MAC Smoked Purple Lipstick Review, Photos, Swatches

Reviews
Christine |

MAC Smoked Purple Lipstick
MAC Smoked Purple Lipstick

The Sultry Season: MAC Smoked Purple Lipstick

MAC Smoked Purple Lipstick ($14.50 for 0.10 oz.) is a deep, dark reddened purple.  It’s not exactly the purple you first think of, but I find myself always gravitating back to using the word purple to describe the color.  It’s incredibly dark, certainly vampy, and it packs quite a bit of color.  It is a little on the dry side, though nothing overwhelmingly dry (a la Ruby Woo), so do take care and prep lips by exfoliating them prior to application.

Is this the right purple for you? Would you wear it?

The Sultry Season is a series of posts featuring deep, rich shades of brown, berry, plum, and wine lipsticks and lipglosses — just right for autumn — that runs through October 2010.

See photos and swatches…

MAC Smoked Purple Lipstick

MAC Smoked Purple Lipstick

MAC Smoked Purple Lipstick

MAC Smoked Purple Lipstick

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About the Reviewer

Reviewer

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

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129 Comments

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Lauren

Bad news is this is a halloween/artsy/drag type colour for anyone lighter in skintone than Mo’Nique. Good news, you have really white teeth.

Etaoin

I think pale skins can totally rock this colour. It will make you look paler than you are and it will stand out on you more than a darker skinned person. Still vampy colours are in, especially with the whole vampire craze – true blood, twilight, vampire diaries etc! I love it!

Vale

To say the truth, I am a firmly believer that ONLY cool toned pale skintones can wear something like this. You know, gothic, dark styles, metal music, victorian fashion, etc… ?
The paler, the better. It is so chic on pale faces! 🙂

Nero

I think it reallt depends on how u feel about the whole vampire theme!
I’m on the goth side so i freaking love it but i know a lot of girls afraid of wearing black nailpolish cause they don’t want to look gothy =)

So, it’s a matter of tastes!
I personally adore dark makeup on all skintones <3

Diabolyca

I TOTALLY love these kind of shades. If i didn’t care about what people think/say i’d buy/wear these shades very often..i’m a shame.

Diabolyca

you’re totally right.
in which occasion would you wear this lipstick? i mean..in the afternoon, in the evening, night, cinema, disco, shopping? ahah

Joanna

This looks fabulous. I love it.

It’s too bad my lips are too small and thin for this kind of dark colour. Even Violetta is a bit too much on me.

In my next life, I will ask for lips like yours, Christine! 😮 )

Lina

Awesome shade! And saying it’s just for halloween like a previous poster? Never heard of all those people who isn’t interested in looking natural all the time? I’m very, very pale and I always wear dark lipsticks. Yes it loud, but why should loud be bad news? I’d totally wear this for everyday.

Bluebottomfly

Hi again from Spain 🙂

You look great with this colour!!Maybe you could give us some tips on how not to get your teeth painted while you’re wearing coloured lipsticks because I cannot avoid it anyway and that’s the reason I don’t use colour lipstick as often as I would like to. Thanks!!

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

The best thing to do is to put your finger (like your index finger) into your mouth, and pull it out. Okay, it sounds a little graphic and dirty, but it works!

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

It is a dry beast, isn’t it? This is nowhere near as dry (promise!), but Ruby Woo is my benchmark for dryness, since that’s the driest shade I’ve ever used, period, lol!

Izzy

Do you know of any similar toned/coloured reds that aren’t as drying, Christine? RW is my favourite red at the moment but even with liner my lips hate me for days afterwards!

Dusty

you waited till by birthday for this one! lol 🙂 i seriously LOVE this lipstick!! one of my all-time favorites! i’m so glad you’re including pro colors in the bunch as well. (if this is still just pro that is).

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

Well, DUH. Happy birthday!!

Yep, just PRO. 🙂 I had to go PRO for some of the shades for the Sultry Season, since they do have some great deep shades!

Dusty

haha 🙂 yay! yes pro has some of the best shades. i like them because they are so pigmented… even if you don’t like really dark or really bright colors, a lot of the pro lipsticks are great for mixing (because they’re so intense).

