MAC Love Lace Collection Review — Eyeshadows, Kohl Powers — Swatches, Photos

Reviews


MAC Love Lace Collection: Eyes

Today, MAC released Love Lace–a week early (it was originally slated for release on the 26th–but my freestanding store confirmed that Warm & Cozy was still launching the 26th). It’s a short ‘n sweet launch, with just two lipsticks, two lipglasses, four eyeshadows, three kohl powers, one nail lacquer, and then a few repromotes of permanent items. It reminds me a bit of last year’s Chill Collection.

I’m going to focus on reviewing the four eyeshadows and three kohl powers in this post, with a follow-up post on the lipsticks and lipglasses, and a final post on the nail lacquer–so stay tuned!

Eyeshadow

  • Love Lace is a dusty darkened blue with a slightly shimmered finish (it is a veluxe pearl, after all) with a very smooth, soft feel. It’s decently pigmented. This reminded me of a more muted Deep Truth kind of shade.
  • Suave Intentions is an icy cool-toned medium blue with icy silver shimmer and sheen. If you had to, you might consider duping this with Tilt (which is a little more teal). This was the most pigmented shade of the four.
  • Pincurl is a mauvey-gray with icy pink shimmer and sheen. It’s a repromote from Blonde, Brunette, and Redhead. It has a sort of dusty look to it.
  • Hypnotizing is a darkened, smoked out mauve-plum with a touch of brown.

Kohl Power

  • Feline is an intense black.
  • Raven is a deep burgundy with black pearl.
  • Sense of Style is a darkened blue-teal with blue and teal shimmer. It’s much bluer than Mystery kohl power.

See more photos and swatches…


MAC Love Lace Eyeshadow


MAC Suave Intentions Eyeshadow


MAC Pincurl Eyeshadow


MAC Hypnotizing Eyeshadow


Feline, Raven, Sense of Style


Love Lace, Suave Intentions


Pincurl, Hypnotizing


Feline, Raven, Sense of Style

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About the Reviewer

Reviewer

Christine has normal-to-dry skin with areas of dryness (cheeks, nose, and under the eyes). She has a light-medium skintone with subtle, warmer yellow undertones. Her best foundation matches include: Tarte Rainforest of the Sea in Light-Medium Neutral (best match), Estee Lauder Double Wear Stay-in-Place Makeup in Desert Beige 2N1, Giorgio Armani Maestro Glow in 4.0, Hourglass Warm Ivory Vanish Seamless Finish, Laura Mercier Candleglow Soft Luminous in Dusk, MAC NC20/NC25, Make Up For Ever Ultra HD Liquid in Y305 (140). For more matches, please read our full Foundation FAQ. For more information on our review process, please read our Review FAQ.

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146 Comments

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Sheila

This collection is so meh to me. Nothing really stood out. The two blue eyeshadows sorta caught my eye, but after seeing swatches, its no longer that desirable. But I am looking forward to lip swatches of the lipsticks =D

Brigitte

Why oh why do I love blue eyeshadows? It’s too bad they just don’t work on me…! I try and try… though I do wonder what those blue eyeshadows would look like together on top of a lavender/purple base.

Brenda

I find they look horrible on myself as well, but I did find a way to work it in. I used Grain all over the lid and up through crease and I used Tilt with a 219 brush as a soft eyeliner on the top. It was kind of a 70’s influenced beachy look. Other than this, I NEVER wear blue or purples that are too blue.

(I have dark brown hair w/red and blonde highlights, hazel eyes and light warm/netural skin)

Sarah M

Thanks for the review Christine! 🙂 I know I’ll be getting Raven and Sense of Style kohl power eye pencils but I’m not so sure about the rest. Hypnotizing eye shadow is starting to tempt me a little.

ak

Hi, I’m way darker than you are and I just dyed my hair a blue black and I’d recommend trying Contrast or maybe Deep Truth if you’re into blue shadows, at least those two colors make a great smoky eye with a black or navy pencil.

Allison

Thank you for the pictures! I ordered love lace e/s and sense of style online! Christine i was wondering how do you get these products before they are released?

