Makeup Intelligence: MAC Archie’s Girls for Spring 2013

Were you an Archie’s Comics fan back in the day like I was? If so, and you love makeup, check this out:

MAC Archie's Girls

MAC Archie’s Girls for Spring 2013: Does this bring back memories or what?!?

The collection is broken up into two parts.  There is Betty (Cooper), consisting of lighter shades and Veronica (Lodge) made up of the traditional in-your-face dramatic colors.  The collection is huge and as such will be this post but trust me, it’s worth it.  If you don’t want to read my blather but see some live-and-in-color pics, check out this post on Specktra.com.

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Nothing like a love triangle to remind you of Valentine’s Day like Veronica, Betty and Archie…

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Lipglasses. A Brown Girl MAC Addict’s Holy Grail 😉

Betty Collection: MAC Archie’s Girls

Betty

Lipsticks

  • Girl Next Door Vivid blue pink (Lustre)
  • Betty Bright Light vibrant peach (Satin)
  • Oh, Oh, Oh Sheer brown plum (Lustre) (Repromote)

BIGA Intel says: Lustres and satins are not my favorite finishes, especially in lighter colors such as these.  If you didn’t get your hands on Watch Me Simmer, Betty Bright would hold you over until a repromote happens.

Lipglass

  • Summer Sweetheart Light peach
  • Stay Sweet Light lavender pink
  • Kiss & Don’t Tell Bright coral

BIGA Intel says: Lipglasses are more often than not a good value.  If you have very pigmented lips, I would go straight for Kiss & Don’t Tell.  If you already own Strange Potion  from the MAC Disney Villains collection or  Tour de Fabulous from Stylepacked, this shade is probably a skip for you.

PearlGlide Eye Liner

  • Lord It Up Bronze with pearl
  • Black Swan Black with gold pearl

BIGA Intel says: Pearlglide eyeliners are very long-wearing, go on smooth and sparkly and look amazing.  Lord it Up would look best on light to medium skintones while Black Swan will compliment all skintones.

Pigment

  • Cheers My Dear Light lavender (Frost)
  • Lucky in Love Shimmering light blue green (Frost)

BIGA Intel says: Frankly I haven’t been too pleased with the quality of MAC pigments of late.  If you own any of the mineralize eye shadows close to light lavender or light blue green, best to go with those. Should you choose to go with these pigments, be sure to pick up some Mixing Medium from MACCosmetics.com. You’ll thank me later. 

Powder Blush

  • Cream Soda Light neutral coral (Satin)

BIGA Intel says: This should be a nice color for light to medium skintones.  I can’t see this one working on darker skintones very well. From the promo photos it looks a lot like NARS Gilda but performance could be another story.

Pearlmatte Face Powder

  • Flatter Me Golden peach base (Shell Pearl Beauty Powder) with coral hearts (Foolish Me Powder Blush)

BIGA Intel says: This is the first time I’ve seen this type of product.  A ‘beauty powder’ with blush ‘built in’.  Beauty powders such as these seem to work best as an all-over face color for light to medium skintones, and as a nice highlighter for dark skintones.  I will caution that if you have a dark skintone (NW/NC 45+) it’s best to try this in person to see if you like it.

Caramel Sundae Eyeshadow Palette

  • Caramel Sundae Mid-tone warm tan (Satin)
  • Cheryl Chic Light coral pink (Frost)
  • Dreammaker Pale frosty yellow (Frost)
  • Showstopper Dark, cool-toned brown (Matte) (Repromote)

BIGA Intel says: A nice collection of neutral shades.  If you have very oily lids and/or have a dark skin tone, be sure to prep your lids with a paint pot like Painterly or Soft Ochre before applying to eyelids.

Nail Lacquer

  • Pep Pep Pep Light peach nude
  • Comic Cute Bright coral

BIGA Intel says: I am not a huge fan of MAC’s nail polishes as I feel the price point is too high and the performance is no where near the level of Illamasqua or NARS. Check these lines for comparable dupes.

