MAC Indulge: Lipsticks

Today, MAC will be launching a new collection called Indulge at all locations. Indulge is MAC's main fall collection for this year, and is inspired by "a dinner of supreme decadence, where no taste is too extravagant and no behaviour beyond limits... Indulge is a surreal feast for the senses, as we set out a magical banquet where food, lust, and laughter combine to produce a palace of temptation that defies you to resist." Indulge is comprised of 30 products — 19 of which are new and limited edition, six of which are re-promotes, and five of which are permanent. Indulge will see the release of five shades of lipstick, of which three are new and limited and two are re-promotes. 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.
Swatches: Smash Hit, By Design, Feed the Senses, Just a Bite, and Sweet Succulence

Smash Hit is a pale champagne-beige with gold glitter in a Dazzle finish. This is a re-promoted shade from 2010's Dazzle Lipstick range, and is limited edition. The texture is slightly gritty due to the amount of glitter, but it goes on smoothly and evenly. It has low pigmentation and sheer colour pay-off. There are no exact dupes within MAC's permanent range since the Dazzle finish is limited edition, but in terms of colour, it is less golden than Tanarama, and lighter and less bronzed than Frou.

By Design is a light-medium warm peach-beige with a metallic sheen in a Frost finish. This is a re-promoted shade and is limited edition. The texture is soft and creamy, and goes on smoothly and evenly. It has medium-high pigmentation and semi-opaque to opaque buildable colour pay-off. It is darker and more peach than Gel, and lighter and less peach than Jist.

Feed the Senses is a light-medium dirty mauve-pink in a Lustre finish. This is new and limited edition shade. The texture is soft and creamy, and goes on smoothly and evenly. It has medium pigmentation and semi-opaque colour pay-off. It is more pink than Viva Glam II, and more grey than Faux.

Just a Bite is a medium-dark cool-toned red in a Satin finish. This is a new and limited edition shade. The texture is soft and creamy, and goes on smoothly and evenly. It has high pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. It is darker than MAC Red, darker and warmer than Ruby Woo, and much cooler than Dare You.

Sweet Succulence is a dark berry-purple with cool undertones in a Lustre finish. This is a new and limited edition shade. The texture is soft and creamy, but it has a tendency to emphasize lip texture and settle into lip lines. It has medium pigmentation and semi-sheer to semi-opaque buildable colour pay-off. It is darker and more purple than Desire, and more purple and much more sheer than Media.

I was rather underwhelmed with the shade selection in this collection. None of these are "must-haves" in my opinion. Just a Bite is a gorgeous shade of red for fall — rich and vibrant, but deep enough to give it a very autumnal feel — and has a very smooth, pigmented formula, but MAC has come out with a ton of reds like this before. A great choice if you're looking for a nice fall red, but you can definitely pass if you already have a ton of red shades. I've never been a fan of the Dazzle lipsticks, but if you like glittery finishes, Smash Hit is a good option for layering (though the champagne shade reminds me more of the winter holidays than fall). I'm also not a huge fan of Frost finish lipsticks because I find metallic sheens to look rather dated, but either way, the shade of By Design is rather dupeable, even within MAC's permanent range, so I would say this is skippable as well. Feed the Senses actually ended up being my favourite from the bunch because it's a nice pink nude that's not too light and not too grey, and is surprisingly flattering on a variety of skintones. Finally, Sweet Succulence is a lovely vampy shade for fall, but the formula leaves something to be desired — definitely exfoliate lips before applying, and I also recommend using a lip liner to achieve a more polished look.