Zeni

For some reason they didn’t release it at the Belk’s I go to to get my mac. I even asked to make sure they were coming out on the 26th and then came home to find out that it was suppose to come out early. I was upset, but I got some of the older LE stuff that I had to catch up on.

Brenda

Raven is AMAZING. I only own two MAC liners and it’s Raven and Foxy Lady. I think it’s super sexy:) Kind of burgundy black on skin, it has more red in person that it showed in the swatch, IMO.

Miranda

Wow I can’t believe how many of you are indifferent about this collection. I think it’s amazing, but then again I’m having a love affair with blue lately, and am obsessed with winter. Say, does anyone know when this collection will be released in Canada? It’s already on the Canadian website but did not see it in stores today.

Christine
Light-Medium, Neutral, slight yellow undertones. Normal-to-Dry skin. »

Hey Miranda,

It should be out in-stores now, since they moved it up early. You may want to call your local store tomorrow and ask them!

amy

My freestanding store released both Warm and Cozy and Love Lace this week. From Love Lace, I only picked up Feline and Raven Kohl liners but I might go back and get Sense of Style too. I don’t really like the eye shadows in this collection with the exception of Hypnotizing and Pin Curl, which reminds me a bit of like Vex except that it is less silver with less pink iridescence. I saw Warm and Cozy too, and I like their shadows better and I will probably go back tomorrow to check it out again.

Pam

i like the hypnotizing eyeshadow 🙂 From the swatch, do you think it kind of looks like Sunny Daze pigment? i’m sad this pigment was limited edition and i’m looking for similar colour to this. Not sure if hypnotizing would be a good substitute.

daphne

Do you know how Hypnotizing compares to Illegal Cargo, if you have it? I’m drawn to it, but I fear that might be because it’s a dupe for IC which is a favorite of mine (even though I really under-utilize it!)

daphne

And as a follow-up…are you sure it’s not the same as in the Sorceress palette? They sure look identical to me based on the swatches :-/ But I suppose maybe they look different in person..

daphne

Oh okay, thanks! It’s funny because in my head I had confused the two, as well – when your post initially said that I thought, Yeah, this is nothing like that funky color! Hold My Gaze is a pretty hypnotizing color I guess…(oh I crack myself up! :P)

daphne

Ha, you crack me up! I didn’t even think at first because it’s like, duh, why would they repromote a color TWO MONTHS LATER? That’s just silly. But oh, MAC, you don’t always make sense! I guess I should have remembered they did it with Feline for this collection too.

Christine

I love me some Feline–for sure, I am like Feline’s #1 fan!–but they repromote it ALL THE FREAKIN’ TIME! Just make it permanent already and get it over with!

I, too, was surprised/annoyed to see Hypnotizing x2 in 2 months. I feel sad for anyone who bought the Sorceress palette just for that shade 🙁

HC

Christine, I read this post when you first posted it where it said Hypnotizing in LoveLace is diff than the Sorceress palette. So guess what I did? I went out and purchased it b/c I was sooo in love with it. Funny thing is, I swatched hyponotizing in the palette and in the LoveLace collection and they looked different to me at the time. Hmmm!! Now they look the same without swatching…

Christine
Light-Medium, Neutral, slight yellow undertones. Normal-to-Dry skin. »

I think it has more brown in it than Illegal Cargo (which is more of a true gray-mauve). I’d say they’re in the same family, though. I’m not 100% sure if I have Illegal Cargo still in my collection or not, lol.

Emily

I’m going to get Pincurl, Hypnotizing, Raven, and Sense of Style! My dad is giving me a mac gift card for Christmas and I know what I’m spending it on 🙂

Simply Simply S

Happen to browse MAC online for something else and found this collection released…..and I thought to myself, Christine would probably have more info… Thnx !
Does anyone know if Feline holds up in the waterline ? Im on a hunt for waterproof eye line…and I hv read mixed reviews on the blog…

Christine
Light-Medium, Neutral, slight yellow undertones. Normal-to-Dry skin. »

So, I’m a huge fan of Feline, but I don’t think Feline is your BEST bet for waterline products. It’s good on me, but I know on others it’s OK or it smudges.

