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Monday, September 19, 2016

MAC X Taraji P. Henson Collection Review & Swatches

Hey Everybody! Happy Monday! I usually pride myself on keeping up with upcoming MAC Collections, but the MAC x Taraji P Henson Collection really snuck up on me! I think I learned about it only a couple of days before its release. So that made me do a search on the internet, and it seems it wasn't widely talked about until August. If you've been a long follower of MAC Collections, MANY collections are discussed months and even a year in advance! As of yesterday, this collection was SOLD OUT except for the lipstick (MAC & Macy's). I did a quick eBay search and the prices for these products are now selling anywhere from $30 - $100. This collection sold out super fast! For me, that's not surprising! I mean, how many African American MAC Collections do you see or hear about? This is long overdue! Plus, Taraji P Henson is a very popular African American actress. I've followed Taraji for years and she is a helluva an actress. She really gets into her roles and makes you feel the character (ANY character she plays). I just wish, not only for her (but also other African American actors & actresses) that there were more & BETTER opportunities in both television & movies. You guys know I don't bite my tongue! I love Taraji to death and her acting skills are superb. But I want to make it very clear that I am NOT a fan of the show Empire (Yes, I am a black woman saying that!). I've watched it a couple of times, and there are multitudes of times when I feel it doesn't show African Americans in a positive light (things that are said, done, shown). That bothers me. I'm African American and over the years, our entertainment (movies, tv shows etc) have been limited to slavery, rap, violence, street gangs, jail etc. I know a lot of that is out there (I live in New Orleans)! But if you constantly FEED that to people, it goes from entertainment to real life. I don't depict Italians for what I saw in the movie The Godfather! I'm sure you can think of some stereotypical roles for your culture/ethnic group. But if its a constant, there's definitely a problem. I'm just going to say two things and then I'm done with it! Back in 2010, there was a show called UNDERCOVERS. It featured two awesome black actors (Boris Kodjoe & Gugu Mbatha-Raw)! They were married, had jobs as undercover agents, traveled AND spoke three languages. The show was cancelled...it didn't go past one season...and it was JJ Abrams 1st failure! Ummm, JJ Abrams television wise has never failed at anything! Everybody familiar with Daniel Craig as James Bond? He's BRILLIANT! I love him! Well he's tired of the role! He said it himself! So people started throwing around Idris Elba (amazing black British actor) as a replacement. He would be PERFECT! INSTEAD, they've offered Daniel Craig 150 Million to reprise his role as Bond for X many years. I'm through! LOL I just wanted to get these things off my chest. I just wish there were more opportunities for my people. We can travel! Many of us are educated! We do have jobs! There's more to life than street life! Back to MAC ... After I purchased the collection, I received an email from them stating they understood I purchased this collection an unfortunately the labels were switched. They gave me $25 to use on my next purchase. I think it's wonderful they did so! But this collection was so small, how could you mix things up? There are 3 things here! LOL What happened to Quality Assurance!?! There are MUCH larger MAC collections and none of their stuff got mixed up. LOL To ease your mind, this collection was SUPER AWESOME! I just didn't think, it was treated fairly in comparison to other collections. I call a spade, a spade! My thoughts on each are below.

Sweet-Bittersweet-NotSweet
supersweet(run & buy it) sweet(really good,buy it) bittersweet(ok, issues)not sweet(not good,don't buy this stuff) 
  MAC x Taraji P. Henson Collection is Supersweet

MAC x Taraji P. Henson: Taraji Glow Mineralize Skinfinish Natural 

Reddish-brown shades are truly IN for Fall. All it takes is looking at Chanel's newest collection. I used this skinfinish as a blush (nearly everyone did). It's VERY PIGMENTED! So a little goes a long way. The color is absolutely beautiful and looked great on my cheeks (see picture below). I think another thing I hated seeing, were comments that this collection would only work for black people! LOL That is so not the case! As with any collection, sometimes what looks good on one may not look good on another. There are so many factors involved (skin coloring, hair color, eye color etc)! Just because someone black put this together, doesn't mean it wouldn't look good on whites, hispanics, asians, italians etc.


MAC x Taraji P. Henson: Highlight The Truth Mineralize Skin Finish

So glad she did a highlighter! To me it has a beautiful peachy pink tone. What I liked about this highlighter is that it BLENDED really good with the blush. You don't just see HIGHLIGHTER! I swirled it into my blush (already on my cheeks) and it just gave me a nice glow. I also applied it on my nose.


