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MAC Styledriven Pro Longwear Lip Pencils Swatches, Photos, Reviews (Part 1)


MAC Pro Longwear Lip Pencils

MAC Styledriven: Pro Longwear Lip Pencils (Part 1)

MAC Pro Longwear Lip Pencil ($18.00 for 0.04 oz.) is supposed to glide-on and “adhere instantly” with “rich, saturated color.” Unlike the other new Pro Longwear formulas, the description didn’t call out a specific wear time–it says that it will “[prolong] the hours between re-application” and transfer-proof. There are ten shades releasing in this new formula (part of Styledriven), all of which are permanent. This post features these five: Absolutely It (soft burgundy), Bittersweet (intense brown), Etcetera (creamy beige), In Anticipation (soft yellow pink), and Kiss Me Quick (yellow red).

  • Absolutely It is a burgundy rose with a soft, frosted finish. It has good color payoff but could use a little more pigment.
  • Bittersweet is a really rich, dark chocolate brown with a semi-matte finish. This was one of the best performing shades–excellent color payoff and creamy enough to yield even coverage with little work.
  • Etcetera is an orange-y beige nude with a mostly matte finish. It has good color payoff and applies evenly. It’s similar to Korres #36 Natural Brown. MAC Kraft is darker.
  • In Anticipation is a brightened pink with yellower undertones. It delivers nice even, opaque color. Bobbi Brown Mod Pink is similar but brighter.
  • Kiss Me Quick is a subtly blue-based red. It goes on opaque and evenly. It is similar to a myriad of red lipsticks.

These have a nice waxy base that gives them a good glide that makes it fairly easy to apply the color, and they have nice pigmentation which means you don’t have to wear the pencil down to a nub to get full color coverage. The creamier shades tend to have the best color payoff, especially when they’re darker (like Bittersweet). Be careful about rubbing your lips together initially, because I found that doing so would cause unevenness–almost like there is a slight tackiness to it before it sets.

Even though there is no specific wear time given for these, they do wear a lot like iron. Alone, these wear around eight to ten hours, but they are drying over time–like my lips were pleading with me, “No more, stop testing, I need balm, STOP, DO NOT PASS GO.” I wouldn’t want to wear these alone, because it really shrinkwraps around the lips (that’s the “adhere instantly” characteristic, I’d say) but the drier texture and shrinkage make them less than flattering on the lips.  I don’t expect lip liner to be moisturizing, especially since one of the major reasons to go through the added step of lining is to increase the wear of your gloss/lipstick, and MAC doesn’t say that they are.  Underneath a lipstick, it seems to add an hour or two of additional wear.

Just swatching these on the lips for photos was a rather brutal experiment in pain over beauty (I’m normally more than capable of 10-15 products back-to-back, but my lips were dying after three pencils). When I went to remove these, it wiped off in chunks almost; you will need a little bit of elbow grease to remove, so I recommend using a separate remover as it will allow you to be gentler on your lips during the removal process.  If you’re familiar with MAC’s Superslick Liquid Liners–it removes kind of like that.

If I find out there is a specific length of time these are supposed to wear, this review may be adjusted to take into account how well (or poorly) these meet that mark.  

MAC Styledriven Pro Longwear Lip Pencils Swatches, Photos, Reviews (Part 1)

A-
8.5
Product
9
Pigmentation
9
Texture
10
Longevity
4
Application
90%
Total


MAC Pro Longwear Lip Pencils


MAC Pro Longwear Lip Pencils


MAC Pro Longwear Lip Pencils


MAC Pro Longwear Lip Pencils


MAC Pro Longwear Lip Pencils


MAC Pro Longwear Lip Pencils


Absolutely It, Bittersweet, More to Love


Absolutely It, Bittersweet, More to Love


Morning Coffee, Nice ‘n’ Spicy, Staunchly Stylish


Morning Coffee, Nice ‘n’ Spicy, Staunchly Stylish


Etcetera, In Anticipation, Kiss Me Quick, What a Blast!