Brian Kelly

Nothing excited about me this or any of the new collections. I feel like MAC has lost its advertising knack for hooking you at first glace and they should focus more on broadening their line and making more products available to more customers rather than limiting what producers are sold at counters, stores and pro stores. The only shadows that I truly love are the ones that have been out for a long time now — all their new creations royally suck in my opinion compared to what they could be.

Christine
Light-Medium, Neutral, slight yellow undertones. Normal-to-Dry skin. »

I think it’s very much like the Chill collection – maybe a sleeper hit or two, but overall, an easy collection to skip.

Warm & Cozy is quite nice from the sneak peek I’ve seen. It’s very, very warm-toned overall, and it reminded me of a brighter (maybe… sunnier?) N Collection in a few ways.

Christine
Light-Medium, Neutral, slight yellow undertones. Normal-to-Dry skin. »

It really does seem like the Chill Collection, Pt. II, because it was quite cool-toned and small enough that people felt like they could pass and not miss anything. It’s kind of like a “holdover” collection in a way.

Christine
Light-Medium, Neutral, slight yellow undertones. Normal-to-Dry skin. »

Hey Cherie,

Love Lace = Deep Truth, Suave Intentions = Tilt (Surreal might be a better fit, but I think that got discontinued), Pincurl = Vex + Vanilla; Hypnotizing = Shale

Not perfect dupes, but probably close enough 🙂 I don’t really think ANYTHING in this launch is a must-have, with the exception of the kohl powers. I think I have like… five Felines, though, so I really didn’t need another one. Raven’s been out at least twice, I do believe… Good to see at least one new shade – so I suppose that’s the only must-have: Sense of Style.

Cherie

You are so great! Thanks for your thoughts. I was thinking Hypnotizing looked like shale and was wondering if it was worth it. I think I will pass on more of the e/s and wait for Warm & Cozy!

heheh 5 Felines?? Awesome!! It’s so worth it to get backups of fab products. I already picked up feline from the Dsquared collection thanks to your rave reviews. 🙂 I wonder when they will make it a perm product?!?

Have a great w/e !!! 🙂

Christine

Hey Cherie!

Yeah, I think it’ll be close enough to Shale to pass. Warm & Cozy seemed a lot prettier to me, and since I’m warm-toned, I *know* it’s way more up my alley, too.

LOL, if I had realized MAC was going to repromote it every 2 months, I don’t think I’d have bought so many!!

Happy holidays!

ak

I emailed the MAC website and they compared the Love Lace eyeshadow to Scene because they said that Deep Truth was more of a true blue compared to Love Lace. But I still want it!

Elle

Thanks for the swatches Christine! I was doing some last minute shopping at Nordstrom.com and the only thing I picked up was Sense of Style…I’m a sucker for those kohl powers. 🙂 Not a fan of the rest of it, though…holding out for Warm & Cozy for now.

kpenn09

I almost had a heartattack when I saw this in my store today! I always read your reviews, Christine, and everyone else’s comments before shopping new lines, and I felt so unprepared having not done that this time!

I picked up Suave Intentions and Love Lace, plus Ravine and Sense of Style. I can’t wait to try a look with the two eyeshadows, Sense of Style and Blue Flame from the Style Black collection. It’s going to be hot for going out!

kpenn09

P.S. Christine, the MUAs at my store today were totally impressed by my knowledge of upcoming lines. The one was like “You know more than we do!”. I totally wrote down your blog address for them!

Christine
Light-Medium, Neutral, slight yellow undertones. Normal-to-Dry skin. »

I had a heart attack, too! I plan my ENTIRE day/week/month around MAC launch dates, so I get so, so annoyed when they bump up releases with *NO* warning. It just messes up my whole day! I even valet parked the car, because there was no way I was going to spend 20 minutes looking for parking ten years away… ugh!

Lorna

i was so planning on getting raven but now that it’s swatched it looks too brown. i thought it was going to be more reddish. got to say i am a little disappointed. i might pick up feline. i hope it’s worth it.

Jenny

Was looking at the E/S with my friend today (didn’t realize it was released early) and I agree that suave intentions (the one my friend picked up) was the most pigmented. It’s quite lovely as a shimmery light blue. I swatched the other three but they were not that impressive, though hypnotizing could be lovely with a little work.

