MAC Isabel and Ruben Toledo: Blush Ombres

Last Thursday, MAC released their Spring collaboration collection with Isabel and Ruben Toledo, "fashion's most romantic couple." They are "renowned for their award-winning and imaginative work in fashion design and illustration, [and] are beloved for their passion, playfulness, and affection for one another." MAC describes this collaboration as "a true merging of minds, pairing Isabel's penchant for colour with Ruben's vibrant energy in a palette of hues designed to sculpt, painted, and transform the face. Inspired by the notion of 'beauty as art,' their combined creative energy plays with texture and tone — a three-dimensional approach to makeup designed to inspire endless play." This collection sees the launch of 30 products, 22 of which are new and limited edition, four of which are re-promotes, and four of which are permanent. Isabel and Ruben Toledo includes the release of three shades of Blush Ombre, "a powder blush featuring a shade wave of gentle ombré hues. Ultra-fine formula provides flawless, medium-buildable coverage and natural-looking radiance." Each Blush Ombre comes in "specially designed white packaging [that] features Ruben's illustrations of graphic lines and faces in his one-of-a-kind aesthetic." Each compact comes with 10 grams of product, and retails for $39.

Ripe Peach
Kindergarten Red
Azalea Blossom
Ripe Peach, Kindergarten Red, and Azalea Blossom

Ripe Peach is a coral-pink to golden-yellow ombré with gold shimmer. When swirled together, it creates a medium orange-peach with gold shimmer. This is a re-promoted shade from 2010's Spring Colour Forecast collection, and is limited edition. It has a soft, silky texture, 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 slightly more orange and more shimmery than Peaches, brighter and more orange than Melba, and lighter and less reddened than Modern Mandarin.

Kindergarten Red is a muted raspberry pink to peachy beige ombré. When swirled together, it creates a medium strawberry pink with a satin finish. This is a new and limited edition shade. It has a soft, silky texture, and goes on smoothly and evenly. It has medium pigmentation and semi-opaque colour pay-off. It can be layered and blended out easily. It is lighter than Desert Rose, cooler than Fleur Power, and warmer and more matte than Dollymix.

Azalea Blossom is a lavender purple to cotton candy pink ombré. When swirled together, it creates a light-medium cool-toned pinked lilac with a satin finish. This is a re-promoted shade from 2010's Spring Colour Forecast collection, and is limited edition. It has a soft, silky texture, and goes on smoothly and evenly. It has medium pigmentation and semi-opaque colour pay-off. It can be layered and blended out easily. It is darker and more pink than Full of Joy, brighter and more purple than Dame, and more purple than Peony Petal.

Finally, finally, finally, Ripe Peach has come back! If y'all remember when the Blush Ombres were first introduced in 2010 with the Spring Colour Forecast collection, then you'll know that this is the first time that Ripe Peach has been re-promoted, so for those who couldn't get their hands on this five years ago, it's your chance now. Azalea Blossom is the other re-promoted shade released here (it also came out with Spring Colour Forecast, but was re-promoted in 2011's Daphne Guinness collection), and I actually find this one to be smoother, more pigmented, and more vibrant than its other versions. Kindergarten Red is the only completely new shade here, and it's also the most widely flattering shade of Blush Ombre that's been released as it doesn't read too cool or too warm, and is bright/dark enough to show up well on darker complexions. All three shades are soft and smooth, and I didn't have any issues in application, but I will note that because they have thinner textures, they will work far better on moisturized, primed skin (they will show up much sheerer on dry skin). All three provide a gorgeous soft pop of colour for Spring without veering into pastel territory, and are undoubtedly the stars of this collection. I do think these will sell out the fastest, so if you had your heart set on any of them, snatch it up immediately!