MAC Cosmetics – The Originals Review, Product Swatches

Overall, I enjoyed this collection enough that I found several products interesting enough to purchase. I felt like the lipsticks and lipglasses turned out to be my favorites, but I have been on a bit of lip kick lately. I really loved Back to Del Rio, Rozz Revival, Supersequin, and Utter Pervette! The glosses were all lovely, but of course I was attracted to both Avarice and Real Desire–two shades I would rarely wear. Nico Now is gorgeous and I think will be popular with most as it is quite the universal shade. Surprisingly, I found that I adored Daisychain and Ochre Style out of the eyeshadows–if we didn’t have Smoke Signals come out, I would love Charred and Clue, too.  Parrot is as to be expected; I can’t see any difference myself from the original formulation.  The pigments are all permanent, but they at least selected three shades that rock (Golden Olive, Melon, and Violet).  The reflects glitters are to die for, but you should have already known that as I covered them in their entirety from my PRO store haul!  Antique Gold is the must-get, if you like playing with color; Very Pink is a great glitter to use on cheeks and lips, though.  The collection offers something to everyone, even if addicts had expected their favorite hard-to-find products. Don’t knock it ’til you swatch it!

For an in-depth review of individual products and shades, plus additional swatches…

LIPSTICK

• Rozz Revival is a hot, bright watermelon pink with no sheerness to it, so it’s really quite bold. This is one everybody has been a bit excited over, and I can see why – it’s a lovely shade of a deep coral-orange-red with slick texture (go high sheen).
• Chintz on Chintz is a sheer, warm chocolate brown – great for ladies of color, for sure. Too dark for me on its own (definitely would need a lipglass to lighten it up), but you’d be surprised what you can mix it to make it an awesome shade on you. I think I own the original Chintz!
• Utter Pervette is such a lovely sheer, frosty cool pink shade. It has plenty of shimmer in it, though, so those who are wary of frost may want to skip this one. This one is excellent for spring!
• Back to Del Rio is one of my favorites! It is a subtly wine-berry with brown undertones and gold shimmer. It’s just this shade that’s dark, yet not at all bold and so wearable on an everyday basis.
• Nouveau-Frou is the sheerest of the bunch, and it is a pale lavender with gold shimmer. This is the most passable one, only because it wouldn’t show up well on me or anyone with pigmented lips whatsoever.
• Retrofluid is a deeper brown than Chintz on Chintz with purple and gold reflects. I’d really love to see this on darker skintones!
• Supersequin is probably my favorite, because it’s a gorgeous semi-frosty medium pink. It’s warmer rather than cooler, and I love the gold shimmer. I am reminded of one of the lipsticks from the Finery sets, though – I want to say Blueblood.
• Twig-Twig is completely contrary in color to the description. I honestly don’t see much brown in it at all! I am pretty certain it is Twig Twig (I swatch in alphabetical order so I *don’t* forget, ha!), too. It’s lovely, though. It’s very much like Supersequin, only cooler and with purple undertones. It is a relatively frosty look, not as much a silky lustre like Back to Del Rio.
• Sandy B is a lovely shade of light neutral-pink, sheer enough that it starts out light but it can be built up. This is a permanent shade already.
• Russian Red is a bright, bold matte red with blue undertones. It’s part of the permanent of the line.

LIPGLASS

• Full on Lust is a gorgeous opaque watermelon pink hue with gold shimmer in it; this is totally the one that matches Rozz Revival, though it’s much subtler.
• Avarice is a rich orange-red with gold reflects, very deep and bold.
• Real Desire is the darkest of the five, and it is a really rich burnt red-burgundy with red reflects.
• Nico Now is a lovely shade of purple with pink hues with lots of shimmer. I think this is my personal favorite, even though it’s not insanely original. It’s just quite pretty.
• C-Thru is a white-neutral gloss with soft white shimmer that goes on fairly sheerly, though it will lighten up any dark lipstick for sure (take that, brown lipsticks! I’ll wear you yet!).

