MAC Lady Danger Lipstick Review, Photos, Swatches
MAC Lady Danger Lipstick
MAC Lady Danger Lipstick ($15.00 for 0.10 oz.) is described as a “vivid bright coral-red [with a matte finish].” It’s a bold, brightened orange-red with warm undertones and a matte finish. It leans more red than orange, but it’s not full-on red. Maybelline Orange Edge is glossier. Maybelline Vibrant Mandarin is less red. Maybelline Neon Red is slightly more orange. MAC Scarlet Ibis is similar. MAC Sail La Vie is glossier. Buxom Rogue is more orange. OCC Psycho is more orange. See comparison swatches.
This is a shade that’s been part of the permanent range for as long as I’ve been a MAC customer (at least, I think so!), and it’s a shade that I’ve been asked about a lot when readers have looked for dupes. I bought it awhile ago, but I only just (finally!) photographed, swatched, and tested it. It’s long-wearing, which isn’t surprising, and lasts six hours and leaves a stain behind. It’s neither drying nor hydrating, but it can be somewhat unforgiving if you have drier lips (it will catch on any dry flakes). The consistency is lightly creamy so it doesn’t tug at the lips too much. It has a vanilla scent but no discernible flavor. The color coverage is rich and intense, so there was no issue with getting full color coverage out of it!
Lady Danger
PPermanent. $19.00.
MAC Lady Danger Lipstick
MAC Lady Danger Lipstick
MAC Lady Danger Lipstick
MAC Lady Danger Lipstick
MAC Lady Danger Lipstick
MAC Lady Danger Lipstick
Love this color! Unfortunately it doesn’t look good on me.
It’s my favorite lighter red shade! I love it!
I love this on you. I have scarlet ibis which has been intimidating, but after seeing this..it’s coming out of the drawer for the summer 🙂
Christine, there is something about your lighting…the shades always look warmer than they really are (or warmer than I see them). Especially with reds, that look red-orange on me but look straight-up orange on you. Though it might be your skintone…
Either way I’m very happy to see this review, I love orangey reds and I’ve been wondering if I should buy Lady Danger or if I have enough dupes of it already.
Hi Xero!
I’ve had a professional come out and assess my lighting and to ensure that I’m doing all the right things and settings and the like, actually, so that’s about all I can do on that front! This looks red-orange on my monitor – not a red with orange undertones but not pure orange. Neon Orange/Morange look orange on me (and on my monitor)!
The monitor you’re using can also impact the photo’s appearance. I know that on my laptop, the colors always seem more muted, while some of the high-res monitors I’ve used make everything here seem a tad bolder.
Skintone is definitely a factor, though. I especially notice it when I wear some of the brighter shades Christine has reviewed on here. For instance, when I wore Maybelline’s Vibrant Mandarine, it pulled so red on me, most people didn’t realize I was wearing orange lipstick!
Monitors make me die a little inside, because no matter what I do on my end, it can still be totally different on someone else’s, LOL! When I’ve tried to use tools to ensure color balancing/proper color on my monitor, it’s been SO OFF on standard devices (my laptop I’ve made ZERO modifications from – factory set, and then my iPhone). At this point, I’ve tried to make my monitor settings match my laptop, my iPhone, Shaun’s laptop, my brother-in-law’s Samsung Galaxy, and my parents’ computers – at least so they’re similar rather than any of them being really outside! I also look at professional photographer’s photos, various color calibration helping sites/tutorials/images, and try to be in line with those (so blacks look black, whites look white, there are gradients between white and black, greens aren’t too rich, etc.). And of course, I have the product in front of me to compare to!
Skintone plays a huge role, IMO. For example, on my screen, the arm swatch looks significantly more red than the full-face shot, which looks pretty much straight-up orange.
You do a damn fine job Christine. You work really hard to do the best you can, and I want you to know it is appreciated by many of us. That’s it really, I just wanted to thank you x
Thank you, Kate!
As a professional photographer I understand what you meant when you tried various method to calibrate your monitor to the correct setting. I used a software to calibrate my monitor once a month to make sure it is in the correct setting. Unfortunately, everyone else does not calibrate their computer so it looks correct on yours but looks different on someone else. Thank you Christine for taking your time to do this blog. My friends & I love your blog and appreciate you…:-)
Yes, it’s totally crazy how monitor settings can differ!
