MAC Shop MAC, Cook MAC Tendertones Review, Photos, Swatches
MAC Hot ‘n’ Saucy Tendertone
MAC Shop MAC, Cook MAC: Tendertones
In the collection, there are four limited edition shades of MAC Tendertone Lip Balm ($15.00 for 0.20 fl. oz.), which are: Hot ‘n’ Saucy (soft cherry red), Hush, Hush (sheer gold with yellow gold pearl), Purring (sheer tangerine with pearl), and Tread Gently (soft lime green with yellow pearl).
- Hot ‘n’ Saucy is a watermelon pink once applied. It looks cherry red in the pot, but when it’s applied, it really just provides lips with a tint of red. Hourglass Primal looks similar when applied. Urban Decay Red Light is a bit similar but settles into lines more.
- Hush, Hush is a golden beige with gold shimmer. There’s no real color, but it adds champagne and gold shimmer and a glossy sheen. A warm sheer gloss will provide similar color, so there are lots of dupes.
- Purring is a sheer tangerine orange. I have no idea why MAC Described this as having pearl, because it doesn’t appear to have any shimmer–it has the same shimmer-less look as Hot ‘n’ Saucy. On my lips, it adds warmth and gives them a peach tint. MAC Kumquat looks a bit similar but more pigmented and it has orange-gold shimmer.
- Tread Gently is a sheer green-shimmered balm. Like Hush, Hush, there’s no real color, just pastel green shimmer. I think the only shade that’s really going to be similar that I can think of is MAC Spring Bean, which may be a little more yellowing.
Tendertones have SPF 12 and are supposed to combine the glossiness of a gloss with the moisture of a lip balm. MAC describes their scent as “strawberry-kiwi.” It’s very, very sweet, and a little too synthetic for me, but it’s a sweet, fruit-based scent. The texture is like a gel-like balm that glides across lips easily and smoothes out if you press your lips together. It’s non-sticky, and these wore for three hours or less on me. I tried wearing some of these to bed, but they didn’t wear long enough so I woke up with slightly parched lips. They feel good when they’re applied, and they aren’t drying; they’re hydrating while they’re on but don’t seem to have prolonged benefits from the past few days I’ve been testing them.
I’m not a big fan of lip balms that are packaged in pots–it’s better than a dysfunctional squeeze-tube that splits in your pocket–but application on-the-go is more difficult. This is a product I’d only use at home, where I could use a clean spatula or brush to take the product out and then apply it. It’s housed in a glass jar with a screw-top lid (very much like Paint Pots).
I’ve been holding off on this review, because I really wanted to give this product a few days of testing, since it’s not a formula I’ve used in years. The way I review products today is ten-fold better than I did before; the process is much more systematic and technical. They’re good, and if they were in a tube, they’d be something I’d consider using more often. Lip balm is a tough category to crack with me–it’s hard for me to get enthused about a lip balm that’s good, or even really good, because I’ve found a holy grail lip balm that keeps beating out the products I try.
One thing I do really like about these is that they’re really comfortable to wear, are moisturizing for the time they’re on and maybe a wee bit after it wears away, and they provide a little extra oomph, whether it’s a tint of color or a hint of shimmer. They’re a good, solid product. I’ll reach for something else when I want my lips to be totally hydrated and pillow-soft, but when I want a little extra color or shimmer, I’ll definitely keep it in mind.
