Makeup Intel: MAC Extra Dimension [April 2012]

Coming in April 2012, MAC invites you to take your eye shadow to the Extra Dimension.

: MAC Extra Dimension–bringing color to another level!

Scheduled for a North American release the first week of April 2012 (yes, same time as Reel Sexy) this collection will debut a new technological formula in the form of ten (10) Extra Dimension Eyeshadows and three (3) Extra Dimension Skinfinishes. Also coming back from its successful launch with the Semi-Precious eyeshadow collection are the split fibre cheek and eye shadow blending brushes.

: MAC Extra Dimension eye shadows–can they top Peacocky?

Extra Dimension Eye Shadows

Warm Thunder- mid-tone silver grey
Blue Orbit- light iridescent purple
Grand Galaxy- mid-tone violet
Lunar- royal blue
Havanna- mid tone copper brown
Sweet Heat- bright peach champagne
modern pewter mode-tone olive gold
Rich Core-mid tone aubergine
Dark Dare-charcoal black
Young Venus-pale white pink

With ten eye shadows it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. Reports indicate these shadows are large-sized like the Mineralize eyeshadows that were recently relaunched. For me personally I like to gravitate towards colors I will use the most frequently given the size of the product. So with my skin tone (NW) in consideration and my budget, plus what my inner beauty geek tells me, here are my top pics for the Extra Dimension eye shadows

WARM THUNDER — Described as a mid-tone silver grey, strangely this a color missing from my eye shadow stash. I don’t own Electra nor do I own any MAC silver pigments. Silver is great on gals with cool/red undertones as a base and as a highlight.

: MAC Extra Dimension eye shadow in Warm Thunder

BLUE ORBIT — Light iridescent purple? Iridescent AND purple? I’m going to call this now as THE shade to get from this collection. This is a color I don’t recall MAC having anything in its current eye shadow or pigment lineup. So suffice it to say that in addition to the color, the iridescent effect, and the new formula, Blue Orbit will be the Shimmermint (from MAC’s Christmas Glitter & Ice ) of this collection.

: MAC Extra Dimension Eye Shadow in Blue Orbit

SWEET HEAT — A bright peach champagne, this looks to be a very pretty brow highlight shade and even a nice neutral color to wear all over the eyelid. It looks like it will compliment cooler skintones a bit better but not so much that warm toned beauties couldn’t rock it.

: MAC Extra Dimension Eye Shadow in Sweet Heat

MODERN PEWTER — Pow! This shade reminds me of the Dalliance eyeshadow from the Peacocky collection. This definitely looks to be a cool-toned shade and would look amazing blended with Blue Orbit for an interesting eye look. I know I plan to try it!

: MAC Extra Dimension Eye Shadow in Modern Pewter

You can find pictures of the remaining shadows on this German website.

Extra Dimension Skinfinish

Whisper Of Gilt- light soft white gold with shimmery sheen
Superb- Soft peach nude with Multi dimensional shimmer
Glorify- Copper golden shimmer

Unlike the Mineralize Skinfinishes (which do not last on my super oily skin) the Extra Dimension Skinfinishes (EDS) are reported to be a new formula like the eye shadows. In the graphic earlier in this post where you see the small eye shadows and three ‘bigger’ ones, those three big ones look to be the Extra Dimension skinfinishes. What excites me about these is that if you have severely oily skin as I do, those Mineralize Skin Finishes seem to last only nanoseconds on your skin before evaporating into a thought. Me being the techno-geek that I am, I so hope these do last longer on my skin. Glorify, the one described as having the copper golden shimmer is definitely on my list. Superb may be next and this is probably the one that would look the best on all skin tones. Whisper of Gilt looks to be a little too light for my skintone but could be a nice highlighter.

