Archived Post
Round-up: MAC x The Simpsons Collection Overview & Thoughts
MAC x The Simpsons Collection
MAC x The Simpsons Collection will pop up online on August 28th and head to stores and counters on September 4th. It’s a smaller collection, and it wasn’t particularly impressive. A lot of the shades were dupable, and the quality wasn’t always there. I wish MAC had included lipsticks with this launch, and since this is such an iconic collaboration, I was surprised not to see more merchandise (mirrors, makeup bags/totes, brushes, and so on).
- BEST PERFORMING: Red Blazer Lipglass (A), Itchy & Scratchy & Sexy Lipglass (A-)
- WORST PERFORMING: Pink Sprinkles (B-), Sideshow You Blush (B-), Nacho Cheese Explosion Lipglass (C-)
- MOST UNIQUE: Grand Pumpkin Lipglass (B+), Nacho Cheese Explosion Lipglass (C-)
- PERSONAL FAVORITES: Marge Simpson’s Cutie-cles (N/A)
Not a fan of the Simpsons at all, I still hope for a future Power puff Girls collection (one can only dream) but I do really like Red blazer and Itchy scratchy & sexy so I’ll try to pick those two up before I go to school that day :). thanks for the review, it’s appreciated
It wouldn’t surprise me if MAC did a collab one day!
I have many issues and niggles with this collection, but the Itchy and Scratchy and Sexy lipglass and the nail stickers are not part of that negativity! 😀 I agree completely that it would have been cooler to see more associated merchandise – I think it was a hugely missed opportunity not to have, say, a brush with the nail sticker/poster pattern on the handle, and then bright blue bristles like Marge’s hair! 😀 Or maybe a special blush brush with yellow hair shaped (3D) like Lisa Simpson’s (with a red handle) just for novelty/collectability 😉
Maybe they could only get a licence for so much ‘merchandise’?
It is curious that there appears to be no real merchandise here – everything is basically a consumable (even the stickers!).
More likely, they only wanted to pay so much in licensing fees and had to work with what they got.
I think there’s some cool stuff here, but am I the only one who feels too old (30s) to be buying Simpsons stuff? It would look silly on my vanity IMO. I grew up with The Simpsons too.
Some people love a throwback/nostalgic collection, others feel differently!
Sad that the Trillion dollar baby palette is only a B. By now MAC should have formula’s right to have an A in everything. It is always the colour I love that is the worst performing.
MAC can do great eyeshadow, but they don’t seem to do it consistently.
I&S&S is a must have. Red Blazer is also very nice. I think it’s a real pity the quads weren’t better overall, as I really like the look of both.
At least there are a few pieces that caught your eye!
I usually go crazy and buy almost ever piece when MAC does a pop culture collection. Wonder Woman, Disney, and Barbie to name a few, but this us one I can miss out on without blinking an eye. I may buy Sideshow You just because it’s coral colored.
Wow! They really messed up it sounds like!
Hi Christine! Just curious if anybody has reported problem visiting your site lately–every single time I come to temptalia using firefox, the page freezes and I get a message that a script is stuck and would I like to stop it [words to that effect] and I answer in the affirmative every time and it takes like 4 or 5 times doing that before the page will load and let me scroll up and down. I don’t have this problem with any other website so I figured it was worth mentioning. Below is the message that I get–I searched the web for how to fix it and found a opt out from that scorecard site but it only worked for one browsing session. Very strange! Here is the message: Script: http://b.scorecardresearch.com/rs/vce_st.js:1
thank you, Sandy
Hi Sandy!
I haven’t seen or heard of this one happening — if it happens again, if you could screen shot and send it to me at christine[at]temptalia.com, that would be fab! Thank you!
I’m not blown away by this collection. I think the packaging is super cute, and I like everything except Nacho Cheese Explosion. I agree: Why not more merchandise? Both MAC and The Simpsons are highly collectible. You would think they could make a fortune with a more rounded-out collection.
