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MAC Venomous Villains: Cruella de Vil Review, Photos, Swatches

MAC Venomous Villains - Cruella
MAC Venomous Villains — Cruella de Vil

MAC Disney Venomous Villains Collection: Cruella de Vil Review, Photos, Swatches

There are four “parts” to the collection, with each part being represented by each of the characters. After much indecision, I finally committed to reviewing everything by character, rather than product type! First up is Cruella de Vil, the villainness from 101 Dalmatians. Cruella’s “collection” includes two lipsticks, two lipglasses, three eyeshadows, one Penultimate eyeliner, one beauty powder, and one blush.

All of the character images are stamped on the products; they are not stickers. You can find official promotional imagery and color descriptions here. The collection launches on September 30th, 2010 at all MAC locations, October 2010 internationally, and approximately September 28th for online. You may also want to check your local store to see if they are holding an unveiling/preview party for the collection.

Lipglass ($15.50 U.S. / $18.50 CDN)

  • Wicked Ways is a brightened cherry red that’s semi-opaque with subtle golden shimmer.  I think this is going to be a very nice red on both warm and cool skin tones.  It leans just a tiny bit blue, I’d say… but very close to neutral.
  • Devilishly Stylish is a semi-sheer white-shimmered, slightly champagne nude. Not exactly the most original shade, but with some darker eye/lip products, will be a nice relief for those who need something softer.

Lipstick ($15.50 U.S. / $18.50 CDN)

  • Innocence, Beware! is a semi-opaque pinky nude with a cremesheen finish. It’s a little glossy, not overly creamy, and I found it accentuated every imperfection on my lips. Make sure to exfoliate shortly before applying this shade. It seems like a pinker Blankety or paler Plink!, as well as in the family of nudes like Creme d’Nude and Hue.  This shade is more opaque than the latter three, but the texture is best in Hue (smoother, less accentuating of flaws).
  • Heartless is an almost neutral red that applies nearly opaque; if it leans in any direction, I would say slightly orange, but it really seems closer to neutral. It has an amplified finish. The closest dupe in the permanent MAC range seems like it would be Brave Red or perhaps Ladybug (which is probably a bit sheerer).

Blush ($19.50 U.S. / $23.50 CDN)

  • Darkly My Dear dirtied brown with just a mere hint of plum. It looks plummer in the pan than it is in actuality–it’s rather brown when worn. It can be built up or used sheerly depending on the look you’re going for. It’s kind of like a browner, much darker version of Blushbaby. It’s supposed to have a matte finish, but it seems like it has a hint of pearl/satin sheen to it, though very near matte on cheeks.

Eyeshadow ($15.50 U.S. / $18.50 CDN)

  • Sweet Joy is a pale gold with soft yellow undertones and a frost finish. This was originally included in the Passions of Red holiday palette (quite awhile ago). It’s similar to Dreammaker (Starflash) but less frosty; also similar to Creme Royale (Hello Kitty) and Creme de Miel (Style Warriors). It’s yellower than Nylon, much less gold/yellow than Goldmine.
  • De-vil is darkened, orange-y copper with a veluxe pearl finish. It’s just the tiniest bit less red and a hair darker than Coppering, darker and deeper than Amber Lights (not even really comparable, IMO). It seems a little darker than Brash (Cult of Cherry), possibly similar to Courage (Untamed).  But it’s really close to Coppering.
  • Carbon is a matte black–can be packed on for an intense black, but like some mattes, better applied than swatched. This is a permanent shade.

Beauty Powder ($25.00 U.S. / $30.00 CDN)

  • Her Own Devices is a sheered out champagne-shimmered medium nude. It gives just a hint of color on my NC25 skin (“medium”), but I think it maybe a nice shade for highlighting medium to dark skin tones, because it’s natural but it has shimmer–since it’s not pale, it won’t turn darker complexions ashy.  I’ve had a few readers ask about how it compares to Shell Beauty Powder, but the two look completely different on me.

See product photos and swatches!