Split Fibre Brushes

128 split fiber brush — Cheek brush
234 split fiber brush — Eyeshadow blending brush

MAC Split Fibre 128 and 235 brushes

Finding out these split fibre brushes were coming back was the main reason the Extra Dimension collection piqued my interest. Originally launched with the limited edition Semi-Precious collection last year, these brushes are unique in that one side is made up of natural hairs while the other side is made up of synthetic hairs. This makes for a great multi-purpose brush for applying cream shadows (like Paint Pots and Make Up For Ever Aqua Creams) and cream blushes. I use mine religiously to apply cream and powder products then blend them–all this with only having to use one brush.

Closeup of MAC Split Fibre 128 and 235 brushes

So are you excited about this collection? Planning to pick up a few items? See any colors that you just gotta have? Hit me up in the comments.

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Rescue Beauty Lounge Locavore”: The Rundown

Bling, bling, Locavore’s the thing!!

Absolutely jam-packed with uniform glitter in light green, dark green and purple, it’s no wonder Locavore took the top spot in the Rescue Beauty Lounge BIB2 round of voting. The predominance of glittery green appeals to the die-hard Tinker Bell fan in me and I could totally see her rocking this color.

Locavore by Rescue Beauty Lounge. So glittery a tinker fairy would be lemming for it!

The glitter brushes on evenly (no ‘push and place’ as with some other glitter polishes) and you can get a pretty nice opacity in two to three coats. The glitter is very finely milled so when it dries the glitter is barely felt when you touch it. My favorite use of this polish is to put it over either a dark green or purple polish like Orbis Non Sufficit or Mismas.

RBL Locavore on bare nails. 2 coats w/ flash

As with all RBL polishes I own so far, I get a little over a week of wear with this and only minimal tip wear. As I work in IT I type a LOT (over 120wpm) so while I do expect my nail polish to wear at the tips, shattering and sending dangerous shards of nail polish isn’t something that happens with RBL. In other words, no chipping. Cost per bottle is $18 and free domestic shipping is offered for orders over $100 ($200 for international orders) at RescueBeauty.com. Remember, Rescue Beauty Lounge nail polishes are 5-Free and Made in the USA.

So are you totally lemming for this? You should be. But don’t wait too long to purchase as these will only be available as supplies last. Get it while you can at retail while you can because she who hesitates will wind up auction sniping.

RBL Locavore over RBL Orbis Non Sufficit

RBL Locavore over RBL Mismas--Mardis Gras anyone?

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Moxie and Killa Red by Rescue Beauty Lounge: The Rundown

By now most of you know of my undying devotion to Rescue Beauty Lounge nail polishes. Yep, I’m a crazy RBL and want everyone to know it. I got into the RBL polish collecting game late so I missed out on two nail polish shades so cool, so amazing, so stunning I was soo dissapointed…until the Vintage BIB voting brought them back.

So for your consideration and evaluation, I present to you, from the Vintage Bring it Back voting, the two ‘Terror Twins’ of RBL, Moxie and Killa Red! :::cue me putting on Don King hair and yelling ‘Only in America’:::

Rescue Beauty Lounge (RBL) Moxie and Killa Red from the Vintage BIB collection

Can you handle these? Of course you can!

Moxie

Candlelight in a bottle—that is what Moxie is in a nutshell. This is a beautiful white gold frost that I believe would look subtle on warm skintones but on cool skintones like mine it commands attention. On both skin tones your nails look like glowing orbs. Weird, I know but the effect is hella sexy. Moxie is somewhat sheer in one coat, opaque in two coats and richer with three coats. As this is a frost finish there can be some visible ‘brushstrokes’ if you look really close but I usually attribute that to me being impatient and not letting each coat dry completely before adding another one. When I wore this color out I got a lot of compliments—especially from women of color.

RBL Moxie: It is truly candlelight in a bottle.

RBL Moxie. 3 coats. God how I LOVE this color. Glows like an angel.

The only color I have similar to Moxie is NARS Versailles. Versailles has yellow-gold shimmer which doesn’t look all that hot against my cool skintone. It’s even more pronounced next to Moxie and you can see how much more white-gold it is.

