Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Nudey Tuesday: MAC Honeylove Lipstick (Review & Swatches)

First off, let me say that this new "picture uploading" system with Blogger is really making me mad. I've been struggling with it for awhile now and it just takes so so soooooo long to load. Anyways, today's Nudey Tuesday will be all about MAC's Honeylove lipstick. It's actually one of my favorite nude lipsticks as I find that it gives a very "natural" nudey look. I have a hate love relationship with MAC lipsticks. I love the fact that MAC offers so many different colors (permanent and limited edition) and that they're fairly low priced at only $14 a pop (in the U.S.) -a lot cheaper than many other "high-end" brands. What I don't like are the formulas in general. They offer so many finishes -matte, frost, lustre, glaze, amplified, amplified creme, cremesheen, and satin. Then there's also "Dazzle" finishes being added to that soon. Anyways, with all these different finishes, you think at least one would work out wonderfully for me right? Wrong. None of the finishes really wow me as all of them dry out my already dry lips like mad with the exception of Glazes but I don't really like those anyways since they're usually so sheer. I've been telling myself that I won't buy any more MAC lipsticks (last ones purchased were from Liberty of London) but I doubt that'll last. I love MAC's color choices.

The Packaging: Packaging is pretty standard with MAC lipsticks. Just a plastic black tube, silver ring, and silver "MAC" logo in the middle. There's also tiny silvery sparkles on the tube if you look closely. There's a silver sticker on the bottom of the tube displaying the finish and color name. I've noticed that on some of my MAC lipsticks, the color name isn't always centered -sometimes the writing nearly travels off the sticker.
The Product: Honeylove has a matte finish -which I do like for the color. Most matte lipsticks are super drying in general so I don't have a problem with Honeylove being dry. However as with all matte lipsticks, I highly recommend applying a generous layer of lip balm before applying -maybe even give your lips an exfoliating session. I don't think it's the dryest matte formula -it's actually pretty nice for a matte finish. It glides fairly smoothy onto my lips (when they're not dry) and lasts about 2 hours (but that's because I eat or drink nearly every hour.) When my lips are dry though, the lipstick sinks into the lines in my lips and enhances the "dry spots." From a distance though (talking distance to someone sitting nearby), you can't see the dryness. It could only be seen if someone's literally studying your lips -which is kind of weird! The lipstick feels pretty comfortable on with some slight "tightness" due to my dry lips. The scent is vanilla -which I actually don't like. It goes away after a few minutes though after applying.
The Color: The color is a pigmented medium beige nude with a "tinge" of salmon and pink. This is definitely more of a natural nude so no dramatic corpse effect here. I think this is one of those nudes that will work well on everyone -I know lots of people have problems with Myth.

Swatches..
(No flash) Natural light.
(No flash)
(With flash)
Lip Swatches..
(No flash) Natural light.
(No flash) ..Crazy how different lighting can make a huge difference.
(With flash)
 Overall: I love this. This may not be the perfect formula and I may not like the fake vanilla scent but I just love the color. I think it's perfect and it'll probably work really well with a variety of different skin tones -fair to dark. The price is just right at $14 for what you get -I wouldn't go buying this for something like 30 bucks. I feel that the formula is also better than other matte lipsticks in terms of "dryness." Remember, if you do decide to get this, put on a good layer of lip balm prior to applying the lipstick and let it just "marinate" into your lips for 10-15 minutes. Also, exfoliating wouldn't be a bad idea either.

8 comments:

  1. great swatches. I know you mentioned you wouldn't go into 30 dollar lipsticks but I think Chanel is a really good brand where the lipsticks are not as dry and longer lasting than MAC. Another option is MAC's creamsheen glasses which are more moisturizing.

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  2. Ooh thanks for the tip. Btw, meant I wouldn't go $30 for a MAC lipstick.. totally would for better formulas though like Shiseido, YSL, etc. =) I have to try some Chanels -I actually never have. I've never tried those glosses either! I've been staying away from MAC glosses for quite awhile but I'll give them a look next time I'm there. I'm all for moisturizing lip products.. Can't stand uber dryness. =P

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  3. Such a pretty nude on you! I'll try it on next time I'm at MAC.

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  4. Definitely try! =) Your skin looks olivey-tannish.. sort of like mine so I know it'll work for you. Just wear lip balm. This is one of those colors that I think will suit a variety of people.

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  5. I love this colour! My skin is roughly the same colour as yours so I think it will work...have you tried freckletone? I'm torn between the two....I tried blankety and sadly I find it a bit too pink..

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