mac surf baby collection

Video:  MAC Surf Baby First Impressions & Swatches

A surprisingly short video (for me!) for MAC Surf Baby!

MAC Surf Baby Suntints

MAC Surf Baby: Suntint Lip Balms

MAC Surf Baby Suntint SPF 20 Lip Balms ($15.50 for 0.33 oz.) include three shades: Full of Grace (soft sheer rose), Lilt of Lily (soft creamy pale pink), and Pink Tinge (clean bright yellow pink with gold pearl).

• Full of Grace is a sheer watermelon pink.
• Lilt of Lily is a sheer, milky pink-lilac shimmered with iridescent pink.
• Pink Tinge is a sheer, yellow-based pink with gold shimmer.

These are lip balms, and they’re designed to be sheer–this is exactly what they are: tinted lip balm. If you have naturally pigmented lips, these will add mostly gloss for you. Those with paler natural lips may find that Full of Grace deposits some color. Lilt of Lily has the least amount of color, while Pink Tinge has the most shimmer. Earlier today, I was actually lamenting doing lip swatches for these, because they’re so similar when worn, and ironically, I didn’t do lip swatches when these first launched (back in 2009 with Baby Blooms) for the same reason!

We’re on that border again; it’s expected to be sheer, but at what point is sheer too close to clear and therefore unpigmented? Full of Grace enhances my natural lip color by making it pinker and rosier, so it seems near our target. Lilt of Lily does a little but to a lesser extent. Pink Tinge adds shimmer and makes my lips look a little lighter than normal, and the sheerness is closer to Lilt of Lily but there is a little more here. It seems like pigmentation is where it should be for Full of Grace (like 9/10), while Lilt of Lily is lacking (5/10), and Pink Tinge falls somewhere between there (7/10), which averages out to around 7.

Suntints have a thicker, jelly-ish consistency and feel a little like gel lips. They’re sticky (less so than Lipglass), and they have a light vanilla scent to them. I get only two to three hours of wear with these as a lip balm, but they are somewhat moisturizing. They seem to do a good job of locking in moisture, but I don’t feel like they add much to lips, because once it’s gone, so are most of the moisturizing benefits. The Suntints come in squeeze-tube packaging, and each tube holds a surprising amount of product (0.33 oz.).

The Glossover

	MAC Surf Baby Suntint Lip Balms Swatches, Photos, Reviews C
	I don't think these are moisturizing enough to make for a gotta have it kind of product. For anyone who longs for Tendertones, these are definitely not a reincarnation of them.
	Product 6.5/10 Pigmentation 7/10 Texture 8.5/10 Longevity 7/10 Application 4/5
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MAC Billionaire Bronze Skinsheen Bronzer Stick

MAC Surf Baby: Skinsheen Bronzer Stick

MAC Skinsheen Bronzer Sticks ($29.50 for 0.49 oz.) are jumbo-sized creamy, twist-up sticks of bronzing power. There are three shades: Billionaire Bronze (warm golden tan), Gilty Bronze (coppery bronze with gold shimmer), and Tan Tint (soft suntan bronze).

• Billionaire Bronze is a medium-dark tan with warm, golden undertones. It has a soft natural sheen but no shimmer. It doesn’t have the shimmer that Beach Bronze cream bronzer from To the Beach (’10) has, but it is similar in the color. I’m not sure if NARS has something comparable; possibly Malaysia.
• Gilty Bronze is a darkened, coppery bronze with a strong frosted finish. It seems most comparable to NARS Palm Beach.
• Tan Tint is a soft, slightly warmed over tan with a near matte finish. It is less golden than Billionaire Bronze. It’s less red-based and doesn’t have shimmer, but it resembles Weekend cream bronzer from To the Beach (’10). This seems similar to NARS Cap Vert.

These are really pigmented–don’t just swipe the whole stick across your face. I did so to swatch, and it was like, “WHOA! there!” You’ll want to pat the stick against the skin to deposit color, and then blend it out. These are easy to blend, but they dry down quick enough that I recommend doing one area at a time. It’s been about eight hours since I’ve applied Billionaire Bronze, and it’s still going strong. Despite being really pigmented, they feel very lightweight and look natural overall (though Gilty Bronze doesn’t look natural, with the heavier frosted finish).

NARS’ The Multiples feel very much like these, and MAC’s variation is about the same size (0.49 oz. compared to NARS at 0.50 oz.). There was something off about the way MAC did the packaging, though–something about it feels a little cheap. They just didn’t feel as sturdy or as robust as other packaging types in MAC’s line-up, though realistically, I don’t see these breaking or coming apart either.

The Glossover

	MAC Surf Baby Skinsheen Bronzer Sticks Swatches, Photos, Reviews A-
	Though they're pricey relative to MAC prices, they offer a more affordable version of NARS' Multiples if you're in the market for a cream-based bronzer. The shade range seems wearable across skin tones--darker complexions will love how color-rich these are.
	Product 9/10 Pigmentation 10/10 Texture 9/10 Longevity 9/10 Application 4/5
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MAC Gold-Go-Lightly Studio Careblend Pressed Powder

MAC Surf Baby: Studio Careblend Pressed Powder

MAC Studio Careblend Pressed Powders ($28.00 for 0.33 oz.) see a limited release of two bronzy shades: Gold-Go-Lightly (mid-tone golden tan brown) and Lush-Light Bronze (mid-tone rosy pink brown) in May’s Surf Baby collection.

