If you have ever met me in person, then you know I am a lip product fiend. I love lipsticks, lipliners, liquid lipsticks, lip conditioners, lip balms, lip gloss etc etc. Well, you’ll also know that I love ALL makeup and skincare, but something about lipstick calls to me deep in my soul 😉
I’ve said this to many people, that if you’ve got a lot going on and are juggling lots of things (let’s be honest, this is most of us right?), then sometimes taking 30 seconds out to apply a power lip can make all the difference.
I’m a MAC lipstick lover from way back. I haven’t officially counted my collection, but I have a significant amount. Put it this way, if they ever got stolen I would need to make an insurance claim!
This combo is one that I actually didn’t pick for myself. Instead, I went to the Pro Store with two girlfriends and met the loveliest makeup artist who urged me to buy products that complemented my already large collection.
But, let’s not talk about what else I bought (ahem). This post is all about the lipstick!
Strength is a coppery coloured Frost. Yes, you heard it right. Frosts are back in! And this one is amazing. It’s a glorious colour that works well on my NC40 skintone.
The makeup artist paired this with Auburn lipliner – one I already had in my collection but hadn’t used very much because I felt it didn’t suit me well (it looks amazing on my Mum who is a couple of skin tones darker than I).
For this combo we applied it all over the lips first, then applied the lipstick over the top. Holy moly! They work together like PB & J, like Fred & Ginger, like rum and coke … you get the idea.
The lip pencil won't skip or drag, and it applies quickly and precisely, too. How to use: Apply before your lipstick by lining your lips using the pencil tip for a defined lip look with long-lasting color. Try a shade slightly deeper than your lipstick and blend with a lip brush for a fuller look. MAC Lip Liner pencil is designed for shaping, lining or filling in the lip to perfection. Make those lips the focal point with a great pout. Define, line, and shape your lips with Milani's lip liners and lip pencils. Add a pop of color while preventing lipstick smudges! Free shipping on orders $25+!
Here they are swatched on my skin and then I’ve shown how they look applied.
Thanks to Claire and Laura for ‘peer pressuring’ me into buying the lipstick. You were right 🙂
MAC Cremestick Liner in ‘Red Enriched’
Jenay, the sweetheart who works at the MAC counter at the Summit Sierra, was wearing this really stunning red lipstick yesterday. I had to have it (did I mention my obsession with red lipsticks?) and she told me that it wasn’t a lipstick, but a liner! MAC Cremestick Liner in ‘Red Enriched’ to be exact. I’d never thought about using a liner as a full lip color before and became enchanted with it!
You get .009 ounces for 14.50. That’s an okay price to pay for a lip liner. Most lip liners cost between $16-19 and give you around .03 ounces for that price. But this is a really creamy, lovely liner, and I’d say it’s worth it. If you’re using this over your whole lip, like I am, it won’t last you a long time, but it will give you a few months of incredible lips! And that’s only if you use it regularly- this particular red is more of a “special occasion” red and will last me even longer.
The Cremestick Liner is a mechanical pencil-styled lip liner, a lot like the MAC Technakohl liners they sell (my favorites!). The point stays small and sharpened, which is lovely, and it comes in 11 different colors. It definitely goes on smooth and creamy, and the small, pointed tip gives me absolutely precise control. It’s hard to go outside the lines with this! And wow, the pigmentation is so intense! ‘Red Enriched’ is a very dark, intense red. As always, the www.maccosmetics.com swatch looks totally wrong, claiming it to be a rich auburn color that looks much brighter than it actually is. Don’t let it fool you- this is a rich, dark red, not a bright auburn.
Jenay had applied her lipcolor that morning and hadn’t reapplied, even after eating, drinking, and talking. The middle of her lips looked devoid of color, like it had rubbed off, but the peaks of her lip and the outline of her bottom lip still had a lot of color. Of course, the color had worn off a bit, so it was more of a muted red than an intense dark red. But it still looked great! It really gave a lot of contrast to her lips and still made them look very pretty, and they looked more natural with all the fading. So it goes to show that you don’t need to constantly touch-up with this, which I’m happy about.
Mac Chestnut Liner
The liner dried out on my lips pretty quickly, but then again, my lips are always dry like the desert (which I live in, and hate). It flaked off tiny pieces of dark red liner when I drank and blotted my lips, but it never smudged or smeared on my skin. In fact, it lasted incredibly well all day long. But the dryness bothered me, and I could really feel the tightness of the liner on my dry lips. Lucky for me, this did NOT highlight the chaps in my lips. And it didn’t dry my lips out at all- my lips just happened to be horribly dry all by themselves. Now, this looks super matte when applied by itself. Really intense, dark color that gave me a polished, classy look! I felt like a diva from the 1950s wearing ‘Red Enriched’. It would look even better with a black dress and a smoky eye, but it also looked just fine with my ripped jeans and white tanktop.
I experimented with this a bit. I tried using a balm over top to lighten my dryness. It picked the color up of the liner and made it look a little brighter and shinier. Though it left a few tiny crumbs of dry liner on the balm, it didn’t take off the color from my lips. This stuff really stays! Then I tried using my tokidoki Prisma Gloss in ‘Donutella’ on it for more intense shine and moiturizing. I know, that’s a really odd mix. ‘Donutella’ is a nude-tinted shiny gloss, and on a normal day I’d never pair it with a matte red lipstick, but I didn’t have any other glosses on hand. It turns out that the mix worked well! The Prisma glosses are super sheer, and since the ‘Red Enriched’ liner was so matte and dark, it just gave a super shine to it. It made my dry lips happier, and it helped the liner color last longer. But I’d rather go with a different gloss next time. Maybe Urban Decay’s XXX Shine Lip Gloss in ‘Ozone’ (a totally clear gloss)?
Really, the downsides of this are few. It feathers a bit, but I’d pair this with DuWop Reverse Lip Liner to keep it in check. And the feathering isn’t bad- it isn’t going to look like your red color is trying to crawl off your face. It flakes off a bit when eating and drinking, but it still stays really well. I only had to touch up once all day! And how the people did stare…
Mac Auburn Lip Liner Swatch
I really love this liner, and I’m absolutely ready to go back to MAC and pick up a bunch more colors. Remember that a reverse lip liner would work really well with this dark red, and a clear gloss or balm will help the color last longer and keep your lips feeling hydrated.