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MAC x Star Trek Collection Picks

August 31, 2016

Last month I stopped by the MAC x Star Trek Preview at Comic-Con. The collection officially launches this month and is currently available online at MAC and Nordstrom but was available for early access to anyone in the San Diego area during the week of Comic-Con. I am not one who has followed Star Trek very closely and have never attended Comic-Con even though it is in my hometown, but I could not pass up the opportunity to see something MAC-related and was curious to see what the Star Trek collection looked like so I took an Uber for the first time in San Diego (second time I’ve used it ever!) to downtown since I knew finding parking on my own would be virtually impossible (or extremely expensive).

The MAC x Star Trek Preview was held a few blocks away from the San Diego Convention Center where Comic-Con is actually held. They had a space ship station setup with areas for makeup testing, makeup application and checkout. Everything was decked out in a Star Trek theme. You can see more from the event on Star Trek’s website.

The day I stopped by some items were already sold out from the early preview. I ordered a couple more items once they popped up online and now have my picks ready to show you. The collection celebrates 50 years of Star Trek and at the event a tiny collectors pin and some Legos were given with each purchase. Everything as you can imagine has a metallic and space-like theme with lots of shimmer, glitter and glitz. All items have the silver Star Trek logo. The most conservative colors I could find and picked out:
  • Trip the Light Fantastic Powders ($34 each for 6.5 g/0.22 oz) in Luna Luster, Strange New Worlds, Highly Illogical
  • Pressed Pigment ($23 each for 3 g/0.1 oz) in To Boldly Go and The Naked Time
  • Lipstick ($18 each for 3 g/0.1 oz) in Llap and Where No Man Has Gone Before
  • Lipglass ($17 each for 4.8 ml/0.16 oz) in Pleasure Planet

Up first are the Trip the Light Fantastic Powders which are swirled highlighters. MAC describes these as sheer powders but I find that the color can be built for more pigment. I don’t really find them sheer but you can blend the colors for a more sheer look. Luna Luster is a pale opal rose with tiny flecks of silver sparkle (they look like super tiny micro glitters), Strange New Worlds is a warm peachy rose shimmer, Highly Illogical is a mauve plum shimmer. I’ve been a long time fan of MAC Mineralize Finish Powders even though they can be very shimmery, I find these Fantastic Powders to have less frost and more of a softer sheen. They are still on the shimmery side though. My favorite is Strange New Worlds for the most natural sheen. The other two are more shimmery and have more contrast with my skin and work best as a soft highlighter for the cheeks or eyes.

Next are two of the Pressed Pigments, both of which are what I’d call glitter bombs. I’ve tried and used MAC Pressed Pigments before so I was aware of how sparkly they might be. I talked myself into being brave with these thinking I could pull them off (at least my version of brave). I cannot. They are simply too sparkly for me, even when pressed lightly over other matte shadows or when layered with other colors. The base colors are gorgeous. Not to worry for me though because I have a friend who is dying to take these off my hands, lol. Once on the lids there is minimal fallout and I will say they last an impressive amount of time.

For the lips everything was shimmery or metallic. Most options are for the person who likes super edgy looks. Where No Man Has Gone Before is a gorgeous metallic rose with golden sheen, Llap is a shimmering frosted beige, Pleasure Planet is a very sparkly multi-colored gold with a sheer yellow base. In my experience some MAC frost and shimmers look best with a clear or sheer gloss on top to help tone down the shimmer a bit and bring out the color. I think both of these lipsticks are in that category.

All swatched on bare lips, just as labeled:

Swatch comparisons:

I found the MAC x Star Trek launch to be a fun and innovative collection filled with lots of unique colors and interesting textures for shimmer and glitter. In case you haven’t seen it, Karen at Makeup and Beauty Blog has a really fun series of looks on her blog of the collection. I had a lot of fun visiting the Star Trek setups at Comic-Con, it’s always fun to people watch and the costumes are quite amazing. If I had to pick anything as a must-have, it would be Strange New Worlds Trip the Light Fantastic Powder.

