Product Reviews

Wearing Street Art Eye Shadow on my eyes; In The Abstract Highlighter and Optical Bronzer on my cheeks

How does that song go again — “These boots heels aren’t meant for walking, because that’s not what they do”?

Something like that… You know what kind of heels I’m talking about. Most of us have at least one pair in our closet. Heels that look great on the shelf but hurt like hell when you take more than a few steps in ’em.

Don’t tell El Hub (shhh!), but I, uh, have a few heels like that in my closet. I call them my “look but don’t touch” shoes. Beautiful to look at, but they’re completely useless attached to a pair of feet.

That’s what I thought of today while playing with the pretty pans in the new MAC Art of Powder collection. The arresting designs emblazoned onto each of the three limited edition powders ($38 U.S./$46 CDN) are works of art in their own right.

So. Damn. Beautiful.

But when I try to transfer that beauty from the pans to my skin, well, that’s another story…
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MAC Pro Longwear Lipcreme in Positively Dashing

Lovahs of long-wearing lipstick, prepare to park your pout in front of the new MAC Pro Longwear Lipcremes for a prolonged play session when the MAC Styledriven collection cruises onto counters in t-minus 10 days.

Available in 12 shades of long-wearing pink, plum, orange, red and purple, these pigmented pretties may cost a bit more than MAC’s regular lipsticks ($17 U.S./$20 CDN versus $14.50 U.S./$17.50 CDN), but if you like creamy, pigmented lipsticks that latch onto lips and won’t let go, they deliver that much and a whole lot more.

Four of the 12 shades, from left to right: Dress It Up, Positively Dashing, So Very Good and Soft Sell

From the four shades I’ve been getting acquainted with, I’m beginning to think of these Lipcremes as upgraded versions of the MAC Amplified lipsticks (one of my favorite lipstick finishes from MAC), with similarly rich, intense pigments in a softer, creamier, more moisturizing formula.

More to like…

• A forgiving finish — You know how some pigmented lipsticks can put a spotlight on any imperfections (like cracks/flakes) on your lips? That’s something these Lipcremes, despite their punchy pigments, don’t seem to do.
• Wonderful wear time — So far today a single layer of Lipcreme has lasted me through three cups of tea and a bowl of Annie Chun’s Teriyaki Noodles for lunch. Lesser lipsticks would have given up the ghost by now.
• A smooth operator — Despite how pigmented they are, I don’t feel like I have to use a lip brush with these to get a smooth, even application. I can apply them straight from the tube (with a caveat I’ll mention in a moment), which is great.
• They make good scents — My super sensitive nose and taste buds both fancy the delicate vanilla flavor and scent.

Swatches from left to right: Dress It Up, Positively Dashing, So Very Good and Soft Sell
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