Mac In Monochrome Velvet Teddy Look

It’s no surprise I was all over Mac in Monochrome collection since I’m not exactly keen on colour blocking and to be honest, I tend to go for a monochrome look most of the time anyway. No surprise, the colour I picked was Velvet Teddy seeing as I’m already a big fan of the lipstick shade but the blusher that comes along with the Diva collection is equally as tempting. I pretty much picked this up blindly without having even swatched the shades or having seen any swatches before but luckily they turned out to be exactly what you would except of the Velvet Teddy colour family.

Let me start by talking about the lipstick that is definitely one of my favourite nudes. I didn’t bother picking the limited edition packaging for the collection since I have about half of my Matte Lipstick in Velvet Teddy left but oddly enough I don’t think I ever talked much about it since I tend to call for Nars Barbara and Charlotte Tilbury Very Victoria for my favourite nudes. Perhaps because Velvet Teddy is slightly more rosy on me but the MAC Matte formula is my second favourite after Nars Audacious. I feel like for most people Velvet Teddy is a standard nude but it actually pulls quite pink on my fair skin. I must note, though, that it’s not quite as pink as in the second photo – the lighting picked up a lot more of the pink than you can see in person. Not to say I don’t like it because Velvet Teddy really manages to strike the balance between rose and beige perfectly without going too light or too pink.

The item I was most drawn to from the collection was the Matte Eyeshadow in Soft Teddy since I’m a sucker for pinky brown eyeshadow and always on the lookout for the perfect undertone. I am also a big fan of the MAC Matte eyeshadow formula and this is on par with the different colours I own, if not slightly softer. The colour itself I’d imagine to be a cross between Malt and Soft Brown (I don’t own Soft Brown as that’s too warm for my taste), it is more of a neutral tone which doesn’t go muddy on my skin like a lot of pinks tend to.

Again the Frost formula is another favourite and my next pick was the Frost Eyeshadow in Dear Teddy. My all time favourite eyeshadows is Sable, colour and formula wise so it is always a point of comparison. To be honest, from photos I’ve seen I expected this to be more similar to Sable but it is in fact a lot more saturated. Still, it doesn’t cross the line and I find the deep rosiness to be really flattering against my eye colour. Formula wise this is not as rich as Sable but it is just as light reflective without shimmer particles, goes on perfect with a 239 and any eyeshadow that has no kick up in the pan and goes on opaque is a winner in my books.

EDIT: I can’t believe I didn’t swatch them side by side but Dear Teddy is in fact an ever slightly more vibrant version of my absolute favourite rose bronze from the Nars Chiang Mai Duo.

Soft Teddy and Dear Teddy both make me think of the Urban Decay Naked 3 which managed to feature some of the worst soft pinks for my skintone but these two along with a dark reddish brown I used along the lashline, make up for the whole (unnecessary) twelve pans of the UD palette.

This is actually the only product I swatched when I went out to buy it. I only use really neutral blushers and I never actually delved into the world of MAC blushes because I couldn’t find the right colour for me. Well the Satin Blush in Sur might just be the one. It is the most pink blush I currently own and just about makes it but because the colour has some depth, the rosy tones look a lot more sophisticated than say, Blushbaby. I have a feeling that I might have a soft spot for this formula because it’s definitely not a soft powder but they are simply easy to use and go on smoothly from what I’ve experienced so far.

Overall, I’m impressed with how this collection was curated. It definitely captures the essence of Velvet Teddy without being too monotone. What are your thoughts on the MAC In Monochrome collection? Have you picked up anything? Have you tried Velvet Teddy?