What Are Your Top 5 MAC Must-Haves?

MAC Viva Glam V Lipstick

I was digging through my MAC favorites this morning when I remembered a question asked by reader Sheila Z in the comments yesterday.

“Karen, I’ll be getting my makeup done this saturday at MAC for my brother-in-law’s engagement party. Part of the process requires that I buy at least 5 items. What are the top 5 you recommend?”

– Sheila Z

Hey Sheila,

Pardon me for this, but right now I feel Ready For The World! “Oh, oh, oh, oh, Sheila!”

(Please tell me you’re familiar with that song.)

With that out of the way, let’s get back to beauty. You’re going to have such a blast at the MAC counter on Saturday. For what it’s worth, here are my five (current) MAC must-haves.

• 217 Blending Brush ($22.50)

  I wield this multi-tasking goat hair fiber brush Every. Single. Day. It has its way with both cream and powder products, and I use it for everything from loose pigments to under-eye concealer.

• Fluidline in Blacktrack ($15)

  This black gel liner stays put no matter what! I’ve shed a million tears with this stuff on, and it doesn’t budge for nothin’.

• Pro Longwear Concealer ($16.50)

  I really fancy this miracle working liquid concealer. Not only does it cover my dark circles well with its water-resistant formula, but it lasts all day long without fading, too. My one caveat? — it has a tricky pump.

• Soft Brown Eyeshadow ($14.50)

  If you like the look of browns with orange undertones, this matte shadow could be your new best friend. I wear it in the crease with smokey looks to give my eyes depth and dimension.

• Viva Glam V Lipstick ($14.50)

  LOVE this shimmery neutral pink! I think it looks great on almost everyone, and 100% of the proceeds go to support men, women and children living with HIV/AIDS.

I also asked the gals on Twitter what their MAC must-haves are, and here’s what they had to say:
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Read the rest of What Are Your Top 5 MAC Must-Haves? (52 words)

You might also be interested in...

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2. Beauty Tips
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Copyright Karen of Makeup and Beauty Blog: Makeup Reviews, Beauty Tips and Drugstore Beauty Finds | Read the full article

Two Ways to Win an NYX 10 Color Eyeshadow Palette in Casting Call

Happy hump day, friends. How’s your week coming along? I hope you’ve been having a good one.

Here’s a little something that just might make it even better — a cute palette of smokey shadows from NYX.

Today’s giveaway prize, the NYX 10 Color Eyeshadow Palette in Casting Call, features 10 powder shadows, from matte to shimmer finishes, in nuanced shades of silver, gray and black.

Imagine all of the smoldering eye looks you could create with this sultry set.

• One NYX 10 Color Eyeshadow Palette in Casting Call (an $11 value).

• There are two ways to enter, and you can do both of them for two chances to win. First, you can enter by leaving a comment at the bottom of this post, a comment about anything at all. Tell me how you feel about smokey eyes, what you’re having for lunch today, or how you style your hair — you get the picture.
• Second, you can enter by following me on Twitter @karenmbb and retweeting (RT) the following message:
  • Follow @karenmbb and RT to Win an NYX 10 Color Eyeshadow Palette in Casting Call http://bit.ly/frLhac

• The deadline to enter is Thursday, January 27, 2011 at 11:59PM (PT).
• Entrants must enter using a valid email address and/or Twitter account to win.
• A maximum of two (2) entries per person — one within the comments at the bottom of this post, and a second entry via Twitter addressed to me @karenmbb.
• Contest is open to individuals of ay country who have reached the age of majority according to their local laws (18 years of age or older in the United States with these exceptions: Alabama and Nebraska, 19; Mississippi, 21).
• Tabs and I (heretofore referred to as “T-Money and K-Dawg”) will select one (1) winner at random from the entries either left in the comments at the bottom of this blog post or addressed to @karenmbb on Twitter.
• The winner will be announced here within 48 hours of the deadline.
• Void where prohibited by law.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

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Copyright Karen of Makeup and Beauty Blog: Makeup Reviews, Beauty Tips and Drugstore Beauty Finds | Read the full article

MAC Wonder Woman: Random Acts of iPhone Photography

Just a couple of fun “backstage” MAC Wonder Woman iPhone shots.

Clockwise from the lower left: a Reflects Glitter explosion; curling mah hair to get Wonder Woman’s sassy style; Tabs playing with the Lasso of Truth (he’s obsessed with it); filming the MAC Wonder Woman video; and a view of the boots from above.

