MAC Marilyn Monroe Collection

If you were unable to purchase anything from MAC's Marilyn Monroe Collection before it sold out and are feeling bummed about it, I think I can make you feel a little bit better.

You're really not missing out on much.

Now, don't get me wrong - I am thrilled with my purchases and there are a couple of products that I'm pretty much in love with.

But on the whole, there's really nothing particularly special about the colors or products in this collection.

In the end, it's really the packaging that makes this collection so special.

I swear, my package came yesterday and when I opened it up, I just kind of sat and stared at the boxes with all the lovely pictures of Marilyn.  If you're a fan of hers, then I think you'll probably love the idea of having a lipstick or blush with her image on the case (and they're not stickers!).

Otherwise, I bet you could find similar shades and products from another brand without much trouble.

To be fair, the collection is designed to be fairly simple, I think.  While classic and beautiful, Marilyn's makeup style calls for little more than soft, neutral shadows and your traditional red lipstick.  Bold, unique colors would be out of place here.

I'll start with the lipstick since that's one of the products I'm most excited about.

I've talked before about my difficult relationship with red lipstick, and I'm still not exactly confident enough to rock it on a regular basis.  Still, I felt like I had to get one of the red shades from this collection since that's the classic Marilyn look.

I chose Deeply Adored because it was one of the deeper options.

 *sigh*

I am totally, head over heels in love.

MAC Marilyn Monroe Collection Lipstick Packaging

MAC Lipstick in Deeply Adored

MAC Deeply Adored swatch

While it's a totally classic red - meaning it's not wine or burgundy - it's a deep red instead of a bright red.  I'm terribly about picking out undertones, but maybe there's a hint of brown in it?

 Whatever the exact nature of the shade, I love it.  I feel much more comfortable in it than the red lipsticks I have from Maybelline and Cover Girl, and I think I might actually be able to work up the nerve to wear it regularly.  I wore it today but my big trip out involved walking Brownie so I'm not sure that counts.  I have a birthday celebration for my friend this weekend that I'm thinking about wearing it too - it's just too pretty not to!

It is a matte shade, but it isn't really all that drying on the lips.

LIke I said, it's love.  I think I'll be wearing Deeply Adored a lot this fall.

While I'm talking about the lipsticks in the collection, I'll mention that I have one of the other shades, Pure Zen, but it's part of the permanent line and I actually bought it a couple of months back (if I had known it was coming out with this collection, I would have waited so I could have Marilyn on the packaging!).

The only reason I didn't do a review is that it's one of those fabulous peachy nude shades that I am crazy about and I figured you guys were tired of me going on and on about them.

MAC Pure Zen Lipstick

MAC Pure Zen swatch

I love it, though, and wear it often.

It's the only lipstick in the collection that's not red, for what that's worth.  I don't know that I've ever seen a photo of Marilyn wearing a lipstick that color, though.  I'll have to hunt one down.

I picked up one of the Dazzleglasses from the collection, Phiff!

Now, I find the inclusion of shimmery lipglosses slightly strange since Marilyn never wore any, but MAC got me with their description of the shade - "Sheer Yellow Peach."

They had me at peach.

They were honest about the sheerness of the gloss, but I was expecting it to have some color.

MAC Marilyn Monroe Collection Dazzleglass Packaging

MAC Phiff! Dazzleglass swatch

It doesn't really.  It's pretty much just shimmer.

Don't get me wrong- I'll get use out of it over plenty of lipsticks, but I was a bit disappointed.

My other favorite product from the collection is the blush in Legendary.

It's a pale peach shade with a satin finish that just looks so pretty and natural on the skin.

MAC Marilyn Monroe Collection Blush Packaging

MAC Blush in Legendary

MAC Legendary Blush swatch

It reminds me of the Balm's Frat Boy, though it's definitely lighter. In fact, I think that if you have medium or deeper skin, you might have a problem getting it to show up.  I love it because it's one of those shades that I don't have to worry about applying too much of it.

I also picked up two of the large eye shadows, Preferred Blonde and How to Marry.

Preferred Blonde is a light champagne shade, while How to Marry is a soft white.  Both are veluxe pearl finishes.

Now, before you even see swatches, you're probably thinking, 'Jennifer, why did you purchase the two most common, easy-to-dupe shades in the collection?'

The two silvery gray shades were definitely pretty, but I hardly ever wear the silver shadows I already have in my collection.  I wear a white or champagne shadow in some fashion pretty much every day so I figured I'd get use out of these.

(And really, you know, it's all about the packaging...)

When you look at the swatches, you're going to think, 'You idiot!  You bought two shadows that are pretty much the same color!'

MAC Large Eyeshadows in Preferred Blonde (l.) & How to Marry (r.)

MAC Preferred Blonde (l.) and How to Marry (r.) swatches

I have to admit, they are very close but they do look different on the eye and I'm happy with both of them.

Preferred Blonde is definitely the more pigmented of the two and it has a nice brightening effect. I wore it today from the lashes to brow with a little of Tease from the Urban Decay Naked Palette in the crease, and it was a really simple but pretty look.  I will use this one a lot.

How to Marry is pretty sheer, but that's not such a bad thing. I typically use  shimmery white shades to brighten the inner corner of my eye and I find those shadows that are very pigmented can look stark and unnatural.  This one has a subtle but very brightening look, so it may become my go-to shadow for that purpose.

If you're wondering about the size of the large shadows compared to the regular shadows, these are 3-grams while the others are 1.5-grams.

Finally, I bought the Beauty Powder in Forever Marilyn.

I must confess that I never really understand how to use MAC's Beauty Powders.  The few that I have are really too light to use as blush, not shimmery enough to serve as a highlighter and too dark to use as an all-over face color.

MAC sucked me in with this one by dangling that one magic word again - peach.

(Well, the packaging might have had something to do with it too...)

They describe Forever Marilyn as a 'Sheer Pale Peach Highlighter.'

MAC Marilyn Monroe Beauty Powder Packaging

MAC Forever Marilyn Beauty Powder

MAC Forever Marilyn Beauty Powder swatch

Um, pale is right.

You can see - or not - that it's essentially the same color as my skin.

Surprisingly, that's not a bad thing for me.

I love the finish, so I will happily use this as an all-over face powder.  I did so today, and it had a lovely illuminating effect. 

All in all, I'm very happy with my purchases.  But if you're not a Marilyn Monroe fan, there's probably nothing here to excited.

If you are a Marilyn fan, check your local store or counter or start stalking your C.C.O because I think you'll want at least one item from the collection.

Did you purchase anything from the collection?  What is your favorite item?