Sneak Peek: MAC Makeup Art Cosmetics Collection — Lipstick & Lipglass
To wrap up our sneak peek of the Makeup Art Cosmetics Collection, let’s take a look at Hold the Pose lipstick and New Spirit and On Display lipglasses.
Lipstick ($14.00)
- Hold the Pose is a sheer plummy shade with soft golden shimmer and a bit of glossiness. It has a lustre finish, which is why I was expecting it to be sheer. It gives my lips a bit of a rosy plum look, but otherwise, it doesn’t add much to my lips.
- Product: 7/10
- Value: 8/10
- Ease of Use: 8/10
- Packaging: 8/10
Lipglass ($14.00)
- New Spirit is a light orange-y coral with soft golden shimmer. I was reminded of a more orange version of Orangedescence lipglass (limited edition from quite awhilea go). I liked it, and I liked the way it gave my lips a brighter look and the shimmer was noticeable.
- On Display is a stunning deep burgundy-wine with gold shimmer. This one is absolutely stunning both swatched and on the lips. I haven’t been this pulled by a lip color by MAC in what feels like way too long. I like this one so much I’m considering a back up…
- Product: 9/10
- Value: 8/10
- Ease of Use: 8/10
- Packaging: 8/10
- Overall: 8/10
Recommendation: If you’re a fan of lustre finish lipsticks, Hold the Pose isn’t a bad choice. The gold shimmer keeps it from being too muted, but the color is very work appropriate, too. Since I’m not a big fan of lustre lipsticks, it’s not a must for me. I do love both of the lipglasses I tried, so now I’m eager to check out the other two from the launch. I definitely recommend everyone check out On Display!
Availability: MACCosmetics.com (August 20th), MAC stores
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Aquarouge Liquid Lipstick
Kevyn Aucoin: Aquarouge Liquid Lipstick
Kevyn Aucoin The Liquid Lipstick
($27.00) is an intense, semi-opaque lipgloss that packs a lot of color and gives a creamy, glossy look on lips. Aquarouge was a nice, browned-down red shade that held up well on lips. It was creamy, and it wore for hours with no issues or funny fading. Sephora is showing only five shades available, and I’d definitely consider trying the others in the future.
- Product: 8/10
- Value: 6/10
- Ease of Use: 8/10
- Packaging: 7/10
Recommendation: For glossy lip color that delivers real color to lips, consider the Liquid Lipstick. It’s creamy, easy to use, and it lasts for hours (assuming you’re not kissing, drinking often, eating, etc.!). It’s not the best bang for your buck at only 0.12 oz. of gloss for $27, though.
Availability: Sephora, KevynAucoinDirect.com
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Jupitesse Liquid Patent Lip
Kevyn Aucoin: The Liquid Patent Lip
Kevyn Aucoin The Liquid Patent Lip ($27.00) is a liquid lip color designed to give you lips that look like glossy, patent leather. It comes in a twist-up container with a white bristled brush applicator. I’ve never been a huge fan of this gloss/color delivery system, just because so much product gets stuck in the brush, and if you don’t wash the brush (which I get concerned over any water/soap getting back into the product), it can get pretty gross. I usually take a makeup remover wipe and then I brush this back and forth to remove the majority of the product without contaminating the product itself. From my HauteLook order, I purchased three shades:
- Jupitesse is a dark purple-black with fine multicolored shimmer running through it. This one is particularly difficult to apply evenly and opaquely on lips. I had the most trouble with this shade, and I would not recommend it.
- Infernelle is a semi-opaque deep red that went on much better than Jupitesse. It was smooth, left a lovely glossy finish, and gave my lips plenty of color without being completely opaque. A bonus was Infernelle turned out to be a very wearable red, because it wasn’t bright or overly bold.
- Nyalia is a pretty pink with just a little bit of coral to it and nearly no shimmer. I felt this one had the best application–look and feel–compared to the other two I tried. It was smooth, opaque, and just glossy enough (though I wouldn’t say it had a patent lip look). This shade was very wearable and perfect for summer.
I think Kevyn Aucoin may have discontinued the Liquid Patent Lip colors, though they’re still available via the brand’s website. I don’t love these, just because I’m not a fan of this type of gloss applicator. Of the three I tried, Nyalia had the best overall application and look, but I feel these may be a bit too hit or miss, since Jupitesse left much to be desired, and Infernelle needed to be smoothed out with my lips since the applicator left streaks.
- Product: 6/10
- Value: 6/10
- Ease of Use: 6/10
- Packaging: 5/10
Recommendation: If you like ultra glossy lip color that goes on semi-opaque, Kevyn Aucoin’s Liquid Patent Lip might be for you. If you like brush-type glosses like these, you may find this more to your liking than I did. Personally, I don’t recommend these products unless you’ve gotten a chance to play with them in-store.
Availability: KevynAucoinDirect.com
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Poppia
Kevyn Aucoin: The Expect Lip Tint Lipstick
Kevyn Aucoin’s The Expert Lip Tint
($23.00) is a bit of a misleading product name, considering it’s an opaque, lightly frosted/full sheen lipstick. These lipsticks wear extremely well (four hours or longer), and they’re not at all drying. They’re creamy, richly pigmented, and go on smoothly. Sephora currently stocks eleven different shade variations, and I picked up two from when the brand was on sale at HauteLook (so everything was 50% off).
