I am so so so glad that the new MAC Prêt-à-Papier collection was as underwhelming as it was. I can’t afford to drop too much money on these seemingly-weekly collections MAC puts out. Sheesh! I’ve learned that no matter how fabulous a collection sounds and may look from afar, you always wanna swatch the products in the store to see what you’re getting. The blushes from the collection weren’t anything special to me, and I already own Light Over Dark. None of the lipsticks screamed “YOU MUST HAVE ME!!”, and the lipglasses were pretty…but I only picked up one. C-thru was repromoted, but it’s permanent so you can buy that anytime. Fold and Tuck is gorgeous…but it looks like other lipglasses I already have. Not so unique to my own personal collection — womp.

Since I wasn’t very moved by this collection, I decided to get a few staples from the permanent line that I sadly didn’t have. The Empowered lipstick came out with the ‘All Ages, All Races, All Sexes Collection’ and I love a good neutral shade, so I got that one. I also picked up Lucky Green, Cork, Texture, Soba and Soft Brown eyeshadows. Great transition and crease colors. Lucky Green is less shimmery version of Golden Olive pigment. Just when I thought I was done with mineralize blushes, I swatched Gentle at the store and just had to have it. I’ll do a swatch of all the mineralize blushes I have (in a future post) so you guys can see the differences. When you swatch one, you tend to think it looks like one you already have, but then you see that they’re not quite the same. Well…maybe…I still don’t have them all, but I have a decent amount.

I decided not to swatch the eyeshadow’s because it’s honestly a waste of time. They show up, but they look boring on their own. You’re probably saying, “Well, why did you buy them?” Again, they’re awesome colors for transitioning two or more shades, or for toning down any bright colors, etc. They’re staples, and I need staples. I have so many of MAC’s brighter colors, and not enough of their gorgeous neutrals. Gotta build my kit accordingly!

MAC Prêt-à-Papier lipglass, Coral Crepe painpot swatch

On my way out of Macy’s, I said to myself…“Wait a minute….this Prêt-à-Papier lipglass looks like the Happenin’ Gal lipglass from the Barbie Loves MAC collection!”. So of course I swatched them side-by-side, and here’s the result:

Similar, but not quite the same. The Happenin’ Gal is cooler with more pink and burgandy, and the Prêt-à-Papier is warmer with just tiny bits of red. Dah well. I’m not taking it back, I really like it.

Empowered looks amazing with my NYX lip pencil in Brown, with a tiny bit of Prêt-à-Papier lipglass on top. This is a great everyday lip combo that’s work and church friendly. I find that Empowered needs a lip liner (for me, at least) because it’s a cooler neutral without it. A nice warm lip liner will heat it up and make it look better on warm skin. Alone, it looks amazing on cooler skin-tones. Here’s a pic of me wearing Empowered with the NYX Brown lip liner, and a bit of Prêt-à-Papier on top.

MAC Empowered lipstick swatch on lips

Here’s a light application of MAC’s Gentle mineralize blush. It’s so pretty. I still need to get my hands on Bi-tone mineralize blush duo from the Too Fabulous collection. That one is gorgeous!

MAC Gentle mineralize blush on darker skin

OVERALL THOUGHTS…

This collection might be fabulous for someone who doesn’t have many MAC products. You may find it to be very wearable, because it’s so toned down. But for those who have a lot of MAC products, and don’t want more of the same, you probably won’t need much from this collection. Die hard MAC freaks may buy it just because that’s what they do. Or, you may think it’s boring and not worth it and totally skip it altogether. Make sure you swatch things first so you’re not too disappointed. As gorgeous as the new paintpot is, I wouldn’t say its a MUST-have, but it’s definitely a NICE-to-have. I adore paintpots so I’m all about collecting as many as I can.

So that’s about it. I’m sooo sleepy. After drinking several cups of Earl Grey tea from Teaism in DC, this Benedryl is making sweet love to my bloodstream. Make sure you guys check out the Prêt-à-Papier collection, you may find some things you’d love. Everybody’s different, so what I love/like, you may not and what I may not like, you may love. So check it out for yourselves :)

Availability: MAC Cosmetics

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