MAC A Rose Romance: Swatches and Review





The minute I first saw the promo images of A Rose Romance collection, I fell in love with the concept, the shades, the jaw-droppingly gorgeous beauty powder with the rose imprint. I love roses, I love old rose shades, and I basically swoon over anything vintage-y and romantic. I was also curious about the new products that were coming out in this collection, the Fix+ Rose and the gel blush. I also love the combination of pinks and lilacs/dirty mauves and violets in this collection, as purples and pinks go well with my skintone. Here are some swatches and my thoughts on some of the products from this collection.









First of all, I am thrilled with the lip colors from this collection. True to the collection's theme, they are very romantic and I believe would suit a wide variety of skintones. The lipsticks are so pretty because they are neither too light nor too dark, and I believe they would be perfect for everyday looks and may also be worn for special occasions. They are that versatile.

Way to Love is a creamy light yellow pink that would go well with peachy pinks, corals, golds. It is a lustre finish and gives a pretty glowy finish. A Rose Romance is my favorite - a very romantic mid-tone pink with gold pearl, which is just beautiful with a pink gloss over it. I can't wait to create looks using this lipstick; I believe this would be a favorite.

The lipglasses are beautiful as well. Virgin Kiss is a sheer pale pink with multi-dimensional pearl - which is extremely light-reflective. I love how it looks glass-like when you wear it. I compared it to En Pointe and Cherry Blossom (from the Cult of Cherry collection) lipglasses, and they are pretty similar. I love these two lipglasses, so having Virgin Kiss is great since I would be using this often. Comparison swatches of these three lipglasses are coming up soon.

Steal My Heart is a sheer bright pink with multi-reflective pearl, and it reminds me of Strawberry Blonde lipglass from the Brunette Blonde Redhead collection, except that Steal My Heart is a tad brighter pink, but they are quite similar.

When the see-thru lipglasses first came out in the MAC for Ungaro collection, I didn't care very much for them. I didn't like how it appeared splotchy on my lips and the taste was quite unpleasant. This time around, though, I was surpised that the see-thru lip colour now has the yummy scent of vanilla like the lipglasses. I loved Tender Tryst and how smooth it looked on the lips (lip swatches coming soon). However, I am not a fan of Secret Crush, because it again looked splotchy just like the Not So Shy lip colour from the Ungaro collection. I guess liquid berry-like lip stains don't look good on my lips.



I liked the cheek stain because it reminds me of my NARS cream blush in Cactus Flower that I always keep in my purse for quick touch ups. I like how it gives a natural, lit-from-within, natural flush that doesn't look powdery or made up. I just don't like the paint-pot pots again, as it is a tad heavy and not really that travel-friendly. I would still tote this around because this is such an amazing product. I like how you can freshen up your look with a natural-looking flush without a need for a blush brush.





As I said, I love how romantic the eyeshadows are. Of Summer is a frosted light dirty mauve, while Et Tu, Bouquet is a frosted pale pink gold that would brighten up the eyes. The latter can be used as a highlighter or as a lid color, and Of Summer can be a wonderful lid or crease/blender color. I can't wait to create looks using these.







The beauty powders are divine. They have the rose imprint that can be a conversation piece in itself, but I like how it doesn't give a frosty, high-shine finish unlike beauty powders from past collections. I like how it gives a radiance but not an in-your-face kind of way, but I guess the best word I can come up with is "ethereal". it gives a subtle, ethereal glow that truly bespeaks the romance of this collection.



I have a full-size jar of Circa Plum pigment from the Colour Forms collection, and the shade is just perfect for this current collection. It is a frosty dirty mid-tone lavender that would be great as either a lid or crease color.

I am gearing up for the Love & Friendship nail lacquer, a creamy dirty mid-tone lavender (it's basically a cream Circa Plum nail polish!). My holiest of holy grails in nail polish are OPI Color of the Zen-tury and Essie Sand Of A Beach, both purple-lilac based nail polishes, so I know that Love & Friendship would be another must-have for me.

Other must-haves for me are the Fix+ Rose and Blush of Youth Beauty Powder. Watch out for my reviews on the rest of the items from this collection.

14 comments

Pooja said...

The collection looks cute,Thanks for the swatches,will this collection have an international release?We still don't get sugarsweet collection yet :( I really want the MSF from sugarsweet collection.

GurlOnA"Diet" said...

:sigh: sooo pretty! love the colors!

maya said...

Oh, this is sooo very tempting. Well, luckily I have till May to save up some cash.

Thanks for the swatches!

A. Rose said...

GREAT review! Very thorough and detailed...I can't wait for this collection to come out! :D

gio said...

I'm really looking forward to this collection, everything looks so pretty!

Thanks for the review and swatches.

Nathalie said...

@Pooja
Were are you from? Here in France, Sugarsweet has been launched for something like 2 weeks already. On the French Mac online store, the MSF are already out of stock, though (just like most of the collection!).

Anyway, a great review! And big thank you for the swatches! I adore "Steal my Heart". Not sure it would fit me though as I've always felt like pinks were making me looking both very ashy and more yellow than I am (I feel like I look better in warm colors). I already had a crush on "Strawberry Blonde" but I couldn't swatch it on my skin because when I went to my mac counter, the Blonde/Brunette/Redhead collection wasn't there. Is it a pure pink or is it a little bit of yellow in it? Also how was Blush of Youth? Is it a yellow pink?

The Shades Of U said...

Pooja- I guess some countries get their MAC collections later, but you will eventually get them, don't worry!

Paint Me Gorgeous- yup, I sighed myself when I saw these!

maya- you're welcome!

A. Rose- thanks! I try to be as thorough as possible in my reviews, thanks for appreciating it! :)

gio, you're welcome!

Nathalie- I didn't see yellow in Steal My Heart - it is a brighter pink than Strawberry Blonde but still on the pinkish side. Blush of Youth has gold pearl in it, so yes I guess you can say it has some yellow to it (I love gold pearl, though!).

T said...

Oh wow, that blush looks so decadent!

We don't get half of the special / seasonal releases in NZ. The last 2 we got were Dame Edna and HK. Both of which sold out entirely on the first day! What you get when you only have 4/5 stores in the country, I guess!

Christine White said...

Hi aileen!

How pigmented are would you say the bp's are? I likey alot of blush on my face and sheer is not for me! Also would you say that Summer Rose bp is similar to Stark Naked minus the glitter? Thanks

Bijin Blair said...

Can't wait to see your swatch for Blush of Youth! Can you please swatch the two beauty powders together? TQ!

The Shades Of U said...

T- oh, decadent is the word I was looking for! It's the perfect description for these items.

Chris- I guess it would depend on how dark or light your skin is. If you have tan skin, the BPs probably wouldn't register on you, but they do give a nice glow that is not frosty like the MSFs. As for Stark Naked, it's a mid-tone mauve with gold pearl, while Summer Rose is a little on the dirty mauve side with a lot of violet undertones without the gold flecks, so they do have some differences. Hope that helps! I will try to swatch them side-by-side in a future post.

steffi said...

this collection :O! first i wasnt impressed but now omg :D

Tish said...

I love the lippies! I wonder if they'll be released here, too.

Nice swatches, by the way.

Crystal said...

darn, i might just get the summer rose beauty powder :P