Preview: MAC Venomous Villains Collection

Preview: MAC Venomous Villains Collection

AHHHHH! Finally! As the clock struck 12:01AM (EST) on August 15th, I’m finally allowed to share with you the details of a very special event I attended in June. Temptalia was invited to attend MAC’s Venomous Villains press event down in southern California, where they would unveil both the collection as well as provide a behind-the-scenes look at Disney, the villains, and the how and why of the collaboration between the two brands.

Tonight, we’re beyond excited to reveal to you the Venomous Villains Collection!

• Behind the Scenes Video & Summary
  
• Overall, Round-up, & Recommendations
  
• Video Review
• Reviews, Photos, Swatches by Character: Cruella de Vil, Evil Queen, Maleficent, Dr. Facilier
  
• Official Collection Info & Photos
  

All of the photos and swatches you can take, plus a video review and video of the event itself (above)! I hope you enjoy this early preview and sneak peek.

Let me tell you about the behind-the-scenes action…

Thankfully, they didn’t make us wait too long to reveal the products! A few hours after landing in LA, we headed over to Disney Studios and entered a huge building where all of the collection displayers were set up, as well as three director chairs for the speakers. James Gager, Creative Director of MAC, kicked off the event and spoke remotely from NYC. He talked about how MAC is continually trying to wow their fans, and they do so by putting their own twist and spin on every collection.

Studio set up for the press event

When asked “Why villains? Why not princesses?”, Gager responded that other brands can do princesses, but it’s okay to be a little evil. MAC wants to empower women to embrace their inner villain–be a little naughty, to play up fantasy. The collection’s focus is on fantasy and sophisticated beauty. Disney provided MAC access to their vault of animation sketches and imagery, and they even redrew some of the characters.

Gager discussed each character’s collection and the theme they were going for. He spoke of the Evil Queen as an aging supermodel who was regal, wicked, narcissistic, and flawless with red lips and angular brows–very chic. Dr. Facilier plays into MAC’s All Races credo he’s immaculately groomed and the products are ones that even guys could use. Maleficent is a sophisticated collection that’s very trend based, but it’s done in a way that anyone can wear the shades. Cruella is all about “uber glamour”–she was the original fashionista who was rail thin, mile high stilettos, and who loves a fantastic entrance.

On his favorite villain from the collection, Gager said, “I could just watch Cruella de Vil forever–I think she’s uber glamorous! Of course, she gets her just desserts in the end. She really knows how to enter a room and makes some of the best movie diva entrances of all time, and it just so happens she has an ulterior motive, ha!”

Johanna Mooney (Disney), Nicole Masson (MAC), Gregory Arlt (MAC)

Johanna Mooney, Director for Disney Beauty, spoke to us about the strength of Disney’s storytelling, why MAC, and why villains. Nicole Masson, Vice President of Product Development at MAC, had the amazing task of developing, selecting, and putting together the colors and textures of the collection. Gregory Arlt, Director of Makeup Artistry for MAC, was on hand to give us on-the-fly demonstrations of some of the products on four models (each one representing one of the characters). (Check the video above for details!)

We had a chance to mill around the products and snap photos, before we headed off to the Disney Animation Research Library–which is a tremendous… MONUMENTAL honor. We weren’t allowed to take photos (sorry!) inside, so I can’t share with you visuals, but I’ll try to describe it as best I can here. The library holds over 65 million pieces of art, from concept art to backgrounds to references to audio. Selected pieces were pulled from the library for the four characters, including some very interesting concept sketches of them! Fox Carney, ARL’s Administrator, handled every piece with great care and even wore white gloves! In Disney Animation, the process begins with a mere germ of an idea which leads to concept art; they may not have a script, but then they create storyboards and really start to fill in the storyline and figure out who’s going to do what.