The collection is available online and in stores starting today at MAC and Nordstrom as well as all other MAC counters. Everything is limited-edition.

Have you checked anything out yet? Or do you have anything on your wishlist?
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Lips MAC

MAC Tendertalk Lip Balm Review

July 8, 2016

 

MAC Tendertalk Lip Balms ($20 each for 3g/.1 oz) launched earlier this summer in five shades. These are what MAC calls smart lip conditioners because they adjust in color based on your body chemistry. The concept is similar to that of the Dior Addict Lip Glow Revivers and Clarins Instant Light Lip Balm Perfector #3 where the formula is balmy and soft and also where colors will look very different on your lips compared to what you see in the tube is different.

 

The MAC Tendertalk Lip Balms come packaged in a sleek streamlined case much like the Huggable Lip Colors (some featured here and here). Tendertalks have an iridescent packaging that has a holographic 90’s feel. It flashes all kinds of fluorescent colors depending on how the light hits the packaging.

 

There are five shades which is the most I’ve seen for this kind of color-shifting lip product. To date most of the color options I’ve seen are the light pink that often shifts to fuchsia on me or a coral. MAC added a few more options that are perfect for that semi-sheer bright summer lip look. The sheerness gives the balms a more effortless casual feel compared to an opaque full coverage look.

 

Do note these will most likely look different on you depending on your lip chemistry but I thought these were worth reviewing and swatching anyways.

 

 

Colors from left to right:

  • Candy Wrapped is a sheer almost transparent pink that turns into a bright pink on my lips.
  • Pretty Me Up is a sheer peachy color that also turns pinkish on my lips.
  • Play With Me is a sheer red that deepens and brightens in color on me.
  • Teddy Pink is a bright cool pink in the tube it turns more mauvey and cool-toned on me.
  • Side Dish is a cool pink that turns into a deeper mauve bright pink.

Another look and swatches on my lips. They took about 30 seconds to adjust in color on me. Once on, they did leave a slight stain on the lips, but it was easy to remove with makeup remover (I used the Clinique Take the Day Off).

 

 

Everyone knows I’m a neutral lip lover at heart, but for this launch my two favorites are the deeper brights in Play With Me and Side Dish. For summer I love the sheerer-brights. Many of the brighter lip color that has a bit of transparency gets a thumbs up from me – they’re perfect for the summer season but wearable even for someone like me who almost always wears nudes or neutrals.

 

Texture is smooth and balmy without having a greasy feel. They are easy to apply without any tugging but not so soft that they feel like they will melt or break. Once on the lips there is a noticeable balmy feel like a cushion but it’s not heavy. They have the signature soft vanilla scent that most MAC lipsticks have. I found they stayed put very well once on the lips – no sliding around and lasting power was good until I drank or ate something. They left a slight stain on my lips, but it was easy to remove with makeup remover. Moisture-wise they do have a moisturizing feel and they did not dry out my lips or make them peel like other MAC lip products do.

 

I like these for summer. There are however quite a few tinted new lip balms out this summer – I’ll be reviewing the Estee Edit Cocobalms, the added shades of Clarins Instant Light Natural Lip Perfectors in the upcoming week. Depending on your preference for formula and packaging you may want to explore other options, however the ones from MAC are unique in the sense that they are the color-adjusting kind and have a brighter summery look in terms of color.
You can find the MAC Tendertalk Lip Balms at counters now. Online at MAC and Nordstrom. Have you tried these yet? They launched last month so they’ve been out for a few weeks by now.

 

MAC Tendertalk Lip Balms provided courtesy of MAC for review consideration.

