MAC Styleseeker Collection — A Global Beauty Excursion
Nomadic beauties inspired the new MAC Styleseeker Collection, a grouping of vivid colors that reveals a Bohemian charm, creating a veritable patchwork quilt with its rich earthy eye shadow pairings, jewel-toned nail lacquers, and long-lasting matte lip colors. Translucent powder blushes, meanwhile, work with the global wanderer theme by giving cheeks a translucent glow reminiscent of flushed, slightly sweaty, sun-kissed skin.
Below, you’ll find more details on the various offerings in the collection, as well as swatches of some key products. Get ready for a cross-continental adventure!
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LIPGLASS
The Styleseeker collection includes four MAC Lipglass ($15 at MACcosmetics.com) hues: C-Thru, a peachy beige shade with a touch of golden shimmer; Eclectic Edge, a mid-tone blood orange; Ready to Roam, a deep, bluish ruby red with scattered red shimmer to give the shade depth and dimension; and Restless, a burnt bronze saturated with golden and copper shimmer.
Below, you’ll find a swatch of the Ready to Roam Lipglass. I adore the lustrous finish but, most of all, the depth of the color since it really is unusual to find a Lipglass that’s this saturated with pigment.
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MATTENE LIPSTICK
One of the most prominent (and yet overlooked) makeup trends on Fall 2012 runways was matte lip colors. MAC addresses this trend in the Styleseeker collection, unveiling five new shades of its MAC Mattene Lipstick ($15 at MACcosmetics.com): Fashion Nomad, a deep, bright vermilion shade; Delectable, a coral-tinged beige with medium depth; Fun Finds, a light nude-ish pink; Eden Rouge, a bluish red; and Camden Chic, a brick red hue with a mulberry tint.
Generally speaking, I grow flustered with lipsticks that come packaged in these ultra thin cylindrical tubes and have such a small stick of color within them. This sort of packaging, in my opinion, makes it way more challenging to glide the lipstick over one’s pout and achieve the desired look since the shape and width of the tube makes it hard to reach the curves of the mouth or to cover any surface area in one fell swoop. I often find myself relying on a lip brush to achieve the desired look and perfect the outline of the mouth. Still, these MAC Mattene Lipsticks are worth the extra effort since they’re saturated with pigment and the matte finish looks sophisticated and adult (none of the juvenile glitter-packed nonsense of so many lip colors these days or the wimpy glazed and sheer finishes), plus they don’t look dull or dry out lips. In fact, your lip color will last surprisingly long!
Here are swatches of the Delectable and Fashion Nomad shades. I’ve become pretty obsessed with Fashion Nomad, so expect to see me wearing it in tons of photos!
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EYE SHADOW X2
The gypsy inspiration behind this collection is perhaps most evident in the choice of MAC Eye Shadow X2 ($27..50 at MACcosmetics.com) hues incorporated, with most combinations either boasting an earthy Bohemian, vibe or leaning towards a gilded, alchemist-esque territory.
The four Eye Shadow x2 palettes in the collection are: Culturalized, which incorporates Brulé, a soft creamy beige with a satin finish, and Restrospeck, a medium gold with neutral undertones and a lustrous, all-over sheen; Marché Aux Puces, which pairs Indie Spirit, a matte, almost dusty, muddy brown hue, with Chessa, an orange-tinged gold hue saturated with pearl particles for a metallic feel; On The Hunt, which combines Raving Mad, a frosted, bronzed acerola red hue, with Star Myth, which is billed as a bronzed violet but really looks more like a richly frosted bronze shade; and Whims and Fancies, which pairs Performance Art, a Tin Man-worthy platinum with veluxe pearl, with Shadowy Lady, a mate blackened plum.
I had the chance to try the Marché Aux Puces and On The Hunt Eye Shadow x2 kits, so you’ll find swatches of these below!
Below, you’ll find swatches of the two hues in the Marché Aux Puces Eye Shadow x2 compact:
Next, check out swatches of the two eye shadows in the On The Hunt Eye Shadow x2. This is definitely my favorite eye shadow combination in the collection, so I strongly advise you to pick it up while you can!
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FLUIDLINE
To complete the eye makeup offerings in the collection, MAC added four Fluidline gel eye liner colors to the collection ($15 at MACcosmetics.com), most of which we’ve seen in prior collections: Blacktrack, a flat black; Dark Diversion, a blackened plum with a pearly finish; Rich Ground, a reddened cocoa brown with a frosted finish; and Local Wares, a dirty olive green with multi-dimensional pearl particles for a hologram-esque effect.
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POWDER BLUSH
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NAIL LACQUER
I’ve often argued that, while MAC Nail Lacquers ($16 at MACcosmetics.com) tend to look appealing in their bottles (or even when first brushed onto nails), they also tend to chip with great ease so that, whatever points they earn from their original hue choices, they wind up losing from their lackluster longevity. Still, the three jewel-toned nail polish shades in this particular collection are pretty hard to resist. There’s Styleseeker, a garnet red with a flame-like warmth and a lustrous metallic finish; Mean & Green, a purple hue with multi-dimensional teal pearl particles that give the color a shifting tonality resembling that of a hologram; and Gadabout Girl, a blackened plum with a creamy finish.
Below, you’ll find photos showing how the MAC Styleseeker Nail Lacquer looks when brushed onto nails. As you can see, it’s a glamorous, fiery hue that seems rather timely for the holiday season. That being said, it’s also a bit chip-happy, so make sure to apply a top coat and to wear gloves when washing dishes.
