#MacStarTrek makeup collection: swatches & first impressions



MAC Star Trek makeup collection: limited edition packaging


After telling you everything about my trip to far away makeup galaxies at the Comic Con MAC Star Trek experience last week, I'm ready to show you the products I bought from the collection, which officially launches online at the end of August.

I'm not usually able to access big makeup collection previews so I was pretty excited! I tried to refrain from buying all the shiny stuff though, and I mostly succeeded. But I did purchase the following items: the gorgeous Trip The Light Fantastic Powder in Highly Illogical, two lipglasses, Khaaannnn! and Set To Stun, and a lipstick. So, about the lipstick... I had selected Kling-It-On, a black-based deep plum with pink glitter, but at checkout I was mistakenly given Where No Man Has Gone Before instead, and I didn't realize the error until I got home. I was a little bummed initially - I chose Kling-It-On because it's an unusual shade that would have been unique in my collection - but Where No Man Has Gone Before is also pretty nice, much more wearable, and according to the makeup artist it was the collection's best-seller. She actually applied it to my lips during the event. So I decided to keep it, but I'm planning to get Kling-It-On when the collection hits the stores.

Without further Klingon blabla, let's take a look at the pretties!


MAC Star Trek makeup collection: limited edition packaging
Limited edition outer packaging


Highly Illogical Trip The Light Fantastic Powder

MAC Star Trek makeup collection: photos, swatches, review

MAC Star Trek: Highly Illogical Trip The Light Fantastic Powder review, swatch, photo

All three Trip The Light Fantastic Powders in this collection look absolutely stunning in their pans, with an intricate marbled pattern. I picked Highly Illogical following the makeup artist's advice. She also recommended Luna Luster as a highlighter for my skin tone, but it was used to do my makeup during the event and I actually didn't like it too much: it was too cool and too pink for my taste. Strange New Worlds, a golden coral, looked stunning but the MUA said it would be too orange for me - I think it would work as a blush but I believe I have dupes in my collection (Bobbi Brown Shimmer Brick in Apricot should be close).

MAC star trek Trip the Light Fantastic powder strange new worlds highly illogical luna luster swatch pictures
All 3 Trip The Light Fantastic Powders. L to R: Strange New Worlds, Highly Illogical, Luna Luster

Highly Illogical's pan contains a mix of metallic berry, pinkish tan and yellow gold that translates as a plummy bronze with a strong sheen once applied. On my skin tone it works beautifully as a blush: right now it's got a perfect summer bronziness to it, and with its plum undertones it will be a killer for fall. It could be a very nice highlighter on deeper skin tones too!

MAC Star Trek Highly Illogical Trip The Light Fantastic Powder photo swatch

MAC Star Trek makeup collection: photos, swatches, review

I noticed that the powder has a sweet scent, however it's only detectable when you sniff the pan. It feels a bit stiff when you run your finger over the surface, however it's soft and very finely milled, so it's easy to pick up product. It kind of feels like a baked powder to me (I'm not sure if it is?). It's also nicely pigmented - and the heavily used testers at the Comic Con experience had even higher color payoff due to the first layer being removed - so it should be applied with a light hand. In fact MAC has a fan brush in this collection made to work with these powders.

I love the plummy bronze color on my cheeks, but what really sets it apart is the soft sheen. The finish is really beautiful: not "in your face" heavy metallic highlighter, at least not if applied lightly, but it gives the skin a gorgeous healthy glow, without any trace of powderiness at all. On me it lasted all day long. I totally recommend this powder!


Where No Man Has Gone Before Lipstick

MAC Star Trek makeup collection: photos, swatches, review

MAC Star Trek makeup collection: limited edition lipstick tube packaging

I already told you I wanted the vampy Kling-It-On, and to be honest I kind of wanted ALL the lipsticks in this collection! I don't own any atypical shades, so I was also very tempted by the yellow gold Enemy Within, and the bronzy beige LLAP looked like a good everyday shade.

Anyways, Where No Man Has Gone Before is in the Lustre formula so it's a shiny metallic, a nice break from the matte lips we've been seeing everywhere for over a year. It's a medium plummy pink base, rather bright, saturated with golden pearl. Depending on the angle of the light, the base color or the gold sheen will take over.

