MAC Archie’s Girls Lips and Cheeks – review, photos & swatches

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An ageless love triangle leads to a beautiful collection

(Sung to the tune of Sugar Sugar)
Makeup (do do do do do do) ah, lipstick, lipglass! (do do do do do do)
You are my ob-session
And you got me wanting you
Makeup (do do do do do do) ah, blush and Pearlmatte! (do do do do do do)
The Archie launch has got it all
And it’s got me wanting more

Though I watched the Archie show as a kid, I have to admit, I didn’t get it. Why did these two beautiful girls want nerdy ol’ Archie? And on a deeper level, I knew even as a little girl that it was kind of weird to pit them against each other for his affection. Really Archie, make a decision already. Or girls, what about Reggie? He’s pretty cute and in the band too.

Archie obviously has staying power. First released in 1941, the comics are still being made today. And the best friends/worst enemies are still fighting for Archie’s affection. (He actually married BOTH of them in a recent story line, but I won’t even get into that.)

Love triangles aside, there’s no denying a catchy song or a great makeup collection. And Archie’s Girls is a great makeup collection; bright pop graphics with equally bright pop shades. Of course, a lot of it is sold out online already (which it was before we even opened the Fed Ex box.) But try in store, you may still have luck. Keep resorting to EvilBay as a last resort!

Flatter Me! and Veronica’s Blush Pearlmatte Face Powder

The lip and cheek products were what I was drawn to most in the launch. I’m a straight up Betty when it comes to the cheeks…

It’s no wonder I LOVE Betty’s Pearlmatte Face Powder in Flatter Me! It has one of my all time favorite MAC products in it: Shell Pink Beauty Powder. It’s absolutely one of my holy grail highlighters; the product I reach for most often when I want to add a healthy, lit from within sort of glow. Don’t be sad if you can’t track it down, Shell Pink is available in the Year of the Snake launch too!

Flatter Me!

Flatter Me! is a light shimmery golden peach base (that’s the Shell Pink Beauty Powder) with embossed bright coral hearts (Foolish Me Powder Blush).

Veronica’s Pearlmatte is no slouch either. Aptly named Veronica’s Blush, it’s a silvery pink base (Frankly Scarlet Powder Blush) with bright but dark pink hearts (Play It Proper Beauty Powder). In case you didn’t notice the switcheroo, the Beauty Powder is the accent here versus being the base in Betty’s product. Oh those girls – so different!

Flatter Me! and Veronica’s Blush Pearlmatte Face Powder

Whichever one you use, swirl the finely milled base and heart shades together for the best effect.

Cream Soda

The blushes are lovely as well, and silky smooth to apply. I especially love Betty’s Cream Soda. It’s a bright and light coral with subtle shimmer.

Prom Princess

Veronica’s is called Prom Princess, it’s a bright medium magenta pink that should look really pretty on darker skin tones.

Cream Soda and Prom Princess blush

Ronnie Red, Daddy’s Little Girl, Betty Bright, Girl Next Door

The lipsticks have me leaning Betty as well. I only stray to the Veronica side for Ronnie Red. I tried to convince myself I didn’t need it. Honestly, if you saw how many red lipsticks I had, you’d call the authorities. But my god, it’s just so pretty! Just a bright, pure red with just enough depth to it. And in MAC’s fabulous matte formula; cushiony matte I like to call it. It’s not dry and has a 5 hour+ formula. There was no hope for me; I was helpless to Ronnie Red.

Ronnie Red, Daddy’s Little Girl

And If fuchsia is your thing, Daddy’s Little Girl is beautiful; a bright, satin finish pop of purple pink.

Betty Bright, Girl Next Door

Getting back to being helpless to the power of lip products, if you’ve read this blog even once before, you probably also know I’m a sucker for corals, especially bright ones. And wow, does Betty have some stunning bright corals!

Betty Bright is a bright and light South Beach Granny kind of coral that drives me crazy. It’s got a satin finish that you can apply lightly and add a gloss for just a wash of color. Or, apply heavily for full on coral. Exfoliate your lips first though, the formula is on the drying side.

