Re: MAC - Venomous Villains discussion
WooHOo! Just got back from the Pro store and I have my haul! Well, I have most of my haul. The guy helping me was kind of overwhelmed by the stuff I was ordering, I think and he forgot to include Dark Deed in my stuff.
Of all the things to leave out... Anyway, I'm going back for it tomorrow so that I can feel complete. I had the added difficulty of having The Great Enabler (TGE, aka my boyfriend) with me... Because making decisions wasn't hard enough.
Anyway... Here's my highly subjective review:
Cruella- I've had my heart set on Heartless since I first saw the descriptions and it doesn't disappoint. It is similar to Russian Red, but the finish is different enough that they are quite distinct. Innocence Beware, on the other hand, was one I was pretty much never interested in and it was... what I expected. I don't have a lot of nudes as it is and I find that lighter colour Cremesheens have a tendency to go on unevenly. One swatch on the hand confirmed that this seemed to suffer that problem.
For the glosses, my reactions were basically the same; Wicked Ways is a luscious red, really brilliant, slightly pink in tone. It reminded me of Utter Fun lipstick in gloss form. It is close to Just Add Colour, as someone mentioned earlier, but it has less of a pearl effect and is redder. It's definitely cooler toned than VG Cyndi, which is distinctly coral. Devilishly Stylish is... meh. It's an almost colourless neutral gloss. I could use a neutral gloss, but it just didn't have anything that drew me in.
I have to say that I didn't really check the eye shadows. Carbon is Carbon. De-Vil is a slightly darker Coppering, which I have, along with other coppery shadows that I don't use often enough as it is. Sweet Joy is a very pretty yellowy highlight colour. It put me in mind of Manila Paper from SCF, although yellower than that.
Someone compared Her Own Devices to Tenderling and I have to say that's pretty accurate. Tenderling was the first blush I ever bought, because it's a good blush for people who are scared of blush. It's very faint and, despite what others have said, I found it ran a bit peachy-warm rather than cool. Maybe my skin is funny. Took a fair amount for me to even be able to see it- it felt like no product came off unless I rubbed pretty hard. When it did show up, it looked vaguely like dirt. Not for me.
I remember reading Temptalia's review, where she said that Darkly My Dear was like Blushbaby but a lot darker. That's a pretty dead-on description. This one looked like heavier dirt on me. Oh well.
Hauled- Heartless and Wicked Ways (TGE insisted on this one)
Evil Queen- Despite its brightness, I knew I was going to come home with Toxic Tale. It is bright, almost shockingly so, but it's also remarkably friendly for a range of skin tones. What surprised me was how nice Sinister was. I stayed on the fence about it for a good long time. There is a pink and magenta shimmer to it that really catches the light and makes the base colour look plummy rather than brown. In other lights, it looks more brown. One thing I'll say is that everyone should swatch this themselves, because photos really don't do it justice. Looks a bit like Naked Paris.
Hot House is a lovely pink- magenta, cooler and less red than Wicked Ways, but in the same family for sure. Stunning colour when swatched. Strange Potion left me strangely cold. I was expecting something very special from the love it's gotten, but I really found it to be a coral gloss in the same family as Lychee Luxe (which is more golden) and Pink Lemonade (which is pinker but very, very close).
Of the eye shadows, Vile Violet is a perfect matte blue-purple and I really can't think of another shade quite like this in Mac's permanent line. This is going to help me make lovely smoky purple eyes. Her Alter Image is very close to Beautiful Iris, so much so at first glance that I had to make myself touch and swatch it just to make sure I wasn't missing anything. Vainglorious is the real winner here. It's a close cousin of Star Violet, but it has less of a plum and more of a burgundy cast. The sheen on the bronze looks almost pink in the light. I love SV, I adore most colours in this family, so this was a real no-brainer for me.
