Last night I attended a Preview Party for the upcoming Limited Edition MAC Marilyn Monroe Collection inspired by the Bombshell herself, Miss Marilyn Monroe. The collection is slated to be released on September 27th on maccosmetics.com,October 4th in North American stores and sometime in October Internationally. It consists of lipsticks in sultry shades of red with complimentary lip liners, sparkling dazzleglasses, beauty powders and all of the accompaniments to achieve Marilyn’s iconic look. I haven’t been this excited about a collection in a while. Does it live up to the hype? Take a look…
First of all, I expected more from the packaging and my first thought was that it’s kind of boring, and I feel MAC could have done so much more… but the more that I look at it, the more I like it. The simplicity makes it look more classy and grown up, and the images are quite sexy.
Lipsticks from left to right:
Deeply Adored (matte) Deep Red/ Burgundy
Charmed I’m Sure (matte) True Blue Based Red
Scarlet Ibis (matte, repromote) Bright Orange Red
Love Goddess (satin) Pink Tinged Red/ Berry
Pure Zen (cremesheen, repromote) Frosty Warm Nude
The lipsticks are my favorite part of the collection. All of the colors are super pigmented and apply well, and Pure Zen is a nice nude to balance things out. All of the shades would look great on a variety of skin tones. The lip liner pencils compliment the lipstick shades well. Both the lip liners and lip pencils retail for $16.50.
Left to right: Redd, Cherry, Beet
The Dazzleglasses ($21.50) would look pretty over the lipsticks to add some shine and give a different look.
Little Rock, Phiff! (repromote)
The beauty powder ($28) and blushers ($22) are kind of meh. Unless you are really pale or have a light complexion they won’t really work, even as a highlighter they are underwhelming.
Forever Marilyn Beauty Powder
Legendary Blush (satin) and The Perfect Cheek Blush (matte, repromote)
Forever Marilyn, Legendary, The Perfect Cheek
I don’t really care for the large eyeshadows ($21) that much. All of the shades kind of look alike and are not that pigmented with the exception of Showgirl which is a little better. The only thing that saves them is the Veluxe Pearl texture which makes them apply nice and smooth, but they are still a bit patchy though. These do look like nice shades to achieve the look but I don’t know, I wasn’t feeling them at all. I’m pretty sure you can find plenty of better performing dupes already in your collection as the shades are not that unique.
Silver Screen,Preferred Blonde, How to Marry, Showgirl
I didn’t get a chance to get to the nail polishes, but it consists of 4 shades of red from coral to wine and a glittery gold. The rest of the collection consists of the Penultimate Brow Marker ($18.50), Brow Finisher ($15), Penultimate Eyeliner ($18.50), Eye Kohl ($15) in Fascinating & Smolder, False Lashes Mascara ($20) in Extreme Black and a pair of false lashes ($16). You will definitely have all of the essentials to get Marilyn’s look. Heads up to pro members, you can use your MAC Pro Discount on this Collection.
There was a few demos to show you how to achieve some looks with the collection. There was also an exhibition of photos of Marilyn Monroe by Milton Greene, and if you’ve ever been to a MAC party you know that there was hors d’oeuvres and champagne.
So what did I pick up? I got the lipstick in Love Goddess with the Lip Liner in Beet and the Brow Finisher. I also picked up a new Brow Pencil in Stud as mine had ran out.
30 Responses
I love Marilyn Monroe..such a beaut…The only things that appeal to me in this colelction are the lipsticks Scarlet Ibis and Pure Zen..Great Post..xx
Scarlet Ibis is gorgeous. I skipped this again as Wet n Wild Puurty Persimmon is similar enough
Hey Erica it’s Nichole, not sure if you remember me. It was pretty busy in there last night. Love the pics like always. Glamorous. Which lipstick did u purchase? I picked up love goddess. I thought deeply adored was going to be more darker and vampy but it turned out to look exactly like my covergirl lipstick in the color temp. Perfect dupe for deeply adored. It was great meeting you. With love from the Bronx, Nichole. 🙂
I just realized u picked up love goddess as well. Isn’t it a beautiful color? I’m so sick of the classic red and orange lipstick since this year brought so many of them. love goddess was a different change on the red lipsticks we have been seeing this year. If applied in a thin layer you can see the pink tones stand out which can make it great everyday color and you can deepen it for late night outings. 😉
Hi Nichole, yes I remember you. It was so nice meeting you!
