What a glorious day for lipstick lovers! Maine Mendoza gets a second shot at her MAC Maker collaboration, this time with a red lipstick. Maine is the first person to get a second MAC Maker collaboration, and the first to release a Lipglass! 2018 saw her first collaboration as a nude shade, which sold out in under a minute, but quite frankly, was difficult to wear for deeper-toned morenas.

I didn’t get to try that first shade, but I do have the 2020 collaboration with me when I went to the launch for Project Vanity. Check out my full launch article here, and my Youtube video here.

@mainedcm MAC Maker Lipstick

The @mainedcm MAC Maker Lipstick (PHP 1,100 / 3g) is a matte lipstick in a deep, plum-brown red shade. The packaging is a lovely gold, but feels really lightweight. I don’t know if it’s because I haven’t had a MAC Matte in a hot minute (I have Retro Mattes in my collection) but this is decidedly lacking in matte-ness. That means it is very creamy and easy to apply (yay!,) but on the other hand, has a bit of shine that true matte fans might not want in their lip colors. Proof that it is creamy? Somebody earlier asked in our beauty group about whether it was normal for lipsticks to bleed (TL;DR it is) but it just means that there’s that much oils in the tube for it to sweat out. Typically, creamier formulas such as creme finishes (not mattes) will sweat.

It also transfers, which I try to be more careful about as I don’t feel like wearing pencils with this lipstick, so I can let the finish ‘shine.’ 

Let’s talk about the finish: I love the slight sheerness combined with this deep color. @mainedcm is not a solid color, but I think that makes it even better. The slight sheerness allows the depth of the color of the lipstick to play against your lip color, and skin tone, and that creates such a wonderful and rich dimension. At first I felt this color would be better off as a Retro Matte, but I’ve come to appreciate the dimension the slight sheerness gives. With a riskier color profile, slight sheerness is not a guaranteed success.

This color is mostly plum, with a lot of brown undertones in the red, and I think that’s what successfully allows it to wear across a looooot of skin tones. I saw several party-goers during the launch wearing this lipstick in varying thicknesses and they all looked different, but good!

@mainedcm MAC Maker Lipglass 

The @mainedcm MAC Maker Lipglass (PHP 2,100 / 3g) comes in a matching gold-capped tube. The color is brighter than the lipstick, but I still wouldn’t call this a basic red. It is a bit more “dim” (with dark/black) tones than your pure red. Despite the gloss appearing near-solid, I didn’t have a clue that it could apply so pigmented. At most, I thought it would add a slight berry/bitten color to the lips. But it actually passes as its own color??? I love wearing it thinly for a brighter look, and thickly for a more show-stopping feel. Wearing too much makes it transfer, so I try to build layers rather than dump and blend. Chynah brought up that this is a good K-beauty gloss, and I agree!

I also like the stain it leaves behind! Check out my tissue kiss-mark right after dinner wearing just the Lipglass, and the color that remained all the way ’til bedtime.

@mainedcm MAC Maker Lipstick + Lipglass

My favorite way of wearing this release however, is combined together. The Lipglass flattens out the translucency of the lipstick without really detracting from depth or drama of the color. I also like how it makes my lips look like wet balloons (haha!) Of course, glossing up a matte color changes the lip look a bit, but I find it equally classy, elegant, and dramatic!

@mainedcm MAC Maker lip collections are available in Lazada and MAC stores nationwide.