MAC Star Trek: Where No Man Has Gone Before lustre lipstick swatch

It's semi-opaque and easy to build, and it glides well on the lips. It's also comfortable to wear, I didn't find it particularly drying on my sensitive lips (I know some people have this problem with MAC Lustre lipstick formula). It's got the usual synthetic vanilla scent. It only lasts for about 2-3 hours, not really surprising for a semi-opaque frosty color like that.

Don't be scared by the words "metallic" and "frosty", this is not an awkward reincarnation of the awful frosty lipsticks from the 80s. It's actually very flattering and easy to wear on my skintone, not over the top, more like a classic summer lip with a twist. I like this lipstick a lot so I would recommend it too.


Khaaannnn! and Set To Stun lipglasses

MAC Star Trek Khaaannnn! Set to stun lipglass review swatch photo

I almost - ALMOST - bought all the glosses in this collection. They were all delightful glitter bombs, and I've stayed away from such a finish for so long that I think I had an episode of sudden sparkle hysteria due to withdrawal. But finally being kind of an adult, I resisted. So I only bought half. Pretty good self-control, he?

So the ones I didn't buy were: Warp Speed Ahead, which looked like a to-die-for deep plum with blue and silver glitter in the tube, but turned out to be disappointing when swtached (more of a classic berry shade); Pleasure Planet, again an unusual shade, a yellow gold.

Khaaannnn! (3 a's and 4 n's guys, so many people misspell it, tss tss...) is a showstopper, and my absolute favorite item from the collection - trust me, my swatches don't do it justice, it's so beautiful, especially in direct sunlight. It's a bright medium berry pink LOADED with pink glitter. It looks really metallic on the lips and super reflective - but again, don't be shy, it's surprisingly wearable and flattering considering the amount of sparkles. It makes my lips hyper shiny and pink, kind of mesmerizing, and it looks really pretty paired with a neutral or natural eye look. This one lasts for almost a full day on me, with a ton of glitter still sticking to my lips after a meal. Talking about sticky, it's MAC's classic Lipglass formula that's on the heavier side, but not offensively tacky.

Set To Stun (my hubby thinks it's a great Star Trek-inspired name for a makeup product) is a cool silver with multi-colored shimmer. It's not as opaque as Khaaannnn!, so it could work as a topper over lipstick. It's still very pretty on its own, giving my lips a bit of a lilac tone. Not your usual lipgloss color, but totally wearable with cool-toned looks, and so interesting! The shimmer also survives meals pretty well, but it doesn't wear quite as long as Khaaannnn!


Swatches mac star trek where no man has gone before khaaannnn! set to stun highly illogical
Khaaannnn! looks quite cool in this direct sunlight shot,
but it's warmer in person

MAC Star Trek lip swatches where no man has gone before set to stun khaaannnn! lipstick lipglass
Lip swatches top to bottom: Where No Man Has Gone Before lipstick,
Set to Stun Lipglass, Khaaannnn! Lipglass
Look using MAC Star Trek makeup collection: photos, swatches, review
A quick makeup look using Highly Illogical on the cheeks (see the sheen?)
and on the outer corner of the eyes,  and
Where No Man Has Gone Before on the lips
MAC Star Trek swatches all products lipstick pressed pigment trip the light fantastic powder lipglass
Swatches of all the items from the collection, except for nail lacquers and eyeliners.
To know what's what click here
MAC Star Trek makeup collection: shopping bag
The shopping bag!


Overall

I have to say that I haven't been following MAC new collection launches very closely lately, because they just have way too many... But this collection is definitely one of the most exciting I've seen by MAC in years, with many atypical colors still made wearable, a fun theme, and pretty packaging. If you can only pick one item from this collection, I'd go for Khaaannnn! Lipglass. If you can afford a second, get one of the Trip The Light Fantastic Powders.


Where to buy?





Are you excited about this collection? What are you planning to get?





The product featured in this review was purchased by Lulle. I received no compensation to write this post, which only reflects my personal opinion.



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