Stephanie

Not everybody wants to or can wear the very lightest pink/coral lipstick. Variety is the spice of life and I love this color. Is this a pro color?

aradhana

this is really pretty, and looks fab on you christine!

i’m going to have to check this out sometime at the pro store….(but i might wait till my wallet stops reeing from fall collections!)

cass

GORGEOUS. Want. I just picked up the last Kittenish at my MAC counter in Bloomies…now this one has been added to the list, too bad I’ll have to go through the pro store to get it!

Lizz M.

This was actually the first lipstick I ever bought from Mac. Well, technically my roommate bought it for me on my birthday, but I picked it out, heh.

I’ve still got a little left, wear it from time to time. I’m NC25/30 and I think it’s wearable. I’ve never looked at a woman walking down the street wearing a darker shade of lipstick like this and thought, “yikes! who told her that was okay?” Women wear deep reds out all the time, why is a purple shade so taboo? Personally, I feel frosty pinks can be unwearable, but apparently i’m in the minority, haha.

Thincspot

I love this color! I wear it with a clean satin finish foundation (I’m NC44), a nice winged black eyeliner on my upper lid and some elongating mascara. It’s a bold but very wearable look.

Joy

Ooh, I absolutely LOVE this! I’ve been looking for a lipstick like this for fall! I’m not sure if it’ll suit me since I’m NW30 but I’m willing to try! 😀

Question, though, do you know of any cheaper dupes? I try and budget my lipstick purchases by going the extra mile with lipsticks I will/can certainly wear daily/regularly (MAC Thrills is my favorite lipstick ever!) and spending less on products that I don’t think I’ll wear so often. Since this will fall in the latter camp for me (I don’t think I’m brave enough to wear this lipstick to class!), do you know of any similar shades? If you can think of one that is just as pigmented as MAC Smoked Purple, that would be amazing! Maybe NYX Almost Black?

I ask because I have pretty pigmented lips. For example, when I went to the counter on Thursday to try Drive Me Wild, since it seemed so similar to MAC Thrills that I just HAD to have it, I put it on and couldn’t actually tell I had it on, aside from the gold shimmer. I put it on one lip and left the other one bare and asked the MAC artist if she could tell the difference and she remarked that the lipstick was almost identical to my lipcolor, aside from the shimmer 🙁 I’m not sure if MAC DMW is sheerer than typical cremesheens (as well as creamier), but I think you get the picture 😉

Edani

The key to wearing “goth” colors like this in a “normal” setting is confidence!! You can pull it off when you know inside that you look fabulous; confidence is the best accessory!

Kacie

I do love this color. . . and can I make a tiny suggestion? Perhaps with these “season” lipsticks could you denote perm/pro/LE/DC? I’ve seen a couple I LOVED and then gotten disappointed when they were LE or DC. :\

Fiona

I was looking back awhile ago on your ‘Spring Season posts’ and I saw ‘Guerlain Galia Rouge G’ lipstick, I checked Guerlain’s website, and I couldn’t find it, but then in the link you provided, which goes to Sephora, it’s still there, did they discontinue it and Sephora still has stock or what? Links to both of the sites I checked below.

http://www.guerlain.com/int/en/base.html#/en/home-makeup/catalog-makeup/makeup-lips/maquillage-levres-lesrougesalevres/rouge-g-de-guerlain-jewel-lipstick-compa-2.html

http://www.sephora.com/browse/product.jhtml?id=P236400&om_mmc=aff-linkshare-null-Tv0QdA6A1_4&_requestid=20148

Christine

I don’t know if they’ve discontinued it or not, as I don’t get a list or notification of if/when they discontinue something. I have not heard about any of the Rouge Gs being discontinued.

Jody

Oh, I really do love this. I reallllly, really love this color!
This coming from a 39 year-old, mid toned, rather thin-lipped woman. 😀

Some may disagree, and think this is just for the angsty, Goth-y, young, but all in the world that ever matters is how I FEEL wearing it.
Just last night I wore Night Violet, (dabbed, not slathered on. It was just a steakhouse, lol.), with a touch of gloss in the center bottom lip. I felt fab-u.
And that’s all that matters.
I don’t play by any rules that tell me I’m too old, wrong skin tone, etc.