EYE SHADOW

• Daisychain is actually one of my top picks from the nine shadows, because it will be the most gorgeous highlighter! I am such a sucker for white-gold colors with touches of shimmer. It is as if Nylon lost half of its shimmer and got a better finish.
• Ochre Style is another top pick, because it is this lovely shade of a brown-gold with gold shimmer. It reminds me of Juiced in the texture and feel, but the color is more wearable on most people (Juiced can make some look sallow). It is up my alley — when have I resisted a gold?
• A Little Folie is a warm, matte chocolate brown. I think this would make an excellent crease color (kind of like Soft Brown is a great choice) for warmer neutral looks.
• Memorabilia is a luxe dark purple with a matte texture. I found the formulation of this matte to be incredibly workable. It is not like mattes of the past, nor is it like Matte2s; I like this, and I think the shade is great for spicing up holiday looks.
• Clue is a shimmery gray-blue color – much prettier to the actual eye than the camera lens. I kept thinking Clue would be much bluer for some reason. As to the texture, it reminds me of the shimmer of Black Tied, with better color pay off.
• Alum is a mid-tone gray in a satin finish, so it has very subtle shimmer – perfect for older lids as well as any smoky eye with a lighter twist on it.
• Charred is a rich, charcoal gray-black with plenty of shimmery particles. It is a lovely color that would make for gorgeous smoky eyes. Again, like Clue, the amount of shimmer is similar to Black Tied, but you get more color than you do with Black Tied.
• Frisco is a soft, pastel pink in a matte finish; it is a little bit chalky, but not much. It’s one of those afterthoughts you have and makes you go, “Hmm,” since you’re not quite sure. I am reminded of the shade I wanted Pink Venus to be, if it didn’t have shimmer. It’s nice to see this pink added to the MAC line up (though it is close to Pen ‘N’ Pink from Matte2).
• Parrot is exactly as I remember it being. I have owned Parrot in three forms (including it as Kicky Blue) over my time as a MAC fan, and I never end up keeping it. It is a gorgeous color, but I never felt like, “Wow! This is worth $40!” I would suggest picking this up purely out of the addict-factor, which means this is sure to sell out quickly. It is also the boldest, brightest eyeshadow from the collection, which is also a big pull. But yes, I found the texture and color to be nearly identical to the original (I no longer own it, otherwise I’d have compared the two!).

PIGMENT

• Kitschmas is a bright pastel purple with high sheen and frost-factor; and it is constantly being repromoted. All of the pigments are permanent to the MAC line, so there is no reason to jump out and get them all.
• Violet is one of my favorite pigments, because it has such great intensity in its purple hue.
• Melon makes an excellent summer blush and highlighter, because it is a great shade of gold-peach.
• Golden Olive is a delicious shade of olive green with gold sheen (the same really does ring true!). If you love green eyed looks, you must have this!
• Steel Blue is a subtle dark blue with chunks of gold glitter particles – it has a chunky texture compared to Melon or Golden Olive; it is chunkier than Kitschmas, from my experience.

GLITTER — Check out my swatches from the PRO store for better pictures here.

• Reflects Blackened Red is a glittery deep red-brown with red reflects. In my other post, this is the one listed as “Charred Red” (because I spaced on the name and didn’t check, bad me). When they say blackened, it’s more like a burnt reddish brown – it’s not black.
• Reflects Very Pink is a medium pink with lots of light pink glitter reflects. This makes an excellent color for lips – just mix it with any gloss (including clear) to make a pout stand out.
• Reflects Transparent Teal is a glittery white base with small particles that reflect a tealish-green light. Great for body glitter!
• Reflects Antique Gold is my absolute favorite out of the four reflects glitters launched in this collection. It is such a gorgeous mixture of gold, brown, and antique gold that results in the most lovely shade. I bet you wouldn’t think of it, but you can rock this as a lip color or mixed with a red gloss!

Originals is on counters and in stores now, as well as www.maccosmetics.com, as of today!