• Gold-Go-Lightly is a warm, golden tan with a near matte finish–it has this very faint satin-like sheen but it’s so subtle. It is warmer and more orange than Golden bronzing powder and Give Me Sun! MSFN.
• Lush-Light Bronze is a medium-dark rosy tan with the same near matte finish of Gold-Go-Lightly. There are definite red undertones in this shade, and it is noticeably darker than Gold-Go-Lightly. It’s really similar to Sun Power MSFN.

These applied so beautifully–they sit really well on skin. Not powdery but very soft, smooth, and natural. The one word going through my head when I applied these to cheeks (and I used the 116) was how natural the color looked and felt. I think the texture is what separates these from other bronzers; it just sets and looks so natural on the skin. The wear time is excellent, too–still there after eight hours.

I would like to know why these are listed (in the press release) at $28, when normal Studio Careblend Pressed Powder is $23.00–these are also slightly lighter at 0.33 oz. compared to 0.35 oz. for the flesh-colored variations (that are permanent).

The Glossover

	MAC Surf Baby Studio Careblend Pressed Powders Reviews, Photos, Swatches A-
	These are really wearable, natural-looking bronzers that are buildable while being really blendable, too. They sit well on skin and never look powdery or dry.
	Product 9/10 Pigmentation 9/10 Texture 10/10 Longevity 9/10 Application 4/5
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Gilded White, Blue Noon

MAC Surf Baby: Blue Moon, Gilded White Powerpoint Pencils

MAC Surf Baby Powerpoint Pencils ($15.50 for 0.04 oz.) come in two shades: Blue Noon (teal with gold pearl) and Gilded White (yellow white frost).

• Blue Noon is a medium-dark, bluish teal. It’s a touch sheer–it’s hard to see in the swatch, but I saw it immediately and felt it translated in application, too.  It is tealer than Float on By, which looks rather blue in comparison.
• Gilded White is a warm white gold with a metallic sheen.

I like MAC’s Powerpoint Pencil formula quite a bit; the pencil is soft without being crumbly or near-melting, so it retains its shape but glides across the lash line with effortless ease. It deposits enough color in one pass, which means you don’t have to build up the color in layers. Powerpoints last all day on my lash line, and make it to four to six hours on my water line. They’re also waterproof, and I find that they don’t smudge or budge, even during hot days.

The Glossover

	MAC Surf Baby: Blue Noon, Gilded White Powerpoint Pencils Review, Photos, Swatches A-
	The Powerpoint Pencil formula glides on really easily, so they're gentle on the eyes and apply with a good amount of color without having to layer on the product--but it could be a touch more pigmented.
	Product 9/10 Pigmentation 8.5/10 Texture 10/10 Longevity 9/10 Application 4/5
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MAC Summer Stash Crushed Metallic Pigment Stack

MAC Surf Baby: Summer Stash

MAC Summer Stash Crushed Metallic Pigment Stack ($32.50 for 0.40 oz.) comes with two stacks of colors, with each stack having two shades. The Summer Stash stack’s shades are described as “light pink champagne, light white pearl, light violet with silver pearl, brown bronze with gold pearl.” The individual colors do not have shade names, just the stack itself.

• The first shade I swatched is a pinky plum–it’s purple and yet it’s pink. Just a touch a sheer. It reminded me of Plum Dressing with a purpler base.
• Next, I swatched a rich, decadent chocolate brown with a bronzy shimmer and metallic finish. It’s a darker, more lush version of Chocolate Brown pigment; richer, deeper than Bronze eyeshadow.
• The third shade is a bright white-beige with a metallic finish–also a little sheer. It’s similar to Phloof! but more frost in the finish.
• Finally, the last shade is a gilded champagne beige with a bright metallic finish. It’s a slightly pinked, more metallic version of Sunnydaze. It’s a little less pink than Naked Lunch.

Each stack is about 2.5x the size of a regular, full-sized pigment–essentially, the value here is about $52 worth of product. The texture of these is chunkier than pigments, though they don’t apply that way. For the most part, they have a tendency to stick together, which is why I can see the “crushed metal” name coming from, and obviously, the finishes are very strong frosts/metallics (also, expected, from the name). The gold shade was the chunkiest, unusually so (it looks nothing like the previous stacks I’ve had nor any of the ones from this launch)–made it look like little nuggets of gold goodness!

These are best used over a slightly tacky base (like MAC Mixing Medium) or wet, because they are more like a loose color than a pressed one, but the pigment itself does bind well over an eyeshadow base or regular eyeshadow without having to be used wet, because as you press the product on, it doesn’t poof everywhere. These adhere well, and for all intents and purposes, I find them very much like MAC Pigments. When applied wet, they adhere really well without a base; when applied dry, you really have to press and ensure it’s been smoothed out to wear it alone without a base.

The Glossover

	MAC Summer Stash Crushed Metallic Pigment Stack Swatches, Photos, Reviews B+
	This stack had two shades that were a little sheer, so the rating differs from the Surf the Ocean stack slightly. These are more wearable shades, and I think the colors coordinate better together here than in the other stack, too. Summer Stash also has a warmer leaning, but it's not too warm.
	Product 9/10 Pigmentation 9/10 Texture 9/10 Longevity 8.5/10 Application 4/5
	Where to Buy
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