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Veronica Collection: MAC Archie’s Girls

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This is me when I have to yell at tech support who has no clue I’m an engineer…

Lipstick

  • Daddy’s Little Girl Mid-tone pink violet (Satin)
  • Ronnie Red Bright red (Matte)
  • Boyfriend Stealer Deep blackened plum (Cremesheen)

BIGA Intel says: While it’s in the satin finish I loathe, Daddy’s Little Girl seems to have such a high color saturation I still want it.  Ronnie Red looks to finally be the bright blue-red I’ve been waiting for MAC to produce in forever (Ruby Woo looks like crap on me as does MAC Red and Russian Red). Boyfriend Stealer should be a hit with brown girls because of the deep, dark color. I will say that if you do not own Yung Rapunxnel (amplified finish), make sure to haul that color first before Boyfriend Stealer.

Lipglass

  • Mall Madness Mid-tone pink violet
  • Strawberry Malt Bright red
  • Feelin’ So Good Deep blackened plum

BIGA Intel says: All of these look super-color-saturated the way true MAC addicts love their liplasses.  Strawberry Malt will look amazing on dark skin over Ronnie Red, and Feelin’ So Good looks a lot like Wrong Spell from MAC Venomous Villains.

PearlGlide Eye Liner

  • Petrol Blue Deep navy with pearl
  • Designer Purple Violet with pearl

BIGA Intel says: Forget Designer Purple and go straight for Petrol Blue. Why?  Not only does Petrol Blue look intensely amazing, it goes on smooth without issue.  Designer Purple isn’t as vibrant nor goes on as smooth as Petrol Blue.  Unless MAC has changed the formula recently, I don’t see myself getting another Designer Purple.  But Petrol Blue? You can never have too many.

Pigment

  • Black Poodle Blackened pink (Frost)
  • Magic Spells Blackened teal (Frost)

BIGA Intel says: From swatches I’ve seen, Black Poodle doesn’t look too impressive on and frankly it looks like MAC’s Beauty Marked (Velvet) eyeshadow. If you were lucky enough to get Moonlight Night pigment from MAC’s A Tartan Tale collection, you can skip Magic Spells. 

Powder Blush

  • Prom Princess Mid-tone violet pink (Satin)

BIGA Intel says: Its violet pink, Veronica is on it. Get it.

Pearlmatte Face Powder

  • Veronica’s Blush Silvery pink base (Play it Proper beauty powder) with deep pink hearts (Frankly Scarlet blush)

BIGA Intel says: I passed on Play it Proper beauty powder and as I already own ‘Too Chic’ and MAC’s Salsarose blush (MAC Pro), I’m passing on this.  

Spoiled Rich Eyeshadow Palette

  • Spoiled Rich Rich purple (Frost)
  • Ron Ron Run Deep navy (Satin)
  • Pin-Up Purple Mid-tone orchid (Frost)
  • Gravel Charcoal (Matte)

BIGA Intel says: The compact looks pretty, and the colors look nice, but check your stash first and check it twice.  These four colors look a lot like MAC Stars & Rockets, Atlantic Blue, Parfait Amour and some other dark charcoal grey color eyeshadow MAC has out. My first instinct is that these colors are dupeable but the palette is more about convenience than the colors included. 

Nail Lacquer

  • Past Curfew Deep berry
  • Double Trouble Deep navy

BIGA Intel says: See my notes under Betty.  Intel is still the same.

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Veronica items from the MAC Archie’s Girls Collection for Spring 2013. So cool, so Veronica…and so *me*.

My being a huge fan of the Archie comics, and of course totally on Team Veronica, I am very excited about this collection!  So much so that I found this bonus ‘cheat sheet’ you MUST print out and circle to note what you want. The collection is rumored to launch on MACCosmetics.com on January 30th but you probably want to start stalking the site before then.

Still here? It’s like you’re looking for that ‘bonus scene’ at the end of the movie credits.  Well, here ya go!

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MAC Archie’s Girls Accessories–gotta have that tote bag!!

