MAC Baking Beauties: Lipsticks

Last Thursday, MAC released a new collection called Baking Beauties. This collection was inspired by "everything about a cupcake; from the ruffled liner and creamy rosettes to shimmering sprinkles. It's this air of confectionery bliss that frosts eyes, lips, and nails in colours of irresistible lusciousness." This collection sees the release of 24 products —15 of which are new and limited edition, one of which is a re-promote, and eight of which are permanent. Baking Beauties sees the release of four shades of lipstick. All of MAC's lipsticks are vanilla-scented but taste-free. Each lipstick comes in regular black packaging, contains 3 grams of product, and retails for $18. These shades are applicable for the Back to MAC recycling program at all locations.

Devil's Food, Pure Decoration, Raspberry Swirl, and Lavender Whip

Devil's Food is a dark reddened plum-brown in a Frost finish. This is a new and limited edition shade. The texture is soft and creamy, but it has a tendency to settle into lip lines resulting in unevenness. It has medium pigmentation and semi-sheer to semi-opaque buildable colour pay-off. It is more brown than Desire, and more plum than Polished Up.

Pure Decoration is a light warm peach-beige with orange undertones in a Cremesheen finish. This is a new and limited edition shade. The texture is soft and creamy, but due to the milkiness of the shade and the nature of the finish, it can look dry on the lips. It has medium-high pigmentation and semi-opaque to opaque buildable colour pay-off. It is more peach than Creme d'Nude, and lighter and brighter than Shy Girl. 

Raspberry Swirl is a light blue-based cotton candy pink in a Cremesheen finish. This is a new and limited edition shade. The texture is soft and creamy, and it goes on smoothly and evenly. It has high pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. It is less blue-toned and less bright than Saint Germain, and slightly lighter and less grey than Snob. 

Lavender Whip is a light-medium cool-toned lavender-pink in a Cremesheen finish. This is a re-promoted shade from 2009's Cremeteam collection, and is limited edition. The texture is soft and creamy, and it goes on smoothly and evenly. It has medium pigmentation and semi-sheer to semi-opaque buildable colour pay-off. It is warmer and more pink than the original Lavender Whip. It is lighter and more purple than Syrup, and much lighter and more sheer than Up the Amp.

I like that the colours go well with the theme of the collection, but with the exception of Devil's Food, they are far more suited to fair to medium skintones. Devil's Food looks dark in the tube and in swatches, but it's actually quite flattering on a variety of skintones, as it takes on a much more plum tone once on the lips. The finish reminds me more of a Lustre than a Frost, though, since it has that tendency to settle into lip lines. Pure Decoration leans very orange, so it will be more flattering on those with warmer skintones. It also goes on lighter than it looks, so it will also be more suited to fair to light-medium skintones. Raspberry Swirl will appeal to those who like their cool-toned pinks (e.g. Snob, Saint Germain, Viva Glam Gaga, etc.), though MAC has released a lot of shades like this before (and actually quite recently), so check your stash to see if you have a dupe.

Surprisingly, Lavender Whip is my favourite release from this collection. Even though MAC states that it is a re-promoted shade, it is much more pink than the original version, so for those who wanted the same Lavender Whip from 2009, this might be disappointing news. But for those who wanted Lavender Whip to be less purple, this will be a welcome change. I, for one, found the original Lavender Whip a bit hard to wear in the same way that Viva Glam Nicki 2 can be difficult to wear — it's just not that flattering across many skintones. But this year's version, with the added warmth and pink undertone along with the slight translucency that the finish offers, it is decidedly much more wearable, and better yet, actually flattering across many skintones and undertones. For me, this year's Lavender Whip is a must-have; it's like a softer, less bright version of Up the Amp that is just perfect for Spring.