MAC Patentpolish Lip Pencil (2015): Kittenish, Patentpink, Spontaneous, Fearless, Hopelessly Devoted, and Sultana

Last Thursday, MAC released a new collection re-introducing their Patentpolish Lip Pencil: "The highly popular MAC Patentpolish Lip Pencil returns as your go-to magic wand for high-impact lips, with a single swipe imbuing the ultimate high-gloss shine." The Patentpolish Lip Pencil is described as a "sleek, all-in-one tool [that] offers the comfort of a balm, the colour and sheen of a gloss, and the precision of a lip pencil. Achieving patently luscious shine is still as seamless as ever — with a twist-up applicator, you'll never have to sharpen. Provides perfectly bright and clean colour upon application." This collection features 18 products, of which 16 are re-promotes and will become permanent, one is new and will become permanent, and one is already permanent. It sees the launch of 14 shades of Patentpolish Lip Pencil (two of which will not be reviewed here). Each Patentpolish Lip Pencil comes in a mechanical crayon barrel, contains 2.3 grams of product, and retails for $24.

Kittenish, Patentpink, Spontaneous, Fearless, Hopelessly Devoted, and Sultana
Kittenish, Patentpink, Spontaneous, Fearless, Hopelessly Devoted, and Sultana

Kittenish is a light-medium muted mauve-pink with a glossy sheen. This is a re-promoted shade from 2014's Patentpolish Lip Pencil collection, and is now permanent. The texture is creamy and balm-like, and it goes on smoothly and evenly. It has medium-high pigmentation and semi-opaque colour pay-off. It is cooler than Lovelorn, warmer than Hot Gossip, and slightly darker than Syrup.

Patentpink is a light cool-toned lilac-pink with a glossy sheen. This is a re-promoted shade from 2014's Patentpolish Lip Pencil collection, and is now permanent. The texture is creamy and balm-like, and it goes on smoothly and evenly. It has medium pigmentation and semi-sheer to semi-opaque buildable colour pay-off. It is sheerer and more lilac than Snob, darker and more muted than Saint Germain, and lighter and more lilac than Divine Choice Mineralize Rich.

Spontaneous is a medium-dark reddened plum-pink with champagne shimmer and a glossy sheen. This is a re-promoted shade from 2014's Patentpolish Lip Pencil collection, and is now permanent. The texture is creamy and balm-like, but it goes on somewhat patchy and unevenly. It has low-medium pigmentation and semi-sheer colour pay-off. It is lighter and more muted than Plumful, darker and brighter than Syrup, and pinker than Capricious.

Fearless is a medium-dark brightened cool-toned cotton candy pink with a glossy sheen. This is a re-promoted shade from 2014's Patentpolish Lip Pencil collection, and is now permanent. The texture is creamy and balm-like, and it goes on smoothly and evenly. It has medium-high pigmentation and semi-opaque colour pay-off. It is lighter and more muted than Lickable, brighter and less shimmery than Milan Mode, and less purple than Bold Spring Mineralize Rich.

Hopelessly Devoted is a medium-dark vibrant blue-toned fuchsia pink with a glossy sheen. This is a re-promoted shade from 2014's Patentpolish Lip Pencil collection, and is now permanent. The texture is creamy and balm-like, and it goes on smoothly and evenly. It has medium-high pigmentation and semi-opaque colour pay-off. It is warmer than Lickable, cooler than Lustering, and sheerer and glossier than Viva Glam Miley Cyrus.

Sultana is a dark plummy brown with a glossy sheen. This is a re-promoted shade from 2014's Patentpolish Lip Pencil collection, and is now permanent. The texture is creamy and balm-like, but it goes on somewhat patchy and unevenly. It has medium-high pigmentation and semi-opaque colour pay-off. It is more plum than Desire, sheerer than Dark Side, and more brown than Good To Be Bad Sheen Supreme.

Like Huggable Lipcolour, the Patentpolish Lip Pencils were a total sleeper hit... which means, of course, that MAC has decided to re-release them. And add them to the permanent range. In a nutshell, these are MAC's version of Clinique's Chubby Stick (not really a surprise given that MAC and Clinique have the same mother company). There are some differences, however; in terms of pigmentation, the Patentpolish Lip Pencils lie somewhere between the regular Chubby Stick and Chubby Stick Intense. In general, these have medium pigmentation and semi-opaque colour pay-off. These also have a rounder, flatter tip so it applies more like a lipstick than a true pencil. In terms of texture, however, these feel and look a whole lot like the Huggable Lipcolours — they have a lightweight, almost gel-like texture that feels like they cling on to the lip and have less slip, which helps the colour from bleeding. I also found that these have an almost "blurring" effect, smoothing out the texture of my lips completely so they look almost like glass. I find them to be quite hydrating, and provide immediate and long-term moisture, but because they're non-sticky, the wear-time is shortened to maybe three hours at most. If you missed out on the Huggable Lipcolours, or if you like a jelly finish to your lipsticks, or you're sick of the matte lip trend, or you're a fan of crayon barrel-style lip products... these are worth checking out.