MAC Rodarte Collection for Fall 2010 + Official Statements
MAC Cosmetics for Rodarte Collection for Fall 2010
U.S. Date: September 15th, 2010 @ Select Partner Locations & MAC Stores Only
International Date: TBA
Please ensure you’ve also read MAC & Rodarte’s follow-up responses further detailing their actions, including changing product names and MAC’s commitment to donate $100,000 to benefit the women of Juarez. We have opened a second post on this topic for our readers to discuss on.
STATEMENT FROM M·A·C COSMETICS ON THE M·A·C RODARTE COLLECTION
We understand that product names in the M·A·C Rodarte collection have offended our consumers and fans. This was never our intent and we are very sorry. We continue to listen carefully to the comments we have received and have the following plans to address concerns:
- We are committed to donating $100,000 to a non-profit organization that has a proven, successful track-record helping women in need and that can directly improve the lives of women in Juarez in a meaningful way.
- We are changing the product names in the M·A·C Rodarte collection.
As we have done in the past, please be assured that we will communicate details regarding our progress in this matter.
STATEMENT FROM RODARTE ON THE M·A·C RODARTE COLLECTION
We recognize that the violence against women taking place in Juarez needs to be met with proactive action. We never intended to make light of this serious issue and we are truly sorry.
Helping to improve the conditions for women in Juarez is a priority for us and we are thankful for all the comments calling attention to the urgency of addressing this situation.
Temptalia has reached out to MAC for comment on the collaboration with Rodarte, and if and when we receive more information, we will be certain to share with you. We received official statements from MAC and Rodarte @ 11AM (pst), which we share below:
STATEMENT FROM M·A·C COSMETICS ON THE M·A·C RODARTE COLLECTION
We understand that product names in the M·A·C Rodarte collection have offended some of our consumers and fans. This was never our intent and we are very sorry. We are listening carefully to the comments posted and are grateful to those of you who have brought your concerns to the forefront of our attention. M·A·C will give a portion of the proceeds from the M·A·C Rodarte collection to help those in need in Juarez. We are diligently investigating the best way to do this. Please be assured that we will keep you posted on the details regarding our efforts.
STATEMENT FROM RODARTE ON THE M·A·C AND RODARTE COLLECTION
Our makeup collaboration with M·A·C developed from inspirations on a road trip that we took in Texas last year, from El Paso to Marfa. The ethereal nature of this landscape influenced the creative development and desert palette of the collection. We are truly saddened about injustice in Juarez and it is a very important issue to us. The M·A·C collaboration was intended as a celebration of the beauty of the landscape and people in the areas that we traveled.
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Please be mature and respect people’s right to express and hold an opinion that is different than yours.
Lipstick ($14.00 U.S. / $16.50 CDN)
- Ghost Town Sheer white with white, gold and green pearlized pigment (Frost) (Limited Edition)
- Rose State Mid-tone blue pink (Lustre) (Limited Edition)
- Sleepless Light grey taupe (Frost) (Limited Edition)
Lipglass ($18.00 U.S. / $21.50 CDN)
- Rodarte Pale creamy pink with layers of sparkling white, mint, and pink (Limited Edition)
- del Norte Light creamy violet with layers of sheer sparkling taupe, pink and grey (Limited Edition)
Lip Erase ($16.00 U.S. / $19.00 CDN)
- Pale Flesh tone NC 27 Shade (Matte) (PRO)
Mineralize Eyeshadow ($19.50 U.S. / $23.50 CDN)
- Bordertown Black with red, pale blue, and silver veining (Frost) (Limited Edition)
- Sleepwalker Beige with copper, pale blue and pale pink veining (Frost) (Limited Edition)
Pigment ($19.50 U.S. / $23.50 CDN)
- White Gold White pearl with gold duochrome (PRO)
- Kitschmas Shimmering pink/mauve (Permanent)
- Mauvement Cool taupe with gold pearl (Limited Edition) (Repromote from Rushmetal, Overrich)
- Badlands Mid-tone shimmer beige brown (Limited Edition)
Chromographic Pencil ($14.50 U.S. / $17.50 CDN)
- NW25/NC30 Flesh tone NW25/NC30 shade (Matte) (PRO)
Beauty Powder ($25.00 U.S. / $30.00 CDN)
- Softly Drifting Pale neutral white-ish pink with soft gold pearl (Limited Edition)
Blush ($18.50 U.S./$22.00 CDN)
- Quinceanera Shimmery mid-tone blue pink (Limited Edition)
Nail Lacquer ($12.00 U.S. / $14.50 CDN)
- Juarez Bright opal pink (Frost) (Limited Edition)
- Factory Light opal mint (Frost) (Limited Edition)
OMG I’m so excited about MAC and Rodarte!!!!!
I’m hoping this is gonna be in LE packaging like the Dsquared one =D
oooo.. Yeah me too!! well they have a beauty powder so Im guessing it Just might come in cool packaging :p
Wow sounds like there is some great stuff in this collection 🙂
OHMYGOSH! The Mulleavy sisters are my favorite designers so I’m very excited about this collab!
You know, it’s rare that the fashion industry’s tendency towards collossal insensitivity, complete lack of cultural awareness, or general look at me I’m so edgy pretensions genuinely shock me any more. I’m just kind of used to a lot of fashion people being smug, ignorant narcissists. But Juarez-themed makeup from MAC? Are you serious?
Here’s a music video by At The Drive In that explains more about Maquiladoras and the women of Juarez.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wR1MVdDmUA&feature=fvw
Thanks for the link to the video. I had no idea what the controversy regarding this collection was about. I had no knowledge about what is going on in Juarez. Now I do!
I think that many of u r missing the point I think that the insame bullying that many have done against the collection actually hurts the cause and the people, for centuries arehas been used to make statements about political and cultural situations it’s obvious that’s what ther are trying to do but now that message will be lost because under informed individuals who don’t recognize that artist like Frida and her husband were revolutionaries which used art with beautiful depictions inorder to make points about the injustices their culture experienced, ibelieve it was irresponsible of people to condemn these companies because many of u have no sense of the various ways in which awareness and attention can be brought to an issue u don’t always need to bash people over the head with a message to get it across MAC and RODARTE were doing whae a fashion line and a cosmetic company should do to make a point but now that point will be lost and many of the self riotous indviduals who blocked this chance for awareness will never again think of the affected women and children again.
completely agree with you!
Sorry, I disagree with you.
I think that MAC is wrong to give the approach given to this collection. It is offensive and in very poor taste the way they work. I think there are thousands of other ways to want to get a point of view without the need to resort to the obvious and scorn, for it is as they have seen. I’m architecture student and artist I can tell you to go with the obvious to want to address a sensitive issue is a lack of respect.
Very bad for both, Rodarte and MAC. Much worse as they have handled the issue, offer money does not help.
Excuse my English, my first language is Spanish, and I’m Venezuelan.
I think you are very very right!
Yes, Frida and her husband were revolutionaries which used art with beautiful, and sometimes gross depictions in order to make points about the injustices their culture experienced. Juarez is most absolutely NOT MAC’s culture, and definitely NOT a culture they have experienced. What’s more, it’s very hard to believe that Frida herself, painted all those art pieces in order to largely profit from them. It was simply distasteful on their part, and insensitive on the sisters. Shame on them for trying to pull this off. 100 grand is a grain of sand on the MAC empire, and is an insult to Juarez, and Mexicans in general. I for one feel shame for MAC.
I absolutely agree with this. 100k is nothing to them, and using a horrible situation like the one in Juarez to “inspire” a MAKEUP LINE is just insulting.
@Candice totally 100%agree with u. I am Mexican and am not offended by this at all. Instead I laugh at how ridiculous this is. I love m.a.c and will buy this and every collection after.
I’m mexican, and a long time user of MAC… I’m not one of those who say I won’t ever buy MAC again because I want to believe they are trully sorry about it (I feel bad for the heads in charge of this awful idea) I just don’t get how you, mexican as you say you are, can laugh about it….
Let me put two awful examples I don’t think you, or anyone would find amusing either, would you like to see a MATTEL toy line inspired in the 49 scorched children we lost here in Mexico a year ago?? even if the money went to their parents… I don’t think so…
I don’t think Americans would like to see a JENGA game about the twin towers even if the money was meant for charity…
We need to be respectful and understanding about our nation’s tragedies, you never know the pain the victims’ families are going through.
Horrible idea on MAC’s behalf… but then again, we are all human, at least they seem sorry about it.
i would love to see a twin towers jenga game, charity or not, but i am clearly not in tune with most americans. (thats not to say i was not affected by the tragedy, my daughters father worked in the buildings and i live in north jersey and pretty much watched them fall.)
however on a whole i think large companies in general, especially ones with as much influence as MAC, should show more compassion and social responsibility than to draw inspiration from the rapes and murders of nearly five thousand young girls and women. if they truly wanted to make a social impact they should bring their campaign directly to the street.
a line of makeup, even a hundred thousand dollars, is not going to keep those young women alive. the corruptness in mexican authority is absurd and that money will likely do little or nothing but line the pockets of corrupt officials.
I doubt that the sisters of Rodarte or MAC drew any inspiration from the rapes and murders of the city. I believe it is the landscape and ghostly feel of the city, the starkness, that inspired the pallet and collection.
@Shelley
I agree w/ you a 100%
OF COURSE Mac didn’t mean to use the deaths of woman as inspiratiion for makeup. In the other hand they DID were pretty stupid to refer o Juarez and even name the collection after it, in a way that it was very misenterpreted, but still they addressed the issue, gave an apology and decided to take action on it.
Still, i’m glad they made that mistake. I’m latina and had no idea what is happening in Juarez, this was a BIG eye opener for me, and it gave the issue some of the voice it was needing.
Give them a break, they are human, it was a mistake.
They are not stupid. If you google the collection you will see that the blushes are “blood streaked”. Theres a very thin line between “raising awareness” and explotation. I’m afraid MAC has crossed it. If they had gone about this line in a more respectful way, I could see why people are making this situation so light. But they’re trying to profit of others people’s misery
I like those examples it really makes you think
I do not know whether to feel happy or sad about you. It’s a good thing you do not feel offended, however maybe some people just don’t get the point of it all. The situation of Juarez is anything but glamorous as to portray it the way it has been. I am also Mexican and live close to the border, not exactly in Juarez and thank goodness I don’t have to work in one of those factories, but we get some of that violence everyday here as well. We cannot go out without fear of being abducted, there is no respect for women or even children as we see every single day in the news that more and more are raped and killed going to or from the factory where they work for less than three dollars a DAY to feed their families.
TOTALLY agree with you, I live in Juarez and I didn’t find it offensive at all, I actually found it very interesting to let people from other places to know about what happened here once, and that they’re still victims who need help, like the children of many of those unfortunate women that died.
DIEGO, IT KEEPS HAPPENING.
that is your opinion, and i respect it, but at the same time it is your home and people are still suffering from this. this isn’t something that happens and then is forgotten, it is a lot more than that. maybe if mac was only trying to raise awareness it would have been more obvious and not so many complaints had been on here. but it doesn’t sound like raising awareness;it sounds like making money off helpless, suffering people just like you. you may not be offended while safe packing on the makeup at home, but not everyone can be that lucky.
Yeah, shame on MAC, it’s gonna make money from all those poor dead girls
As for the line I am glad for what they are doing. How many people that were looking at the line and then heard about all the controversy surrounding it, then went to go see what the “big problem” was? I for one applaud MAC for what they are doing, which is to bring the horrible things going on to the front line so that more people are aware of it.
they didn’t make this line for the purpose of bring attention to juarez. If that was so they would of offered the proceeds before the controversy not after. And why is the model a dead looking white girl? Mexican women are beautiful, if that was their inspiration why not have them as models? It’s hard to believe nobody from the company saw a problem with this during it’s creation. somebody dropped the ball
Rose State l/s
Badlands pigment
All that really interest me. Though I’m curious how Quinceanera would look…
oooo.. this sounds interesting .. i’m a lipstick kind of girl and i’m looking forward to getting ghost town
Some of the products sound really interesting but I guess I’ll just have to see pictures and swatches to know.
I can’t wait to see what vibe this collection has. It sounds VERY 90s with all the light lipsticks
Oh man. This sucks. I’ll be away in California at the time this comes out and probably won’t be able to get to a MAC store. Darn it!!!!!! ;0
We have a loooot of MAC stores out here in California ;D I’d be very surprised if you wouldn’t be in range of one!
Rodarte lipglass sounds pretty!
Wow this collection sounds amazing.
“Ghost Town” lipstick sounds interesting! I’m sure it’ll just be another one like “Bubbles” or “Intricate” (sheer and frosty) but I’m excited to see it anyway 🙂
Christine, do you have “White Gold” pigment? I just picked it up a couple weeks ago in my big pigment haul. It’s interesting! I haven’t quite figured it out yet though… So far I just like to look at it 😉
I don’t!!
Completely agree with what You wrote about Ghost Town lipstick! I own Bubbles and Intricate but don’t wear them enough (even though I quite like them, especially layered on top), but the description sounds lush (even if a little voice in my head warns me: lines accentuated/ frost overload)
I really liked the Ungaro collection with it’s soft and bold colours, this seems like something similar along the line. Very feminine and etheral. Loving the concept!
WOW! I am so excited! The packaging had better be awesome- none of this slapping an image onto plain black à la Venomous Villains.
i know what you mean but still there is stuff i like from venomous villans
Me too- I’ll have to check it out in person to be sure, but I have a list of things I want to look at. The crappy packaging won’t deter me if it’s a great colour!
i agree i like when a collection has nice packaging its just a bonus i buy for the product
I hear dat!
I hear ya! I was expecting Alice + Olivia to have some of the design printed on any part of the packaging but it didn’t seem as special once I took it out of the cardboard sleeve!
I don’t understand why everyone has a problem with just putting images onto regular packaging. They don’t charge us more for LE packaging, so I can see why MAC wouldn’t want to just go crazy changing it up. But that’s just my 2 cents…
Bordertown mineralize eyeshadow sounds really interesting as well as the Factory nail lacquer.
Doesn’t it? I’m droooling over these images!
The products/colours aren’t exciting for me. We’ll see.
sounds amazing!
I suppose this won’t be online?
I’m not sure, but in the past couple of years, MAC has put all collections up online.
why wouldn’t it be online??
OH DOGGONE IT!! MAC YOU ARE KILLING MEEEEE. Another fabulous collection and we haven’t even seen the Feline, Tartan or Venomous Villains items yet. I hate you guys!!! In the best possible light of coruse.
So far I want:
All three lipsticks
Ghost Town Sheer white with white, gold and green pearlized pigment (Frost) (Limited Edition)
Rose State Mid-tone blue pink (Lustre) (Limited Edition)
Sleepless Light grey taupe (Frost) (Limited Edition)
Blush: Quinceanera Shimmery mid-tone blue pink (Limited Edition)
and e/s: Bordertown Black with red, pale blue, and silver veining (Frost) (Limited Edition)
CHristine, do you think if you can’t get to a MAc store Nortdstrom may sell these items online?
So far, MAC has sold everything online in recent history, so there is a good chance.
Not exactly true. DigiPops isn’t online 😉
Digi-Pops is online via Nordstrom (because it is a Nordstrom exclusive collection)! Not sure if MAC will bring it online when it launches at stores/counters on the 5th.
was on the website eariler today and digi-pops is finally on there…
I have to see this. I am not familiar with Rodarthe or their style. The name sounds cool. Off to research their fashion.
Some of the names are lacking in taste.
Juarez? Factory? Really?
Does MAC WANT me to feel too guilty to buy their nail polish?
Do they know about the femicide in Juarez and in other “Bordertowns” (What a great eyeshadow name! not.)? How could they not?!?
Violence against women isn’t sexy. These names make me a little ill.
Well, these designers’ fashions have been “inspired” by border violence, so yes, MAC is fully aware of the meaning behind the names.
This is one collection I will be happy to skip. How incredibly tacky of MAC to launch a collection that is in such a poor taste. That Rodarte fashion show was tacky enough; I can’t imagine what the promo images for this collection will look like.
i totally agree with you!!
yes i was thinking the exact same thing!
Sorry, fashion isn’t all about pretty things. Rodarte is dark, and not in a particularly conceptual or unique way (I’m not a huge Rodarte fan myself), so it’s pretty obvious if you look at the most recent collection (the one inspired by border violence and maquiladora workers) that their work is commentary on the violence but not “glamorizing” it.
You’d think after a Target collaboration, Rodarte’s ideas would be more accessible to the masses, but apparently not.
What is the commentary here?
What am I missing?
Because, from where I sit, they are capitalizing on human misery without offering up any real critique.
The MAC line is even worse because makeup is the ultimate tool for “glamorizing.” Maybe this is hipster irony? Making ourselves “pretty” with concepts that are ugly?
Look at the collection in question (Spring/Summer 2010) and read some reviews (better yet, look through the archives to get a sense of Rodarte’s aesthetic). Style.com is a good place to start.
This is really condescending. I’ve seen the line. I’ve read the critiques. I know what Rodarte is about. I know they claim Mexican heritage (as if this gives them a sense of authority on Juarez).
You still haven’t told me what the “commentary” is.
Oops, I was mistaken in my last comment… the collection this is based on is F/W 2010.
I think the problem is, the designers aren’t doing any sort of commentary. (Even if they were, I’d argue that high fashion is a totally inappropriate way to comment on factory workers who have been preyed upon in the hundreds by murderers. It’s a serious, tragic issue, not a commodity that should be bought and sold.)
The piece Style.com and a video I’ve seen on people reacting to the show were all about how pretty and “dream-like” the collection was. One fashion editor said it was a “wonderland.” I didn’t see any awareness of feminicidios in the fashion world or even from the designers.
But the intentional ghostlike imagery on the runway and in the promo picture for the MAC collection, I think, makes it troubling because so many of these workers have died over the years. I don’t think the designers set out to be offensive, but that doesn’t make the imagery itself any less creepy or offensive.
I still just don’t understand why Rodarte (and MAC) “went there” — it’s silly that we have to discuss these issues when we’re talking about makeup. For me, makeup is a fun hobby that is supposed to distract me from real life. 🙁
Indeed, fashion isn’t only about pretty things. Alexander McQueen’s work is a great example of it. But, instead of work in the dark side of the human soul or something like that, this collection is too literal. i think they made a mistake. maybe an honest one but a mistake.
I am from El Paso and see first hand what is going on in Juarez, and I am not offended at all by the product names. Maybe this will make more people aware of what’s going on!
I’m not from El Paso but I’m Mexican and I don’t feel offended by the names either and now that MAC said they will donate money to Juarez, I think there’s less reason for people to be offended, I just really hope they do donate money and that it goes to some Mexican organization (no police or government) 🙂
So money makes everything ok then?
No I do not think she is saying that at all, but I am sure she just wants the money to go to an organization that is trying to help. As for the line I am glad for what they are doing. How many people that were looking at the line and then heard about all the controversy surrounding it then went to go see what the big problem was? I for one applaud MAC for what they are doing, which is to bring the horrible things going on to the front line so that more people are aware of it.
@Mariana I do have family in the Mexican governent and they are not all bad some are actually good.
Im Chicana and live in southern Ca and hear about what goes on from the english and spanish news, i am not particularly offended by the names of the collection, but i wish they had researched more about how the whole situation is not something to glamourize…but i do hope and agree with your that the stir and “drama” it is causing can make people more aware about whats going down there so hopefully it can help us get that much closer to finding justice for these young girls and women.
What is going on in Juarez? I’m sorry, but I don’t watch the news much because of how depressing it always is…..Can someone fill me in on what the drama is all about?
This will not bring the attention to a problem, commercializing with it is a way to make it “normal”.
Thank you for bringing this issue up. It’s just tasteless to name cosmetics after someone’s suffering.I am horrified by the names of some of the products that ignorant consumers will buy. If M.A.C wants to show remorse, change the name of the products.
P.S: I love how everyone is so sensitive to Holocaust and not to other incidents of genocide-Why? Because our media concentrates on issues that ONLY is pertaining to us. Guess what? Femicide pertains to all of us and deserves it’s own attention
Agree. People is still thinking and crying about the Holocaust, and what about this maquiladoras en Juarez? what about the victims of malaria In Africa? or terrorism in other countries other than the US?
Violence against women is so common place, so horrid and definitively pertain to all of us.
This is very insensitive of MAC, I will be not buying anything from this line or MAC anymore.
I don’t want to turn this board into a political fight, but as the granddaughter of an Auschwitz survivor, I really have to take issue with this comment:
“P.S: I love how everyone is so sensitive to Holocaust and not to other incidents of genocide”
A few comments:
1) If you follow current affairs, you’ll see that MANY incidents of violence against others receive attention — Darfur, Sudan, honor killings in the Middle East, Taliban violence against women, etc. are all very hot topics with much manpower and money devoted to helping them.
2) Just because people are upset about the Holocaust doesn’t mean they can’t also do something about violence against women in Mexico. It’s not like there’s a limited amount of compassion to go around. In fact, I’d venture to say that if you’re a truly compassionate person, you’ll be upset about all incidents of violence against others.
3) Deriding people because they’re upset about the Holocaust is not only uncool, it seems very much like anti-Semitism.
4) While the danger facing women factory workers in Juarez is lamentable and we should do something about it, comparing that to the wholesale slaughter of over 6 million people from one religion is frankly more offensive than this makeup collection could ever be.
Agree! Point 4 is very very true! How someone could even bring that up is just very untasteful.
are you kidding me? “comparing that to the wholesale slaughter of over 6 million people from one religion is frankly more offensive”… so you’re classifying the offense based on numbers? human lives are humans lives, they’re all priceless, and what she was saying was that people worry about the holocaust, which as terrible as it was, it’s fortunately over, instead of genocides happenig right NOW. To maquiladoras and others.
in fact, you shouldn’t have felt offended by her comment, because she refers to people whp are sensitive to holocaust and NOT other murders, (and there are a lot of people like that), and you don’t claim to be one of those.
I completely agree. I found her response to be far more offensive than the previous comment she was responding to.
I agree too, wholeheartedly. I am still very sensitive to the Holocaust, what happened years ago should have never happened at all… and it breaks my heart to know, and hear of the stories of the millions of lives lost during that horrible time… But just because that was such an extreme act of hatred doesn’t dismiss what’s going on right next door, on the otherside of that border… the problem is that there isn’t enough compassion…and it always feels like its ok to dismiss the problems that are right next door… a life is a life, and it should be valued as such no matter what the ethnicity.
You do realize that it wasn’t just Jewish people that were killed in concentration camps, right? It was also “Gypsies”, Homosexuals, and I believe some African Americans as well……just wanted to add a reminder, cuz not many people look at all of the people, just the main group of people.
Any type of violence is wrong, killing people because of their religion, their ethnicity, their beliefs, their sex or just for the sake of violence is just as unfair and depresing. The holocaust has always interested me because it’s impresive what people are capable of doing, i’m sorry your grandmother had to experience that but i’m glad she survived. I completely agree with your second point. The thing is I don’t hear about a fashion line or a makeup collection inspired by the holocaust trying to glamorize it because it’s a sensible topic, just as the killings in Juarez is a sensible topic to many. “Backyard” is an interesting movie that exposes this issue and at the end shows interesting statistics, i’ll leave a link about this movie in case anyone is interested
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1257579/
While the danger facing women factory workers in Juarez is lamentable? It’s death facing females period. Well no first their raped, beaten, tortured then murdered. And you have no idea what is more offensive to one person just because it is not as offensive to you
oh em gee can’t wait to see pictures!
woww! i want almost everything. especially the mineralize e/s, and lipglasses. the descriptions sound kind of like the layered lipglasses from sugarsweet last year, with different colored layers.
So because this comes out in Sept. should we add a dollar to the prices listed?
I’m not 100% sure yet – once I get confirmation, I’ll be sure to update.
okay, thank you so much.i’m so glad your interactive with your followers.its really nice that you make time, even with your busy schedule.
Why does MAC raise their prices?
mac is raising their prices?
:O
i have so many mid toned pinks. Should I get rose state????
WHAT TBA MEANS?IT WILL BE INTERNATIONAL?
It means I don’t have the information yet, so I don’t know if it will be or not.
The prices that you have up Christine are correct except the Lipglass which will be $18 and the Lip Erase which will also be $18. I dont know if you also have the exact date but for your subscribers it will be Sept. 15.
Thanks, Lyssa!
that date is interesting as if they were launching it the eve of the Mexican independence day (or “la noche del grito”), it might just be a coincidence though
I’m interested in :
Bordertown & Sleepwalker mineralize eyeshadows
White Gold and Badlands pigments
Quinceanera blush
Juarez nail lacquer
I have to get that nail polish ‘Juarez’ just for the name alone!, It’s my family’s name, lol.
I think theyre getting rid of that name actually, since its very offencive to a lot of people. 🙁
I don’t know what Rodarte is exactly but I do like the the make-up names/colors. I am looking forward to seeing that everything looks like. Then I will decide what I want if anything. I am still holding out for the fab feline collection photos and the disney also. Anywork on itms for the tarnatan tale collection?
LB & Alex why are you both saying that the fashion designers are into Border & women violence? I looked them up on their website & can’t find anything that proves that. Let me know where/how you found this out. The designers happen to be sisters so I can’t understand how any woman would be for violence against women to begin with. Anyhoot. It’s a cosmetic line. I say just pass it over if you aren’t happy & email MAC to let them know. Don’t bring the rest of us down.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Female_homicides_in_Ciudad_Ju%C3%A1rez
as of 2010, juarez is known as the most violent city in the world, dangerous for both men and women. much of this violence is tied to running drugs across the u.s./mexico border, and with the sweatshop like u.s. owned factories located in juarez. it seems as if rodarte/MAC are glamorizing this tragedy through their product names such as “bordertown” and “factory”.
http://www.elpasotimes.com/news/ci_15241689
http://marketplace.publicradio.org/display/web/2010/03/22/pm-murder-city-q/
what about names like gun medal and smog? those are both names of cosmeticxs products does that mean those companies are supporting weapons and pollution? No so relax. MAC runs programs like viva glam, where 40 percent of profits automaticly go to women in need. I really don’t think they’re intentionally promoting violence against women, or for anyone in that matter
100 percent of every penny actually goes to the mac aids fund through viva glam lipsticks. mac doesn’t make any profit from the sale of viva glams.
please relax. you are looking way too much into this.
so lets ignore it? is what your saying?
I completely agree. Thank you for posting those links
In all fairness, the femicides started in the early 90s, and coincided with the advent of the maquiladoras. The drug cartel situation back then remained somewhat ‘calm’ since the government allowed the cartels to run Mexico. It wasn’t until vincente fox in 2004? 2006? when drug cartel wars started escalating. Essentially, the government under Fox stirred the pot and undermined the cartels’ hierarchy. The names by themselves are not offensive, however, when taken in the context of being a ghastly looking collection, I think it’s insensitive. On the other hand, I think this controversy is good because it gets a dialogue going, as you see here. One of the biggest problems the family members of the femicide victims faced was not having their problems heard; their reports of missing daughters, mothers, sisters, etc were routinely dismissed by local authorities. By naming this collection in honor of these women whom have lost their lives, MAC is bringing the conversation to an entire portion of the population who may have not been previously aware of the situation. Let’s face it, women + makeup is traditionally thought of as shallow. Having a politically charged makeup collection is pretty cool.
That being said, I have no idea what the original designers intended when creating this collection. I don’t know if they thought the names were kitschy or if they thought the names were very feminist. What matters most to me is the ends, not the means; so if MAC created this collection with malicious intent, I don’t care, so long as it has a positive outcome. 100k for anti-femicide organizations, or women’s shelters in general, is a positive outcome for me. As such, I can look the other way in terms of being offended by this collection.
Now that they’ve brought so much attention to the situation, I think it would be better to keep the names of the products as is, and just donate money to some organization(s). I think that MAC likes to associate its image with all happy and positive connotations, and maybe this is because happy connotations = more sales, however, I would not mind seeing a more somber make up collection. They should donate 100k + 10% proceeds of sales or something like that.
Oh… did I bring you down? Well, I’m SO SORRY.
You know what brings ME down? Making light of femicide.
What would you say if MAC named a lipstick “Auschwitz”? What if it came with a lovely eyeshadow called “work camp”? OH, I KNOW… how about a perfume called “gas chamber”? Wouldn’t that be SO avant garde and edgy?
It is COMPLETELY appropriate to react this way… MAC has made a name for itself by catering to “All ages, all colors, all races.” Apparently this “inclusiveness” doesn’t extend to the brown women lost in Juarez.
Compassion is a wonderful quality… we are ugly without it. And no amount of makeup will cover up that kind of ugliness.
It is disgusting to see someone act indignant over this collection’s theme then make light of the Holocaust. Have some respect for the tragedy of the Holocaust.
The death of over 6 million Jews should not be used as a point of comparison for ANYTHING.
You assume it’s making light of femicide. You have read nothing but the names. You are not privy to the backstory. And guess what? Making light of the Holocaust makes your argument weak.
I don’t think they were making light of the Holocaust, I think the comparison shows how important it is to recognize the injustices that are happening and have happened.
This person wasn’t making light of the Holocaust — just to show how horrifying it is to casually toss around names for cosmetics that have a lot of emotional meaning.
Guess what — femicide isn’t ok. The Holocaust only happened because citizens were TOTALLY apathetic to everything that was happening to the Jews. I think this poster is just saying that violence against women if horrifying — it continues to happen and people like yourself jump all over her for bringing it to the attention of others. So maybe you should rethink YOUR argument.
I do not think anyone should ever make a comparison to the Holocaust. I find it disrespectful and tasteless to even make the comparison.
i really love some of these colors but will most likely avoid this collection. Just b/c BROWN, POOR, THIRD WORLD women are the ones getting killed in Juarez doesn’t mean that it is a less significant event from the Holocaust… She made the comparison to show how ridiculous it is to use the names that these products were given. Women are being killed and just because it wont reach the numbers of the Holocaust doesn’t mean it can be used in this manner (in a cosmetic line). As a LATINA I am truly offended…
THANK YOU! MTE.
i wont be buying any of the mac products from this range, what ridiculous names for a make up range, and the girl looks dead in the promo picture. creepy or what.
I totally agree with you Tracy. I’ll be skipping this one as well.
Patricia, I completely agree with you. People are getting offended when a comparison is made between the femicides in Juarez and the Holocaust because the numbers don’t compare, but it is the same concept. I am surprised that as women we have not considered how offensive it is for MAC to capitalize of the suffering of women. We should stick together and support each other. Violence against women should not be tolerated or glamorized.
Try NOT to be so quick to protect the so-called Nazi victims club. There are so many people who are tortured, abused, killed, violated, etc. that just so happen to be all different kinds of races, sexual orientations, genders, classes, etc. The point is this:
The people who were tortured, abused, used as slaves, killed, etc. are just as important as people who go through the same things in different countries or contexts. The amount of people affected by it, directly or indirectly, is completely irrelevant. We are all important. Whether a large group of people are killed by someone, or just a few……every life is worth saving, and every life is worth grieving over.
We all need to support one another, because as WOMEN, I’m sure that we could at least attempt to identify with these womens hardships…some women reading this forum HAVE suffered from abuse, big or small…it’s all completely tragic.
Sorry if some of what I said makes no sense, I just had to rant 😡
The term “Nazi victims club” is anti-semitic hate speech, and your comment should be removed from this site.
The term “Holocaust” means death by fire. What’s happening in Juarez is horrific, but it is not the same.
When discussing unrest and injustices, the Holocaust certainly SHOULD be used as a point of comparison to illustrate exactly WHY it is so horrendous to allow people to get away with capitalizing on/allowing the mistreatment of groups of people. The Holocaust should always serve as a reminder as to why we need to be vigilant about human rights and expose issues like what’s going on in Juarez. Obviously the situations are NOT the same, but we still need to speak out against inhumane issues in order to make this world a better, stronger place. People dying because of ignorance or a lack of justice is inexcusable, regardless of historical backgrounds or implications.
Very well put.
I hope you understand that the comparison to the Holocaust was not racially based but rather used to illustrate insensible loss of human life. The comparison could of easily been made to what happened in Rawanda, Bosnia or what is going on Darfur. However, these are less well know examples of genocide. I don’t believe the offense to this line is actually racially motivated but rather that a make-up company and fashion designers are basing a collection and capitalizing off of other’s misfortune. The goal is to make others aware that human suffering is not artistic and glamorizing it shouldn’t be supported.
I actually hadn’t realized that this atrocious situation is what this collection was based on and I would like to thank those who helped me become an informed consumer. I’m refusing to be an apathetic consumer and will also boycott the collection.
I plan also to boycott this collection.
unless mac re-names all of the products and donates ALL of the proceeds to a proper charity to help the women of Juarez, I will no purchase anything from this collection at all.