Please note: As a press event attendee, I received samples of the full collection packaged in a “tower” with four boxes (one for each character), and as far as I know, it’s press packaging — therefore not something you will see or be able to purchase in-store.

MAC Venomous Villains
Tower o’ MAC!

MAC Venomous Villains
Top of the Tower o’ MAC!

MAC Venomous Villains
Side of the Tower o’ MAC!

MAC Venomous Villains
Cover of the four boxes…

MAC Venomous Villains - Cruella
Cover of Cruella Press Box

MAC Venomous Villains - Cruella
Cruella pop-up inside of the box

MAC Venomous Villains - Cruella
Products from the Cruella de Vil part

MAC Venomous Villains - Cruella

MAC Venomous Villains - Cruella

MAC Venomous Villains - Cruella

MAC Venomous Villains - Cruella
Lipglass: Wicked Ways, Devilishly Stylish

MAC Venomous Villains - Cruella
Lipglass: Wicked Ways, Devilishly Stylish

MAC Venomous Villains - Cruella
Lipglass: Wicked Ways, Devilishly Stylish

MAC Venomous Villains - Cruella
Lipglass: Wicked Ways, Devilishly Stylish

MAC Venomous Villains - Cruella
Lipglass: Wicked Ways, Devilishly Stylish

MAC Venomous Villains - Cruella
Lipglass: Wicked Ways, Devilishly Stylish

MAC Venomous Villains - Cruella
MAC Wicked Ways Lipglass

MAC Venomous Villains - Cruella
MAC Wicked Ways Lipglass

MAC Venomous Villains - Cruella
MAC Devilishly Stylish Lipglass

MAC Venomous Villains - Cruella
MAC Devilishly Stylish Lipglass

MAC Venomous Villains - Cruella
Cruella Lipsticks

MAC Venomous Villains - Cruella
Cruella Lipsticks

MAC Venomous Villains - Cruella
Lipstick: Innocence, Beware!, Heartless

MAC Venomous Villains - Cruella
Lipstick: Innocence, Beware!, Heartless

MAC Venomous Villains - Cruella
Lipstick: Innocence Beware!, Heartless

MAC Venomous Villains - Cruella
MAC Innocence, Beware! Lipstick

MAC Venomous Villains - Cruella
MAC Innocence, Beware! Lipstick

MAC Venomous Villains - Cruella
MAC Heartless Lipstick

MAC Venomous Villains - Cruella
MAC Heartless Lipstick

MAC Venomous Villains - Cruella
MAC Darkly My Dear Blush

MAC Venomous Villains - Cruella
MAC Darkly My Dear Blush

MAC Venomous Villains - Cruella
MAC Darkly My Dear Blush

MAC Venomous Villains - Cruella
MAC Darkly My Dear Blush

MAC Venomous Villains - Cruella
MAC Darkly My Dear Blush

MAC Venomous Villains - Cruella
MAC Darkly My Dear Blush

MAC Venomous Villains - Cruella
MAC Darkly My Dear Blush

MAC Venomous Villains - Cruella
Wearing MAC Darkly My Dear Blush (Innocence, Beware! on lips)

MAC Venomous Villains - Cruella
Eyeshadow: Carbon, Sweet Joy, De-Vil

MAC Venomous Villains - Cruella
MAC Sweet Joy Eyeshadow

MAC Venomous Villains - Cruella
MAC Sweet Joy Eyeshadow

MAC Venomous Villains - Cruella
MAC Sweet Joy Eyeshadow

MAC Venomous Villains - Cruella
MAC De-Vil Eyeshadow

MAC Venomous Villains - Cruella
MAC De-Vil Eyeshadow

MAC Venomous Villains - Cruella
MAC De-Vil Eyeshadow

MAC Venomous Villains
Coppering (left), De-Vil (right)

