MAC Corol Blush Duo Review, Photos, Swatches
MAC Corol Blush Duo
MAC Corol Blush Duo ($33.00 for TBA oz.) is consists of two blushes, with them being split unevenly–the lighter shade covers about two-thirds, while the plum shade is about a third of the compact. It is larger than MAC’s normal blush compact–more like their Beauty Powders. It is packaged in a rubberized black with gold trimmings. What you really need to know is that the texture is incredibly stiff and stubborn to work with: all swatches required use of a metal spatula to scrape off layers of powder. Once layers were dislodged, I was able to jab at them with a brush to loosen and apply, but the powder in the compact felt almost like plastic to the touch. After it was loosened and crushed into a fine powder, the actual texture from there was softer and fairly blendable–but getting to that point required extreme measures. It took a fair amount of product to get “decent” color payoff, even after scraping away at it. It did not improve with use, unfortunately, and I’m pretty sure I caught it laughing evilly at me. I don’t know if I’ve encountered quite as stiff of a powder as this that wasn’t really plastic–I am totally flabbergasted that this made it out of production.
I purchased an additional Corol through maccosmetics.com to see if it would be any better. I’m happy to report that it is better in texture–there was no need to scrape layers off. The texture was soft, a little powdery, and the lighter shade was almost chalky, but the consistency of the powder was infinitely better than the one I received as a sample. When I compared the two powders together, I noticed that the lighter side darkens after you remove a few layers. At first, I thought the shades differed, but after I brushed away several layers from the second powder, the two matched. A few readers also reported that their powders were manageable, which is great news. The original rating was 0.5, 3, 4, 6.5, and 0.5 for the powder as a whole; I’m updating the rating to reflect the consumer version available based on the one I purchased but leaving the original review so that we have a complete story going forward.
Corol #1 is described as a “bright coral pink.” It’s a light-medium, peachy-coral with a hint of pink and has a matte finish. I couldn’t get pigmentation to show up with a brush or sponge applicator; I scraped off layers of product, which I was then able to smash into a finer powder, and that is what I could apply. I had two options: show you bare skin, or at least show you what the color could look like (with some extreme measures taken) so we could talk dupes instead, because the product is quite difficult to use. At best, this lasted six hours on me (from what I could distinguish). Hourglass Diffused Heat is pinker, but it is one of the closer shades that is also permanent. bareMinerals Swoon (LE, $19.00) is darker. MAC Lured to Love (LE, $25.00) is darker, more shimmery. NARS Sex Appeal (P, $29.00) is a touch lighter. MAC Immortal Flower (LE, $21.00) is nearly identical. Giorgio Armani Coral Bliss (LE) is darker, more shimmery. See comparison swatches / view dupes.
Corol #2 is described as a “mid-tone neutral plum.” It’s a muted, medium-dark plum with subtle warm undertones and a satiny sheen. The texture of this one was only marginally less difficult to work with, but I still took a metal spatula to it to scrape away product, which I then smashed and manipulated so it turned into a loose powder. The problem is just swiping it with a brush, sponge, etc. yields nothing–it just doesn’t give color out at all. This shade wore well for six and a half hours before fading away. Hourglass Mood Exposure (P, $35.00) is warmer, lighter. theBalm Cabana Boy (P, $21.00) is cooler-toned. NARS Oasis (P, $29.00) is darker, more shimmery. See comparison swatches / view dupes.
Corol
LELimited Edition.
Corol #1
LELimited Edition. $24.00.
Corol #2
LELimited Edition. $24.00.
MAC Corol Blush Duo
MAC Corol Blush Duo
MAC Corol Blush Duo
MAC Corol Blush Duo
MAC Corol Blush Duo
MAC Corol Blush Duo — Several layers were scraped off to show any color
MAC Corol Blush Duo
MAC Corol Blush Duo
MAC Corol Blush Duo — Several layers were scraped off to show any color
MAC Corol Blush Duo
Ouch. Such a nice shade but why so stiff!
It was BRUTAL.
Holy wowza @ the F.
Indeed!
Oh, MAC. They only surprise me now when they have good products!
I think, in general, they still do decent to good products most of the time, but they have some spectacular flops (which reminds me of Dior as well)!
What a bummer! And I thought that MAC was on a roll lately with their better-than-past-few-years collections but apparently no… Hopefully the rest of this collection will be okay. What a waste of money 🙁
Most of the rest has been okay so far!
May be its just the piece that you received that was defective? If others get a similar piece then we’ll know for sure its a dud!
It could be! Anything’s possible 🙂
I’m speechless! This was a MUST HAVE for me and now I just feel like crying lol
One of the worst MAC products I have ever come across. 🙁
Ah That is too much effort for a blush! I am passing this collection so far! 🙁
🙁
Yikes, triple F lol. Classic mac ~___~
Definitely one of the worst products I’ve tried from MAC!