I agree, we Women should stand together and try to make this a better place to live. The situation in Juarez, Chihuahua is horrible. The situation in Mexico is more than horrible. No one should live with fear.
Please Mac Cosmetics please…… change the names of the new line
it’s ignorant to act like the holocaust was the worst thing that’s ever happened and nothing is comparable.
the caparison this person made was completely valid.
You are so right, the comparison was taken way out of context and people need to focus on the real issue and that is the collection. I find it unsettling that MAC would actually go through with the idea of even testing the waters of using Ciudad Juarez as a back drop for a collection UNLESS ALL proceeds would be going toward suffering. Or if they made all the strives to say “This collection is inspired by the murder capitol of the world, please donate to help” or something of the sort.
And i read temptalia’s blog a few days ago and saw this posting, as soon as i saw the haunting face of the main model i quickly skipped over the entire post, did not read the products comments or anything. Because my first thought was “MAC? Who would want to look like an emaciated ghost? What is beautiful about the main model or her makeup?”
To me makeup is all about beauty when the world isnt, so people saying that everything isnt all happy in this world, makeup should ALWAYS be, as unnecessary as makeup the only thing it should do is make the consumer happy.
I think its horrible that MAC would even do this in the first place apology or no apology because it goes to show what companies can get away with when they throw money in people’s faces. People need to stop worrying so much about the Holocust comparison, (which did exactly what it was suppose to and sparked everyones temper JUST AS THIS COLLECTION DID), and worry about the real issue. Regardless if it was an honest one, it was a mistake none the less.
I believe the mentality of “never ever comparing anything to the Holocaust” is wrong.
Especially if it is equated to the Shoah, the mass murder of the European Jews by the Nazis and their Eastern and Western European collaborators (also a much neglected “detail”). Slavic people who were executed, imprisoned in death and coercive work camps, killed as means of collective punishment in the Nazi terror reign roughly equate the numbers of Jews murdered by the Nazis (an estimated 6 million each, although there are less detailed records for the Slavs murdered since this happened less organizedly). Add the 40 million Soviet citizens killed in Hitler’s aggressive and expansive war, and you have a mass murder of Slavs exceeding the numbers of Jews killed by far. Now this is not about belittling the murder on Jews for racist reasons. But firstly, Jews have appropriated the “Holocaust” to equal “Shoah”. I hear no one talk about the racist murder of Slavs, Roma/Sinti (Central European Roma/Sinti have been practically extinct by the Nazis), and of course the political murder on Jehova’s Witnesses, homosexuals, and any kind of dissidents from Christians to communists/socialists, humanists, patriots etc.
To get back to your original saying:
As an Austrian (and descendant of resistants), I am offended and disgusted by both the appropriation of the Holocaust to mean Shoah only, when race laws turned against anyone who was not “Aryan”. Secondly, there have been genocides particularly in Africa that have come very close to the Holocaust. And agreeing with the previous poster, numbers alone do not determine the crime.
So yes, I believe genocides, or femicides in this case, deserve all the same attention as the Holocaust.
So… the holocaust is horrifying and I shouldn’t make light of it (even though I wasn’t)… but femicide in Mexico is fair game for inspiring lipsticks names?
What backstory do I need to be privy to in order to understand this? Please enlighten me.
http://iheartthreadbared.wordpress.com/2010/07/12/linkages-maquiladoras-enchant-rodarte-and-fashion-pretends-technology-is-not-its-friend/
hear hear. what hypocrisy.
The death of over 6 million Jews while tragic was not the worst genocide ever experienced. The Chinese, Armenian, and Russian ethnic purges were far worse. Just because the Holocaust has a well-known history doesn’t not make it above comparison.
And I think that the OP had a very could point. The very thought of a lipstick named Auschwitz makes me nauseous. And now that I know about the violence in Juarez I don’t feel confident in purchasing it.
I think the point here is that everyone is emotionally connected to problems around the world and it’s important that people be sensitive of them. MAC has taken the appropriate steps by donating portions of the money to people in Juarez.
As an El Pasoan and someone with family in Juarez (my cousin was murdered a few years ago) I think it is important to draw more attention to the severity of the issue. Juarez is literally walking distance from El Paso, Texas and so many people do not grasp its proximity to America. The cartel violence and femicide has escalated to unparalleled levels. This region remains to be full of lively culture on both sides of the border. I am not offended by the line, if this is something that will bring focus and help to Juarez. I also don’t mind it honoring our precious and unique cultural landscape. It is important to make historical references to the past, especially the Holocaust. When you have Mexicans shamelessly murdering other Mexicans it is nearly genocide. Something that has occurred and will continue to occur unless we learn from the past, and the most extreme example of this is the Third Reich. As a History major I don’t take this issue lightly and I draw comparisons when needed. Kudos to M.A.C. for stepping up and trying to spread the word!
Very well put. Also, I feel that until America’s incessant need for drugs is quelched, the violence in bordertowns will not end.
while I agree with most of your sentiment I AM offended by the collection (and Rodarte’s fall line too). I find it in very poor taste, especially the (original) names. If MAC and RODARTE really were trying to ‘spread the word’ and ‘shed light’ on the situation in Juarez, they would have actively mentioned the atrocities happening there in their promotional literature which they never did. Only AFTER the poo hit the fan did they try to back peddle and apologize by changing some product names and throwing some money at it (and relatively speaking $100,000 is a drop in the bucket for a multimillion dollar company) hoping it goes away.
That was really beautiful. Regardless of how much good MAC does, if they turn out a line like this, it will continue to make people numb to the real issue of social injustice that no amount of charity can fix.
Please remember to respect your fellow Temptalia readers. I do not tolerate name calling or insults. Debate and discuss with intelligence and passion but leave out jibes, digs, or other personal attacks. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, even if you may disagree with it or find it “stupid.” We want to facilitate the discussion and keep it focused on the issues, not fostering attacks on other readers.
Ok… I understand your upset but you have proven MAC right. I had NO clue as to what anyone was so offended by in the names until I read about it here in the comments. When I came across your posts I felt terrible for those women and I LEARNED about them… The brand is making a difference in letting people know what is going on. I personally will be buying one of them so that when someone asks me the name of it I can tell them and then give the background and help promote awareness about the situation. Without this line I would have been another person completely ignorant but now I can actually help in the battle to let people know.
I have tried to consider the “awareness” factor of this line, but I cannot. I have also thought a lot about “inspiration” and art and responsibility. MAC and Rodarte, if they had wanted to truly foster awareness, would have included their social concern in their initial statements. Proceeds going to charity, etc, would have been a part of this collection from the beginning. Instead, we have backtracking. I don’t believe that MAC and Rodarte were trying to be malicious, but you cannot name a nail polish “Juarez” and feign ignorance. It’s insensitive and foolish and offensive. (It’s compounded by the information that Rodarte has collaborated with Target, meaning they have experience with the realities of garment workers on a global scale.)
While I respect Mandy’s feelings in her plan to wear the nail polish and spread the word, I’m not swayed. I still feel that saying “yeah, thanks, isn’t that a great colour? but listen, it’s so sad, it’s inspired by Juarez” minimizes very real suffering to a cosmetic talking point.
I’ve tried to think of a way that a collection could honour the maquilas and work as an awareness campaign (i.e. different colours, different product names), but at the end I STILL feel like this boils down to exploitation and is too flippant a method to show support/concern or outrage.
I agree with others here that the corpse-like elements of the model exacerbate the issue and add another level of tastelessness.
One could not have a collection inspired by ‘the beauty of the natural landscape of Rwanda’, for example, and get away with naming a colour “machete”. MAC, in all that it has done for the AIDS community, would not name a South African inspired colour-palette “orphan”, right?
Thanks for providing a forum for this discussion.
good point.
I COMPLETELY agree!!
The thing that bothers me the most is that MAC could have truly raised awareness of this issue by making this campaign about the femicides (rather than just deem it “inspired by a road trip”), and by saying that proceeds of purchases would be donated to the cause, like the Viva Glam campaign.
If anyone wants to learn more about the murders in Juarez, Desert Blood, a novel by Alicia Gaspar de Alba, is a good start.
I don’t think most people are making light of femicide. Naming products “Auschwitz” or “gas chamber” is offensive across the board-the words THENSELVES are offensive. Using the name “factory” is offensive to some in this particular collection because of what it represents. It would not be offensive if separated from this context. A simple word holds more power than most people realize. It is not necessary to make light of one atrocity to convey the importance of another. They are ALL important and should not be compared at all simply out of respect for those who were a part of them. I do not believe we should compare things that we have not been a part of-there is no point of reference. None of us can ever truly know what it was like to live through the Holocaust. You do not need to agree with everyone here, we all have our own opinions but please show some respect.
Wow, you couldn’t have said it better…. i totally agree with you. We live in an era of indifference, where people have lost the sense of wonder and care, everything is like “meh, it’s not my problem” “whatever, it didn’t happen to me” “bleh, i am not mexican anyway”. Maybe they should have named the lipsticks “chopped off leg” or “mexican female blood” or “agony”. Or how about making a collection called “Flaming hot 9/11” with nice red-orangey tones and some silver ones to resemble the airplanes crashed? Here in Mexico we were all shocked, moved, concerned in tears for what happened in USA, the Holocaust (where not only jewish people died but also like 20 million russians, thousands of french people, dutchs, POLISH omg like 25k soldiers and officers where ambushed, ETC), the masacre of millions of muslims in Europe, and many other world tragedies. We are a very forgiving country, but this went too far.
A lot of people can’t believe why MAC or those Rodarte sisters did this. They always cover themselves with the word “ART” hahaha… Well, probably they only wanted to create this big controversy on purpose to acquire even more fame and attention? (don’t know why if MAC doesn’t need it) putting aside any respect or sensibility and actually making profit of an endless tragedy like this. After all, the big target aren’t the actual customers, but the ones to come in the future.
I have principles and moral, i would never buy an item from this collection, or wouldn’t even accept it as a gift.
Sorry, was on vacay while this was posted and never checked back later.
I say that the designers are inspired by border violence because … they apparently ARE. Their collection that was on the runway in February, the one that this MAC collection seems to be based on, was inspired by female factory workers in Juarez, Mexico. Any number of articles on that collection talked about it.
Hundreds, if not thousands (depends on whose numbers you believe) of women who work at the maquiladoras (sweatshops) have been raped and murdered since the early 1990s. Many of the victims were also tortured.
That Rodarte collection was downright creepy — it was all about “ghostly,” “sleepwalking” women. Given the horrible violence, the imagery either had just unfortunate implications (and honestly, I find it VERY hard to believe that someone could be inspired by Juarez, Mexico, and NOT know about the feminicidios, as it has received media attention even in the United States and is all that comes up when you Google women and Juarez) or is just disgusting. And that’s without even going into the creepiness of glamorizing the underbelly (maquiladoras) of the fashion industry and making it “pretty” and “high fashion” while ignoring the irony of the women’s actual, totally non-glamorous working conditions and lives. No matter how it’s looked at, this collection was ill-conceived and downright creepy.
In a way, I find it saddest of all that female designers conceived of this. At the very least, they should have realized that making glamorous fashion out of something that has real-word issues surrounding it is a bad idea. It is just a cosmetics line (and a fashion line) and that’s EXACTLY why the designers shouldn’t have gone there. It’s inappropriate.
And I will be writing to MAC about this. I think it’s disgusting that this collection is being released. At the very least, it’s tacky and offensive. I find it sad that people will be buying these pretty cosmetics inspired by maquiladora workers without even knowing about the very-real and tragic circumstances of those workers. It says nothing good about MAC and nothing good about Rodarte. And I really don’t mean to preach, but I’m incredibly saddened by this. I love MAC, and I think this collection goes against everything they seem to stand for.
That post was really insightful and im inspired to write to MAC about it aswell.
It is indeed tasteless(unless they are planning to help directly w/the tragedy that IS Juarez injustices/murders)and we should all voice our concern w/MAC.
Thank you LB and Alex for such important interventions. I have always been a loyal MAC customer, but will absolutely boycott from now on if this line continues, and will make sure I teach this issue in my classes! I can only imagine how painful it would be for the young women’s mothers to see how the violence against their daughters is now turned into something to wear.
ITA
Look up what is going on with women in Juarez and you might get a picture of how tasteless this cosmetic line is, the line was created by Rodarte. Sorry that someone “brings down” the type of women who don’t have to worry about working in an abusive factory job because it’s the only job around, sorry if someone made you feel bad about buying expensive makeup to put on your face. Everything you do has a social and environmental impact “it’s a cosmetic line” makes no sense to me when it is making violence against women glamorous. Educate yourself on REAL issues, instead of finding the “right” color of makeup, otherwise you are just falling right into the capitalistic trap that keeps you ignorant of where your money goes.
Everyone deserves to have their basic human needs met, as well as have beauty in the world, after everyone has those things, then we can share in luxury.
I agree with the argument that these Rodarte + Mac product names are innappropriate and are glamorizing real, horrifying issues women are dealing with. I am astounded that the designers could be so incompassionate and romanticize this sort of subject. I will not support this makeup line. And as for the Holocaust reference, I believe that was made to emphasize how completely innappropriate and tasteless these names truly are. Perhaps you just find the situation less significant.
Holy carp.
So just because a fashion designer based its line on violence, they’re de-sensitizing it to others? Wanna tell any effing artist that has ever painted something tragic into something not that?
It’s a makeup line. If you don’t like it, don’t buy it. MAC knows what it’s doing and it knows the risks it takes.
Also, not cool comparing it to the Holocaust btw.
Designers are edgy and some border on obscene and morbid. Do I always agree? No. Will that stop me from buying some of this? No.
I still don’t understand why you think the femicide in Juarez is so different from the Holocaust. Why CAN’T I compare them? Human misery is human misery. As far as I am concerned, there is no such thing as “different degrees of atrocity.”
You say that “obscene” and “morbid” designs wouldn’t stop you from spending your money.
So, I have to ask, would you buy from a MAC collection called “Concentration Camp?” What if the eyeshadow called “gas chamber” was really hot?
Where do we draw the line and say: “This isn’t OK”?
so true.
The women of Juarez are being killed every. single. day. To name a “beauty powder” or lipstick after this place is disgusting, appropriating and sad. I’d expect better from MAC. And how insulting are you to appropriate this type of thing? Would you really be okay if someone put out a blush named after a work camp in South Korea? Or maybe a lipliner called IRA? What about a perfume called Zyklon-B? Would that just be edgy and morbid or just really REALLY insulting?
Anyone who is able to empathize and THINK would say it was insulting.
Excuse me *North Korea (The DPRK)
Reminder:
Please remember to respect your fellow Temptalia readers. I do not tolerate name calling or insults. Debate and discuss with intelligence and passion but leave out jibes, digs, or other personal attacks. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, even if you may disagree with it or find it “stupid.” We want to facilitate the discussion and keep it focused on the issues, not fostering attacks on other readers.
everybody has a right to their own opinions
especially on a website like this
if you don’t agree with mac or don’t like it,
it’s simple, just don’t buy anything from the collection.
temptalia is a place for makeup enthusiasts to find out information, share information, asks and answer questions, and most importantly have fun with their hobby
not to be mean to each other:[
either way, MAC and Rodarte opened a dialog on the subject, and brought it to the forefront of minds that would normally only be concerned with makeup. i applaud them for it. whether we fight over it or get along because of it, they made us aware. and awareness is the beginning of change.
While I may not agree with the names of the products, or glamorizing the issue. I have to agree with you Cara, on the fact that there has been a dialogue opened. The more people that come to this, and other articles, looking to read up on what products they want to buy, will see all of these comments, and be more aware of the torture of women, and femicide in the border towns.
I agree with you for 100%. I don’t believe any make-up line with any common sense would call the products this way because they appreciate violence against women.
exactly!!!
I’m kind of surprised no one has objected much to Urban Decay naming their products after drugs and a law that confines a person to a mental hospital. All of this is rather warped, IMHO.
“a law that confines a person to a mental hospital”: i believe you are referring to 5150? it is a law that is in place to protect a person when they are of danger to themselves. unfortunately, people have lots of images that come to mind when they think of psychiatric hospitals and 5150 (and mental illness in general), so i think that’s kinda what urban decay was going for, some kind of “crazy” image.
not the most tactful thing, but i also don’t think it is on the same scale as this rodarte stuff.
while it made me cringe to read the comparisons to the holocaust, i do see the point the commenter was trying to make and where it came from. it is unfortunate that anyone would feel the need to invoke a comparison to something such as the holocaust just to get people to pay attention to the juarez situation, but the fact that they felt the need to do so speaks volumes about the lack of attention it is currently getting. i, quite honestly, was completely unaware of it all until i read through these comments.
but i am quite astounded that a huge company such as mac would go ahead with naming things in such an offensive manner.
I agree with you, the numbness and refusal to see the situation as the horrific one it really is, such that posters need to make the holocaust analogy, is really disturbing. I am sad about this collection.
Wow, I’m really thankful to Alex for bringing this up. I had no idea about the women in Juarez and will not be buying from this collection.. I honestly don’t know how a woman can buy a nail polish, wear it, and be proud while it was named after a feminicide..
Not trying to start anything at all.. But your comment is very interesting… I don’t think people really realize a lot of the meaning behind Urban Decays names “Yeyo” for one most people just look past. However I never took offense because the name “Urban Decay” in itself makes a statement and a lot of the names of the products go along with what contributes to the decay of urban areas. I wish it was more political and they used their brand to help, but we can’t have it all.
As far as MAC goes, I will no longer support them as a brand and I will not purchase their products in the future. I am trying to figure out what I will do with the products I currently own.
I am sick and tired of people capitalizing off of others misfortune. Next we’ll have eye shadows inspired by the NAACP vs the Tea Party, Slavery, Arizona Immigration Law, Genocides in Africa and who know what else. The sad part is, the collection will do phenomenally well and those of us who are against it will be washed out by the people who don’t understand and don’t care. However this is no reason to be discouraged from taking a stand.
You can go ahead and donate the MAC stuff to moi if you’d like for it to go somewhere much needed 😛 I’m a single stay at home mother of a girl who has DS and most of the stuff Temptalia reviews is way too expensive, esp. due to the rising cost of anything having to do with children, doctors visits, etc.
I am offended by Urban Decay’s overt drug references. I feel that an eyeshadow called “Maui Wowie” and an eyeshadow collection called “Smoke Out” do not belong in my cosmetics collection, so I have not purchased them. I think it is classless and there is a fine line between edgy and obscene.
Completely agree with Jessie!
MAC seriously needs to put out some new pigments… BLAH.
I have the dumbest question to ask. What exactly are pigments and what do you use them for?
You can use them as eyeshadow, lip color, etc. Really anything goes!
i use ones that are a little darker than me and mix them with lotion to make a “fake tan” for a day! 🙂
or get your bronzer and scrap some out.. works beautiful!
omg this sounds amazing. alice and olivia and now this?!?
Both lipglasses sound to die for, I cannot wait for this collection you can tell the inspiration is directly from the designers. Imagine a dazzleglass over ghost town. That would look amazing
Looking forward to this collection as well. I am going to be soooooo very broke from MAC it isn’t funny.
And as a Mexican latina woman, I am not offended whatsoever by cosmetic names. It does not mean that MAC and the fashion artists that are women themselves support the horrific things going on in Mexico and/or everywhere else in this world. If you feel that that is what is happening then take it up with the company & fashion people themselves. Do not post on a MAC website that allows fans of the cosmetics to enjoy seeing what is coming out & talk to one another about cosmetics. Political stuff needs to stay off these boards. Sorry that is how I personally feel.
I completely agree. I am a Mexican, Latina woman and am not offended by a name on a collection of cosmetics. If its not controversial, no one would buy it.
The femicide is allowed to continue because privileged Mexicanas remain indifferent to the plight of their poorer, darker sisters. If you choose not to you use your privileges to speak out and demand that something be done to stop the killings, that is your choice. But please don’t use your identities to excuse what MAC has done. You don’t speak for all of us.
And, the idea that if MAC weren’t controversial, no one would buy it is ludicrous. There was NOTHING controversial about Marine Life or Stereo Rose– and yet they sold out in mere hours.
I couldn’t agree with you more. I live in California so I’m not affected by this violence, that doesn’t mean I’m indifferent about the subject. This collection is offensive, the more we don’t care and turn our heads the other way the longer things like these will continue to happen. I think it’s time we open our eyes and see what’s going on around us, it’s nice to stay in our safe homes and ignore all the ugly in the world… But the truth of just how ugly our world can be is not far way. Please, I do Love make up, and I love MAC but there are more important things in life, there are women being tortured and killed. That’s the truth and we can’t ignore it.
I too agree…a Latina woman living in Texas right in the middle of the cartel war in a border city was not offended at all. I agree with Jessie on this one but designers in their own way are a little morbid and dark in their own way. These are just names people nothing for anybody to take all that seriously. As for myself I can not wait for this collection and would not think twice to not buy anything.
Many women look out for our sisters on the other side of the border. I suggest you do more research before making such offensive allegations. It only proves that you don’t know enough about the issues that go on in Juarez. Come to El Paso and point out these privileged Mexican women to me, because I don’t see them; and frankly, what could these women do to stop the corruption? I am eager to hear how these women to stop the violence that occurs 24 hours nonstop.
Completely. Agree.
Just because Latina/Chicana/Mexican women live in the United States doesnt mean
A. they do not care about our ‘sisters’ on the other side of the border
B. they are priveleged
and
C. that they live in safe homes.
I care about what goes on on the other side of the border, i did not and do not live a priveleged life and did not always live in “safe” areas. Do not assume things.
I have to disagree with you. When you do an excellent work, you provide high quality on things and your creativity is at top that’s all you need to speak for you (or for a company, whatever). If you need controversy to buy things, you gotta ask yourself how good the quality and CREATIVITY these people really have. Especially on a very touchy subject such as Juarez. MAC doesn’t need controversy to sell, they are ultra super multimillionaire. Many other collections haven’t been controversial. What you say it’s only a cheap trick people who lack of talent or quality use to sell.
OMGWTF. I love Rodarte. GAH! I want almost all of it already. *crosses fingers for special packaging*
Interesting collaberation. I never heard of these fashion designers but it sounds fascinating with all the colors. Can’t wait to see pictures.
hi I might have pictures for the rodarte mineralize eyeshadow. I got two yesterday but not sure whether it’s from this collection or not beacause it comes without tags. I want to send you the pictures but don’t have your address.
christine@temptalia.com
The lipsticks sound amazing. I never had the bubbles lipstick but heard great things about it. Maybe GhostTown is similar but with all those other colors mixed in it should be a unique color and I love unique color lipsticks!
I usually freak out over collections but this one depresses me…
People. If you have an issue with this collaberation (which I personally feel is ridiculous) than take it up with the company, Mexico and whatever else you need to do to get off your high horse. MAC is a great company. Lots of woman work there. The designers are WOMEN also. I don’t believe for one second that this has anything to do with femicide or anti-women. For Alex who said what if they made a lipstick named Auswetch(sp?) they wouldn’t and that is uncalled for you anti-semite. See how ridiculous that sounded for me to call you that on a public forum? Now stop the hate and take your political views elsewhere.
Tabitha,
I’ve debated over wether or not to respond to this because I’m not sure that you understand the issue here.
Either (1) You have NO IDEA what the word “anti-Semitic” means (ironic since you can’t even be bothered to spell Auschwitz correctly– even though I’ve done it FOR YOU above)… or (2) You know exactly what it means and you are offended that I am comparing the loss of Mexican women’s lives to the loss of Jewish lives… as if Mexican women are somehow less human, or worth less than European Jews.
I really hope that it’s the first option, because the second scenario is beyond vile.
For those of you that consider this a “political issue” I have only this to ask:
Why is it OK for us to discuss whether a cosmetic company is “cruelty free” but not OK to point out that MAC/Rodarte are capitalizing on human misery? Are animals more valuable than Mexican women? It would appear so based on some of these comments.
And Gabby,
I am a Mexican woman as well and I AM offended. You don’t get to use your identity to act as a spokesperson to excuse the callous use of border imagery. You don’t speak for all of us. You don’t speak for me.
And for the record, I’m not the only one that has noticed how f-ed up this is:
http://www.ohindustry.com/2010/07/maquiladoras-are-in-for-fall.html
wow, alex! you are awesome.
if you feel so offended, then don’t buy it. how is this different than other forms of art that aim to move the observer?
It is very different.
Makeup is no more “art” than a box of chalk pastels or a set of watercolor paints is.
Makeup does not have a message. It makes no commentary. It holds no critique.
If you are so offended by attempts made to educate the public re: femicide in Juarez, then maybe YOU should just ignore the outrage and go on buying lipgloss as if all is right in the world.
That is absolutely your personal opinion, and it is incredibly rude and close minded. I don’t want to get involved with your Juarez/Holocaust argument and whether any of it is appropriate. However, the fact that you feel that you can determine what is and is not art is ridiculous and insulting. People make art using whatever skills they have, and what ever materials they favor. Art is meant to cause controversy, and create dialog.
I would also like to point out that many of my friends had no idea about the tragedies in Juarez, and only learned about them because of the Rodarte collection. You may think that ridiculous, but fashion is how some people communicate. Just because you feel differently does not mean you have to go after everyone who disagrees.
Exactly. Makeup is a material. You make art WITH IT. It is not “art” on its own– it is a consumer good.
I totally agree about art and makeup being a dialog.. I just wish that MAC and Rodarte had meant it as a dialog and a way to speak out about what is happening initially. It is one thing if they had come out with this collection seeking awareness and trying to get people to read into the cruelty of this charity line. But it only became a charity line because the public shamed them on their ignorance! Some people may not agree with me but I am only debating different thoughts purely for the dialog! So please don’t be offended that I thought to show you another side of that as well!
alex, while I do agree with your views and opinions on the collection/Rodarte/Juarez and just about everything else you’ve stated I do find it unfair [for lack of a better word] that you claim makeup is not an art. Makeup is an art. As a makeup artist makeup is my form of expressing myself, be it on my own face or on the face of another. Makeup is no different than a painting. The only difference is the canvas.
This is precisely why I compared makeup to pastels or watercolors. In an of itself, it is not art.
What you do with it CAN be… but makeup is just a medium. It doesn’t make a statement while it’s still in the pan or tube.
No one said Gabby was speaking for all Mexican women
Totally agree with you, Alex! <3
I just want to point out to you that just because the designers are women does not mean that they can’t glamorize violence against women. Also, how can you say that this collection has NOTHING to do with femicide? The names cannot be linked to anything else.
YOU are the one making the association between femicide and the words. Not everyone makes the same associations; and just because they happen to use the names of those places, it doesn’t necessarily mean that MAC/RODARTE are glamorizing femicide
No, the designers were inspired by what’s going on in Juarez. Just because you hadn’t heard about it doesn’t mean it’s not a very obvious reference.
I really don’t see how you can think that “Factory” and “Juarez” are not associated with the situation in Juarez. Clearly MAC didn’t just “happen” to use the names.
+1 this is ridiculous. i hate our culture of political correctness…every little tiny thing, even a lipstick, is gonna piss someone off. its MAKEUP! LOL
The disgust and outrage over glamourizing such sickness is NOT political correctness. It is a sign of good mental health.
Thank you, Gisele.
I’m really shocked and saddened by the callousness that some people on this board have shown to the women of Juarez.
I agree. Concern over this is not “political correctness”
Exactly – the phrase “political correctness” is just a puff phrase to further marginalize important issues like race, sexism, etc. Call it like it is!
I can’t speak for anyone else, but that’s my point — It’s makeup! Real world issues like female factory workers shouldn’t be drawn into it. Rodarte and MAC shouldn’t have gone there. I don’t think it’s political correctness gone crazy to say that makeup shouldn’t be inspired by factory workers who have been raped and murdered by the hundreds. That’s just common sense. This stuff doesn’t belong in makeup or fashion collections!
exactly! stick to disney villans and creating stereo rose hype, MAC.
I hadn’t heard of this collection, and the picture above caused my stomach to churn before I even got to the item descriptions. I share fellow commenters’ dismay with the shameful disregard of the real-world femicide that inspired this line, and I certainly won’t be purchasing any products from it.
But cheers to everyone who condemned the unspeakable violence in Juarez and MAC’s decision to monetize the suffering of so many voiceless women. It’s very heartening to see how compassionate and articulate Temptalia’s readers happen to be!
This is a very well thought-out and articulate statement.
Hear, hear!
So true.
Amanda I agree with you it just makeup people! People have nothing better to do than complain and get offended about little things now. When the problem is there own people in mexico.MAC is not the ones killing them ok so for all of you that have a problem please go over there and do something about it and stop making a big deal because of a some makeup names. If you don’t like it don’t buy it! that’s why we are in America freedom of speech whether you like it or not. I’m hispanic too I may not be from mexico but you guys are getting too emotional.
This is glamorizing the miserable lives of women who work their fingers to the bone and are often raped and murdered. This is making light of this disgusting situation!
i am not sure if this collection is for me.However , i am quite interested in the blush it sounds very pretty and i think i might get it if this collection comes to where i live.
As of now I have 5 items on my list for this collection which include:
l/s in Ghost Town
l/g in Rodarte
b/p in Softly Drifting
blush in Quinceanera
nail lacquer in Factory
…and I really hope that it doesn’t grow much more, or else i’ll be broke from MAC’s fall collections
this looks boring 🙁 nothing is realli standing out argh!!
ok as a mexican-american woman living in south texas this collection makes me really uncomfortable. it’s appropriating our culture and romanticizing very real problems that plague our community. they just kind of seem like they’re relating mexican=bad
I agree, Chloe. Why did they have to wait for something SO negative to do a mexican inspired collection? Then give it such a dark twist..it’s sick.
I’m horrified that MAC found this appropriate and i’m even MORE horrified that some beauty junkies think “it’s okay” because it’s “just makeup”. That is far beyond my comprehension and I can’t even wrap my brain around it. And I agree with Ms. Alex above..why is it okay to stick up for animals that get exploited in the making of some cosmetics but not how they exploit mexicans in the name of “fashion”? And I definitely agree that if it was the Holocaust then people would have been offended, why are thousands of deaths of Mexican women any different? 🙁
It does seem to be equating ‘the colors of Mexico’ with negativity. When I think of Mexican culture, I do not think of these things. It would be different if MAC made a habit of collections used to point out the issues in need of reform in many countries and states (including U.S.), but the fact is that the things which are capitalized upon in more Euro-centric culture are much more positive and actually glamorous. If MAC had issued a release stating that their intention was to increase awareness, I think this whole debate could have been avoided and the job of raising awareness been done more effectively. Political correctness is not pase when it entails respect for human life. Anything less is a travesty, no matter how marginalized or minimalized. Personally I see less than nothing wrong with respect and dignity.
I think if MAC’s intention was to increase awareness, they could have done it in a much better way. I am not Mexican, but I am a Latina and I feel deeply offended by this. Even if I were not Latina, I would be offended as a woman, and even if I were not a woman, I would be offended as a human being!
And I also understand what was meant by the comparison to the Holocaust. Naming a lipstick “Auschwitz” is really the same thing as what MAC is doing by naming a lipstick “Ghost Town” or “Sleepless”.
What I think would be better is that MAC should do a collection inspired by Mexico – the BEAUTY of Mexico, and then as a side note, educate people on the horrific things that are happening in Juarez and then offer to donate a percentage of the proceeds to helping those women. That way, they would be educating the masses on what is happening and people would feel GOOD about buying the products, since the proceeds would be going to HELP women, not make light of their suffering in the name of “fashion.”
Personally i didnt know anything about Rodarte or the issues in Juarez. And honestly, I think this collection, although obviously very offensive to some, has brought a lot of attention to the problem down there. I’m happy MAC has grabbed my attention with this collection but after reading so many of these comments, i believe they could have been a bit more tasteful in doing so. I mean not naming nail polish after the city. i just wish they had celebrated Mexico in a more positive light and maybe given some of the proceeds to uncovering whoever is murdering those women. thats just my 10 cents.
Totally agree with you Aubree.
Its unfortunate that many of the followers think its ‘not a big deal’ that Rodarte has used this topic in such a materialistic way. You cant ever separate hobbies/interests/possessions from the things that are really going on in the world. Makeup may seem far removed but it isnt. Everything touches everything else, so be conscious of the decisions you make with your money ladies, you never know who elses life you could be affecting. Its unfortunate that so many people think they are powerless in the struggle against serious issues like genocide, environmental damage, workers’ conditions in third world countries, sick children, AIDS, etc., but you can. Use your money in a way that you dont contribute to it.
I think this could have been approached a completely different way and have gotten a better response; say if Rodarte had approached MAC to do a collection like VIVA Glam and had money goes to the cause, not merely drawing attention to the topic with the names of the products. Unfortunate.
