MAC Cosmetics Favourites

Oct 22

Hello friends! Today, I am thrilled to share some of my favourite products from MAC Cosmetics. If you have been around for a while, you might know that I worked for MAC Cosmetics on and off over the years, which gave me quite a few favourites and many beautiful memories!

Before my time working with MAC, I worked for their parent company Estee Lauder as a Beauty Advisor, and that experience was quite fascinating as it was my introduction to working with makeup and getting to apply makeup on others; however, the department store I worked for was quite conservative at the time there were several occasions where I was told to “tone down” my makeup. Enter my first time working for MAC as an On Call Artist for the Glitter & Ice Collection for Holiday 2011 (in the video, I was mistaken and said 2010). That experience forever changed my love of makeup and artistry. Compared to my previous makeup joy, I was encouraged to express myself with makeup, which led me to develop the signature style that I still wear today, 11 years later!!!!

Through the years, I fell in love with several MAC Cosmetics products, but if I had to choose, I would have to say - Prep + Prime Fix +, Studio Fix Powder Plus Foundation, Lip Pencil in Dervish, Satin Lipstick in Faux, and Powder Blush in Mocha!

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Top Five MAC Cosmetics Products

MAC Prep + Prime Fix +

This glycerin-rich superstar was my introduction to skin mists and finishing sprays – and remains one of my staples when working on clients or myself! I love it for the:

skin prep
finishing a look
minimizing an overly powdery look
dampening eyeshadow brushes
sheering out cream products
taming fly-away hairs
refreshing makeup throughout the day

For many years, only one version had a soft cucumber scent. Then, in 2009, a rose-scented version was introduced as part of the MAC A Rose Romance collection. In 2015, MAC had a limited-edition collection of Fix + in five scents: Coconut, Cucumber, Lavender, Rose, and Yuzu. In 2018, MAC brought back a few of the 2015 Fix + scents – Coconut, Lavender, and Rose – and added them to the permanent line-up.

Fun Fact: MAC’s Boom Boom Bloom Collection for Spring 2019 included Fix + in a cherry blossom scent – OMG, it was love at first smell, and I would best describe the scent as a soft romantic floral. Simply heavenly!

MAC Studio Fix Powder Plus Foundation

Studio Fix Powder Plus Foundation is the powder foundation that started my love for powder foundation! MAC describes the Studio Finish Powder Plus Foundation as “12-hour medium-to-full coverage, ultra-matte finish,” and I would have to agree to disagree with these claims.

Like most foundations, the finish is greatly influenced by how you prep your skin, and the level of coverage can be adjusted by how you apply the product and the quantity you use. I will often prep with my daily skincare routine and luminous primers like MAC Strobe Cream or L’Oreal True Match Lumi Glotion; when the matte powder mixes with the glowy base, it morphs into a natural-satiny finish.

Regarding the application: I love using the MAC 150 Synthetic Large Powder Brush, which is fluffier than most powder foundation brushes but allows you to deposit the product in whisper-thin layers to create the most stunning skin-like finish.

Something to mention about MAC Studio Fix Powder Plus Foundation – and powder foundations in general – is the colour oxidizing and darkening when it mixes with your skin’s oils. I find that this powder foundation deepens by about a shade, making it tricky to find your perfect shade match. Over the years, I have worn different shades, but I recall my first shade was NC20, and that was a mismatch as I wasn’t familiar with how MAC’s shade system worked, and I based my shade off my Estee Lauder Double Wear match, which was 1C1 Cool Bone (“light with cool, rosy-peach undertones”).

In addition, MAC follows the artist's colour wheel: All brands offer a range of shades from “cool” to “warm”; however, where most brands define pinky shades as “cool” and golden shades as “warm,” MAC’s C (or cool) is a golden peach, while W (or warm) is a pinky beige. Other groups along that spectrum are NC, neutral cool/neutral golden; N, neutral beige/rosy; and NW, neutral warm/neutral pink.

My skin tone is fair, with neutral pink undertones, and relatively muted. These are the shades I’ve tried and my thoughts after letting them sit on the skin and oxidize:

NC20 – too dark and golden
NW20 – too dark and pinky-orange
NW18 – too pink
NW15 – too light and pink
N4 – just right!

Ultimately, I landed on shade N4, which MAC describes as “fair beige with neutral undertone for light skin (neutral),” That was my best shade match for several years.