Thanks Christine! You look gawgeous in this! I’m going to put this one on my “look at next time in MacPro”!

Bonnie

I like it! I’m very pale, but it isn’t hard to avoid the ‘goth look’ when I wear dark (even black) lipstick if I go really light on the eyes and wear a pink blush.

Lindsay B

Hey Christine, maybe it’s just the photos, but this looks almost identical to the MUFE #49 lipstick from earlier this season. Is there some subtle difference that I’m not seeing or are they pretty much dupes?

Amber E.

Hi Christine!
I’m having the worst time shopping on MAC’s website since their changes. Almost NONE of their products have a description for them. It’s very difficult to buy just a name.
Getting to my question, where can I find this smoked purple lipstick from MAC? Is this from a collection coming out? I love this color, and have been wanting to go bold this fall season:)
Thanks again for all your hard work!!

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

I think if you click the product swatch, the description should pop up! 🙂

It is a PRO shade! Cyber is very close, which is permanent & regular.

inaya

lol. i was stalking your archives..once again; and found you don’t have a review of Ruby Woo. Would you recommend Ravishing on an NC 35 who likes PINKY corals?

Hilana

I am about as pale as they come, and I ROCK this type of colour like you won’t believe.
My eyes look more blue, my teeth look super white and I feel so wicked you could just about put me on a broom and send me on my merry way.

for some reason, this colour just rings my bells. Love it!

kenneth alan

LOVE this!

usually I only like light pinks and corals, but lately I’ve been loving really, really dark colours. I need to buy this.

B

I really want this color!! I just checked the MAC site and it didn’t come up so I read through your comments and it says it’s from the Pro store 🙁 My cousin is leaving for the US in a few days and I was hoping I could ask her to pick this up for me. Can just anyone shop at MAC Pro or do you need to be a MUA/stylist? 🙂 Thanks!

ines

oh my, i’m in love with this shade, i’m in a big search to find colour like this, but we do not have pro here, and i don’t live in the US, so Christine, could you recommend a good dupe for this?

Caitlin

How similar would you say this is to the MAC Cunning lipstick with Fabulous Felines? From the swatches I’ve seen I REALLY want that colour but don’t know if I’ll have the money in time to snag it – so I was looking for a good dupe for it. If so, which lipliner would you say to use it with, if any?

(Sorry, had to submit again so I could click the “notify me” box! XD

Leslie

I’m really fair skinned, but have black hair/green eyes. The hubby thinks this would look hot on me 😉 It’s a supersexy color! Where can we find it?!

Pietra Gunn

Love it, esp. since this is what they used on the Proenza Schouler F/W 2010 runway show. I think it looked fantastic on the fair-skinned models and would translate well in real life.

It looks like it’s part of the regular lipstick collection now, too. 🙂

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

It’s only available at PRO stores, but anyone can purchase by either calling a PRO store and ordering via phone or buying in person.

Marina

This color is gorgeous despite being quite strong (and shoking). In fact, it almost looks identical to #C916D Ravin’ Raisin by Wet ‘N Wild. Hell I dare say they’re pretty much the same.
If you want to tone it down a little, just add some gloss, lip balm, chapstick, etc

the mirror

In response to all the talk of whether or not it suits pale folk, I’m an NC15 with ginger hair. I own a lot of fairly strong, strange and subversive shades (Illamasqua’s Disciple comes to mind..) including Cyber, and can honestly say I’ve never worn this EXCEPT for on Halloween, when I dressed up as the girl in this video!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxvGHQHiY70

Otherwise it’s just too drying, too messy and too likely to fade unevenly, leaving not a stain so much as a weird patchy lipliner effect. Also it’s REALLY hard to apply. Not a good example of a MAC lipstick by any stretch.

SkatCat

Ooh la la. I will be buying this lipstick with the MAC Me Over collection. Such a hot color for the Fall/Winter. I love gothy colors.

Ursula Young

I am an African American woman and I have tried this lip color. Smoked purple, and I loved it. Haven’t bought it yet but planning on it. This color goes good with my skin tone, especially when fall and winter come around!

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