My Favorite 13 M.A.C. Eyeshadows Pt. 2 Eye Look

In this post I'll be featuring two of my favorite M.A.C. eyeshadows that I listed in this post.  I used Arena and Sketch.  Check it out below.

Please go to BeautyByLeRenda.com to continue reading this post.  Thanks and don't forget to follow the new website. :-)

My Top 13 Favorite M.A.C. Eyeshadows

I was inspired to do this post by my fellow Beauty Blogger, Brittney of TrueBeautyFiend.com.  She did a really good post on her current favorite 10 M.A.C. Eyeshadows. (click here to view her post)    My ultimate favorite product to use on the eyes is M.A.C. Naked Pigment.  I've never seen it look bad on anyone.   It's beautiful as a brow highlight, a lid color, and inner tear duct accent.  But since it's technically NOT an eyeshadow, I didn't include it.  I did review this product in a previous post here and I did a very simple and quick look using it here. Unfortunately, I couldn't narrow it down to just 10 so that's how I ended up with a random and odd number of 13.  LOL! :-)   It took me a while to weed out other colors to even get it to 13. Ha ha!


Please go to BeautyByLeRenda.com to read the rest of this post.  Thanks! :-)

M.A.C. Glitter and Ice Event at Dillard’s

I'm super late on posting this, but I definitely wanted to get it out before the year ended. The M.A.C. Glitter and Ice collection launched on 10/27/11.  This event was held Thursday  12/2/11 through Sunday 12/4/11.  It was a lot of fun.  This was a Level A event which meant we had live models as well as make-over sessions.

Please go to Beauty By LeRenda for the rest of this post. Thanks :-)

Easy Halloween Make Up: My 1st Demon :-)

Not sure what to be for Halloween? No worries.  Coming up with a Halloween look may not be as hard as you think.  The look above was actually an impromptu idea from last night.  So how did I create this look? See below.

I started off with M.A.C. paint pot in Blackground.  I went over the paint pot with Coastal Scents matte black from their 42 Matte Palette.  I did his eyes 1st then we decided to really go all out and make him look spooky. :-)

I created his wounds with Duo glue, red, yellow, and black matte eye shadows from the same Coastal Scents 42 palette.  I applied the Duo glue to his face and let it get tacky then separated it to make it look like flesh.  Next I applied the shadows and blended them on top of the glue.  Lastly, I applied an Estee' Lauder gold lipgloss on top of the wound to make it look fresh.  That's it.

Completely Pain Free Way to Groom Your Brows for Women and Men

I get questions about eyebrows pretty frequently.  I'm grateful that people appreciate my expertise and for the compliments that I get on my own brows.  You'd be surprised at the difference a groomed brow can make on your overall appearance.  This is important for both women and men.  So what is my brow routine? It's very simple.

I don't get them professionally done at a salon (too many bad experiences led me to just do them myself).  I use twissors from Alcone and a spooly.

I started doing my own brows consistently after purchasing Sam Fine's DVD the Basics of Beauty in Dec 2009.  That video has a plethora of helpful tips, hints, and pointers.  I'd recommend it to everyone.  It's available on Amazon.  For more info on Sam Fine you can go here.

I actually met the amazing Sam Fine around this time last year.  He had a very nice event here in downtown Houston. 

I thank God that I was blessed with thick eyebrows so I really just have to clean up above and below.  I try to think of it as a balance since I hate my extremely oily skin. LOL! We can't have it all right?

Au natural 

I brush up the hair to see the natural arch of my brows 1st.

Now I can see exactly what needs to be done.  I'll cut the extra hair above and below my natural shape.

I use my trusty twissors to cut the hair above and below my brow.  This tool is so amazing.  It's small enough to catch the finest hair without any pain.  No tweezers for me, only twissors. :-)

Brush up again to make sure the brow is nice and neat.

Next get the hair in the middle.  No unibrows please.  Ha ha! 

So here we are so far.  

After this I like to use my fingernail to just smooth it out.  

 

Lastly, I check to make sure my brow is balanced with my eye shape and nose. 

And that's it!  

Now you are ready for you make up. :-)  I go over how I make my eyebrows stand out more in the next post.  I didn't want to overwhelm you all in one post. He he!

For those who do need a little extra help with achieving a good arched brow, I've included some resources to help you below.

Using a Brow Chart or Diagram can be very helpful.  I found one on collegefashion.net. In this post there's great info on how to arch your brows based on your brow shape.


Also if you are looking for more education and in-person assistance, Jennifer James is a veteran make up artist who specializes in brows.  She is currently on tour providing education classes.  You can get more info about Jennifer James here.

Product Battles: Urban Decay vs M.A.C. Black Eyeliners

I talked about this amazing black eyeliner in my previous post.  As I started to compare it to M.A.C. Feline, I thought that I should just do a separate post and show you how my Urban Decay's eyeliners compare to my M.A.C. eyeliners.

From Left to Right:  M.A.C. Graphblack, Urban Decay Zero, M.A.C. Feline, and Urban Decay Perversion

Here's a closer look at Graphblack, Zero, Feline, and Perversion.