MAC Venomous Villains - Cruella
MAC Carbon Eyeshadow

MAC Venomous Villains - Cruella
MAC Carbon Eyeshadow

MAC Venomous Villains - Cruella
MAC Carbon Eyeshadow

MAC Venomous Villains - Cruella
Eyeshadow: Sweet Joy, De-Vil, Carbon

MAC Venomous Villains - Cruella
MAC Her Own Devices Beauty Powder

MAC Venomous Villains - Cruella
MAC Her Own Devices Beauty Powder

MAC Venomous Villains - Cruella
MAC Her Own Devices Beauty Powder

MAC Venomous Villains - Cruella
MAC Her Own Devices Beauty Powder

MAC Venomous Villains - Cruella
MAC Her Own Devices Beauty Powder

MAC Venomous Villains - Cruella
MAC Her Own Devices Beauty Powder

MAC Venomous Villains - Cruella
Wearing MAC Her Own Devices Beauty Powder (Innocence, Beware! on lips)

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187 Comments

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Lola Avatar

oh, my! wicked ways lipglass is absolutely gorgeous! im not sure where i’d wear it, but i might just get it incase any special occasion comes up…good enough excuse? 😀

Rachel Avatar

Wicked Ways and Innocence, Beware are near definites. De-Vil is pretty, but I’m not sure if I need another copper-y color. But, it’s lovely. I probably can’t justify Sweet Joy, but I think it’s nice too.

cmferrets Avatar

thats really too bad that we wont be able to buy the makeup in that cute packaging. why didnt mac think about doing that individually for the makeup boxes? i want it all .

kali Avatar

Wow! Right before I saw this post, I was looking through Specktra thinking I didn’t want anything. I initially didn’t even like the packaging for the collection. Now with your lovely Temptalia pictures, I actually think it’s decent. I’m also starting to want some of the products! Agh.. this is a BAD thing. I just got back from Disneyland too so I think it makes me more excited.

I love the towers -too bad we customers can’t buy them. =(

Alyx Avatar

Well there goes my paycheck….and thats only one part of the collection. I love Disney and Mac just too much!! I will probably die if I dont get at least a few things from each part. 😀

Claudia Avatar

Christine, you look stunning wearing Innocence, Beware! God, I want this lipstick ! But you said it’s a skip because it’s dry ! Is it ‘ruby woo’ kinda dry ? As much as I love RW’s shade, I can’t stand its dryness on my lips !

Etaoin Avatar

Love heartless and wicked ways! I don’t like innocence beware but then I never like nude colours really. Sweet joy would be good neutral that you could use under other eyeshadows.

Jennifer Avatar

Ooooh I love your eye makeup Christine. Are you going to do a tutorial on that one?? So pretty. Those are the pigments from Dr. Facilier, no?

Mel Avatar

Christine, I’m about an NC15. Do you think I could pull off all of the beauty powders? I love all of them. If not, which one(s) would you recommend? And are they really sheer? Sorry for the insane amount of questions. Just gotta plan my budget!

Dawn Avatar

Must-haves for me from this sub-collection are Wicked Ways, Heartless and Her Own Devices.

If I didn’t already have Coppering, I’d definitely be wanting De-vil too, as it looks that little bit darker. I already have Nylon and Goldmine, so do you think Sweet Joy is different enough to be worth buying?

Dawn Avatar

I do think that if they sold the sub-collections boxed as you received them, they would sell a lot more as I’m sure they would be very popular.

Liya Avatar

The only thing I’m interested in from this part of the collection is Wicked Ways LipGlass. De-vil looks like a better version of Coppering but because I already have it I’ll have to pass.

Chantalle Avatar

Ok, so I did the math and added the tax. In Canada this entire collection (Cruella de Vil) will total $208.62! Wowsa! That’s a lot of coin. I’m guessing MAC will only be selling these products individually, and not in the set? Only reason I ask is because I love this entire set (I was looking forward to Maleficent, but the colours are too dark for me) and would like to purchase the set… not each product individually.

classyclio Avatar

I was hopeful that I could knock a few things off my list….but it’s just got bigger eeek!! You look super pretty in the very last picture btw 🙂

Marjan Avatar

Thank you so much for this lovely review!

