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So if you read my post about my Professional-ish Opinion about certain products I use, you will know I am a big supporter of MAC Cosmetics. I did some further digging after my last post and while I’ll agree their products are in no way organic or natural, the company itself stands firmly behind messages of gender equality and animal equality. That being said, we can move on – because it is fact. (Just to firmly cement that – I wrote a Master’s Thesis on Estee Lauder Companies…)

So since my hair color change, the makeup colors I had, were just not working. I felt like Poison Ivy if I wore any auqas or greens and like a glowing warm light if I wore my usual copper eye shadows.

NO!

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A few weeks ago when I purchased my original Paint Pot, I signed up for the special launch event for Antonio Lopez’s MAC makeup collection.

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This entailed me getting my makeup done by one the of the lovely girls at MAC and then the ability to purchase from the new collection before it sells out. (Because it is going to go fast.) I had the amazing Stella do my makeup – if you live in Chicago and need a little makeover or just want to stop into MAC go to this one in Lincoln Park and ask for her – she is FAB. I had so much fun getting a new look and it is PERFECT. I would have never thought to pair the new set Stella picked out for me and I am in love with it.

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Anyways – let’s look at photos of my face with new Antonio Lopez Collection on it.

Several shots of the new colors the top/bottom left are done by Stella and I love them for a great evening/date/night out look. The ones on the top/bottom right and center are more day looks and I LOVE THEM. The new line really compliments my power drill as I was making myself a CRAFT ROOM (listen that post is coming up!).

My current set-up. The Antonio compact, my pro-compact for 16 shadows (of which 13 are poison ivy/warm glo causing), the new Pro Paint Pots (AMAZING), Face and Body Foundation in Ghostface Knitter White, then eyeliner and misc brushes.

It may seem like a lot for makeup, but it’s honestly a simple and very flattering look for me and my new red do! Thanks Stella at MAC! 🙂

Every so often I realize that I do have a professional opinion about body, hair, and makeup products. Obviously everyone has different hair textures, skin types/sensitivities, tones, and preferences, but these are my favorite products and/or brands that I use daily right now.

Body

I recently became concerned about the ingredients in my body lotion. The ‘largest organ’ really does soak up A LOT of chemicals and additives so it started to make me worry when I saw that even organic lotions had lots of ingredients I could not pronounce or recognize. My first solution – baby oil!

Get Little Twig here – I’m such a sucker for packaging. (Source)

For the most part it is just mineral oil – which seriously has more uses than you could imagine. Some brands have fragrance (that powder smell) other have rose/lavender or no smell at all. You can buy organic, but that can be 8x the price. It’s super moisturizing and if you use it after you shave it helps with any irritation.

Second (here comes a RANT) – I’ve become really interested in soap making. I haven’t taken the plunge (do you see how many damn hobbies I already have? calm down!), but I have looked at many ‘starter’ or basic soap recipes. The only thing that bothers me is the use of Lye. I know for a long long long long time we as humans have used Lye as as a substitute for certain sodium and potassium hydroxides safely to change the pH of things. However, when I was taught about relaxers it always stuck that lye was used in the relaxing process to change the chemical structure of the hair. I understand that used safely lye is completely fine. BUT the worry wart in me just can’t let that go. Anyone who has ever relaxed hair knows how scary it is (the speed, texture, hair integrity are all high risk factors of ruining someone’s hair). To me lye is unnecessary and luckily there are a lot of people who don’t want to deal with it either since it can be unsafe to store with pets/kids. So lye-free soap is in the works for me…. and I kind of want to make soap with loose tea in it like the boys at T-we Tea do.

Hair

I have been part of the Aveda ‘cult’ for five years now (time flies) and I still enjoy their products, but honestly in the humidity here in Chicago, the products are not working for me. A fistful of Glossing Straightner starts out as great for my hair, but the first humid breeze and I have frizzy, poofy hair. I was recommended a new line and I’m loving it for it’s anti-humid hold and Rx therapy.

Alterna is great at giving immense therapy to the hair (I’m super color treated at this point) and it just leaves the hair so soft and not frizzy. The Protein Creme and Blowout Creme are fabulous.

Also the Bamboo Line by Alterna is great for smoothing out that fussy texture I get.

Don’t get me wrong I’m still an Aveda Fanboy, and Control Force, Pure Abundance Hair Potion, and Brilliant Humectant are always my finishers.

Makeup

I always use Aveda Foundation – it smells like roses and actually covers really nicely. I find it very similar to MAC Foundation in my opinion for my extremely fair skin. It covers my uneven spots and the little dark circles I always have under my eyes from allergies (thanks Ugly Tribe!).

Eye shadow is a mix of Urban Decay and MAC. I am however IN LOVE with the new MAC Pro Longwear Paint Pot. It goes on smooth, stays set ALL day long, and because of the natural contours on your eye it actually looks like you’ve added one if not two additional colors for contour. I just love it. I’ve received so many compliments on it since I’ve started using it also.

For lipstick – in my opinion as long as you have a good pencil liner you can use whatever brand you want as long as you know when to reapply and are prepared to add a gloss. I really love the Aveda lip liner that is ‘clear’ so you can use it for any shade you want.

SHAM-WOW!

Would any readers like any tutorials on hair/makeup tricks or tips? Let me know I wouldn’t mind doing a few how-tos if they are desired!

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Let’s look at my face – MAC makeover.

My Professional-ish Opinion