I’m a typical MAC fan who says that their lippies are the best ever!
I’ve tested a good deal of lipsticks, which offered quite the “wow” as well as the “ugh” effects, but the lipsticks of this Canadian brand has totally won me over.
Last year they launched a new range called MAC Retro Matte Liquid lipsticks, but I happened to try it just now. I’ve been testing this product for quite some time now, so now I’m ready to deliver your a speech about it.
►The product description:
The description from the manufacturer is concise:
A lip colour that provides a splash of colour in a liquid-suede finish that lingers.
The promises are also concise yet bold and perky:
long-wearing, eight hours
Colour wears evenly and smoothly, eight hours
provides stay-true colour, eight hours
non-feathering, non-bleeding
To tell you the truth, I would have bought this lipstick anyway, even if the claims were like: ‘Lipstick. Just an ordinary lipstick.’ Yep, I’m obsessed with the MAC lipsticks, and there is nothing I can do about it.
► Price: $21
However, I bought it at a discount and feel so lucky now, because it was a total steal.
► Volume: 5 ml
► A little goes a long way, because the lipstick is insanely-pigmented.
► Design:
The product has a typical and classy MAC design. MAC Retro Matte Liquid lipstick comes in a tube reminiscent of a bullet.
Material: it’s quite heavy and comes in a sturdy plastic tube.
My lipstick comes in a kit, so it doesn’t have any packaging. But if you buy it separately, it comes in a paper package. It didn’t have any tamper-proof stickers, by the way. Shame on you, MAC! However, it was probably due to the fact that it was in a kit.
The applicator is incredibly convenient to use. It’s flat, petal-shaped and perfect for my medium size lips.
It applies the product very nice except for a constant fear of applying a dark shade to my lips. The applicator wand has short synthetic bristles, which do not tickle my mustache.
The only gripe I have about this applicator is that the tip is too flexible and I think it would be much better if it was stiff and fixed, like the wand of Nouba Millebaci, for instance. However, I’m just being picky.
The limiter is rather ‘generous’ than ‘greedy.’ As a rule, I go inside the tube twice. This is the perfect amount, I would say.
► Ingredients:
Isododecane, dimethicone, trimethylsiloxysilicate, polybutene, petrolatum, cyclohexasiloxane, kaolin, disteardimonium hectorite, beeswax, silica dimethyl silylate, tocopherol, avocado oil, cyclopentasiloxane, glyceryl behenate, tin oxide, propylene carbonate, caprylyl glycol, hexylene glycol, aroma, phenoxyethanol.
► Texture and smell:
MAC Retro Matte Liquid lipstick has a creamy consistency, which is more liquid than other similar products. It applies well and doesn’t bleed.
It doesn’t dry out instantaneously, but gives me some time to apply it properly.
After a while it has a totally matte coverage. It does emphasize everything on my lips, which is natural. The product is super pigmented and covers up the natural lip color in the first go. It can be a little bit streaky, but I think that the shade is to blame. You can take it from me. I’ve tried a nude tone of this range before and it applied evenly. I got used to ]streakiness actually, because it’s such a widespread issue with dark hues of liquid lipsticks. The streaks can be removed with a little bit of work. So, thank you MAC Retro Matte Liquid lipstick, that you don’t set in a blink.
The lipstick dries out in about 3-5 minutes.
The scent is standard for the brand. It smells like vanilla, sweets, etc.
► Shade:
I’m a huge sucker for wine colors. I love using them any time of the year. Therefore I’ve picked up the OH LADY shade, which is dark-red and has a cold undertone.
The color changes from dark-red to plump or violet according to the lighting.
In some pictures, some purple touch appears, which I haven’t noticed in reality.
So, let’s swatch it now:
Taking a picture with a flash, the color gets purple. I’ve noticed one thing that when I add the photos of the product with a flash in my reviews, the color is far from being what it is in reality. So, here is a question: Do we actually have to use a flash while taking pictures of our products? If the answer is no, then it’s useless to take these pictures. However, I’m waiting for your opinion about it. Please feel free to leave feedback.
► My experience:
I love it, that’s it. After I’ve tried Sleek in Vino Tinto, and MAC Retro Matte Liquid lipstick is like a godsend.
I love all its properties, except for the staying power, but I’ll tell you about it later. Talking more specifically about this shade, I’ll note that it is streaky and hard to apply. I mean it’s always hard to apply such a dark shade, because you fear to smear the product taking into account that the contour is not so easy to correct after that. But then again, what dark lipstick applies effortlessly? By that I mean only dark liquid lipsticks, because a similar shade called Diva from the same MAC applies easy-breezy. The lipstick is also matte, but not liquid, that’s the only difference.
So, back to our liquid lippie. It looks well on my lips, but emphasizes all the lip lines. This effect is not for everybody’s liking, but it’s definitely up my alley.
It’s a lie that I don’t feel it on my lips. I do feel it as well as any other matte lip product, but I feel absolutely comfortable wearing it.
It doesn’t dry out my lips, probably because I always use some lip oils after wearing matte lipsticks.
I can’t help showing you my lips now, so meet the MAC Retro Matte Liquid lipstick in the shade OH LADY:
Total look:
►Staying power:
long-wearing, eight hours
Right away, that's not true. It’s not even possible to wear a lipstick for such a long period of time, unless you don’t eat and drink at all. As far as I’m concerned, I can’t help eating and drinking. The mission is impossible for me. So, I wear this lipstick for about 4 hours without snacking.
It survives after some slight kisses, but cheek kissing is preferable. The product lasts through snacking, but the coverage gets thinner.
It lasts quite well through drinking, too, but it leaves some stains on the mugs. The more you drink, the brighter the stains.
After having a meal, it probably disappears completely but leaves a dark pigment around your lips. I prefer touching it up without removing the first coat in such a case. However, I don’t like doing it.
After drinking and eating, the inside of the lips disappears.
As for the flaking and bleeding, I haven’t noticed anything of the kind with MAC Retro Matte Liquid lipstick.
I recommend you use oil-based makeup removers. As for me I remove it with hydrophilic, olive or coconut oil.
►The comparison with Sleek Matte Me and Nouba Millebaci:
In conclusion I’d like to compare this lipstick with other similar popular products:
All of them are dark. The best coverage has Nouba, and the worst has Sleek. MAC is something in-between, but close to Nouba coverage.
In terms of the pigmentation, MAC and Nouba are equal and Sleek is far from being highly-pigmented, IMO. Sleek doesn’t actually has any advantages when compared with the other two brands. The only pro is its price, but I wouldn’t use it even if I was given it for free.
MAC and Nouba are quite similar in their properties, so you can safely pick up Nouba and save some money, but MAC has a significant advantage, i.e. the color range. The product is available in 30 shades, if I’m not mistaken.
The quality of both lipsticks is on top. I repurchase Nouba in red color over and over again and I’m sure I’ll repurchase MAC either, but I’d like to try the other shades. Sleek isn’t even on the same playing field as this stuff.
►Summary:
I think that the manufacturer really delivers on the promise, except for the staying power.
I was not at all disappointed when I bought this lipstick. However, I’m not raving about this product, even though I’m a MAC enthusiast. Nouba is on par with it.
Repurchase? Definitely, because I haven’t found a better matte liquid lipstick in such a shade. Additionally, I’d like to try another nude tone of the range.
I give this product 4 stars because of a hard time applying it.
As for the price, it all depends on you and your purse. It’s always up to you to decide if it’s pricey or not.
I recommend you buy this lipstick, when the price point is not an issue for you, but if you want it to work wonders for such a price, it won’t happen.
That’s all for today, guys.
Thank you for reading ♥
