MAC Velvetease Lip Pencil in Frolic, Oh Honey, Aim to Please, and Reddy to Go

A couple weeks ago, MAC launched a new product called Velvetease Lip Pencil, which is described as "a lip product that delivers the vivid colour impact of a lipstick with the ease of a mechanical pencil... no sharpener required. Rich and matte, with a smooth, clean finish." There is a total of 12 shades, all of which will be added to the permanent range. Each Velvetease Lip Pencil is housed in a black mechanical crayon barrel with a shade-matched top, contains 1.5 grams of product, and retails for $24. As these are a different formulation with a different price point, they are not redeemable in the Back to MAC recycling program.
Frolic, Oh Honey, Aim to Please, and Reddy to Go
Frolic, Oh Honey, Aim to Please, and Reddy to Go

Frolic is a light-medium warm peachy pink in a velvet-matte finish. This is a new and permanent 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 brighter and more pink than Kinda Sexy, lighter and more peach than Please Me, and more muted than Runway Hit.

Oh Honey is a medium warm tan brown in a velvet-matte finish. This is a new and permanent 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 darker and warmer than Velvet Teddy, more golden than Spirit, and slightly less peach than Taupe.

Aim to Please is a medium muted pink-mauve in a velvet-matte finish. This is a new and permanent 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 more muted and more brown than Twig, darker and more pink than Taupe, and lighter and more muted than Del Rio.  

Reddy to Go is a medium-dark warm brick red in a velvet-matte finish. This is a new and permanent 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 brighter than Viva Glam I, warmer than Russian Red, and darker and warmer than Ruby Woo.

I'm a big fan of these! The formula is soft and smooth, but it's not overly thick or creamy, and they glide on beautifully without tugging or skipping. I find them to be a little creamier than MAC's regular matte lipsticks, so they don't seem to be as drying (though I do not find these hydrating, nor are they touted to be). As with matte finish lipsticks, I do recommend exfoliating lips beforehand because some of the shades (particularly the lighter ones) can emphasize lip texture over time. These are comfortable to wear and have a wear-time of about four to five hours for the lighter shades and six to eight hours for the darker shades. They start off as being more of a velvet-matte finish (like the formula name implies) so there is a slight sheen initially, but they definitely dry down to a matte finish. My only complaint is in the range of shades; I wish that they had released a bigger variety than include four reds. (Where is the berry and the plum and the burgundy and the nude that isn't like pasty concealer or a straight-up brown?) And while I don't think these necessarily replace lip pencils, you can definitely get more precision with these than a regular lipstick, so these are great for people who don't want the hassle of using a lip pencil with their lipstick, or have thinner lips, or just want more precision in their lipsticks. The best part about these is that they are mechanical! No wasting product, no wasting money buying a goddamn sharpener specifically for this product (ahem, NARS)...