 

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Highlighters MAC

Future M·A·C Review – Mineralize Skinfinish, Mineralize Eye Shadow x4, Lustre Drops, Mineralize Rich Lipstick and Lipglass

April 21, 2016

MAC launched a new Mineralize Collection called Future M·A·C a few weeks ago. I have a few items I’ve been playing with for a few days now, some are press samples and a couple items I picked up from my local MAC counter. The theme of this collection is light and airy with a glowy futuristic feel. In past years I feel like you could simply blink once and find that almost everything from a MAC collection sold out within seconds or minutes of launching. I’m happy to see that items are still available for a while even if they are limited-edition. Today I’m reviewing some items including:
Up first is the Mineralize Eye Shadow x4 in Nano-Nude. This is my first time trying the Mineralize Eyeshadows so I did not know what to expect. I found all four shades in this palette to be very smooth and natural-looking. They do appear to have a baked formula which in general I’m not a fan of, but I was pleasantly surprised by how soft and smooth these were. The colors overall are on the light side and are sheer-to-medium in pigment. If you are looking for a no-makeup makeup look for the eye this is a good one. If you need color payoff or pigment you will be disappointed. Since I haven’t tried this formula before I don’t know if the color payoff in this one is typical or on the sheer side.

Left side is all four shades layered, right side swatch is the mattes only:

Next up are three lip items. I’ve never tried a Mineralize Rich Lipstick before on the lips although I’ve swatched them on my hand in store before. Cybernaut is a pale pink that does not work my natural lip tone. It’s such a gorgeous soft pink in the tube but I can’t wear these kinds of colors without looking washed out. Texture is smooth and it felt slightly hydrating on the lips.
For the Mineralize Lipglass I’ve tried a couple non-shimmer shades before. I like the formula for a very lush-looking high shine with a cushiony feel. The ones I have are medium-to-sheer but I found the two I tried from Future MAC extra sheer. The Zone is the prettiest nude-rose-taupe shimmer, on the lips it’s sheer to medium in coverage that gives the lips a pretty your-lips-but-better kind of look. If you know of a lipstick this color please let me know because I think it would be amazing. Telegenius is sheer on my lips. It’s a pretty iridescent pinky peach in the tube but only looks like transparent shine on my lips. I personally wish it had better color payoff – but that being said it can make a great layering gloss and I really like how smooth and lush it makes the lips look without feeling tacky.

The last bits of this review focus on three face/cheek products. I’m a huge fan of Mineralize Skinfinishes in general. Warm Rose is quite different from any other MSF I’ve tried. It’s got a very powdery texture with a lot of kick-off powder. Finish is not as shimmery as most that I’ve tried, on me it worked as an all over setting powder for a soft translucent finish. It works right now but I suspect if I get any darker it won’t work all over the face. There is a tiny bit of shimmer in the powder but it’s not visible on the face (at least on me).

Otherearthly is all kinds of gorgeous. If you splurge on one thing from the collection try this one. It has mix of three colors including a peachy copper champagne, a shimmering pink and cool silver. I found the colors have enough separation to be able to dip a large eyeshadow brush into each section to apply separately. When swirled together with a duo fibre brush or blush brush the result is a really pretty glowy champagne peach with silver pearl mixed in. It gives a wonderful glow that isn’t overly shimmery or frosty.

The Barbados Girl Lustre Drops is something that has been on my radar for quite some time. It’s been launched with previous collections as a limited-edition item and this is the first time I’ve been able to play with it (it sold out in previous launches). It’s a shimmering golden peach tan with gold/silvery flecks. This one gives the skin a slight tint of color but I mostly see shimmer on the skin. If you’re a fan of the color but don’t want sparkle flecks, I recommend opting for Tom Ford Fire Lust instead.

Out of everything I tested I think the best items include the Mineralize Skinfinish in Otherearthly and Mineralize Lipglass in The Zone. The other items performed well in terms of quality and texture – the colors just aren’t really suited to my personal taste. I was really interested in the two Mineralize Blushes with this collection in Cosmic Force and Raybeam – I played with them at the counter and although they are really pretty, I felt they would be too light for my skintone right now.

Most of the items in the Future M·A·C are limited-edition (at least the items shown in this review) so if you have anything on your list I recommend checking the items out sooner than later. You can find them at all MAC counters right now. Online at MAC, Nordstrom, Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s.

Did you check out anything from the collection? What did you think?

Press samples include items with c/o listed next to the name in the top listing. Other items purchased by me.

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