MAC Strength: Lipsticks

On Boxing Day, MAC released their second post-holiday colour collection called Strength, and it is available at MAC Stores only. It is inspired by "women who strike powerful poses, stand out, redefine the notion of beauty — and do it with an inner and outer strength that's irresistible and impossible to ignore." This collection is comprised of 19 products —nine of which is new and limited edition, three of which are re-promotes, and seven of which are permanent. Strength sees the release of five shades of lipstick, three of which are new and limited edition (one of which will not be reviewed here), and two of which are re-promotes. Each lipstick comes in regular black packaging, contains 3 grams of product, and retails for $18. These are applicable for the Back to MAC recycling program.

Party Parrot, Pink Pigeon, Strong Woman, and Absolute Power

Party Parrot is a medium vibrant reddened pink in a Matte finish. This is a re-promoted shade from 2012's Iris Apfel collection, and is limited edition. The texture is soft and creamy, and it goes on smoothly and evenly. It has intense pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. It is slightly less pink than Impassioned, and brighter than Fusion Pink.

Pink Pigeon is a medium vibrant neon fuchsia with blue undertones in a Matte finish. This is a re-promoted shade from 2012's Iris Apfel collection, and is limited edition. The texture is soft and creamy, and it goes on smoothly and evenly. It has intense pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. It is less cool and brighter than Show Orchid, and is darker and less cool than Candy Yum-Yum.

Strong Woman is a medium-dark magenta-violet in a Matte finish. This is a new and limited edition shade. The texture is soft and creamy, and it goes on smoothly and evenly. It has intense pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. It is darker and less bright than Violetta, and lighter and more purple than Rebel.

Absolute Power is a medium pinked red with blue undertones in a Matte finish. This is a new and limited edition shade. The texture is soft and creamy, and it goes on smoothly and evenly. It has intense pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. It is slightly warmer than Ruby Woo, cooler than Russian Red, and similar but more matte than MAC Red.

All four shades here have a beautiful matte texture that is creamy and smooth and deliver even, opaque coverage. Party Parrot and Pink Pigeon have made a return with this collection, so if you missed out on them with last year's Iris Apfel collection, here's your chance to snatch them up now. Though by the time this post is up, all these lipsticks are likely to be sold out, so I do apologize if this is just a huge tease. If you do happen to pass by a MAC Store and see that it still has any of these shades in stock, be sure to pick up the ones you want because they are highly coveted — I know they sold out within an hour of launching online.