MAC Viva Glam Ariana Grande Lipstick

MAC Viva Glam is a recurring collection where 100% of the purchase price (excluding taxes) of the product goes toward the MAC AIDS Fund. The MAC AIDS Fund is committed to address the link between poverty and HIV/AIDS by supporting a range of organizations around the world that provide all kinds of services to people living with HIV/AIDS. There are many celebrities who collaborated in creating products for this collection like Rihanna and Miley Cyrus. For the new MAC Viva Glam collection that was released this February, MAC has collaborated with the beautiful singer/acress Ariana Grande. For this review, I’m going to show you the MAC Viva Glam Ariana Grande Lipstick.

The first I want to mention is that I LOVE the promotional pictures that MAC has done for this collection. I really like the contrast between bold and edgy/girly and sweet. The MAC Viva Glam Ariana Grande collection consists of two products; a deep dark plum lipstick with a matte finish, and a  pink lipglass with a light shimmer. I was surprised to see such a bold lipstick being created for this specific collection however, it is a shade that is on trend at the moment. Also, it might be really smart to give such a contrasting choice for people who like either bold or more girly shades. I’m more of I bold shade and lipstick type of person, so I only purchased the MAC Viva Glam Ariana Grande Lipstick.

The MAC Viva Glam Ariana Grande Lipstick comes in the regular black MAC box and additionally has Ariana’s autograph embossed in red. The lipstick casing is black but reddish pink details instead of the regular silver details.

After removing the top, it shows the rest of the pink casing with Ariana’s signature like on the box. The lipstick looks very dark looking straight at the bullet. It even almost looks like a black shade.

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The lipstick shows its true shade after swatching, which is a deep dark, matte plum with a matte finish. Like I’ve mentioned before, I’m so used to the matte finish of liquid lipsticks that this doesn’t look matte to me but more like a satin finish. So be aware that this isn’t as matte (and doesn’t feel as dry) compared to a liquid lipstick. The MAC Viva Glam Ariana Grande Lipstick is opaque but as you can already see on the edges of the swatch, the color is uneven depending on how thick you apply the lipstick.

Unfortunately, the MAC Viva Glam Ariana Grande Lipstick is a bitch to apply. It is horribly patchy, which wasn’t that noticable on the swatches. The lipstick clings on every flaw and dry flakes, even those that you haven’t noticed before. You can’t apply this lipstick without preparations. Scrubbing my lips before application wasn’t enough. I had to use a chapstick before I went to bed, scrub my lips and apply a lip primer to get it this neat, which still looks uneven to me. I always do lipswatches directly from the bullet/wand to show you the true application like you would do on a daily basis. This is the best I could do without using any other tools. What I could do to make it more neat is to use a lip pencil underneath the lipstick, which I would highly recommend either way to increase the longevity and this would probably make the lipstick look less patchy.

Thankfully, the patchy-ness isn’t as noticeable at a distance. I shade is beautiful though, I especially like to wear these type of shades during the Winter period. The lipstick does move around over time and will leave a stain on everything you touch with your lips. You also have to check up your lipstick immediately after eating and/or drinking.

You can also try make the MAC Viva Glam Ariana Grande Lipstick look lighter and more wearable by applying a thinner and carefully removing thicker layers with a q-tip, but as you can see on my lips, the patchy-ness only looks more evident when wearing the lipstick like this.

It really breaks my hart to tell you this, but I don’t like the MAC Viva Glam Ariana Grande Lipstick. I really love what the MAC AIDS Fund supports, but I just can’t stand behind this lipstick, even though I really, REALLY want to love it so badly. The shade looks gorgeous, but I personally don’t like to do so much preparation and maintenance work for a lipstick. I just want to apply something immediately and be done with it without any fuss. If you’re thinking of purchasing this lipstick, I would highly recommend to moisturize, scrub and prime and use a pencil before applying this lipstick, preferably using a lip brush. Definitely if you can, try this lipstick at a MAC counter before making a final decision.

The MAC Viva Glam Ariana Grande Lipstick is available for €19.50 Euro at MAC Cosmetics.nl and at the MAC counters. And don’t forget, 100% of the purchase price (excluding taxes) of the product goes toward the MAC AIDS Fund.

Do you own any MAC Viva Glam products?