Tag Archives: MAC

MAC in Monochrome – Ruby Woo (Review, Swatches & Look)

Makeup, Reviews, Swatches

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.

MAC Ruby Woo Lipstick
MAC Ruby Woo Lipstick

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).

MAC eyeshadows in Walking Heartbeats and Holly Folly
MAC eyeshadows in Walking Heartbeats and Holly Folly

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).

MAC blush in Apple Red
MAC blush in Apple Red

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!

MAC in Monochrome: Ruby Woo - swatches
MAC in Monochrome: Ruby Woo – swatches

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!

MAC in Monochrome: Ruby Woo look
MAC in Monochrome: Ruby Woo look

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.

MAC in Monochrome: Ruby Woo look
MAC in Monochrome: Ruby Woo look

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.

MAC in Monochrome: Ruby Woo look
MAC in Monochrome: Ruby Woo look

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

MAC in Monochrome: Ruby Woo look
MAC in Monochrome: Ruby Woo look

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.

This post contains affiliate links.

What’s In My Makeup Bag At Work

Makeup, , , , , , , , , , , ,

I’m not traditionally one for a makeup bag – I don’t carry a purse and therefore if something comes with me, it has to fit in my pockets. At the office, I used to just leave makeup bits and pieces in my desk drawers…. but, about a month ago, my office moved into what is called an active work environment, which means we no longer have our own desks. It’s a fluid workspace – you pick and choose what desk you’re going to work from depending on the hour, the meeting, or the work you’re going to be doing for the day. I’m still adapting to it (and after 15 years of having my own desk, it’s very discombobulating!), but one thing I knew I needed to figure out was how to carry my laptop around with me (I’ve got a cute, chic backpack I use for the office now) AND what I was going to do with the makeup I normally kept in my desk drawer.

I don’t usually need much makeup throughout my workday – I usually bring the lip colour I’m going to be wearing in to work with me and bring it back home that night and that’s it. However, there have been instances over the years where something goes wrong and my mascara flakes off, my eyeliner or brows rubs off, or a patch of foundation disappears around my mouth when I’m having my lunch, and that has necessitated having some backup makeup at the office in case of emergency. So that’s what’s in my makeup bag – emergency makeup.

All of it is housed together in a monogrammed makeup bag from Sephora Collection with the letter “R” on it. While my full name is Rachelle, I prefer going by the nickname Chelle – however, I have never associated myself with having the initial “C”, so the “R” on the bag makes much more sense to me, even though it may seen a bit bizarre to people who know me only as Chelle!

The item I definitely have the most of in my makeup bag is lip products. Why I have so many lip products in here is actually a bit of a mystery since I’m more likely to grab my lip colour for the day at home and bring it in to the office with me. But these sit here in case I NEED something… which is funny because I don’t generally feel like I NEED lip colour.

Anyway, since I usually wear a bright eyeshadow look, I have a bunch of “safe” lip colours that fit most occasions. Bite‘s Glace and Fig, alongside Charlotte Tilbury‘s Bitch Perfect are the kind of shades that will suit nearly any eye look. Fig is my most used colour I’d say, as I’ve finished a full size bullet of it in the past and have a few minis and another full size sitting in my collection at home.

MAC‘s Russian Red is sitting in my bag because I’ve made it a point to wear this particular lipstick at least one day a week because I’m trying to finish it up. The Paul & Joe Limited 003 shade is a fun juicy red/pink that wears just like a balm, so I love popping that on for an easy look (usually if I’m wearing a neutral eye look). And lastly, I’ve got the Clarins Lip Oil in Tangerine in my bag. I absolutely LOVE those lip oils (I’ve gone through two other tubes before of various flavours) and having one on hand for the cold winter months always feels like a must.

Perhaps the most important thing in my work makeup bag are my liners. If anything is likely to go wrong with my makeup on any given day, it’s either my eyebrows disappearing off my face because I wore a toque in to work (seriously – I often lose the entire tail of my brows to my freaking hats), or my eyes will tear up due to the wind on my walk in to the office and my liner will start to dissolve – wreaking havoc on my eyeshadow look. So I keep two brow pencils in here – the Revlon Colorstay Brow Pencil in Blonde, and the It Cosmetics Brow Power Waterproof Perfector 5-in-1 Waterproof Eyebrow Pencil in Universal Taupe.  These are adequate products, although not my favourite brow items ever, but they are primarily kept in here because they’re so bloody LONG that they don’t actually fit in my acrylic drawer at home! They work well in a pinch, so I keep them at the office for emergencies.

As for liners, I have the Jesse’s Girl black liquid liner (it’s a brush tip, and lovely to use), as well as the Annabelle Skinny Gel Eye Pencil in case I need something that isn’t in a liquid format.

I was hesitant to even photograph these two because I have no idea how old they actually are… I’m fairly confident Covergirl no longer makes their Simply Ageless Eye Concealer, and I’ve likely owned it for… 7 years? Maybe 8? It doesn’t smell funky though, so I continue to use it. I’m not much of a concealer person, and heck I don’t even actually use this under my eyes – this is solely here in case my foundation decides to patch off anywhere on my face. Usual culprits are my nose or my chin, and I just dot the concealer over those areas and blend it out with my finger.

The mascara has also lived a very long life. It’s a mini size of the Smashbox Full Exposure mascara that I think I got with my PR sample of the Double Exposure palette back in the day. Oddly, this is my least used product in my makeup bag, but it does come out to play every now and then if I’ve missed a gap in my mascara, or, heaven forbid, I’ve completely forgotten to put on mascara that day. (It happens! I have no idea how, but it does!)

And lastly, these are what I call “my tools”. I’ve got a Sephora Collection set of blotting sheets (something I reach for frequently in the summer), a small Real Techniques mirror, a pair of tweezers (because you just never know when you’ll need a pair), a Sephora Collection lip brush (which also has a lid so that it stays mess free in my bag) and an ARTDECO Lip Primer which works really well to keep my lipstick in place.

So that’s what’s in my bag at the office. All laid out it looks like a freaking ton of product, but it actually all fits rather loosely in the makeup bag I have it in.

Do you keep makeup at the office like me? Or do have a makeup bag in your purse that you bring with you everywhere? Let me know!

Some of the products in this post are PR samples that have been mentioned in posts in the past. Post contains affiliate links.