I don’t have a clue what makeup to try this holiday season and I have a lot of parties to attend. Can you give me some ideas, and tell me what products to use in order to achieve these looks?
You’re in luck. This week I visited the newly opened MAC Cosmetics store in Megamall (its the biggest one in the Philippines) and met with sales executive Odessa Andal.
Odessa gave me a tour of the store, got me reacquainted with MAC’s best-selling products, and introduced me to its newest collection called Stroke of Midnight.
Of course, I couldn’t be happier trying out makeup, but this particular range was really fun and easy to play around with. The collection offers an extensive array of eyeshadows, face palettes, lipsticks and brushes to keep you in trend, especially when it comes to holiday makeup.
Personally, I think this particular collection may be all you need to update your makeup and even help you come up with different looks this season. It has a great balance of natural tones and intense shades that you can mix and match to create entirely new looks.
(Tip: These also make great Christmas gifts, as they come already packaged!)
And as fun as it is to come up with your own makeup looks, I thought that maybe you could use a little help. You see, Odessa was kind enough to make me four holiday looks, which I think would be perfect for any get-together or party, be it casual or formal. Check out the following looks, which you can achieve using makeup from the Stroke of Midnight collection.
Look 1: Smoky eyes
What you’ll need from the collection: Stroke of Midnight Lip Bag in Nude (P3,050) which contains Softly Lit Cremesheen Glass (soft beige with pink frost); Crème D’Nude Lipstick (pale muted peach beige), and Boldly Bare Lip Pencil (dirty red brown).
Stroke of Midnight Eyes in Smoky (P3,050) has Chillproof (frosty white); Retrospeck (bleached blonde); Gaelic Gold (metallic gold); Well Put Together (black with gold frost); and Carbon (intense black).
Look 2: Soft nudes
What you’ll need from the collection: Stroke of Midnight Eyes in Warm (P3,050), which includes Femme Fi (frosty golden cream), Amber Lights (peachy brown with shimmer), Socialite (warm copper), Mulch (red-brown with bronze pearl), and Midnight Hour (warm blackened plum); and Stroke of Midnight Lip and Cheek Bag in Coral (P4,200), that consists of Margin Powder Brush (pink with golden shimmer), Night to Remember Lipstick (warm red frost), Pure Sophistication Lipglass (gold frost), 129SE Powder/Blush Brush and slim mirror.
Look 3: Old Hollywood glam
What you’ll need from the collection: Stroke of Midnight Lip Bag in Violet (P3,050), which contains Art of Seduction Cremesheen Glass (cool nude with gold frost); Dark Deed Lipstick (darkened blood red); Vino Lip Pencil (intense violet purple) Stroke of Midnight Eye Bag in Violet (P3,900) includes Frozen Violet Paint Pot (frosted purple silver); In Extreme Dimension Lash (black); Blacktrack Fluidline (solid flat black); 209 Eye Liner/239 Eye Shades (double ended brush).
Look 4: Plum lips
What you’ll need from the collection: Stroke of Midnight Face Palette in Cool (P3,800) that includes Scene Eye Shadow (muted blue-gray); All Races Eye Shadow (cool light mauve taupe); Magic Moor Eye Shadow (rich blackened plum with pearl); Sparkling Rose Iridescent Pressed Powder (soft pink with gold frost); Ebony Eye Kohl (intense black); Sublime Pleasure Lipstick (soft mauve cream); and Romantically Inclined Lipstick (cool plum cream).
Makeup tutorial
To find out exactly how to recreate these makeup looks, visit any MAC Cosmetics branch and ask for a tutorial. Walk in demonstrations are complimentary, depending on the artist’s 
Advanced walk in demos are also available. These explore the products and techniques that can be used to enhance your current look or make it more glamorous. Focus can be on enhancing your features using a neutral palette customized to your skin tone, learning to enhance your natural look with the latest runway trends, or false lash application-this allows you to get customized, trimmed and professionally fitted lashes from MAC.
For makeup application lessons, price is redeemable with products. Here you can have a one-on-one tutorial with a MAC artist or MAC can host a group with a minimum of five persons (required reservation is three days before).
Lessons for makeup application is as follows:
Makeup in 60—Looks for every day and special occasions delivered by a MAC artist in 60 minutes. (P5,000 worth of products)
Bridal and Special Events in 90—Wedding day or special occasion makeup custom-created to complement your style or theme (P10,000 worth of products)
Theatrical Makeup in 90—Allows you to bring your fantasy, drag or Halloween look to life. (P10,000 worth of products)
Makeup in 90—Full makeup tutorial where you learn to master making up your own face (P10,000 worth of products)
Andal showed us the private makeup room at SM Megamall branch.
E-mail the author at ask.kellymisa@gmail.com; follow her on Twitter @kellymisa; visit her blog: www.kellymisa.com.