MAC Giambattista Valli: Lipstick in Bianca B, Margherita, Tats, Charlotte, and Eugenie

Today, MAC released their collaboration collection with famed Italian fashion designer, Giambattista Valli, whose collections of ready to wear and haute couture are presented annually during Paris Fashion Week. His collaboration with MAC sees the launch of six new and limited edition products: five lipsticks and one Crystal Glaze Gloss (which will not be reviewed here). The lipsticks are encased in special edition shade-matched tubes with Giambattista Valli's logo on the side, and come in white floral-print boxes. Each lipstick contains 3 grams of product, and retails for $21. Due to its special edition status, these are not applicable for the Back to MAC recycling program.

Bianca B, Margherita, Tats, Charlotte, and Eugenie
Bianca B, Margherita, Tats, Charlotte, and Eugenie
Bianca B, Margherita, Tats, Charlotte, and Eugenie

Bianca B is a pale cool-toned white-pink in a Matte finish. This is a new and limited edition shade. It has a soft, creamy texture, and goes on smoothly and evenly. It has high pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. It is lighter and more white than Saint Germain,  much lighter and more white than Snob, and lighter and more matte than Royal Azalea Sheen Supreme.

Margherita is a medium brightened warm coral-orange in a Matte finish. This is a new and limited edition shade. It has a soft, creamy texture, and goes on smoothly and evenly. It has high pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. It is lighter and more orange than Tropic Tonic, slightly darker and less yellow than Sushi Kiss, and more orange and more matte than Style Surge Mineralize Rich.

Tats is a medium-dark vibrant blue-toned fuchsia pink in a Matte finish. This is a new and limited edition shade. It has a soft, creamy texture, and goes on smoothly and evenly. It has high pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. It is more muted and less blue than Pink Pigeon, lighter and less purple than Flat Out Fabulous, and warmer and and more matte than Girl About Town.

Charlotte is a medium-dark brightened cool-toned crimson red in a Matte finish. This is a new and limited edition shade. It has a soft, creamy texture, and goes on smoothly and evenly. It has high pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. It is darker than Russian Red, less brown than Viva Glam I, and darker and cooler than Ruby Woo.

Eugenie is a dark cool-toned berry wine in a Matte finish. This is a new and limited edition shade. It has a soft, creamy texture, and goes on smoothly and evenly. It has high pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. It is more purple than Diva, more purple than Studded Kiss, and more red than Instigator.

Well, as with any limited edition MAC collection featuring matte lipsticks, these are likely to sell out fast. This collection is available at all MAC retailers, though, so your chances of getting them is higher than if this were a MAC Store-only collection (e.g. Cinderella). All five shades go on smoothly and evenly without tugging, and have a velvet-matte finish. Unlike Retro Mattes (e.g. Ruby Woo, All Fired Up, Flat Out Fabulous, etc.), which are pretty much as matte as you can get, I haven't found any of these to be particularly drying. The only shade which is unforgiving is Bianca B, which is probably the lightest matte lipstick MAC has ever come out with (it's almost white), and I would highly recommend layering it on top of a lip primer or clear lip pencil because it will emphasize lip texture (as all pastel shades will) and pull into lip lines. Since this is a summer launch, I foresee Tats selling out the fastest, but as this is a fairly hyped-up launch to begin with, I would snatch these up ASAP if you're interested in any of them.