Preview: Guerlain Fall 2012 Rouge G L’Extrait and Blush aux Joues

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Yay! It’s Guerlain Fall 2012!

Guerlain is my favorite luxury cosmetics vendor and their Rouge G lipsticks have hooked me for life. While a new crop of Rouge G lipsticks are slated to debut for Fall 2012, the real stars of this collection are the new Rose Aux Joues blush duos and the Rouge G L’Extrait liquid-to-matte lipstick. For a quick rundown of all the items contained in the Guerlain Fall 2012 collection, please see my article up on TheStyleAndBeautyDoctor.com (yep, I’m contributing over there as well).

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Guerlain’s new Blush Duos for Fall 2012 – my fave is Red Hot!

New for Fall 2012 are these gorgeous blush duos from Guerlain. Each shade is paired with a complimentary highlight shade comes with a slanted applicator blush for precision shading, and is packaged in Guerlain’s trademark brass mirrored compact. As with all Guerlain products it has that wonderful violet smell I’ve come to associate with this brand. The shade I purchased, Red Hot, is very complimentary on dark skin and looks like a pairing of NARS Sin with NARS Orgasm.

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Slightly elongated applicator for Rouge G L’Extrait

Also new for Fall 2012 and what I have been eagerly awaiting ever since Chanel discontinued their Rouge Allure Lacque, is Guerlain’s Rouge G L’Extrait. This is the celebrated Rouge G in liquid lipstick form that dries down to a flexible matte finish that looks amazing and is beyond comfortable to wear. The packaging is elongated slightly but still carries a hefty weight. That is a small matter compared the color impact and the ability to precisely put this where you want it to go. I picked up M69 (Orgueil) which is a dark plum wine color that screams fall.

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Guerlain Rouge G L’Extrait from left: (M69) Orgueil, (M25) Colere, (M27) Luxure, (M71) Gourmandise, (M06) Avarice

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More Guerlain Rouge G L’Extrait swatches

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Testers of Guerlain Rouge G L’Extrait at Neiman Marcus

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Guerlain Fall 2012 Red Hot blush duo and Rouge G L’Extrait in Orgueil

Makeup Intelligence: MAC for Chen Man Collection

Purely from a photography geek point of view, how hot is this promo shot?

MAC for Chen Man promo shot.  Seriously, how sick is this photo? Mad photography skillz.

MAC for Chen Man promo shot. Seriously, how sick is this photo? Mad photography skillz.

Chen Man is a visionary photographer whose images have set the Chinese couture world on fire.  I honestly hadn’t heard of her until this collection popped on my radar.  MakeUpForLife.net has a great promo shot of the offerings in this collection and The Musehas a concise price list.

MAC for Chen Man full line

MAC for Chen Man full line at MakeUpForLife.net

According to MAC this collection is scheduled for GLOBAL release in March at all MAC outlets.  However, the word on the street and in the Google results hint this collection will be launched sooner.  Check out what Macy’s.com has up so far for this. I’m personally not interested in anything from this collection as I’ve already blown my beauty $$$ for the Shop MAC / Cook MAC collection and a few items from Tom Ford.  However, if I did want to pick up anything from this collection, I would get the Force of Love lipglass.  Lipglass is a great product you can wear alone or over lipstick and/or lip pencil so it is a very good value.  Whether you get anything or not, do take some time to check out Chen Man’s amazing photography at her officialsite at: www.ChenManer.com.

The MAC for Chen Man 'Love and Water' collection

The MAC for Chen Man 'Love and Water' collection

Shop MAC / Cook MAC Lipsticks: The Rundown

My mission was to get three of the lipsticks from the Shop MAC collection. I managed to pick up Watch Me Simmer (Amplified) and Quick Sizzle (Matte). Dish It Up (Lustre) I’m waiting on to arrive as it is on backorder from Nordstrom.com. As soon as I receive it I will post the review here.  This collection is on sale in North America right now and scheduled for International release in March of 2012.