I then added two liquid liners.  M.A.C. Superslick liquid liner (my favorite liquid liner) in On The Hunt and Urban Decay 24/7 Waterproof Liquid Pen (would've been my fave but I don't like the applicator brush) in Perversion.

From left to right: Graphblack, Zero, Feline, Perversion Glide-On Pencil, Perversion Waterproof Liquid, and On The Hunt.  The liquid Perversion truly stands out from all of the others. 

Now, to answer the important questions.  How do they last?  Are they smudge proof?  I rubbed my hand back and forth across these eyeliners and out of all of them which one is smeared the most?  Yep, M.A.C. Feline.  I told you in the last post that I hate this eyeliner.  I don't know why so many people love it.  Even when I put M.A.C. Carbon eyeshadow on top to "set" it (which I shouldn't have to do) it still runs and makes me look like I've been crying or had a bad night. I guess most people love Feline because it's a darker black than most pencils, but it still isn't as black as Perversion.  My two liquid liners didn't budge at all. 

MUFE Rouge Artist Intense Lipstick Review and Swatches

I purchased the Make Up Forever Rouge Artist Intense #15 Lipstick with my haul from the MUFE Pro Road Show.  I'm really loving Purple and Red lips for the fall so here's another purple lip color using MUFE Rouge Artist Intense #15 with...yep, you guessed right, M.A.C. All My Purple Life lipglass.

Here is the lipstick.  When I opened the box, my first response was "Whoa! That fragrance is strong!"  I hadn't even put it to my lips before I could smell it.  That's a big con as far as I'm concerned.  However, the versatility of being able to build the color from sheer to bold by applying more coats makes up for the strong fragrance.

The swatch at the top is sheer with 1 coat and the swatch at the bottom has 3 coats.  

Here's what the color looks like on my lips with 1 coat.  I like how the lipstick is shaped.  It allows you to line your lips without a lipliner. :-) This lipstick has quite a bit of shimmer to it so if you prefer mattes or creams, you may not like it.

This is me wearing a sheer coat.  

Here I am with the same lipstick just more coats. Wow! Can you believe this is the same lipstick.  The top two pics are without a flash.  The bottom is with a flash. 

Now with All My Purple Life added. On the top no flash. On the bottom with a flash. I like how I ended up with a bit of a blueish tint without the flash. Gives a pretty cool effect. :-)

  I really really like it.  I think I may wear these lips for Halloween! 

I haven't worn it out yet, but I've only heard great things about MUFE Rouge Artist Intense and how it wears for a long time. I'll give it a try tomorrow to find out.

MAC Light Peachy Lip Look

This was a fun combo that I wore today.

Ravishing Cremesheen Lipstick
On the left with a flash and on the right without the flash

This is me wearing MAC Ravishing by itself.  Even though it's a Cremesheen, I didn't find it to be be that moisturizing.  I was expecting it to feel really soothing, but it just felt like a regular lipstick. It also had more pigment than I expected, which is good since most cremesheens tend to be more sheer in color.  If I didn't know better, I would've guessed it was an MAC Amplified lipstick instead.

 Viva Glam Gaga 2 Lipglass (I received this free with my employee gratis)

These are the colors swatched next to each other.  Ravishing is on the top and Viva Glam Gaga 2 Lipglass is on the bottom.

 

Ha ha! Check out my serious pout on the left! LOL! :D

Here I have combined the colors to produce this fun light peachy effect. I'm not sure why, but it feels as though Viva Glam Gaga 2 isn't as sticky as most lipglasses.  It feel really good on my lips. 

Cargo Laguna Blush FOTD

These are pictures of the Cargo Counter inside of Sears...yes Sears in Vancouver, B.C. Canada. This was the first time I'd ever seen a Cargo counter.  It was really pretty and spacious. I finally bought the famous Laguna blush.

Here's a look I did using my brand new blush.  I took this on the ride back to the U.S. Hey, you never know what will happen at the border so I wanted to make sure I was made up. Ha ha!

Eyes:

1. Urban Decay Primer Potion
2. Coastal Scents 42 Matte Palette--Yellow on the inner lid, green on the outer lid, brown in the crease, tan as transition color, purple on bottom lash line
3. M.A.C. Naked Pigment as Brow highlight
4. M.A.C. Girl Boy Brow Set on Brows
5. Lancome Oscillating Mascara
6. Urban Decay 24/7 Glide On pencil in Zero
7. Black Opal Heavenly Honey Foundation Stick for under eye concealer

Face:

1. Isomers H.D. Primer
2. Clinique Acne Solutions Foundation in 07
3. M.A.C. Prep and Prime Transparent Finishing Powder
4. M.A.C. Vanilla Pigment as Cheek & Nose Highlight
5. Cargo Laguna Blush on cheeks
6. Cover Girl Queen Collection Ebony Bronze Bronzing Powder as Contour

Lips

1. Jack Black Lip Conditioner Shea and Mint
2. M.A.C. Ravishing Lipstick
3. Loreal Colorburst Lipgloss in Sunset Peach