MAC Wonder Woman Unveiling, Swatches and Review

I was able to attend the MAC Wonder Woman unveiling and preview event last night. There was a freeze alert in our usually sunny state, so that's probably the reason why the crowd was thinner than those of the past launches like Hello Kitty and Spring Colour Forecast. However, that doesn't mean that there weren't any people. The store was still packed, but not as much as before, which was a good thing because people were already freezing to death waiting outside the store.


The platter of cookies and mini-cupcakes


My cupcakey


My orange ginger-something drink




The boxes holding the brushes






The quads:
Top to bottom: Valiant, Defiance, Lady Justice

See rest of the review and swatches after the jump

Eyeshadow Quad swatches:


Top: Lady Justice - Lady Justice, Insurmountable, Deep Truth, Bold Babe
Bottom: Defiance - Real Drama, Star Studded, Paradise Island, Defiance












Valiant: Manila Paper, Valiant, Diana Undercover, Spinning Transformation



In my opinion, these shadows have okay pigmentation, but they are not as rich as, say, the Mega Metal shadows. They do glide well on the skin, especially with a good base underneath. I have many similar eyeshadow shades in my stash, but I was really drawn to the Lady Justice quad. I love the combination of shades, but loathe the fact that Deep Truth is again included. I know that the color complements the rest of the shades, but it's been repromoted so many times (and it's a permanent shade), that I think it's just over-used. That said, I think the Lady Justice quad is still gorgeous. Take a look at the MA's interpretation:


Lady Justice quad on one of the MAs' lids: Lady Justice on the lid, Insurmountable on the crease, Bold Babe on outer V

Lady Justice is a bright silver with white pearl that is a frost, but looks great on the MA's lids. Insurmountable is a dirty blue grey (veluxe pearl) that may seem boring in the pan but looks great with Lady Justice. Bold Babe is my favorite, a deep metal blue with white pearl that would look great as a crease color.

The Defiance quad is a nice pick if you like burgundies and pinks. Defiance is an iridescent white pink that is a nice highlighter on inner corner brightener. Paradise Island is a soft warm pink that is a satin, so it would be a great lid color; same with Paradise Island which is a soft warm pink. Real Drama is my favorite in this quad, a dark burgundy with pink pearl (satin).

Valiant quad consists of limes and olives that would be perfect for brown eyes, since based on my experience, greens and olives look amazing on brown eyes. Manila Paper is a repromote from the Colour Spring Forecast 4 quad, a pale frost white gold. This is a favorite highlighter of mine since the yellow undertones work well with my skintone. Valiant is a light lime with yellow pearl that would work as a lid color. Diana Undercover is a dark forest green that looks great as a crease or outer lid color. Spinning Transformation is gorgeous, a deep olive bronze with yellow pearl.

Opulash:


Top to Bottom: Army of Amazons, Victorious, Black, Themyscira




Okay, so I am not really a fan of colored mascara, but this can be a fun look especially during nights out. Opulash is one of my favorite mascara variants from MAC. It has a big head so it really coats each lash to make it look as voluminous as possible. I spoke with a MAC artist and he told me that the only gripe he has about the Opulash is that the head is so big that it kinda dries out the product, but I have not experienced that yet with my Opulash. I have short, sparse lashes, so I love the volumizing effect that Opulash provides.

Penultimate Eyeliner in Rapidblack





I have liked the Penultimate liner ever since it was first launched in December 2008 (Chill collection). However, I find the tip to be very fine and it would take more than a couple of passes to make the line more dramatic. This new Wonder Woman Penultimate liner is housed in a big, fat sharpie-like pen. I like the permanent marker concept. This is great because even the tip of the pen is huge, so I don't need to repeat drawing the line to come up with a visible, dark line. This is a lot better for me than the one in the old packaging. I also love liquid liners because I prefer a dramatic, crisp line especially when doing a cat eye (which is nearly everday). I just hope my 7-year-old doesn't mistake this as one of his markers!

Lipsticks and Lipglasses






Emancipation and Marquise D', Heroine and Secret Identity




Athena's Kiss and Spitfire, Wonder Woman and Russian Red




Lipstick-Lipglass swatches on MA's hand:
Top to Bottom: Heroine - Secret Identity, Marquise 'D - Emancipation, Wonder Woman - Russian Red, Spitfire - Athena's Kiss




Top: Athena's Kiss, Spitfire
Bottom: Heroine, Russian Red, Marquise D'




Top: Heroine, Russian Red, Marquise D'
Bottom: Wonder Woman, Emancipation, Secret Identity





As usual, MAC came up with coordinating shades of lipglass and lipstick. I love pinks so my favorite is the Spitfire - Athena's Kiss combination. They are both fuchsia/magenta and Athena's Kiss is the perfect bright blue fuchsia for me.  As for the lipglasses, my favorite aside from Athena's Kiss is Wonder Woman, a bright red with soft pearl.  I want to be more adventurous with my lip colors this year, and since I am often intimidated by red lipgloss/lipstick, I vow to overcome this "fear" of wearing red lip color. 