The product looks so beautiful; it really is a shame about the quality.
I know 🙁
Another big disappointment from MAC
Unfortunately so!
This looks gorgeous but will obviously be a pass! Especially with the amazing dupes available. Why oh why does this happen? There -are- overall wonderful MAC products/ collections like even the recent Alluring Aquatic! This is such a big flop.
Thanks so much for testing everything Christine! I don’t know what I’d do without you! I value your opinion so much 😀
Happy to help, Meghan! This was so stiff that I really don’t know how it went into production like this!
Wow.
Total bummer!
Rubberized? Forget that. Sound like Nars. And poor product. Forget that too. It looked so promising.
It even had a mirror whereas other Mac compacts don’t.
As for the lipsticks, the gold containers looked like it was borrowed from Estée.
Yep, all the packaging is a rubberized black – similar to NARS!
Oh nooooo 🙁 This is not good news, I was really rooting for this one.
It’s kind of like a paperweight at this point :/
It’s like they are not even trying anymore… :S
Ouch! 🙁
Bit fat FAIL.. on a blush.. I despise stiff blushes so appreciate the review
Agreed!
Holy crap. What a joke
Sad times!
I really want to know what these looked like after you had to maul them for swatches
Kind of like someone took a jackhammer to the sidewalk 😉
“Bright” seems like “too light for me”.
What a pain re: the texture in pan but saves me more $$$.
I’ll try a Chanel cream blush instead this time.
Go for Chanel’s cream blush! A billion times better, lol!
There’ll be something else for me from MAC but this one’s a skip 🙂
I’m diversifying lol
Holy wow, that’s horrific. The looks of it in the pan and swatches were so promising. I loved the shades so much that I thought for sure this would be a must-buy. But… just WOW. You saved me $33! Thank you for your review. Incredible that MAC let this one slide through at such a poor quality. I’ll have to see if others get the same dud of a product as you.
My pleasure, Larissa! 🙂
Aww… an “F” I was excited for this one. It looks beautiful on you, but who wants to scrape and crush… that’s just to much work for a $33 product.
LOL! It’s like making your own product, really…
Wow, what an intense bummer! I saw the picture of it on my bloglovin’ feed and thought, “please be good, please be good!” Because the color is SO gorgeous!
An F, though? Ouch! Didn’t expect that! Ah well…
Sad but true 🙁
The colors are so pretty, but WOW, that’s terrible!
It was 🙁
Crazy! I wonder how something so flawed slipped through production. It even looks like hard plastic close-up in your shots. You had to destroy the blush just to use it haha! No good. I’ll save my spatula the work 😉
I have NO idea 🙁
Such a shame. Looks like you’re not the only early reviewer who had to break up the blush so I doubt you merely got a dud. I’ve read others who pinched off powder with their fingernails or took to their spatulas. Seems like a full-throttle, across-the-board poor production issue. Very strange.
Well, I’m glad they fixed whatever issue was going on with the review samples for the consumer product!
Me too! Happy it’s better for buyers, since that’s what really matters. I’m more just frustrated as a reviewer now!
As a rule, I don’t think the word “jab” should be associated with makeup- swatching, application, whatever. If I see that word anywhere in a review, I know I should pass.
I get really torn about swatching stuff like this, because the reality is there’s just about nothing that transfers with a brush/sponge-tip applicator but then it feels really weird to just take a photo of my arm looking like… arm. But maybe next time I’ll take a Blair Witch style quick video of the process to show the pain, LOL!
This is such a pretty looking powder, such a shame with the quality, I’m so disappointed I definitely would have picked this up otherwise!
I might pick up one when they go up for sale to see if it is better :/ I can’t believe it.
It’s so unfortunate because the shades looked so good both in pan and on skin!
This tragic product reminded me SO much of “The Perfect Cheek” Blush from MAC’s Marilyn Monroe collection. The first 2-3 wears gave me such a beautiful natural look that I bought a back-up then the magic just died. The blush under that nanometer of beautiful powder was hard as cement and it just wouldn’t budge.
I would be swirling my brush for minutes and it would pick up NOTHING. I even tried with those crappy, scratchy brushes thinking it’s worth the discomfort but nope, nothing.
Maybe it the formula MAC uses with pastel natural pinks. Boo. 🙁
Oooh, that is weird! I hadn’t heard of that happening with that shade before, but that really sucks. It usually goes the other way!
If you have anything that you can use to break it up and make it a loose powder, that might help (since you already have it).
This was the only thing I was interested in from this collection. Gonna pass. Plus I hate rubber packaging. It keeps dust and power and just looks dirty.
At least I could help! 🙂
What a shame!
I agree!
This might be the worst score I’ve ever seen you give out! 0.5/10 for product, yowch! But this is why we love reading your blogs, I can expect a totally honest review and I love it!
