MAC Sugar Sweet: Swatches and Review

EDITED 03/24/09: For Part II of the Sugar Sweet review with actual product photos and lipglass swatches on the lips, click HERE

NOTE: For product information and promo images, click HERE.





This collection is Sweetie Cakes (the collection, circa 2006) reincarnated. The cake concept of course is prevalent in every icing and pastry-esque shades; the confections really bespeak of everything sweet and pretty. The colors also herald the coming of spring - the light, yummy pastel shades beckoned my senses. I am liking this collection mainly because of the shadesticks, the mineralize skinfinishes and some of the lip products.

The MA at the MAC counter was so nice as to let me play with the Sugar Sweet products prior to its launch this Thursday. They were pre-selling these at the Nordstrom counter, so I just had to snag some. The soft, alluring colors really did me in.





First of all, the shadesticks. I'd thought that the shadesticks were going to be discontinued, and I thank the MAC powers-that-be that they decided against that (stupid) idea. I think most of you know that my number one favorite eyeshadow primer is Beige-ing shadestick. I haven't found any other primer that gives the same effect as Beige-ing: my shadows turn out to be vibrant and utterly pigmented, and they stay crease-free on my lids the whole day. Beige-ing shadestick really makes the shadows last on my lids for as long as 16 hours. Is that amazing or what? I've tried UDPP, paint pots, but still my Beige-ing shadestick rules. So when I found out that MAC is churning out more shadesticks, I just couldn't contain my excitement. The colors of the shadesticks are amazing, and I will definitely be getting the neutral ones (Butternutty and Lemon Chiffon) to give my Beige-ing a little bit of a respite. Butternutty is the shade closest to Beige-ing, a frosted pale white gold. This would look amazing under both neutral and vibrant eye shadows. Cake Shop is a gorgeous frosted pewter which would look amazing under silvers, yellows, golds, coppers, basically anything, including neutrals. Penny is a light pinky copper that would be great for golds, coppers and bronzes. Red Velvet is such a beauty- a frosted mid-tone pink excellent, of course, for pink shadows. Lemon Chiffon is a frosted light neutral beige that looks like the shadestick equivalent of Base Light paint - it would look amazing under almost any kind of shadow as well. I think the shadesticks are going to be the winners in this collection.




another shot



Of course, the other potential winner is the tricolour lipglass. It's a lipglass with three visible stacked layers of yumminess in one vial. Each layer is a different colour that smoothly gradates into the next layer. Of course, if you have been following this blog, this product looks eerily similar to that of Milani's Lip Mixer lip glosses, also a new product from Milani:




MAC tricolour lipgloss in Just Dessert

The concept is almost the exact same thing, and even the presentation. MAC is a little stickier though, and is a little harder to get from the tube (thus, it's also a bit harder to pump the applicator in the tube to mix the layers together). The result however is similar to MAC lipglass: beautiful high-watt shine with great staying power. My favorites would have to be Just Dessert and Triple-Yum (to me an almost-dupe of Milani's Lip Mix). As you can see in the swatches, they are pretty sheer but the gold speckles/reflects are obvious. This is definitely eye candy in a tube and would really pique the interests of a lot of lipglass addicts.





The lipstick shades in this collection are romantic and really perfect for spring. Bubbles is a sheer frosty white beige that might be too frosty for my pigmented lips. This would look amazing on the perfect skintone, though. Saint Germain is a clean pastel pink that reminds me of Heatherette's Melrose Mood. Of course, who can forget Lollipop Loving from the same collection, which is now being repromoted. It is a clean mid-tone coral and subtle green with gold iridescence which is just divine. I have one from the Heatherette collection and I am glad they repromoted this because this is such a beautiful, unique and flattering color (at least on me). The green iridescence might make one think that it would look sickly on the skin, but on the contrary, it brightens and warms up my face. Go snag this one up, before the eBay vultures sell this again for an arm and a leg once this gets sold out in stores. The first thing I loved about Sweet Thing was its name. I super love the song of the same name by Mary J. Blige ("I will love you anyway, even if you cannot stay" - brings back a lot of romantic memories!). Sweet Thing is a mid-tone magenta lipstick with multidimensional pearl. It is a beautiful, feminine shade. Lastly, Touch is a peachy cinnamon that I believe is part of the permanent line. I have this and is one of my favorite neutral shades.





I am glad I have Aquavert eyeshadow which I purchased from the Lure collection. It's a repromote, a soft mint with white pearl that is great as a nice all-over lid color for a spring-y look. Stars N Rockets is also from the permanent line, a dirty lavender with red and pink reflects which would look great with pinks. Club - ah, the famous permanent color that is a beautiful reddish brown duochrome with green opalescent shimmer. It's always a staple in Smokey Eyes palettes, and when you go clubbing, this is a must as well (probably hence the name). It reminds me of the shiny blackish-green you see on the back of a beetle- so gorgeous! Dear Cupcake is a mid-tone pink coral with gold pearl that I am not really that excited about as I have a lot of pinks. If you are still building your shadow collection, though, this would be a great addition. Lastly, I am in love with Sugarshot, a pale frosty beige that would work as a great highlighter or inner lid color.



Of course, last but not the least, the skinfinishes. One thing I noticed about these new releases of skinfinish is that the finish is not as frosty or metallic as that of the previous issues. That was why I had a hard time taking a picture of the swatches because light didn't capture much shimmer in these - they were kind of semi-matte to my eyes. This would be good news to those who don't like the frostiness of the previous mineralize skinfinishes - the shimmer and frost of such are now passed on to the newly released Grand Duos (review coming up!). They still yielded some bit of radiance, however, but not the frosty, metallic kind. Perfect Topping is a pink/peach/lavender melange and Refined is a tan/peach/coral melange. These are amazing, and of course, these will be mine because I collect MSFs.

All in all, Sugar Sweet has something for everybody, especially for those who like soft, pastel colors that are of course signature shades of the season. I can't wait to get my grubby hands on the shadesticks, maybe one or two of the tricolour lipglasses, and the MSFs. The eyeshadows are good buys as well- pigmented, rich, and saturated with glorious spring colors.