MAC Nudes & Metallics Lipsticks Reviews, Photos, Swatches (Part 1)

Christine — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 18:00:00 +0000

MAC Dominate Lipstick

MAC Nudes & Metallics Lipstick ($15.00 for 0.10 oz.) features four shades of Metallics: Dominate (deep metallic purple), Pre-Raphaelite (deep metallic dirty berry), Show-All (heavily metallic deep red), and Subverted (metallic brown).

Dominate is a reddish purple with a frosted, metallic finish. It has mostly opaque color, though it doesn’t look as even as would be desired for such a deep color. It lasted five and a half hours, but it was slightly drying. MAC Yung Rapunxel is purpler, not metallic. Urban Decay Apocalypse is sheerer and not metallic. NARS Train Bleu is darker, matte. MAC Smoked Purple is purpler, less red-toned, and mostly matte.

Pre-Raphaelite is a berry-ish red with warm undertones and a frosted, metallic finish. It turned surprisingly warm on me, even though it didn’t see particularly warm-toned in the tube or swatched initially. It had mostly opaque coverage, but it did not apply perfectly even. It wore for six hours and was somewhat drying towards the end. MAC Good to Be Bad has no metallic finish. Rimmel Metallic Seduction is lighter. MAC Dark Side is less brown and has no metallic shimmer. MAC Endless Drama is darker, less warm-toned, and doesn’t have the metallic shimmer.

Show-All is a warm, deepened red with red, metallic shimmer and frost. It is distinctly warmer compared to Pre-Raphaelite, but there are some casual similarities. It had opaque color payoff, and this shade applied more smoothly than the previous two. It lasted five and a half hours, and it was also lightly drying. MAC Legendary has no shimmer and is browner. MAC Extended Play doesn’t have a metallic finish. MAC Extended Play isn’t metallic and is more plum.

Subverted is a medium-dark brown with strong, red undertones and a copper metallic shimmer. It has mostly opaque color coverage, and it applied somewhat evenly. It lasted five and a half hours when I wore it, but it was a bit drying. It is browner and a bit warmer than Show-All. MAC Legendary is close in color, but it doesn’t have a metallic finish, so it appears more subdued. CoverGirl Smoky is much browner. NYX Brown Sugar is less red-toned but has a slightly metallic finish, at least.

I think the metallic finish is interesting, but with it, I found myself paying for it as all four were slightly drying. Not so drying that my lips were peeling or bleeding, but the last hour or so of wear was somewhat uncomfortable as I was itching to apply some gloss or balm. The consistency is a somewhat creamy, so during application, they didn’t tug or pull, but they didn’t leave a thick layer of product behind, which helped them adhere better to the lips–and all of these lasted five hours or longer.

Note, all of the metallic shades were sweating heavily upon arrival, but in my experience, this occurs during the hotter months when things are shipped (and these went ground and sat an extra day in New Mexico, before hitting California and being delivered in 80 degree weather) but doesn’t seem to impair the texture or color. The droplets can leave “stains” as they dry on the edges (think water spots on glassware).

P.S. — The Nudes & Metallics Collection may be frustrating to find. When it launched in PRO stores on the 18th, every store I called was sold out of over half the collection already. The online launch date has been pushed to mid-June (no specific date was given). It is supposed to be for PRO only, which may mean that it is restricted to PROs only even online, but you should be able to call MAC PRO at 1-800-387-6707 and order (for anyone, PRO and non-PRO alike) per a LiveChat I did this morning.