As always, I like to give a little bit of history behind my buying and introduction to the products in question. Well, to be blunt, I detested lipstick, always have done. I hated everything about it. "Why?" you may ask. Well, I started buying lipstick with all other cosmetic items when I was quite young. I would buy various brands such as L'Oreal, Maybelline, and No 7. However, everytime I wore lipstick, no matter the brand or 'finish' or colour, not only would the lipstick disappear from my lips soon afterwards, but frequent use would make my lips extremely dry and flakey. Sounds silly, but I was quite upset: I wanted to wear lipstick like other girls and all the celebrities I looked up to and I actually thought it was my fault that the lipstick wouldn't 'work' on me.
So, I stopped wearing lipstick...threw my entire collection
in the bin and never considered buying another one - "I'll just stick to lip gloss" was my attitude. However, I can remember last summer (when I was 18, 4 years after last wearing lipstick!) I saw pictures of Christina Aguilera and Scarlett Johansson wearing a gorgeous shade of red lipstick. This particular shade they were wearing is sometimes referred to as the likes of "Pillar box red" / "phone box red" / "London Bus red".
It took until February 2007 for me to find out the brand - MAC! I visited my local counter and asked to try on EVERY shade of red lipstick. Although red is supposed to suit fair skinned, brunettes like myself, I always had a problem wearing such vibrant colours unless it was pink or brown. Anyway, I found a gorgeous shade and bought it - the finish was Amplified Creme (good for plumping effect, good moisture etc). I wore it to College the next day (an 8 hour day) and I was shocked when I only had to reapply the lipstick once, at around 4pm. I'd been wearing it since 7.30am, and it was still perfect nearly 9 hours later. I couldn't believe it, I thought it was a 'fluke' to be honest!
When I had 6 empty pigment pots, I took them back to MAC to be recycled. I got a lipstick free but this time, I got beige/nude (Blankety) and in a different finish. Again, my lipstick lasted hours at a time.
I have finally fell in love with lipsticks like most women do. MAC not only have a wide colour and finish range, but create lipsticks that last all day. Also, my lips never tried out - despite not using the lipstick primer that I was advised to use to prevent drying lips.
The finishes are as follows: Amplified; Frost; Matte; Lustre; Sheer; Satin; Cream; Amplified Creme.
The packaging is, again, simple yet gorgeous and sleek: lipsticks come in a bullet shaped tube which is dark charcoal in colour, silver rim and logo and tiny tiny silver specks throughout the material. They are a typical twist-up design.
I would seriously recommend asking an MUA to give you a mini makeover with a lot of the lipsticks - there are so many colours and finishes, choosing one solely from appearance would be useless(!). Anyway, us women like a bit of pampering from time to time, don't we? I always ask for a Q-tip to test the lipsticks myself, however, many people try the lipsticks on directly. This doesn't matter though, as the wonderful artists always sterilise the lippies before letting you test!
As previously stated, they have a recycling scheme Back2MAC. You get a free lipstick of your choice (all of which are usually £11) after taking back 6 empty containers (shadow, pigments, lippies, etc) though the Viva Glam range is excluded due to charity reasons.
I now have just as many lippies as I do Pigments, which are my ultimate Holy Grail cosmetic item! I have around 18 lippies and 22 lipglasses (I also have a review on these).
If you are prone to dryness around the lip area, use the lip primer under lippies. I do not have this despite having terrible lips (I have a bad habit of licking them constantly, which dries them!) However, the primer is not ultimately necessary but it can also help give a much sexier look to your lipstick - perfect if you're going on a date with someone special or perhaps a girlie night out.
A few colours to look out for (my personal faves!): Blankety, Hue, Pink Plaid, Rocking Chick (LE, Barbie range), Real Doll (also LE Barbie), Chatterbox
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Flourish is a deep holiday red thatâTMs not too bright. It has some shimmer/frost to it, ... more
but not too much. I might even compare it to QueenâTMs Sin in some ways, though not as bright. I hope I remember to compare it later on. ALL MY PRODUCTS ARE 100% AUTHENTIC THEY HAVE BOTH THE COLOUR CODE AND NAME ON THEM
Postage & Packaging:£3.91 Availability:Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days......
All Mine is a medium blue-based pink that I imagine will look great with Identity or Posh ... more
Life lipgloss from the launch. Lots of pigmentation and the formula itself is very creamy.ALL MY PRODUCTS ARE 100% AUTHENTIC THEY HAVE BOTH THE COLOUR CODE AND NAME ON THEM
Postage & Packaging:£3.91 Availability:Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Advantages: Fantastic and unbeatable range of colours and finishes Disadvantages: Dislike the frost texture, some aren't very long lasting, some can be drying
bubblegum_princess 08.05.2009 ·
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Review of MAC Lipstick
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