Daphne Guinness for MAC – review, photos & swatches

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photos: we heart this

Call Daphne Guinness what you will; fashion icon, haute heiress, odd duck. But there’s one thing everyone can agree upon – she is truly an original. Often seen with skunk striped hair wearing armor-influenced couture and gravity defying shoes, she’s a bit of a enigma but undeniably, the epitome of cool. As is her new limited edition MAC collection. Not only in tone but in the eclectic influences for the line: the whispered luxury of an antique Chinese porcelain vase, pigeon’s blood rubies, how the intricate wings of a butterfly resemble the images of deepest space.

Nebula, Circa Plum

My favorite products of the launch are the Pigments. While it’s true that loose powder takes extra work (lots of taping and mess making), it’s very well worth it. You can sheer them out, layer them for intensity or use with water or a mixer for a liquid liner. Best of all, the pigment just can’t be stopped!

Nebula, wet and dry

Nebula is an intensely dark taupe that leans more to the grey side than the brown side. (Oh taupe, you’re a mystery wrapped in a riddle, and how I love you so). It has the slightest plum sheen to it and tons of dazzling pearl shimmer.

Circa Plum, dry and wet

Circa Plum is a dusty pinky lavender with silver shimmer. Like Nebula, it has a frost finish.

Azalea Blossom Blush Ombre

Another stand out is the Azalea Blossom Blush Ombre. It’s a pearl finished cool, light pink that gradiates to lilac. Thanks to the large pan, you really can wear these separately if you choose. The color is very pigmented and the powder is soft and finely milled. Just beautiful all around!

Azalea Blossom in the sun, where you can really see the pearly sheen

pink alone, lilac alone and the two mixed

Hyperion, Blueblood, Endless Night

I liked the range of shades in the Nail Lacquers of this launch, three completely different colors that all make sense. In fact, I think they’re the best representation of what Daphne was going for with the entire collection. To me, I see what looks like a color palette taken directly from a distinctly European portrait. Antique, but entirely new at the same time. I don’t know, am I crazy or can you see what I mean?

Blueblood

Blueblood is a dark purple creme. A gorgeous shade, but if you picked up Purple Majesty from MAC Me Over, you can skip this (they’re nearly identical, see below). But if you didn’t, grab this quick. It’s vampy perfection.

Purple Majesty left, Blueblood right

Hyperion

Hyperion is a pale robin’s egg blue. The formula is a bit streaky, which for me means I end up applying too much and it ends up looking a bit thick.

Endless Night

Endless Night is a beautiful chameleon of a shade. It’s a nude base with a fine pink shimmery sheen. It’s not quite nude, grey or lavender – but a bit of all three!

Interior Life Quad

Let’s get the disappointing product out of the way, shall we? While the Interior Life palette is beautiful to look at, I was really only pleased with one of the shades.

Stratus is a matte bubblegum lilac pink. I got decent color payoff with this but only with multiple layers (you can see in the swatch it’s a bit thick). I had problems with Bruised Sky, a satin finish dusty plum. The pigment was lacking and no matter how many layers I applied, I couldn’t get an even application. The star of this palette is the name sake, Interior Life. It has a veluxe pearl finish and is a blue based medium grey with a slightly plum tone. It applies even darker than what you see in the pan and has a buttery feel and amazing pigment. Heather Belles is a charcoal black with a satin finish. It’s chalky and provides spotty pigment, at best.

Stratus, Bruised Sky, Interior Life, Heather Belles

Approaching Storm, Red Dwarf, Warped Speed

Happily, the Pro Longwear Lipcremes provided the pigment that the shadows lacked. MAC promises 12 hours of wear on these, and while I can’t attest to that, I can say that they stained my arms after swatching them! They’re creamy and non drying, especially for an extended wear product. A really great formula.

Red Dwarf, Approaching Storm, Warped Speed

Red Dwarf is a deep berry creme. Approaching Storm is a brick red creme. It reminds me of a more opaque version of Full Body, one my favorite LE MAC lipsticks. Warped Speed is a silver shimmer. (Is it just me or have there been a lot of MAC silvers this year?)

Narcissus, Japanese Spring

I like the formula of Cremesheen Glass a lot. They’re a creamy and non sticky, with the same vanilla scent as Lipglass.

Japanese Spring, Narcissus

Both of these shades look like they could have been pulled from Quite Cute. Japanese Spring seems to be the same bubblegum pink lilac that is in the Azalea Blossom Blush and Interior Life quad. It has a creamy, milky finish and is rather sheer. Narcissus is a beautiful magenta purple that I was convinced my warm toned skin couldn’t pull off, but could! It’s creamy, opaque and all around lovely.

Here is the complete shade list of the launch…

Pigment
Aurora – Pinked taupe (frost)
Circa Plum – Frosty dirty mid-tone lavender (frost)
Nebula – Dark greyed brown with pearl (frost)
$20 U.S./$24 CDN

Pro Longwear Lipcreme
Warp Speed – Light silver
Red Dwarf – Blue-pink
Seasoned Plum – Mid-tone lavender
Approaching Storm – Deep rose
$17 U.S./$20 CDN

Cremesheen Glass
Borealis – Pale grey pink with iridescent pearl
Japanese Spring – Pale dirty pink
Narcissus – Dirty eggplant
Richly Revered – Deep brown plum
$18.50 U.S./$22 CDN

Powerpoint Eye Pencil
Engraved – Rich black
Grey Utility – Uniform grey
$15 U.S./$18 CDN

Eye Brows
Fling – Light taupe ash blonde
Stud – Deep rich blackened brown
$15 U.S./$18 CDN

Eye Shadow X4, Interior Life Quad
Stratus – Light pink (matte)
Interior Life – Mid-tone grey blue (veluxe pearl)
Bruised Sky – Dark lavender-y grey (satin)
Heather Belles – Dark charcoal/carbon (satin)
$38 U.S./$45 CDN

Blush Ombre
Azalea Blossom – Light cool pink Vintage Grape Mid-tone violet pink
$26 U.S./$31 CDN

Nail Lacquer
Hyperion – Light grey blue green (crème)
Endless Night – Pale grey pink with iridescent pearl (frost)
Blueblood – Deep eggplant (crème)
$15 U.S./$18 CDN

How about it readers, what here speaks to the heiress in you?

Disclosure: This review includes products that were provided by the manufacturer/PR firm for our consideration. For more info, or any questions, please see our disclosure policy.