For all the details (including more swatches) on the MAC Wonder Woman Collection, check out…

• Are You a MAC Wonder Woman?
• MAC Wonder Woman Collection Lip Combinations: Just Some Food for Thought
• More MAC Wonder Woman! Swatches on NW20 Skin
• The MAC Wonder Woman Collection: A Quick Look at Some of What We’ve Seen Before
• MAC Wonder Woman: Saving the World One Lipglass at a Time
• Tabs for the MAC Wonder Woman Collection

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Copyright Karen of Makeup and Beauty Blog: Makeup Reviews, Beauty Tips and Drugstore Beauty Finds | Read the full article

MAC Wonder Woman Collection Lip Combinations: Just Some Food for Thought

What up, fellow Wonder Women? I thought you gals might like to see some potential lip combinations with the Lipsticks and Lipglasses from the soon-to-be-released MAC Wonder Woman Collection.

Lipglass in Wonder Woman atop Lipstick in Russian Red

These are just to spark some ideas, of course. Let’s get those creative juices flowing!

Lipglass in Athena’s Kiss atop Lipstick in Spitfire

Lipglass in Wonder Woman atop Lipstick in Marquise D’

Lipglass in Secret Identity atop Lipglass in Heroine

Lipglass in Emancipation atop Lipstick in Heroine
(...)
Read the rest of MAC Wonder Woman Collection Lip Combinations: Just Some Food for Thought (148 words)

You might also be interested in...

1. Makeup Tips
2. Beauty Tips
3. Current Makeup Collections and Reviews
4. New Drugstore Beauty Bargains
5. Hair Care and Styling Ideas

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Copyright Karen of Makeup and Beauty Blog: Makeup Reviews, Beauty Tips and Drugstore Beauty Finds | Read the full article

Jack Of All Trades: Baseball's Tallest

As Chris Young found out this week, baseball doesn't pay its players by the yard. Though he checks in at 6'10', Young signed a deal for just $1.1MM guaranteed. Meanwhile, noted tiny person Dustin Pedroia will make $5.5MM in 2011, despite checking in at a generous listing of 5'9'. (The rule isn't proportionally inverse, however- 3'7' Eddie Gaedel made just $100 for his one plate appearance).

The Young signing got me wondering: how often is the team getting the tallest player in a trade also getting the best player in that transaction? Let's take a look at trades involving some of baseball's best bets to reach that can on the top shelf.

Currently, the tallest player in baseball history is 6'11' Jon Rauch, who has been dealt three times. In July of 2004, Rauch went from the White Sox, along with reliever Gary Majewski, to the Expos for Carl Everett. Over five seasons in Montreal and Washington, Rauch pitched to a strong ERA+ of 132, becoming one of baseball's better relievers. Everett managed a meager OPS+ of 90 over the rest of 2004, and just 94 in 2005. Is it a coincidence that Everett stands just 6'0?

Chicago dealt Rauch after the 2008 season to Arizona for Emilio Bonifacio, who is a full foot shorter than Rauch. While Bonafacio continued his career-long trend of not hitting, Rauch was awful in the desert, pitching to a 6.56 ERA. Arizona finally sent him to Minnesota in August 2009 for the reasonably-tall 6'2' Kevin Mulvey. Rauch once again thrived. It is hard to say any team that traded for Rauch lost the deal. In this case, the tallest turned out to be best.

As for the aforementioned Young, he's also been traded three times. The Pirates shipped him to the Expos for 5'11' Matt Herges in December 2002. While Herges had a middling season with Montreal, Young continued to pitch well in the minors, leading to a second deal in April 2004. This time Young went to the Rangers with 6'2' minor leaguer Josh McKinley for 6'3' Justin Echols and catcher Einar Diaz, who is not only 5'10', but positionally spends much of his time crouching. And while Young wasn't the best player in the six-person deal that brought him, Adrian Gonzalez and Termel Sledge to San Diego for Billy Killian, Akinori Otsuka and Adam Eaton, he was a strong second to Gonzalez, pitching to a 110 ERA+ over five seasons with the Padres. Again, no one lost out by trading for the really tall guy.

And so it was with the other 6'10' major leaguer, Randy Johnson. At no time did Seattle think, 'Oh, to have held on to 6'2' Mark Langston!' The Mariners did get decent value when they traded Johnson, about to hit free agency, for John Halama, Freddy Garcia and Carlos Guillen. But it wasn't equal value, and neither were the heights- Halama at 6'5'. Garcia at 6'4' and Guillen just 6'1'. (Can't blame them, really- they didn't have the kind of leverage to land a Jon Rauch.)

Believe it or not, the Yankees got the better of their Randy Johnson trade when they acquired him- Brad Halsey, Javier Vazquez and Dioner Navarro did little for the D'backs, not one of them over 6'2'- and got the short end when dealing him back to Arizona two years later for Alberto Gonzalez, Steven Jackson, Ross Ohlendorf and Luis Vizcaino. (Jackson was 6'5' and Ohlendorf 6'4', but both failed to measure up.)

