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MAC Fashion Sets: Nail Lacquer Review Round-up

MAC Russian Red Trio
MAC Pink Nouveau Lipglass over Lipstick; Nail Lacquer

MAC Fashion Sets: Nail Lacquer Review Round-up

MAC is not known for an excellent nail polish formula. Sometimes they do it right, but they often create some major misses that tend to suffer from too thin/too thick consistencies, streaking, and poor pigmentation. As is generally the case, the set of sixteen matching nail lacquers was a mixed bag but with more winners than real losers. Pigmentation wasn’t a problem with most of the shades, but I found several of them to be on the streakier side with some more readily covered with a thicker second coat. There were also a handful of shades that were lovely to apply!

The other downside was that a few of the nail lacquers did not match well with the lipstick/lipgloss (Angel, Impassioned, Razzledazzler, Rebel, Snob, and Spice were among the least matching, particularly in tone, not just slightly lighter/darker).

I think MAC has accelerated the price point of their nail lacquers far too quickly–$16 is more than a lipstick or a gloss! It’s $2 less than NARS, the same or $2 less than Deborah Lippmann (depending on the type of polish, as some of hers are $16 and others are $18), $2 MORE than Illamasqua (one of the best polish formulas I’ve ever tried), and $2 more than Butter London. And frankly? At that price tag, MAC is giving you less than the brands I just mentioned–0.34 fl. oz. vs. 0.50 fl. oz. 0.50 fl. oz. is the standard lacquer size (China Glaze, Essie, OPI, etc. all have this size as well). This formula needs to be on point to command a $16 price tag when there are nail polish niche brands where all they do is nail polish have excellent formulas.  The nail lacquers have increased in price faster than other comparable price points at MAC (e.g. lipsticks, glosses, and eyeshadows go up $0.50 every year).

I very specifically removed price from the overall rating so that a $30 formula can be compared to a $3 formula with no boost/decrease because of the price–you are the only one who can decide what is too expensive, just right, or not worth it. As a buyer, I’m most interested in quality, and then I’ll figure out if the quality-to-price-ratio is worth it to me or maybe the color is so original that I’m willing to pay a higher price — or maybe it’s so cheap that I’ll accept that it streaks or is powdery. I try to shed light on situations where the price seems out of line with the brand’s position in the market, against competitors, or if the price/quantity ratio is unusually low or high.

MAC’s lacquers are packaged in a cylindrical bottle (though it has some tapering) and a rubberized cap, and this type of cap normally brings packaging scores up to 5/5, but because it’s awkward to hold (it’s stubby and oddly shaped when gripped), it ends up being a wash. Though it has been an issue in the past, I didn’t have any problems with the brush–they all seemed fine and didn’t have any splaying issues.

The best shades were: Chestnut, Girl About Town, Morange, Pink Nouveau, and Russian Red (A). A good but not great shade was Impassioned (A-). The most under-performing shades were: Saint Germain (C+) and Snob (B-). The rest were middle-of-the-road shades with mostly Bs and a few B+s.

Availability: Based on the information I have received from MAC, the distribution of these shades is regional. I cannot confirm the extent of non-regional shades being available online for your region (e.g. whether all of these will be available on the UK website). I can confirm only that for North America, all shades are available for purchase online. Only the North America-specific shades will be available in-stores on May 3rd, 2012. Select Macy’s will also carry Latin America & Middle East region-specific shades.

North America: Chestnut, Girl About Town, Myth, Rebel, Russian Red, Snob, Spice; all are limited edition at this time, but MAC will be adding Girl About Town and Snob to the permanent range in July
Asia Pacific: Angel, Morange, Impassioned, Peachstock, Ravishing, Razzledazzler, Saint Germain; all are limited edition at this time, but MAC will be adding Girl About Town, Impassioned, Morange, Saint Germain, and Snob to the permanent range in July
Europe & Africa: Impassioned, Morange, Myth, Rebel, Russian Red, Saint Germain, Spice; all are limited edition at this time, but MAC will be adding Impassioned, Morange, and Saint Germain, to the permanent range in July
Latin America & Middle East: Girl About Town, Impassioned, Morange, Pink Nouveau, Please Me, Russian Red, Snob; all are limited edition at this time, but MAC will be adding Girl About Town, Impassioned, Morange, and Snob to the permanent range in July

Reviews, Photos, Swatches

MAC Fashion Sets: Nail Lacquer Review Round-up

B+
9
Product
9
Pigmentation
9
Texture
9
Longevity
4
Application
89%
Total

Please note that the photos included in this post are for summary purposes only–there are four additional photos for each lipstick shade that have been excluded in this post but are available in the set’s original post: one product photos, one swatch (diffused flash), and two swatches (studio lighting).