There is a page article in August Vogue about the collaboration, with a couple sneak peek photos at products- look beautiful!
The women of Juarez are being raped and murdered in their thousands;
they live in shantys and are underpaid and exploited. Naming a makeup collection ‘Factory’ etc is disgusting…. go look into this terrible situation before you rave about MAC. Shame on the Estee Lauder Family.
love the black MES
I think I’d only be interested in the blush and mineralize eyeshadows, maybe some pigments. Everything else sounds too ghostly and pale.
I love love love the beauty powder!
Bleh, looks kind of boring.
You know, ordinarily, I’d be all over this – but given all the discussion, I’m with those who think it’s in poor taste. Plus – look at the model used. Is she supposed to look like a zombie? She does to me, and given everything else, I think I’ll be taking my money elsewhere.
Same here. I feel nauseated looking at the collection after researching las muertas de Juárez.
i didnt think i was going to like this collection .. but there are definitely a few things i need to check out .. the beauty powder sounds very pretty and the eyeshadows look cool .. interested in seeing what they look like all swirled together!
Most of these colours are far too pale. That image of the ghostly white woman with black around her eyes isn’t very appealing at all. She reminds me of a skeleton. Apart from the first 3 of those pigments, which I already have, not one thing interests me. At least I can save my money on this collection!
As for the names, which I’m ashamed to say meant nothing to me before (I live in the UK), having now read about the background and associations they have I don’t think them at all appropriate for a makeup collection.
WOW! This collection looks amazing! I can tell already there’s so much I want!
will it be release online at all??
I believe it will be.
Really, really poor taste. Plus I buy makeup and fix my hair to NOT look like that “model”.
This is just really awful all around. You couldn’t pay me to touch it.
I usually don’t get excited about pigments, but those colors sound DIVINE.
I’m excited about the blush and the beauty powder too! 🙂
I think I might like to see badlands pigment and pick up mauvement since I don’t have it!
This collection’s packaging is so simple yet I absolutely love it! Definitely beats the Disney Villains Collection for me on the packaging!
Is it not possible to turn something horrible into something beautiful? That’s what I would like to think that the two women behind Rodarte are doing in this collection for MAC. I don’t think it’s fair to assume that just because of the names of some of the items in this collection that Rodarte or MAC is supporting the events that that are happening in Juarez.
Regardless I think the collection is beautiful, perhaps it would be better received if MAC donated a portion of sales to relief efforts.
What is there to gain by turning femicide– or even exploited factory workers– into something “beautiful”?
If anything, by making this “beautiful,” Rodarte and MAC are enabling the erasure of femicide. As privileged, first-world consumers, we are being given the tools with which to distance ourselves from these atrocities. We shouldn’t see human misery as “beautiful.” There is nothing beautiful about it.
What I find most horrifying is that, for many U.S. women, this line will be the only information they ever have about Juarez. The ongoing femicide is invisible to so many around the world. So much of what is happening there is swept under the rug in order for global consumers to go on comfortably enjoying the fruits of human despair– They don’t want us to know what the real costs of the cheap televisions/computers/cellphones we enjoy are to the people who work in factories to produce these goods.
Women are routinely kidnapped, raped, tortured, mutilated, and buried in the desert. No one with any power want to talk about it because it is “bad for business.” They know that consumers don’t want to ask themselves how they, personally, benefit from what is happening in Juarez.
Being asked to accept all of this as “beautiful” is repugnant.
I wish Temptalia had a “like” feature so that I could officially like this (and many of the other) comments!
>”What I find most horrifying is that, for many U.S. women, this line will be the only information they ever have about Juarez.”
This is very true for me – I’d never heard of Juarez until reading these comments. Is there any chance that MAC/Rodarte chose this theme for their collections as a way to draw attention to the horrific situation? Or should we not give them that much credit?
(Just playing devil’s advocate. I agree with everything you’ve said so far.)
Thu, I thought about this before posting, especially given my initial adverse reaction (so rare for cosmetics campaigns!). But what made me so uncomfortable is what other posters have already noted–the aestheticization (all too common in the fashion industry) of violence against women.
Unfortunately, underscoring the horrors in Juarez isn’t likely to move product. I suspect that any silver lining comes from people in the know who are able to point out the dark side of this and similar ad campaigns.
As a MAC fan, this collection really pains me.
I think not knowing MAC’s intent means that they did not put enough thought into its release. Either that implies careless/calousness on their part, or lack of education. 🙁
Sadly, the same is true for me in terms of Juarez. Time to go do research now.
Yes, Alex, and in that sense, the comparison to the Holocaust is apt: there were many wealthy Germans who looked the other way while Adolf “fixed that problem.” The Shoah is always the extreme example, and I find it sad that you have been criticized for using a fine basis of comparison in your argumentation.
I want to thank you for informing me of this (sadly I did not know and you are right…this collection would be my only information about Juarez) The promo pic made me feel odd and the names of the products sounded wrong. Thank you for connecting everything for me and allowing me to make a sage decision…I will not support this collection and will write to MAC.
MAC is a big company trying to make as much money as they can, right? So why would they make a collection like this? To say femicide is a good thing? Or violence against women? So they would lose a lot of loyal MAC lovers? While on the other hand they make collections like Viva Glam? Well, I don’t think so! It is to draw attention to the horrible situation. Before I read this article, I didn’t knew anything about Juarez, but now I know. And if people now help is needed things can change. And you say the things going on there are invisible? Well not anymore for a lot of readers on here. And if they wouldn’t want us to know the real costs of our cheap TV’s they sure wouldn’t make a collection which would cause this discussion!
And something else. Did you see the promo picture? That is not beauty? That is a women who could have worked in a factory. More death then alive. I think it is common sense they are trying to start awareness and not promoting murder. Come on.
You need to read this…
http://jezebel.com/5589143/rodarte-takes-inspiration-from-mexican-violence
They’re not promoting murder, they were oblivious to it all. And THAT IS BAD. Perhaps if the designers had bothered to GET OUT OF THE CAR and talk with the locals, they might have realized the reality of the city and acted differently.
Until people pointed out how tasteless this collection seemed, MAC didn’t think to even mention the issues surrounding Juarez, much less choose a charity to help women. If this was to raise awareness, they would’ve had announced the charity long beforehand. Right now they’re trying to cover up their ugly oversight with it like a bandaid.
Of course they knew the issues. You just posted the link of a collection based on the factory workers there. How could they not know the issues? Why do they call there products ‘Ghost town’, ‘Bordertown’, which is also the name of a movie about all the issues in Juarez. And like I said look at the model. She’s a zombie like probably the women in those factories. And I don’t believe MAC will make a collection about Juarez, without doing any research about the topic. And Juarez is the most violent and criminal city in the world? How could they not know and find out?
i agree with you all the way
I’m still not totally sure where I stand on this issue, as I see valid points to both sides. I think you are incredibly well-spoken and obviously informed on this topic.
I did want to add, however, that I think the ‘beauty’ here lies in posts like this one. Maybe using makeup to discuss this topic wasn’t the best medium, but I think it can also be said that it has managed to bring this topic into the limelight, something that may not otherwise have been done. As you have stated, the most horrifying part of all of this is that for many US women, this line will be the only information they ever have about Juarez. While the names of the products may be seen as crude or inappropriate (I agree, not the best judgment on MAC’s part), it was a great way for a medium that seems so far removed to expose the tragedy that’s going on.
The beauty industry doesn’t really have many ways to bring social injustice to the world’s attention without making it fashionable so in a way it seems that’s exactly what was done here. It has given women, who otherwise may have forever remained faceless, the chance to be heard. I totally understand your point, I’m just saying maybe this was one of the ways they thought they could help open the eyes of some who may not otherwise see.
Mmmmm, to be honest I’m not sure if that’s the blush or beauty powder up there… they sound to similar to me right now.
Wow! Gorgeous collection…scary model. lol
I love the packaging for this! Definitely eyeing that beauty powder.
oh hell i need stuff from this collection in my stash!! 🙂
ok now i know the back story im boycotting this collection
is it just me or does the promo image totally go against the typical rodarte styling?? i always imagine prisms and colors and lines…so that’s missing from the promo image but reflected in the actual products and packaging. i really think those eyeshadows and pigments have cult status potential.
EEEEEEKKKKK!!! That picture of that girl scared me. Besides that, the items look interesting.
well, if i wasn’t already turned off by the fetishizing of border violence, i would be totally turned off by the promo pic! eep, not pretty or positively eye-catching.
the only good thing i could see coming out of this collection is perhaps bringing awareness to the violence and exploitation suffered by the inhabitants of juarez. let us hope, anyhow.
and christine, thanks for keeping the discussion up!
Definitely won’t be going for the dead carp look. I have very pigmented lips, and light lipsticks look awful on me with my NC20 complexion.
i’ll take the Quinceanera blush and thats it.
rainbow lipglass, pale lipsticks, mineralized e/s that look like hell wtf.
oh my goodness that picture is not my favorite. its a little
creepy/scary/intense. i’m trying to appreciate the artistry but i just can’t and that makes me sad 🙁
I’m really looking forward to this! It’s a nice fresh change from everyone else’s plums for fall. I like the creativity of the concept theme.
Nix that last statement. I didn’t know what Rodarte was until I read the other comments. That is kind of twisted but hopefully MAC will donate profits to help those women.
Hmm. That’s a pretty, pretty piggie. Think I’ll go for that and one of the lip glasses 🙂
Excited for everything but the lipglosses, I learned my lesson from sugarsweet.
I have posted this both in the post and in various spots in the comments (placed in hopes of being seen by those intending to join in the discussion).
One more time: Please remember to respect your fellow Temptalia readers. I do not tolerate name calling or insults. Debate and discuss with intelligence and passion but leave out jibes, digs, or other personal attacks. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, even if you may disagree with it or find it “stupid.” We want to facilitate the discussion and keep it focused on the issues, not fostering attacks on other readers.
Thanks so much, Christine, for allowing all of this emotion and opinion to get aired out. You’ve done so much more than just put up pix.
This line made me sad I thought this was going to be alot pretty
I’m not sure if I want to look like the model in the picture haha…but I will probably check the beauty powder when it is released
I will not be buying anything from this collection. This is absurd.
Anyone else contacted MAC about this?
what about it?
This article sums it up pretty well:
http://nymag.com/daily/fashion/2010/07/rodartes_mac_line_sparks_contr.html
Thank you, i had no idea!
Agreed
WANT!
this collection sounds beautiful !!
LOVE the packaging! Things that I’m interested in:
-Rose State Lipstick
-Kitschmas pigment (although that is permanent..might not buy)
-Softly Drifing Beauty powder
-Quinceanera Blush
I neeeeeeeed white gold pigment
Hi Christine is the picture of the pigment above Kitschimas?
I believe so!
The corpse collection. Well, this one is interesting even though I can see that it has caused controversy. I’m not quite sure I can pull off light grey taupe lipstick but I will definitely check out this collection when it arrives in stores.
christine : what do you think about all this?
I prefer to keep my personal views/political views just that – personal. I do not want this blog to represent a particular viewpoint but to provide an open forum for discussion. I hope you understand!
Smart lady.
I can’t help but feel you should comment on this subject Christine.. you easily commented on the OPI situation and told us all how you found them rude and didn’t like the way they did this and that. But, with this MAC collection your keeping your view on your own BLOG personal? This feels very weird as though maybe it is because of your affiliation(being payed or sent promo by them) to MAC. Which is odd because I can usually count on you to say your honest opinion of things regardless of price. But, I can’t help but feel this is YOUR blog not ours! We should know YOUR thoughts!…
This is very, very different. What OPI did was to me/the blog, which was something I personally experienced, and the removal merited explanation to readers. I personally feel that Temptalia is a community, and it is my job to help facilitate a discussion. I don’t get paid by MAC, and ironically, I buy far more MAC than I receive as samples.
I hope you can respect my personal beliefs and my goals for Temptalia as a community.
I’m not asking your political views, but rather your opinion about MAC at this point and time!? Are you happy with them? Are you a bit shocked? I am not wondering if you think it is ok for the women in mexico etc, but I would love to know if you will be boycotting them or if you think they have made a mistake etc.. I suppose it is political, but it also is makeup, and that is the subject of your blog. This is also not just Temptalia the company but christine the makeup blogger. You tell us your opinion of OPI’s way of handling things and now you won’t tell us your opinion on the way MAC is handling things. I’m not attacking you, I don’t want to offend you at all, I do after all love this blog. I just want to know everything your thinking about this… your only being Temptalia the company that is seeing over this dialog.. but I understand OPI was directed to you.. but you have to do with MAC/Rodarte makeup releases and all the information released.. I want to know what you think about all this. If I wanted a press conference amount of information I would be happy with all you have said, but you are a blog!!! You need to be telling us your opinions!!! When I search blog on google I get the result : paraphrased .. Blogger is a free blog publishing tool for easily sharing your thoughts with the world.
I also think it was very grand of you not to remove my comments.
It is with all due respect to your opinion Gaby, but it just not how I feel. If and when I ever discuss my personal/political views (because you cannot separate what MAC has done previously, currently, and in the future in regards to the Rodarte collection without addressing the controversy itself), I will do so because I feel it is the right thing to do.
I want this to be a place where everyone can discuss their opinions–a place that neither side will be favored, so everyone can say what they want without fear of censorship. I hope you can respect my decision. It is extremely important to me to maintain my integrity and stay true to my values and the goals I have for myself and this blog.
If Christine does not want to put her opinion out there, why are you trying to force her? I can’t imagine why she would want to say anything only to have to spend all of her time defending whatever it is she said. I’d rather have her spend that time doing what she loves than that.
I respect her for staying neutral. I think it must be hard not to say anything at all and put up with people pressuring her to say something. She has contacted MAC for us has she not done enough for us?
This is a makeup blog not a political blog. We don’t need her political opinions. Sure I’m curious about what she thinks but her opinion isn’t going to change how I feel about this.
I understand how you feel Aimee, I just feel as though in many blogs, the blogger is usually driven by money and makes decisions based on a bias. I don’t want Temptalia to be a company that only says what is safe because they are the voice of now many “paying” businesses. I say “paying” as in giving free samples, free launch info, direct line to pr etc.
I will cease to pressure Christine though, it is her choice to be neutral for her bloggers. I just thought perhaps she should say something to loyal fans who love her opinion about her thoughts on MAC now.. but it is her choice! She has clearly chosen to stay neutral! I just was also a huge fan of OPI and wished she had stayed neutral when she decided to tell us publicly that they were rude in the manner they conducted themselves and didn’t handle things well but then found it OK to stay neutral with this MAC situation… Anyhow I’m rambling on! The point is, I understand, thanks anyhow! I also will remind that it is very admirable for her to keep my messages up, even though in a sense my comment isn’t directly about the collection, it isn’t a stab though.. I hope it didn’t come out in such.
Hey Christine! Dumb question, but how are beauty powders used?
They can be used to highlight or as all-over powders, BUT it sometimes depends – some are very, very pigmented, so then more like a blush. Generally, they’re soft/sheer, so they can be used all-over.
i love to use the as shimmery sheer blushes for those natural makeup days i know christine already answered but i hope this helps
rodarte pushes boundries. artists for centuries have. its amazing the amount of education and discussion going on about this controversial collaboration & the products they’re producing.
well done rodarte & mac. well done ladies for sparking passion to defend women. now write those letters to someone who can MAKE changes, not mac. or rodarte.
well said! make something happen girls!
finally! someone who makes sense! Agreed, very well said!
I definitely agree, this the only comment I read that makes sense, thanks for adding this.
Yes, the amount of education and discussion going on about this controversial collaboration & products…was not brought about by Rodarte, but by the people who were offended by this.
Until a few people who are NOT working for MAC or Rodarte brought it up and provided links…NO ONE WOULD HAVE HAD A CLUE as to the atrocities going on in Juarez. MAC did not make a statement nor did they offer profits to help women….until people complained.
Please give credit to where its due. And its not directly due to Rodarte’s. This has all probably been an accident to them.
Actually without reading all those comments I would have googled the names.
she’s gonna give me nightmares…
need both lipglasses uncompromisable the packaging and layering is fabulous but i especially love the font and little mac rodarte exceprt on the packaging SO CUTE!!! thats whats puushing me over the edge but i want to smack mac in the face!!! WE LOVE YOU BUT YOUR OVERWHELMING US WITH COLLECTIONS LOLOLOLOL were in a recession cut us some slack. hey christine i was thinking about getting hot house deep lipglass from venoumous villans i have dark brown 2 shades away from black hair i have and long edgy haircut so im afraid the bold color will make me look to rocker goth and that is not me but the gloss just looks so fun. any thoughts??????
One way to change your look (away from the rocker goth look you don’t want) is to dress in a more classic/feminine way. You could also style your hair softly (with curls, waves, etc.) to go away from the ultra-edgy look. And lastly, you could try and pair this lipcolor with lighter eyes or turning it into a more classic/pin-up look. But either way you go, it’ll be beautiful. Rocker or Girly.
great advice!!! thankz a mil.
It’s a name of a product. People come here to intellegently discuss makeup and beauty and to learn and ask questions from others with the same passion everyone has a different point of view but this isn’t where it should be discussed.
Where SHOULD “intellegent” [sic] discussions about MAC’s politics happen?
Why is it cool to talk about (and praise) MAC’s politics when it comes to Viva Glam, but not when there is a critique to be made?
Hi, Halo,
It’s SO much more than the name of a product! The naming of this collection was not completed on a whim – it was meticulously worked-out. Rodarte seems to be trying to make a commentary, or at least provoke chatter regarding the border situation in Juarez. (I haven’t read anything official from them nor MAC, but this is my guess.) If you read any of the links offered throughout this post, it might give you another, different view of the product line and possible motives for their utilizing this macabre inspiration.
However, it’s upsetting to me that there hasn’t yet been any official clarification regarding MAC/Rodarte’s clear illustration/glamorization of Juarez and the women therein. I hope that there is some sort of fund set up to help these victims, though even still I really don’t understand using a beauty collection to make this sort of statement about how dire the border town is. It appears to be exploitative, though I can’t imagine this was the aim…
Additionally, as far as finding proper forums for discussing these sorts of worldly issues, that seemingly have nothing to do with makeup, I respectfully disagree! We are all passionate about make-up, and if a collection comes out that uses makeup to make a statement, I say, debate on! The more aware we become, about all of these inhumane issues, whether we like hearing it or not, the better equipped we will be to make positive choices in our own personal environments, and furthermore, the world. I know it sounds cliché, but even the smallest steps of recognition can bring waves of change!
I think it’s important to discuss the ugly side of makeup, too, even if it’s just the issues associated with collections that are ugly, and NOT the products.
OMG……can’t help loving this collection……
Well, I definitely see why people would get upset over this…it is a very touchy subject. But, I don’t think that MAC is promoting violence and murder. Maybe they’re just making people aware of what’s happening..even though it does seem wrong to do it through makeup. With that being said, I’m interested in some of the products from this collection and so far my list is:
l/s in Ghost Town
l/g in Rodarte
pigment in White Gold
b/p in Softly Drifting
blush Quinceanera
nail lacquer in Juarez(i know, i know; the name causes controversy, but I buy products for the color–not the name)
Hopefully I can keep it under 7 items…:)
Wow! This collection seems very interesting can’t wait till it come out :3
I’m actually really glad that I don’t like anything from this collection, because honestly, the whole inspiration for this just makes me a bit sick. I’m not among the squeamish, and I’ll admit, I’m a bit morbid at times, but I don’t want any of that in my makeup. I don’t really see any evidence of this being used to raise awareness or make a statement. If, for example, an artist were to paint something in relation to the border violence (which I’ll admit I’m not very educated or aware about), I’d hope it would do something, say something, about the issue at hand. I do consider make-up and fashion design to be forms of art, so the people behind them, atleast in my eyes, are held up to the sames standards of decency as any other artist in any other field.
I don’t think they’re glamorizing or supporting the problems by basing a line off of them and using relevant names for the products, but in my opinion, it’s not quite right to take this tragedy, dress it up, and sell it.
I have to admit I knew nothing of Juarez, and after reading about it here in the comments just minutes ago, I’m put off by this.
I’ve never been a fan of UD’s names, either. 5150 was especially offensive, like it was mocking Britney Spears’ mental breakdown. Yeyo isn’t much better, IMO.
In all honesty I’d only heard about Juarez a couple times before learning the details here, and I’m glad I did.
As a fan of Urban Decay, I can appreciate the vibe their whole line gives off, but yes, a lot of the names are less than classy. I’m pretty annoyed by 5150 too, because it is, in my opinion, indecent, but the litany of drug names don’t really get to me. I can see that it is in poor taste, though.
i hope christine doesn’t mind me linking some info.
this is a transcript from an american journalist who lived and worked in juarez. women, men, children – all are being killed at an unbelievable rate.
http://www.democracynow.org/2010/4/14/charles_bowden_murder_city_ciudad_jurez
Thank you very much for the link, I wanted to learn more and IMO Wikipedia, as a source edited by users, isn’t always completely reliable.
Thank you Evangelia so much for the link. I just checked it out and it is very eye opening. Although many people are offended by this collection, the good is that it illicited a discussion and opened our eyes to what is going on in Juarez, that many of us were ingorant to. I do agree with those that says MAC and Rodarte should both release statements regarding the reasoning behind the collection and where proceeds are going. I think MAC and Rodarte wanted this to be a socially concious collection with the names. But I can see how many might think it is just a means to an end. You guys really have me thinking. There are other tasteful ways to do it.
you’re very welcome! if you really want to read an in-depth (albeit controversial) book about the current state of juarez, i recommend charles bowden’s book, murder city. absolutely chilling:(
I was a little scared by that promo pic :(… BUT the collection looks nice!
I don’t know what Rodarte is, but I’ll pass, I want to look alive, LOL =]
lol I second that. The promo picture really throws me off. :/
Agreed!
Is she supposed to look undead?
this looks kinda gross.. from the promo picture to the descriptions and names..
i mean i know fashion isn’t always pretty.. but, eek!
yea! i know. the model looks dead! :S i dont think my skin tone can deal with being dead.
its not suppose to be pretty. this collection is inspired by a city where thousand of girls have been killed and dismembered! juarez is know as the city of lost girls
Oh my gosh, this is gonna be a very unique and interesting collection! I already have MAC bubbles lipstick, so I had to stop myself when I saw the description for ghost town. I am excited for the blush and pigments. The collection isn’t very wearable for me personally, but honestly it doesn’t look like any collection I have seen from MAC. I will definitley be looking forward to this collection.
ALEX, can I marry you? You took the words right out of my mouth. Such an intelligent lady. I’m glad someone is looking at the bigger picture, and not just the MAC label stuck on these products.
Like someone said I think I will write a letter to MAC, and count me out from buying anything from this collection. Sick.
I completely agree too!
Thank you Alex for speaking on behalf of those who are against injustice wherever it is, not just the convenient trouble hotspots that the Western media/govts like to highlight and parade for their own economic/political agendas i.e. Darfur (which by the way is an economic conflict, like all conflicts) and of course the US/Europe perpetuated wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan for oil, gas and mineral riches…in this context, it’s fitting that a company like MAC would monetise conflict, sadly I am not surprised at all and it’s put me off MAC a lot.
I wasn’t aware of all the happenings until I saw this post, and I understand how the names are offending but I think that the fact that it’s bringing awareness about what’s going on to everyone is IMO a good thing. If Mac donated some of the profits to helping the women in Juarez, by supporting them they could change this controversy into beauty.
As a Latina I feel so dissapointed in MAC for naming the products in this collection the way they did. Idont believe they did this out of racism or hate but to try to glamourize something so horrible that is happening everyday is just sad. A human life is a human life regardless of race and any tragedy where human lives are being taken for no reason shouldn’t be less important than another
This looks like new packaging. Do you think it will be permanent?
This is limited edition packaging!
and beautiful packaging it is i know the two lipglasses will probably be sheer but they just look too good too pass up
The discussion opened my eyes and I WILL NOT buy anything from this collection.
Thank you Christine for allowing the discussions to happen. It’s very eye opening.
If MAC is really just exploiting the tragedies taking place and using the names to sound “kewl” I just don’t know what to say…
I dont see that at all. the collection doesnt come out until september so maybe there will be some awareness. who know maybe some of the proceeds go to helping this. dont be ignorant. its not “kewl”.
If this is released with no statement to increase awareness or as a benefit, the fact is purely that these companies are using the suffering of others to make money.
i hate to say it, but someone was aware when they sat down in front of a panel and persuaded these products go into production.
if u think this many average women are in an uproar over this line, then you’d be the fool to think someone on that panel did not know of this before hand…
whether their intention was to donate BEFORE or AFTER seeing the public response is irrelevant. isn’t it nice to feel your voice has been heard by the brand.
now the off beat questions is, will you still boycott the line now that you know proceeds are going to BENEFIT the women & help stop border violence?
I’m still boycotting this line. People are paid big money to do R&D (research and development). It really wouldn’t surprise me if someone brought this up, but was dismissed.
This does bring about awareness about the horrible events going on, but why is it that people always bring up skin color? i hear how people don’t want to be judged by their skin color etc,and how we are supposed to be colorblind, yet i continue to see references to these women as BROWN, poor women. Certainly not only BROWN women are ones being subjected to this kind of violence in Juarez; women of all skin colors live there; from pale, to light tan, to deep dark shades of tan. I just dont understand how we as humans are supposed to be “colorblind” when people always seem to bring it up! Also, how does using these names of products imply that this violence is ok? If you dont like these products then dont buy them, and maybe start donating the money you couldve spent on these products to the cause you guys are “passionate” about. That seems more proactive than trying to ban them being sold
1. No one is trying to ban these products. I don’t know where you got that idea.
2. The names of these products sanitize what is happening in Juarez. They turn human misery into a consumer good. I don’t think that MAC had any intention of raising awareness. Indeed, they seem quite surprised by the uproar.
3. I keep using the word “brown” because the majority of women who have been murdered in Juarez fit a certain physical profile. Most of them have been: short, thin, younger, and darker complected. Color is absolutely essential to the discussion of the femicide in Juarez because the murderers are targeting BROWN women. Many have speculated that they do this, knowing that many see poor brown women as disposable. Their deaths are treated as part of the cost of doing business. By bringing attention to what is happening to them on forums like this, those of us who are outraged are disrupting that notion.
These women are NOT disposable. They ARE valuable. And, as long as I have the privilege of internet access and they do not, I will CONTINUE to speak my outrage on their behalf. The world needs to know what is happening in Juarez.
Amen girl, AMEN!!!!!
The people who have been so “outraged” by this “tragedy” have yet to post a link to something they’re doing about it, or somewhere that everyone else can do something about this.
Getting all huffy never changed the world.
Art is different than beauty. Make-up ART cosmetics, sounds to me that their definition of make-up is more than beauty products, but as ART itself. Last time I checked grey taupe lipstick was not the top-selling beauty product. It wasn’t meant for “average” beauty, or for “commercial” beauty, or “glamorous” beauty.
The interesting thing about MAC is their pictures aren’t always pretty. Their models aren’t always perfect. Their products aren’t always happy. Just like how ART and the real WORLD are. Overall, this has raised eyebrows, for the good. People may be outraged but it hopefully will increase the help for this tragedy.
Oh and btw, Venomous Villains condones evil, poison, wicked murderers? No one said a darn thing about that.
I could compare Maleficent to Hitler, but that wouldn’t help anyone in Juarez, now would it?
Seriously, wtf?
The Disney Villans collection is not even remotely comparable to this situation at all!
In Rodarte’s poor attempt to be reverent and worldly, they’re profiteering off the atrocities that have plagued this city for nearly two decades. How could you name a nail polish after a city that’s suffered such egregious crimes against humanity. The imagery of this collection is definitely referencing what’s going on, and while I don’t believe they are glamourizing or promoting the violence, I don’t think they adequately approached the situation.
Also – the Disney characters are FICTIONAL. They are cartoon characters. This is a far cry from real-life happenings in Mexico.
my point is you can compare anything to anything, anyone can say anything they want on how awful this is, yet nothing is accomplished by those comments. only actions!
Very true. I noticed how people responded about the names of the other collections but they have h=not responded on what they plan to do after the collection is gone. It seems most people want to rant, but like you said they don’t plan to act. Sad that a majority of people are that way. I see it every day… people complain about the problem but never try to help fix the real issue. Also many still haven’t fully researched the issue. Instead I hear a lot of “it was said” or this person told me…” we all can use the internet so why not use google and do your research about on the facts. Talk is cheap and action is deep.
thank you for hearing my point i totally agree with you!
why does color matter? im confused? women being murdered shopuld be the main point, it shouldnt matter their color. murder is murder, whether it be black, white, orange, rainbow colored, etc. and Juarez is a very dangerous town due to the narcos of the world. I had family who lived their and had to abandon it because the drug lords and their corruption ruined it
Other people have also brought up the point that the very paleness of this collection seems like a further insult to those women who have been murdered. Not only do the maquilas not make enough to afford Rodarte or MAC, but even if it was handed out free, it certainly isn’t geared toward their complexions.
because, as a woman of color, my skin is a HUGE part of my identity, it causes me to be treated differently in society than a white person. there is no way to be “colorblind”, that’s just ignoring someone’s very real part of their identity. and because of the colonization of spain indigenous people in Mexico (who are darker) are often kept in poverty BECAUSE they are of indigenous descent and are therefore treated as lower class. don’t put passionate in quotation marks, that’s so insulting.
Agreed. Not to mention that names probably go through a level of copyright lawyers too. (That’s my suspicion, not fact.) Either someone brought this up and was dismissed, or people were reluctant to bring this up (“not my job, I just analyze sales”), or perhaps the boardroom discussion DID include the situation of the women in Juarez, but they felt that because _they_ (the people in the room) were “aware”, then it was okay. That is, everyone was sensitive in the room (maybe), so they did not extrapolate how offensive these colours and colour-names were and would sound to the general public. Still ignorant though & doesn’t make it better in my eyes.
I really like the items on this collection. I can see why it can be offensive for a lot of people, especially those from Juarez or if they know someone or lost someone there. But I do believe that the whole point in this collection is to bring out the city and maybe even help others understand what they are coming from. I highly doubt it that anyone wanted or intended to offend anyone with this collection.
I’ve been excited to try lip erase for a while.
I was super excited about lip erase until I bought it and used it. It’s basically smudgy concealer for your lips. I thought it’d be like a primer and maybe my lipsticks would stick longer. I dont know why I thought that, just did, and it’s just nothing special. Really, just use a bit of foundation on your lips and save your $$.
Am I the only one who thinks everything in this collection is fug? I am so not excited about this collection…better for my wallet I guess.
this is such a cool collection… need to save up ^^
I won’t be buying from this collection either, BUT I’d also never heard of Juarez or the femicide issue until looking at the ghostly picture and reading all of the comments. While I find it deeply disturbing, I have to wonder if that was the point…to educate and bring awareness? Look how many people are being exposed to the issue just from a “makeup blog”…. It’s not just makeup. Thank you to the readers who took time to post and provide links so that we can now educate ourselves on the issue. Hopefully it will move some to advocate for these women (and men).
*GASP* I’m so excited!!!!!!!
At first I was hoping it was maybe an artistic way of honoring the victims. A way raise awareness and somewhat of a memorial. However now I’m reminded of the disgusting shallowness the fashion world won’t abandon.Heroin chic? I can’t imagine how many lives its claimed and still counting. I guess the drug cartel’s devastation would be the their obvious choice. Can’t help but think of zoolander-however a very funny movie-still showcases the shallowness in some parts of the fashion world.Ya can’t buy class
I honestly can’t believe that MAC went there. I really can’t. A company that is so cruelty-free and so giving to the AIDS community cannot possibly be this starved for attention that they would have no problem exploiting the pain of hundreds (if not thousands) of people for profit.
I think I could understand it more if MAC were doing this as a way to bring awareness to those living in this situation and if, like Viva Glam, proceeds were going to organizations that would help these women (and men) get into a better situation.
Yes, I am half Hispanic. And yes, it pains me to see so many people not understand that what is going in Mexico is somehow not as bad as what happens to women in Rwanda, and yes, even the Holocaust. We are ALL people, and instead of bickering and biting here on the site, I will respect Christine (and her wonderful blog) and will go straight to writing and calling MAC to let them know just how disappointed I am that they’ve allowed themselves to stoop this low.
Yes, it is just makeup, but the makeup isn’t the issue. They could have easily called this “Industrial Revolution” and threw the SAME colors out there for us to love, snatch up and adore. Hell, they could’ve picked ANY OTHER INDUSTRIAL TOWN that WASN’T going through a femicide/rape/torture hell and it would’ve been fine.
