How To Tap Dance—Fashionably!

MAC Cosmetics Taught Me To Tap Dance (Plus, I Love Highlighter!)

I don’t wear a lot of makeup, namely because I don’t really know how to apply it properly. I chalk this up to the fact that my mom is a minimalist—maybe mascara and lipstick on special occasions–so I didn’t get the tutorials that most girls get at a young age, watching their mothers get ready to go out for the night. This excuse isn’t completely legitimate, though, because I’ve worked at women’s fashion magazines for long enough to get some pretty constant exposure to the beauty biz, and to talented makeup artists who have literally made me look like a different, and arguably better person. But getting your makeup done feels so good, I usually just close my eyes and fall asleep, despite my best intention to watch carefully and pick up all sorts of tips and tricks.

Brittany, from I Wanna Be Gwyneth, Extra! and Beso entertaining fame, also tried to tap.

In short: Makeup intimidates me—and usually goes untapped on my bathroom shelves (thanks to access to magazine beauty closets (a free for all), and my love for color in general, I own a lot of it really crazy eye-shadows that you have to be masterful to actually wear). But somehow, Mac Cosmetics got me out of the office the other night, and into a tap dance studio, in honor of their Spring “Hey Sailor” collection. Since I’ve never met a striped top I didn’t want to wear—or apparently, an embroidered sailor hat, this was an easy sell. Let’s just say that I sucked hard at tap dancing—and almost took out some fellow editors whose flailing hands were actually moving in the right direction, but all was not lost as I picked up some products even a dunce like me can apply. They had two senior artists—John Stapleton and Christopher Del Castillo—on hand to take us through the collection, and reassure me about my poor makeup skills. Stapleton, who does Kelly Osbourne’s makeup, told me that I should feel free to just focus on my skin, and leave everything else more or less untouched. Done and done! The collection offers some stand-out brights, but what really caught my eye were the more muted pastels—four of which I’ve worked onto my face the past few days with kind of great results (If I may say so myself). The lip glosses are sheer, subtle, and long-lasting, the highlighter is pretty and shimmery both on my bathroom counter and on the top of my cheekbones, and the blush is understated and rosy. The packaging? Awesome. Meanwhile, two people have told me I look well-rested, which pretty much sells me every time.