Mac Retro Matte liquid lipstick.

Say it isn't so. Can I actually love a liquid lipstick as much or just a tad bit more than Jeffree Star cosmetics? Egad. The answer is yes and no. As far as variety of shades and perfection of shades, no other brand comes close to Jeffree Star liquid lipsticks.

HOWEVER, if we are talking minor details then I would have to say the new Mac retro matte liquid lipsticks are pulling at the strings of my heart...HARD. Crazy right? AT the end of the year (12/ 28) the new Mac retro matte liquid lipsticks released and before I jumped the gun and bought multiple shades I decided to just buy one. I went with Oh, Lady. After falling in love with the pigmentation, texture, smell, formula, and applicator... I soon added 3 more to my collection.

I'm a huge fan of the traditional Mac caps. Don't fix what isn't broken, right? I love being able to identify a brand or collection by its look.

L-R: Feels so Grand, Back in Vogue, Tailored to Tease, and Oh, Lady.

When I decided which shades to go with I wanted a variety of shades that could give people a general idea of their quality. I had my eye on High Drama but after swatching it in person I decided against it. It was very streaky and I didn't think I'd reach for it as often as I'd like. I know I've mentioned this before, but i really do go for shades I realistically see myself wearing. This is the reason I don't own most complete collections aside from Jeffree Star. 

Aside from the perfectly clean and classic packaging, the wand applicators really really got me. I own about 15 different brands of liquid lipstick and Mac has been the first to come out with a triangular shaped applicator. Or am I crazy? I'm more than positive I don't recall any other triangular shaped applicator amongst my collection. This doesn't mean there aren't any, but it does mean I don't own any.

Doe applicators l-r: Feels so Grand, Back in Vogue, Tailored to Tease, Oh, Lady.

Do you see what I see? The triangular tip is soo good for precision. It fits in perfectly with your Cupid's Bow and runs along the lip perfectly to your outer edges. If you're anything like me, you will GREATLY appreciate this applicator. Let's be honest, I suuuuuck at lining up my lips without a lip brush or occasionally [excessive amounts of] concealer to clean it up. I now wish every liquid lipstick came with this applicator.

But let's move on to these shades. First up is actually the last one I purchased. "Feels so Grand" is the prettiest red of the three red(ish) shades they offer. This has to be closest to a true red. It reminds me ALMOST of Jeffree Star's RedRum. Almost. 

Swatched in natural light.

Next up, Back in Vogue. First impression of the shade? Bleh. Not as cute swatched as I thought. It was too peach for me. When I saw it swatched on Karen (Makeup and Beauty Blog) I was practically drooling. I regretted it after I swatched it for the first time. I wished I had purchased Lady Be Good instead. Little did I know, there must be some magic in this lipstick because once I tried it on last week I was in looooove. Heart eyes times infinity. It's like the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants in lipstick form because I also had my coworker (who is a completely different skin tone than me) try it on and I loved it just as much on her as I did me! She looked stunning in it. This shade is so versatile and the perfect nude peach for several skin tones, in my opinion. 

Swatched in natural light.

The third shade I purchased *pause as my tummy fills with butterflies only a new lipstick can bring* was Tailored to Tease. Ugggggggh. This shade. Good lawd, have mercy on our lipstick loving souls. Perfect pink fuchsia. In fact, the day I wore it to wore I very awkwardly thought aloud "I FREAKING LOVE THIS LIPSTICK" which caused my coworker AND director to pause to admire it as well. 

Trying to not get off track here, but a short story to go with this. I passed by the office of a fellow lipstick lover in my building at work and noticed she was wearing the exact same shade of lipstick as me. Since we have pretty dang close skin tones, I couldn't help but ask if she was wearing the new Tailored to Tease. She wasn't sure so she reached for her purse and pulled out the lipstick she was wearing. It was the retro matte traditional lipstick tube of Flat Out Fabulous. THEY'RE TWINS. It all made sense because my Flat Out Fabulous lippie is pretty flat from all the use it's gotten. 

So if any of you own Flat Out Fabulous and love it but wish it wasn't so difficult to apply (y'all know Mac mattes can be pain in the asses) then I would DEFINITELY suggest Tailored to Tease. 

Swatched in natural light.

Last, but not least, Oh, Lady. As I mentioned before, Oh, Lady was the first of the four I purchased. Regarding the formula, I was quickly impressed. If you follow me on Snapchat, you might know I wore it twice in one week after I received it. I'm not kidding, I was/am obsessed with this formula. 

"Oh, Lady" is described as a deep wine shade. I would somewhat agree, but when I think of wine I think burgundy red....which doesn't describe Oh, Lady to me. It's more on the plum side to me. PLUM burgundy. That's how I would describe it if we are nit-picking. It didn't apply streaky like I expected with a darker shade. This is a BIGTIME bonus. However, the day I swatched them for this blog it wasn't cooperating with me on the lips. I don't know if it was because it was the last shade I swatched on my lips or what, but it was frustrating and not at all an accurate representation of the shade compared to the other days. Seriously though, I'm in love with this color. Had I not purchased Tailored to Tease, this would have remained my favorite for-ev-errrr.  

Swatched in natural light.

As you can see, the shades translate well from the tubes. What you see is what you get for the most part. This is rare with liquid lipsticks. Often times they're darker swatched out of the tube. Not in this case. 

Top to bottom: Oh, Lady, Tailored to Tease, Back in Vogue, Feels so Grand in natural light.

If you love Mac, which I do, then you'll love these. Bottom line. They smell just like vanilla cupcakes as usual.

Natural light iPhone camera.

The best part about these new lippies? They're permanent. No need to worry about them selling out forever and ever. No need to break the bank all at once trying to buy the collection. And let's be real, if you're like me, you probably won't want them all. Some shades on quite turned off by, pero such is life.

Taken with low res Snapchat camera in natural light.

From the tube to the arm to the lips, the colors stay winning. They're gorgeous. I don't dislike any of the four I own which I don't always say. Generally speaking, there are times I have at least one shade I am "meh" about. I see myself reaching for each of these multiple times from here on. The formula is amazing. You don't have to worry about them transferring like the soft mattes that people tend to hype up. Be smart though, don't assume you can eat a greasy chorizo burrito and not have the lipstick get out of whack. (Totally  not saying I did....) 

Clockwise from top left: Tailored to Tease, Feels so Grand, Oh, Lady, and Back in Vogue.

Final thoughts: 

Smell: 10/10

Application: 10/10

Shades: 7/10

Wear: 10/10 

Pigmentation: 9/10

What do you think? Do you own any? TELL ME! I wanna know.