I’m stepping off my soapbox now. Instead of spending money on this line, I will make a donation to a womens fund that helps those in situations like this. Sorry MAC, you may still have my love, but not for this one.
I completely agree with you, it comes across as incredibly insensitive because it seems like Rodarte/MAC either aren’t fully aware of what is occurring in Juarez or they don’t care enough to think that naming stuff after a place where countless women have been murdered could be offensive. In this age of the internet, it’s really hard for me to be sympathetic to any pleads of ignorance on either party’s part. All I hope is that more people become aware of the atrocities that are occurring in Juarez.
Nothing interests me….=/
I thought there’d be dark or smokey colours with Rodarte but I guess not.
Saves me money though. =P
I love these pastel colors..they look so sweet!
Hi Christine! I’m so sorry about the negative comments you’ve been getting lately. It’s such a shame that people can’t set aside their immaturity to comment on such a nice website such as yours, and I hope that the arguing and insults become overpowered by the compliments and love you get from your readers. Thank you for everything you do, Christine, from taking pictures of 20 lipstick swatches to doing in-depth reviews of products from tried and true brands as well as lesser-known brands. You’re so brave for putting yourself out there and don’t stop doing what you love, because you’re doing one heck of a job!
Tell Mellan and Shaun “hey!” for me 🙂 Bye Christine!!
Thanks, Ali! 🙂 It’s all good — I don’t mind the discussion, just want it to stay on track and not degenerate into a namecalling battle!
I appreciate the props — will say hi to the boys for ya 😀
Ali,
None of these “negative” comments are directed at Christine. She doesn’t work for MAC. She had nothing to do this line.
And, bringing awareness of social issues to a community like this isn’t “negative.” People come here to be educated about the makeup that they buy. Why can’t that education extend to the social implications of certain lines?
Lastly, being able to discuss the things that outrage us, make us uncomfortable, or pain us is not a sign of immaturity. Quite the opposite. An immature response to this line would be to shut out everything that made us uncomfortable about it in order to [comfortably] focus on whether or not we thought the new lipgloss colors might be “pretty.”
i think it’s kind of ridiculous the uproar that this collection is getting. RODARTE as fashion designers and artists have the liberty to express themselves. they are not glamorizing violence; they do not mention the violence as part of their inspiration. their inspiration was solely based on aesthetics and their goal is to let the observer ponder the meanings of these aesthetics. this is what art is about. art has the ability to inspire and offend. if you live in america, y’all, this is what freedom of expression is about.
They’ve said themselves it’s inspired by all aspects of the city of Juarez, as indicated from this quote from an interview by style.com on their latest collection: “The show ended with a quartet of ethereal, unraveling, rather beautiful white dresses that alternately called to mind quinceañera parties, corpse brides, and, if you wanted to look at it through a really dark prism, the ghosts of the victims of Juárez’s drug wars.”
There’s no doubt where the inspiration is coming from.
Original source for the quote:
http://www.style.com/fashionshows/review/F2010RTW-RODARTE
it is not solely aimed at just the Juarez violence, as RODARTE is trying to incorporate other images and trying to portray an aesthetic which leaves the observer to interpret it in their own way. just because YOU are offended, does not mean others are. it’s art, and art can be offensive to some.
but basically, if you don’t like it then don’t buy it
It still includes it and in my opinion as well as many others it is highly insensitive. I am all for artist freedom but I also think if Rodarte wanted to make social commentary they didn’t execute it in a way that encouraged further discussion or understanding at all, which is reflected a lot in the attitudes being expressed here of “this doesn’t matter”, “it’s just make-up” etc. This collection is not Picasso’s Guernica, it’s a misappropriation of an incidence that isn’t understood enough.
all i can say is that it really isn’t rodarte’s fault that you or anyone else is offended
You’re right, it isn’t. But it does show their, and others, 1st world privilege or perhaps just plain ignorance that it didn’t occur to them it might be at the very least insensitive and offensive to people. Or perhaps they just don’t care and don’t mind trivializing something so brutal and horrific.
It just shows how…removed some people are and it saddens me.
If you are comfortable with it, by all means, buy it. But understand that there are many people with a good reason not to.
No, it’s not Rodarte’s fault I choose to be a socially aware person and actively make decisions to be a conscious consumer. However, we live in a world where people are just as entitled to make reactions and commentary as those who decide to be unmoved by these situations. For me personally, the names were a bad idea but now seeing how indifferent people can be to a situation like this because it’ll possibly make them feel guilty or deprive them of something as trivial as make-up is far more concerning.
You make excellent point, Michelle. I agree with you 100%.
The definition of Art-, as you can find in Wikipedia is: ” is the process or product of deliberately arranging elements in a way to affect the senses or emotions.” – I agree with that definition and its art what they are doing it IS their fault if people is offended, because they were looking to arise emotions.
An artists express their opinions and feelings thru their art. And after seeing their insensitivity’s on this subject, and how cold they can be, I don’t think it’s the kind of artist that deserves my admiration. And I didn’t think that the opinions they are portraying on their collection (suffer can be beautiful) matches MAC’s public image
Ironically, Ciudad Juarez is named after Benito Juarez, a zopetec Indiand from Oaxaca who was once President of Mexico
He’s most famous quote is:
“The respect to others people rights is peace”
As artists, they may have the right to express themselves, and anyone in this forum has the right to feel offended by what they are portraing, and explain why.
We may not have the backup of global brand such as MAC, but at least we have this forum. Thanks to Christine we can freely and with respect share our opinions. Personally I don’t appreciate when mine, or other peoples thoughts are demerited in an aggresive manner (or sarcasm)
This isn’t just about self-expression, this about propriety, dignity, and tact.
All of which have been insufficiently approached.
Crap. And I thought I was going to be able to skip this one. There goes my wallet.
This collection sounds really interesting. Kind of ethereal and almost other worldly. The nail lacquers, Badland pigment, and both mineralized eye shadows sound like they’ll be landing in my stash 🙂
As I believe the saying goes: “Any publicity, is good publicity”. While many may feel this release is in poor taste, try to think about how many people, who were previously oblivious, are now aware of the atrocities associated with this collection. Some may still choose to turn a blind eye to it, but others might actually seek ways to make a change.
I think MAC’s saving grace at this point would be to donate a portion of the proceeds from this collection to help combat the horrible situation, and living conditions, in Juarez, and other “Border Towns”.
i’m not sure why msc should donate anything only to appease those who are ‘offended’ by the choice of the names. if anything, those who are ‘offended’ should donate if they feel so passionately about it.
agreed. MAC has no obligation to donate any money to save themselves. If anyone boycotts, I doubt that it’ll seriously affect MAC’s own profits and reputation. If you feel strongly about this situation, then donate yourself, go out there and make a difference, DON’T expect other people to do it for you.
Boycotting is not always for the purpose of affecting profits or reputation, but can send a message that what the company is doing is not okay.
The reason I made a comment about MAC donating a portion of the proceeds, was because MAC is usually a very socially conscious and responsible company. I never felt they should do it to appease the naysayers, but because it was truly the right thing to do.
Anyways, turns out, as per MAC’s official statement, they will indeed be donating a portion of proceeds to help those in Juarez. I guess my comment/insights were so far-fetched afterall. 😉
*That last sentence should actually say: I guess my post wasn’t so far-fetched afterall. 😉
The products look fab. The picture with the girl in is positively awful though. Wow. Scary.
Wow Christine when I read your little message to all of your reaaders I thought “wow why would people be arguing?” I just scrolled down and saw the little arguement on the produt names…a little ridiculous if i say so myself. I really love the idea of the limited edition packaging but keeping it clean similar to DSquared or the Alexander McQueen colletion…like with only the name of the designer written on it and no fancy pictures or anything. I’m kind of excited for the pigments and polishes for this collection:)
Wow. “little argument about the product names”. Although I appreciate your opinion about how you find this argument ridiculous (which I do not!), I’m not sure you know or understand what you’re referring to. This discussion is and will be more than just an argument about which names are used!
Personally, I also think it was highly insensitive and horrifying to use this subject (Rhodarte’s mexican road trip/the city Juarez/etc), of which this horrible femicide is an incredibly important part(!), as “ethereal” inspiration.
I am also not convinced that MAC and Rhodarte are using this makeup line to create awareness. Frankly it sounds to me like they didn’t expect the outrage at all. Especially since Mac anounced the donation after people complained about the line. That’s just my opinion.
I totally agree with all the points Alex and several other well-spoken people have put forth. This collection is saddening in its insensitivity to human sorrow and misery.
And I also agree with the point that just talking about it, even though it will inform, educate and create awareness, is not enough. It is up to us, the people who are offended by this line, to speak up and seek ways to take action to hopefully help this horrible story of violence against women.
Christine, thank you for allowing us to discuss this! On a whole other note, you have an amazing website. It’s absolutely my favorite makeup blog.
I like the sound of the opal pink and opal green nailpolishes. I also like the layered lipglasses, though I know they will be quite sheer.
Beautiful! Can’t wait to get the beauty powder.
Looks interesting!
Christine,
Many thanks for letting us vent/discuss/enlighten/learn about this issue through your blog! Apparently there’s so much more to make-up than just warm/cool tones!! 🙂
wow. I truly can’t believe that MAC/Rodarte would release products with names such as “Juarez” and “Factory.” Juarez is a region in Mexico notorious for it’s high poverty level and numerous rapes/murders that are committed against teen/young adult girls on their way to and from work in the factories. These crimes go unpunished and unresolved – as police have been pushing the whole situation to the wayside for years.
I’m a huge MAC fan and I certainly love rodarte also but I’m so disappointed in these names being included in this collection. Probably won’t be purchasing from this collection : /
Whoa, I knew nuts bout this till this collection came along and sparked off this whole discussion.
I’d say thumbs up though, I’m sure they knew what they were doing and I personally think they did this to create awareness. Just look at the amount of comments and anger.
This looks very interesting 🙂 but i don’t like the model 🙁
Dudes, its makeup. It is not as if every penny you spend is being sent to drug lords to make the situation worse. Also, the colors are not indicative of violence. They are bright, happy, pastels. Mexico has a lot of factories and Juarez is a big city there. Plus, just as many men get killed there are women.
If it is killing you that much, write a letter to MAC. Don’t sit online trying to make everyone else feel the way you do so you can be validated.
The only way the femicide will ever stop is if enough people are made aware of it and DEMAND that the authorities put an end to it. So… we are not trying to educate people about the atrocities in Juarez so that we can “feel validated.” We are doing it to make people aware of the ONGOING violence against women that has “inspired” this line.
It really saddens me that names like factory and Juarez are in this collection….As a mexican american and a woman it just makes me very disappointed. I for one will boycott this collection. As a MAC fanatic im slowly starting to loose interest in their collections, for example: the limited supply of marine life, stereo rose where in some stores only had 3! Im so disappointed in MAC 🙁
I TOTALLY agree with this comment! I am becoming VERY dismayed by MAC as a company, and this is enough to discourage me from wanting to buy anything from them at all in the future.
What offends me the most from reading this discussion so far is, the thought that the atrocities occurring in Juarez SHOULDN’T or CAN’T be compared to the atrocity of the Holocaust. I agree with the comment: human tragedy is human tragedy. I am just curious to know the reasoning behind the thought that the two tragedies are not parallel to one other, other than the race/class of the people being victimized. In my opinion, they are absolutely parallel to one another and equally horrendous. I find it hard to understand how the situation in Juarez is any less abominable than the Holocaust or any other historical incidence of violent human genocide for that matter.
And thank you Christine, for allowing this discussion to continue on your blog. I could understand how someone in your position would be reluctant to allow it, but this has been very enlightening for me, and I respect you for allowing your blog to be a venue for discussing such a highly controversial subject. That’s what makes blogs like yours so great, its not only a site for fanatics to indulge in our common interest, our passion for makeup, but it can also become a global forum for people to voice their opinions and possibly (hopefully), learn from each other and create awareness about our world.
The only thing I’m interested in in this collection is Mauvement pigment but I would have been interested in it if it was in any other collection too. Oh and possibly the beauty powder but it does kinda look like Accentuate shaping powder so I will probably pass on it.
I can’t wait for this collection, I love Rodarte! It sounds like it’s going to be a pretty interesting collection.
Heroine Chic is not my kind of taste….a lipstick called sleepless? I don´t intentionally want to look as if I had no sleep. I´m a fan of the fresh, healthy face. Although, I am interested in Badlands pigment and the mint nail polish and there are so many LEs that I am happy that I finally don´t like one of them;-).
I do not understand why Mac does not use this opportunity to do something to help – a campaign, a fundraiser…
I’m sorry. I know a lot of the products look beautiful, but all I can think of when I look at the promo ad is, “No thanks. I don’t want to look like a Zombie.” :/
The collection looks nice, but the girl in that picture looks like a ghost from the Supernatural tv series. Creepy!
I really don’t like it_
OMG, the products look beautiful.
Thanks for letting the discussion continue Christine!
What a beautiful package! Love it!
There’s definitely a few things I’ll be picking up! I just don’t like the girl in the promo picture… she looks like she was locked in a cage for seven days sans food.
Welcome to fashion. Its all about making a statement, good or bad.
I’ve read the comments and I’m shocked at the negative feedback. Another reader pointed out that this collection sheds light on the issues in Juarez, that people didn’t know about before. I would say that’s a good thing… right?
If people really want to take it there, remember that when you see movies that are based off of true events, or at least make references to the problems of our world, then perhaps they should be boycotted because they’ll insult someone. Is that realistic? No. American History X, The Da Vinci Code, A Clockwork Orange, United 93, Kids, Philadelphia, Farenheit 9/11 — they’re all controversial films that have and continue to offend people. However, these films (whether they’re fiction or not) puts controversial issues under the microscope. It may make people feel offended, upset, bothered, confused, but it also brings forth attention to those unaware. Sometimes, you just have to take the good with the bad or else you’ll be looking at the glass as half empty.
And if a movie glamourizes it, yes I would boycott it. Just like I’m doing with this collection.
If the point was to raise awareness, there were far better ways to do it.
But the movies are shedding light on things that happen and bringing attention to issues. Makeup is just…having names and being pretty and making money. It’s making money using something tragic without actually SAYING ANYTHING to raise awareness of the issue or help. That’s what’s so sad. If MAC actually issues a statement about the problem or, even better, donated some proceeds to the victims, that would make it look a lot better. I hope they do.
Look at this whole thread… it actually did raise awareness. In fact, I can say that I am now aware. Perhaps MAC should donate proceeds to the cause — that I totally agree with. Still, all I’ve seen is people talk about how bad it is there and how offended they are but instead of complaining about MAC, maybe we should just donate what we would’ve liked to buy into a charitable organization on behalf of the victims in Juarez. Makes perfect sense to me since instead of just talking, we’d actually be doing something productive. In fact, that’s what I’m going to do and I’m certainly not offended by this collection. By the way, movies glamorize all sorts of problems (drugs, violence, sex), yet most of us would just say it was a good movie. Unless you limit yourself to Disney flicks, it’s definitely true.
I think that some people probably *will* consider making donations in lieu of buying the makeup from MAC they might have in September. But that’s a form of protest. I just think that blindly selling stuff without EXPLICITLY calling attention to what it’s about and what the problems are is not what I expect of a socially conscious company like MAC – they are better than this IMO 🙁
Of course movies glamorize problems, and some of them do it blindly, and that sucks, too (e.g., gory “torture porn” type flicks that make entertainment out of gruesome violence without much substance). But a lot of movies are actually made to bring attention and do something about a problem. In fact, a movie was made about this very issue in Ciudad Juarez – it’s called Bordertown. I just think there’s a huge difference between using these terms and images yanked straight from the huge problems there, and not actually TALKING about it. MAC is not talking about it, yet. I want to see them do so by the time they release this collection or I won’t even consider putting my money towards it.
I can see your point, it makes a lot of sense and I hope MAC does have something to say about it. There’s still time; a lot of their collection info isn’t released in its full entirety until usually a week or two prior to launch. Where I see is a problem is that, they based this collection off of a town in Mexico. Yet, the bulk of this makeup seems better suited for a white woman, I’m white by the way, but I find this makes no logical sense….
I would like to confirm that none of the Rodarte information I have posted has come directly from MAC PR. I have sent an inquiry in, and will let you know if I hear anything, but generally speaking, MAC (in the U.S. and with bloggers) doesn’t release information until 2-3 weeks before a collection–max. A lot of information that does come out comes from international web sites or else MAC artists (who go to update every three months).
Just because MAC based the collection off a town in Mexico doesnt mean it suited for anyone in particular. White, Black, Mexican, Asian….ALL AGES, ALL SEXES, ALL RACES, ALL MAC!..
I was definitely not trying to say that the line should revolve around colors for women of Mexican / Hispanic decent. No, no, no. What I meant was that a lot of the colors don’t look like they’re wearable for everyone, like the lipsticks and beauty powder. That’s just my opinion. The collection looks fabulous, though =)
yes i very much agree with your point about these colors absolutely NOT being suited to anyone who isn’t very fair.
I concur.After reading the statements that MAc/Rodarte put out, i feel a bit appreciative of their effort,but Personally i feel like the damage is done.But never say never.They will really have to redeem themselves on this one.
It’s too bad because im an avid MAC shopper, and i liked a few things from this line, however I won’t go near them.
Bordertown!!Yes that movie(Jennifer Lopez is in it) absolutely shed a whole new light on this issue!!I STRONGLY suggest for anyone planning to purchase anything from this line to watch that movie beforehand.It will truly open your eyes.One thing is to hear about it another is to actually SEE it.It’ll give you a new perspective.
Perhaps it brings awareness to the issue, but if you think about it, the basis of this collection (at least from the promo pic) is dark, tired eyes, and corpse-like mouths. We’re supposed to want to look like this? I feel its glamorizing the issue at hand, and I think that MAC distastefully named the products.
My problem with the collection (and the promo picture) is that the colors seem like they’re made for a white / fair-skinned women (yes, I’m white), but this is all suppose to be based off of a Mexican city. I feel like it lacks diversity for ALL women (and men too!).
That’s a really good point, Katie. If you’re going to be inspired in whatever way by a Mexican city, I’d think they could at least make the colors suitable for a typical Mexican consumer’s skin tone.
I have to agree with you on that; even if I wasn’t sickened by this collection I still wouldn’t buy most of these products, I’m a WOC (North Indian) and there’s no way I could wear any of these colors without looking just gross. When your skin is tan, taupe lips don’t look edgy or heroin-chic, they just look gross, atleast in my opinion.
For the record, I think taupe lips would look gross on 99.9% of people lol
Seriously though, they could’ve done a better job at making this collection well-rounded.
I disagree. Many movies that superficially appear to glamourize drugs and violence are actually trying to prove the opposite. The ones that aren’t I don’t watch. Believe me, I still watch many, many movies. 😉
But there is no deeper meaning here. It is a situation where people took something so horrific and reduced it something superficial to sell clothes and makeup. 🙁
True! Still, my point was leaning more towards how these movies offend people. Passion of the Christ. Remember that one? The way it started HUGE controversy, but now that all is said and done, it’s old news. I feel like, for a lot of people, this’ll become old news too… just like everything else — even if they were deeply offended by it. Sometimes, there’s just things that we have no control over. I do think MAC could’ve worked this A LOT better, but I hope they learn from it… hopefully make a good donation and never cross the line again. As for the movies, they sell tickets and the actors get multi-million dollar contracts. Yet, MOST of these movies, I’m sure, make no charitable contribution. It’s kind of hypocritical.
I really wish MAC would stop making the stupid square packaged lipglosses!!! They drive me crazy. :,-(
I’ve never heard about Juarez before, and now that I have I’m really stunned. Okay to bring awareness about a problem like that, but like this? I don’t think so.
It’s just awful.
Scary model for a scary collection. Pity tho, because I love the colors.
I had a long talk with dh about this on our way home last night. We don’t always agree on what is insensitive, but we were both in firm agreement that this collection goes way beyond insensitive and is just plain disgusting. Dh made the comment that if they were glamourizing just about any other similiar situation or tragedy it would create an uproar, but for some reason this one people want to brush off as “just makeup”. More people need to step outside of themselves and realize that things are more than “just makeup” or “just clothes”. This collection highlights the ignorance and 1st world privilege that runs rampant in our society.
I am extremely disappointed in MAC and I have to say, it’s changed the way I view the company for the worse. 🙁
i see your point, but i think it is perhaps cynical, or maybe just underestimating all of us, to assume that ANY other tragedy or situation would create an uproar. in fact, i would qualify what is going on now as an uproar, no?
i think the main difference is that if it was an issue more people were aware of, the uproar would be more immediate. with this, people have to learn about it before they can get angry, i know i had to. i think it is common for people to be more sympathetic to issues within their own cultural group (fortunately and unfortunately), but have a little faith in your fellow makeup lovers that it is not always just because of who the tragedy is affecting and not affecting, it’s more about visibility (i believe).
i think if it was another issue the same people would be dismissive towards it and the same people would be angry about it. but people are entitled to their opinions either way.
i really like the idea of taking the money i was planning on putting toward this collection and donating it to an organization that helps these women instead.
hmm…it just doesn’t look like a very women of color friendly collection to me with the exception of the eyeshadows…so I will probably be passing it up.
“it just doesn’t look like a very women of color friendly collection”
HA! That’s the understatement of the year.
i thought about pointing that out but just really didn’t want to open that whole other can of worms lol
Meh, what a boring collection! The mineralize eyeshadows seems somewhat interesting though.
I’m really disgusted by the whole theme and the names as well, so I’ll probably pass on this one.
just wondering why the beauty powder says made in usa, but the pigment is made is canada :/
MAC probably has multiple manufacturing plants/suppliers?
Most eyeshadows, paint pots, fluidlines and pigments are made in Canada. Many of the face powders are made in Italy and many other items in the USA. Estee Lauder has lots of plants and makes lots of stuff all over the world.
any in mexico??
Oh boy, that picture is freaking me out. Nearly puts me off the collection just because I’m so freaked out by the girl haha.
Actually, to be honest, apart from the lipsticks (which I still would have to see in person before making a choice) nothing really appeals to me … well, we’ll see !
Okay, after reading the whole lot of comments, I now know it has something to do with Juarez (I actually hadn’t made the link … journalism major FAIL -___- boo me !) and have decided I could never purchase this collection. It is too politically sensitive and unless all profit is directly given to a movement that helps the women in Juarez (I mean, this could be why MAC is doing this, until we have more info we won’t know) it is, in my opinion, just glamorizing some people’s misery and I could never stand by that.
So MAC, unless you do something really good with this money, your collection will never see the inside of my house.
Im glad you were able to see the issue @hand.I truly appreciate that.
I am SO not artsy enough to appreciate this promo photo. It terrifies me, in fact! But I LOVE the look of the products! WOW! can’t wait to see these and their swatches 🙂
so agree about that promo pic….why would anyone want to look like that?
So I just read the previous comments… eee! I’m ashamed to say this but I did not make the connections to the product names and horrific events until people pointed it out. So, thanks for letting the rest of us uninformed know.
This collection and the so-called “inspriration” behind it saddens me being that they are not bringing any awareness to the situation there, just making a profit. As a native Texan, I’m well aware of the situation in the border towns, particularly Jaurez, which is an extremely dangerous place. MAC needs to do better.
The merits of the collection items aside (and I happen to love them), I have to say the controversey stirred up by the subject matter of the collection is probably going to have a positive effect on the real world situation.
Righteous anger fuels activism. Look at the comments, many of the women who commented on this had NEVER EVEN HEARD of Juarez or the plight of the people there. Well, they do now. Does it say something about our society that sometimes a lipstick (or a blog, for that matter) can reveal a human rights crisis happening miles away from the border of the United States?
This is going to make people think and talk about real issues. I agree, makeup is my escape. I like Hello Kitty. But MAC has plenty ofcredibility with me; they were talking about gay rights decades before Ellen and Will and Grace. I’m going to give them the benefit of the doubt for this and be glad that 100 more people are aware of what’s going on because of this collection.
You said it perfectly. Thanks.
You are SO RIGHT! People should see positive things and facts!
I agree, I hope good action will come of this. Also, while makeup products are more commercial goods than anything, part of fashion is art (especially for a brand like Rodarte that does not produce much for retail), and it would be a sad day if artists couldn’t deal with polemic subject matters in fear of getting boycotted.
I emailed MAC customer service to express my distaste over this collection, and their lack of foresight. The more I look at this model, the more angry I become. So, you have a zombie-like woman, tending to another gray-ghost like woman? This is in really poor taste.
I will not buy anything from this collection because of the names (and it is going to be tough because the beauty powder is just my colour).
I think if MAC wanted to make an audience aware of the problem, they could have done that with a campaign, too (like the MAC Aids-Fund etc) instead of this. I’d say that I would not buy anything else by Rodarte then, too, but that is rather pointless since they are not my price range anyways.
I do like some Goth-Glam, but I think this concept here is tasteless and also not comparable to the Goth/Pale/Rockstar-Look.
I’m so glad to have official statements about the collection. (I like MAC’s words better…) Thanks, Christine, for reaching out to the companies for their response, and for posting it so quickly!!
I’m also SO SO SO glad that MAC will be donating a percent of profits to help those in need in Juarez.
See, we make a difference. I’m glad they will be donating some of the proceeds to help those in Juarez.
meh, the names don’t bother me – they’re just words
to be honest though although this collection looks super cool theres not a lot in it which is really “wearable” for me. i like the colourful lipglass though, and the blush is pretty. also like the sound of the mint nail varnish but thats it
here’s my thing. had the item not been named Juarez and some article had not been written about the ill practices, i’d be blissfully unaware. i cannot see the naming of these products as grounds for anger or boycotting. if anything, my awareness has been raised. im not mad at it. of course, people will find fault in anything…
Perhaps this collection isn’t making light of a terrible situation but shedding light on it. I had no idea about what was happening in Juarez and thanks to the dialogue opened up between fans of both rodarte and mac I am now aware, as are many other people. And, for the record, using the holocaust as an example in this discussion is absolutely relevant. While the horrible things happening in Juarez may or may not be on such a massive scale human beings are still being subjected to violence, suffering, torture, and death. Buy from the collection or don’t based on how you feel about the situation, but definitely recognize, though probably not originally intended, this collection is getting people to talk about this. And awareness is always the first step in the process of change.
I wont be buying from this collection simply because its too close to fabulous felines and to venomous villains.
Well thanks MAC, I don’t think you were trying to offend anyone. Honestly I think maybe you will bring awareness to the situation happening in Juarez. You are the only cosmetic line that does this. Viva Glam, so all those people that get offended easily, look at what they do instead of criticizing all the time.
I want to thank Christine for allowing this discussion to take place and reminding everyone to be civil. She could have just deleted the comments to avoid a hot button issue but instead she has classily and professionally handled this so I applaud her. Thank you all for the information.
I had a dream last night about the pigment that is shown in the picture and I had like a vile filled with the pink rebel luster drops and I dumped it into the pigment and shook it up. I am never reading temptalia before I go to bed again D: It was a weird dream I tell you.
LOL!
was thinking about getting the MES but know i’m just boycotting
So, I’ll throw my two cents into this discussion:
Who is regulating the language? If the artists wanted to be gritty with the names and possible offend/draw attention (it can be the same thing) and MAC was like “Oh no! You’re not allowed to call it that… we’ll lose sales because this isn’t politically correct…”, then that wouldn’t be good either.
We think of MAC as a forward-thinking company who doesn’t see in terms of color, gender or sexual orientation? It seems to me that silencing the artists’ viewpoint would go against their tenets.
Plus, look at the comments above and see how many more people have now familiarized themselves with the situation in Juarez (and Mexico, in general) as a result of this controversy. They have pushed the envelope by offending some which, to me, is worth it if others have been educated.
Makeup-wise, I don’t care for the colors – so I probably won’t buy anything. But, it won’t be because of the names.
It’s isn’t about political correctness though (which is a phrase that is problematic in and of itself). MAC is a company that has demonstrated an interest in equality and in groups that have historically been oppressed. Glossing over and “prettifying” the plight of the women in Juarez actually runs counter to everything I expect from MAC.
The names of products are not determined by the artists who create the colors. Product names are developed by marketing writers. I think there was a better way to raise awareness.
wow, that’s really horrible they can make names of makeup out of something like this. shocking, really. Maybe they just wanted to raise awareness, but this is an offensive way to do it. And I don’t think it will raise much awareness as most people will walk in MAC and say “oh, that’s pretty, I like this lipstick!” and will make themselves look pretty with a lipstick capitalizing on the blood of others?
i really admire and respect MAC for coming out with a statement and a proper response to the comments posted. some companies may simply choose to ignore it and just sell their products. just another reason why i love them so much!
I won’t be buying from this collection. I think it is sad and offensive that this collection was even conceive.
Even though I wasn’t born in Mexico, I love my Mexico with all my heart and it saddens me to see that a makeup collection is inspired by the atrocities happening in Juarez. There are so many beautiful things that Mexico does have to offer and it pains me to see that the bad is highlighted.
I absolutely agree.
I’m very surprised MAC has agreed to have these names on their cosmetics. Whether it was MAC or Rodarte who came up with these names, it is not right. They should not have made such negative names as makeup colors. I like a lot of things from this collection but I’m sure many people will not be purchasing anything due to this controversy.
Offensive or not (really, only the factory workers can make that call), I’d venture a guess that thousands of people or so are now informed of an issue they had no idea about before reading this/seeing the collection.
…you may blame Mac/Rodarte all you want, but sometimes people don’t hop onto the “save the whales/save the children” bandwagon as quickly as they play the “I’m outraged/this is offensive, now we need to do something” tune.
We can all determined for ourselves whether or not the names are offensive. The factory workers are not the final arbiters, just as I don’t have to be a gay man to find gay bashing offensive or a person of color to find racism offensive. As a person involved in anti-oppression social justice work, in fact, I think we’re all better off when we recognize that things like racism and sexism and the mistreatment of people around the world hurts all of us – and we all should be offended by that.
I am more impressed with the MAC statement than the Rodarte statement. A frank apology is a good start and an assurance that they will continue to communicate their efforts – it’s something.
Regardless of whether this collection is named from “harmless inspiration” and brings about awareness, the most sickening thing is that MAC will receive PROFIT from this line. Had the designers really wanted to bring about awareness they could have created something similar to viva glam. I don’t see any lipsticks named AIDS! This is so insensitive to the city of Juarez, and for every female victim without a voice. Without justice. Tradgedy isn’t pretty. Boycotting.
Hmm this makes me wonder where it spe cifically goes and how much actually goes to these women
Wow.. I was gonna save up for Venomous Villains but.. Nevermind Im byin’ this! 😀 beautiful
This collections sounds so pretty. I can’t wait to see what Sleepless looks like.
I sent them an e-mail expressing my disappointment in them for seemingly making light of Juarez’s current situation. I’m so glad to see they’re addressing the controversy and will be donating some of the proceeds.
Personally, I think the whole issue could have been turned around completely if MAC and Rodarte had just planned their releases and press better. If they had emphasized the meaning behind this line and pushed the spotlight and their fans’ attention toward the issue that inspired them, this discussion board would be full of people praising them instead of boycotting the line.
As it appears to me, they were inspired by the tragedy and named their pieces after it, and that was the most acknowledgment they were going to give. Then the angry letters started rolling in and now they’re back-pedaling to make up for the fact that they didn’t highlight where their inspiration came from in the first place.
Next time a cosmetics company is inspired by tragedy, all it takes is them giving something back (as simple as a portion of proceeds and a spot on the packaging explaining the inspiration) in return for the moral right to name a collection after death and destruction. That would allow them to maintain MY respect anyway.
I agree with you on this; yesterday I was sickened and irritated, today I am somewhat appeased by MAC’s statement. Releasing this statement sooner would, I think, for many people such as myself, have prevented the outrage.
The way I saw it yesterday, MAC had released a collection capitalizing upon the border violence. It could be interpreted as them trying to raise awarness, and it has achieved that, but MAC didn’t inform me about the events in Juarez, the people posting here did.
I agree with you; their willingness to donate to help the problems is enough to justify this collection, atleast in my eyes.
I think the collection looks beautiful.
I am undecided about the morals of it at present but at the very least it’s educated me because I’d never heard of the horrors in Juarez, I can’t believe I’d never heard of this atrocity. I’ve now spent two hours reading about it. I guess if this collection had never happened, I’d be none the wiser.
Thank you Christine for allowing this discussion and thank you to everyone who posted information on this issue. I had no idea about Juarez and have now began researching. Even though I find it very inappropriate for MAC to name these products after such tragedy, they have indirectly opened my eyes to the problems and femicide in Juarez. In no way am I supporting this collection and will refuse to buy based on principle, but I think exponentially more people have been educated because of the controversy this release caused. Silver lining?