Thank you!! 🙂
Wow, Christine, you work so hard! I tried to run a blog for a little while so I know how much work it is to try and get things color-accurate. I got so frustrated with my low-end camera that I eventually stopped.
Your photos are amazing quality though–I just make a note that lipsticks wear cooler on me than they do on you. 😉
Thank you, Xero! 🙂
I think you are right! It’s probably a combination of both things. Vibrant Mandarin pulls really pink/red on me, personally, as does Orange Edge.
It’s just her skintone that makes it look different! I’m extremely pale with yellow undertones and Lady Danger looks red on me with the slightest orange tone, while my best friend whose skin is also warm toned but much darker has trouble finding lipsticks that don’t show orange on her unless they’re very cool toned. Another good example is the discontinued Chanel Rouge Allure Laque in Dragon, it shows warmer on Christine while on me it’s a much darker, deep blood red.
YAY I’m so glad to see a permanent MAC item! I’m really interested in their slew of great permanent products, and sure a lot of them are online, but when looking online, Temptalia is my gold standard 🙂
On of my all time favorites! This, New York Apple and Russian Red were my three first purchases at MAC, and its been a long and happy relationship ever since!
New York Apple is my first red lipstick from Mac 😀 such a nice berry red.
Yowza! I’m on the fence with this colour. I own it, but it kinda freaks me out at the same time. It is an ‘orange’ I can wear, but I can’t figure out if it actually works with my skintone or it’s just its megawatt nature that brightens and screams. I think I have worn this twice at best. I have to be in the right frame of mind.
Just purchased this lipstick this week and I absolutely love it!!! I went to the MAC counter to buy Ruby Woo but this looked so much better on me. I wore it yesterday and it lasted almost 8 hours and left a slight stain behind. Thanks for the review!!
I understand (and appreciate) why you concentrate more on MAC’s limited collections, but I love seeing reviews of permanent items–especially ones that perform so well! I wish MAC would concentrate more on expanding and improving their permanent collections and less on (mostly mediocre) limited runs.
If MAC had less LE collections, I’d post more permanent stuff, but with the LE collections it gets to be too MAC-heavy, so then it’s like, “Any other brand between LE collections!”
Completely understandable. Plus there are so many other awesome products to review!
I bought all of MAC’s permanent blushes and have nearly all the permanent lipstick range – all waiting to be photographed/swatched/reviewed – for probably two years now, LOL! I keep waiting for a slow down. I am really trying to push out more reviews so I can get through some of the backlog, so we’ll see how it goes!
I will put in my two cents and say I’m REALLY keen to see reviews for those! I understand though! They release so much rubbish, it’s honestly just “Stop the MAC Limited Edition ride, I want off!!”
Perfection!
Love this shade! I put it in my makeup bag recently to remind myself to wear it again.
Love!! I hope you post more reviews on Mac’s permanent range of lipsticks ♥
This is my all time favorite red!!
I have Scarlet Ibis and I adore it. I tried Lady Danger and thought it was a *bit* too orange for me, Scarlet Ibis has just that bit more red to it that makes a huge difference for me.
Is Scarlet Ibis something that constantly makes a comeback? Its in Macys for a while now as part of of the Marilyn Collection but its been part of other collections too.
There’s no rhyme or reason to what MAC brings back or doesn’t – truly!
I had not tried this up until a few weeks ago when I did a B2M. I honestly don’t know why it took me so long to give this a try. For reference I’m an NC44 shade in MAC. This looks gorgeous when paired with either Cherry lip liner or Brick lip liner. Since orange seems to be the lip color of the season, it’s definitely worth checking out. On my lips i noticed that it’s surprisingly not as drying as most MAC matte lipsticks. Christine your description regarding the texture is right on! =)
i had my eye on this thing for a very long time. lisaeldridge loves this 1. But the day i bought this is the day i swore off all, all orange based red lipsticks. I can wear a lot of bright lip stuff but orange lipsticks make me feel like a hussy. and this practically pulls straight up orange on me, until i compare it to morange (which is a much cooler and is a more genuine orange compared to this).
