Product Review: MAC's Heirloom Mix Lipsticks

The MAC Heirloom Mix lipsticks were an exciting release for me -- after all, pretty packaging? Pretty colours! Consider me sold like a One Direction fangirl. Like the MAC junkie I've become, I wanted every shade except Rebel -- because I have it already -- and Tribalist -- because Temptalia said it was rubbish, and so I had every intention of going to my local MAC counter to swatch in-store and make sure I wanted to spend so much money make the investment.

As it happened, I totally did.


MAC Heirloom Mix Lipstick

Unfortunately, it sold out really quickly in-store and online (the only exception being the troubled Tribalist -- and now even that's sold out). I despaired over the loss like Romeo despaired over Juliet, but I got over it in a far less extreme manner -- until the makeup goddesses smiled upon me and my friend Jo-Anna when we went to Myer for a VIP shopping night. The MAC counter had received their shipment late, only two days before -- and so huzzah, they had the whole line in stock!

I heard cherubs singing.


MAC Heirloom Mix Lipstick - packaging

I think the big selling point with these lipsticks is the packaging itself. It's got a kind of shimmery silver glitter over the top of the regular MAC packaging -- I don't think it's quite as smooth as a regular MAC lipstick, but there's no real gritty texture either. I think that this glittery perfection was manufactured as an additional coating over the regular tube, as I've found the lipsticks just a touch difficult to take out of the box. Gentle shaking didn't do much good, and I wasn't able to grip enough of it to pull it out, so I ended up having to open the bottom of the box and push it forward. Through repeated use, it gets easier -- now a gentle shake usually allows enough of the tube to fall out so that you can grab it.


MAC Heirloom Mix Lipstick (l to r): No Faux Pas, Salon Rouge, Sparks of Romance

If you missed out on these lipsticks, don't fear! They are most definitely dupable, and you may already have something similar if you picked anything up from the Novel Romance line.


Swatchety-swatches

No Faux Pas -- this is bright, cool-toned hot pink with a matte finish. I feel like it looks pinker in person than in the photo. It feels relatively creamy when you apply it, but it dries down to a matte after a little while. I like the staying power on this, I feel that it stays relatively well with minor eating and drinking. I don't think it's totally necessary to exfoliate your lips before hand, unless your lips are as dry as the Gobi Desert -- in which case, get scrubbing! No Faux Pas is very, very similar to Good Kisser from the Novel Romance collection, as well as Girl About Town, which is part of the permanent line. You can check out Temptalia's dupe list for more suggestions.

Wearing MAC Heirloom Mix Lipstick in No Faux Pas

Salon Rouge -- this is a dark, kind of berry-ish red that I think looks well on a girl no matter what season you're living in! I did find that it sometimes didn't apply quite as well as No Faux Pas or Sparks of Romance, in that sometimes it didn't seem to take -- if I put it on after brushing my teeth, for example, it would sometimes just seem to skip over patches, as though I hadn't touched the product to my lip at all. I don't know if that means I had some weird invisible toothpaste residue, but it was unexpected. I would recommend exfoliating your lips as a precaution before applying this, because although it feels creamy when you apply it, it's the kind of matte that highlights dry patches the longer you wear it. Of course, Temptalia has a great dupe list!

Wearing MAC Heirloom Mix Lipstick in Salon Rouge

Sparks of Romance -- I had no idea until I wore it to test it out a few days ago, but this is my absolute favourite of the three. It's a kind of clean red with a very faint golden shimmer -- you can just see it, but you can't feel it. It goes on creamy, and it kind of stays creamy for a little while before it dries down; you may find that you want to reapply after light eating and drinking, but I found that the situation wasn't bad enough to make it necessary. This lip colour is the winner for me, and, amazingly, it didn't feather or bleed at all! It reminds me a tad of MAC Viva Glam Rihanna 1, but Temptalia has a decent dupe list that's worth checking out.

Wearing MAC Heirloom Mix Lipstick in Sparks of Romance

Overall, these lipsticks are great but colour-wise, they're not anything ground-breaking. If you're a lip junkie who somehow missed out, it's very possible that you already own something very similar.

Padawan Product Rating: A

Did you buy anything from the Heirloom Mix collection? Let me know!

Sarah xo