Has anyone thought that Mac did this to bring attention to the problems going on there? It worked didn’t it? Many of you were unaware until you found out about this collection and now you’re very well educated. The fact that they are donating money to the city is more than enough reason to justify keeping the collection around. It’s makeup guys, it’s just the name of a city. I don’t think they were trying to upset you, just bring attention to an important matter they maybe thought was overlooked.
Pretty sure it was another poster that notified us all of these atrocities. Not MAC 9_9.
I’m sorry, I’m not trying to be indifferent or ignorant, but I truly don’t understand why there’s a lot of controversy over this… can someone please tell me why people are getting offended? I’m not exactly sure
If you read all of the comments, including the linked information about the situation in Juarez, you’ll get a better understanding of why this collection is so controversial. 🙂
Oops, substitute have for get.
Me fail English? Unpossible!
ok thank you… because I really didn’t get the controversy!
I knew it!!! just yesterday i posted saying that they are going to give proceeds to help the cause. people are so quick to judge. im so excited for this collection and im buying EVERYTHING!
Pu-leeeze. MAC did not decide to give a portion (and we’re not sure how big that portion is — they have yet to release the details) until all of the controversy hit. Fine if people want to buy the product — but give me a break — like MAC is so altruistic all of a sudden. I’m sure they are doing it for PR reasons now that they have seen how up in arms people are.
Along with Michelle’s comment, their “donation” could be a 90%…. or 1%.
I live in the southernmost tip of Texas, commonly referred to as the “Rio Grande Valley.” I’m enjoying reading both sides of the coin on this discussion. But is it logical to say that negative can be found with just about ANYTHING? I live across the Mexican states of Tamaulipas and Nuevo Leon. I can imagine naming a makeup product after these states and intending to evoke the images of the friendly border people, the food, the atmosphere, the outdoor markets, the music, etc. However, this area has recently been overrun by serious drug crime, horribly victimizing Mexican people of all sexes and ages, from the average citizen to political figures, and even including spillover violence into the Texas border towns. Would that necessarily make it wrong, assuming my original intentions were to celebrate the beauty found in those areas?
The Holocaust camps were CREATED for the purpose of human mistreatment. The factories in Juarez existed before the crimes. So did Juarez. I don’t completely disagree with the dissension to the line, but maybe, just maybe, we are often too eager to try to connect dots that shouldn’t be.
It could also be complete and utter (maybe even willful) ignorance on the companies’ parts.
The Rodarte designers have been quite frank about drawing their inspiration from the women who work in factory jobs… and wander through the streets like “sleepwalkers” on their way to work midnight shifts. It seemed immaterial to them that many of these women never make it home to their families alive.
The numerous scholars working on femicide in Juarez have determined that the maquilas (factories) and femicide go hand in hand. One came with the advent of the other. Furthermore, the factories have represented a real incentive to keep femicide off the radar… and have therefore allowed it to continue unfettered.
Even if we took femicide out of the equation, the maquilas were built for the express purpose of exploiting Mexican women’s labor (men are usually not hired to work in them) and are a site at which women and young girls are continually sexually harrassed and intimidated. They pollute the communities they are in– poisoning the air and water. MANY MANY people who live around these factories have gotten sick.
They represent human misery.
I don’t want to color my lips with that.
Hey, I live in the valley too! 😀
Yay fellow southern Texas makeup blog lover! ^^
Hmm, I don’t think the uproar is worth all the fuss. I can see how the names may offend some since the situation of that area is still fresh, but I would think those offended would, after a bit of time to let the facts sink in, realize that this collection is more about the physical sense of Juarez, not fully the terrible situation of what going on there.
These are both artistic companies – fashion and makeup art. I’m typically not the person to defend “art” (some art) when it comes off as pretentious and meaningless while trying to be “edgy”, but in this case I don’t see any of that. It seems to me that the people of Rodarte had taken a trip, experienced and were inspired by an area that happened to be going through a very tragic time. The way I see it, areas with deep-rooted stories and especially tragedy are the ones that inspire and reach out to people’s creativity the most. So who’s to say someone can’t take away an idea for a fashion or makeup line. I understand thier profiting off of it and thats where the problems lie for some, (i’m not keen on that, even if a “portion” is going to the cause), but that’s just the reality of business. I mean what benefit would Rodarte gain from offending people? It certainly doesn’t raise thier sales, i’ve read countless comments already here of people saying they’ll pass due to the names.
If an artist or a photographer came away from the same trip with a piece and decided to title it “Juarez” or “Factory”, I don’t believe that individual would be getting any flack.
Ha, now all of that said, I don’t see anything too interesting from this collection. From the descriptions so far Rose State lipstick might be nice.
And I know the argument may come up debating that a cosmetics line or fashion line isn’t truly artistic expression, and no matter what they are still profiting off of it so it’s business and not art, but I would just like to state that I disagree with that. They are each a form of artistic expression (although it may not always seem so, I know). And I understand that this is a makeup line so it’s almost like the epitome of “glamorizing” but I truly don’t think ill-intentions apply here. And believe me, I’m never the first to go with the “they had good intentions” crap.. I hate that lazy excuse.. but here it’s obvious that the people behind this didn’t realize it would set off such an uproar. I just think that some designers or makeup artists (or anyone in a business field with an artistic base) don’t realize that not everyone sees things the way they do.
I think that Rodarte was not worrying about offending anyone because they guessed (correctly, it seems) that the people who would be offended by the exploitation and murder of poor, Mexican women, are not their target market anyways.
They were counting on the ignorance and/or apathy of privileged first world consumers.
Poor, murdered Mexican women don’t buy Rodarte sweaters… so their opinions don’t matter to the Mulleavy sisters.
I suppose my question would be do you believe that Rodarte simply had this concept understanding it may or may not be offensive to some and in that case relied on the ignorant to not see the implication of the product names, or do you believe the intent behind the concept is purposefully malicious and they absolutely knew the ignorant would have no understanding of the implications behind the names?
I ask only because I believe the core issue people are having with this is that the way they see it, Rodarte being some “almighty high-fashion line” can just exploit any tragedy and call it inspiration. While this is something that has hurt many people and should not be dragged into the glamorization of cosmetics and clothing. However, there is truth to the commentary, ugliness is happening in Juarez right now, something real. I feel this is more of a debate between keeping reality and these more superficial aspects of our lives separate. The way I see things, it seems a bit of a stretch to just jump in the abyss and say the corporations just don’t care about what’s happening. Don’t get me wrong, i’m sure no one behind either company is losing sleep at night because of it, but I don’t think they’re trying to show just how much they don’t care with the product names they’ve chosen.
It’s a bit disturbing to see the “if they’re not going to do anything about it they should just ignore it” mentality applied here. Remember that Photojournalist Kevin Carter? Google him if you don’t, it’s a fascinating story. He took the famous photo of the starving child in Sudan being watched by a vulture while she was crawling to a nearby food camp. Snapped the picture, left the scene. He won a pulitzer prize for the piece and three months later killed himself. The difference between each case I feel is that Mac and Rodarte aren’t hurting anyone. it’s the name of a nail polish. If they had used the inspiration in a later time when things may not be so fresh and heated in Juarez, no one would notice a thing. They’re not the cause if another women is killed tonight because of the happenings. Thier making a commentary, “stupid” or not, it’s just a commentary. Words. Nothing that can lead to devastation.
Rodarte and Mac may be incredibly affluent corporations with a lot of money to put forward and it would be a christmas freaking miracle if they did, but who says it’s thier duty to come to the rescue in this situation. We all would praise them if they did but should we really hate on them because they don’t? They’re not martyrs. This is fashion and makeup. As far as I can see a nail polish named “Factory’ is most likely not even the last thing on the mind of someone involved in the tragedy of Juarez.
I still stand by the core argument that if any artist titled thier painting or photograph “Factory” or “Sleepwalker” no one would for a second think the creator didn’t care about the subject, in fact most would say the opposite, that the creator cared so deeply they were inspired and had to express themselves the only way they could, through their art form. Eventually that art piece would be sold and the creator would profit. Would you then say they were exploiting Juarez?
Lizz,
If they were just inspired, and kept the inspiration to themselves, fine. They could have called the whole collection Rodarte “Sleepwalkers” and never mention their trip and never mention Juarez and no one would ever know. The choice of names, however, politicizes the product.
For what it’s worth, because I do not usually post on Temptalia, I usually AM a fan of MAC products (though have never cared for Rodarte’s collections). So I can completely appreciate the excitement a new collection brings. However, with Rodarte’s stated inspiration and the product names, all I see when I look at the product shots or read the description for “Bordertown” eyeshadow (“Black with red, pale blue, and silver veining” is blood and death.
And sure, art can be exploitive too, but in general it is one person’s creation, and one person’s reaction to a situation. If an artist painted a painting of a maquiladora as happy and glowing, we would likely see this as satirical commentary. If they painted a painting of a maquila as a ghostly sleepwalker, you’re right, it would come off as straightforward commentary. However, a corporation who is, understandably, involved in mass production and aiming for profits doing the same thing (if that’s even what they were aiming for) elicits very different responses.
I agree to an extent, and I appreciate that you acknowledged some of my points regarding the commentary of art, but I truly still think the controversy has gotten a bit out of hand.
For someone to find the product names offensive is fine, one can’t deny what makes them uncomfortable. But what i’m not hearing a lot of is why they are offended. What I feel like i’ve been seeing is a “follow the herd” mentality. Of course, anyone has the right to tell me i’m wrong, i may be, but the beginning of this thread was a slew of regular comments regarding the makeup. One person mentioned the Juarez controversy and not one comment after that was about anything else.
Skimming through he 600-some comments in this thread and on other news sites, I’ve read numerous replies from people claiming to be from or living in/near Juarez currently who are not the least bit offended. Yet, people not directly effected by the situation seem to up in arms. Who are we to be outraged about something when the people actually in the middle of the area in question are a bit confused as to why the internet is screaming about nail polish names and thier country in the same breath?
I can at least agree that I find the fact that both Mac and Rodarte are profiting while Juarez, the inspiration behind both the makeup and the runway collection, could seriously benefit from the profit, a bit screwed up, but these names are not meant to be offensive. What I believe people are forgetting is that this is a collection inspired by a country, a country that is literally saturated in it’s own tragedy. It’s powerful and for someone to not be inspired when standing on that land is ridiculous.
People who work for a fashion house took a trip. They were inspired by the area. The area is tragic, and in that way beautiful. They go back and help create a runway collection based on what they experienced and what they saw, because this is how they can express thier thoughts on the issue – any one in any other medium would do the same in thier own way. It’s a bit dark, but what about Juarez isn’t dark right now? No glamorization, just interpretation. Eventually Mac teams up the fashion house to create thier own spin off the runway show. This is where it becomes a bit more commercial, and in that way, a bit exploitative.
You can tell me i’m wrong, but at this very moment and for as long this Issue in Juarez escalates, the country and the tragedy go hand in hand. To mention one and not he other these days is rare. If Rodarte had happened to do a collection based on the area and had not alluded to a the country’s issue, people would be outraged and would go on to say things like “they obviously don’t care” and “are they so rich and blind they didn’t even notice what the hell is going on down there?!” And no, they could not have kept mum on thier inspiration, that’s not how the runway collections work. As a designer and a fashion house, your collections are nothing but your inspiration. The only thing that people want to know is what inspired your collection, and why should they have to hide that?
Ill say it again, the people are angry because they’re focusing on the tragedy. You can’t be inspired by the country and not the issue that’s it’s engulfed by.. it’s nonsensical and this uproar is a bit irrational. It doesn’t sound right, but the country and the issue are one. A fashion house was inspired by that, not one or the other. It shouldn’t be a negative thing, it just is what it is.
Haha, okay after allllll that (i’m so long winded), I agree and understand that situations like this elicit very different responses, regardless of who’s right, if there is even a right or wrong, it’s all about opinion. Which is why I think discussions on heated subjects are good, it’s broadens people’s awareness and it makes you think.
Another quick thing, a lot of people have been saying that this all hasn’t brought the situation to light, well it has. MAC never really intended to, which I don’t find attractive, but Rodarte certainly did because they were very clear about where their inspiration came from when the collection was designed, way before this nonsense with the makeup.
I think this collection is horrible. It’s an awful taste exhibition.
I would like to express my opinion about the picture but my english knowledge is very limited. Superficially, this girl, too slim and too pallid, remember me an anorexic girl…
And this product names…no words
I’m dissapointed with MAC
@Spanish
Si usted quiere escribir algo en español, hágalo. Yo lo traducirá (con placer!).
I don’t know if this has been said already, but I just want to say what’s on my mind about this.
Firstly, MAC’s statement was simple and to the point. I applaud that they are going to donate a portion of the proceeds to help the women of Juarez. However, I’m interested to know if the donation was planned before or after the uproar that the names of the products caused.
Secondly, I find Rodarte’s statement to be B.S. I had read about their road trip through TEXAS, and how it inspired their fashion collection. If they are basing the products off of the “beauty of the landscape”, then maybe the names should be more along the lines of “Adobe sky” or “Rio Grande”. Not Factory, Ghost Town, or Juarez.
I’ve read on one of the links or comments in here, that they named sleepwalker after the women going to and from work in the middle of the night. These are the same women that all too often, do not make it home from work, and are found in the desert, tortured, beaten, raped, and murdered. How inspirational of Rodarte. They’re not glamourizing from the degradation of women at all *sarcasm*
How is it possible, that during the collaboration of this collection for probably the past year (they’re not made up overnight), that this subject never came up when naming the products?
Not everyone is going to like every name or every product. People will always be offended by something.. However, this collection has pushed it to the extreme. No one can tell me that they did not expect some sort of uproar about this.
If one good thing comes out of all of this, it will be that some awareness has been raised. I personally, did not know very much about Juarez, the factories, and the femicide, until very recently. I had heard of it, and of the atrocities, but I did not realize that the numbers were so staggering.
I hope that MAC is able to make some sort of difference in the life of at least one woman of Juarez.
Like it or not, boycott or not, people are going to buy these products. Especially now that MAC is planning a donation.
This is just my opinion and thoughts. I really don’t want to debate with anyone about it, because we all have differences of opinion, and we are all entitled to them.
Very true. Nice points.
You pretty much said everything that I was going to say.
I’m skipping this collection because :
1. I don’t like the color palette.
2. The promo pic freaked me out (before I even read anything else)
3. The story behind the names.
4. I actually got angrier after I read Rodarte’s statement. It was basically just a self-defense/self-justification B.S.
I’m mexican and I didn’t even think about Las muertas de Juarez by reading Juarez as the name of the nailpolish, the truth is that not even us have that subject in mind! I’m sure neither MAC or Rodarte had any bad intention… And personally I think is great they are inspired by my country to do what seems an amazing collection! I’ll be buying things if it’s the case this collection be sold at MAC Mexico now that some narrow-minded people started controversy over nothing!
Interestingly, by controversially naming this collection, whether it be intentional or not, it seems as though MAC could actually be drawing attention to the travesty and educating some people about it that may not have already been aware of it.
Briefly viewing this post earlier, the picture and names made me uncomfortable, and I did not like them or find them appropriate. Mind you, this was without any insight as to the tragedies in Juarez and the history of Rodarte.
After being informed of the issues that Rodarte was “inspired” by, I find it terribly inappropriate for MAC to collaborate with this company and to use the names they chose. If readers don’t agree with the Holocaust examples, think instead how you would feel if a collection was named after slavery, featuring names such as “Slave” or “Cotton Plantation.” Using the suffering of human beings as creative inspiration is entirey inappropriate, the designers could surely have been more creative and found something else to capitalize from.
It is one’s personal choice whether or not to purchase from this collection, but I would like to say that if you do, please remember that the misery of these women was the inspiration behind the name of your eyeshadows and the designer’s collection.
To conclude, I will not be purchasing from this collection, and I am very saddened to learn about the suffering of these women. As a white, middle-class woman in Canada, I am aware of the rights, privileges and protection I posess, and my heart breaks for this community of women in Juarez. Despite my displeasure with this collection, the silver lining in this is that the controversy will allow their voices to be heard by many people in the world.
I’m more than impressed with MAC and their response to controversy. They couldn’t have handled this any better. It’s no wonder why I pledge allegiance to them everyday.
I’m really looking forward to this collection! I have NO issues with the names given, but I DO have an issue with another MAC model that looks like a Holocaust victim. Sigh.
and here is where referencing the holocaust becomes offensive. i understood before when people were using it to make a point about the names of the collection, but can we not just go throwing around holocaust references for no good reason? it’s a skinny white woman with dark circles around her eyes, i’m sure you could have thought of something else to compare that to.
As someone who currently lives in a bordertown I think it is rightfully so to say sometimes this gets out of hand if you think this was angering than dont buy it!
Comsumerism and capitalism go hand in hand, the best way to show youre opinion is by not supporting something.
Besides I hate to say it but it’s just makeup! And they named it that way because of a road-trip I wouldn’t expect them to understand a place of they have not lived there.
That’s what the internet is for.
If you are going to create a piece of work…one would think you would do some research to get a better understanding about the subject matter and give it more depth.
Besides, they did enough research to know about the women who work in the factories and how they look like “sleepwalkers” when they leave work late at night or early in the morning…
That’s a very specific descriptive detail there.
How did they see that? and totally miss that many of those women sometimes don’t make it home? Or that they’re victimized at work and after work?
Wow! I am really happy to hear that both MAC and Rodarte issued statements regarding their collection, and I hope something good will come from this.
Wow, its like white gothic lolita. Too creepy to wear outside of the freakshow. That picture does not attract me to any product. Ultra gaunt, pale Victorian chick with a bad comb over. Not attractive.
As with any of Mac’s collections, I will be purchasing some of it regardless of what the names are. I appreciate how MAC has addressed whatever controversy some feel this line brings.
I appreciate MACs response
But Rodarters excuse sickens me even more
It reads like a spoiled brat that was forced to say “sorry” when he didn’t mean it.
They accept that they went there so they saw what happened.
They pretend that what they wanted was to “celebrate” the beauty of the landscape.
But in the names and pictures of their collections (both catwalk and makeup) they make clear references to death and suffering (the model looks like a zombie in a quinceañera dress for crying out loud) Insensitive, cruel, or just plain dumb
I think there are other much prettier collections. Not only am I skipping this one but I’m donating the money I could have invested in it on an organization that helps women in Juarez
I don’t want to collaborate on increasing their numbers and giving them the chance to claim that their collection (inspired in something as awful) was a success
Absolutely and positively AGREE!
The donations are a publicity stunt, in other words..just saying “sorry” because they were caught..not because they mean it!
sigh bowing down to the pressures of the easily offended
There’s quite a difference between being easily offended and aware.
Let me reiterate my point – there’s a big difference between Urban Decay naming products “5150”, “Jailbait”, “Blunt”, “Quickie” or NARS’s “Orgasm”, “Deep Throat”, “Hustler” despite the names being very clear references to drug usage and sexuality and the names used in the Rodarte collection. People who are upset by this aren’t merely uppity prudes who get upset about anything. I’ve browsed through Temptalia extensively and haven’t seen anyone get upset over the name of a product until this point. So what’s the difference? The collaboration separates the names from the actual events happening and instead repackages notions of Juarez and life as a maquiladora as dreamy, etheral, or haunting. It doesn’t provide the insight to a REAL situation whereas products like NARS’s “Orgasm” isn’t connected to anything nearly as concrete. Honestly, if Rodarte wanted to delve into a more dark or mystical aspect of Mexican culture they could have easily used Dia de Los Muertos as a theme and it would have seemed more respectful.
It’s insulting for you to make that statement. People who are informed on the Juarez issue like myself feel the name is inappropriate given the history of the town. You can disagree without being patronizing.
Can’t wait!!!
Ok I have a question to all of you who are taking this waaaaaayyy out of hand if the nailpolish wasn’t named jaurez would you still be freaking out over the other names. I don’t believe that the rodarte was trying to be disrespectful at all… the names paint a dreamy landscape for the colors.
then what about “factory?” Or the “sleepwalkers?” Who did you think they were referring to?
i agree with melissa and jovita completely i feel like im the only one excited about the collection
I hope it comes to sweden! I want that lipgloss!
Thank Christine for contacting MAC & following up in regards to this collection. I still do not feel the collection should have never been made or at least they should have been more aware how offensive it is. They should not be making donations not because of peoples concerns….but should have done it from the start to bring awareness to this tragedy. Again Thank You
I too am glad that MAC released a statement but the following sentence makes me believe they are now trying to change things around. ” M·A·C will give a portion of the proceeds from the M·A·C Rodarte collection to help those in need in Juarez. We are diligently investigating the best way to do this.” Obviously they were not planning to give any money before this uproar and are now trying to change their tune. I personally would rather not buy anything but rather donate my money to help the women there directly. I find it insulting as a mexican american girl that they would use these names and these particular shades as an inspiration for Rodarte. There is nothing that is inspiring about looking like a ghost or to look like a dead person. They should have used other shades and other names to celebrate the beauty of Mexico not their tragedies.
I really don’t know what it’s all about, butu productwise I’m interested in the mineralize eyeshadows, White Gold pigment (maybe Mauvement as well) and the blush. Have to say the promo picture is exceptionally ugly. :O
What are/were the offensive names? I don’t get it…
It’s not the names themselves, but what they represent. Ciudad de Juarez in Mexico is dealing with a crisis involving the murders of countless women who work in factories there. Rodarte in turn used these incidents and re-interpreted them into a theme about dreams and sleep-walking. While some people may not see the problem with that, I personally think it de-emphasizes the seriousness of what’s occurring in Juarez by separating those names and events from what is actually occurring there.
hey, instead of sitting at your computers complaining about how mac isnt doing anything to fund the rodarte campaign, maybe you should try to donate money to the women in juarez. just a thought.
A lot of people have done their part by raising awareness via the internet by explaining why people are upset and why do you automatically assume that people who care about this already haven’t done something to help?
This photo is without a doubt one of the ugliest I have ever seen, especially for a cosmetics campaign. If they wanted to turn me off of the collection completely, they succeeded.
THIS COLLECTION DIDN’T INTEREST ME BUT THE PICTURE IS CREEPY SHE LOOKS LIKE A GHOST!!! ANYWAYZ I’M SOOO EXCITED 4 FABULOUS FELINES FOUR DAYS BEFORE MY BIRTHDAY AUGUST 26 IS WHEN IT COMES OUT SOOO YAY VIRGOS ROCK!!!
I am SO ANNOYED by some of these comments! No disrespect to anyone, but I’m sorry. As a native El Pasoan, born and raised next to Juarez, MX I have seen the violence increase as the years have gone by. I am in NO WAY OFFENDED by the Rodarte collection. It is just a designer finding inspiration from something, is it different yes, but is it bad No!
For everyone’s information, Juarez muders are not strictly women!!!!!!!! All the people of Juarez are being terrorized but the cartels!! I have many friends and family that go/live in Juarez and they are not dead! Yes, the violence has gotten very much out of hand but its all related to DRUGS and corruption of the Mexcican government.
So I’m gonna leave on this, don’t feel guilty for buying a nail polish named Juarez (PEOPLE ARE NOT GOING TO DIE OVER THAT) feel guilty if you’ve ever bought any DRUGS because you probably contributed to someones death!
The drug cartel violence and the factory workers are two different issues. They sometimes intertwine both are the same issues.
Juarez is having cartel violence because two cartel families are fighting for territory and fighting the army sent by the government. They are killing one another ( and the innocent bystanders ), police, politicians and army officials.
And tha
“feel guilty if you’ve ever bought any DRUGS because you probably contributed to someones death!”
This is a good point. Beyond going, “Legalize it!”, think about where what you buy comes from. You really don’t want to support this business.
i sooooooo agree!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! thank you thank you thnk you for leaving this comment do you honestly think a creulity free cosmetics company with collections devoted to giving money to women in neeed support vilolence against women or anyone for that matter. I believe people were reading way too much intop this collection and ruining it for the people who were actually excited.
Thank you, I so agree! I think the uproar over this is just classic mob psychology. How many of the people offended actually had something to say about the violence of Juarez before it interfered with their cosmetics? It seems like the makeup, not the actual issue, is what’s really hitting close to home for most people.
ooh… this collection seems interesting….
Christine, by any chance do you know why the prices for this collection are not the same prices listed for the venomous villians collection? aren’t they both being released in the same month?
I’m not really sure what’s going on with the pricing at this time – I haven’t gotten confirmation yet!
I am mexican-american and I live on the border in Texas. I think that this was done in poor taste. I have read that MAC has decided to use some of the proceeds to help women in Juarez. And while I think that’s great I don’t think that helping and educating was their intention to begin with or they would have set that up from the beginning. And if it had been done to bring attention to the horrific problems that would have been all together different. If there had’nt been such an uproar about it, they never would have done that. I like MAC but I won’t be purchasing these products. Because to some of you it may be no big deal…but, I assure you…to the women in Juarez, it is!
There was no way it was created to bring attention to it. Now that they’ve realized they’re exploiting a tragedy, this is the least they can do. I still wouldn’t buy the products, though. I don’t want my nail polish name to remind me of murder, you know?
Why does everyone focus on “women” and push that Juarez is all about killing women. yes, over 1,000 women have been murdered, unsolved, since 1993, but considering that 2,600 people died last year ALONE , just in Juarez. I’d have to say that the majority of murders arent women, therefore rodarte/mac aren’t trying to display women murders, but the town as a whole. Mac and Rodarte HAVE to use female models, because uhh I’m sure not a lot of men are wearing mac or rodarte dresses
They focus on the women because Rodarte said they were influenced by the women working in the factories, going to and from their jobs.
“When designers Kate and Laura Mulleavy unveiled their ready-to-wear F/W 2010 in February, they said that they had been inspired by the lines of women workers who’d make their way to factory jobs in the middle of the night.”
Who do you think “Sleepwalker” refers to? And who do you think mostly works in the Factories? What happens in those factories goes hand in hand with the femicide in that city…and in covering up the femicide. We didn’t focus on women, Rodarte did and have said so.
Women going to and from work. not women being murdered.
Just because everyone assumes that sleepwalker=women going to work= women being murdered. does not make it true. Maybe they were just thinking sleepwalker=women going to work. PERIOD. You made the connections yourself, and you expanded on the thought, Rodarte hasn’t released information that that was the connection they made, they arent you, so maybe they don’t think like you. It’s unfair to put words in people’s mouths.
el paso to marfa is a beautiful drive, and this collection is, too. cannot wait for if to come out.
After seeing the promo picture I am so excited. The girl in the promo looks beautiful and just amazing. My favourite look is pale skin, no eyebrows, dark eyes, nudish lips, and little contouring. so excited.
I have no idea what the controversy is, but I’m gunna go try to find out. It won’t effect my opinion on the products at all however.
I’m so glad that MAC is going to try to find a way to help financially. Honestly, the collection has brought so much attention to the issue that I think it’s already been helpful–and they haven’t even sold anything yet.
Perhaps it is tasteless, but without the Rodarte collection, I know I wouldn’t be aware of what is going on. The same probably goes for most others.
TO ALL SUBBIES…
I understand some may not want to support this collection bc of names and so forth..but the fact of the matter is one must truley come from or really see what is going on in Juarez, and not just read about it. I live in El Paso, TX which is the border city from Juarez. I also am a MAC employee and I drive to work and see Juarez everyday. It is sad what has been going on but at the same time we all must go on living our day to day lives. It will get better. If you like the collection great! If not well Im sorry but either way I think the collection is amazing especially in person!..
you speak fluent english, and work for mac. you do not work in a maquila. has mac or rodarte asked women in factories in juarez what they think about the new line? or if they will be wearing it this coming season?
Call me ignorant.. sorry but what was the controversy about? The collection looks beautiful!
I’m glad that they’ve decided to donate some of the proceeds. That’s exactly what I was hoping they would at least do.
i just hope they give a good percentage.
There are SO many factual movies that protray violence such as those with the holocaust, child sex slavery and ‘blood diamonds’, yet no one says anything about these movies making MILLIONS off the stories of those who lived through it! Makeup is just another medium these artists are using to spread a truth or story. MAC has agreed to give proceeds to the Juarez cause. Perhaps this will start a trend of MAC using inspirations from those in need like Viva Glam for different causes like this one and donating the proceeds to charity.
As a Latin American studies major and a fashion lover (as a hobby), honestly the only thing distasteful to me about this collection is how in the Rodarte runway presentation, many of the models were depicted s ghosts (presumably of the raped and murdered women)… I understand why MAC would want to partner with Rodarte as they are an up-an-coming avant garde American fashion house that always has innovative makeup used in their runway shows, but I don’t understand why they would chose to collaborate on a collection that showed the Rodarte girl as a ghost! That’s not a wearable look in real life. At least in the Rodarte shows that featured bloodied school years or post-apocalyptic tribal warriors, they had more wearable makeup…
in all seriousness, perhaps making a make up collection based on the subject matter is distasteful, but I don’t think Rodarte’s runway collection was distasteful at all (to me, it represented the victims in both an empowered and ethereal way), and I am in no way shape or form a fan of Rodarte. If artists can’t tackle controversial topics, then we should be prepared for boredom!
*bloodied school-girl outfits (oops, typo, should have proofread, sorry)
how do you pronounce this collection name… rodarttttt or rodartay
row-dar-tay
thank you!
Everyone, let’s respect Temptalia/Christine’s blog.
What I find truly “disgusting” is that anyone would compare naming an eyeshadow Auschwitz to naming an eyeshadow after the AZ Immigration Law!
I think what they were trying to do was make a comparison that a lot more people would understand better, so that maybe those who couldn’t understand why people were so in arms over the names of these products may understand their point of view. I am going to say I agree with them. The reason why a lot of people do not agree with the people making that comparison is because they only see the comparison being made with Holocaust terms and interpret that as making light of the Holocaust situation, not WHY the comparison is being made. They are NOT making light of the situation, they are trying to convey why this collection’s naming of the products is so offensive via an event, such as The Holocaust, that everyone knows about, since not necessarily everyone knows about the terrible situation in Juarez. For example: what if someone during the Civil War had made a road trip to the south and was “inspired” by the working slaves and made a collection of cometics and called a lipstick: “Cotton Plantation” or a black mineralized eyeshadow called “Cat o’ Nine Tails” or “Black Code.” Other names: “Non-person,” “Cotton Picker,” “Punished Runaway,” “Sold,” heaven forbid, a color called the N word. I don’t see why that would be any less offensive than a collection inspired by The Holocaust or of Femicide in Juarez for that matter.
I didn’t know about the tragic happenings in Juarez (not just the killings of the women, but just of all the killings in general), and I’ve decided to boycott this collection. Prior to this, I did not even know what the names meant and I probably would not have looked them up, AS MAJORITY OF THE WOMEN WHO WOULD HAVE PURCHASED THE COLLECTION. And for all of you commending MAC for raising awareness and opening people’s eyes to the terrible things happening in Ciudad Juarez via controversial naming of the products, I know that wasn’t MAC’s intention because I didn’t read of these tragedies from MAC, I read of them from the people posting in this discussion board. MAC didn’t make me aware, the informed people did.
Therefore, whether MAC is donating proceeds or not, I will not be supporting this collection, it was definitely not MAC’s intention to raise awareness or they would have advertised it like a Viva Glam campaign. They only care about the sales of this collection now, hence the statement to donate portions of the sales to aid those in Ciudad Juarez. They don’t care about the people’s feelings on the topic, they just want to make money/save face and reinspire loyalty from those who were so offended to boycott. For that, I’m appalled.
Co-sign.
I completely agree. Their first and foremost intention was/is to make a profit. but it honestly doesn’t really matter if it was MAC’s intention or not.. the fact is that the controversial topic was brought up, upset many, and because of it.. people are now more aware than they would have been before. Even if it was done unintentionally and distastefully I suppose
I’m not terribly familiar with the Viva Glam campaigns…. Were they releasing details about what charities would be used, proceeds, etc. this early in for those? The information we’ve seen thus far ISN”T from MAC. Do you think it’s possible that they might have genuinely been caught off guard with the information making it out this early, RATHER than in their real campaign? Christine said(i think) elsewhere on here that MAC usually doesn’t release OFFICIAL info until REALLY close to the release. This info, that has offended people(Or at least the ones commenting that they’re only donating BECAUSE of this outcry, etc.), comes from other sources.
Not trying to defend them at all. I still don’t intend to buy anything from the collection, and am a little shocked that they HADN’T seemed to have anticipated this outcry.
It does seem, though, that there’s not really enough information to comment on their conduct, as a company, through this. Maybe we just DON’T have the memos from meetings where it was discussed, sketches for possible promotions closer in when they actually have a NAME for where the money will be donated, etc. Without being in a position of familiarity with their processes and practices, I really don’t feel I can honestly believe that this IS just a “spoiled brat saying sorry after being MADE to” apology.
