MAC Liptensity Lipstick in Clouds in My Coffee, Well Bred Brown, Brick Dust, Bite O' Georgia, King Salmon, Fire Roasted, Ginger Rose, Beetroot, and Noblesse

Last Thursday, MAC launched their extension collection for Liptensity Lipstick, "a brilliant formula that pushes the boundaries of colour." It was created with the help of a woman named Maureen Seaberg, who is "a true tetrachromat — someone with the genetic ability to see 100 million hues imperceptible to the average naked eye." As a result, "an unprecedented spectrum has now been created with never-before-seen clarity and vibrancy." Using their new groundbreaking High-Frequency Tetrachromatic Pigments technology, "each lipstick holds double the amount of pigment than traditional formulas, resulting in the most intense lipstick ever. This luxurious gelled base melts on contact, providing fully saturated colour with a satin finish in just one stroke." 
This collection sees the launch of nine new shades of Liptensity Lipstick, six re-promoted shades of Liptensity Lipstick, and 18 new shades of Liptensity Lip Pencil. All of these shades will be permanent. (Note that this review includes the nine new shades of Liptensity Lipstick only, as the re-promoted shades were reviewed with their original launch last year. Click here for Double Fudge, Stallion, and Galaxy Grey; click here for Lobster, Habanero, and Life's Blood.) Like all MAC lip products, the Liptensity Lipsticks are vanilla-scented but taste-free. Each Liptensity Lipstick is housed in a metal colour-coded cylindrical tube, contains a total of 3.6 grams of product, and retails for $25. These are not redeemable as a free product in the Back to MAC recycling program.
Clouds in My Coffee, Well Bred Brown, and Brick Dust
Clouds in My Coffee, Well Bred Brown, and Brick Dust

Clouds in My Coffee is a light neutral-warm pinky beige in a creamy satin finish. This is a new and permanent shade. It has a soft, creamy texture, and goes on smoothly and evenly. It has high pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. It is warmer and more brown than Driftwood, lighter and more pink than Doe, and slightly lighter and more brown than Viva Glam II.

Well Bred Brown is a light-medium neutral-warm brown beige in a creamy satin finish. This is a new and permanent shade. It has a soft, creamy texture, and goes on smoothly and evenly. It has high pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. It is cooler and more brown than Doe, darker and more brown than Clouds in My Coffee, and lighter than Toast and Butter.

Brick Dust is a medium-dark warm rosy brown in a creamy satin finish. This is a new and permanent 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 and more brown than Smoked Almond, lighter than Retro, and more brown than Twig.

Bite O' Georgia, King Salmon, and Fire Roasted
Bite O' Georgia, King Salmon, and Fire Roasted

Bite O' Georgia is a pale warm brightened pastel peach in a creamy satin finish. This is a new and permanent shade. It has a soft, creamy texture, and goes on smoothly and evenly. It has high pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. Due to the nature of pastel shades, it does emphasize lip texture. It is lighter than Ravishing, lighter and more peach than Shy Girl, and more peach than Peachstock.

King Salmon is a medium warm vibrant coral pink in a creamy satin finish. This is a new and permanent 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 pink than Vegas Volt, pinker and more muted than Tropic Tonic, and more orange than Crosswires.

Fire Roasted is a medium-deep warm brick red in a creamy satin finish. This is a new and permanent shade. It has a soft, creamy texture, and goes on smoothly and evenly. It has high pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. It is slightly brighter than Viva Glam I, similar to Dubonnet, and lighter and warmer than Cordovan.

Ginger Rose, Beetroot, and Noblesse
Ginger Rose, Beetroot, and Noblesse

Ginger Rose is a light-medium cool cotton candy pink in a creamy satin finish. This is a new and permanent shade. It has a soft, creamy texture, and goes on smoothly and evenly. It has high pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. Due to the nature of pastel shades, it does emphasize lip texture. It is brighter and cooler than Medium Rare, cooler and more muted than Gumball, and more pigmented than Lovelorn.

Beetroot is a medium-deep cool magenta berry in a creamy satin finish. This is a new and permanent 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 muted than Rebel, lighter and more pink than Hang-Up, and more muted and more purple than Marsala.

Noblesse is a deep wine purple in a creamy satin finish. This is a new and permanent shade. It has a soft, creamy texture, but goes on patchy. It has high pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. It is slightly more purple than Burnt Violet, more reddened than Hellebore, and lighter and more reddened than Cyber.

Liptensity is MAC's most impressive — and most technologically advanced — lip formula to date. It has a cushy, creamy, gel-based texture that feels ultra-smooth, comfortable, and hydrating, but gives off beautifully rich, saturated colour with a slight sheen that dries down to a satin finish. They seem to cling to the lips so that colour doesn't bleed or fade, and wears evenly for at least four hours (up to eight for the brighter and darker shades). They also seem to make the lips appear smoother and more plump, which is a nice bonus. What sets Liptensity apart, though, is the amount of pigmentation and colour fidelity — meaning, what you see is what you get and what it will stay as during wear time. MAC worked with a tetrachromat to adjust the shades and remove any undertones that made colours look muddy, resulting in truly amazing colour purity and vibrancy.

These nine new shades fill in some gaps in the original Liptensity line-up, including some great nudes, a coral, and a true crimson red. (The only shade I'd skip is Noblesse, which goes on patchy and has nearly identical dupes in both the Liptensity range and MAC's regular lipstick range.) Overall, Liptensity is a gorgeous lipstick formula that should appeal to everyone of all ages and all complexions; over the past year, it has become my favourite MAC lipstick formula of all time. And the best part is that all the shades here — and the six that were previously limited edition — are now apart of the permanent range.