MAC Proenza Schouler - review

The MAC Proenza Schouler collection has been on-counter now for a while, it's all LE (limited edition) and (as far as I'm aware) not available through MACCosmetics.co.uk online, so it's possible that a lot of the range has gone by now.  I finally got around to taking a look at (what was left of) the collection last week, and was somewhat non-plussed overall.  However for all that I did manage to make some purchases :-)

The collection as a whole features two eyeliners, two lip liners, two blushers, four lipsticks with four matching nail varnishes, and one brush (129SE).  All are LE (the brush is a permanent collection brush, this is simply LE handle, to match the Proenza Schouler packaging).



My Purchases

First things first - the packaging is lush, although the text on the packaging (in my opinion) looks amateurish, almost like the items are PR samples (they're not).

The two items I purchased were the two which stood out for me - the Matte finish Lipstick in Mangrove - an absolutely gorgeous drenched-in-orange-pigment-with-a-nod-to-red-and-a-hint-of-coral) shade, extremely vibrant and summery.  I have been wearing this non-stop for days and I am in Deep Smit.  The pigmentation on this one is amazing, the wearability is fantastic (literally all day long), and although in general I do find that MAC Mattes can be drying on my lips, while this wasn't quite creamy, it certainly wasn't drying nor patchy nor bitty at the end of the day.  Add to that the fact that I got so many compliments and questions about the shade. 

yummmmmmm

It's a definite summer one - and not a colour I’d usually reach for (I’m a fan of the blue and the pink and the purple and the raspberry based reds), but I saw this and had to have it.  I know I’ll only use it in the summer, but hey, that’s ok!  And when I pluck up the courage to go read (hair) again, then this is going to match perfectly.  If I were to recommend one item from the entire collection, it's this.

The other item I bought was the Pro Longwear Liner in Rich Experience.  I wanted to get something along the lines of my beloved MAC Coffee pencil, but more budge-proof.  Much as I just love MAC Coffee, it’s a standard kohl pencil, which is grand if you plan to line both the upper and lower lids, but if you just want to tight-line the upper lid and don’t want it to transfer to the lower lids, you'll need something a bit more long-lasting, something that sets, and doesn't move.

How and ever, despite swatching this one in the MAC store, and bringing it home, eager to try it out, I was as disappointed by Rich Experience as I was excited about Mangrove.  It really required a lot of work to get this to sit on my lids, it was weak and patchy and stringy and mangy and I was annoyed, as it promised a lot.

transfer.  GrrrrrRRRR.

And it transferred too, the little bit of it I managed to persuade to deposit.  Disappointing.


The rest of the collection

MAC Proenza Schouler Collection

The blushers, although gorgeous, are a staple of Estée Lauder in the past – more than likely I would say not these particular shades per se, but the notion of the ombré blusher has been around a while.  There are two blushers in the collection - one more pinky and the other more orangey.  There's a lovely looking LE 129 brush, but I have to say that mostly (certainly not always, but mostly) I've found that MAC's LE brushes are never made as well as their permanent line, so I've stopped buying them (the only exception I ever found to this was the Adoring Carmine collection, some of the LE small handled brushes were brilliant).  And there are the four nail polishes and matching lipsticks, if you're into matchy-matchy (in general, I am not).

Albeit a pretty collection, there’s nothing here that excited me particularly.  There’s a bunch of MAC collections upcoming – the Playground collection is actually launching today (I'll be visiting MAC later on for a look-see), there's the Disney Maleficent collection of course (mostly a bit meh, aside from the Sculpting Powder and red lippie) and the Studio Sculpt collection (all re-promotes).  I recommend the orange lippie.  Otherwise, next...