Etcetera, In Anticipation, Kiss Me Quick, What a Blast!


Etcetera, In Anticipation, Kiss Me Quick, What a Blast!


Etcetera, In Anticipation, Kiss Me Quick, What a Blast!


Etcetera, In Anticipation, Kiss Me Quick, What a Blast!


MAC Absolutely It Pro Longwear Lip Pencil


MAC Absolutely It Pro Longwear Lip Pencil


MAC Absolutely It Pro Longwear Lip Pencil


MAC Bittersweet Pro Longwear Lip Pencil


MAC Bittersweet Pro Longwear Lip Pencil


MAC Bittersweet Pro Longwear Lip Pencil


MAC Etcetera Pro Longwear Lip Pencil


MAC Etcetera Pro Longwear Lip Pencil


MAC Etcetera Pro Longwear Lip Pencil


MAC In Anticipation Pro Longwear Lip Pencil


MAC In Anticipation Pro Longwear Lip Pencil


MAC In Anticipation Pro Longwear Lip Pencil


MAC Kiss Me Quick Pro Longwear Lip Pencil


MAC Kiss Me Quick Pro Longwear Lip Pencil


MAC Kiss Me Quick Pro Longwear Lip Pencil

19 Comments

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Lauren Avatar

I’m surprised after reading the description that it got as high of a rating as it did. Personally, I wouldn’t see giving the production portion of the grading more than a 6 or 7 after reading your pros and cons. I’ll skip these!

Dani Avatar

tbh unless lip pencils say they are creamy, all of them are drying by themselves so I’m not too shocked. I’m definitely getting some, I love the colors. And if I decide to wear one alone, I’ll try with some balm lol.

Mango the mango Avatar

When I first saw Bittersweet, I thought, “Eh???” But then I saw it on you and went, “Huh.” How do you make every color look good?!? You’re magic, I swear! =D

I do love the slight duochromey finish of Absolutely It though. But my normally super dry lips would probably jump off my face and run away if I tried it…

snm Avatar

Lip pencils are often one of the rare beauty products that I would not pay high prices,or even more than several bucks.they look nice though.the problem is I really fell in love with Absolutely it.I sometimes wear lip pencils as lipsticks.with a lip balm,they always work out for me so I think I will get Absolutely it and see how it works:)

amanda Avatar

this is what i never get-if all the ratings add up to at least an 80, why did this garner a B+? its like this with a lot.. everything will be an 8 9 or 10 out of 10 but still get a B

Christine Avatar

Are you doing the math? It doesn’t sound like you are. I have a spreadsheet devoted specifically to rating, so that I don’t have to add anything up.

These scores add up to 44.5 and there are a total of 50 points possible, which works out to be 89% – this is a B+. I’m not sure what you’re doing, but please double check your math!

April Avatar

@Amanda, the ratings do not add up to be at least 80, it’s 50. There are 6 categories that get judged, 4 of them can be worth up to 10 points, and the last 2 categories can be worth up to 5 points each, thus equaling 50 total

amanda Avatar

these look nice on you even though you said they werent flattering.. the pink and nude shades are beautiful and the chocolate shade looks great on u!

Cindy Avatar

I bought Kiss me Quick yesterday, and wow, this is an amazing product ! It stays forever, and it’s perfect with the Prolongwear lipglass Driven by Love. Going to try this with my Russian Red lipglass. When i’m wearing Russian Red, it’s moving into the lines above my lips, and i think this lipliner is a perfect thing to avoid this.
Def. going to buy more shades !

Kirstin Avatar

i have kiss me quick and i love it but i cant figure out how to sharpen it cuz its not work with the sharpener i usually use on my pencils. how do i sharpen it??

We try to approve comments within 24 hours (and reply to them within 72 hours) but can sometimes get behind and appreciate your patience! 🙂 If you have general feedback, product review requests, off-topic questions, or need technical support, please contact us directly. Thank you for your patience!