Girl, You’ll Be A Woman Soon — Jonesin’ Over The Urban Decay Pulp Fiction Collection

If you asked me to name the Top 10 coolest female characters in American cinema, I’d doubtless mention Pulp Fiction‘s Mia Wallace,  played perfectly by Uma Thurman. Her angled black bob. Those dark red lipstick and vampy nail polish. Her intense stare. Her love of $5 Jack Rabbit Slims milkshakes and bloody burgers. How her voice sounded when she spoke into a retro microphone. The way her cigarette dangled from her fingertips. The way she made a button-down white shirt and bellbottom black slacks look like the coolest outfit ever. How she peppered her speech with terms like “cowboy” and “Daddy-o.” The way she’d drop a truth bomb in the middle of an awkward moment, like her classic line, “Why do we feel it’s necessary to yak about bullsh*t in order to be comfortable? That’s when you know you’ve found somebody special: when you can just shut the f*ck up for a minute and comfortably enjoy the silence.” Sure, she was married to a gangster and had a heck of a cocaine problem, but I didn’t say she was a saint! She was, however, chic, composed, self-assured, and generally bad to the bone.

Given my love of Pulp Fiction — like so many cinema aficionados, I can quote the movie word for word and sing along to all the jams in the soundtrack — I practically did the twist (a la Mia and Vincent dancing to Chuck Berry’s “You Never Can Tell”) when I found out Urban Decay was releasing a makeup collection that paid homage to Tarantino’s cult classic. Though I knew the packaging would be striking and memorable, I also knew Urban Decay wouldn’t simply re-release existing lip colors and eyeshadow shade with different names but that, instead, the brand would strive to create a color story that captured the mood and vibe of the flick. And, as sure as Vincent Vega agreed that $5 shake was worth every penny, Urban Decay’s Pulp Fiction collection had me going, “gotdamn!”

The limited edition Pulp Fiction collection incorporates five products: the Pulp Fiction Revolution Lipstick in Mrs. Mia Wallace ($22 at UrbanDecay.com), the Pulp Fiction  24/7 Glide-On Lip Pencil in Mrs. Mia Wallace ($20at UrbanDecay.com and Sephora.com), the Pulp Fiction Eyeshadow Palette ($34 at UrbanDecay.com), the Pulp Fiction Heavy Metal Glitter Eyeliner ($19 at Sephora.com)  and the Pulp Fiction Nail Polish ($15 at Sephora.com).

All of the products in collection were inspired by Mia Wallace’s own dark, edgy, slightly gothic look, so that the nail lacquer and lip colors aim to recreate the sanguine reds she wore in the film, while the gunmetal-colored glitter eyeliner nods to her steely glance and danger-loving personality, and the four neutral shades in the five eyeshadow palettes mimic the dirty neutral hues Mia used to create smoldering, smoky eye looks (the shadow shades are also cleverly named “Righteous,” “Tyranny,” “Vengeance,” and “Furious/Anger” as a reference to the Bible passage Jules Winnfield (Samuel L. Jackson’s character) recited before shooting one of his targets.

Now, because I have so many neutral eye shadows (and, as it happens, my favorites are those by Urban Decay) and because I’m a sucker for a bold lip, I zoomed in on the lipstick and lip pencil as my must-have items from this collection. Check out how insane the packaging is in this photo:

Groovy, right? But let’s talk about the real issue at hand: the colors!

Both the Urban Decay Revolution Lipstick in Mrs. Mia Wallace and the Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Lip Pencil in Mrs. Mia Wallace are bloody perfect — emphasis on bloody.

The lipstick is this intense plasma red, similar to Gash in its slightly gothic feel, but less of a blackened, plum-ish tone than the aforementioned shade. It’s actually deeper and redder than the shade Mia wears in the film — if anything, it more closely mirrors the shade she wears on the film’s poster. But it’s definitely got that slightly dangerous, sexy, temptress feel to it without trying too hard (which is, after all, what makes Mia Wallace so cool). Like all of Urban Decay’s Revolution Lipstick shade, it offers maximum pigment pay-off while also plumping and nourishing the pout.  Check out a swatch of the hue below:

Next, check out swatches of the lipstick and lip pencil together. As you can see, they’re a perfect match. The Mrs. Mia Wallace lip pencil shade has a matte finish and is remarkably opaque (other than OCC Makeup, I have yet to see any brand offer lip pencils with the kind of color saturation that Urban Decay’s offer). Moreover, the lip pencil’s tip feels creamy against lips, practically melting onto the skin on your pout so that there’s no uncomfortable tugging and pulling.

I love these shades so much, I’ve been wearing them for weeks straight! Here’s me rocking the Urban Decay Revolution Lipstick in Mrs. Mia Wallace on Labor Day.

And here’s another shot of me wearing the lipstick during New York Fashion Week:

How do I feel about these lip colors? Well, to quote Mrs. Mia Wallace, “”I said goddamn!” That about sums it up!