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Pucker Up: Almost Black Lips - Glitzy Midnight Media


MAC Midnight Media Mattene + MAC Blackfire Glimmerglass

Pucker Up: Glitzy Midnight Media

Again, applying MAC’s Midnight Media Mattene does yield better results when used with a lip brush than straight outta the tube. (To reiterate:  it’s important to know that distinction–you want to know just how much work you have to put in to get what you want out of a product.) Like Black Knight, this color took about five minutes to layer on to my satisfaction, but it never quite gave the color opaqueness I was after.  It always looked a little faded.

Everything that can be said about Midnight Media, I already said in my Black as Knight post (which is right below this one, so I don’t want to just regurgitate it).  It is necessary to point out that Midnight Media isn’t a true black lip color; it is near-black, but there is burgundy in it, which is noticeable.

I liked this combination better, because I felt like both products worked well together.  The burgundy-ish tone from the mattene was emphasized and played up by the red shimmer in Blackfire.  The glossiness of Blackfire helped to minimize some of the imperfections of the mattene alone.  (Seriously, totally exfoliated my lips right before putting it on — why so clumpy?)

Bottom Line: Apply a thin layer of concealer or foundation (or MAC Lip Erase, which serves the same purpose) to lips. This helps to neutralize your natural lip color and make whatever you’re applying much more pigmented, but it also evens out the surface a little more and adds a dry layer.  Midnight Media isn’t totally opaque, so the concealer base will help the color pop more. Use either a very dark or a clear lip liner all around the edges of the lips to help prevent the intense color from bleeding. Then, apply Midnight Media using a lip brush. Layer until satisfied. Be cautious when applying gloss, because the gloss tends to shift the color around in a slip-slide fashion.

See progression


MAC Midnight Media Mattene


MAC Midnight Media Mattene + MAC Blackfire Glimmerglass

38 Comments

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Jessica Avatar

hm, i’m not sure how much i like this one… kind of reminds me of when i went through my ‘goth’ phase, and would look in the mirror after i ate, to see black lipstick half there, half not.

daphne Avatar

I wish the Mattene were actually *matte* – not that I really wear black lips or anything, just in principle, I was excited at the idea of a matte creamy black 😛 This does look nearly wearable for a night out…

Cari Avatar

i the looks with the gloss… i know it might not suite a lot of ppl put for those of us with darker skin this is a great fall lip …. i’m def getting both items to recreate this look

amy Avatar

I would probably layer it with a more opaque base because Midnight Media is definitely too sheer. Sheer on sheer would really show the colour sinking into the lines of the lip, since neither Midnight Media and Blackfire are really buildable.

DevilishDoll Avatar

I think it would look better with one of the cheap black lipsticks you can get for Halloween. They actually show up black black. This year, I’m buying a few then mixing some up in jars with some glitter. Jeez, thanks to this collection, I’m gonna have a whole ton of homemade black glittery stuff…yikes.

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