There’s a part of me that kind of wonders if people would be AS offended over this collection if there hadn’t ALREADY been a good deal of negativity toward MAC regarding other business matters(Pigment price changes and Dazzleglass sizes, artificially creating demand by limiting the quantity sent to stores to an unreasonable amount). It just sort of seems to me that they’ve had enough decisions lately that have, if not alienated, at least irritated their more informed consumers, that maybe people would WANT to see an issue of this sort, that they genuinely CAN feel morally outraged with, even though “it’s just makeup”.
I don’t want to get into my personal feelings on this too much. I think I missed all the good debates anyways. I have branches of the family tree wiped clean from the Shoah. Though I haven’t experienced color based racism, I’ve experienced a good amount of OTHER discrimination for religious reasons. I don’t claim to be anyones spokesperson when I say I DO feel just as much disdain for this collection as I do for most of the controversial films mentioned in this discussion. I rolled my eyes when the films about 9/11 came out, and i dislike the many films glamorizing WWII’s many tragic stories, and heartbreaking environments. Not so much because it didn’t affect me, but because i truly DO feel that film is NOT the best medium for discussing things of this nature. Raising awareness, certainly. But it’s hard to claim it’s a forthright discussion.
I don’t feel that this is a media that is particularly effective for “encouraging discussion or outrage”. The outrage has come from people who were ALREADY informed. NOT people who said “Hmmm. Something seems off. I’ll look it up for myself.” And its NOT a series of photographs, or sculptures, that can genuinely be debated. I have a hard time considering the products themselves “art”, and able to be defended as such. The images and presentation of the fashion line CERTAINLY count, and provide the message. But naming that color Juarez, etc. just isn’t integral to the collections message, if we go by their press statement. It really seems as though someone should have changed it somewhere along the way. I have to admit-I’d LOVE to know what kind of communication happened between MAC and the designers along the way, for them to decide to take this literal of a route, that WOULD be sure to draw attention.
Somewhere in my head, I really DO hope it was just a miscommunication, that information was released too early to have the full details that would show the companies actual intention.
I really don’t know though. And since I don’t, I’d prefer not to buy anything from it, though some of the colors may be up my alley.
omg even these couple of photos are making me SO EXCITED! between alice and olivia, to the beach, in the groove and now this, i think the second half of 2010 is def. the better half for mac collections!
I had no intention of purchasing anything from this collection based on the promo pic as well–call me crazy but the zombie look isn’t really what an NC35 Spanish/Asian girl goes for–but like some of you have said, at least there is *some* good coming out of this with some awareness being raised. Silver lining and all, even if MAC wasn’t going to donate initially.
Also I’m not a huge fan of the designer lines anyway…the most “designer” I ever get involves Burberry or Marc Jacobs, so eh.
And while I don’t have a huge opinion on the issue I can see why people are upset about the names. Everyone’s just going to react to stuff differently, whether it’s something like the horrible atrocities in Juarez, or something like Italian-Americans getting offended by Jersey Shore. It’s just going to happen no matter what since everyone’s offence-o-meter is different.
Thanks for keeping the discussion on here Christine and throwing out reminders to be civil to each other. I know a lot of opinions differ on this but I’m pretty sure we all can agree on how great the blog is.
and this DOESN’T only happen in juarez people, it happens in bordertowns everywhere.
everywhere
didn’t notice i didn’t specify, but there are many maquiladoras in bordertowns in mexico, not just juarez.
This stuff will not suit my skintone at all… Pass.
Christine, why do you think they set the model in such luxe clothes and accessories? The pearls, fine cloth, etc. For contrast for the makeup look? I just can’t figure it out. Especially with its ties to the Juarez theme.
It’s okay if you choose not to answer. I understand. :]
I have no idea – haven’t heard anything about the collection other than the color names and the recent statement issued by MAC!
I have a theory (at least for the dress) supported by the fact that they have a blush named “quinceanera”
“Quinceaños” its a Mexican tradition, very similar to “sweet 16s”, but it’s done when a girl turns 15. It’s a big party and the girl (referred to as Quinceañera) gets to wear a big fancy dress (supposedly their first) to celebrate that she is now a lady. Now the dresses have modernized but I remember that like 15 years dresses used to look very similar to this.
About the look of the model… I’m trying to avoid making any more comments on the subject if there’s no need
The look shown on the model appears to be from the finale of the Rodarte runway show, in which the girls (who were shown earlier in the show in various states of disarray, in layers of torn clothing) reappeared as ghosts decked in ethereal, glowing gowns.
Personally, I didn’t think it was a great collection (and I’m really no fan of Rodarte so it’s killing me to feel compelled to defend their work in this thread), but the look does make sense in the collection as a whole.
Also, for anyone who’s interested, here’s the video of the runway show in question… I think a lot of it doesn’t translate to the photos of the show, so see for yourself (again, I don’t like Rodarte, and I didn’t like this collection and honestly I thought it was rather tame, especially with how dark Rodarte has gone with their subject matter in the past). Anyway, to me the show was like the ghosts of the overworked, abused, and/or murdered women coming back to haunt. I found it powerful and ethereal. Everyone is entitled to their own interpretation, but I do recommend actually looking at the show before jumping to conclusions and feeling hurt over something that was probably meant to be controversial but not hurtful.
The video is in 2 parts:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMOhaWDpAls
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsVZpQMobQo
Sorry if this is too off topic from the MAC collection.
Thank you! :]
regardless of the seemingly negative aspects of this line and the controversy and angry it has created(along with a really ugly distasteful promo picture), I must say I like the imprinting of Rodarte on the powder, and will probably buy it.
I for one, don’t truly believe that rodarte or mac are advocates for violence. I do not believe it’s their intention to glamorize what’s happening in Juarez. But hey, it’s up to you guys whether you’d like to boycott or not.
oh, and hellochristina said:
“Oh and btw, Venomous Villains condones evil, poison, wicked murderers? No one said a darn thing about that.
I could compare Maleficent to Hitler, but that wouldn’t help anyone in Juarez, now would it?”
LOL.
And wait, what does this have to do with the holocaust? or are you guys just comparing severity? just wondering because im confused, theyre completely different events
Ok as we know, there are events in great proportion that happen in different times and in different parts of the world. Such events include anything from the Holocaust, the Armenian genocide, Juarez Femecide, and even 9/11. Thus, these type of events are usually seen in movies, events and documentaries to explain the severity and the concern. They are not made into a makeup collection !!
Sorry, one last thing. I read a comment from thefrisky.com where someone says:
“Juarez is not defined by the tragic murders that have happened there. It’s a real-live city, with actual people in it, who don’t kill or murder, who try to live their lives day-to-day. Japan goes unprosecuted for slaughtering whales every year to sell for meat, which is illegal, should we pretend Japan doesn’t exist? What a ludicrous argument.”
I agree. no one would get mad over a makeup product called “Japan” and “Ocean”
You cannot simply compare whales to real human beings. These women are daughters, mothers, sisters who are found raped, murdered, and sometimes beheaded. They are tortured and left for dead. I suggest you read more about that subject. Be grateful that you live in a country (im guessing you live in the US) where an actual murder can be investigated as opposed to a country where your case is left unsolved due to corruption.
Thanks but I’m from Vietnam. Yes, I do live in the US currently. But I grew up in Vietnam where the cops don’t give a crap about citizens as well.
I agree that Juarez is not defined by it
I think the problem is that they took something that could have been good (like women working hard every day) and portrayed it in a morbid way that many could relate to the ugly side of the city/country
I have the sense that if a brand had a line inspired in Japan and the model was dressed as a fisherman with shark fins and whale tails on the back some would have felt misrepresented
Or if they did one with Canada-inspired names and the model was wearing a dead baby seal
Or another one based on Brazil and instead of showing the Carnival or something pretty they showed Fabela drug-dealers victims
Or I don’t know I could have a lot of examples and I could come up with one of almost every country but I think I’ve made my point
And I mentioned the last examples with full respect for Countries I’ve lived in and loved
Yeah, as much as this collection is in slightly bad taste, I’m glad it came out. I never knew about Juarez before. As much as people hate this collection, and want to boycott it, I’m thankful it’s brought my attention to issues I didn’t know existed. MAC isn’t creating the Juarez tragedy, so I have no reason to boycott. They just decided to collaborate with one of the top designers, RODARTE, who were the ones that made a creepy ass line in the first place. LOL
Re: Jenny’s comment & Siledhel’s follow-up:
O.P.I does this all the time with their various country (nail polish) collections and no one gets upset because the names are always cutesy, positive, historical or tongue-in-cheek. They do dabble in stereotypes, but also stay far away from political issues and that’s how they can get away with it. See the discussion on Temptalia about the Hong Kong collection:
http://www.temptalia.com/opi-hong-kong-collection-for-spring-2010
Not everyone liked the colours/names, but OPI doesn’t get near any China/Hong Kong hot-button issues. Even the fact that they chose “Hong Kong” and NOT “China” helped them stay away from controversy. The colour “dim sum plum”, while hokey, is not “censorship red-dy!” or “bind-my-feet bronze!”, y’know?
I bet they would if some designer collaborated with MAC to make a collection, celebrating Asia’s oceanlife, with names like ‘Blubber’ and ‘Blowhole’.
It’s not the names ‘Juarez’ or ‘Bordertown’ that offend, but names like ‘Ghost Town’ and ‘Sleepwalker’ plainly refer to the women who work in the factories, and their deaths. For example, if a line was inspired by Japan and products were named ‘Whale Meat’ or ‘Harpoon’ I, at least, would be offended. It’s not the fact that they used the area as inspiration, it’s the fact that they chose to highlight the tragedies of that area, slap their names on the products, and sell them.
agreed!
I agree with you that naming shades Ghosttown and Sleepwalker is might strange. Maybe I’m being Naive, but I still can see why Rodarte named them that, because they claimed they were inspired by the sleepy workers getting up early to work. As for Ghosttown, it seems like a good name to explain Juarez in terms of vacancy and soulessness( and not deaths). I feel like it was just a very dumb mistake on their part. If they really wanted to point out murders, they would’ve just used “Murder”, “Blood”, etc.
This is a tad too dark and twisted. Many will buy this and not even truly understand the nature of which it was evolved. Even the model is truly awful. Disappointed.
I’m Asian and i wasn’t aware of the violence in Juarez till I read the comments in this post… so thanks for those who have contributed in spreading awareness… it’s easy to understand the frustration that one has when ppl misread certain issue which you have strong belief in..
I choose to believe that M.A.C did not create this collection to promote violence or to capitalize on the issue… one thing for sure, M.A.C has sucessfully create awareness to those who has not heard about or has little knowledge on the situation in Juarez.
Of course, we can choose to feel positive or negative towards the way this awareness was being brought to many… I guess, instead of making those who will be purchasing items from this collection to feel guilty.. we should encourage them to tell the stories to friends or family who have not heard about the situation…
Just my thought..
I wouldn’t say MAC gave any awareness to the issue. MAC isn’t the one providing information about what’s happening in Juarez, it’s people who were already aware of the controversy explaining why it’s offensive that have given the necessary information for people to react and demand change.
Not that much I really like; and not gonna lie, the promotion picture kind of scared me at first. 🙁
Definitely gonna take a look at Sleepless Lipstick, Mauvement Pigment & Del Norte Lipglass – yay Fall colors! 😀
On another note, what the heck are you all talking about?!?! I’m SO confused!
And all you over-willing people out there ready to put your broad-vocabulary into use, that’s unnecessary! How frustrating! >:(
As a Latina, I am offended. I think people do not understand the severity of it because they are simply unaware. I for one, am not participating in this collection and will continue to spread awareness about the subject matter. I also find it revolting that people will still go ahead and purchase these products even with knowing the back story. Sure it was all in the name of fashion and art but, i think it was poorly executed.
Ok so can someone explain whats the big deal with this collection I kinda dont get
Thanks for enlightening me. I was totally unaware of all this and will not purchase anything from this collection.
this collection is coming out on SEPTEMBER 15th right?.. on Mexico’s independence day. wth?!.i dont knw if u guys noticed that… im mexican, whole family born n raised in California. so ya i am offended! as the others stated their arguments against this i do agree too!. you could make awareness of this tragedy but u dont have to make names to offend like those. “DEL NORTE” thas where the drug lords mainly come from..so support that n buy it! “Quinceanera”.. whn a girl becomes a women her last innocence’s.. sooo she can work in the “Factory”? idk i jus thnk they should of used different names is all. will they calld their viva la glam items blood, pills, virus? nope. they still have a while.. they can still change the names.
1. when I was browsing the site for recent updates and came across this post and saw nothing that interested me, my boyfriend happened to look over at my computer with the photo pictured above of the “scary-looking” young lady and said “why would anyone want to look like that”
2. I had not known anything about Juarez until this post, but I’m glad I do now. It is sad to see that MAC/Rodarte is trying to capitalize on the tragedy going on in Juarez. I will NOT purchasing anything from this collection
3. Bringing awareness to the murders in Juarez is a start, but more than that is the self-hatred that is promoted through the fashion/glamor industry in general (pressures to be thin, look a certain way, plastic surgery, wearing certain clothes or whatever)that (arguably) leads to more destruction among women worldwide. If we are really trying to create social change, we should start by de-constructing this industry that MAC/Rodarte participate in. We really should be looking at the bigger picture and at all the things that makeup/fashion industry/the media seem to represent.
4. Plus, hasn’t this controversial collection just brought so much more attention to Juarez and made many more people aware of what has been/is going on in Juarez anyway.. even if it was not MAC’s or Rodarte’s intention to do so?
bad move on Rodarte, even worse move on MAC for thinking this would be a neat idea for just another collection
5. none of these products looked very interesting to begin with
ooh and another thing..if they wanted to throw some light on this subject on whats happening.. why not add names that motivate and inspire someone to want to help rather then buyin a lipstick n lil portion goes to the cause.. if it even does.. women are mistreated they should of sat down n talked with them or something and named their products like, hope, strength, dreams, diligent, etc.. names that would influence other women and names that the women who are affected still hang on too. its just to dark.
if i never checked temptalia and looked up this mac collection id have no clue as to whats going on in juarez…so i looked it up and educated myself…. in a way, namin this collection after these tragedies brings light to it…it can also be seen as a good thing that mac did this. everyone just has their own point of view. (But i dont think mac is glamourizing it, to those of you who feel offended, boycott the collection, but other than that, it is what it is)
Whilst the products themselves look quite nice, the ad is just too creepy! Kinda puts me off…
The model pic is a complete turmoff for me. I like the whole vampire thing; I just don’t feel the need to look undead myself. I’ve seen people pull off a stunning pale pseudo goth look, but I’m more of a bronzer girl.
The upside to the unfortunate naming is that perhaps some help (financial and otherwise) will come to Juarez.
I hate the packaging but love the colors!
As much as I think it wasn’t the smartest choice of MAC to approve these names, I definitely commend them for going back and saying they’ll donate proceeds to Juarez. I think it shows that MAC actually does care about the consumers, and wants to keep them happy.
i agree with everyone that has said this collection has brought attention to this situation, i live outside of the US and before coming across this, had no idea what was going on in mexico.
But on the topic of buying items that have a “checkered” back story, how many of you own an iPhone? how many of you relaise the depravity that the asian people that work in the iPhone factories go through? that people commit suicide just so they no longer have to work, and now have bars on all windows so they dont jump? and that they work inhumane hours for little money? just so you can have a shiny iPhone?
now, i understand that the iPhone is not named after these people, but the same concept applies. you have purchased something that glamorises the plight of these poor people. however by me making this statement i have now given you the knowledge of that information. would it make you reconsider purchasing or using one in the future? i dont know, it all comes down to your feelings on the situation, and if you feel that what you are purchasing is really going against what you feel is wrong, but you can now make that decision based on the information you know. no one else will make a decision but yourself, but no one should be judged on their decision to purchase something or not, as everyone has a different ideas and different moral views, the only person that should have to worry about your decision is yourself, the opinion of anyone else in your decision is null.
It seems that information makes buying an iPhone worse than buying from this collection, because (as far as I know) the collection draws inspiration from a designer that drew inspiration from tragedy whereas the iPhone situation is directly causing that tragedy.
i agree with what you said there Lo =)
my personal opinion is that there would have been no negative intention in naming these produts…however unfortunate the reference may be.
i can understand that some people do not feel comfortable buying from this collection and that is fine…i just feel that no one should be judged if they chose to purchase items, becuse they see the items as ‘art,’ or becuse they like a colour and would like that colour/item in their collection rather than being offended by the names. personal choice is not something that should concern anyone else
totally agree with you…
This is an awesome collection … to pass. not remotely interested.
When it comes to the colors, I really like this collection.
I’m a very fair redhead, so the colors that look delicate on darker skin tones don’t look like that on me. Some of the colors here are quite light, and while that might not work for darker skintones, it may be just what I’m looking for in terms of color.
I can understand why people are getting upset about this collection.. but really? It’s based on the BEAUTY of the landscape and people. Are the strong and inspirational women who still go to work, knowning they may not make it home.. not allowed to be celebrated? We should be impowering them, instead of JUST feeling sorry for them. Can people only think of the negative? By automatically thinking of the horrible things, when thinking of Juarez.. you’re only letting the bad guys win.
The bottom line is.. it’s make up, inspired by beauty. I personally can’t wait for this collection. The colours sound amazing.. and now that MAC is looking into giving part of the proceeds to those in need, I will definately be purchasing some of the items.
I really didnt want to add anything to this, but i think perhaps everyones time would be better spent contacting mac about this if they are upset by it.
I wrote a letter to MAC expressing my displeasure over this collection, and, after chatting with my DH about it, he, too, was upset by this collection. He also wrote a letter to MAC about his feelings on this collection. As a side note, when I showed him this collection, he said that it looked like the gray eyeshadows (MES) had ‘blood spatter’ on them, and now that I look at the veining, I am inclined to agree with him.
Thanks to Christine for bringing this issue to MAC’s attention. And also for writing this blog which I read regularly.
I’m writing my thoughts here since MAC says they are reading it.
So let me get this straight. Impoverished Mexican families can’t afford to keep their daughters, and young women move to a border town where American companies have moved to since the passage of NAFTA. Because so many young women live there on their own and have to travel on buses during the nighttime hours, murderers have also been attracted to the city, and for whatever reason law enforcement doesn’t do much to stop it. Then high-end designers take inspiration from the landscape, and THEN, through either lack of awareness or corporate cynicism, a makeup company does a campaign based around it featuring makeup to make yourself look 1) dead, evoking the murder victims and 2) sleepless/unhealthy/waiflike, and the model wears a Quinceneara dress evoking a 15-year old. Then those of us in more fortunate situations can go in and plunk down $19.50 for Sleepwalker, Factory or Bordertown.
This succeeds in the sense that I can’t look away. It’s so creepy and uncanny. And it does make you think about globalization and privilege in general, and about Juarez in particular, which is a situation I’d never heard of, and I sent this to several friends so now more of us have heard of Juarez (and MAC.) BUT the primary reason it’s so uncanny/sick is not the portrayal, but turning it into a consumer product, and a makeup product in particular. Wowee Zowee. I told my boyfriend about this last night and his comment was “Pretty f@%&ing callous.”
I’m not down with MAC now, and I’m not boycotting this per se. MAC hasn’t created the problem in Juarez and if one is to boycott companies that are creating misery this is not the place to start. The idea of buying something from this line makes me sick, so I wouldn’t, but that’s not the same as boycotting. These colors don’t work for me anyway. I do think that if I worked in a MAC store I might be uncomfortable having to promote this line.
My boyfriend’s opinion is that all publicity is good publicity and there is no chance MAC didn’t do this on purpose. I like to give people the benefit of the doubt, and luckily, MAC has built up a good reputation due the Viva Glam campaign and I have a good opinion of them and plan to continue to. (Although in keeping with this collection, I expect the next Viva Glam to feature Kaposi’s Sarcoma purple, which would probably be more wearable.)
I guess what I think about this is that MAC should pull it. If they honestly didn’t know the implications of it, then they might think better of representing themselves this way. Quite possibily the products haven’t been made yet. Those that have can find their way to Ebay and become the ultimate limited edition, possibly giving MAC publicity without them having to actually sell something so offensive themselves. Like when The Beatles pulled their Yesterday and Today album cover.
Hey Christine I was just wondering if after all this will you still be buying/reviewing this collection ??
As none of the information released, with the exception of the official statements I received by contacting MAC specifically for them, have been released officially by MAC/Rodarte, I will wait until a later date to make any absolute decisions. It is still quite a ways away.
oh shoot. I clicked on ‘leave it’ before I actually saw the products. Not digging the photo for the add, but really like the blush and the gloss.
Now the picture, umm.. why? I get the artistic bent but isn’t makeup supposed to at least look pretty?
Sorry to read that you had to put a ‘mods don’t tolerate bozos’ disclaimer.
STATEMENT FROM RODARTE ON THE M·A·C AND RODARTE COLLECTION
Our makeup collaboration with M·A·C developed from inspirations on a road trip that we took in Texas last year, from El Paso to Marfa. The ethereal nature of this landscape influenced the creative development and desert palette of the collection. We are truly saddened about injustice in Juarez and it is a very important issue to us. The M·A·C collaboration was intended as a celebration of the beauty of the landscape and people in the areas that we traveled.
I can totally understand this statement. The Big Bend Area is beautiful (if you are a desert fan)however not the best way to go about the whole ‘beauty of the desert’ type thing. IMO they should have at least been aware of what is going on in Juarez and the possible fall out from it.
Poor taste MAC…slapping cosmetics on a model to replicate the ghost like faces of the factory women who are over worked, under paid, and treated like dirt… not good. Since when is abuse beautiful?
I think people are taking the names so seriously and out of context. When first read about the collection none of the negative connotations associated with the names came to mind. I simply took it for face value, as I often do with a lot of MAC collections.
The collection appears to feature a lot of pink and is definitely on my radar. Despite the negative press associated with the collection, I don’t think it will influence my thoughts on this collection.
So, so happy MAC redeemed themselves on this one. I was not going to buy from this collection at all. It just goes to show that writing to MAC is not useless and customers CAN make a difference. What a brilliant move on MAC’s part. They finally showed that they care about making their customers happy… and they reminded us they do, indeed, have a social conscience.
I’m kind of glad this happened. It opened up some eyes to a situation most people were not even aware of. It got people reading, doing their own research, writing letters. It is awesome how dedicated some MAC fans are to social causes; I love you guys! I dislike people saying “it’s just make-up” because it’s not. There ARE things that are in bad taste and there ARE things that should just not happen. I can understand why people would be offended by this collection; I was too. It was inappropriate. It was inappropriate coming from a company that claims to have a social conscience. If people don’t care, shame on them. Just because you are not directly affected by something doesn’t mean you should ignore it. One day you could be in a bad or vulnerable situation too–would you want someone to turn a blind eye to your situation, regardless of how they heard about it?
MAC’s original intention was not to increase awareness. That much is obvious. But the point is, they found a way to redeem themselves. It may have taken a slew of people writing to them to open their eyes, but hey… at least they apologized and at least they are making donations. Sometimes we just have to appreciate the outcome even though the way they got there was a little sketchy.
http://community.livejournal.com/mac_cosmetics/34016948.html
I can understand the controversy… it’s just a strange one. With few to no shades that would compliment a darker skintone…I think MAC has had more colorful shades in the past and so it doesn’t bother me. There will always be more collections with something to offer. I’m not addicted to the brand in general.
I agree, I look at the model and the styling and try to to figure out how it represents mexico all. Seems like gross cultural misappropriation.
This is like, Derelicte from zoolander except IRL. Completely proves how out of touch and tacky the fashion and cosmetic industries can be.
Agree with Mary Beth above:
Didn’t think about it yesterday but I agree, that would probably be best, to pull it completely. I think here the idea of “edgy” just went very wrong. In addition to that, the concept of earning money on these women’s misery is actually quite unlike MAC. It does not match to my picture of this company. That said, I`m unable to interpret this collection in any positive way or in the way of “shedding light on the issue”. Even with my good opinion on MAC I cannot make the Rodarte-collection fit into the picture.
I also agree on some of the argumentation on names that took place here, it would be similar to naming colours after diseases or other people in tragic situations.. It´s just off.
Renaming might be a possibility, but with all what was discussed here at least to me that would not help anymore. Also the statement of Rodarte seems not to address the true topic.
Somehow, yes, I would prefer it very much if this collection would not be released at all. It´s a PR-disaster that seems unfixable to me.
Christine: thank you for allowing the discussion to happen!
This collection makes me sick to my stomach. I’m thankful to see that so many of us will be boycotting it. MAC has really let us down! I know this sounds quite dramatic but the company’s ethos of celebrating all ages, all races, all sexes is important to me. How many of us have felt good about buying Viva Glam? But Rodarte is not Viva Glam – it’s tacky and tasteless and their rush to negate the situation feels like an afterthought.
Basically, there’s nothing empowering or intelligent about this collection’s approach. Pretty frosty nail polishes and promises of “PORTIONS of the proceeds” is not enough to rectify this disrespect to the thousands of women who have been killed and the thousands of women who live in fear of.
I love MAC but I won’t be buying at all from this collection after reading some valid points here in this site.
I hope MAC did not decide to donate only AFTER all the complaints 🙁
Also, Rodarte sounds like they just found out about Juarez. I’m sure they went through the naming process with MAC. It’s their ‘colors’ after all.
Basically, we just want to know why (perhaps who) named the nail polish after ‘Juarez’, lipglass after its former city name ‘del Norte’ and even more coincidental nail polish ‘Factory’ – they are a lot of unsolved murdered factory women workers there.
It definitely offended many people. It’s like….. naming a nail polish after Hurricane name ‘Katrina’ and other associating names like ‘flood’, ‘storm’, ‘(one of the city names affected)’, ‘chaotic’ . That will surely make people unhappy like they are now of the Rodarte Collection.
So as much as i like/love the colors in the collection but because of the names used, i must know the significance of the names and be sensitive to other people’s feelings especially when a product is named after their town esp this town, Juarez.
When you buy the product, you gotta be happy about it and it makes you feel good like any shopping spree would. Like during the Cult of Cherry Collection, names like Cherry Blossom, Liqeur, Jampacked and stuff like that, makes us understand the inspiration behind the collection and we feel happy buying it, you know.
I think they should pull out this collection. Scrap off the name stickers on them, give a menacing name and push them to MAC Disney collection.. Thus adding a new character like Ursula or Red Queen. I feel that is not enough in that MAC Disney collection, like more could have been done and they could do better!
I find this collection to be very disturbing. First of all, how can one be inspired by atrocity, torture, murder, & rape? I find it creepily weird.. MAC only decided to give a *portion* of their profit after they’ve been confronted by their customers. I have been a loyal customer for MAC for many years… but NOT from this point on! No amount of makeup can hide that ugliness. No matter how pretty the eyeshadow or lipstick, I cannot purchase and wear something on my face that symbolizes death and despair.
honey it is makeup not a political statement!
oh and does anyone else think that MES look like blood? ew
MAC should really turns this collection into a campaign to bring awareness to the situation in Juarez, more than make a donation to save their faces (how much, by the way?).
To simply name products inspired by a tragedy and not to discuss it it’s frivolous and grotesque.
I’m too boycotting this collection and any Rodarte’s creation. I’ll not buy anything more from MAC until the company gives an appropriate statement.
I thought the imagery and names were odd before I heard the significance. I don’t want to look like or celebrate corpses. Avoiding this collection
I’ve been following this since the post first went up and after it’s all said and done, I’m very disappointed with MAC. Even more disappointed about the “portion of the proceeds from the M·A·C Rodarte collection to help those in need in Juarez” bit. So, in order to help, consumers have to buy the offending product first. That’s… messed up. I think the best thing MAC can do to get out of this PR nightmare would be to pull the line and make a generous donation to whatever group can best help these women in Juarez.
As far as Rodarte is concerned… I don’t know. I want to lash out and say their 1st world privilege is showing. The angry part of me wants to believe that they’re profiteering on the suffering of others, but it’s possible that they really are just ignorant even after being in the area. I say this because I didn’t know about what’s going on in Juarez until this all came out. It wouldn’t be the first time tourists have gone into an area without researching it first, it happens all the time. I don’t know how informed they are, so I can’t speculate.
This is a lose-lose all around. For now, I’m heading over to Amnesty International and making a donation. I don’t need to buy anything from this line to do that and in a twisted way, I should thank MAC for bringing this to my attention so I can give money to Amnesty International and help out.
I like that pigment in the picture! 🙂
The light purple color
I don’t have a problem with the use of Juarez in this collection. I see it as a positive way to draw attention to the situation and not forget victims of the violence and poverty that exists there.
However I do have a problem with the lack of darker tones in this collection and the anglophication of a latin town and culture.
Also the person who is responsible for naming the nail polish Factory should be fired IMHO. Just unoriginal and tacky. Why don’t you just name it slave labor ville and be done with it. Sweatshop was that under consideration too? It’s just simplifying a complex issue that really needs more attention than a nail polish.
I understand everyone’s point of view in this particular issue. But, honsetly, does anyone think this debate is going to go somewhere? If MAC changed the names on these products, would that make you any happier? Any kind of violence, prejudice, homicide, genocide, etc, is nothing to be joked about or used to lighten a situation. In my opinion, any kind of violence, etc, is the same. It’s all completely wrong. Is MAC being inconsiderate to this situation? Perhaps. And I can see why people would boycott this collection. But, as humans we all make mistakes. They are realizing that what they did might have been in poor taste and they are taking steps to make it a little bit better. I can admit that I did not know about what was happening in Juarez until I came across this debate. Maybe that is what MAC was hoping for.. a little bit of knowledge? We can’t be sure. The fact that these designers were women should not make it any different. Would it make it better if they were men instead? I don’t think that these women were trying to hurt anyone or accept any kind of violence. The fact of the matter is that awful things inspire us. These bad things call us to action. If it wasn’t for this line how many of us would have really known about what was happening? If you’re that upset, which again is understandable, should boycotting a collection of makeup make you feel less guilty or any better about anything? Boycotting MAC is not going to do anything but give you less makeup. If you’re upset, take a stand, and do it politically. Raise money, do something. Getting rid of this line won’t get rid of the violence. I’d like to point out also that I do not disapprove or approve of this collection. I’m going to stay neutral because I can see all sides of it. I just think that as makeup lovers, we all need to stop arguing about our own beliefs, because that’s not what makeup is about. It’s about making people feel good, feel better. We shouldn’t attack each other on personal opinions or beliefs about things non relaive to makeup. If you have something negative to say to my post, please feel free to do so. It’s not going to change anything, and I hope that everyone realizes that.
I won’t be buying anything from this collection. everytime id go to use it, it would probably make me cry. but I am glad for mac bringing this issue to light. I live in north texas and had no idea this was going on…
Also the blood splattered looking mineralized eyeshadow..Bordertown..that is just really in bad taste.
I think MAC is greedy and inconsiderate in their choices. How many collections can you put out in one year? Maybe instead of 50 collections in a year they can cut back and try to focus more closely on each collection. They really dropped the ball and instead of creating sensationalistic products that try to hard to shock and be cutting edge..they could of changed the names to something less tacky and maybe put out a brochure or pamphlet describing the situation in Juarez.
Rodarte too is lame..if you are part mexican hey how about some makeup shades that work on actual women of color? And what’s more important your inspiration of the ghosts in juarez or the actual victims and people suffering there under inhumane conditions? Rodarte is just another lame fashion line sorry..
I’m sorry you have to deal with so much negative controversy (ie drama) and difficulty here, Christine. Sometimes people take silence and neutrality as a cop-out when it is often the best and most responsible position to publicly hold. Thank you again for presenting the information and statements and trying to set up a good place for discussion!
Hi Julia,
I appreciate your understanding! 🙂 It really means a lot — thank you!
hi christine btw love your blog but that isn’t what my question is about lol. so i missed out on the sugar sweet collection and io was wondering if you think the lipglosses are the same kind of idea. do you think the colors will actually be different of just sheer??? please answer thanks i also feel sorry about all the poliical drama going on and the messages you must have to filter
I haven’t seen ’em, but I heard they’re the same as Sugarsweet–so very, very sheer.
SORRY IF YOU WERE OFFENDED BROWN PEOPLE HERE’S SOME FOUNDATION OWAIT LULZ WE DON’T HAVE YOUR SHADE. /sarcasm
did you see my comment on ontd_f and copypaste it here? wat.
I won’t be buying from this collection.
I guess they didn’t think that their white target demographic would be concerned or care.
