Hey all,
So here’s the rest of the swatches from my MAC haul, on my part at least. I will ask my sister, Isabel, if I can borrow her stash and show you some swatches. We’ll see.
Today, I have a paint pot, two eye kohls, three blushes, and five lipsticks, so it’s still exciting times over here at Softly Sometimes. To transition from Part I’s eyeshadow bonanza, let’s start with eye product swatches then go downwards on the face.
Swatches from L-R: eye kohls in Teddy and Prunella, MAC Paint Pot in Bare Study and Rubenesque (for comparison)
I didn’t think it would be possible, but I feel like I do love Bare Study as much as I love Rubenesque, though this swatch makes it look meh. Here’s a better one:
The level of love I had for the Rubenesque made me think I didn’t really need or want another Paint Pot, but Bare Study is proving that to be false. I love both. As for the eye kohls, I haven’t tested wear time, but I’m loving how they look so far. They are also extremely creamy and easy to glide on the skin.
I compared Prunella with the shu uemura x Karl Lagerfeld Painting Liner (in Blackish Satin Purple), and they are pretty similar, though Prunella is a little darker and BSP has a bit more shimmer.
On to the blushes!
Swatches from L-R: MAC Powder Blush in Ambering Rose, Plum Foolery, and Springsheen
I quite like all of them, though I expected Plum Foolery to be a bit less pink. Springsheen—which, let’s face it, I bought for the name—is a pretty good warm highlight and brightening blush, though I don’t think I can wear alone if I want a more “flushed” look, since my skin tone is pretty dark for it. I like Ambering Rose for a kind of one-product cheek look. It warms up my already-warm skin and the shimmer adds just enough sheen to forego highlighter.
Ambering Rose is a muted rose. Plum Foolery is a faintly plum. Springsheen is a peach with pearl. All blushes are in a Sheertone Shimmer finish, which I think is the shimmeriest of them all. I didn’t even realize that all of the blushes I got were of that formula, but oh well! I like them all.
And now, everyone’s favorite part: lipsticks!
I didn’t swatch these in the same order as this picture, which is pretty dumb, but I guess you can’t expect anything else from me. The lipsticks were sweaty because, well, Manila Heat.
Swatches, from L-R: Twig, Mehr, Plumful, Impassioned, Ravishing
So far, I’ve tried all of them on myself, but I’ve worn only Twig and Ravishing out. I like both a lot, though Ravishing is a bit harder to wear for me, just because of its warmth. I like the texture of the lipsticks, so I can see why a lot of people love this brand. My favorite formula is still Chanel’s, though.
Twig is a soft muted brown-ish pink, and is a Satin color. Mehr is a dirty blue pink, and has a Matte finish. These two are probably my favorites from the bunch. Plumful is a blossoming rose plum and a Lustre, which is the finish of my fave MAC lipstick, Jubilee. Impassioned is an amped-up Fuschia, and an Amplified Creme. Lastly, Ravishing is a clean light peachy coral, and is a Cremesheen.
I’d love to take the credit for this excellent array of finishes, but Laura helped me out a lot. There are SO MANY MAC shades to choose from, it can be kind of a bit overwhelming when it’s your first time shopping for colors. I know it took me a while to pick my first (Jubilee! ♥) but then once I did, it was love at first swipe.
… And that is my entire stash. I hope you enjoyed this! I will definitely try to post more looks and FOTDs. It seems like I am lacking in that department, especially when I’ve been lemming and shopping for products like a mad woman that I never really run out of stuff to review and swatch.
Thanks for reading and hope this helped you out. 🙂
MAC Cosmetics does not test on animals, except when required by law. Read about my personal cruelty-free pledge here.
Softly Sometimes 
Oooh I love “ravishing” and “impassioned”!
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xO
I have the Impassioned shade and can’t get enough of it. I love MAC lipsticks!
