theNotice: a beauty blog

MAC Face & Body

Available online starting September 6th; in-stores currently. The MAC Face & Body collection will launch this month internationally, as well, but I’m not sure of the specific dates!

A word of advice? Check out the Sculpting Creams, but skip the Pressed Pigments – I haven’t heard a single good word about the latter, unfortunately. And make sure to re-try the Face & Body Foundation, if you’ve loved it in the past! The formula has been re-worked, and has more -cones (but less -xanes, if I’m not mistaken.)

Full collection details »

Man, I haven’t done a blue smokey eye in ages. I’m pretty sure I went with a winged shape (cat-eye makeup, winged smokey eyes, whatever you want to call it) last time, too, which just goes to show how predictable (read: boring) I am.

This time, though, I thought I’d play around a bit with shape. In the image below, you have the same look in three different ways, changed with nothing more than a dry q-tip and a couple brisk buffing motions. At left is the most wearable, basic shape; on the far right, the most winged, dramatic effect. (The full-face shots are with the eye on the right.)

I can’t believe it took me this long to try my MAC Casual Colour — I spend most of the summer bare-faced, but I’m really regretting it in this one instance. I’ve used Have A Lovely Day! here, and I’m absolutely smitten with both the colour and the formula: it’s comfortable, looks natural, and still manages to tone down my own lip colour without ending up all strange and milky.

I’ve used Senna Fantasy in the inner corners, here, then taken Annabelle Lagoon (soon to be discontinued) through the lid. The outer wing is mainly Annabelle B-Ray, darkened further with a basic matte black eyeshadow.

Don’t miss this blue smokey eye tutorial on She Said Beauty.

Products used

EYES – colour : Annabelle Mono Eyeshadow in B-Ray and Lagoon, Senna Eye Shadow (Glow) in Fantasy, NYX Eyeshadow in Black.

EYES – basics: Annabelle Smoothie Jumbo Eye Pencil in Licoriche, Clinique High Impact Extreme Volume Mascara in Extreme Black, Ellis Faas Eyeliner in Black, MAC Eye Shadow (Matte2) in Blanc Type.

LIPS AND CHEEKS: MAC Casual Colour Lip & Cheek Colour in Have A Lovely Day!

SKIN: Hard Candy Glamoflauge in Light, theBalm timeBalm in Lighter Than Light, and Marcelle Face Powder in Translucent.

Remember this Vasanti Eyeshadow Duo review? Back when I first swatched Mount Rushmore for you, I couldn’t find anything else on the market quite like it — a sooty, plummy matte violet paired with a shimmery, silvery taupe, it was a pretty unique duo.

And it still is, of course, but I couldn’t help but think Mount Rushmore! when I saw the new MAC Whims & Fancies Styleseeker Eyeshadow X2.

Whims & Fancies is limited edition with the Styleseeker collection, retails for $33 CAD and contains two separate eyeshadow pans: Performance Art and Shadowy Lady.

Mount Rushmore, on the other hand, is permanent in the Vasanti collection and retails for $20 CAD, albiet presumably for less product overall. Both products are paraben-free.

L: MAC Whims & Fancies Eyeshadow Duo / R: Vasanti Mount Rushmore Silky Eyeshadow Duo

Vasanti Mount Rushmore Eyeshadow Duo swatches

I can’t speak toward an exact shade dupe, but from what I’ve read about the quality of the Shadowy Lady in Whims & Fancies — if you’re in Canada and you don’t have either yet, go for Mount Rushmore. And if you already have it? Feel free to skip this Styleseeker duo!

P.S. If you’re in need of swatches and reviews for Whims & Fancies, check out these posts on Temptalia and Beautezine.

This week’s She Said Beauty look was a really basic one — greyscale smokey eyes, as a bit of a change-up from the traditional Summer smokey eye. (Read: brights, brights, and more brights.)

I wasn’t totally crazy about this look in the end, and I think that’s just because I wasn’t crazy about the products involved. A lot of them were [boring] basics, and the others weren’t really anything to write home about, which left me kind of… underwhelmed.

Read the tutorial for the look here, or keep going for more photos.

Products Used

Eyes: Sephora Collection Smoky Kohl Eyeliner in Grey, Imju Fiberwig Extra Long Mascara in Black, MAC Eye Shadow in Blanc Type (Matte2), FaceFront Cosmetics Pressed Eye Shadow in Greyscale and Fate by Chance, MAC Pigment in Fairylite (LE, try Naked as a dupe).

Lips: GOSH Velvet Touch Lipstick in Darling

Cheeks: MAC Powder Blush in Harmony (Matte)

MAC Cosmetics opened up a Tumblr a while back, but (and, please, correct me if I’m wrong,) I kind of feel like no one actually reads it.

Despite the fact that they post a lot of behind-the-scenes material, from tutorials to various Fashion Week looks, I very rarely hear anyone talking about the material that goes up on their photo blog. I don’t know; maybe I’m just hanging out in the wrong circles, but I feel like brands’ Tumblr pages rarely “take off,” especially when you put them in comparison with their Twitter or Facebook accounts.

Anyhow; here’s a quick look at their behind-the-scenes photos for the MAC Ruffian collection (via). Enjoy!

And a quick spread of the products (yes, there really are only six of them), in case you were curious about names & etc…