Girl Next Door has a lustre formula and is a silvery pink.

BTW, one of the shades that IS still available online is Oh Oh Oh, a sheer version of O that is just gorgeous. Check out our swatch HERE.)

Ronnie Red, Daddy’s Little Girl, Betty Bright, Girl Next Door

Kiss Don’t Tell, Summer Sweetheart, Stay Sweet, Feelin’ So Good

Kiss Don’t Tell may be the shade you do resort to drastic measures to get. If you love a bright yellow pink, they don’t get much prettier than this pretty creme.

Kiss Don’t Tell

Rounding out the Betty’s picks we got to take a look at are Summer Sweetheart; a light peachy nude creme, and Stay Sweet; a light milky cool pink (is it just me or do we see this color all the time?)

In the Veronica camp, we checked out Feelin’ So Good; a sheer blackened wine.

Kiss Don’t Tell, Summer Sweetheart, Stay Sweet, Feelin’ So Good

How about it readers, do any of these products make your eyes fill with cartoon hearts?

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. All photos property of we heart this

Lipstick
Betty:
Girl Next Door – Vivid blue pink (lustre)
Betty Bright – Light vibrant peach (satin)
Oh, Oh, Oh – Sheer brown plum (lustre)

Veronica:
Daddy’s Little Girl – Mid-tone pink violet (satin)
Ronnie Red – Bright Red (matte)
Boyfriend Stealer – Deep blackened plum (cremesheen)
$16.50 US/$20 CDN

Lipglass
Betty:
Summer Sweetheart – Light peach
Stay Sweet – Light lavender pink
Kiss & Don’t Tell – Bright coral

Veronica:
Mall Madness – Mid-tone pink violet
Strawberry Malt – Bright red
Feelin’ So Good – Deep blackened plum
$16.50 US/$20 CDN

Powder Blush
Betty:
Cream Soda – Light neutral coral (satin)

Veronica:
Prom Princess – Mid-tone violet pink (satin)
$22 US/$26 CDN

Pearlmatte Face Powder
Betty:
Flatter Me – Golden peach base (Shell Pearl Beauty Powder) with coral hearts (Foolish Me Powder Blush)

Veronica:
Veronica’s Blush – Silvery pink base (Frankly Scarlet Powder Blush) with deep pink hearts (Play It Proper Beauty Powder)
$30 US/$35 CDN

Author

  • Stef Andrews

    Stef is a plethora of things. Amongst them: co-founder of we heart this, photographer, condiment connoisseur, Philly girl in the California desert, borderline hoarder and a hardcore beauty junkie. She also has a touch of wanderlust and, arguably, the cutest dog in the whole world... skin tone: NC 25/30 skin type: oily with a fear of rosacea favorite beauty product: high end skincare and lip products

18 Comments

  1. Now you’ve got me intrigued…married BOTH of them? I am going to have to gogle that! Such a fun line. I’m super-bummed it’s sold out online – I cannot take the Danger Boys to the make-up counter with me!

  2. I love the song, @stef! Now I’ve got the tune stuck in my head…which is actually pretty fun and puts me in a bouncy mood!

    Stef is spot on with Prom Princess; I got to try it and it looks great on my NC42 skin! Like pretty much most of MAC’s lines, it is super pigmented so I just barely put the brush in the pan and get a nice wash of color. MAC blush never lets me down.

    The best part? VERONICA ON THE LID! The picture is so dang cute, I love it.

    1. “Liz of Happy Sighs and St. Baldrick’s” really moved me–how beautiful, @alyssa!

