It’s been a long, LONG time since I’ve looked at a new MAC launch and desperately wanted to throw my money at it. Why? Because the novelty of MAC has worn off on me over the years. It was the ONLY brand I wore from the ages of 12 through 25. I was so obsessed that I would barely even entertain the idea of other brands back then. But when I discovered the world of beauty on YouTube I suddenly had exposure to more people, and those people were using brands that were MAC (and there was a LOT of MAC back then), but it wasn’t JUST MAC. I suddenly had a whole new world open up in front of me.

And, just like that, MAC collections started to lose their appeal. They were putting so many  limited edition collections launches every year that it became hard to keep up with it all. And product launches started to get very, very repetitive. There were changes in “themes”, but the colours seemed so similar time and time again.

But I saw the MAC in Monochrome collection promoted a few weeks ago my mind EXPLODED. MAC‘s strengths, for me, have always been in their permanent range of products. Limited editions come and go, but their mainstay range of permanent lipsticks and eyeshadows have been their stronghold for years and years for a reason – they’re solid products that have stood the test of time. So when the MAC in Monochrome collection took five of their permanent range of lipsticks and expanded on them I was EX-CI-TED. And then I was EVEN MORE excited when they chose Ruby Woo as one of the shades to blow up.

I’ve loved the novelty of red eyeshadow for a very long time – long before it became popular in palettes (I think we have ABH to thank for popularizing it in their Modern Renaissance palette). And while MAC had a red collection a few years ago (Red Red Red for the Holiday 2014), I feel like I had already moved on to other brands at that time. But there was something about THIS collection that struck me. Maybe it was taking a classic colour and expanding upon it that did me in – I just loved the idea of it.

And so, I snapped up four of the six pieces from the MAC in Monochrome: Ruby Woo set.

Surprisingly enough, given all of the classic MAC lipsticks I’ve had over the years, I’ve never actually owned Ruby Woo. I’ve done a number on my Russian Red lipstick, but never delved over to the Ruby Woo side of things. Fundamentally, they are both very, very similar lipsticks in terms of colour. Ruby Woo has a flatter, more matte finish (it’s a retro matte formula) and appears brighter than Russian Red which, while matte, comes off as much more of a cream lipstick in comparison to Ruby Woo since Ruby Woo is SO matte. The retro matte formula is okay-ish to wear in terms of comfort at first, but it has a very dry consistency which results in a lot of catching on the lips during application. I had to use a lip brush to push the product out to the edges of my lip in order to get a smooth line. At the end of the day, I can understand why people love this shade because the colour is gorgeous, but for me the finish leans towards uncomfortable after a few hours. Personally, I’ll stick to my Russian Red! But if you want something more matte than that shade, Ruby Woo would definitely be the way to go.

Oh! I almost forgot to mention. The Ruby Woo that comes in the MAC in Monochrome collection actually comes with a tube that matches the colour of the lipstick (love that – I wish all of MAC‘s lipstick tubes were like that). But I definitely do not need a full size lipstick ever again for the rest of my life, so I opted to buy the mini size for $12 CAD (which doesn’t come in special packaging).

While I love the collection as a whole, the two items that got me REALLY excited were the eyeshadows. I was happy to see that they were launching a matte (Walking Heartbeats) and a frost (Holly Folly).  The texture of these two shadows are quite interesting. Both are incredibly pigmented on application, but you would NEVER know it from the swatches (they’re below). On first swatch I was horrified. I thought these were going to end up going on the eyes really, really poorly. Walking Hearbeats was stiff and seemed to be poorly pigmented. Holly Folly seemed to be really chunky. However, in practice I found they had plenty of pigment and applied well. The matte shadow does have a tendency to cling for dear life to eyeshadow primer which means I need to blend it a bit more than I was expecting, but it looks nothing like what the swatch demonstrates. Holly Folly works best applied with a wet brush, but it’s beautiful with a dry brush as well (I just prefer the more shimmery impact that a wet application will provide).

A red blush. A bright, freaking red blush. Apple Red is the red blush to end all red blushes. I’ve got a decent number of red blushes in my collection, but NONE of them put out pigment like this sucker does. There is SO MUCH pigment in the blush that I find I have to continuously go back over my blush after I’ve applied it with my foundation sponge to pull down the colour. It is NOT a blush to be trifled with. It’ll give you clown cheeks in the blink of an eye. I’m not bothered by this because I love me some red, but this blush is absolutely not for the faint of heart!

Ruby Woo lipstick definitely has the strongest swatch here! And you can see why I had cause for concern with the shadows and powders though. Holly Folly is decidedly chunky, Walking Hearbeats looks like a patchy mess, and Apple Red looks like Walking Heartbeats‘ older, but slightly more pigmented (yet still dull) older sister.

Swatches are always fun to look at, but they really do not tell the true story of how the shades perform on the face. Because on the face? These were wonderful!

I love a monochromatic look because it’s super easy to do and it always looks very put together and cohesive simply because it all falls within the same colour scheme.

So even though this is a lot of red – more than most people are ever likely to wear – I have to tell you just how happy this makes me. Red lipstick, and even red blush, are easy enough to come by… But red eyeshadows in a variety of finishes? That just makes my heart sing.

Would you have EVER thought I could get this kind of eye look with how those two eyeshadows swatched? I sure didn’t!

There’s no patchiness issues whatsoever and the pigment is exceptional.

For a full tutorial on this look, see my YouTube video!

Final Thoughts

I. Am. So. HAPPY!

I’m so glad MAC put out this collection with Ruby Woo as one of the focal points. While I’ve discovered I don’t actually love Ruby Woo itself (it’s the formula man – I can’t handle stuff quite so dry), the rest of the collection that I picked up is incredible. The eyeshadows are frigging glorious, and the blush, while incredibly aggressive on application, can be tapered down to a lovely red cheek flush. MAC, you’ve got one happy customer here! <3

The MAC in Monochrome: Ruby Woo collection can be purchased on sephora.ca, maccosmetics.ca or maccosmetics.com.

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