I think this collection is going to be very beautiful and yayyy comes out the day before my birthday too 🙂
I’m soooo disappointed… Now MAC cosmetics also seams to think our opinion is ridiculous
This is what they just posted on their twitter account
“Its about our statement on the colab with rodarte. It’s ridiculous that people are offended by this. We were not trying to. xoxo”
Siledhel,
MAC does not have an official Twitter account… I actually Googled it, and it even says “Unofficial” on the Twitter page.
Oh!… well I think then it isn’t THAT bad, I really thought it was some kind of spokeperson.
Well there’s a good observation for MAC, they should be a little more careful on who refers to them as “we” when speaking in their name =S
Yeah, definitely unfortunate but wanted to make sure to correct that right away since they don’t have a Twitter account as far as I know!
Christine, would you consider adding a poll to the site for people to vote on re: this collection?
I would be interested to find out (without discussion – more of a “show of hands” kind of thing) how many people will be buying this collection / How many won’t be / How many are waiting to hear what MAC’s final word is before they decide.
I would love to know the actual numbers here… I would think that MAC is probably conducting their own surveys as well (I would think).
Done and done!
Wow! I like the shade of the Beauty Powder. But what is the use of beauty powder for? Does it work like a blusher or highlighter?
I LOVE MAC.HOWEVER NOT EVERYTHING SHOULD BE ABOUT PR. EVEN IF PROCEEDS GO TOWARDS THIS IMPOVERISHED TOWN. THIS WAS IN POOR TASTE. I HAVE ALSO TOLD MY FRIENDS AND CLIENTS TO LOOKOUT FOR THIS COLLECTION AND WILL START A FACEBOOK BLOG TO BOYCOTT “RODARTE”. ESPECIALLY USING MAKEUP THAT MIMICKS MURDER AND RAPE. SHAME ON YOU
I just wanted to say thank you so much for taking the time to moderate and post about this collection. It’s sad that you have to put up so many disclaimers and things about the boards. This site is about beauty products and looks and I just wanted to say I’m sorry that everyone has abused the site for bashing.
I just wanted to say thank you for all that you do and that I love your website.
It has been my pleasure to be able to create an open forum for the discussion 🙂
i am not offended by this collection and my family is from Juarez! i think everyone is too snsitive about things like this and need to stop it!not everything is ment to be personal! like if you say see to a blind person you dont mean harm its just idomas and none of this isa political!!!
IT’S MAKEUP!!!!for goodness sake arent we allowed to have any fun???
I’m from Mexico, Monterrey to be exact and I think you’ve heard we are being struck by drug violence too, not at the same level but we are getting there.
I don’t think that I’ve used the word “offended” to describe how I feel, I know many have.
The truth is, I’m not offended either, that’s not the word that describes how I feel. I’m surprised and somehow disgusted, because of their attitude.
It’s not only because the collection refers to something that happens in my country, I would have felt the same if they’ve done something with ambiguous and insensitive references to something that for some it’s a personal tragedy.
BECAUSE IT’S MAKEUP! It’s supposed to be fun, its supposed to make me feel good. I don’t feel good knowing that someone is being oblivious to other peoples suffering, it’s the feeling that they knew and didn’t consider it something untouchable.
I’ve never lost someone due to violence, and I’ve never met someone who’s been murdered in Juarez, But I know how if feels not to be able to walk 5 blocks in the night without feeling scared, or not being able to take a cab by myself because I’m scared… It wouldn’t be nice if someone thought “that’s not a big deal”
I don’t believe this has to do with where we are from, there are certain thins that need to be condemned, not celebrated in any kind of way
It may be makeup, and it may not be a political statement, but they are giving the impression that they don’t care on a politically sensitive subject, and they are getting a response
Maybe you are not offended but many are, and their opinion must be respected, by us and by the brand that want to keep them as consumers
In my opinion, there is no excuse for a collection with names like these. To think that MAC didn’t seem to have a problem with them is just sickening. Of course people are going to argue that this is all okay because its art or that MAC/Rodarte are not promoting femicide along with all that goes on in Juarez. I’m not asking for MAC to end femicide in the world or completely eradicate violence towards women. But, “Sleepless?”, “Factory?” Frankly, I think I’ll pass. Just like I would pass on “Gas Chamber” eyeshadow and “Starving” lipglass. All I ask is that MAC pay more attention to the injustice which is being referred to as ‘inspiration’ and be more sensitive at the very least. On the plus side: As a college student, I’ve never really been able to justify paying MAC prices and this just gives me even more reason to remain a drugstore diva.
I am surprised at the amount of debate resulting from this collaboration! As someone who went to university to study fine art, this is exactly what I hoped to create when I made a painting: the fire of debate. What constitutes art? We had an entire senior seminar devoted merely to the discussion of “what is beauty or what makes art beautiful” because as I have realized, everything eventually becomes beautiful or will be beautiful to someone because everything is subjective. Personally, I find this collection to be beautiful, as I do all MAC collections. They are works of art (sans the mac venomous villains packaging…) even if they are not something I would/could wear. Whether the inspiration came from witnessing a state of unbelievable horror or overwhelming beauty lies in the head of the artists. The important part of this whole thing for me was realizing that something inspired a powerful, well known set of artists (RODARTE) who in turn collaborated with an extremely influential makeup brand (MAC) and fueled all of this. I have been made aware of yet another disturbing act that is occurring in this world BECAUSE of this makeup collection. I will not boycott it. On the contrary, I think having a piece of this collection would remind me every time I used the product of what kind of world I am living in and what things I can do to make a difference.
Ikcy, After learning what this collection is really about I think I feel a little sick now 🙁
For one, who would want to look like a corpse for fashion? Especially after knowing that’s exactly what this line is intending? If they wanted creepy ghosties they could have come up with some kind of halloween line with seasonal names. Not names after raped, tortured women. I can’t see people going into the office, or doing their grocery shopping looking like that model.
And I do not see a difference between naming a collection after human suffering in the past or present, either way it’s very distasteful.
“Bombs in the Backyard” EDT would be just as bad as “Factory” nail polish. They are both places that instill(ed) fear into people but unfortunately the latter is still going on.
I won’t be buying anything from this line. Nobody should profit from human suffering. “Sleepwalker” MAC? Really?
So before anyone tries to say “it’s just fashion, don’t buy it then.” You got it, I already said I wouldn’t. No need to tell me. I don’t need to open my makeup bag, see “Sleepless” and think of rape and murder kthxbai MAC!
Wow I didn’t even realize this was about Juarez until reading all the comments. I live 1 1/2 hours away from the border to Juarez and of course being very close I hear it on the news all the time. It is unfortunate that this is going on and I remember how I felt when it all first started. It’s sad to see this happening and having so many people fearing to go over there now. I wouldn’t blame them. Anyways…the collection names I can see why it’s offensive. It’s about the incidents going on in Juarez and that’s nothing to make a collection about at all…’Ghost town’ that really depressed me when I read it. A lot of people are losing friends and family, I don’t know how a make up collection can heal that.
I will be buying all the things I like from this collection. While I sympathize with what is going on, I don’t get the whole boycott MAC idea. Firstly, even if MAC couldn’t sell even one lipstick from this collection because of a boycott, it would NOT STOP what is happening in Juarez. In the very least, MAC is definitely raising awareness to this issue, whether that was their intention or not. I know I was completely oblivious, not ignorant, to any of this. As were many, many other people before MAC pulled out the controversy card. And isn’t awareness the first step to stopping anything? Awareness is awareness, no matter how it comes about. And now EVERYONE on here is aware, and that’s the undeniable fact that even the maddest people over this collection have to accept, no matter how despicable the name of a lipstick seems to them. And trying to persuade OTHERS to boycott this collection isn’t going to help anything either. If anything, it’ll TAKE AWAY from the potential help these women could be recieving from MAC in $$$ form, since MAC is now donating proceeds from this collection. Now I’m not saying I’m going to think I’m some great humanitarian for buying an eyeshadow, but I won’t be made to feel guilty about it either. I’ll just be buying makeup because I love makeup. And if it helps someone else in the process, that’s just a bonus.
In the end, both awareness and money will be raised, hopefully for change. And isn’t that what any activist wants for their cause? Not that there’s any kind of real ‘win’ to a situation like this, but this is a win-win for this poorly thought out idea by MAC. The damage is already done by this collection, whether you plan to boycott it or buy it as it is, your decision will remain the same even if MAC decides to change the names. And no matter what MAC decides to do, I really think only good can come from this now. It’s not like ANYBODY is going to learn about Juarez from their lipstick and be like ‘woo yay for femicide!!!’. Sometimes the best things can come from a mistake.
How are the names offensive????
I’m as big a MAC fan as the rest of you, but let’s be relistic here. MAC have really crossed the line. I’m sure that none of it was ever meant to be offensive, but someone somewhere at MAC clearly doesn’t understand what’s going on and how serious an issue this is.
I think they should either donate ALL profits, not just “a portion”, or pull this release altogether before they get themselves into trouble of lose lots of customers.
To be honest, I think this collection is god-awful ugly in general without the controversy and had to past on it anyway. But I honestly think that this was a risky business decision for MAC that went horribly array. I think they thought they were going to be artsy with a dark collection but didn’t realize or didn’t know the backstory or maybe business decision on this got lost in the corporate chain of commands. I do not think MAC was intentionally trying to make profit over someone’s misfortunes but this is corporate america and this happens everyday. Animal Testing is still done, people are still making profit over people’s misfortunes… this is common place and what is everyone doing to stop it? Nothing really, maybe send a letter saying how you feel and hoping your company will listen. I am not saying to give MAC a break but this is one instance and they have apologize and is trying to make good. But this feeling of women fighting for women and big companies making a profit at people’s expense should be seen with every collection and not just this one.
I will get off my soap box now…
In my opinion, it’s more than obvious that “Factory” and “Juarez” are associated with the horrible situation in Juarez. Really can’t understand MAC what they thought about that. Although I’m a huge MAC fan and I mostly purchase anything from the limited editions, I’ll definitely skip this collection!! By the way the promo picture has a really bad effect on me, it scares me- and even did this before I knew the discussion around the edition! Greetings from Germany:-)
I really don’t understand why people keep saying I’m mexican latina and it doesn’t offend me. Well I’m about as white as they come and I’m offended? Does it really make a difference if you are or not. It’s like the only ones should be caring is you, but not. It doesn’t matter who you are or what color you are.
Think about it like this: for those who actually live in (or around) Juarez, do you think this campaign is the first thing on their minds when they wake up in the morning? Frankly, I don’t think that controversy in the fashion industry takes more precedence over their financial troubles, work related stress, and the safety of themselves and their families. I am also white but I find it very difficult to say that I’m “offended”. Generally, when something or someone offends me, it’s because I’m affected by it directly. This campaign wasn’t executed very well, that’s for sure, but I can’t say that MAC hurt my feelings or “offended” me. When push comes to shove, no matter what I hear in the media or see on tv, I can’t truly understand the depth of the crisis unless I’m struggling through it myself. No one can.
I don’t think that MAC purposely tried to offend anyone. Were they ignorant? Probably, yes. Have they ever come out with a collection that rattled chains on purpose? No. That alone tells me a lot about their intent. They made a very careless mistake but I thought the purpose of making mistakes is to learn from them and never repeat it again.
We can’t change what happened, so it doesn’t bare any relevance now. However, what happens next is what matters most. As a human being who has made more than enough mistakes to account for, I’m not judging them for their mistakes. Who am I to sit on my perch and tell people how screwed up they are? So long as this doesn’t happen again, that is what’s really important.
After reading the numerous comments, I would like to thank everyone for bringing light to the situation in Juarez. Being in Canada, I was previously oblivious to what was going on there but this has opened my eyes to the atrocities going on in the world today.
I initially thought they promo was ghostly and eery, and now that I understand the link between the names, I too find the collection tasteless. I will most definitely be skipping out on these products, no matter how pretty they may be.
I am also saddened by the amount of ignorance (mind you, I too was ignorant on the situation) that has been portrayed in this comment board. Although the femicide in Juarez might be of smaller scale than other world issues, a life is a life, and who are we to say who’s is more important? The comparisons made were valid, and I strongly believe that no matter the size of the atrocity, it bears just as much importance as any other.
With that said, I would like to thank you all once again(from both sides of the argument) for proving that we are articulate, opinionated, intelligent, compassionate women.
you know the product next to the lip glass is that the mineralized eyeshadow bordertown
Kudos to you, Temptalia, for letting this conversation proceed.
my family lives in Ciudad Juarez and what is going on down there is heart breaking. my family lives in constant fear. i will be boycotting this collection.
http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2010/07/19/cosmetic-company-mac-forced-issue-public-apology-controversial-mexican-inspired/
The more I read I can tell MAC does not need this type of publicity, but I am sure they were looking for controversy and they got it, so sad that they have to do it this way though. I want to see going forward if they do not intentionally try to offend any other ethnic group.. they have offended a large customer base.
Thanks Christine for letting us vent 🙂
As much as I love MAC and Rodarte, I cannot support this collection and therefore for the first time I will not buy anything from this collection. I find it a bit distasteful naming a collection after one of the most violent cities in Mexico. This is a real blow from MAC and Rodarte.
MY GOD, what the heck were mac thinking with a promo picture like this, she scares me, she looks like the living dead. i cant imagine anybody wanting to do their makeup like this. what are they actually promoting a horrid brown eyeshadow and a face that looks like its covered in talcum powder. and the names of the products are chilling, and wouldnt want to own products with names like those. the world can be depressing enough without this lot. actually im skint from mac latest collection so i wont mind passing on this, and that was before i knew about the horrors surrounding Juarez.
Its interesting how aware i am on Juarez woman killings and did not connect that to this collection. What i am offended at is where peoples heads are at. What happens in Mexico is irrelevant to MAC cosmetics. I think there are just people out there who love to stir the pot to make things controversial. This is my opinion only, so i do not expect people to argue my opinion either, nor will i to others. I felt the need to express myself on this rediculous assertation between MAC & Rodarte collection.
I’ve always viewed Mac and respected them for being socially conscious. I don’t know too much about Rodarte and don’t care to. I read they were influenced to make this collection by the outlines of the women walking to the factories. I am not trying to argue with you but after I read this I couldn’t understand how they would find that acceptable
Thanks for letting us vent Christine..I really appreciate it. Wish we could do more for the women in Juarez and other third world countries.
Maybe we can contact Obama and let him know of the terrible situation and ask him to pressure the Mexican government to do something. It’s such a tragedy.
i’m so so happy they are changing the names. now they need to donate all of the proceeds in their entirety to a charity to support either the women of Juarez or human rights.
I don’t know if anyone will see this after all this time but…I have to add my 2 cents! I am not familiar with the corporate ins and out of how MAC names the products, but I don’t understand how an international company that started out in Canada and is now owned by Estee Lauder could have let this happen – guess I am naive! If the Mulleavys had intended this collection to be a fundraising/awareness cause from the beginning, like the Viva Glam lippies, then the names could have been incorporated into the promotion and education of the consumer, but now it all so…”yucky” and sad. However, the flipside is that now so many more people are aware of what is going on in Juarez, and maybe that awareness will result in some positive political pressure, etc..
i’m sorry but i feel like everyone is really overreacting about this. i appreciate it is trivialising the issue somewhat but foremost is it not bringing it to peoples attention in the first place? im sure many people have not even heard of Juarez! i’m loyal to MAC not only as a consumer but as a member of the community. No one kicks up such a fuss when they do commendable things such as Viva Glam?
I’m glad MAC have taken those who were offended into consideration and responded but at the same time i think its been blown out of proportion by many people.
We who actually watch the news know all about the slaughter in Jaurez, and have for years. We also know about the mutilations of young girls for absurd male ego and control freak reasons in Africa and we know about blood diamonds. Then there’s the “honor killings” throughout too much of Muslim culture.
Not all Muslims, just too many do that.
For MAC and these Rodarte women to be so crass is unfortunately too typical of the fashion world. Remember that cake shop collection for prom last year? Minstral make up on a black woman? in 2009?
Why isn’t there anyone up on basic history and current events at these companies? The fashion industry seems to think a red AIDS ribbon is the be all end all of social responsibility while women of color have disappeared from runways and the most ill of anorectics are prized as desirable.
I thought we’d made progress. I guess younger women don’t understand that less than a century ago women were chattel property who couldn’t vote or own their own property in most of the USA.
Lets see a collection on THAT, MAC.
I’m do excited and I can’t wait to support this collection<3333 Let's help Juarez!!!! MAC needs to give MORE than $100,000… We KNOW they make lots of money off of us!!!
I don’t really understand how it’s offensive? Does it mean something bad? Can someone nicely explain please? Thanks 🙂
In Jaurez, Mexico, women’s bodies are scattered all over the desert. Tired of your wife? Angry with your girl friend? Take her to Jaurez and just flat out kill her. Don’t even need to bury the body. Nothing will happen, nobody cares, except other women. Who are pretty powerless in Mexico.
I from El Paso but live in Juarez. Urgh! I can’t even find the words to explain how mad I am right now. Besides its obviously they do not know the story about Juarez, they are trying to make profits from it! Seriously?? I wish they really take the time to investigate what is going on here instead of just stay with the old story “muertas de juarez” and pretend to help. We do not need money, we need justice for all the narcoterrorism that is happening, its out there almost in every corner.
What’s new about this? fashion making money out of poverty? Simple as any product from the maquiladoras in Juárez stays in México. Tough I really like the collection.
My question is to all of those who want to ban or boycott MAC Cosmetics because of this collection, What about the clothes you wear that are made in sweatshops? Isn’t that just as important to ban/boycott?
WOW I THINK ITS AWESOME BUT BORDERTOWN AND GHOSTOWN WOW????MMM I DONT KNOW. MAC I REALLY HOPE U ARE NOT FOOLING ALL THIS PEOPLE WHO REALLY DO HAVE HEARTS AND DONT CARE ABOUT MONEY,LEVELS,RACE AND DO CARE ABOUT OTHERS. THAT U ARE NOT SAYING U WILL DONATE ALL THAT MONEY AND WONT OR U WILL GIVE IT TO A ORGANIZATION THAT ITS WORSE THAN THE OTHERS WHO HURT THIS WOMENS.
I do agree that the collection is distasteful and I was quite horrified when I saw the promo pictures. MAC has been criticized heavily, and I do not blame people for reacting. I do, however, feel that there is one good outcome of all of this – look at the amount of attention the situation in Juarez has attracted! I for one had not heard of the shocking violence that has been going on for years and I believe that, like me, many people were oblivious to the violence against women taking place in Juarez. In my opinion, the first step is awareness. If no one knows or cares, the police in Juarez will keep getting away with being indifferent to the murders. For now, the spotlight is on Juarez.
Big problem here!!- Villainous Bad Girls Packaging versus Rodarte creative great makeup…
Sigh. And then Holiday. How does one edit? Make up needs to live indoors, and I like it too. But the pigments and grease stick are going to hurt me in the wallet bad, it’s coming. And Beauty Powders! I have to pick up front and reserve to get anything and it’s impossible to know with out swatching on my colorless self.
I had hoped for Black again this year, so I could burn up more Style Black! Love that one. The whole “heroin chic” thing in the Rodarte styling does not become a healthy looking girl like me.
i had no idea what Rodarte was about until this collection came out and i read the comments. it’s truly shocking. and i feel that it’s absolutely terrible. even if i love makeup, i honestly dont know how i’d feel just looking at the lipstick or what when i’m using it. especially Bordertown eyeshadow which another blogger described that it looked like the blood shed. i feel horrified at even the design and although i’m trying to be impartial since i adore makeup and mac is going to donate to them and they are also creating awareness through this but i mean, just looking at that eyeshadow and thinking what it represents.. it just. i dont know. i feel terrible. and the names. though some people say they’re not affected by it, but after knowing the story. i mean. i just personally feel so awful and sad i dont even know if i can even start using the makeup after i buy it. it’s just my personal opinion. i dont want to argue with anyone really. sigh.
I’m thankful this issue was brought to so many peoples attention. At least they raised awareness. On a beauty blog no less. That, in itself, is not tacky.
I just don’t understand why anyone would want to buy anything from this collection? With all due respect, I wonder if they even know the story behind it? It’s sad how obviously some of the products names and colors have been inspired by the atrocities going on in Juarez, and I think it’s sad that a company would try to glamorize such a hellish situation. I definitely will not be buying anything from this collection, and the whole thing just deepy saddens me. Why, mac? 🙁
Seriously this is ridiculous, I’m extremely disappointed with MAC.
1. They should take this with respect.
2. The “muertas de juarez” is not what is happening now, that was at least 4 years ago.
3. Juarez is now worst than Iraq, there are sooooo many murders because of narcoterrorism.
I don’t get it… what is so offensive about this collection???
It is interesting how many people are making an issue over what MAC and Rodarte are doing or not doing. I am one person who believes in making your own statements… like for those who say MAC should donate “All” the proceeds. They are a business and can not donate all proceeds. The key point is what are “We” doing to help the situation… are we donating to organizations to help? Have we blogged about the issue before the names were part of a makeup line, etc.? What are we doing to better these women lives? It is so easy to complain about what someone else is doing, but we don’t do anything to make a change. Boycotting MAC is not going to make these women lives better. Everyone donating $1 or the cost of a lipstick, etc. to a organization to make these women’s lives better is doing something. I am not saying you have to donate… I am just saying don’t just complain or boycott… make a difference by doing your part to help these women. BTW I helped to raise funds for AIDS awareness, Dafar, women shelters, and speak at women shelters, etc. so I do my part. The question is do you(a question for everyone)? (I am not trying to dog out anyone, I just us to think about what we as individuals do to make the world better.)
Is not the intention to help what has been discussed… it’s the marketing strategy MAC is using to make it… you should read about what is happening with those women. I live in Juarez… and believe me…. if there’s hell while on earth…. this is it! 🙁
hello, i want to ask, what is the Lip Erase for?
It’s a permanent PRO product that’s used to mute or cancel out your natural lip color.
When I think of Mexico & Mexican culture I think of incredibly vibrant, celebratory colours. But these colours and this advertising? It only reminds me of death.
I love the products, Ghost town, Rodarte lipgloss and possible white gold. And I like the fact that it was a pale collection where I think most products would actually look good on my.
But I could really never guess what it was about when I saw it first, and I’m shocked now that I know. I like to think that it should be free to take inspiration anywhere, not necessarily making the bad things good for that. But this was over the limits even for me.
What I do like about this is that mac is trying to turn it, that they are going to donate money to it (if they do) and that it has become such a discussion. Because I think the discussion of it will make more people aware of what is happening there. I’m european, and I haven’t heard about Juarez before this.
So will all lipglasses now be 18 dollars instead of 14?
Hi Adail,
These are different lipglasses than MAC’s normal ones, so they are priced differently.
Hi Christine, do you own Mauvement Pigment? What’s the texture of this pigment? Is it chunky? Thanks 🙂
It looks chunky, but it goes on pretty smoothly.
ladies, educate yourself before you think about supportinq MAC with the release of this collection ; because i will NOT be supporting this at ALL .
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpATqgPStko&playnext_from=TL&videos=4VtrhZJ0zq4&feature=sub
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ciudad_Juárez#Female_sexual_homicides
Even with the name change I still chose to boycott this collection. The only reason MAC decided to donate ANYTHING and CHANGE the names was because of the people that got upset and had their voices heard. If we all stayed silent nothing would have changed. It wasn’t the “yay go mac!” comments that brought about this change.
I’m happy the names will be changed but the damage has already been done for me. I still know what “inspired” the collection and it still seems very wrong. I don’t demand MAC give every cent away, I know they still have to run a business and pay their employees.
And yes I do donate to charities as well and give when I can but don’t feel the need to list them off, I do it for the parties involved, not the recognition.
Oh my gosh I didn’t realized I used the word “change” so much! I gotta learn to re-read what I type 🙂
Also, I think MAC could have gone a different way if they wanted to create awareness about what’s happening down south. (I don’t think this is why they made the collection in the first place, after all, donations are only being given after the uproar.)
For Rodarte, awareness obviously was not their original intent saying it was based of the “ethereal landscape” etc.
It wouldn’t have hurt for them to use less offensive names. Even the Viva Glam lipsticks are not called “AIDs” and “HIV Positive”.
Okay, I’ll stop talking about this now 🙂
I have no problem with Rodarte or MAC bringing out a collection based on Juarez, I have a problem with the fact that they both seem to be fully aware of what is going on in that town, but never presented the connection to the consumer. They originally were not going to donate any money. Rodarte presented this collection in Feb. and the outrage abt this collection was minimal at best. Editors who preview this seemed not to make the connection, and it’s only when MAC released details and pictures did the uproar begin. People treated this as a ‘great’ collection, seeming unaware of what it represented. So the education factor was lost. And that’s what’s sad. If it was not for bloggers/vloggers who brought the connection to the audience, we may not be talking about this and MAC may not be donating any money.
MAC CROOK!!!!!!!!!!
the next collection maybe “nazi” or “bin laden”
I don’t buy MAC never again
I will not spend one penny on this collection.Utterly disgusting.
I was born in Juarez, and I Have personal knowledge of the tragedy, 1000000 seems about the right price for MAC s Soul, why don’t you go ask any mother who has lost a child in Juarez War, what is the price for their pain!
I want to read all the comments, they are so insightful, and i love to read everyones opinions <3
I am American-Mexican, my mom is from Ciudad Juarez… and i can't help but to be a little excited about this collection. While I understand that what is going on in Juarez is horrible, and should be stopped as soon as humanly possible, i am glad for this collection because it has raised awareness of what's going on. Clearly, most Americans are aware of the situations overseas, but clueless about what's going on in Mexico, just south of the U.S… If it's raising awareness, hey i'm all for it! If the people of the U.S. Can get so up in arms about a trivial make-up collection, how much more of a difference can we make about letting our government know to step-in and try to resolve what is going on in Juarez?
I appreciate MAC's apology, and i sincerely believe that this collection was not designed to offend anyone.
Hello I am quite upset about the new line M.A.C is release called Rodarte and knowing where it is basic from very unnerving. I love M.A.C being a longtime customer but this collection NO!!! Now there is a light on the situation it is good because it makes the world aware of what was going on in Juarez but don’t put death upon it bring life and don’t just throw 100,000$ but let all the money go to women that have suffer and continue to suffer today. And don’t just change the names but change the colors M.A.C is colorful and alive not pale and dead. Thank You
this is just ridiculous. they should just drop that collection because what they’re trying to do for damage control isn’t enough. and the visual for this collection…the model just looks dead and emaciated. do people really think this is attractive or what a woman should look like? redo the names, redo the visual…just drop the collection, mac. you’ve pissed a ton of people off.
MAC, either drop the collection or give 100% of the proceeds from this collection to help the cause, not just $100,000.
agree
Well, it’s a business. They obviously can’t just drop a collection that cost them time and effort to put out. If you don’t like it, don’t buy it.
100,000 dollars? WOW! is that like in Mexican money or USD?
MAC would probably make millions from this collection and they’re only giving 100,000 away. They think that by giving away money it’ll make the issues go away. Well, it doesn’t. If you buy from this collection, you’re supporting rapes and murders of young women in Juarez. Mac and Rodarte shouldn’t get away with this kind of stuffs! BOYCOTT MAC AND RODARTE!
I think that extremist views like yours are the reason so many people got involved in this “controversy.” Does anyone really believe that MAC or Rodarte support rape and murder? From their immediate attention to this matter, I would say not. Going so far as to both change the product names AND donate $100K is more than you would get from a lot of other companies.
“If you buy from this collection, you’re supporting rapes and murders of young women in Juarez.” Honestly, I think that’s just a ridiculous assumption to come to without having any facts or arguments except your own personal outrage. I’m not saying that people aren’t entitled to their opinion, but to come out with such an extreme and obviously biased comment about two brands that have never fostered hatred or controversy like this…
Originally, I was quite intrigued by the names of the products as I consider Rodartes to be an ‘alternative’ brand of high-end clothing, but looking further into the matter, I find that its offensive to the people of Juarez. I can’t say I’m absolutely not purchasing from this line as i think its a different looking collection to other MAC collections.
However, I feel that if I am to spend my money on these products, I’d want the money to be donated to Juarez. I think MAC should have released this as a charity event, as I feel this would take part away from the controversy.
This collection is frickin’ creepy. The eyeshadow above (as my guy friend pointed out) looks like turning raw meat. I love how many of you girls are still oh so excited at the pretty. Nevermind anything else….Screw the femicides and poverty in Juarez- glittery lipgloss.I would feel wierd using this collection.
I understand that not everyone cares about social justice and being empathetic to the plight of others, or even being up to date on current events; but hell, she just gave y’all the run down about the situation and it seems that only one or two of you bothered to see what all the controversy was about.
I’m not sayin’ get rid of all your MAC and never shop there again (I won’t..at least not yet), but damn at least know more about the company than what color lipglasses they have and make informed decisions.
Mac comes out with a collection that deliberately exploits a country where women are brutally raped and murdered by the masses and receive absolutely no justice at all! Their only solution is to give 100,000 dollars? MAC had a 274.8 million dollar increase in sales last year! 70 million of this was in lip products!
I have advice for all of you girls that want to buy from this collection! Skip this collection, take the money that you were going to spend on it and donate it to a charity for the people of Juarez!
http://www.casa-amiga.org.mx/
Sry christine if ppl have been leaving u rude commnets or anything, I respect what u do so very much<33333
It’s all good, just part of the job 😉
I think I’m gonna pass on this collection.
It’s just makeup. If you don’t like it, don’t by it! They have a lipgloss called Nymphette, which could be construed as a young women with abnormal sexual desires, but I don’t cry about it. It is just a name.
Dear MAC,
Get a clue. Your pursuit of money while ignoring thousands of homicides is disgusting.
In the year leading up to August 2009 Juárez’s murder rate was the highest reported in the world, exceeding the holders of the second and third highest rates, Caracas and New Orleans respectively, by more than 25%. The rate of 130 murders per 100,000 inhabitants is the same as Caracas’ 2008 statistic for same period.[23] Journalist Charles Bowden, in an August 2008 GQ article, wrote that multiple factors, including drug violence, government corruption and poverty have led to a dispirited and disorderly atmosphere that now permeates the city.
I’m really irritated by the fact that so many commenters are saying that they can understand where so and so is coming from or how appauling it is to read about this simply because of their race or the color of their skin. Why am I not seeing people talking about how they can relate to this issue as WOMEN in general?
will this be sold online?
I do believe so.
I can’t believe the uproar over this. I’m not really offended by something as trivial as the name of a product. I think everyone is being really rude and is misconstruing MAC and Rodarte’s intentions. It’s MAKEUP. MAC has one of the most liberal views and practices in the industry, and I think everyone is jumping to conclusions on what “message” they’re trying to convey. (I guess I missed the memo because I don’t understand the fatalistic and horrific message they’re supposedly sending.) The only reason that I’m not buying any of these products is because I’m actually not interested in any of them, not because I feel wronged by MAC. If changing the product names and donating $100K isn’t enough to calm consumers down, I don’t think there’s any hope for this collection.
The message they conveyed was “oh look at the dead-on-their-feet, poor women walking to and from work. Let us make clothing inspired by their poor and gloomy look and the pieces of fabric that cover the floors of these factories.”
Swear to God, they said something like this. At the least, it reeks of privilege. (And a whole lot of ignorance…) Seriously? Impoverished women who walk home like “sleepwalkers” in what has been coincidentally rated as the most dangerous city of the world…is cool?
How much time does it take to google “Juarez?” and notice that as you type it in google, you get offered terms like “Juarez cartel, juarez murders, juarez mexico murders, juarez violence.” and then when you just enter Juarez, the entries that follow the wikipedia links are all about violence and murder, including two youtube videos.
How did someone miss this? This was one HUGE PR mess. They say they’re inspired by Mexico…well, why pick the most violent city to represent Mexico…and then completely ignore the Huge Elephant in the room.
It’s like going to Germany, and getting inspired by the ghettos. There’s so much more to Germany today, why would you concentrate on one of its ugliest aspects? While not concentration camps or gas chambers, ghettos were still an ugly symbol of oppression. Factories in Mexico are not a glamorous thing and for women in Juarez, they provide an unhealthy, exhausting and dangerous lifestyle. IF the women look like “sleepwalkers” after work, there’s a reason for it! And it’s not something to be taken lightly (or to be used for profit.)
I’m glad they’re at least doing something now for women in Juarez. Those ladies need all the help they can get!
Well, I guess we all make mistake and Mac are obviously no exception here. The promo pic looks like an ad for aids or a drug addiction?
the blush looks like rivulets of blood 🙁
I have to say the insensitivity of Mac and Rodarte has increased awareness of the issues in Juarez. It is occurring in our backdoor and millions are not aware of it.I’m so surprised Mac would agree to this–did they really think their consumers would accept Juarez themed products? C’mon Mac, we might be beauties but we are not brainless!
