Skin Tightening

9 Things to Know About the MAC Retro Matte Liquid Lipcolour Metallics

mac retro matte liquid lipcolour metallics 1 — The new $21 MAC Retro Matte Liquid Lipcolour Metallics, available now

The other day someone on Facebook asked what I thought was an incredibly philosophical question. “When will liquid lipstick go out of style?”

As of right now, from where I’m standing in my black stretchy pants, I would have to say that the answer to that query is “never.” They’ve come and gone out of style over the years, but they’ve been running the school this time FOREVER. They’ve been in longer than the longest wear times. It’s been, what, two or three years now? At least.

And now, with MAC’s new line of Metallic Retro Matte Liquid Lipcolour Metallics, an opalescent twist on their O.G. 2015 Retro Mattes, there’s even less reason to expect them to go out of style anytime soon.

These 15 LE shades (yes, they’re limited edition) are matte-ish. They slightly vary in terms of subtle shimmer, but it is always subtle. Some are almost completely flat (In Retrograde), and others, like hot pink Buzzed Out, have a pearly finish so “barely there” that you can’t really see it unless you’re all the way up in someone’s grill.

9 things to know about the MAC Retro Matte Liquid Lipcolour Metallics

They’re $21 each, LE and available now on counters and online.

There are 15 shades with varying levels of metallic pearl.

The formula feels more like a mousse than a viscous, runny liquid.

They have that classic MAC vanilla scent and flavor.

Less is best with these. The more I layer, the thicker, heavier and drier they look.

The formula is slightly drying and seeks out lip flakes, so prep with lip balm first because you want to apply these to a smooth canvas.

They last me about 5-6 hours, so the wear time is pretty good.

You can probably skip liner with most of the shades (the lighter ones), because the pointed doe foot makes it easy to draw smooth lines, but I would use matching liners for the darker colors, because freehand outlining those with the doe foot is hard.

My favorite favorites are Pearl Punk, In Retrograde and Buzzed Out.

Here are lip swatches of my overall faves (Note: one of them is not the corpse-y gray). BIG surprise! — I’m all about the wearable nudes and the brights. These are the ones I can see myself wearing, but lemme know if there’s another color you’d like me to try on.