The MAC Makeup Thread

[ediewarhol]

Just got Style minx and sok hop, Really sexy shades esp. style minx!

Love, love Style Minx. I wasn't sure if I was going to but after putting it on, love it.

 

[ragtag]

i'm going to the superstore to get lip erase today, so if anyone would like, i'll place a review about it here later.

i might be late, but i'd like to hear what you thought of this!

 

[izzie stevens]

^ i haven't gotten it yet. they were out of stock! but i am calling tomorrow before i do go and if they have it, i will but it then.

 

[kimair]

from wwd...

There's a new concept in store for MAC Cosmetics: a prototype for all the brand's future Pro Stores.

The Estée Lauder Cos.-owned makeup artist brand has created a new retail format on the second floor of a historic building in Manhattan's Flatiron District. It is designed not only to be a retail outlet, but also an education center for the industry and a new way to communicate with makeup artists, said James Gager, senior vice president and creative director of MAC Worldwide.

"The original space was something neither Sheila [Choi, vice president of store design for MAC Worldwide] nor I designed, and when I first saw it I was shocked, because it looked like any other retail space," said Gager. "It didn't fit the profile of what I thought MAC Pro should represent. When we had the opportunity to acquire a new space, we were excited to build our dream store from the ground up. Hopefully, this will be a great stepping stone for building similar facilities in key international cities. We're being evolutionary, not revolutionary."

The 6,000-square-foot space, a collaboration between Gager, Choi and Tim Tareco, vice president of visual merchandising for MAC Worldwide, is intended to resemble a futuristic laboratory.

"We had a vision of old chem lab meets the world of color," said Gager, gesturing to a full wall of color pigments in mason jars, a futuristic photo studio and a loftlike library space with modernist furniture. Products are shown on wood display tables resembling halved trees, while a metal mixing area will eventually allow makeup artists to custom-blend their own colors (Gordon Espinet, vice president of makeup artistry, hopes to have the custom program up and running by yearend). Oiled metal cabinets hold stock overflow.

"We incorporated many different building materials: a coupling of acrylic, slate, rough wood and metal," said Gager. "It's a warm space, but it's also incredibly clean, simple and inviting."

Added Choi, "The space is like a work lab environment with a twist. The rawness stems from the basic unpretentious materials, salvaged wood, concrete blocks, metal chain-link, etc., but the impact is from the scale and unexpected usage and combination of these materials."

In the store's library area, makeup artists can leaf through the vast inventory of design, art, pop culture and fashion books for inspiration, photocopying anything that catches their fancy at the color copier nearby.

An onsite photo studio is intended to help budding artists build their books, said Gager. "I always wanted to have a photo studio in-store so that photography students could work on their books and makeup artists could build their portfolios," he said. "And we want to reinvent interactivity. We want artists to come in here and have fun playing with makeup *— and they too can use the studio, to document what they've done."

Custom fluorescent pendant lights — with adjustable halogen accents to simulate daylight — illuminate the space.

The store is stocked not only with MAC's full retail line, but also with the MAC Pro line, a collection of cutting-edge products designed for professional makeup artists. The line, which consists of just under 500 stockkeeping units, includes products specifically intended to stand up to the demands of fashion shows, photo shoots and TV and film sets. It is available in MAC's 12 North American Pro Stores and 13 international stores.

"Our Pro consumer is very different from a consumer customer," said Nicholas Gavrelis, executive director of global product development for MAC Cosmetics. "They need ranges of products that an average consumer might not use — body makeup with high pigment loads, primary and secondary colors, black and white makeup, airbrush body paint. They need things that look great on stage — for instance, we have been working with Cirque de Soleil, and they use sculpting powders and other products that achieve a theatrical look without being overdone."

The Pro Store also carries six mixing mediums, which allow makeup artists to essentially create their own cosmetics. "The water-based medium will turn powders into paint that can be used on the face, eyes and body, while an alcohol base will make a paint effect that requires oil to remove," explained Gavrelis. "We also have an eyeliner medium, a mascara mixing medium, a body gel medium with polymers to adhere things like glitter to the body, and a face and body makeup mixing medium."

The mixing station at the new Pro Store allows makeup artists to take that customized idea to the next level, said Gavrelis. "This area is going to be step one in getting us to where we want to be in the future — able to custom-mix on the spot very quickly in-store. Right now, it is very achievable in smaller quantities, but our dream is to be able to create new textures, mediums and colors quickly and in quantity with this area." It also serves as an acid test for artist usefulness. "The quicker artists buy into something, the sooner that it will likely get translated to the consumer level," he said.

The back half of the store contains two training rooms, where classes are held, as well as showers (to wash off body paint).

 

[izzie stevens]

^ i can't wait to go see it, the old mac pro store in nyc that i always go to looked so odd to me... almost like an apartment with make-up stands instead of furniture. it did give it an inviting feeling, though, and the training rooms were very "village" apartment looking, too. it was just huge curtains separating the training area from where the actual merchandise was.

 

[chanelnumber5]

^^The new store looks AMAZING!

 

[izzie stevens]

^ it's done already?! i have to go, asap!!!

 

[Kate_Moore]

NAUGHTY NAUTICALS... SOURCE: FOROS.VOGUE.ES

Ensign

Bateaux

Hey Sailor

Love Knot

Ahoy There!

Buoy-o-Buoy

Party Mate

Port Red

 

[weathergirl]

^my favorite from their line is strobe cream...makes everything LUMINOUS, glowy and just radiant!

 

[izzie stevens]

^^ i like the bell bottom blue!

 

[ragtag]

Strobe Cream is next on my MAC buy list... i've been eyeing it for so long!

i love Fleshpot and Alpha Girl from the Heatherette collection. i slicked on the Fleshpot and was horrified at first (because it looked terrible applied that way on me )! but after i applied it lightly over Korres Pomegranate Lip Butter (which is a wonderful, peachy-pink, very moisturizing balm), it was the perfect peachy nude.

i've used Alpha Girl everyday since i received it, and have found it to give a very natural, healthy pink blush. i could see how those with darker skintones might find it chalky (i'm NC20) though, since it's a pale powder with not much shimmer.

i'm still working with Lollipop Loving... i was hoping it would be more glossy and peach, but it's paler and more frosty-nude than i expected. i think it'll look great in the summer over a peachy balm or gloss.

 

[izzie stevens]

i want to buy the strobe cream... but i think it would make my face greasy as all hell.

 

[MizBlue]

Love, love Style Minx. I wasn't sure if I was going to but after putting it on, love it.

yay! glad you got it, enjoy!

 

[MizBlue]

i bought the mac wipes today, the bulk pack with 100 sheets, so i was wondering if anyone could tell me if they use them and if they like them or not! i used one about an hour ago to remove my blot powder and lipgloss and it felt a little greasy on my face.

don't like them either, and you are right, they are too greasy

 

[izzie stevens]

^ do you know if the strobe cream is as greasy as the wipes are?

 

[Trista]

I caved in YET AGAIN and this time, I got the Jardin Aires pigment...and I am in love with it. Actually, IN LOVE is more appropriate. It's amazing as an eyeshadow because it's a pop of colour, perfect for the beach, but also I would use it as a bronzer or highlighter. The best part is that any fallout can just be blended into the other face powders I am using. I am seriously considering buying another one just so that I can press a blush powder.

Being a pigment and shadow lover this is dangerous for me...between Naughty Nauticals, Neo Sci-Fi, and Cool Heat, there's 14 shadows I want. I want to see the Solar Bits IRL to see how they compare to pigments.

 

[weathergirl]

^ do you know if the strobe cream is as greasy as the wipes are?

the strobe cream has a pinkish pearl tint to it...and i would suggest getting it only if your skin isn't oily to begin with...otherwise the build up would just be a total oil-slick after applying it...

try getting something similar, a different luminizer that's oil free

 

[izzie stevens]

^ i have conbination skin. only my t-zone is oily. but still. i hate, hate, haaaate looking oily. so thank you for the advice!

 

[hayame]

what is the best mascara of MAC?
my lashes are fine and few
i want very volumed and thick lashes

 

[peacelover142002]

^Probably people would say Plushlash mascara. I've never tried it myself, but I've heard good things about it.