Hi I am from México, this is an offense to all women killed all over the World, it seems you MAC people took your heart out, named the products and put your hearts in again. Thanks for letting us mexicans know how much you respect us… Mocking of others tragedy is one of the worst things you can do…
I have a feeling that this will be a collection that gains MAC ALOT of bad press and rightly so , they should not be using names for that products that are inappropriate and have horrible conitations. Yes i can see that they are trying to make the situation btter by donating money and changing the names and it is good that they have taken note. A vast amount of damage has been caused so maybe MAC should look at cancelling this collection , as it will be very bad PR for them and could put people off mac for a very lengthy time. Will this collection be coming to the Europe ? At this rate i hope not !
I still (or at least I would like to) believe M.A.C. ‘s intention was not to offend … but definitely marketing strategies were so primitive. A Marketing professional knows, before a campaign is released there’s Market research behind. As in any other campaign they should have researched in order to create a powerful impact…. Dealing with such a critical subject as “women’s unsolved deaths in Juarez” requires clever strategies to show the world the reality and create ‘awareness’. I really hope they reconsider their strategy and their good intention to help others, be a real success without damaging M.A.C.’s brand image and of course without offending consumers and fans. As a woman, as a marketer, and most of all as a person who has lived in Juarez I appreciatte all efforts that are made to help people in need .. mostly if in my city….let’s just find a more ‘human’ way to create “awareness” …M.A.C is such a big brand name and company…. and their intention to help others … believe me … will be really appreciated!!… strategy and a powerful positive message is the key 😉
SHAME ON YOU MAC, APOLOGIZE IN SPANISH ALSO AND HAVE MORE RESPECT FOR WOMEN IN GENERAL, WHO ARE YOUR CLIENTS ANYWAY? DIGNIFY WOMEN INSTEAD OF USING OUR PAIN IN YOUR PUBLICITY. SOMEONE FROM JUAREZ.
Just wanna say that I feel very sad and MAC with Rodarte’s designers (at less this colettion) doesn’t know respect. I live in Mexico even I don’t live in Juarez, for me being woman is tottaly sad and makes me feel so angry this situation of death, killings, rapes, and stuff. All that names on the colletion makes alution to the sadness in Juarez, of families and dismissed girls. Lots of girls could buy this, and use it and feel “exited” for this new colection but, they’re helping to make our sorrow (lots of years of sorrow) into a circus. I’m so dissapointed and of course I’m able and feel sure to say that i will NEVER buy mac again.
they want women to be safe and stuff…why not donate some of that money to eating disorder charities? because in my opinion, they have a habit of using painfully thin models, and thats pretty nasty. i think the promo photo is awful and im not going to buy from this range
I’m hispanic and live in El Paso, Texas which is right next door to Juarez. I was unaware completely about this collection and I’m very much so offended! Deaths are almost daily news over here and for someone to be inspired by it is disgusting. I’m definitely not buying anything from this collection. what has the world come to?! This is horrible and completely insensitive to all the victims and their families. The names are very offensive and I’m very disappointed in MAC 🙁
at first I wasn’t offended by the collection or the names themselves but now that I see the promo picture I’m really mad at mac! and I’ve been “defending” mac about this collection with my Mexican friends saying what I think is true: MAC is donating money and that’s way more than what we, Mexicans(and our government), do; and also the fact that thanks to the collection and the controversy, now a lot of people is aware of what is happening!! I was happy with mac for all that, BUT THIS PROMO PICTURE is completely tasteless and disrespectful! now I don’t support the collection at all and MAC will be getting an email from me complaining about it!! since I can’t do any more than that. I do think they should totally change the promo pictures *real mad*
I bet they would never come up with one inspired on 9/11 with ridicules names as this, what a pity and waste of talent for the Rodarte Girls.
What does “RODARTE” mean? After reading some of the names of the colors, I can see why this would greatly offend people. Is there something more to this? Aside from the offensive names of colors? I was trying to find more information about this, and this website seems to have the most.
wtf?? i´m so angry wiht this line i´m mexican and it´s a joke to the tragedy that pass in my country and you give me disgust!!!!
i wont buy this products
GIRLS I’M MEXICAN AND IT HURTS ME THAT MAC AND RODARTE USE PAIN AND SUFFER OF MEXICAN FAMILIES FOR BUSSINES, TOO MANY WOMEN HAVE DIED BECAUSE OF THE VIOLENCE IN THIS PART OF THE COUNTRY. MEXICANS ARE REALLY UPSET ABOUT THIS!!! THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP!!
Im mexican too, im not offended, cause i know what really happened. Media made it all worse, MAC and Rodarte never intended to lead to this situation, please dont be offended. It really was a missunderstanding, and people just let their ideas flow and make it bigger.
Its a big shame that MAC takes advantage of a cruel, sad and dramatic issue that is happening in my loved Mexico; it is something that hurts deeply because we are mexicans and as women we must be united no matter borderlines…. (as you love your country USA and its history, we love and feel proud about ours) THIS IS NOT THE WAY TO SHOW YOUR “SOLIDARITY”…..
I am beyond dissapointment, and the only way I can really show it and directly affect this company is by not buying any Mac products again, not only of this collection, NEVER AGAIN, this is outrageous, I was a very loyal fan to the brand but this is just unbelievable, shame on you Mac.
im hoping that rodarte will make some thing beutifull of mac when refering to mexico nexttime like some of its other beutifull parts of its region …. im not convince any more im thru with mac an i know business is not gonna go good just because of this offence.”
as of 2010, juarez is known as the most violent city in the world, dangerous for both men and women. much of this violence is tied to running drugs across the u.s./mexico border, and with the sweatshop like u.s. owned factories located in juarez. it seems as if rodarte/MAC are glamorizing this tragedy through their product names such as “bordertown” and “factory”.
I don’t think MAC did any thorough research. I feel it was for profit, and they would not have donated any money if people did not get offended. As a woman, I’m offended by this collection due to the fact that it was inspired by a place well known for killing women, and not only violating them but butchering them too. I watched documentaries to better understand the outrage towards this collection, and i had to hold back tears. I feel it was an insensitive move on MACS part, I don’t feel comfortable buying from this line. People feel like all MAC cares about it money, and honestly since the “Baroque Boudoir” collection, Ive felt that way. The Baroque collection only had 2 shades of face powder none would have fit a minority skin tone. But anyway, i do like there products i feel its good quality, but i just cant wrap my head around how a makeup company could be inspired to make a collection (target market mainly women) based on a place well known for killing women? This is a mistake that could have been avoided with better research, and to me there is too much competition out there as far as makeup goes, for MAC not to be on its p’s and q’s.
I understand those who defend that MAC tried to bring attention to a social problem, and its ok, because indeed, this incredible issue has prevailed unattended for years. But when AVON, or even the same Estee Lauder launches a line that will support the struggle against breast cancer, they dont use models that seem to be ill, with a missing breast or dying, right? I think the offensive part was to show the girls as walking death women. I mean, would any of you like if some company presented a tribute to a deceased relative of yours? Probably yes. Would you like it if they presented him or her as a walking corps? Surely no.
Hello people??… Does anybody live in Juarez?, has anybody ever been there?? I can’t understand the prevailing lack of sensitiveness, I really don’t want to understand it… Beyond fashion there are many serious ussues happening in the world, this is not art, this is disrespect to suffering people, to frightened people in a country that hasn’t resolved the problem yet; no matter the difference in the number of deaths it is as if anyone turns out with an Holocaust-themed new collection……. Shame on them, what I’m talking about is simply: HUMANITY.
I realized only now, through a post in another forum, that the promo picture not only shows the main girl but on the left side also a ghost girl – I had always assumed that was just some kind of weird shadow, but only now I see clearly it´s the outline of a person. That would confirm even more that the original concept was well aware of what they were doing. I feel really sick..
It is a great success that the response by the people made MAC at least change a couple of things and add the donation, not every company would do something like that, but I still feel really upset about the fact that the concept of the collection was approved at all. The more this is going on, the less I have fun with all of my MAC products 🙁 I still wish it would not be released.
Rodarte then seem to really try to be invisible and not react anymore
at all..
Since MAC is reading this, I would like to make the company aware of that also German MAC-consumers / beauty addicts in general are discussing the topic, and there are many very shocked and unhappy about the Rodarte-concept, too.
(Christine, if I may link this, on this page is a MAC-forum with many Temptalia-fans, and there are subdiscussions on different collections, too):
http://beautyjunkies.inbeauty.de/forum/showthread.php?t=103664&page=15
this situation in Mexico is very very painful, is absurd to mix it with a vanal cosmetic
This isn’t the first time I’ve heard about bordertown violence. Juarez, Tijuana, Matamoros…they’re very violent towns. But now looking at the picture of the Bordertown mineralize eyeshadow, I don’t know if it’s just me, or the color looks “bloody” because of the red mixed in there. Wow, MAC is talking so much about violence in Juarez, and now I can’t look at that eyeshadow without thinking it looks “bloody”. Maybe it’s just the picture…it might look different in person.
I admit, I don’t get it. Obviously the conditions in Juarez are in many ways horrific, but all Rodarte did was use the name “Juarez” in a collection of makeup that was intended to be a tribute to the mystery and beauty of Mexico. I don’t see the insensitivity in that. If anything it had done nothing BUT bring awareness to an issue and place too easily ignored. And this is not the same as naming a lipgloss “Auschwitz” because Juarez, for all its crime, is still a city that millions call home and are proud of. They didn’t name the lipgloss “rape in Juarez”, or even “girls of Juarez”. THAT would have been insensitive. Similarly, there is staggering amounts of crime in South Africa, but I wouldn’t be offended at a piece of makeup simply being named “Johannesburg”, especially if it were in a line inspired by African places!
well, first of all, I don’t want to downplay the suffering of the people of Juarez in any way at all. it’s real and ongoing, however I do see the initial direction that MAC and Rodarte was going towards, capturing the essence of a place. in the same breath I can also see how this can offend people, considering that this particular part of the world has a bloody history and present as well, which is truly heartbreaking, the kind of things that go on up there. but honestly I don’t think that they were trying to exploit the suffering of innocent people through the products. in fact, I really like these products, I just think, now that they understand and are trying to make a difference, if they could interpret beauty out of place that most people would never visit or consider a wasteland, this whole thing happened for the better. especially for the people who need it most in the end.
Just watched the spnation’s second video on this topic and it has continued to open my eyes to what mac has done and how wrong it was of them to allow these collection names to go ahead in the first place i shall not be supporting this collection even though the profits will go to help people there (according to the video) though i think that more should be done through charities who do not exploit the situation in the city in the way that mac did.
I have always spend soo much money on M.A.C but looks like this time am saving my self some $$$. Am passing on this collections..sorry M.A.C!!! 🙁
why is this considered offensive?
Hi! Is this collection sells on NORDSTROM online?
I don’t think it will be sold through Nordstrom.
And I wonder what the MKT manager of the brands thought about before the big campaign launch. Did they considered what the mothers of this kids and women that were brutally murdered and raped would think? did they consider what the sisters of this dead women would thought about when buying some MAC products? or .. they thought this “outcast” people are not the target, therefore will not be offended!!…. what could possibly run into their heads to come up with a campaign like this?
I need someone to explain to me how being raped and murdered will give you a “dreamy”.. “sleepwalking” kind of escense.. or peace?? can someone sleep after seeing those bodies tortured, raped and scattered in the ground? can someone look in the eye to one of the victims mothers and say… we were inspired by your daughter’s murder for a beautifull and dreamy campaign? Can someone please talk to Laura and Kate and ask them how can you explain the “analogy of sleepwalking between worlds” after being brutally murdered and raped? I just don´t get it. Can someone take Kristen Dunst for a “joyride” to Juarez to meet some of the victims families, so maybe.. just maybe.. she will realize that the “stories” as she called them .. are REAL LIFE… thousands of girls murdered…
This kind of campaigns are the ones that will stick in my memory forever, and not in a good way.. maybe… that’s what the MKT manager wanted.. we will never know. But I will spend all my time, my website, my blog, my words, my breath… everything to talk about it ant put people off about buying any of this products.
This kind of campaings talk about the company VALUES… what moves it, what breaths inside.. and if this is what it´s in there.. don´t want to know any more about it.
From the beauty of the heart speaks the mouth.
FYI – ChicProfile has new product pics. I love this collection so much after seeing them. The soft delicate hues are right up my alley.
Being that my last name is Rodarte I have guilty feelings about this. I was excited to be able to buy items with my last name, but knowing the situation in Juarez and seeing the names brings to light the insensitivities that occur out of individuals’ carelessness. However, I would only hope that we can all see this as a teaching moment that will hopefully inspire more people to call for action. We are not all perfect and the Mulleavy sisters have certainly learned a lesson that will most likely make them reevalulate their place in society. Lets all agree that while this is certainly a horrible thing, it at least brought attention to an often overlooked aspect of Mexico.
I just want to say that, i know, cause i work with these people, that sisters “rodarte” were telling the truth when they said their inspiration was mainly the landscape, and that gothish mystery it inspired. They never intended to lead to juarez situation. The products were named without thinking of the consequences, thats true, but never with that particular topic in mind. If someone isnt aware of juarez situation then those products and their names would have passed unnoticed, but when you experience closely that situation, then its obvious those names would lead you to think MAC and Rodarte did wrong. They made a mistake, but i just want to make clear: Neither Rodartes collection nor MAC products were inspired by women in juarez, they were just badly named.
Thank you
i love the colors in the collection they’re all so pretty, definitely planning to BUY a lot from this collection, in love with the eyeshadows.
definitaly buying the eyeshadows 🙂 love it
For starters, this new make up line sounds great and I would like to send my congrats to the Rodarte designers because they really have worked hard to make it in the fashion design industry. Now, I am fully aware of Juarez and the absolute atrocious events that happen to the innocent women and people of this area. I live in Los Angeles and a few years ago I went to go to see a production put on by the Frida Kahlo Theatre that has to do with this very issue, (I absolutely recommend you go see it when it’s in production again because it emotionally opened up my eyes to this devastating situation). Seeing this play motivated me to work with organizations that seek justice for violence against women.
The murders that occur in Juarez are completely appalling and downright inhumane. Yet, I believe it was not the intention of MAC and especially Rodarte to use the name of “Juarez” as a way to market their product due to the murders that happen in the city or of any kind of this caliber. It is clearly evident that their inspiration came from the essence of the area they were traveling in and were not fully aware of how drastic the situation is in Juarez. A mistake was made and now the city and people of Juarez are being heard by more and more people due to this. Although, this might not be the best way of getting more people involved and educated about Juarez, it happened and instead of blaming and complaining, I think it serves as a stimulus to spread awareness. What I find unfortunate is that all this time has passed that these savage, cruel acts have been taking place in Juarez and yet there is minimal amount of initiative from both Mexico and the United States to try and solve this YET the second a popular commercial based product touches bases with the issue it’s like everyone cares now. The real test will be how many of us will actually try and do something and get involved in the best way they can now that this controversy has been made public. It saddens me to know that at least half of the people who have blogged and given their opinion about this will continue tomorrow not doing anything to see how they can help or at least spread awareness.
Thank youu!! Thats exactly what i think
I am really excited about Rodarte collection, and I for one, do not think that Mac had any intentions to insult anyone from this collection. I didn’t know about what happened in Juarez until I heard about this collection. So to me, Mac is not only coming out with another great collection , but is also making people aware about this horrible tragedy. And the fact that Mac is donating all that money is amazing, $100,000 is alot of money. Rock on Mac, rock on!!
im from that beautiful state of chihuahua where juarez is located in and i am in no way offended about this or the names i am aware of what happens and i also know that alot of people are not aware if this situation…i know that what they do to the woman in the whole situation is not pretty or glamourous but i do think that makeup is makeup and i will support the cause and by also letting other people know what it is and what it means and what the situation is by wearing it not to show it off in an unpleasant manner but to show that it can also be beautiful in its own way and thats how i see the woman from juarez beatuful alive or if passed away
I’m a citizen of CD Juarez Chihuahua.
I just want to say that the issue of the women of jaurez is a really deep wound that grieves the heart of every citizen of this town, we are at war right now between the drug cartels fighting for the biggest market of the world: the US.
Yes, we have 500 maybe 600 or even 700 crimes against women that are unsolved and is a pitty and a same for our society, but you kwon what? we have more than 5,000 deaths in the past two years because of this violent drug war, so what about a cosmetic called “the 5,000 deaths of jaurez”? or “the hundreds of kids killed by gunfights between druglords”.
As a mexican and a juarez citizen please don’t make any profit or merchandising with the Juarez theme, here at jaurez we are having a real living hell, and seeing you guys trying to be hype and to do some charity with the grieve and suffering of people of juarez makes me sick.
Please, with all due respect if you dont really are going to help us, leave us alone, we don’t need “donations”, we dont need “charity”, we need peace no cosmetics.
The updated names are on Specktra
As of now I think the only thing I am going to buy is Quinceanera blush…sounds super pretty 🙂
So tactless and insensitive! I’ll never buy anything from MAC.
So tactless and insensitive! I’ll never buy anything from mac ever again.
I’m going to create a line and call some of the new hues… “birkenau,” “bat-mitsva,” “work camp,” and “ghost.” How does that sound?
it’s a shame that they don’t take social problems seriously…this collection is crap
I’m boycotting this collection. BOYCOTT, BOYCOTT, BOYCOTT!!
I grew up in El Paso, TX, Ciudad Juarez’s bordering neighbor. I’d like to state that the citizens of Juarez and it’s suroundings, are NOT defined by the negativity currently infesting the streets. The collection was inspired by BEAUTY. This is a beauty product. MAC manufactured the product, the designers produced it.
I’m just emphasizing the point that in some ‘barrios’, children still laugh and play, mothers still sing lullabies to their children at night, and sweethearts still dance and gaze at the stars. There is art, culture, and history on the border and beauty doesn’t take a break for terrorists or druglords.
Now I live in Los Angeles, CA. There are major drug problems here. Children are homeless and hungry. Beauty still prevails. MAC and Rodarte will, too.
If MAC rodarte had launched a 9/11 ground zero collection in the US they would have been sued by families of 9/11 victims and many other organizations. Ignorance is not an argument in a world connected by internet and where the Juarez femicide has been widly publicizes by US actresses including JLopez in a terribly bad film.
Giving money is NOT enough, saying sorry is notg enough either. MAC/Rodarte should be punished by us, consumers, forced to take out of the market this collection and give all its 2010 profits to UN campaigns against violence towards women. Anything else is mere BS.
On the positive side, this collection has definitely raised awareness on this issue. I for one had never heard of Juarez or the situation there, and now I know about it.
People are missing the point of this collection. Just because you are upset that in your perfect North American life that your cosmetics are now named after somethin terrible but REAL in our CURRENT WORLD does not mean your rants and boycotts of this collection or the MAC brand will do anything.
Check the photos of the products above: Made in Canada, Made in USA —- MAC is one of the only companies that has their products made in countries that do not condone sweat shops.
Now check your clothes – you know, the ones you just bought from forever 21 becuase you wanted to save some $$ – Made in china, made in mexico.
and how about the car you drive? a toyota? probably also becuase the price point was right because its made in JAPAN by people in terrible conditions, much like the one these women work in Juarez
How about the fruit your eating – bet you didnt check where that came from either – most likely, imported from INDIA
— you are a walking sweatshop, you are Juarez.—–
If you want to help this situation, stop complaining on the Internet and boycotting this brand. Instead make a concious decision to support your own economy, to not support products made in countries that allow this to go on and join an activist group to actually help these people.
And realize that this collection has brought more attention to this matter than anything has before.
Get over your ‘hurt’ feelings on product names and WAKE UP!
And please lets not forget – neither MAC nor Rodarte created the terrible situation going on in Juarez and they are not to be blamed for murders and rape. They have simply put a light on this issue, and I for one am happy they did.
They’re not to blame for the terrible situation going on in Juarez, but they are 100% responsible for their awful judgment in approving the campaign.
The collection looks like they were going for a victorian-gothic-gore aesthetic, and tried to make it unique by using 19thC spanish fashion. Which is fine. I guess they wanted product names to give it all an original feel and reinforce the hispanic “story” alongside the goulish fantasy. Which is artsy and good marketing, and could have worked really well.
But blithely linking a modern human tragedy to an ad campaign for makeup? The glamourising of someone else’s suffering and inequity for commercial purposes…is crass. It’s not the same issue as buying luxury goods with hidden origins in sweatshops. MAC wouldn’t have pulled the campaign if people hadn’t complained and boycotted, and “a light” would not have been put on the issue. Heightened awareness of Juarez wasn’t anything MAC planned, so they won’t get any props from me for it.
I think comments should be disabled for this.
People are ignorant about the issue at present.
can someone please please tell me if this will be online!?
It’s supposed to be last I heard!
Passing on this one. I am a bit mortified by where the inspiration for this collection came from. Why can’t they depict the model as a strong Mexican woman breaking out of the chains of slavery? Why does it have to be a dead woman? I don’t exactly like the way they told the story through the advertorial and the cosmetics, as well as the name of the cosmetics. These designs and products went through MANY corporate hands before being released, they knew what they were doing and someone must have said something in regards to this. This is just MAC’s way of creating controversy to make money. It’s just a name brand slapped onto another name brand.. it’s JUST makeup ingredients underneath the fancy branded package. I’ve always liked MAC and will continue to purchase my Pro Products.
So what are they going to do with the products? They can’t just rename the everything? I was really looking forward to this collection. I’m sad they pulled it. grrr why did they have to use offensive names in the first place!
thats so low, that blush look so nasty it seems to blood, i like mac but get inspiration of one of the most dangerous places in the world is not nice at all.the names are offencive and the model looks like dead. come on, lots of women there have die i think this collection is offencive i wont buy anything of this colection. the names are the worst part.
sleep wsalker, sleepless, ghots town whats the regar of that names. dont like it at all.
Icky. I never thought I’d say that about a MAC collection, but zombies and ghosts in Jaurez is a disgusting place to even think of statrting- It’s as offensive as pink minstrel show make up on a black model was last year. Who’s in charge of collections now? They’re so awful!
Somebody at MAC has gone to a mediocre art school and heard that quote about Art angering and shocking people to be successful. The problem is- they missed the point completely! Offending me to the point of refusing to but isn’t what a business is about. And Art is about making people react strongly so they’ll think about things.
“Rodarte” has only made me think that old Queens in New York don’t have a clue about either women’s lives OR why heroin chic is tacky and rejected by the public. I thought sick looking anorectic models were no longer considered a good sales pitch- but here we have a very young woman actively made up to look ill or dead? Misogyny at MAC flourishes…
And then these colors look wearable by very few people. As an NC less-than-15 I wouldn’t want make up in white! And it would put color on me. I really don’t get this past runway theatrics. And then the Disney packaging is pitiful and it’s an oddly chosen group… Whoever ran the Fabulous Felines project needs to be in charge. Wearable colors with no insults aimed at women.
I laugh at this whole thing! Everyone is gonna say what they want but in the end the people who say they aren’t a customer anymore will probably be the first in line to buy their studio fix and the first to get their makeuop done at mac!
Im not sure i understand why every one is/was so upset? Is it simply because of the names given to the collection?
Christine, im not sure if you saw but theres more pictures here. http://www.chicprofile.com/2010/07/mac-rodarte-collection-for-fall-2010-new-photos.html
The collection is canceled!
To the people that are saying there isn’t a connection between this MAC collection and the violence in Juarez… have you actually looked at the promo pics?
I’m amazed people are saying it was just an accident.
Its a shame, MAC should know better. Its not the be-all-end-all of the company, I’m still very excited for the Villains collection coming out, but its good they came to their senses and pulled this one.
Live and learn, MAC
they should donate all the money to the women in juarez.
So since they arent going through with the collection might they rename the collection?
Because i like that purple pigment.
I just recently chatted with a MAC artist. So told me that this collection is NEVER launching. I’m not sure if you know that or not. 🙂
Yes, please check more recent posts for full details 🙂
I’m sorry but the model they used for this launch looks absolutely hideous! Usually MAC has strong, beautiful, looking women or figures that make me excited about the products. I don’t care at all for the girls’ look and am rather disappointed. I’ll probably still get an item or two though.
If not for the whole controversy, the new line is actually quite beautiful. However, given the situation and how this makeup was inspired, I can’t bring myself to purchase any of it. 100,000 is nothing to MAC and Rodarte, it really trivializes what’s happening in Juarez. Even though MAC has decided to donate all proceeds to a non-profit organization that works to improve conditions in Juarez, I feel like this is quite after the fact. Plus, they still gain publicity from ppl buying products from this line. I feel the only way for MAC to show their sincerity is to destroy the entire line and donate proceeds they would’ve made to non-profit organization to help Juarez.
Perhaps to many makeup gurus/collectors, this is very extreme. But we need to send a message to companies that they need to be socially responsible.
Hi Leslie,
You might want to read more recent posts – the line has been pulled and all projected profits are being donated.
I’m a woman born and raised in Juarez, when in saw the Rodarte collection I did not feel offended or mad, I felt very SAD that M.A.C is showing this problematic issue in such way. They got inspired in a trip? It takes more than look at the cover to find out the content of the book it said. Some of the names that were given to the products origanally are awful, they really show a very insensitive side to problems that people are facing in a daily basis, I won’t be buying any of this products, and maybe I will stop buying M.A.C alltogether.
I understand how this has offended some people. But to be honest, if MAC wouldn’t of done this I would of never known about the situation in Juarez. Personally I don’t think the product names were offensive. To me they made sense and fit in well with the collection and situation. Now if they would of done upbeat and quirky names, that would of been offensive. But not this. Also, this is for charity. And MAC does numerous of these collections a year. Yes, what’s happening in Juarez is disgraceful but let’s not just look for someone to get mad at such as MAC. I think what they are doing is very brave and making people, like myself, aware of the situation.
Is there any new information regarding international date for launch?
It’s not launching at all.
Just putting my two cents here…
While I do agree that some of the names can be offensive, it disturbs me more how some people need to get over themselves.
As an artist myself, I know full well how inspiration could come from anything. Pretty or not. Turning it into something beautiful (and preferably meaningful) is our job.
Make up should be fun and beautiful, I completely agree to that. But boycotting this line will not solve anything. They have apologized, they are trying to donate money to the cause. If people boycott the line or if MAC cancels it, then the donation part wouldn’t happen, would it?
I grew up in a less than pretty place myself, in a two-faced city in Southeast Asia. I witnessed a nationwide chaos while I was only ten. And yes, murder, rape, raids… All sorts of crimes were involved there. Would I be offended if someone got inspired by it? I don’t think so.
I do agree with another commenter who pointed out that several make-up companies use sex or drug-inspired names for their products and get away with it. Again, some people need to get over themselves.
The sad part is that MAC got in trouble mainly because they cited their inspiration. If Juarez was never mentioned, I think this collection would have been huge. :/
I apologize if my comment offended anyone.
People are taking this collection way too seriously. Call me insensitive but this collection is based on a vision and their vision was Juarez. Art can’t always be in a positive light and if they didn’t create this collection the issuses in Juarez would’nt have been brought to your attention. So by boycotting this collection you won’t be hurting the pockets of Mac, but I bet you won’t be helping the town of Juarez with the money you saved.
I’ve read through a lot of these comments and feel like some of these are just a bit exaggerated…. i mean do you honestly think that MAC and Rodarte sat around and thought to themselves hmmmmm lets make a collection line to poke fun of all the lives that have been lost?? Common people thats absurd. I truly believe that it was a collection built on an idea that might not have been fully thought out. Don’t publicly hang them for this. Their only mistake here is not thinking out all the possibilities and all the issues that may come out of launching a collection that has to do with a city that has experienced so much loss.
so they are still going to be bring out rodarte and do you know when?
No, it was canceled!
I’m surprised about MAC especially with the things they do for aids I guess human rights is joke to them. I’m so sickened by it that I will not be buying MAC or makeup from their parent company Estee Lauder.
Jeez, what next concentration camp victims, twin towers campaigns? They should of had money donated to the cause before trying to capatalize on the victims of Juarez.
I’m boycotting MAC and parent company Estee Lauder.
I will be in New York in the end of october, I’d like to buy the lipstic MAC Rodarte opal light and the shadow mineralize far away, where can I find them?
Thanks
Ana
This collection was canceled.
HI, I’ll be in NY in the end of october, where can I find MAC’s Rodarte collection?
Thanks
Ana
Perhaps they did not know about what was happening in Juarez or maybe they didn’t think it was as serious or got as bad as it is. I don’t think MAC did anything wrong because I think they made an honest mistake. Think about it…why would MAC purposely make up a collection promoting murdering women and try to make money off of it? It doesn’t benefit them in any way and it probably will lose them customers. So I think they were not aware of the situation in juarez. When they said they were going to donate $100,000 I hate that people complain that they should donate more. They are a business and they’re main goal is to make money. Ofcourse they make alot more than 100,000 but it’s not their responsibility to donate money. It’s an act of apology (and a very nice act) but they certainly shouldn’t be harrassed for not donating more. I’m really dissapointed they cancelled the line because they could have changed the names and kept the products…the colors were quite lovely and the products in whole make up a really beautiful collection. As for Juarez, if you care so much about it, you should do your part in donating and trying to get involved in helping, not wasting your time an energy boycotting MAC. That’s what I will be doing. I admit, MAC messed up big on the names, but it wasn’t intentional and even raised a lot of awareness about what’s going on in the world so yes, I will be a returning customer while still doing my part to help the women in Juarez in a more affective way than just not buying MAC makeup. I hope I didn’t offend anyone in my little rant and I am in no way saying that what’s going on in Juarez isn’t a big deal…it is absolutely horrible but I just don’t see how you should punish MAC for it.
Fashion has always had an element of controversy. This is what happens when you make it obtainable to the general public.
I just read about this collection, and I love MAC cosmetics, but to tell you the truth I thought this was a joke. I think they are very good products, however I don’t see how they can even begin to think this collection has traces of Mexican culture. I would know, I am a proud Mexican citizen. You can see nothing of Mexico in this collection, it seems like the collection was designed for some other purpose and they thought that the ultimate solution for the murders will be to use, carelessly, some words from the news cast.
I think over all the whole Idea of the collection is very condescending and supports every stereotype there is about Mexico.
Like I said before, I love MAC , and it will probably take more than one stupid decision to change my perception on the brand, however it will also take more than RODARTE to appeal to my patriotic side.
So… now that all the loud mouths ruined this collection for the rest of us. Has the violence in Juarez stopped? What have you been doing to help stop it? I see. Nothing. You guys just wanted to vent about this issue and probably are still doing nothing to help. Figures! All talk. No action.
R u guys serious?! Getting excited over a shocking and truly disrespectful collection by a greedy makeup company! Look at those skin finishes! I am disgusted. MAC are trying to make money out of those poor women who are raped dismembered and mutilated and killed. Since July 300 women and girls have gone missing. Effin disgraceful. Oh and sorry about poor grammar and spelling, I’m on my ipod
I’m quite late on commenting on this, but I was just so shocked of the use of this subject as a concept for fashion.
Personally, I have a hard time seeing fashion as an acceptable tool for awareness as the industry is so commercialized. Though there was an apology, it seems like the intent behind this line was not awareness, as they originally weren’t donating any of the proceeds.
There is very rich Mexican culture to pull from and embrace while still creating awareness, and I think that definitely could have been done.
Shock value isn’t always the best way to address an isse.
Gosh im so torn by this. Its kinda tasteless and sad but I also get what they did with the line and the colors and the names. Controversial thats for sure.
this hurts me in ways I can not describe, as a mexican I found it horrid and grotesque, I wish they cancelled this release for respect to those who have fallen victims of the Juarez murders.
whats next MAC? world war II blush? atomic bomb lip glaze? Nazi eyes shadow?
YOU CANT MAKE VIOLENCE OR DEATH PRETTY
omg, Im sorry! I wasnt aware that this was cancelled, yay!
This photo would carry more reality if it depicted the model with a hole in her side where her kidney would be removed by the band of murderers killing female factory workers, residents and tourists…raping them too, I’m certain of it. For all of you that are stuck on the pretty colors and cannot see past your mascara at the human injustice that goes into your lip balm, please take a moment to consider what your beloved cosmetic companies are doing to women. 🙂
2 YEARS LATER, I THOUGTH ALL THE rODARTE COLLECTION WAS A mYTH! BUT IT DOES EXIST
I THINK THAT YOU MUST BE MEXICAN TO UNDERSTAND THAT THIS HURT
A LOT,
AND THOSE RODARTE GIRLS , MAYBE SHOULD GO AND LIVE IN JUAREZ , AND GO TO THE STREET TO FEEL HOW A WOMAN IS ALWAYS AFRAIGTH TO BE DISSAPEAR….
AND WE NEVER SEE WHERE THE MONEY GOES …..