribly adventurous when it comes to new washes. I tend to stick with a 20 year staple, Cetaphil, and when I branch out it’s usually Kiehls. I still love both– but Bliss has made me incredibly, well, blissful. (Ba-dum!)

It’s a rich cleansing milk with “gentle exfoliating enzymes” that “protects skin with extracts of grapeseed and bitter orange”, both facts displayed in cool block-y font on the front of the bottle. I am truly a sucker for good font. I explained to the shop assistant that I had been experiencing both dehydrated skin and break-outs along my chin, and he recommended this. It’s been miraculous. I haven’t had a break out in the six weeks that I have been using it, and my skin feels fairly well hydrated in freezing cold New York sleet. I only need a light moisturizer in the evenings before bed.

As per directions, I massage the cream into my skin with dry hands. It sits on the face as a cream and does not foam up. I then let it sit for anywhere from 30 seconds to five minutes. It’s touted as acting as a mask as well. I like the effect I get when I use it as a mask– I get a slight tingle after a minute or so, but my face feels oh-so-clean afterwards. I then dip a washcloth into hot water and gently massage the cream off my face. It removes eeeevery last bit of mascara, foundation, and leaves my skin feeling smooth and yummy. It smells delicious as well, but be a little careful not to get any in your mouth because it tastes like, ugh, bitter orange I suppose. Blech.

I totally recommend this for a creamy winter skin care product. If you struggle with dryness but need to remove all of your make up with as little fuss as possible, this is the easy, low-maintenance product for you. Mine wasn’t cheap, but it compares to other luxury cleansers, and to my mind is possibly slightly better because it acts as a mask and make up remover as well. The bottle I got is 200 ml/6.7 fl oz and is lasting pretty well. I will definitely repurchase!

No pictures today my loves. I’m not yet ready to break out the iphone pics, although I won’t be back in Hawaii for a sometime yet and I don’t think I can wait that long to post more. So you may have to bear with terrible photos. Will you still love me through it?

Hugs to all and happy cleansing…