MAC Shop MAC, Cook MAC Tendertones Review, Photos, Swatches
MAC Hot ‘n’ Saucy Tendertone
MAC Hot ‘n’ Saucy Tendertone
MAC Hot ‘n’ Saucy Tendertone
MAC Hot ‘n’ Saucy Tendertone
MAC Hot ‘n’ Saucy Tendertone
MAC Hot ‘n’ Saucy Tendertone
MAC Hush, Hush Tendertone
MAC Hush, Hush Tendertone
MAC Hush, Hush Tendertone
MAC Hush, Hush Tendertone
MAC Hush, Hush Tendertone
MAC Hush, Hush Tendertone
MAC Purring Tendertone
MAC Purring Tendertone
MAC Purring Tendertone
MAC Purring Tendertone
MAC Purring Tendertone
MAC Purring Tendertone
MAC Tread Gently Tendertone
MAC Tread Gently Tendertone
MAC Tread Gently Tendertone
MAC Tread Gently Tendertone
MAC Tread Gently Tendertone
MAC Tread Gently Tendertone
I picked up Hush Hush and Tread Gently from a CCO last year. They are nice however I rarely reach for them so I won’t be picking up any more. Thanks for the review:)
Hot n Spicy is on my list! What is your hg lip balm? I haven’t found one that I really love yet
Jack Black Lip Balm!
Me too!! It works better then Chanel hydramax lipbalm (in a pot)!
try Dior Lip Glow. I love it!
The scent in these is a deal-breaker at $15.00. It smells very reminiscent of the strawberry-kiwi Capri Sun. Wouldn’t be surprised if the same company supplies scent for both products.
LOL, that would be interesting.
Christine,
Is the first ingredient listed ‘petrolatum, petrolium or mineral oil’?
Petrolatum is the first ingredient!
Too bad they’re in pots! I have major hygiene issues with lip products in pots, and I don’t always have a clean lip brush with me!
You make mention of a holy grail lip balm… which one is that for you??? I’m always in the market for a good lip balm!
Jack Black Lip Balm
I bought the Lemon & Chamomile Jack Black balm from the internet (at a considerable cost, £8 or £9 altogether inc p&p!) at your recommendation and have to say I’m disappointed. The formula is alright, though I’ve definitely had better balms, I find that they end up with a very obvious tide mark between the balm on my lips and the inner part of my lips towards the inside of my mouth, you know where the lip is permanently moist so nothing sticks?
It’s fine for wearing overnight, though, and I always wake up with supersoft lips that are ready for whatever I want to put on them, such as pencils that would look awful on flakey lips. I totally respect our differing opinions however, and I’m glad I gave it a shot as I ummed and ahhed for months after seeing how much you love it. Won’t rebuy, though.
For what it’s worth, my HG lip balm is amazingly cheap, from this website:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/ajoeynamedroo
they make handmade products, their strawberry champagne balm is out of this world, as is ‘the island’, ‘root beer float’, ‘mint choc chip’, ‘orange creamsicle’ and ‘vanilla mint’. And they only cost a few dollars each, and shipping is really cheap even to the UK! I’d love to see you pick a couple of those up Christine and do a review as they’re a tiny shop ran by one or two people and your publicity would likely kick start a real good thing for them. I feel another order coming on…
x
haha! thats a plug off a company for sure!!
Actually it isn’t, they’re based in the US, I’m in the UK and I’ve bought their products for two years but I’m definitely not affiliated with them! (I’m sure Christine can see by my IP I’m not lying). My apologies for being passionate enough about something to want to spread the word.
Lovely swatches, Christine, but the photos for Hush, Hush don’t seem to be loading. I don’t know if it could just be my browser. I bought three of these without sniffing them first! I hope the scent doesn’t bother me.
Your face look so fresh in those pictures Christine. They are pretty, but I don’t know if I want to spend $15 on a lip balm when the e.o.s balm is only $4 and it is amazing. Thank you again for all your hard work, I always wait for your review and swatches, they are so helpfull to me, since I have almost the same skin tone and dark hair as you do, so if it works for you, it may work for me too.
Underneath the picture, it says “MAC Shop MAC, Cook MAC: Strawberry Patch Crushed Metallic Pigment Stack”. :O Just letting you know!
Thanks for the swatches!
Christine, do you know what the sunscreen ingredient in these is? Thank you!
http://dailymed.nlm.nih.gov/dailymed/drugInfo.cfm?id=59995
Hot ‘n’ Saucy looks delicious, but its Purring which looks gorgeous on your lips, thanks for the swatches,I’m adding these to my wishlist!