As for the present day, the tallest-player-as-good-luck-charm is present in the person of Kameron Mickolio. A stately 6'9', Mickolio has been involved in two trades. The first saw Mickolio, along with Tony Butler (minors), Adam Jones, George Sherrill and Chris Tillman travel, hopefully with extra leg room, from Seattle to Baltimore in February 2008 in exchange for Erik Bedard. Obviously, Jones has been more valuable to date, but the Mickolio side is well ahead for many reasons on that one. And we'll get to test the theory once again in 2011: Baltimore traded Mickolio last month, along with David Hernandez, to Arizona for Mark Reynolds.

Will the tyranny of the tall hold once more? Or is there something inherent in the Arizona atmosphere that felled Jon Rauch and will do the same to Kameron Mickolio? I can hardly wait for spring training to find out. Tune in next time for analysis of the transactions involving Jumbo Brown and Fat Freddie Fitzsimmons. Working title? Baseball By The Pound.

Blue Jays, Rangers Swap Napoli, Francisco

Hopefully Mike Napoli's suitcase is still packed. Just four days after acquiring the catcher/first baseman from the Angels, the Blue Jays have sent him back to the AL West. Napoli is heading to the Rangers for Frank Francisco and cash, the teams announced.

Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports first reported the deal (on Twitter) and Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News reports (on Twitter) that the Rangers are sending less than $1MM to Toronto.

As Rosenthal points out, Napoli will likely spell Yorvit Torrealba and Matt Treanor behind the plate and see playing time at first base. This likely means the Rangers don't have room for free agent slugger Vladimir Guerrero.

Napoli hit 26 home runs last year, reaching the 20-homer plateau for the third consecutive season. He hit .238/.316/.468 overall, with a career-high 137 strikeouts. The right-handed hitter has a .931 OPS against southpaws in his career, so he is a potential complement to Chris Davis and Mitch Moreland, two left-handed hitting first basemen who hit righties but struggle against lefties.

The Blue Jays acquired Napoli from the Angels in the deal that sent Vernon Wells to Anaheim. J.P. Arencibia and Jose Molina figure to catch regularly for the Blue Jays now that Napoli is headed to the Lone Star State.

In an odd twist, Francisco joins the same bullpen as Jason Frasor, the only other Type A free agent to accept his team's offer of arbitration this offseason. New additions Jon Rauch and Octavio Dotel join Frasor and Francisco in Alex Anthopoulos' remade bullpen.

Francisco, 31, posted a 3.76 ERA with 10.3 K/9 and 3.1 BB/9 in 52 2/3 innings for the Rangers last year. He saved 25 games in 2009 before relinquishing the closer's job to rookie Neftali Feliz in 2010.

As MLBTR's Arb Tracker shows, the midpoint for Francisco is $4.19MM and the midpoint for Napoli is $5.7MM, so the Rangers would have been taking on payroll even if they did not send cash to Toronto.

Quick Hits: Maine, Minaya, Meche, Maroth, Kim

The Yankees signed Andy Pettitte on this date in 2009. The Bronx Bombers added an accomplished pitcher today, but it wasn't Pettitte; they're still waiting to hear from the left-hander. Here are some links for Wednesday...

• Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports that free agent starter John Maine is throwing bullpen sessions and is auditioning for teams (Twitter link). The 29-year-old right-hander had his shoulder cleaned up last summer.


• Mets GM Sandy Alderson has not had any contact with former GM Omar Minaya since early January according to Adam Rubin of ESPN New York. Alderson indicated that there was a position available for his predecessor, assuming he wants it.


• Tyler Kepner of The New York Times wrote about the legacy of Gil Meche.


• Former Tiger Mike Maroth told Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports that he's retiring. Maroth started 100 games for the Tigers from 2003-05, but the left-hander's elbow has caused problems since. He last pitched in 2007 for the Cardinals and Tigers.


• The Rakuten Golden Eagles have announced the signing of Byung-Hyun Kim, according to Patrick Newman of NPB Tracker. The 32-year-old spent nine seasons with the D'Backs, Rockies, Red Sox and Marlins, posting a 4.42 ERA with 8.6 K/9 as a starter, closer and reliever. He allowed memorable home runs to Paul O'Neill and Tino Martinez in the 2001 World Series.


• Alex Speier of WEEI.com hears that the Red Sox aren't likely to sign any more pitchers to major league deals this offseason.


• The Royals edged out the Rays, Braves, Blue Jays and Phillies in Keith Law's organizational rankings at ESPN.com.


• Royals GM Dayton Moore explains to ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick that he intends to turn the Royals into a 'consistent, solid, thriving organization' by continuing to develop young players.


• Mets GM Sandy Alderson told ESPN.com's Adam Rubin that he would like to avoid arbitration with R.A. Dickey and remains open to a multiyear deal with the knuckleballer.