MAC Pretty Pleats! Powder Kiss Liquid Lipcolour ($24.00 for 0.17 oz.) is a deep, reddish-brown with subtle, cool undertones and a satin sheen. The consistency was more emollient than most in the range, resulting in sheerer coverage that wasn’t quite as even in its application. It also included some products that settled into my deeper lip lines–just enough to be visible in person.
When applied, it still had a more velvety-cream-like feel, which I’d call a signature to the formula. It had a semi-opaque color payoff that lasted for five hours and felt lightly hydrating.
FURTHER READING:
Formula Overview
for details on general performance and characteristics (like the scent).
- Clinique Velour (30) (P, $19.50) is more shimmery and darker (95% similar).
- MAC Turn to the Left (P, $21.00) is warmer (90% identical).
- Make Up For Ever M104 (DC, $22.00) is darker and more generous (85% similar).
- MAC Modern Temptress (LE, $20.00) is darker and more friendly (85% identical).
- Pat McGrath Divine Brown (P, $38.00) is more generous (85% similar).
- Marc Jacobs Beauty Editrix (250) (P, $30.00) is more shimmery, darker, and warmer (85% identical).
- Too Faced Indecent Proposal (P, $22.00) is darker and more generous (85% comparable).
- Pat McGrath’s, She’s So Deep (LE, $40.00) is darker and warmer (80% similar).
- Bite Beauty Cognac (P, $24.00) is shimmery, darker, and more generous (80% identical).
- Clinique Velvet Kisses (29) (P, $19.50) is more shimmery, darker, and more generous (80% similar).
Formula Overview
$24.00/0.17 oz. – $141.18 Per Ounce
The formula is supposed to be long-wearing (“10 hours'”) with “immediate” moisture while “[blurring] lines and [smoothing] lips” that don’t settle, crease, flake, or feel drying. Per the brand, one applies using the “hourglass-shaped applicator.”
The texture has a more velvety, thicker feel that spreads well and feels plusher with more of a silicone-like glide (if you’ve tried a silicone-based primer, the sense of it on the lips was similar but creamier). The applicator worked well for applying and distributing products evenly. Still, it gathered more effect than necessary for my lips in a single pull of product to the point where I felt like it over-applied product to the detriment of application.
I had better luck applying product to my upper lip (especially around the cupid’s bow, as the applicator was better for getting this area) and then pressing my lips together and using a fingertip to diffuse and spread the product to the rest of my lips. This ensured that there wasn’t too much product on my lips; too much resulted in the product pilling a bit and being uneven, especially along the inner area of my mouth, prone to getting on teeth and sometimes catching lip texture/imperfections. For reference: all swatch photos are as-applied with the included applicator only.
They were pigmented, with most shades nearly opaque to opaque, but a few fell slightly below. For a more diffused look, you’d want to apply with fingertips or just to the center of the lips and then use a brush or fingertips to blow out the color. The colors went on fairly evenly, and I found most of the time where it did not, it was an issue with an over-application of the product (despite just using one pull of development!), and the formula was more forgiving when applied with more negligible effect (but that still was plenty to cover my lips with near-full coverage!).
They mattify over time–as the color wore away–and are more transfer-resistant at that point, but the formula itself is more flexible, though I could feel it on, and has a more satin-like finish for the first couple of hours of wear. I’d recommend blotting gently on the back of your hand (less likely to get tissue bits on your lips that way) to soften and mattify faster if desired.
The lighter shades didn’t wear away as evenly and had more noticeable wear along the center of my lips, while the more mid-tone and deeper shades lasted longer and more evenly as they tended to stain a bit. The wear ranged from five to eight hours, but the formula wasn’t providing any “immediate” moisture for me, and after wearing many shades back-to-back, my lips were slightly dehydrated.
