Working.

Thanks! It’s funny that you talk about cold and logical, because my original background is in the hard sciences so when I started seriously thinking about makeup I approached it going “This is just color theory, optics and geometry. How hard could it be?” Obviously it takes a bit of creativity and a good deal of…

I wish I could, but hair isn’t my bag. Gun to head I’d say a combination of a little bit of mousse and a lot of salt spray on damp, dirty hair, then someone touseled it forever, but that’s nothing but my best guess.

That’s a really interesting question. I generally catogorize people on a spectrum between having naturally loud or quiet faces. Loud faces have strong coloring and contrast and/or at least one if not several highly distinctive facial features. Quiet faces tend to have more subtle coloring and delicate facial features.

Isn’t Plumage great? It’s one of the handful of shadows I keep multiples of, one in my work kit and one for at-home use. I use it mostly with a pencil brush for a one step minimalist smoky eye. You’ll have to tell me what you think about Deep Truth if you try it.

Innnteresting. That’s Satellite Dreams. My BFF has super sensitive skin and uses it on the regular, but that certainly doesn’t mean it wasn’t the culprit. It’s a shame too, because it’s a lovely color. Hope you’ve found something a bit more soothing!

Yikes! Do you mind sharing what particular shade that was and roughly when it happened? I’ve never had any reactions, but I like to be aware.

Matching satin jackets and statement makeup for everyone!

I’m up for it. If you bend the right ears, let me know!

I’m an independent makeup artist. Which isn’t say there aren’t great MAC makeup artists (I’m pretty sure all MAC floor employees have to be MUAs and I have friends who’ve worked there) but the merchandising side of makeup just never appealed to me.

That’s probably a dark pencil or Plumage on a pencil brush tightlined through the lashes as well. I don’t use a lot of shadows on my water line, but Plumage is an exception. I forgot about Di’s electric blue!

Hey, if Millihelen wants to pay me, I’d be more than happy to share my magical wizardry. I presume I get to keep my wizened gray beard, right?

It definitely would work on brown eyes. If you’ve got deep brown eyes and deep skin you might want to smack a lighter shade like Electric Eel in there to to keep it #popping, but it really ought to be just fine. It walks the line between wearable and editorial so it’s not necessarily as much about what’s “flattering”…

Pro Tip: Buy them in pans. If you go to the MAC counter or boutique they’ll try to sell you single, but if you ask for a pro palette refill pan it’s only $10. A single is $16 for 1.5g of product while the refill pan is $10 for 1.3g of product. They won’t offer it to you, but if you go in and ask for a refill pan,…

Aww shucks. I did a step-by-step for another jez so that should be somewhere in the comments. You’ll have to futz around with it to get it to suit your specific eyeshape/color but the application isn’t that hard. You can totally do it!

It’s not a complicated look, really, though you’d have to adjust it to suit your own tastes and the fact you aren’t (or are? I don’t know your life) constantly lit for magazine work. If you sat down in front of me and handed me this look saying you want to be able to recreate it at home I’d probably start you off with…

You and me both, KStew. You and me both.

I promise you that electric blue is mostly MAC’s Deep Truth. I’m sure there are other things thrown in there but I recognize Deep Truth the way a mother fur seal recognizes the call of her lost pup from an entire island away. I’d be willing to be there’s some Plumage worked around the outer corner, but Deep Truth.…

IME if you get something super intense and super matte you have more wiggle room because you can buff it out into a sheer wash of color, with or without a gloss on top, or you can wear it as an intense look. When I turn people on to orange lipstick, which I do a lot, I usually start them out with something matte and…

Orrrr, and I’m just spitballin’ here, Ben Affleck could post a nude selfie on instagram of him banging Tom Brady. Everybody wins.