MAC Proenza Schouler: Lipsticks

This past Thursday, MAC launched their collaboration collection with fashion brand Proenza Schouler. It is inspired by the "minimalist silhouettes, artful modernity, and subtle intricacy" of Lazaro Hernandez's and Jack McCollough's designs. For the first time, "the cool cleverness of the Proenza Schouler woman is captured in a collection of confident colour." The entire collection features a total of 15 products, of which ten are new and limited edition, and five are permanent at all locations. Proenza Schouler will see the launch of four new and limited edition shades of lipstick. They come in square metal tubes featuring an ombre colour scheme in "oceanic teal to glossed lemon and royal violet" with the Proenza Schouler and MAC logos on the cap, as well as matching secondary cardstock boxes. Each lipstick contains 3 grams of product, and retails for $26. 
Woodrose, Pinkfringe, Mangrove, and Primrose
Woodrose, Pinkfringe, Mangrove, and Primrose

Woodrose is a light pinked beige in a Lustre finish. This is a new and limited edition shade. It has a soft and creamy texture, and goes on smoothly and evenly. It has low-medium pigmentation and semi-sheer to semi-opaque buildable colour pay-off. It is darker and more pinked than High Tea, lighter than Jubilee, and lighter and sheerer than Blankety.

Pinkfringe is a medium flamingo pink in a Satin finish. This is a new and limited edition shade. It has a soft and creamy texture, and goes on smoothly and evenly. It has high pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. It is lighter and warmer than Pink Nouveau, lighter than Chatterbox, and warmer and brighter than Lovelorn.

Mangrove is a medium vibrant orange red in a Matte finish. This is a new and limited edition shade. It has a soft and creamy texture, and goes on smoothly and evenly. It has high pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. It is similar though slightly more reddened than Dangerous, similar though slightly more orange than Lady Danger, and more reddened and more matte than Korean Candy Sheen Supreme Lipstick.

Primrose is a dark purple-toned plum in a Lustre finish. This is a new and limited edition shade. It has a soft and creamy texture, though it goes on somewhat streaky and unevenly. It has low-medium pigmentation and semi-sheer to semi-opaque buildable colour pay-off. It is darker and more purple than Desire, much sheerer and lighter than Cyber, and much sheerer than Smoked Purple (PRO).

While there's a good range of colour and texture in this collection, I don't think any of these are necessarily must-haves. Woodrose is a very wearable nude that doesn't lean too cool or warm, but it might be a touch too dark to be a true nude on fair skintones and too light to be a flattering nude on deep dark skintones; Pinkfringe is a fun vibrant warm pink shade for Spring and Summer that isn't too bright or light or dark (however, those with darker skintones may find it too light or milky), but it seriously emphasizes lip texture (including any and all dry flakes) so prepping the lips is a must; Mangrove is a stunning vibrant orange red that looks good on everyone, but MAC has exact dupes for it in their permanent range (seriously, you won't be able to tell the difference between this and Lady Danger or Dangerous); Primrose is actually a very unique shade in the Lustre finish formula (it's a great gateway shade for those with lighter skintones who want to try out darker lipsticks but are scared of going too bold, and is a great everyday shade for darker skintones), but it's not very on-trend this season and the formula can go on patchy on the lips and accentuate lip lines. Given the higher price point, you can definitely find shades within MAC's permanent range that look almost the same (if not exactly the same). Unless you love the special edition packaging or the novelty of the collaboration, or are a die-hard Proenza Schouler fan or serious MAC collector, these will likely be skippable for many.