MAC Angel Lipstick
MAC Angel Nail Lacquer

MAC Angel Lipstick
MAC Angel Nail Lacquer

MAC Chestnut Lipstick
MAC Chestnut Nail Lacquer

MAC Chestnut Lipstick
MAC Chestnut Nail Lacquer

MAC Girl About Town Lipstick
MAC Girl About Town Nail Lacquer

MAC Girl About Town Lipstick
MAC Girl About Town Nail Lacquer

MAC Impassioned Lipstick
MAC Impassioned Nail Lacquer

MAC Impassioned Lipstick
MAC Impassioned Nail Lacquer

MAC Morange Lipstick
MAC Morange Nail Lacquer

MAC Morange Lipstick
MAC Morange Nail Lacquer

MAC Myth Lipstick
MAC Myth Nail Lacquer

MAC Myth Lipstick
MAC Myth Nail Lacquer

MAC Peachstock Lipstick
MAC Peachstock Nail Lacquer

MAC Peachstock Lipstick
MAC Peachstock Nail Lacquer

MAC Pink Nouveau Lipstick
MAC Pink Nouveau Nail Lacquer

MAC Pink Nouveau Lipstick
MAC Pink Nouveau Nail Lacquer

MAC Please Me Lipstick
MAC Please Me Nail Lacquer

MAC Please Me Lipstick
MAC Please Me Nail Lacquer

MAC Ravishing Lipstick
MAC Ravishing Nail Lacquer

MAC Ravishing Lipstick
MAC Ravishing Nail Lacquer

MAC razzledazzler Lipstick
MAC Razzledazzler Nail Lacquer

MAC razzledazzler Lipstick
MAC Razzledazzler Nail Lacquer

MAC rebel Lipstick
MAC Rebel Nail Lacquer

MAC rebel Lipstick
MAC Rebel Nail Lacquer

MAC russianred Lipstick
MAC Russian Red Nail Lacquer

MAC russianred Lipstick
MAC Russian Red Nail Lacquer

MAC saintgermain Lipstick
MAC Saint Germain Nail Lacquer

MAC saintgermain Lipstick
MAC Saint Germain Nail Lacquer

MAC snob Lipstick
MAC Snob Nail Lacquer

MAC snob Lipstick
MAC Snob Nail Lacquer

MAC spice Lipstick
MAC Spice Nail Lacquer

MAC spice Lipstick
MAC Spice Nail Lacquer

18 Comments

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stacey Avatar

How you did this is amazing.  Removing lipstick is one thing.  But to remove the nail color and to keep your nails in good shape is another.  I wonder how you apply your lipstick colors….given that you dont use lipliners and they dont feather and are lip perfect.

Sharlie Gugel Avatar

A little confused. It says that one of the best shades is Chesnut. But the photo looks like the tips have chipped. Is this an optical illusion from the lighting? If so, that is quite comical!

Veronica Avatar

This is one impressive series of posts.  I mean, even God rested on the final day.  You insisted on doing a wrap up.  😀
 
Thank you for all the hard work you put into these!  It’s one of the reasons I recommend your website to so many of my friends.  🙂

Miss Steff Avatar

A “normal” mac lipstick costs between 25-35 USD where i stay, so with that logic, a nail polish would be upto 45 dollars? 45 dollars for a nothing-special nail polish 😐 

MinhaBelaDama Avatar

Hi. Do you know any drugstore dupes for these polishes? I’m totally in love with them, but $16 is more than I can afford for 16 nail polishes :/. 

We try to approve comments within 24 hours (and reply to them within 72 hours) but can sometimes get behind and appreciate your patience! 🙂 If you have general feedback, product review requests, off-topic questions, or need technical support, please contact us directly. Thank you for your patience!