Welcome to my first ever
MAC Monday!
I will come out and say that
MAC really is my make-up first love. In honour of this I decided that each Monday I would post about one of my favourite products under the guise of
MAC Monday. So plunging straight in, where better to start than my most recent purchase.
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| MAC Divine Night Collection |
MAC released their
Divine Night limited edition range back in November. Most of it sold out immediately (including a beautiful plum lipstick called
Private Party which I only discovered too late - when its gone, its gone!).
It was whilst I was stalking this elusive lipstick at various
MAC counters and shops, that I saw the three
Fluidlines that are part of the collection. There were 3 shades:
Deliciously Rich - a glittery bronze
Macroviolet - a deep smoked shimmery purple
Stares and Speculation - a dirty shimmery gold.
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| MAC Fluidline in Deliciously Rich |
MAC Fluidlines are basically gel eyeliners, but you can also use them as a cream eyeshadow or a base for shadow. I hadn't tried one before, but the girl on the counter was wearing
Deliciously Rich as a cream eyeshadow all over her lid. It was dramatic and impressive - I instantly bought one.
Fluidlines comes in a glass pot with a screw top lid, which for this sort of product is vital to stop it drying it out (I had an expensive Bobbi Brown gel eyeliner which dried out quite quickly which is so disappointing when you've forked out circa £18!). I did read that if you store them upside down it helps to prevent drying out - it might be worth a try?
I really liked how the cardboard outer packaging has gold lettering as it is part of the limited edition collection. I do tend to keep
MAC products in their outer cardboard boxes as I just really like the uniform feel of them and I like to keep them as a collection (did I just admit that out loud?!). I told you it was my first love...
Deliciously Rich is a deep brown with a bronze-gold shimmer. The above swatch in artificial light shows just how beautiful it is when it catches the light.
As soon as I got my little
MAC package home I experimented with it as a liner using my
MAC 210 Fine Liner Brush. As I suspected the shade was too pale to really define the eyes, although it could add some shimmer over a darker liner. However this did not dampen my ardour - I'd bought it to use as a cream shadow and that it exactly what I did next.
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MAC Fluidline in Deliciously Rich as an all over lid colour
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I primed my lids using
Urban Decay's Primer Potion in
Original and applied the
Fluidline over the lid with my finger and then used a matte warm natural brown eyeshadow (
MAC -
Soft Brown) and a
MAC 217 Fluffy Blending Brush to blend it into the crease.
I finished it off with some brown liquid liner and a couple of coats of black mascara.
MAC Soft Brown eyeshadow is the perfect transition colour for this look, as it adds some warmth which prevents the darker colour from washing me out. Being fair skinned I often find that a warm colour through the crease helps me carry off cooler tones that otherwise would just make me look tired. The only problem is that this shadow is discontinued in the UK so I had to find one from the states on Ebay. There are of course plenty of alternatives but I haven't found one I like quite as much as
MAC's
Soft Brown.
The
Fluidline is soft and creamy, but it sets really quickly so you have to work fast to avoid patchy eyelids. Using the
Soft Brown shadow and the
217 Blending Brush really helped rectify some initial patchiness. Close up in the pictures above it looks like quite a subtle eye but from a distance has more impact as a smokey eye. You could of course layer it up to create a more dramatic look. The colour works really well against blue eyes and finished off with a neutral lip is a combo ready for day or night.
I also have the more budget-friendly
Maybelline Color Tattoo 24hr Cream Gel eyeshadows in various shades (they have gone with the American spelling of colour just to confuse us!).
MAC's
Deliciously Rich is closest to
Maybelline's On and On Bronze, although I would argue that
MAC's Fluidline gives a denser more intense colour.
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| MAC Deliciously Rich vs Maybelline On and On Bronze |
I have swatched them both above to compare - and in the flesh the
MAC Fluidline was more intense with more sparkle, but the
Maybelline is perhaps more photogenic as it holds its own in the photo. Certainly in formula the
Maybelline Color Tattoo is much softer and easier to blend but the
MAC Fluidline sticks where it is put and is bolder albeit trickier to work with as a cream shadow. There are similarities but because they are at vastly different price points (around £5 for Maybelline and £16.50 for MAC) that may sway you if are thinking about buying one.
Personally I think there is room for both -
Maybelline Color Tattoo as an every daytime shade but
MAC Fluidline as a bolder night time colour or to layer up as a shimmery liner. The
Maybelline can be blended out into a subtle wash of colour but the
MAC Fluidline is best as a more intense look.
The other
Divine Night Fluidlines have sold out everywhere, but you can still get hold of
Deliciously Rich from the
MAC website
here or from
Debenhams here (if you want to use/redeem your Beauty Club points and get free delivery). You can see the full range of
Maybelline Color Tattoo 24hr Cream Gel eyeshadows here.
What do you think - have you tried any of these?
I would love to see your tutorials and finished looks so do leave your links below.
