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Welcome to my fifth post in the “Real Girl Beauty” series! I started this a few months ago (feat. Chanel, Benefit, Clinique, and Tarte) where I chat with my friends (or readers) who are non-beauty bloggers about their beauty routines. It would be a tragedy if I didn’t cover the iconic MAC Cosmetics and my immediate go-to for the brand was my sorority sister/former coworker and friend, Andrea. Although I’ve dabbled in a few MAC products on my own, I have traveled with Andrea for work trips quite a few times and always loved playing with the MAC makeup favorites she would bring along. Ready to see what Andrea always keeps in stock from MAC?
As discussed in the previous Real Girl Beauty posts, I have the ladies take photos of their products themselves… non beauty blogger style. This means I expected that the products didn’t look pristine and many of the pics would be taken simply on an iPhone (not some fancy DSLR)… because let’s be honest. Before I take pictures of my makeup for posts with my ginormous camera, don’t think that there aren’t a plethora of Clorox wipes and rubbing alcohol involved to make sure everything looks as perfect as possible 😉
Background on AndreaAndrea and I met at a sorority convention when she was in college at Florida International University and I was working for our sorority’s headquarters in Philadelphia as the Director of Communications… a solid seven years ago now. Andrea – being a very active soror and lover of all things PR and marketing – would literally email me constantly with ideas on what our organization could do/try/have to make our mark in the industry. Fast forward to today, Andrea is now the Director of Communications at our sorority headquarters, replacing me when I moved across the country to Houston. She’s fiery, fun, passionate, and certainly never lacks an opinion, but it’s why we love her.
PS. Andrea caught the bouquet at my wedding!
Here we are being perfectly happy at my wedding. My little brother caught the garter. It was scandalous. I left the PG13 pictures out for the kids.
Andrea has been a fan of MAC since she was in middle school/early high school. “My aunts were addicted to their lipsticks and one of them had 20+ shades. Another one lent me her eyeliner in Rosemary and Thyme** for a holiday party and I was instantly obsessed. To this day, it’s my favorite eyeliner color.”
“My MAC standbys are Studio Fix Powder Foundation, Blot Powder, a couple of blushes, Refined Golden bronzer, several of their eyeshadows, a couple of lip liners and a few lipsticks – of course,” said Andrea of her MAC collection.
As far as her Holy Grail/MUST HAVE from the brand, she shared, “Studio Fix Powder Foundation is a must. I have worn it every day since I purchased my first one in high school. Breakouts, burns, blotchy skin – it has never failed in making me look my best. I’m cheating, but I have to pick a second item – the bronzer in Refined Golden. I’m naturally tan, but this gives you that perfect sunkissed look I’ve never found with another bronzer.”
**Ed. note: Rosemary & Thyme was a Limited Edit olive shimmer color. I’ve substituted in a close dupe in MAC Forever Green Powerpoint Pencil.
Of course, Real Girl Beauty wouldn’t be complete without some personal application tips from the ladies…
For the Studio Fix – it’s so important to test the shades on yourself [diligently]. You would never guess my color (NC42) looking at my skin tone. The MAC staff usually guess shades much darker. Also, even though this is a powder foundation, I double up and apply a thin layer of liquid foundation prior if I’m going to be out for 6+ hours. That might be a faux pas but if there’s anything I’ve learned when it comes to makeup and skin types is this: once you find something that works for you, stick to it. Who cares if it’s not the conventional way.
Ed. note: Andrea, there are no rules in makeup and you do you, girl! Brighter Darling is all about whatever makes you feel most beautiful.
When I asked Andrea if there was anything from MAC she’d be looking to pick up soon, she naturally mentioned the Selena collection, among a few others, “My coworker has been talking up the Selena line for a few weeks so I’m tempted to buy something from the line. I grew up watching J.Lo’s awesome portrayal of her in the movie, so it’s more of a nostalgic reason. The lip colors also look like they’d complement my skin tone nicely.”
…Well, we hope she was able to pick up a couple of things considering that collection sold out like the second coming of Jesus.
Let me know in the comments what some of your MAC makeup favorites are! Thanks to Andrea, Refined Golden is also a love of mine – she’s totally right, it gives the perfect summery glow.
HUGE LOVE and thanks to Andrea for sharing her stash with me for my Real Girl Beauty series. She’s a bit of a workaholic, so I appreciate she took a few minutes out of her day to make this happen <3.
If you’re interested in being featured in an upcoming “Real Girl Beauty” (drugstore or high-end brands welcome), shoot me an email at steffanie@brighterdarling.com with “Real Girl Beauty: [INSERT BRAND NAME]” as the subject.
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-Steffanie