So weird that there isn’t more! I wonder why.
Hi Christine, is there a review for the pink blush shown in the picture?
Yes, it is linked above – Pink Sprinkles Blush!
I wasn’t to keen about this collection but MAC managed to pull some interesting shades and combination here!
Yay!
I’m a huge Simpsons fan and was so excited for this collaboration, but the reviews haven’t impressed me at all. It seems that the Simpsons collection fell victim to MAC’s unfortunate need to release 38457 collections per year. And I agree, where are the lipsticks? There are lots of shots of Marge putting on lipstick in the show, and I would have loved to see a blue lipstick or something. I thought about picking up one of the blushes just as a collector’s item, but I can’t justify that when there’s so much makeup I actually want to buy to use!
I did think it was odd that there were no lipsticks when I feel like most people remember Marge putting on lipstick (as a distinct makeup product).
If I had a tween daughter who wants to start wearing makeup, I feel this is the collection for her. It just seems very young to me. Also, very generic and dupeable. We all have these colors. Heck , the eye palettes are , imo, UD Electric Palette knock off/dupes. Pink blushes, again, we all have these colors.
I am conflicted, I was at Macy’s today and even ladies at other counters were saying to buy this. Everyone thinks it will be worth a lot of money.
I guess I’d do research into Simpson’s memorabilia!
I love the Simpsons, but I don’t love any of these products. I will get the nail stickers, though, and maybe the green palette.
I was surprised that the nail stickers were my favorite, lol!
I should admit that I’m a huge Simpsons geek before I respond, because that probably colours my impressions, but I feel like Mac missed an opportunity here. Of course, the product quality should always be good, but even the product naming is a big miss.
There are so many Simpsons jokes that could have been used, but instead, they went mostly with vague references that fans won’t appreciate and that sound weird to the rest of the world. A couple of the names are specifically related to Simpsons episodes, but they could have done so much more! How about a nice brown red called “Tomacco”? Or instead of “Apple Squishy” use Apu’s special concoction, the “Chutney Squishy” (not sure what colour that would be)? A bright green called “Nuclear Waste”? Maybe a sweetheart Valentine’s pink called “I choo-choo-choose you”? I really wanted a versatile grey called “Inanimate Carbon Rod”. I joked originally about having yellow or blue hair chalk, but in the absence of those, maybe some coloured mascaras?
OK, I’ve probably thought about this way too much, but my point is that there was a lot of potential here for Mac to tap into. I know people who would have bought such things just for the names and that might have introduced people to Mac as a brand. This just feels kind of feeble.
It would be interesting to hear the rational for certain names or color choices, assuming they had one, just to have better insight as to how the collab worked out.
“I Choo-choo-Choose You” would have been amazing, though.
I was expecting more merch in this collection, too! I’m not a Simpsons fan, but if I was, I think I’d have gone for a tote or cosmetics bag (or even a Simpsons-themed brush handle) over eyeshadow or blush. I mean, MAC even made a Barbie doll once upon a time, so it’s weird that they wouldn’t have worked out licensing for something similar in this collection!
Really makes you wonder what prevented it or if they just decided “nah!”
Hi Christine! How would you compare the bright eyeshadows from both palettes to the Urban decay electric palette shadows?
Not sure what you mean? Are you looking for dupes? All dupes are mentioned in their respective reviews (including if they were similar to any of UD’s!).
I was so excited for this collection and I was going to pick up a blush and a lipgloss, but sadly I missed the release date and when I checked the next day to see if the collection was available yet, it had all sold out! :/
That is a bummer!
I was also surprised that the collection didn’t include lipsticks! I figured they would have Marge’s hair designed on the entire cap of the lipstick bullet. When I tried the blushes and lipglasses in the MAC store near me I was really disappointed with most of them. So I got the Marge’s Extra Ingredients quad and I do like the shadows and the packaging.
I’m glad you found something to love! 🙂