- Poppia is an orange-based red with medium frostiness and good color pay off. It’s a bold red, and the orange-base makes it pop a lot.
- Talula is an opaque, poppy-orange shade with less frost in its finish as Poppia, but it has a nice sheen to it.
The packaging is elegant and fun without being too impractical. I love the mix of black and red and soft shimmery look all of the products have. I think if I were to try any other shades, I’d be most interested in checking out Bloodroses, Faith, Falon, and ThelmaDora. Any of these shades catch your eye?
- Product: 8/10
- Value: 6/10
- Ease of Use: 8/10
- Packaging: 7/10
Recommendation: If you love yourself some pigmented lipsticks that feel creamy and wear well throughout the day, Kevyn Aucoin’s The Expert Lip Tints are one way to go.
Availability: Sephora.com
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shu uemura’s Primitribe Collection is a good mix of neutrals and color. I absolutely adored the Painting Liner, which was creamy, incredibly pigmented, and easy to work with. The Primal Color Sticks were interesting, but without testing them at-home, I can’t tell you if they actually last at all. Unfortunately, the U.S. launch of Primitribe doesn’t include everything — we won’t be seeing Spinel, the pink painting liner as far as I can tell.
Primitribe Color Stick
- Rich Earth is a warm-toned, chocolate brown with golden shimmer.
- Night Maroon is a satiny burgundy-wine with more of a creamy finish than a shimmer finish.
- Blazed Gold is a warm-toned, yellow gold with lighter gold shimmer.
- Misty Grove is an olive green with a creamy texture and light shimmer.
Primitribe Mix Blush
- Echo is a blush duo of a pink-toned brown and a dark gold with gold shimmer.
- Rhythm contains a large section of rosy pink and a smaller section of muted, warmed-up light medium brown with gold shimmer.
- Soul is a combination of a satin-y medium-toned orange and a warm, medium dark chocolate brown with pale gold shimmer.
Painting Liner
- Turquoise is a bright pop of creamy, blue-based turquoise with silver micro glitter.
- Citrine is an insanely bright, creamy yellow with a slight sheen.
Rouge Unlimited
- BG 942 is a creamy, mostly opaque peachy-orange.
- WN 296 is a dark, vampy burgundy-red with a glossy finish.
Nail Enamel
- P 980 is a pale, pastel peachy-cream with a frosty finish.
- WN 296 is a bright, fuchsia-red with pink pearl.
Available: August 2009; currently available in-store at Nordstrom and online at NeimanMarcus.com.
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Prescriptives’ Well Suited Collection is a nice launch easy, wearable shades in pre-made palettes (cool, neutral, and warm), along with the release of new longwearing liners. My favorite products from this launch are the new longwearing liners and the Well-Suited Finishing Powder. I also thought Posh Beige was a gorgeous shade from the LipColors.
Well-Suited Eye Color Compact ($40.00 U.S. / $48.00 CDN)
All three palettes had decent to good color pay off, but I did find shadows that had a more matte finish were a little less smooth and could skip a bit when swatched. These colors are designed to be wearable shades, and Prescriptives succeeded in this aspect. If you’re more of a bold color kind of person, these might not be up your alley. If you’re looking for something you can wear all week, you may find these are suitable for you!
- Warm includes a soft, satin-y peach; a warm-toned medium brown with gold and green shimmer; a neutral-toned golden green-brown; a dark teal with aqua-blue shimmer; and a slightly warmed-up dark brown with a semi-matte/matte finish.
- Neutral looks like a smoky eyes palette, actually. It includes a neutral-toned peach with light peach-gold shimmer; a neutral-tone reddish-brown with multicolored shimmer; a satiny, dark, chocolate brown; a medium silver with slight shimmer; and a matte black.
- Cool consists of a peachy-pink with silvery shimmer; a cool-toned chocolate brown with slight shimmer; a grayish shade with brown undertones; a reddish-plum with golden shimmer; and a matte dark purple.
Face
- Well-Suited Finishing Powder ($28.00) is a satiny, dusty pink with the collection’s theme as a raised pattern on the compact. It goes on as a pale, slightly warm pink (neutral or warm, but definitely not cool). It doesn’t have any shimmer, and it looks very natural and soft on skin.
Colorscope Lipcolor
- Posh Honey is a semi-sheer warm-toned beige with golden sihmmer.
- Posh Ginger is a brownish shade with a little bit of warm red with slight golden shimmer.
- Posh Nude is a pinky-nue with a semi-sheer finish and low-level gold pearl.
- Posh Pink is a semi-opaque raspberry pink with a glossy sheen.
Longwear Kohl Liner ($17.50 U.S. / $21.00 CDN)
- Black Kohl is a medium flat black — not an ultra rich, ultra black-black, but a wearable, soft black.
- Blush Kohl is a medium-dark blue with no shimmer or sheen.
- Brown Kohl is a slightly war-toned chocolate brown.
- Slate Kohl is a grayish-charcoal shade with a slight sheen.
Available: Nordstrom.com
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