Okay, so this collection was launched online last Tuesday at noon, and the surge of traffic on MAC's website was so intense that it took a full minute for the order page to actually show up and then over three hours for my order to process. I don't have a particular interest in Rihanna herself, but when I saw the initial photos and swatches of the products, I ended up loving the colours quite a lot so I thought I would attempt to get my hands on them (when her lipstick, RiRi Woo, was initially launched in May — also as an online-exclusive — it sold out in a couple hours so my expectations of actually getting these products were quite low). I actually didn't think my order would go through at all until, three hours later, the page finally showed my shopping cart with the items ready for check-out. Sadly, as this post goes up, the majority of the collection, including this blush duo, is sold out. I thought I would post it, anyway, just for those who were curious as to what the shades look like.
Hibiscus Kiss Bronzer is a medium-dark warm golden tan with yellow-orange undertones in a matte finish. This is a new and limited edition shade. The texture is soft, silky, and finely-milled, and goes on smoothly and evenly. It has high pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. It can be layered and blended out easily. It is less orange than Give Me Sun! Mineralize Skinfinish, and more yellow-toned and less shimmery than Refined Golden Bronzing Powder.
Hibiscus Kiss Blush is a medium brightened warm coral-pink in a satin finish. This is a new and limited edition shade. The texture is on the drier side and is slightly stiff, but it goes on smoothly and evenly. It has medium pigmentation and semi-opaque to opaque buildable colour pay-off. It can be layered and blended out easily. It is darker and brighter than Pinch O' Peach, and more pink than Fleur Power.
I can appreciate the release of this duo because MAC hasn't actually come out with anything similar to this since 2011's Wonder Woman collection. Apparently, Rihanna loves bronzer/blush duo compacts because she travels so much and it's easier to streamline her make-up bag if products are multi-tasking, so she wanted to create one for this launch. I actually really love the texture of the bronzer; it reminds me a lot of the Pro Longwear Bronzing Powders (that were released with last month's Temperature Rising collection and with last year's Hey, Sailor! collection), which are similarly soft, finely-milled, and pigmented. The shade works particularly well for those with warmer complexions, as there is quite a strong yellow undertone in it (I personally prefer bronzers with more of a yellow tone than a pink one). It should work well for light-medium to dark skintones — those with very fair to fair complexions may find it looking a bit muddy, and those with deep dark complexions will find it doesn't show up well.
The blush is a lovely colour, one that is very on-trend and very popular this time of year. When I initially tried swatching it, it was incredibly stiff and difficult to get any colour out of it because my fingers left oil marks on it. But once I scratched off the top layer with a clean mascara wand, I actually found the powder to go on much softer and smoother. It doesn't go on fully opaque but it is easily layerable, and I recommend applying it in light layers in any case, since it is actually quite a bright colour — however, those with darker complexions may find they have to layer on quite a lot more to get it to look remotely bright. For me, the biggest disappointment is the size of the blush compared to the size of the bronzer; I understand that bronzers are generally used all over the face and so a larger bronzer makes more sense, but it's annoying that a typical blush brush will be too big to fit properly (e.g. without manipulating the bristles with your fingertips) on the blush side. In general, this blush duo is nice to have, especially for summer travel — the shades are actually quite flattering across many skintones — but it is not a must-have by any means, and if you wanted it and couldn't get your hands on it, don't fret 'cause there are lots of other (and nicer) dupes out there.
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