MAC Fashionflower Collection — A Beauty Bouquet

Remember the old adage “April flowers bring May flowers?” Well, MAC Cosmetics took that to heart for summer, introducing a garden-ready collection that debuted in May and is available through the end of June. As would be expected, many of the colors in the MAC Cosmetics Fashionflower Collection are dewy, pastel-like, and delicately light. The Beauty Powders in the collection infuse the skin with a soft peach or rose shimmer that’s a slight as the sun’s rays at dawn, while the Lipgelées coat your pout in dazzling sheer pearl, coral or peach, resembling fresh water droplets on pale petals.

But, since MAC refuses to be predictable, it incorporated some catwalk-ready shades into the fray — mainly in the lipstick and eye shadow ranges. Mid-tone corals and tawny nudes are accompanied by golden chartreuse greens frosted enough to recall crinkles satins (as with the Lucky Green eye shadow) or a sheer, mint-y aqua blue (as with the Summer Blue lipstick).

Still, I do find myself wishing there were bolder, flashier colors — more of a tropical bouquet with azaleas, birds of paradise, anthuriums, exotic orchids, and alpinias, as opposed to whitewashed carnation and daisy shades. Nevertheless, there are a few exciting colors for us flashier gals (the Lucky Green eye shadow among them).

Below, you’ll find a breakdown of all the pieces in the collection, along with images and swatches. Follow me, flower children!

LIPSTICK COLORS

The Fashionflower collection incorporates four new, limited-edition lipstick colors ($14.50 at MACcosmetics.com). The colors include: Growing Trend, a mid-tone, peanut-like nude; Ever Hip, a creamy coral; Mlle, a whitened, bubble gum-like pink with a tutu-esque feel that might remind you of a freshly picked carnation; and Summer Shower, an ultra sheer shade billed as a light aqua color but resembling more of a seafoam green, with tons of dew-like sparkle.

Below, you’ll find swatches of the Summer Shower lipstick (at left) and the Mlle shade (at right). Keep in mind, however, that these colors will be smoothed onto your lips, which have a natural rosiness to them and will therefore appear even lighter on your pout (I can barely see them atop my lips, so I was a bit disappointed!).

LIPGELEE SHADES

I’ll admit: I’m not the most vociferous fan of MAC’s Lipgelées. They tend to be saturated with too much glitter for my taste, plus I find the squeeze tubes rather inconvenient. Still, I can see how these would appeal to tweens and girls in their early ’20s since they seem to flock to anything that sparkles brighter than a Katy Perry stage costume. The collection’s three Lipgelée colors ($14.50 at MACcosmetics.com) focus on warm, sunny tones. First, there’s Fashionflower, a near-white, golden, seashell pink saturated with shimmer that’s reminiscent of the Dr. Facilier Lipgelée in the Venomous Villains collection (albeit a few shades lighter). Next, there’s Budding Beauty, a creamy, pale coral color like what you’d find in many a strain of hibiscus, rose, camellia, or peony, with golden and clear micro pearl particles to give the shade its desired glimmer power. Last, there’s Now in Season, a shimmering pale yellow.

Below, you’ll find swatches of the Lipgelée in Fashionflower (at left) an the Budding Beauty (at right):

EYE SHADOW COLORS

This collection incorporates six eye shadow colors ($14.50 at MACcosmetics.com), all of which are meant to reference some aspect of the horticulturalist process — be it the planting itself (as with the Groundcover eye shadow, a chalky, dusty, grayish brown shade that recalls the type of decorative modeling stones used for patio landscaping), the soft showers that trigger the growth of these seeds and shrubs (as with Aqua, a chalky, deliciously vivid aqua blue), or the various parts of the blossoms themselves (as with Fresh Daisy, a yellow-tinged, frosted white worthy of its moniker and Free To Be, a powdery, velvety, bright coral pink). Aside from the aforementioned Aqua shadow, the most noteworthy colors in the collection are: Lucky Green, a metallic, frosted, acid-green-meets-chartreuse hue with golden undertones recalling parts of a green parrot’s feathers; and Bows & Curtseys, a blackened forest green with a metallic sheen and brownish bronze, iridescent green, and gold micro particles that add a magical feel to the dark color (it reminds me of the shade in Kelly Clarkson’s My December album cover).

Here, you’ll find swatches of (from top to bottom) Free To Be, Fresh Daisy, and Groundcover:

Get another look at (from left to right) Groundcover, Fresh Daisy, and Free To Be:

Moving on to the other three shades in the collection, here we have swatches of (from top to bottom) Aqua, Bows & Curtseys, and Lucky Green:

Here’s another shot of (from left to right) Lucky Green, Bows & Curtseys, and Aqua:

BEAUTY POWDER HUES

One word comes to mind when you swatch the collection’s two shades of Beauty Powder ($25 at MACcosmetics.com): freshness.  Like most MAC Beauty Powders, their goal is to increase the skin’s luminosity, making your complexion appear more radiant and youthful. But, since the theme here is flowers, the shades are muted and the sparkle factor is tweaked so that the glimmering micro pearls are cut more finely for a more natural effect. The two new Beauty Powder colors are: Alpha Girl, a coral pink that’s extremely light when applied to the skin, but which will give your visage a natural flush and a sun-kissed effect thanks to the gold undertones; and Light Sunshine, a champagne color with a hint of pink and tons of sparkle.

Check out what the Alpha Girl shade looks like on the skin:

Here’s what the Light Sunshine Beauty Powder looks like when brushed onto the skin: