One of my favorite things about the beauty world is watching trends evolve. First everything was all about the super opaque and precise matte liquid lip look, and now we’re coming around to more sheer stains and glosses. MAC’s new Powder Kiss Lipsticks are coming at a perfect time - they promise a soft, weightless, velvety finish perfect for a blurred lip stain straight from the runway, that you can wear every day.
When I first saw the photos of these lipsticks, I was immediately intrigued. The bullets themselves looked SO matte that they seem like they could be powders pressed into a lipstick bullet shape. They also come in a rubberized matte tube - think NARS packaging. I’m all about a more sheer, worn-in lip look so the Powder Kiss Lipsticks seemed perfect for me.
When first swatching these I was surprised at how easily they glided onto my lips/skin. They truly feel velvety and are like nothing I’ve ever tried. They feel so lightweight as you apply them and while wearing them - it’s almost like you can’t feel them at all. They’re not quite as pigmented as MAC’s regular matte lipsticks, and they have a soft-focus finish to them that makes them look like a lipstain once applied. Weartime has been good for me, a few hours if I’m not eating, and they’re easy to blend back into place as they wear away, too. I’m surprised something with such a matte finish doesn’t feel dry on the lips - they almost feel like you’re wearing a lightweight balm, so even my prone-to-dryness lips stay hydrated throughout wearing them. They apply best on dry lips (with no balm), otherwise they can tend to go a little patchy. And just as a heads-up - the scent is a little different than most MAC lipsticks here: it’s like the normal MAC lipstick vanilla scent, mixed with a little bit of rubber (?), which isn’t great, but the scent doesn’t transfer to the lips. I just love the finish of these - it’s like you spent a lot of time blurring and blotting down your regular full-coverage lipstick, and you’re left with this beautiful blotted stain.
MAC Powder Kiss Lipsticks come in 16 shades (descriptions from MAC’s website)::
MAC Powder Kiss Lipsticks in (top to bottom) Devoted to Chili, Fall in Love, Lasting Passion, Impulsive, Sultriness, Style Shocked, Influentially It, Burning Love, Sweet No Sugar, Scattered Petals, My Tweedy, Shocking Revelation, Mull it Over, Mandarin O, Best of Me, A Little Tamed
Devoted to Chili - warm brick red
Fall in Love - bright creamy fuschia
Lasting Passion - clean bright red
Impulsive - warm brown
Sultriness - baby blue pink
Style Shocked - clean red orange
Influentially It - nude beige
Burning Love - deepened red wine
Sweet, No Sugar - clean warm pink
Scattered Petals - pale clean pink
My Tweedy - blushy nude
Shocking Revelation - clean blue red
Mull it Over - dirty peach
Mandarin O - bright creamy salmon pink
Best of Me - pale milky beige
A Little Tamed - midtone pink
My favorite shades have been a mix of Sultriness and Devoted to Chili for daytime, and Burning Love for more special occasions. The MAC Powder Kiss Lipsticks are out now and are $19. Will you be trying them?
MAC Powder Kiss Lipsticks were sent to me for consideration, but all opinions are my own.