Christy

I’m liking Raven, Sense of Style, Love Lace, Pincurl, and Suave Intentions. I have the Sorceress palette and at least 4 Feline back-ups, so not too much from this collection for me!

Alyx

Nooooo why’d they have to come out with this noow?? I still have Christmas shopping to do! 🙁 But I don’t want them to sell out (which of course they will if I wait till the 26th) I had this planned out perfectly. Asked for a MAC giftcard and would raid the store next day. Blehh Feline, Raven or maybe Sense of Style and a lipgloss/lipstick will be coming home with me. I hope lol :-p

Christine
Light-Medium, Neutral, slight yellow undertones. Normal-to-Dry skin. »

LOL, I know, right? I was mad, too, Alyx! I didn’t want to have to go to the mall TWICE during the crazy holiday shopping season!

Rosa Napoleon

At least you have a MAC store nearby. I have to travel about 2 hours to Baton Rouge for free standing store and 2 hours to Shreveport, LA MAC counter store. I hate it. I have to rely on people to see actually color payoff and hope it looks great on black skin. If a collection comes out an I like I try to set a day aside to travel to Baton Rouge, but for the most part I order off the internet

Katya

Thank you, Christine!
Сan you do a comparison swatch of Hypnotizing, Satin Taupe and Shale please 🙂
How do you think is Hypnotizing must have shadow from this collection?

Christine

Hi Katya,

I don’t do individual photo requests, but I can tell you that Hypnotizing and Shale are very, very similar – just different finishes. Satin Taupe I wouldn’t consider a dupe at all.

I don’t think it’s a must-have, but I don’t think anything in this collection is really a must-have!

egon

Thanks a lot Christine for the reviews, but I miss the round up where you would state the must haves the nice to have & the skip! do you have any must haves from this collection?

Christine
Light-Medium, Neutral, slight yellow undertones. Normal-to-Dry skin. »

Hey Egon!

It’s such a small collection, it’s hard to say if anything is really a must-have. I like the kohl powers, but they’ve been out ALL THE TIME lately! I guess I’ll stick to my guns and say… there are no MUST haves. The lipsticks/lipglasses are skip-worthy to me, since they’re very sheer, but you may enjoy the unusualness of the Utterly Discrete lipglass on the other hand. In summary, most things are nice-to-have, but nothing seems essential!

Christine
Light-Medium, Neutral, slight yellow undertones. Normal-to-Dry skin. »

Going by memory (I don’t know if I have the Shadowy Lady Quad… which is also a sign I own too much) – I think the texture alone makes it fairly different. It seems a little lighter, too.

Ada

I like Hypnotizing. Sense of style reminds me a little of Fly by Blu. I wasn’t going to get anything for a while but I might have to break out the MAC gc!

Stella

Not much excited about this collection; I am not much of a fan of the blue eye shadows. Hypnotizing seems good, I might get that.
Raven seems way brown, if only it had more red in it.

Jacquelyn

Going to snatch Hypnotizing, Love Lace and Suave Intentions sometime next week! I also placed an order on Feline since I love that Khol Power Eye Pencil so much that I might have to stock up on it.

Roxanne

I really like Sense of Style. The other items just don’t stand out to me. I wouldn’t know what colors to pair it with though 🙁 Blues? Greens? Neutrals? Any ideas? Could you maybe try to do a quick look with it (if you happen to remember of course)?

PS: I haven’t seen any Build-A-Quad posts lately… Is this still an ongoing feature? (Just wondering!)

Christine
Light-Medium, Neutral, slight yellow undertones. Normal-to-Dry skin. »

Silvers and blues, for the most part! 😉

It didn’t get so-great reception the last few times, so I’m kind of sitting on the idea for now, LOL.

Rosa Napoleon

I just order all the eyeshadows except the Pincurl eyeshadow. I didn’t think it would look right on NW45 skin type. I also just bought the lipsticks and lipglass. I just falling in love with Mac’s lipstick. I can’t wait for the Warm and Cozy collection. I am getting everything in that collection. Mac is breaking my bank account. Hey, Christine any news on the 2010 collections from MAC. There are some pics online, but not much detail.