Yeah the pot packaging just doesn’t appeal to me. I rarely buy potted lip products and whenever I do I almost never wear them 🙁 These do look so pretty in the pot though!
I just ordered Tread Gently, thank you for the swatches as always Christine! I’ve heard great things about these and the shimmer is awfully pretty! For some reason, ever since I’ve lost weight, my lips are always dry and gflaky 🙁 I hope these will help me out a bit when I’m not just wearing regular lip balm and want something a bit prettier!
Is it just me or do they all look the same? I really don’t see any significant difference between any of the colours. And i agree with you that the Jack Black lip balm is the best! Thanks for all your hard work, Christine.
They’re definitely different, but they are sheer, so the differences aren’t going to be night and day 🙂
i wish purring tendertone was a tiny bit more pigmented, then it would be perfect!
Thanks soo much for this review, this is the one I’ve been most waiting for out of this Mac Attack (lol!). Your swatches and descriptions are the best I’ve found online =) And you manage to make all 4 look beautiful when you wear them!!
I’m reluctant to spend this much on a lip balm, especially when I wear lipstick pretty much every day. However, I’ve heard so many people rave about these that I think I’ll have to pick one up just to see what the fuss is about! I imagine I’ll get more use out of it in the summer when I tend to wear more lightweight makeup. Now I just have to choose which one to get….
want them all!
The differences between them are so subtle!
i love all of these!
Love these for swimming in the summer. For some reason they dont come off in the water and I keep my lips moistuized……….love them!
Do you have any ideas on how to disinfect these? I got a bunch of HiP Jelly Balms which are supposedly similar to the Tendertones a few years ago, and I am scared of using them bc of germ/bacteria buildup. However I love the product (which has been discontinued) and would like to keep using it.
I don’t, sorry!
I would suggest occasionally spraying the top layer with alcohol and just wiping it off.
I’ve been wanting Tread Gently for the longest time, just because it’s lime colored. I think that’s so cool, and I’m so glad they’ve repromoted it. Luckily, I already have Hot ‘n’ Saucy and Hush, Hush. I love Tendertones. Thank you for your always helpful reviews! 🙂
Blaaaah, pots. I hate lip products in pots!
love your eye makeup. did u use the Colour Added quad ??
Yep!
Hot ‘n’ Saucy is soooo bright,it burned my eye! I’d like to get one!
Tendertones sounds like the name of a ’70s R&B group, haha. I really do like the look of Hot ‘n’ Spicy, though. 🙂
I like the last 2 the best 😀
Christine, what is the difference between a Tendertone and a Tinted Lip Conditoner? It seems like they are the same product, with just different names.
Totally different textures – Tendertone is gel-like, Tinted Lip Conditioner is cream-like. Tinted Lip Conditioner is like a melted lipstick, whereas Tendertone is like a thick gloss or more refined Vaseline.
I love these.. but I cant stand the lipbalms that you have to apply with your finger… to me theres nothing worse!
How do Tendertones compare to MAC’s tinted lip conditioners?
I’m tempted to buy them because I love lip balms that are glossy… but for the same price of lip conditioners (which are double the size), I’m wondering which is more worth it.
Totally different texture!
Tread Gently, just ’cause it’s green.
Best response ever 😀 lol
I just bought purring lip balm. I like it. It does it’s job.
Hello,
I accident bought purring from the 2011 collection when I wanted the 2012. Are they much different?
actually Thread Gently is a relaunch. I thought it looked fimiliar and thought of a dupe, but I bought mine.. oh.. 2 years ago perhaps and it has the same name.
I bought the purring tendertone when it came out and now, five months later, it changed color! Now it’s much darker, and I haven’t mixed it with another color nor used a brush that I have used with something else. I always use a clean brush, never my fingers.. have you also have this experience?