25.6.14

MAC Smoked Purple Dupe + Reviews + Swatches

NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream, Transylvania and MAC Lipstick, Smoked Purple


3/8/2016: MAC NOT vegan, NOT cruelty free; NYX NOT vegan

REVIEWS

MAC Lipstick, Smoked Purple
Description from MAC's website:
Colour plus texture for the lips. Stands out on the runway. Simmers on the street! What made M·A·C famous.
I can't find any ingredient list anywhere.

Smoked Purple is a matte, deep plum. It is certainly more red-toned, but on my lips it doesn't appear red at all for some reason. On other people it looks more red, though, so I'm not sure what's up there.

This lipstick is very tough and difficult to apply, even for a matte. It takes me a very long time to build up opacity with this lipstick, and even then it's tough to get it to apply on the inner bits of my lips. If I apply it without lip balm underneath, the color goes on less patchy but dries out my lips badly. If I apply it with a lip balm underneath, I can't even apply any color because it slips around too much.

I was disappointed by this lipstick because it was my first MAC lipstick and I love the color, but unfortunately it just doesn't work. This lead me to find a dupe, and make this post.

NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream, Transylvania
Description from NYX's website:
Neither lipstick nor lip gloss, this matte lip cream is a new kind of lip color that goes on silky smooth and sets to a matte finish. Soft Matte Lip Cream is surprisingly durable and, unlike some matte lipstick formulas, also moisturizing.
Ingredients list from NYX's website:
Pentaerythrityl Tetraisostearate, Dimethicone,Beeswax, Glyceryl Behenate / Eicosadioate, Phenoxyethanol, Dimethicone /Dimethicone Crosspolymer, Talc, Methyl Methacrylate Crosspolymer, Silica, Aluminium Starch Octenylsuccinate, Isohexadecane,Disteardimonium Hectorite, Propylene Carbonate, Parfum. May Contain:CI77019 (Mica) / CI77891 (Titanium Dioxide), CI15850 (D&C Red 6 Na.Salt), CI15850 (D&C Red 7 Ca Lake), CI15985:1 (FD&C Yellow 6 AlLake), CI19140:1 (FD&C Yellow 5 Al Lake), CI45410 (D&C Red 28 AlLake), CI77491 (Iron Oxide Red), CI77492 (Iron Oxide Yellow), CI77499(Iron Oxide Black), CI77742 (Manganese Violet), CI77891 (TitaniumDioxide)
Transylvania is matte deep red-toned plum. Like Smoked Purple, it appears less red-toned on my lips than on other's.

Because it is a lip cream and not a lip gloss or lipstick, the application is a bit strange but certainly easier than Smoked Purple. At first this cream appears more shiny and not truly matte, but this goes down and eventually you really do get a full matte finish.

Unfortunately I've found that this color flakes off a bit if I eat, drink, or smoosh my lips together. If I try to reapply, then, I'll get an unpleasant and thick-feeling film over my lips. It is definitely strange to reapply, and with such a dark color even the lightest bit of fading or flaking looks odd. This is, in my opinion, the only downside to this product.

SWATCHES

MAC Smoked Purple on left, NYX Transylvania on right

CONCLUSION

While neither of these products absolutely blow me away, the colors are pretty similar. MAC's is priced at $16.00, while NYX's is just $6.00. Taking the prices, qualities, and colors into consideration -- I'd go with NYX's, no doubt about it.

BUY SMOKED PURPLE HERE


BUY TRANSYLVANIA HERE