MAC Viva Glam Nicki Lipglass

For those who don't already know about MAC's Viva Glam program, every cent of the entire selling price of every Viva Glam product sold goes to the MAC AIDS Fund, which helps men, women, and children infected and affected by AIDS and HIV. Nicki Minaj is this year's Viva Glam ambassador to help raise AIDS/HIV awareness, and with the success of Nicki's Viva Glam lipstick that was launched this past February, MAC released a matching Lipglass in September. This will be added to the permanent Viva Glam line-up for one year (subject to change). Each Viva Glam Nicki Lipglass comes in a clear tube with Nicki's signature embossed in red around it. As with all Lipglasses, it is vanilla-scented but taste-free and comes with a doe-foot applicator. Each tube contains 4.8 grams of product, and retails for $18. As they are for charity, none of the Viva Glam products are applicable for the Back to MAC recycling program.

Viva Glam Nicki Lipglass

Viva Glam Nicki is a medium brightened yellow-based pink. This is a new and limited edition shade, and will be available for one year going forward. It goes on smoothly and evenly, with high pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. It is slightly lighter and less yellow-toned than its lipstick counterpart; it reminds me of the gloss version of Chatterbox lipstick. It is less coral than Pink Lemonade, and more opaque and warmer than Floating Lotus Cremesheen Glass.

For those who thought the Viva Glam Nicki lipstick was too bright or too yellow-toned, this is a much more forgiving option. You still get the vibrancy of the original lipstick, but more wearability since glosses in general have more of a translucency to them so it's not nearly as bright on the lips as it is in the tube. The MAC AIDS Fund is one of the best and most effective charities I have ever seen a cosmetics company identify with. It still blows my mind that MAC helps this charity on a daily, on-going basis with their Viva Glam program. Not only that, but they don't just donate a portion or the proceeds to this cause — it's 100% of the selling price of any Viva Glam product. To date, the MAC AIDS Fund has raised over $235 million to help men, women, and children infected or affected by AIDS/HIV. This is a really worthy cause, so if Viva Glam Nicki isn't your cup of tea, it's worth checking out any of the other Viva Glam shades that may be more wearable or flattering on you.