I was wondering about how similar De-vil is to Aztec Brick from the Spring Forecast collection? I’ve just compaired your swatch pictures & they don’t look similar that way, but I thought of Aztec Brick when I saw your De-vil swatch.

Jean Avatar

I never thought I’d be drawn to a red gloss like I am with Wicked Ways…I was going to get Devilish Stylish…but it seems too close to restore life for me.

Tonni Avatar

Thank you for all the swatches, Christine! You look absolutely gorgeous in the last picture. Are you wearing Her Own Devices as an all over face powder or just as blush?

Emma Avatar

Could you suggest a good dupe for Devilishly Stylish Lipglass? It could be whatever brand, I just can’t think of anything good off the top of my head.

Ally_D Avatar

As a child my grandmother took me to see 101 Dalmations (the original cartoon version) and I had nightmares for weeks afterwards. I think I was only 6/7 but I can’t look at Cruella DeVil since without shuddering. Even Meryl Streep as her in the recent films scares me.

Needless to say I won’t be buying anything from this collection!

Janet Avatar

I am so excited you have posted all this already!!! So exciting! I wanted to know if you think the new Nars Douceur blsuh is similar to Darkly My Dear? Although I am a sucker for that shade I need to control my addiction!
Thanks Christine!! You are amazing 🙂

aradhana Avatar

christine, in your description of ‘sweet joy’, you say it’s similar to creme de miel from style warriors…do you mean soft force from style warriors, or creme de miel from naked honey collection? i suppose it doesn’t matter, since i have both of those, but do you think it’s similar enough to them to safely cross it off my shopping list?
i guess if those are similar to sweet joy, and coppering to de-vil, then i can just focus on the lip and cheek products since i also already have carbon!

Maricar Avatar

Hey Christine 🙂
Can’t wait for the new collection to hit stores 🙂
I was just wondering about the lipstick prices that were posted. I see that they are 18.50 (CAD). And i thought the prices were just raised on Aug. 1, from 16.50 (CAD) to 17.50 (CAD). So does the 18.50 (CAD) mean that we should be expecting ANOTHER price raise?

Marie Avatar

Hi Christine- thanks for these amazing pictures! This has got to one of MACs biggest collections, right?!

Is Innocent, Beware! the same as MAC Fleshpot lipstick (PRO)?!

I like the Wicked Ways lipgloss on you!

Liya Avatar

Christine can you please do a comparison swatch of

Red Romp, Cult of Cherry & Wicked Ways LipGlass.
Port Red & Heartless LipStick.

TIA 🙂

ofir Avatar

does HEARTLESS lipstick is kind of a dupe for lady danger or other red lipstick from MAC or is it a really unique color?

p.s: i have really light skin tone, do you think HEARTLESS would be fine for it? thanks :))

Ashleigh Avatar

Hi Christine! I can’t decide between devilishy stylish and strange potion lipglass… What would you recommend?

Also I’m relatively fair, and I’m Asian so I guess I’m a little… Yellow? I don’t know what skin tone that makes me haha. Which do you think would look better on me?

Marina Avatar

I loveee your websitee! I thought i should get that out the way first. lol but i had a quick question. Would MAC Darkly My Dear Blush show up on a nw45 skin tone? I’m looking for just a natural glow. would you suggest it?

shari Avatar

are u wearing the cruella shadows in the last pic?! is sweet joy worth it, it looks like it would just be a good highlight color. i am very fair skinned, do u think that would even show up on me? because if that’s one of the colors u are wearing, it looks really pretty on you!

Lisa B Avatar

The search is over for the right red lipstick for me! I am loving Heartless. It wears a long time too.

I bought a couple so that should last a good while, but what is a good alternative for Heartless?

Aqua Avatar

Hi Christine!
Would you recommend Heartless or Russian Red for yellow undertone, medium skin tone? I’ve tried duobonnet but I didn’t particularly like it. I’ve read Ladybug is almost the same as Heartless. I have viva glam cyndi and love it. Whats your opinions the shades of which would be best?

Would be great if you could make a post about all the Mac red lippies that they have permie & not. Would love to find a lovely red :D.

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