    2. Thanks, @gigi! I’m so excited because she’s doubled her goal!!

  3. I have Ronnie Red and Prom Princess (I’m fair but it’s gorgeous also on me! XD)… I lusted Veronica’s blush a lot but due to stupid distribution of MAC here in Italy I hadn’t a chance to buy it ;_____;

    1. Oh, that’s good to hear Prom Princess works for fair skin too.
      Thanks for the comment.!

  4. I’m overwhelmed by the luscious, opulent colors from this collection. I’m generally drawn to pinks (“Prom Princess” is screaming my name), but I can see how “Flatter Me!” would be oh-so-becoming. The “samples” you give via superb photos are nearly as effective as trying them in person. Now I’m left with decisions, decisions–and another song stuck in my head!

    1. If you like pinks @gigi – but feel drawn to Flatter Me, you’d probably love Veronica’s Blush. It gives the same lit from within sort of glow, but in tones of pinks rather than coral/peach.

    2. As the lucky tester of Veronica’s Blush I agree with @stef – if you are a pink lover you’ll probably flip over it @gigi – it’s a very pretty light and shimmery pink and gives such a sweet glow.

  5. My fiance bought me the Pearlmatte Face Powder in Flatter Me! for Valentine’s Day, because he knew it was on my wish list. It’s so pretty. Not too shimmery, just the right amount of pigmentation, and so cute to look at. I’ve been using it frequently.

    WHT sent me the Betty Lipglass in Summer Sweetheart. It’s a nice pastel milky peach. Not too light, mostly a nice sheer-ish shade. It’s pretty and basic and natural–very Betty.

    1. What a sweet gift! I was wondering if he understood the gravity of your devotion to beauty products. I suppose he knows the if you are to remain as gorgeous as you are, you may need a little help now and then!

  6. woohoo! I received the Veronica lipglass in Feelin’ So Good. My oh my, so vampy! I would say, any more darker it would not be very Veronica. I thought it was really cool for them to include such a shade in this colorful, peppy comic book inspired collection. I thought the formula could’ve been a bit better because of all the pigmentation but overall it was easy to work with, especially with corresponding lipsticks.

    When this collection came out, I went and purchased the Betty Bright lipstick – 2 actually, my mom’s name is Betty and for her birthday, I got her namesake goodies with the Betty picture on them :). Love this color! I also thought heavily about Ronnie Red but decided not to get it because I was getting some face products as well. You DID make the right decision on keeping this one @Stef :)

    I, too, also ran and got the Pearlmatte face powder in Flatter Me! and Cream Soda. Cream Soda is a bit hard to see on my light/medium skintone but I LOVED Flatter Me! It’s so flattering (ha ha) and gorgeous on me. I love the hearts too :) I heard that the color for the hearts go all the way to the bottom of the pan. No overspray!

    1. Betty’s cheek products were probably my favorite products in the whole launch! Glad you got them @mandabear!

  7. Betty Bright is the one Archie’s Girls product I am determined to chase down. I can’t believe how quickly these adorable products disappeared from my local MAC counters and online, too! Having tested the Year of the Snake version of Shell Pink Beauty Powder, I agree with you 100% about how flattering it is, @stef . The Archie’s Girls packaging is the icing on the cake!

  8. As a bit of a Veronica myself (dark hair, blue eyes, a desire to get my way all the time.. yep, that’s me!) I was super excited to get Daddy’s Little Girl for testing. I tend to shy away from super bright lips, but I’m making an effort to change that!
    The bright pop of fuchsia in Daddy’s Little Girl literally made me smile every time I saw my reflection. Fully opaque in one swipe, the formula isn’t necessarily hydrating but it’s certainly not drying. A little clear gloss on top and I was set to go for the day. I got so many compliments when wearing this! (I think the constant smiling helped.) Cool toned divas, you NEED this in your life. I’m in love!

  9. LOVE these! They are so adorable. I got to try the Stay Sweet Betty pink lip gloss and it works great, also has a really nice smell to it which I find is rare for a lip gloss. Usually just lip chaps with no colour have the nice smells.
    Great review!

  10. I’m kind of in love with Veronica’s blush, Prom Princess. I probably shouldn’t wear a color that dark, but this pale girl would still try. I’ve been looking for this one in stores and having no luck, though. Boo hoo *wipes away a tear* :(

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