It’s definitely one of the lower ones!
Once it was on, though, it’s a very pretty color. I think I’ll get one of the dupes!
Good idea 🙂
Most def passing!!
That’s what I would do 🙁
So glad you do these reviews! I was actually interested in this blush! Thank you so much for saving me my money!
No prob, Jessica!
Screeching. The swatches even look awful after you went through all of this – so powdery and sheer. Though I am impressed MAC managed to make something this terrible sounding – I don’t remember the last review of yours I’ve read where you sounded so frustrated at the product!
It does look pretty in the pan though. Maybe they just intended it to be a display piece for every cosmetics lover. IDK.
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news 🙁 Luckily, not too many products are this frustrating!
Holy Moly, and if you’ll excuse the pun What the ….F?
Just have no idea how something like this leaves!
Clearly MAC didn’t learn anything from the problems with the quality of the Proenza Schouler blushes…or, rather, they saw all of those sell out in a flash anyway, so they figured they didn’t have to do anything to fix the formula! I hope people read reviews like this and quit buying the horrible products so that MAC actually has an incentive to change.
I would imagine these were produced around the same time or succession – probably before Proenza was even sold!
How did they let this happen?
That’s what I want to know!
I hope yours was just a dud and the rest aren’t this awful 🙁 the shades look so pretty!
Hopefully!
CAN WE JUST TALK ABOUT THAT PACKAGING! I don’t know why but I’m in looove with it. the darker shade is so gorgeous, too!
A lot of readers seem to love the packaging, too!
It’s a shame that this particular product is a dud (I believe someone on another blog said the same thing), because I was really looking forward to this one.
It’s a total bummer 🙁
Thought this blush looked so classy and sophisticated.
Heard the spatula alarm from Temptalia HQ…
…single tear rolls down cheek…. 🙁
For this one, I think we need even more tears 😉
Just updating my comment to say that I think it’s pretty spiffing of you to buy another one out of your own pocket to see if the sample was really a dud. *warm fuzzies* I’m glad the second one worked out better! Now we just need to puzzle over why a brand would send a *worse* product as a review sample… 😛
Also LOL at the picture of the spatula-gouged blush! Christine in attack mode! 😀
Just don’t know how the batch came out and nobody tested it to make sure all was good – makes me wonder if they pressed the ever living life out of it so it was so compacted/hardened vs. less pressure later on. Even so, it’s probably best to keep that in-house and not in the hands of press, lol! Save that for someone who just needs to photograph it.
Thank you, Christine! This was the only item of Pedro Lourenço’s collection that I would buy.
Unfortunatelly, I’ll have to pass.. 🙁
No problem!
I stopped buying MAC years ago with the exception of a few tried and true products (eyebrow pencils and a select few eye shadows). The quality is crap, and they focus too much on limited edition sets which are also not of great quality because they know people will buy them because it’s MAC. Sad.
Hopefully they’ll start learning and changing their ways!
Good ole dig -n- scrape lol! I hate that, what a waste!!
Completely!
Yeesh. C’mon MAC!
They can do better!
It’s not fun having to deal with such a bad product, but it was kind of fun to read about it 🙂
I love a lot of MAC, mostly the permanent range, some of the limited are good and even very good, I do love my Aquatic eye shadows I bought jusa about a week or so ago.
I have had bad luck with some LE in the past. I can’t remember what I was disappointed in, and I have thrown the stuff away, but I think it was poor pigmentation might have been stiff producta as well.
Sometimes I think they make by far too many LE, fewer with good performing products would be better.
It’s a pity they are using rubberized packagings, I think, they get so dirty and are almost impossible to clean.
Also a pity about this product as it looked very nice in the photos.
Sorry for the rant 🙂
Sometimes they do great products, sometimes total and utter misses! It really sucks, because lack of consistency makes it hard to purchase with confidence.
I loved the look of this in the previews. Too bad!
Such a disappointment!
And the F bomb was dropped!
LOL!
Ouchie!
You better believe it, lol!
Well, despite the awful rating, it looks good on you! 🙂
LOL, it’s the little things!
Haha.. Miniature makeup & puppies. 😉
We need photos of the smashed. Blush. Pronto!
So we can all laugh and ridicule MAC for letting this monstrosity out of the production line!
Next time, I will take somel! 🙂
Agreed!! All I could think after reading the tribulations of just getting colour to apply was I wonder what that blush looks like now??!!! I was picturing Christine digging and grinding at her desk like a mad scientist LOL
Wow, can’t believe this passed production! This was the only thing other then the lipglosses I really wanted too from this collection. Yay 🙂 more $$ saved!! Thanks Christine!!!
No problem, Mimi! xo
“I’m pretty sure I caught it laughing evilly at me”
I believe you.