Make_up_Maven

Thanks for the swatches Christine! I was going to pass on Love Lace till I saw your swatches! I just ordered both blue eyeshadows and Sense of Style liner – I have to order online because the nearest MAC store is 3 hours away from me, so your swatches and reviews are most helpful! I really appreciate you and your blog! 🙂 🙂

Leea

I’m definitely going to try out Feline. I was thinking that if Hypnotizing goes with the eyeshadows that I already have, I will get that too. Also Pretty Please is on my list, but only if it goes with my skintone. And since it’s permanent, I’m not in a hurry to get it : )
thanks for the swatches!

Natalie

I am hoping that too!! So do you think Sense of Style is a bit like Pearlglide liner? I am thinking maybe mixing black and Green Pearlglide liner (whatever the name is lol) and try to dupe Mystery.

ms.mad

hi christine, sorry to bother you but i was hoping you could help me. i am a mac pro ppid member and was going to place an order with the love lace collection and the weird thing is feline is no where to be found on mac pro website, it’s not even listed in the collection. i checked the macs regular website and its on there. very strange! i tried to contact the but do to the weather ther phone lines are down. also curiouis is intricate lipglass sumular to nico, and is utterly discrete similar to plum dandy? or are there any dupes. want to order both but not sure if i have dupes or if colors are a waste to buy. i did purchase icescape last year and returned it. i have all dazzleglasses, almost all lipsticks, and all lipglasses eer out. thanks. sorry for writing a book

Christine
Light-Medium, Neutral, slight yellow undertones. Normal-to-Dry skin. »

I’m not sure why it’s not up, but I imagine it might be some crossed wires due to the collection releasing a week early. I bet it’ll be up in the next few days, though! (Hopefully those workers aren’t snowed in, ha!)

I’d say Utterly Discrete is kind of like Madly Creative lipstick… but that’s about it. I don’t think Intricate is similar to Nico really…

Li Ming

I love the color of Sense of Style but sadly MAC eye pencils don’t appear to stay on me very well – it becomes barely there by the time I hit the door *tear*

Rosanna Lam

I got Love Lace eyeshadow. I would have to disagree that it is dupable by Deep Truth. Love Lace is greyish muted-blue colour whereas Deep truth is a blackish-blue with blue shimmer.

While I was in the store I swatched all the blues I had (Moon’s Reflection, Contrast, Deep Truth) along with Love Lace, none of them were similar to each other in my opinion.

Suave Intentions is like a more pigmented and smooth version of Mutiny Pigement which kinda makes me sad because I would’ve like that better than Mutiny.

Christine
Light-Medium, Neutral, slight yellow undertones. Normal-to-Dry skin. »

I think they’re close enough not to merit both, if you’re on a budget. They’re not the same, since Love Lace is muted, but if you use it in the look, it’s even harder to tell the differences between the two!

I’m glad you liked Love Lace enough to pick it up!

ak

I bought the Raven and Sense of Style khol power pencils. I bought these in a big department store without natural daylight but I’m still glad I have em! Raven is deep and delicious as a red-brown and Sense of Style is a cross between Blooz khol pencil and the Phone Number khol pencil; the color is more subdued than Blooz.

I really wanted to like the Hypnotizing and Love Lace shadows but they were too light for me to make a smoky eye with so I left them there, but their colors aren’t ugly though, they’re pretty soft. The Love Lace shadow I’d have bought if it was as dark as Deep Truth or Contrast shadows are and when I tried Love Lace on it looked as shimmery and almost the same color as say Knight Divine shadow does on me, so I didn’t buy it sadly.

Christine
Light-Medium, Neutral, slight yellow undertones. Normal-to-Dry skin. »

I really love the softness and intensity of the kohl powers, so I know I’d buy any and all shades MAC ever puts out, lol.

Gigi S. DePascale

Hello! I have been a reviewer for two major beauty sites and took a brief break. I LOVE your site and the manner in which you magnify colors to allow potential consumers to truly see what they will receive. Congrats! God Bless, Gigi

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