MAC Metallic Lips Lipstick Collection - Review and Swatches

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Hey everyone!

Today I have a review of the MAC Metallic Lips Collection, a line of metallic lipsticks. In contrast to the popular matte lipstick trend, MAC decided to buck the trend with metallic colors. They came out with eighteen colors; some neutral and some looking super bold.

Click through to read the rest of my post, see lip and face swatches, and my review.

The Metallic Lipstick finish is new to the MAC range and is a limited edition formula through May 4th. The lipsticks are $17.00 each for 3 grams/0.1 oz. It's available from MAC, Nordstrom, Saks Fifth Avenue, and Dillards.

First row: In Lust, Metal Head, Modern Midas, Nightly Ritual, Pale Rose, Pearly One, Royal Hour, Silver Spoon, and Zerocool

Second row: Act So Cool, Anything Once, Cold Frost, Devotional, Digging for Gold, Disobedient, Foiled Rose, Hades Fire, Jupiter

MAC says "Lips, gilded for the gods, in new Metallic Lipstick, where rich colour melds with smooth pearlized chrome. The luxurious formula is available in a full spectrum of copper, bronze and titanium colour-infused shades. Vibrant, intense, on-trend."

These lipsticks all have wonderful shine and lots of glitter. The glitter is small to medium in size so they catch the light without actually feeling super gritty on your lips. There is quite a broad color range and each color is unique in its glitter mix, though I do think some are close enough to each other that you don't necessarily have to get all the shades. The shades do vary in opacity, some are sheer and work best as lip toppers while others are semi-opaque and would look great worn on its own.

The neutral shades built up to a semi-opaque finish and were creamy without being too slick or slippery on the lips. I got much better wear out of the neutral shades, four to five hours of wear. I did find the atypical/bold shades like Zerocool were slicker so it was more difficult to build up in opacity and they often ended up looking patchy and had less wear time as a result. The lipsticks with the blackened base like Metal Head stayed sheer and didn't look quite as good worn by itself. 

I have swatches of all eighteen shades, both lip and face swatches so I hope you find them useful! I photographed all of the lipsticks in indirect natural daylight with no flash.

Act So Cool:

Act So Cool (described as a deepened brown with gold metal pearl): It's buildable to a semi-opaque finish but had a little more slip to the formula so it could appear uneven if heavily applied. 

Anything Once:

Anything Once (described as a blackened blue with multicoloured pearl): The lipstick is more sheer because the base is sheer and had more slip so it looked more uneven when built up.

Cold Front:

Cold Front (described as a frosted periwinkle blue): You can get a sheer to semi-opaque, the glitter was buildable but base stayed more sheer.


Devotional:

Devotional (described as a metallic purplish brown): This has more of a sheer base but the glitter built up so well that it looks semi-opaque. There is so much shine from the glitter.


Digging for Gold:

Digging for Gold (described as a light brown with gold glitter): Like Devotional, this has a sheerer base but looks semi-opaque because of how well the glitter builds up and catches the light.


Disobedient:

Disobedient (described as a deep burgundy red wine): This was sheer to semi-opaque and buildable. The base is more pigmented so it's got more punch but I did think it wasn't as glittery as the other colors. It's still beautiful and smooth on the lips.

Foiled Rose:

Foiled Rose (described as a brightened blue pink): This is between sheer and semi-opaque, it's got a more pigmented base and looks so bright on the lips.

Hades Fire:

Hades Fire (described as a cool red burgundy): This is best worn sheer; could be built up but had a more slippy formula so it could get off on your teeth.

In Lust:  

In Lust (described as a light warm neutral): This ended up looking semi opaque, I could wear this on its own for a metallic effect.

Jupiter:

Jupiter (described as a bronze neutral): This is semi opaque, also another color I could wear by itself. 

Metal Head:

Metal Head (described as a blackened purple with multi-coloured pearl): This shade is best worn sheer, the blackened base didn't build on itself well without looking uneven.

Modern Midas:

Modern Midas (described as a muted gold with pink and green duo pearl): This looked semi-opaque, it had a sheer base but strong glitter so there is so much reflection.

Nightly Ritual:

Nightly Ritual ( described as a blackened navy): This is best worn sheer; it had a blackened base but didn't build on itself well without looking uneven.


Pale Rose:

Pale Rose (described as a cool muted neutral pink): This was semi-opaque, one of my favorites of the collection and well-loved from my fellow bloggers. I say if you can only pick one, get this one. 

Pearly One (described as a confetti'ed white frost): This has a sheer base with a semi-opaque finish due to the glitter. This has to be one of the most striking due to the whitish base.

Royal One (deep royal purple with blue pearl): This is sheerish but it has a more slippery base so it doesn't build well.

Silver Spoon (described as a multidimensional silver): This is sheer but not quite semi-opaque.


Zerocool:

Zerocool (described as a metabolized emerald green): This is sheer, can be built up but it takes multiple passes and looks uneven if your lips press together when layered heavily.

I know it can be difficult to compare the lipsticks from the face swatches alone so I also did two collages so you can compare the lip swatches to each other:

First row: Act So Cool, Anything Once, Cold Frost, 
Second row: Devotional, Digging for Gold, Disobedient, 
Third row: Foiled Rose, Hades Fire, In Lust

First row: Jupiter, Metal Head, Modern Midas, 
Second row: Pale Rose, Nightly Ritual, Pearly One, 
Third row: Royal Hour, Silver Spoon, Zerocool

Conclusion: Some of the colors are absolutely beautiful, including Pale Rose, In Lust, and Disobedient and colors that would be great to wear on their own and as lipstick toppers. The colors that have a blackened base like Metal Head and Nightly Ritual are much better as toppers. Be careful of the ones with a blackened base. All in all, if you're tired of the matte lipstick trend then you might want to check these out!

Disclaimer: I received these lipsticks courtesy of the brand. All opinions are my own. I was not compensated by the brand for this post. There are affiliate links in this post, which provide me with a commission based on your use of the link when making a purchase.