As for the lipsticks, I like Russian Red for the same reason, and of course Spitfire.  I like Marquise D' (I have it in the lip palette version from the Royal Assets Holiday collection), but I feel it's not a very unique color.  It is a sandy peach in the lustre formula.  However, it is quite a pretty shade, and I'm sure it would look great on almost everyone with Emancipation layered over it.  Those with darker skintones will like Heroine, a brown bronze frost lippie, and Secret Identity lipglass.

I'm pretty sure you know by now that many items in this collection are super sized, like the lipglasses and the mineralize skinfinishes. The lipsticks are regular size, but the lipglasses are freaking huge.  What's more irritating is that the doe foot sponge itself is so big, you will have a hard time pulling it out from the mouth of the tube, and you probably have to have Jolie-sized lips to appreciate it.  Nonetheless, if you use your lipglass a lot, the big tube is probably worth it. 

Powder Blush Duo


Mighty Aphrodite


Amazon Princess


Right: Amazon Princess


L-R: Golden Lariat MSF, Mighty Aphrodite



These are super-sized duo blushes, of course in two of MAC's favorite blush shades, peach and pink. I think Mighty Aphrodite will be one of the favorites from this collection. It's described as a warm peach coral with gold pearl, and bright coral pink with gold pearl (satin/frost). Many say this might be similar to NARS Orgasm or Deep Throat. I gave away Orgasm but still have Deep Throat, so I will swatch them side by side and compare.

Amazon Princess is a bright yellow pink/ deep blue pink with gold pearl (satin). If you like cool pinks, this is for you. Very pigmented too.

Reflects Glitter and Pigments:


L-R: Reflects Pearl and Reflects Bronze glitters, Marine Ultra and Bright Fuchsia pigments

The Reflects pigments are fun to apply over your nighttime eye shadow look for some fun glitter eyes. It's not your chunky, craftstore pigments but can actually look very attractive when done right.

The pigments are nice but I can't say anything more until I get to play with them, so stay tuned.  I will be swatching these soon, so expect more pictures and better swatches of the glitters!

Mineralize Skinfinishes:


Center: Golden Lariat

These are super-huge; they are almost as big as my hand. They are also a trio of coordinating shades. Pink Power is a peachy rose with pink shimmer/Soft rosey bronze, and shell pink with fine shimmer. Super pretty! This product sold out in a span of 21 minutes at the unveiling last night, so I was not able to take pictures. I do have one at home, so I will swatch it later.


Left: Golden Lariat

Golden Lariat is a true coral with soft suntanned bronze and soft gold with fine shimmer. For those with light to medium skintones, this would work as a bronzer/contour powder. I will be using this in a look and will see how this looks on my skintone, so stay tuned.

All in all, I was surprised that this is a kind of compact collection compared to the comprehensive collections from Spring Colour Forecast, Hello Kitty, Fafi and Barbie. I do like the supersize concept, since this is not the usual route MAC follows. I am a little disappointed with the shades of the products, because I did not see anything quite unique.  Most of these can be duped using products from previous collections or from the permanent line.  Some do not like the packaging, but I kinda like it because it does scream DC Comics and Wonder Woman to me. Come on, you can't tout a product as Wonder Woman if the packaging is basically just black, right? There has to be some oomph to it.

As for the products, I recommend Valiant or Lady Justice quads, Mighty Aphrodite blush duo, Marquise D', Russian Red and Spitfire lipsticks, and Athena's Kiss and Wonder Woman lipglasses. I also like the Penultimate liner and the Pink Power MSF.

The Shades Of U Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars

Product photos:










Blush Duos:






Amazon Princess






Mighty Aphrodite






Compared to a regular blush (Sur)



Mineralize Skinfinishes:




L-R: Pink Power, Golden Lariat


Golden Lariat




Pink Power






Compared to a regular-size MSF


Pink Power MSF


Pink Power



Lipglasses:




Athena's Kiss, Emancipation, Secret Identity, Wonder Woman






Compared to a regular-size lipglass


Athena's Kiss doefoot applicator compared to a regular lipglass' applicator


Athena's Kiss


Emancipation


Wonder Woman


Secet Identity

Lipsticks:






Spitfire, Heroine, Russian Red, Marquise D'








Spitfire


Heroine


Russian Red


Marquise D'

Nail Lacquers:




Obey Me, Spirit of Truth

To see my Nail Look: MAC Wonder Woman Nail Lacquer in Spirit of Truth, click here.

Bonus Pics of the makeup bags and mirror:









Eyeshadows:






Valiant quad
L-R: Manila Paper, Valiant, Diana Undercover, Spinning Transformation










Lady Justice quad
L-R: Lady Justice, Insurmountable, Deep Truth, Bold Babe






Defiance quad:
L-R: Defiance, Paradise Island, Star Studded, Real Drama





Opulash:








Victorious


Thermyscira


Bad, Bad, Black


Army of Amazons

Penultimate Eye Liner







Pigments and Reflects Glitter:


L-R: Reflects Pearl, Reflects Bronze, Marine Ultra pigment






Reflects Bronze, Reflects Pearl, Marine Ultra




Note: Media samples were provided by a representative of the company for consideration.  All opinions are completely mine.