MAC Illustrated Pink x3 Lip Color & Bag Review, Photos, Swatches

Christine — Sun, 22 Jul 2012 13:00:42 +0000

MAC Illustrated Pink x3 Lip Color & Bag

MAC Illustrated Collection: Pink x3 Lip Color & Bag

MAC Illustrated Pink x3 Lip Color & Bag ($39.50) includes three products plus a small makeup bag: Pink Treat Cremestick Liner (part of the permanent range), Julia Dazzleglass Creme (new and exclusive), and Vivid Imagination Cremesheen Lipstick (new and exclusive). This is a Nordstrom exclusive and is available both online and in-store now.

Pink Treat Cremestick Liner is a medium-dark neutral-cool pink. It comes in a twist-up mechanical pencil, and it contains 0.009 oz. I think Pink Treat was the first lip liner I ever bought (for sure, the first mid-range/high-end one). I don’t have that many lip pencils in my stash, so I don’t know what may or may not be dupes for this particular shade. It is significantly darker than the lipstick included in the set, though. I like Cremestick Liners, because they’re a lot more forgiving during application and when worn than other lip pencils. The only downside is, like most mechanical pencils, there isn’t a whole lot of product in ’em, and if you use it regularly, you’ll find yourself going through it relatively quickly. This lip liner wears about six hours on its own.

Julia Dazzleglass Creme is a rosy beige-brown with soft pink and gold shimmer. There’s not a lot to the gloss–it’s really on the sheer side and adds mostly shimmer rather than color. It seems to bring out the redness in my natural lip color. It looked and acted a lot more like a regular Dazzleglass than the Dazzleglass Cremes (which typically have more color payoff). You could easily dupe this with any sheer, shimmer-filled gloss. Here’s a whole gallery of options. When I wore this, it lasted a mere hour and there was some traveling glitter particles.

Vivid Imagination Cremesheen Lipstick is a light-medium yellow-toned pink with a creamy finish. Le Metier de Beaute Fiji is darker. Bobbi Brown Orchid PInk iis lighter, less opaque. MAC Please Me is extremely similar–at most, marginally darker! It yields mostly opaque color coverage, and the consistency is thin for as creamy as this looks. It does pull and tug a little bit, though not like a particularly dry, hard-to-apply lipstick, but it doesn’t glide-on. I tested the wear on this shade, and it managed four hours (which is average), but it was a bit drying.

Whenever MAC releases lip kits like these, it’s actually one of the few true value sets they launch. You’re getting three full-sized products for $39.50, and if they were available individually, would set you back $48.50. I’m not over-the-moon about this set, unfortunately. The best part about it is Pink Treat as far as quality goes, and if you like the design, then the bag might take the prize. (I dig it!)