😉
This just looked okay to me in the packaging, but I can’t believe that rating! I will definitely save my money now.
It was SO bad!
…I’m just wondering how much application work would be involved if scraping, crushing, and applying didn’t warrant THIS product a full zero. XD
I kind of looked at as if the powder still had no pigmentation/didn’t stick/didn’t bind… perhaps the problems of a very powdery product combined with all the pitfalls of one that doesn’t seem to want to apply at all. And as such, there was absolutely no way to make it work in any fashion whatsoever.
I’m wondering if your sample was a dud? I tried my sample this morning and it was an easy application with a substantial amount of colour payoff. So sad to know you’re disappointed, Christine!
I’m sure it’s possible, but I can’t make that assumption (or else there would never be a bad review) – I just report my experience 🙁
I’ll let you know if the press sample was just a dud once my order gets here tomorrow. I’m keeping my fingers crossed in hopes that it performs better than expected!
As a side note, MAC apparently changed their minds and dropped the price from $33 to $26 for .38 oz. If it does actually work, it’s one heck of a deal! If not, no price value can make up for poor product.
Hey A,
I also bought one, and it should be here tomorrow since I overnighted it. We’ll see how that goes…
I just finished playing with mine, and I was very pleased with the quality. The powder was (thankfully) not stiff and was a breeze to pick up on my fluffy dome brush. It was as pigmented as you’d expect such a light shade to be up top, and a little more sheer for the bottom third. It’s a finely milled powder without being too-powdery although there is just a tad of kick-up. My ONLY big concerns are 1) It’s too early to say whether or not the staying power is on par with the press samples, and 2) The ‘Pedro Lourenco’ insignia will be gone in no time.
Overall, using the sample’s longevity score, I would say it’s a solid B; an easy B+ if the staying power is closer to the 8-hour mark.
I hope yours is the same, lovely lady!
Thanks, Andrew! I’m really thrilled that yours is WAY WAY better!! Just the texture not being difficult is a huge plus. The colors are really pretty. Mine arrived late yesterday and I hope to check it out today and see how it goes.
I received my Corol today and did quick swatches…luckily I didn’t have the same issues that your press sample had. Hopefully this is true for others too. I’d hate to think that MAC made a seriously mistake sending out subpar press samples BUT for the sale of anyone out there that purchases it I kinda hope that is the case lol.
Now if only MAC would just do these split pans in equal proportions lol.
I bought one and it arrived late yesterday, so I haven’t had a chance to check it out yet, so we shall see… Some might say I expect too much of products, but I can assure you that only the most dire of circumstances brings me to scraping out product, lol!
My previous comment was so full of typos (darn iPhone posting lol). But I completely understand your position. I wouldn’t be too thrilled if I had to scrap at products to use them. The only MAC blush I had that problem with was the RiRi duo Hibiscus Kiss. I think mine was a dud since so many people loved it but I was completely disappointed in it. Hopefully the Corol you ordered is much better. If you can let us know. Just curious if I was just lucky with the one I got or if this is a better batch.
Updated the post, Kesha! It was a lot better. I don’t think it’s a *great* blush, but the major texture issues I had weren’t present in the one I bought.
MAC… you have got to be kidding me… the color payoff- where is it?
The consumer product seems to be better!
🙁
At least it’s better in the consumer released one!
How BIZARRE… I have had similar experiences (I bought two Benefit Creaseless Creams and was thoroughly UNDERwhelmed after your rave – RSVP and No Pressure) but still… why don’t they ensure batch quality?! It’s just not fair….
It’s a surprise to see such a drastic change – going from F to B- is a huge, huge difference.
How odd that there would be such a marked difference in the 2 compacts! If anything, one would think that MAC would make sure that their press samples would be really high quality so that reviews would be favourable. Okay, in reality, there shouldn’t be a difference between press samples and those available for purchase but handing out press samples that are poorer quality seems self-defeating (though MAC seems to be pretty self-defeating a lot of the time; case in point recently would be the eye shadows from Alluring Aquatics….they sold out SO FAST so why not do a 2nd production of them even though they’re meant to be LE – they could easily sell double or triple the quantity and it could still be LE….maybe make them available until the end of June or something like that)
I know that samples are usually run in smaller batches, but from what I understood when I visited MAC in Toronto, there aren’t supposed to be major differences between a small run vs. full scale production run.
MAC seems to restock more LE items these days than before (aka never before), but it’s done so quietly that most people who were hunting have given up – not everyone has the time or inclination to “stalk” the site for weeks post-launch.
I love how thorough your reviews are – with the new rating, would this be a product you would recommend at all?
I wouldn’t, because B- isn’t compelling to me. The lighter shade still has a chalky, powderiness to it, which was a downside! It does have a lot of product, though, and if the lighter shade is something you’d wear a lot and you’re on the fairer side, it might be OK.