From top: RBL Moxie, NARS Versailles, RBL Moxie (w/ flash)

Killa Red

I am usually not a fan of red nail polishes. Not because of the color (I love red) but because of the undertones. With this color, Ji has come up with the best, most awesome, most-kick ass blue-red cream nail polish that trumps even Chinoise (my other favorite blue red). Where Chinoise seems more trendy, Killa Red is ‘grown and sexy’. It also has a rich translucence that borders on gothic. The color is rich and is opaque in one coat, even more stunning with two coats. I would double-up on the top coat simply to further enhance the shine and dimension of this color.

RBL Killa Red: the most perfect blue-red cream

RBL Killa Red. 2 coats. WERK!

End of Line Recommendation

If you’re a edgy yet classy dame, I’d suggest wearing a Killa Red pedi with a Moxi mani. If you don’t think you fit this bill, check out the video below by one of my favorite music icons, Dame Shirley Bassey. You know she’d rock this combo and rock it hard.

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Rescue Beauty Lounge ‘Orbis Non Sufficit’: The Rundown

For years, my idea of the ultimate hunter green color was that featured on the pages of Ralph Lauren photo spreads I would read in Vogue and Elle magazines as a teenager. Now that perfect hunter green color is available in a nail polish.

Close up of Orbis Non Sufficit

Orbis Non Sufficit, part of Rescue Beauty Lounge’s BIB2 event, is the perfect hunter green cream. Created by Steph of ThePolishAddict and brought to life by Ji Baek, it is described as a ‘moody greyed out combat green’. It is the gray undertones that make this color such a fabulous match for my cool skin tone. Most hunter greens have too much yellow in it (thus making the color turn to pot against my strong red undertones) but not this. It is much more opaque than NARS Zulu, duskier than China Glaze’s Holly-Day, and less emerald than The Balm’s Jade in the USA. This is a very fashion-forward yet wearable shade that would not overshadow a conservative outfit nor dull the edge when wearing something more daring. Versatility of wear is a strong point when it comes to this color.

This color is opaque within one coat but for longevity I use two coats. The color flows smoothly from the brush without any skips or ‘trace’ when painting the nail. Drying time is a bit slow but I use either Illamaqua quick drying top coat or MAC Overlacquer only to quick dry RBL polishes without any mass bubbling or shrinkage. RBL polishes are best used with the Treatment System they offer but the formula is formidable on its own.

As with all RBL polishes I own so far, I get a little over a week of wear with this and only minimal tip wear. Cost per bottle is $18 and free domestic shipping is offered for orders over $100 ($200 for international orders) at RescueBeauty.com. Remember, Rescue Beauty Lounge nail polishes are 5-Free and Made in the USA.

Orbis Non Sufficit by Rescue Beauty Lounge. A wonderful hunter green creme for us cool-toned gals.

China Glaze 'Holly-Day', RBL Orbis Non Sufficit, TheBalm Jade In The USA

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Rescue Beauty Lounge ‘Mismas’: The Rundown

As an unapologetic lover of all things Prince, purple nail polish is a must in my collection. Purple is edgy, regal and hardly ever fails to turn heads. Now imagine, if you will, this all in a creme form from the luxury nail polish company Rescue Beauty Lounge.

Created by Michelle of All Lacquered Up and brought to life by Ji Baek, Mismas is a beautiful and vivid purple creme that sits right on the fence blue-purple and red-purple. Illamasqua Faux Pas is ‘dustier’ and has a flat finish (rubber) and SpaRitual Illume leans more violet. This color is opaque in one coat and you could pretty much get away with it. Application is smooth, the formula is not too thick or too thin, and the color on your nails is pretty much what you see in the bottle. My personal preference is for RBL’s Purple Haze as it leans more violet than Mismas but that is based on color, not performance. I just find Purple Haze more complimentary to my coloring. Still, it is a purple polish and being so I had to have it.