I am warm toned and warm toned stuff pulls more warm than it already is on me. this lipstick is the reason why i struck off nars heat wave from my list of things to buy.
it’s great stuff, but not for me.
nc35-nc42, nars barcelona, LM silk cream sand beige, makeupforever hd 128
Wow, what an eye-catching red. Love this shade
LOve the colour! Tried it at MAC about 10 days back – does not suit me at all! 🙁
I wonder how this compares to MAC Lady Bug? I’m torn between these two.
I think Lady Bug is redder and sheerer, but I haven’t seen it in awhile.
How does this compare to So Chaud?
I haven’t seen/swatched it in years, so I’m not sure! My guess would be this is brighter.
so chaud is a hair, a hair, more orange, a hair mind you…i compared them very carefully when i bought lady danger.
Hey, Christine. How does this compare to MAC So Chaud?
I haven’t seen/swatched it in years, so I’m not sure! My guess would be this is brighter.
so chaud is a hair, a hair, more orange, a hair mind you…i compared them very carefully when i bought lady danger.
Yikes, that’s really orange! It will definitely not suit me. Love warmer reds for sure, and I’ve wanted this for a long time but I really doubt I will get any wear out of it.
Ah, Lady Danger! I remember that being my first MAC lipstick, if not my first MAC product 🙂 still a favorite after all these years! <3
STUNNING! I love this color! It is so fun when I wear it! great review!! I love the finish of this lipstick!!
I adore this lipstick! It’s my go-to BAM! red shade (while Russian Red is my vampy shade and I’m going to find out what Riri Woo will be tomorrow). I love pairing it with gold eyeshadow and a black cat eye to let the lipstick do all the major talking lol.
I love Russian Red too. I just got Lady Danger and it has become my ‘summer red’. I was really surprised at how much I liked it especially because of my cooler undertones. I’m also waiting to see how I like Riri Woo. Lady Danger and So Chaud have become my new Summer shades.
How does this compare to Nars Heat Wave?
I don’t think I have that!
Lady Danger was my go-to red for the longest time, then my lips got too dry for it. Thanks for the review and dupes — going to check out some of those Maybellines!
OMG! I’m so excited you’re doing some of the permanent colors! Yay, thank you :-).
I’m passed this color up so many times, I’m taking my back to Mac this weekend and checking this one out.
Other dupes for Lady Danger: Mac’s You Say Tomato (mattene lipstick) and NARS Heat Wave lipstick– both are more matte than Lady Danger but the same colour.
I just bought Wet n’ Wild’s Purty Persimmon, which might work as a dupe for this. Also I bought a sephora brand lipstick about two years ago that is also a similar shade (I can’t remember what the shade is since I’m not home right now).
I love this shade! I read somewhere it’s the one Regina Spektor uses, so I had to get it- and it looks marvelous! I’m so glad you’ve posted a review now.
can you also do a post on mac so chaud?
I asked the girl at my MAC counter about the rusty-red lipstick she was wearing and she told me it was Lady Danger, and I was like “Cool! Can I try?”. Then I put it on, and went “Ack! So bright!” — BUT THEN, she gave me Cherry lip pencil (a slightly darker, slightly cooler red) and told me to line my lips with it and blend it in. It really transformed the lipstick–it wasn’t so stark against my skin, and it gave my lips some dimension (where the bright matte had kind of flattened them). Great combo!
Hi Christine,
I’m looking for a lipstick that is similar to Mac’s Lady Danger that I can wear during the day – something as close to the same colour & tone as possible, but not as bright. Do you think Dangerous would fit the bill? I love Lady Danger but it looks gauche on my pale skin in the daylight 😉
Thanks for your time!
P.S. I really appreciate how much effort you put into this site, whenever I want to see swatches from a new release, you’re my go-to blog!
I think you’ll find Dangerous in the same vein as Lady Danger as far as brightness goes! Have you tried sheering out Lady Danger instead? (Maybe with a little lip balm?)
Thank you!! 🙂
Hello. I was wondering if you could recommend a lip liner that will preserve the true color of this lipstick. Thank You
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