In 2021, my skincare mission was to lighten hyper-pigmentation and diminish surface redness (view my skincare playlist to learn more), resulting in N4 looking slightly too dark. I switched to shade N3 (“very fair beige with rosy undertone for light skin (neutral)”), and once this shade oxidizes, it is a beautiful match for unifying my face, neck, and chest with my body skin! Also, Estee Lauder’s Double Wear Foundation in 0C1 Shell (“very light with cool pink undertones”) is now a better match for me than my previous shade, 1C1 Cool Bone (“light with cool, rosy-peach undertones”).

If you want more detail about how I like to apply foundation, check out this video!

MAC Lip Pencil in Dervish

If I could only have one lip colour product, it would have to be MAC’s Lip Pencil in Dervish! This was the first MAC product I ever purchased, back when I started working for Estee Lauder. And that was in 2010, meaning this stunning colour has been with me for 12 years now!

The MAC Lip Pencil is a classic lip liner pencil with a creamy glide and an extensive range of shades and undertones, but what makes the shade Dervish unique? MAC describes Dervish as “pinky-mauve,” and I agree! I love the shade because it is the only lip pencil that matches my lips' overall colour; when applied all over, it unifies my lip colour, creating an ideal MLBB (My Lips But Better) look!

One thing to note is that Dervish contains a modest amount of light-reflecting particles and a slightly stiffer feeling than MAC’s other Lip Pencil colours.

MAC Satin Lipstick in Faux

Through my time with MAC, I’ve found most shoppers’ introduction to the brand is their lipsticks! I’ve adored many shades in my current collection and an even more extensive assortment of ones that were either discontinued or limited editions – I am forever searching for a “dupe” for MAC Lustre Lipstick in VIVA Glam V.

So what makes MAC’s Satin Lipstick in Faux special? This stunning lipstick is one of my favourite MLBB (My Lips But Better) shades: the colour is slightly brighter than my natural lip colour while still being a heavenly muted mauve-pink, which is also how the shade is described on MAC’s website.

MAC currently has ten formulas for its bullet lipsticks. The satin formula is my favourite as it is a true Goldilocks lipstick: pigmented but not too pigmented; having a sheen but not too shiny.

The MAC Love Me Lipstick in Laissez-Faire is an exceptionally close second for its formula, enriched with argan oil, so it feels nourishing. The colour is similar to Faux's “muted mauve-pink,” but it’s a touch more grey (described as “muted greyish pink”).

Fun Fact: In 2017, MAC came out with Lip Duo, which paired several of their iconic lipsticks with the perfect lip liner and one of the duos was MAC Lip Pencil in Dervish and MAC Satin Lipstick in Faux! Also, MAC’s website mentions Dervish as a great pairing with the Love Me Lipstick in Laissez-Faire.

MAC Matte Powder Blush in Mocha

Last but certainly not least, we have MAC’s stunning powder blush! In the days of YouTube and Beauty Blog past, it felt like you saw MAC Powder Blush everywhere you went! I still recall my first few shifts as a holiday hire. I was amazed by how many people came to the counter for several iconic shades, including Margin, Sunbasque, Blushbaby, Dollymix, Peaches, Melba, and Fleur Power!

Fast forward to 2018, when I started working at a MAC counter in a Canadian Nordstrom, blush shades like Burnt Pepper, Melba, Pinch-O-Peach, Mocha, Pinch Me, Peachtwist, Peachykeen, and Peaches were the ones that were always sold out – that’s a lot of peaches! Other huge customer favourites? The Mineralized Blush in Warm Soul and Dainty are perennial best-sellers in the US and Canada.

Throughout all this, however, MAC Mocha (described as a “soft pink-plum (matte)”) has always been my favourite! Mocha has been a mainstay for me because it’s a failproof colour that I can wear as a subtle flush to something more intense.

I fondly remember going to the MAC Pro store in Nashville, Tennessee, and building my first six-pan blush palette: Blushbaby, Breath Of Plum, Coygirl, Dame, Desert Rose, and Mocha. I went with Breezy, Dollymix, Cubic, Prism, Plum Foolery, and Pink Swoon for my second palette.

On a side note, I was shopping on MAC’s website yesterday, and most of the Pro Pan versions of their blush are being phased out. I asked the online help chat if they would be returning in the future, and they said there wasn’t an answer. So, for now, I guess we have to go back to our old-school depotting methods.

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Products Used

LOreal Paris True Match Lumi Glotion in 901 Fair Glow