I’m so in love with Love Goddess! I’m wearing it today, full on with Beet Lip Pencil and it’s gorgeous. It’s perfect for Fall but would transition well through all seasons. I liked Deeply Adored as well but it looks very dupeable. I also liked Scarlet Ibis but passed on this again as I’m happy with my Wet n Wild Puurty Persimmon. No regrets, I made the right choice! Lol
Totally agree love goddess is perfect for all seasons. No regrets here also. lol I just wish they would had a new shade of nude in stead of a permanent color. Scarlet ibis looks almost exact to so chaud, so I passed on that color as I am happy with my booyah! Lipstick from the Beth ditto collection. I rarely wear lip pencils but beet is the perfect pair to love goddess.
I am a bit disappointed in this collection. MAC could have done way better. The only thing I am interested in it the lipstick. I think I will be picking up Deeply Adored. Thanks for the swatches, you’re amazing!!
No problem at all hon. Make sure you check out Love Goddess as well, it would look great on you!
Good morning 1st Ladies,
I’m underwelmed too and they definatly could have made it skyrocket.
For me, will pick up the lipsticks/ pencils. They should have made
MM double mirror compact (maybe lighted) or MM Prep&Prime compact. You know something
that you can take with you and can whip out and ” See I got that MM collection”.
Oooh a lighted compact would have been very glamorous, I agree! The lipsticks are definitely the standouts of the collection.
I am extremely disappointed with this collection, MM is a huge style icon and the packaging was tasteless. I only got the 3 lipsticks. I wish they had put in more thought process in the collection before releasing it. On the other hand Deeply Adorned will be my favorite deep red for the fall/winter season.
Although I do agree that they could have put more thought into the packaging, I don’t think it is tasteless. Yes, Marilyn Monroe was a Style Icon but she was also a Sex Symbol and these are images of her that she took. I think a lot of ppl are upset because they expected MAC to use images that they are used to seeing of her. It’s sexy images for a very sexy collection.
I was so hyped for this collection being that I love her and my blog is named for her! Im disappointed though in the color payoff of some of the items :(. I do plan on purchasing a few of the lipsticks though but I wanted more! Thanks for the review
No problem, I totally agree
Love your pictures, I do think I’m going to pick up some of the lipsticks.. How do you think Deeply Adored would look on me, my skintone is hmmm i guess if we want to put it into MAC foundation colors, I would be an NW 40. I’m looking for a deeper red for fall and winter..
Deeply Adored should work for you!
Can you show a swatch of the lipstick?
Which one, I swatches them all…
They look very tempting – waiting for them 😀
clearly my wishlist has changed after seein swatches BUT i want deeply adored, pure zen, fascination cuz i been meanin to get it for a while, im curious bout the brow finisher, and thats about it. UGH!! im so mad at those dmn blushes n beauty powder. I’ve also been disappointed in the shadows as well and will NOT be droppin $20 a pop on them thangs >:< nontheless since i AM a fan i gotta grab something!! **sigh**
So far I love the brow finisher. I will probably do a review
Thanks for the swatches! Where was this launch party located? I’m supposed to attend one in the city today. And what camera do you use? Was wondering if they’d allow me to snap a few shots. Love your site btw:)
Thank you and no problem 🙂
This was at the Lincoln Center Store. I was using my Canon Rebel T4i DSLR and others had cameras as well and were using their phones too. They allowed it. In my experience some stores allow pictures and some don’t. I’m assuming you’re going to the event at the pro store, I suggest you pull out your camera and start taking flix as discreetly as possible and if they don’t allow it they will ask you to stop. That’s what I usually do.
I’m so glad they rereleased the #35 lashes with this collection! I look them! 🙂 Not really impressed by the other items.
I meant *love them
Yes, the lashes are very pretty.