Sketch of Maleficent (example of piece from ARL), photo credit: vegalleries.com

After ogling all of the sketches, layouts, and artwork for the four characters used in the Venomous Villains collection, we listened and watched (avidly!) Bruce Smith as he drew Dr. Facilier. Smith was the supervising animator for Dr. Facilier, who was very excited to make history as Dr. Facilier was Disney’s first African American villain, and Princess and the Frog was the first African American driven story. Did you know that in the beginning Dr. Facilier was bald and had an earring? He described Dr. Facilier as the product of “Cruella and Capitain Hook going on a date.” (OMG!) The tour of the ARL and meeting up with some of the supervising animators at the Studios finished up the activities for the day.

Do you not LOVE Cruella’s reaction as the Evil Queen walks by?

The next day, we headed over to Disneyland (the park), and it was kind of… a very giddy moment for me. We went through the employee entrance. How cool is that? It was like, oh, hey, just strolling in. I will also say that Disneyland was PACKED! to the brim with visitors (did you know that their maximum capacity is around 75,000?!!). I kept thinking, “You are all going to be in my photos, move!”

Disney and MAC set up a special character lunch where they set up four tables, one for each villain, and I happened to sit at the Cruella de Vil table, which was gorgeous and decked out in red and black and white. Cruella de Vil and the Evil Queen were both in attendance on stage–watching the two of them perform without a script, interacting with us, and answering questions about a makeup collection they likely didn’t know about… amazing. They are completely their characters. The woman who played Cruella de Vil made the most animated faces!

Several press event attendees posing together in Walt’s apartment! (I’m third from the first
row, left; Karen from Makeup and Beauty Blog on the very right, and Annie from
BellaSugar kneeling on the right–we were the three bloggers invited to the event.)

We also toured Walt Disney’s original apartment, which is in Disneyland, actually–you may have passed by it without even realizing it! His apartment resides over the firehouse on Main Street, and it’s really quite small with a foyer, bedroom, bathroom, and a small, enclosed patio. There is a lamp that’s lit and remains lit in front of the window that is viewable from Main Street. During Walt’s lifetime, Disney cast members knew that Walt was home if the lamp was lit, and since his passing, the lamp is always lit. We were only allowed one group photo inside (above), which is of the foyer area.

The entire experience was very surreal, because I am a long-time Disney fan. I have more Disney movies and stuffed animals than I could count (much to my parents’ dismay, as most of those animals take up residence in their house!). I love many of their classic films, but I’ve also enjoyed their recent releases quite a bit. (Toy Story 3, oh how you made me BAWL!) To tour the ARL, Walt’s apartment, and hear so much about the heritage was definitely a once in a lifetime experience. I love companies and brands with real history and stories behind them and the people that created them, and Disney’s story has touched my heart once more.

P.S. — BIG ups and thank yous to the ever fabulous Heather Park for her support over the years. More thanks to Amy, Erin, and Amara for making me feel right at home, despite so much print media around me (sometimes you feel like you’re just this little ol’ blogger!).

P.P.S. — Gregory Arlt is AMAZING. AMAZING. He’s so fantastic, and he has SO much product knowledge–he lives and breathes makeup artistry, truly.

Cruella de Vil and Evil Queen Displayer

Cruella de Vil Lipglasses & Lipsticks

Maleficent Lipstick (Violetta)

Maleficent Polishes

Evil Queen!

Dr. Facilier Displayer

Dr. Facilier Displayer

You gotta get checked off and banded before you can enter!

“Dr. Facilier”

Cruella de Vil

Evil Queen

Maleficent

Disney Animation Research Library

Disney Animation Research Library

The prettiest bunch of flowers I have ever seen, which lined Main Street @ Disneyland

Disneyland

Best sign ever (@ Disneyland)

Cruella de Vil Table

Cruella de Vil Table

Cruella de Vil

Cruella de Vil

Cruella de Vil

Take-home charm… should I put it on Mellan? LOL!

Evil Queen

Evil Queen

Dessert… wait, you didn’t know I’m a fiend for dessert?

Castle @ Disneyland

Classic — Mickey and Minnie (and Goofy) spotted!

Waving to us!

Disneyland Entrance

Downtown Disney