MAC x Taraji P Henson: Strip Me Down Lipstick 

The Strip Me Down Lipstick looks different on EVERYBODY! LOL You see it on my hand here, but if you look at the MAC pics below, it is swatched on various skin tones.  And ALL are different! I'm glad it worked on me, because I almost didn't purchase it. It complimented the entire look. Some may not like the way it looks on them.


And here are how all three products looked on me...

 

MAC x Taraji P. Henson Chicago Event (via maccosmetics snapchat) & Final Thoughts

Here are some pics of the MAC x Taraji P. Henson Chicago Event. I thought Taraji looked beautiful and her beautiful personality definitely showed through the live shots. She's down to earth! She easily communicated and talked to customers. She was at ease. Laughed! Very humble, thanking everyone for their purchases. She did a great job with the collection. The quality was superb. As far as MAC, I hope they have more collections featuring African American men & women. I've always wanted them to do a Prince Collection. LOL I was disappointed that there weren't MORE QUANTITIES of this collection. I wanted to buy a second set, because this is a great everyday look (for me). I was also disappointed in the plain black MAC packaging. I feel at least her name (signature) could've been on it. I hope I didn't complain too much, but I couldn't let this pass and not say anything.

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21 comments

  1. Definitely not complaining too mcuh Kim! We come to your blog to read your opinion after all! Maybe they will release another similar collection, or more stock, as this one sold out so quickly? As that lippie is a really nice colour on you!


    Away From The Blue Blog

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  2. The collection looks beautiful and you look great wearing it. I tend to go more for a bolder color on the lip but you rock neutrals so well.

    http://asequinloveaffair.com

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  3. Blogger Fashionably Idu said...

    Oh Kim, where do i begin. They all look so good but im not paying that much on ebay. So excited about this collection for the same points you mentioned. But that mix up though, smh. Btw Taraji looked gorgeous last night at the Emmys. I'm done too as far as AA and getting roles and stuff. It makes me sad and truly bothers me. How could so many talents go to waste cos of melanin? Well, it's all good. I do like Empire but then again you raised some great points. I relate, totally. Enjoy your haul babe. You lucky duck!

    http://fashionablyidu.com/

    September 19, 2016 at 8:09 AM Delete

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  4. It's a long time coming and no wonder the collection sold out so quickly. People were all probably like finally! Crazy how they made a mistake with the labels considering the collection itself is just 3 items. And they could've made the packaging more special. Taraji P Henson is a fantastic actress and she deserves all the recognition she gets but I understand what you mean about Empire. I have only see bits of it and it doesn't necessarily depict African Americans in a positive light and in some way actually reinforces negative stereotypes. I'm Asian and there is very little representation of Asians in movies/tv and I would honestly rather not see any than have the few that there are be portrayed negatively. That is why I turn to Asian entertainment. Idris Elba rocks and and my husband and I both think he would make a kick ass James Bond. That franchise has become so staid and they need to shake things up! Those color look like they were made for you Kim!

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  5. Oh my gosh! Strip Me Down is seriously one of the best shades I've seen, and you look fab wearing it, Kim! I think it might be sold out here in Canada too, but I'll check it out when I go to a MAC counter. Thanks for the heads up about this collection.
    And I've never seen Empire, but my younger sis loves it. From what I've seen in snippets tho, I totally understand what you mean. I agree with Rowena's comment above. Even Asians are in the same boat when it comes to movie/TV roles. Filipinos are either portrayed as maids or prostitutes in Western cinema:( It's unfortunate that even in this modern time, stereotypes still exist. Frankly, I don't think it'll ever go away:(

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  6. These tones are really beautiful!
    I agree with you completely about tv and movies continuing to play on stereotypes. It really perpetuates prejudice and ignorance. Sometimes I feel like our country will never move forward. We are a melting pot of everything and this needs to be embraced.

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  7. First off, Idris Elba...AMAZING actor and I could totally see him as James Bond! Taraji P Henson is also amazing. I loved her in this movie that I think was a lifetime movie called Taken From Me where she goes undercover to Korea to get her son back that was taken by his dad. No Good Deed was also really good! This collection is gorgeous and something I would DEF wear! Esp that skin finish that I would use as a blush too.

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  8. Such a gorgeous collection! It's nice to see makeup brands widening their horizon when it comes to different skin tones !