I’m glad and scared that I got it! I don’t usually wear bold colors. 🙂
oh, i really want to try the springsheen blush!
xo
You definitely should try it on yourself and see if you like it 🙂
Do not be hard on yourself about the order of the swatches, lol. It is so hard to keep everything straight! I just put up a post with three different mascaras and showing them each on my eyes, and it was so hard to remember which order I took the pictures in so I could label them correctly. Oh the woes of a beauty blogger. 😉 Nice post by the way. MAC is pricey, so it’s kind of cool to see a big haul like this. I’ve never bought anything from MAC mostly because I find their animal testing policy pretty sketchy. Maybe one day I’ll buy from them, but for right now there are still too many cruelty free companies out there.
Their animal testing policies aren’t sketchy at all, I can assure you. All the makeup is formulated and made in either Markham, Ontario (I just spent the week at this location) or in New York state, and in no shape or form do they do any testing on animals, nor to they hire a second party to test for them.
Where people get confused is that some of the countries where MAC is sold, such as China, have their own government issued set of laws concerning animal testing. It is in fact those countries doing the testing, and it is with makeup that has already been approved as safe in North America. Even some of the Asia only products that MAC sells are still made in North America and shipped out to them.
To be totally honest, I am very confused by most company policies on animal testing. Urban Decay, for example. They do not personally test their products to be sold in China, but they sell the products to the Chinese market and by doing so allow the government to test on animals. It just seems so dumb to me. I’m not saying that I am this hardcore buyer of products only created by cruelty free companies, but I kind of wish that companies really took a stand either way. Especially a company like Urban Decay who actually writes on their packaging “We don’t do animal testing. How could anyone?”
It just seems very two faced to me in a way to say that you don’t do something, but then sell to a place that you know that will test. You know what I mean? China is never going to stop testing if companies continue to give into their crazy testing laws. Sigh.
Oh, I think UD pulled out of or never really carried on selling to China, unless I’m wrong? They were very adamant about retaining their CF status.
I think brands who currently already sell there and have a huge market have chosen to comply with the laws first. I’m sure it will cost them a lot of money to just suddenly pull out of the Chinese market, especially a big brand like MAC, but I’m happy that big companies like Shiseido have decided to stop animal testing.
Hey Laura, thanks for weighing in! That’s good to hear that they don’t test the stuff they make in the US/Canada, though I understand why it would still be upsetting for hardcore CF beauty fans, like Phyrra! Anyway, would you know what they exactly test in China? Do they test the finished products or something before you ship them out?
I completely agree. It also irks me that MAC sells in countries that reserve the right to test on animals. At the same time, I understand that the market for cosmetics in those countries is enormous, and now that they’re in there, it isn’t financially feasible to back out. The people of countries with government issued animal testing should be protesting against it and working to eliminate those activities.
That’s exactly what I was thinking. It’s probably not feasible at the moment to completely back out of a big country like China, if you’ve got a big chunk of your current profit coming from there. IDK. I’m not a fan of that, but from a business angle, I can understand why a company that’s been operational for many years in a country that buys a lot of its products can’t back away in a snap.
It’s so sad, though, because MAC’s always been cruelty-free. AND NOW THIS.
They still are cruelty-free in most countries! Also, I am proud that I work for a company that makes 95% of their product in North America, and do not out source for that. When I was at basic training last week at their head office/factory in Markham, Ontario I could literally hear them making blushes through the washroom walls, haha.
It must have been so fun to be there *_*
OMG I bet that was hellacious. LOL. I do like your mascara photos, though! 🙂
I get what you mean. If you’re looking for good eyeshadow brands that are completely CF, try Wet n Wild, as well as NARS and bareMinerals (though both are owned by Shiseido, who used to test but have announced that they have stopped).
After picking up the Plumful lipstick for you I got jealous and had to buy it for myself, haha. Too bad it isn’t in trend this season, but come next autumn I will be rocking it! Also, I don’t yet have Plumfoolery. I want it!
😀 I’m glad and so surprised that you don’t have it yet. I am a plum freak D:
Impassioned!! 😮 ❤ Funny how it's so popular yet it's one of the few MAC shades I haven't tried yet! So pretty!
I think you should check it out and see if it suits you! 🙂
wow. would really love to try Mehr and Plumful because I am such a plum freak. Thank you for this 🙂
No worries! Hope they’re shades that you’ll end up loving 🙂
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