There is nothing I can really add to what's already said about Bite of an Apple. Yes, it will look good on you. That's why corals are popular- they tend to look good on a lot of skin tones. Yes, you can control how much colour gets applied- if you look at Karla Sugar's swatches you can see that a light application gives just a hint of colour.
Oh So Fair was a pleasant little surprise. I found it showed up easily on my skin and was a perfect glowy-pink. I know I said earlier that I had enough pinky highlighters, but sometimes a girl just gets swept up.
Hauled- Toxic Tale, Vile Violet, Vainglorious, Oh So Fair
Maleficent- The Great Enabler was trying to convince me to just get one of everything. I think he was serious.
I didn't get one of everything, but I did give it some thought. (I'd probably have my Dark Deed if I'd done so...)
This collection seems to be the overall winner in terms of popularity. Apparently the nail polishes are almost sold out already. Yikes. Of course, all of them are amazing, look exactly like the delicious swatches we've all seen and you could buy any of them or all of them. I'd just recommend you do it quickly.
The MES are also popular. My Dark Magic struck me as much more purple than Young Punk, even on the pink side (meaning it was cooler-toned). Whether that will really show up in use, I can't say. She Who Dares is a combination of Blue Flame (which I'm now glad I never got) and a deep, cool forest green. And yes, as everyone has said, they're flippin' huge, so it's not hard to use one colour at a time.
If you look back at Her Greyness' swatches of Briar Rose next to Azalea Blossom on skin, that's pretty much exactly what Briar Rose is like- a slightly more purple, darker Azalea Blossom. It can be built up to be quite intense, which is rare for a Beauty Powder.
I already have Violetta and if you love purple, you need this lipstick. It's a surprisingly wearable colour (I've worn it to the office without getting a second glance), but one that still makes a statement ("I love purple"). There's a gorgeous sheen to it that makes it fascinating to look at up close... And don't you just want people to get fascinated by your lips?
Dark Deed is everything I wanted. Yes, it is very close to Media. Most people aren't going to need both. But I ain't most people. I love me the dark vampy lips, which is why I'm going to haul my sorry butt back to Mac tomorrow to make sure I have it. It's a lusty red-purple colour with that awesome Amplified Creme shine and... damn, I'm starting to drool....
Revenge is Sweet is like the collection sleeper. No one really thought about it too much at first and now everyone seems to want it. It is a unique colour and pretty light for everyday use. It reminds me of True Babe, which is the only other thing I can think of that has that jelly-like texture, neither a cream nor a frost. Wrong Spell is super-dark, even darker and more intense than Lap of Luxury from FF. We've already dealt with my feelings on dark lippies...
Hauled- Mean & Green, My Dark Magic, She Who Dares, Briar Rose, Revenge is Sweet, Wrong Spell and, eventually, Dark Deed.
Dr. Facilier- Despite the fact that I'm usually a pigment nut, I didn't jump at these. I have Bright Magenta, which I like better than B&B anyway. Push the Edge didn't wow me, since it's so close to Grape (although TGE tried to convince me to get it). I didn't even take advantage of the opportunity to replace my recently finished Melon pigment. I'll get to that eventually. Tonight was about trying new stuff. Like powders that feel wet. I'm a little dubious here, because I'm not sure the powder highlights all that much, but it's just such a cool toy...
I'm a GPS freak, although at this point I really need to slow down. But French Quarter is a really amazing dark gold/ green sparkly shade. Reminds me of a blacker version of Desires & Devices eyeliner, actually. The black GPS is a must-have if you don't own it already (or the Style Black "original" GPS).
Unlike a lot of people, I hadn't thought about Resort Life. It just looked like a sparkly champagne colour. However, TGE hadn't seen a lip gelee before and in the process of showing him what it was, I swatched it. It was surprisingly pretty. The sparkle really does catch the light wonderfully. I wasn't quite prepared to grab it, but TGE loved it and eventually persuaded me.
Hauled- Truth & Light, French Quarter, Resort Life
