MAC Pro Longwear Eyeliners Reviews, Photos, Swatches (Apres Chic)

Christine — Fri, 28 Dec 2012 04:26:35 +0000

MAC Black Ice Pro Longwear Eyeliner

MAC Apres Chic: Pro Longwear Eyeliners

MAC Pro Longwear Eyeliner ($19.50 for 0.04 oz.) is a new formula that has launched with Apres Chic, which is limited edition as far as I know–but they are not marked as limited edition on MAC’s website. The new formula is available five shades: Black Ice (rich black), Mountain Air (vibrant teal), Night Trail (deep navy blue), Rich Experience (true brown), and Snow Shadow (purple violet).

Black Ice is a dark black with a modern matte finish. It had good color payoff in a single pass.
Mountain Air is a medium-dark blue with a very tiny hint of green/teal. It had good color payoff in one stroke. It is similar to Stila Peacock.
Night Trail is a blackened navy blue with a subtle sheen. It had so-so pigmentation in a single pass, but it was noticeably sheer. There are several navy blues that are similar.
Rich Experience is a medium-dark brown with neutral undertones. It was surprisingly not that pigmented in one stroke, and it wasn’t as buildable for full opacity.
Snow Shadow is a dark purple with subtle cool undertones. This shade had the weakest color payoff–it was very sheer in one pass, and it was difficult to layer/build the color. It always just looked jagged in color. The color is similar to MAC Rich Purple, which is a bit lighter.

MAC made some lofty claims for their new eyeliners: “creamy, dense colour that glides on smoothly” along with a “12-hour waterproof formula [that] stays put and [is] smudge-free.” I tried Black Ice, Mountain Air, Rich Experience, and Snow Shadow for wear over the past two days. I tried Black Ice and Rich Experience yesterday, and I tried Mountain Air and Snow Shadow today, all four on my lower lash line.

I’m sad to report that these don’t last 12 hours nor are they waterproof. After eight hours of wear, all four shades were still mostly there, but it was clear they had faded slightly–you know, where the line is thinner but you don’t see bits of it in your outer corner? (Kind of like your eye ate the eyeliner…) Yesterday, I took a late shower after eight hours of wear, and both Black Ice and Rich Experience were quick to run. I had the same thing happen just moments ago with Mountain Air and Snow Shadow. I splash water on my eyes, let it sit there, and I don’t rub anything away, instead I try to see if the droplets (like tears) will cause any eyeliner to bleed or smudge, and then I pat dry to see how much lifts off. And if it’s still there after that–then that’s when I try to rub a little.

The consistency is lightly creamy but more waxy than anything else, so they glide across well enough, but some colors are better than others. Snow Shadow was the worst performer; it actually dragged and applied unevenly. I tried to go back and forth to build the color coverage up, but it was fairly pitiful–you could see it bunching up in places. Black Ice was the best performer, as it was most pigmented and didn’t require layering to achieve full color coverage on the lash line. These wear around eight hours without smudging, but there is some fading at the eight/nine hour mark. I definitely don’t get to 12 hours with these. My eyes watered while wearing two today, and the eye that watered a lot, was missing about half a centimeter of eyeliner entirely.

I have good luck with MAC’s Powerpoints, Chromagraphic Eyeliners, Kohl Powers, and Pearlglide Eyeliners–so I was definitely very surprised to see these fall so short.