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Get ya Shop MAC on!! And don't forget the 1980's Dynasty hair!

Quick Sizzle (Matte) is a surprisingly smooth pink-fuchsia lipstick. It goes on much nicer than MAC’s usual dry matte texture lippies I skip on general principle. Whatever smooth formula they put in the Iris Apfel collection matte lipsticks (of which I have a few and I love them) it’s obvious it’s been used in this shade. But like all matte lipsticks you need to make sure your lips are well hydrated/exfoliated or else this color will cling to every scrape, flake, bump, dent and pothole on your lips. It is very well-pigmented and quite stunning on cool skin tones. Quick Sizzle has more of a flat finish and more of a purple tinge as compared to Something New (Amplified/Stylishly Yours). Pink Pigeon (Matte/Iris Apfel) is definitely pinker and cooler in tone. The only lipstick color I can think of from the permanent range that comes close to this color is probably Girl About Town (Amplified) but it isn’t a matte finish.

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Shop MAC Lipstick in Quick Sizzle (Matte)

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On NW43 skin from left: Pink Pigeon (Matte), Quick Sizzle (Matte), Something New (Amplified)

Watch Me Simmer (Amplified) is well worth the hype behind its quick disappearance. A strong pink-coral, it is very pigmented and goes on smooth the way I’ve come to expect from all of the Amplified finish lipsticks I own from MAC. It is very easy to ‘overdo’ applying an Amplified lipstick so I advise using a lip brush if you are wary about this being too bright on your lips. This shade is pinker than my favorite coral lipstick of all time, Vegas Volt (Amplified/Permanent) so if you own Vegas Volt, picking up Watch Me Simmer won’t result in a duplicate. I’ve heard some people compare Watch Me Simmer to Full Speed (Sheen Supreme) and while it may look similar in the tube, on my NW43 skin it is obviously a more reddish-pink coral with more sheen. For me personally this shade of coral lipstick is more suited to cool skintones like mine where Vegas Volt seems to require I wear cooler-toned eyes to balance out the look.

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Shop MAC Lipstick in Watch Me Shimmer (Amplified)

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On NW43 skin from left: Vegas Volt (Amplified), Watch Me Simmer (Amplified), Full Speed (Sheen Supreme)

Of the two lipsticks, Watch Me Simmer is definitely the most ‘on trend’ shade to have for Spring 2012. Unfortunately it is sold out in a lot of places. MacCosmetics.com has it as ‘coming soon’ so stalk the website if you haven’t gotten your hands on a tube yet. But if you can’t get this shade don’t worry–it’s scheduled to be repromoted in the upcoming So Reel / Reel Sexy collection scheduled for release in early April. Also try pairing Vegas Volt with a light to medium pink lipglass as a ‘color hack’ of Watch Me Simmer.

Preview: Shop MAC / Cook MAC

It was ‘Game On’ today as I swung by my usual MAC boutique to pick up my Shop MAC / Cook MAC goodies!

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Big hair and bright makeup--the Shop MAC / Cook MAC collection is so me.

When the smoke cleared between what I’d reserved and what I bought as a result of my makeover, I would up with two of the eye shadow quads (Colour Added and Call Me Bubbles), two lipsticks (Quick Sizzle and Watch Me Simmer), two blushes (Florida and Optomistic Orange), and two tendertones (Purring and Hot and Saucy). I’m working on comparison swatches to post along with reviews this weekend but in the meantime enjoy the swag pics and a pic of me wearing the Call Me Bubbles trio and the pretty much sold out Watch Me Simmer lipstick.

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Da swag in packaging that reminds me of those cardboard Barbie supermarket play set...

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Colour Added quad, Quick Sizzle lipstick, Florida cremeblend blush and Hot & Saucy tendertone

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Call Me Bubbles quad, Watch Me Simmer lipstick, Optimistic Orange cremeblend blush and Purring tendertone

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The Shop MAC look feat. Call Me Bubbles eye shadow quad, Watch Me Simmer lipstick and Optimistic Orange cremeblend blush