    XoXo,

    Tamara - LoveofMode.com

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  9. Very well said Kim "But if you constantly FEED that to people, it goes from entertainment to real life.."
    I love the collection, the colors are spectacular.

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  10. I quit watching James Bond mainly because I don't think I can take another one of Daniel Craig's pout face. LOL! And I was so excited when the rumour started about Idris Elba might be the next James Bond and then nada...the $150 million thing came up. WTF?! And OMG, I love Taraji, she was amazing in Person of Interest and I cried when they killed off her character! Had no idea both this launch at all, I wonder why there's not much buzz going on about it?

    Shireen | Reflection of Sanity

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  11. what a beautiful collection! and I love the little gifs you made!


    XO Sahra
    Que Sera Sahra

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  12. Oh gosh Kim, after just spending ten days in your country, I completely get where you're coming from. There are a variety of different people and lifestyles within every ethnicity but entertainment continues to promote stereotypes and that seeps into how ethnicities are perceived. And I was so disappointed about Daniel Craig as James Bond, there are so many wonderful actors who could have taken that role, Idris Elba included. It's so sad that this collection didn't get much publicity because it looks fabulous and there are not enough collections that focus on African American women in the make-up world. All the shades you have are gorgeous on you!
    xox,
    Cee

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  13. I haven't watched "Empire" though I love the cast. MAC is definitely overdue in having a collection with a fabulous actress and WOC. The pigmentation and colors look fab here. Thanks for the review!

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  14. The earthy colours are wonderful. They look great on you.

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  15. This collection is beautiful, and everything looks stunning on you Kim! That highlight is especially gorgeous! I totally agree with you, all different skin types could wear this collection, I'm a huge fan of those blush tones! I agree with you about the packaging too, they totally should have done something special with it. And Taraji does look beautiful. And yes, you are so right about everything you said in your intro! And you definitely aren't complaining at all, thank you for speaking your mind!

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  16. Kim, you've made such great points that I 100% agree with. First off, I didn't even know about this collection launch! I knew about Selena, but not this one. So when I first saw the title of the post, I was a little confused because I only thought the Selena one was launching. As a born and raised New Yorker, I've grown up in the Bronx borough and I know exactly what you're talking about. I hate the fact that the media highlights all of the negatives in the African American community and then expect things to get better or change. If you tell a child his/her whole life that they're dumb, they will believe they're dumb, when in fact they are a genius. You become what you're told and you accept to be true. As you've said, if you're constantly seeing negatives, specifically in reference to a community in which you belong to, you begin to identify and live out what you've been shown. I've noticed for instance that whenever a commercial uses an African American woman, she nearly always has to have her hand on her hip and talk with a slang attitude, as if there aren't any articulate women. Again, having been raised in one of NYC's boroughs, I've seen that the community (as well as other minority groups) are often living within disadvantaged neighborhoods where they feel neglected and often feel hopeless as a result and it doesn't make it any better that the entertainment industry highlights the negatives associated with those conditions, instead of demanding something be done. Why not rap about that, instead of how curvy a woman's body is and what you think she's good for? I'm mixed with nearly every ethnicity under the sun, haha, and nearly all of them are stereotyped (I'm Irish, we drink too much, I'm latina, we're all illegal, I'm Jewish, we're all cheap, the list goes on) but I never really see as much negativity highlighted other than two groups, African American and Jewish. But anyway, this comment is too long now, I could talk with you for hours (I'm telling you, you NEED to move up north, haha). Thanks for sharing, beautiful, and I hope you're having the best start to your week so far!

    XO,

    Jalisa
    www.thestylecontour.com

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  17. The collection looks really beautiful on you.......I am a lover of browns, gold, and berry colors so this collection was a hit for me.

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  18. I would definitely try that lippie - and I'm quite pale! I wonder if it'will be released here in Australia, I haven't seen it at my MAC counter yet.

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  19. Loving the highlighter and the lipstick. GORGEOUS!!! It looks lovely on you Kim. xxx

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  20. This is a beautiful collection, and I agree that it is too small! They should have included more items! Your intro needed to be said, and I don't consider that complaining at all. People are more and more fed up with how they are being portrayed in the media and rightfully so!

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  21. exactly how i feel about hawaiians...why are we always portrayed as ho-brah-how's-da-surf surfers?? not all of us talk pidgin, and many of us are educated and speak perfectly good english!

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