Many of you may already be aware of the December 26th Punk Couture Collection that MAC will be releasing (and if you were lucky enough to catch Nordstrom’s brief online pre-sale you might already have your hands on the collection). The collection includes pigments, an eye shadow quad, lip glasses, and 4 lipsticks. This review focuses on the lipsticks in the collection.
The 4 lipsticks in this collection are:
Punk Couture
Instigator
Hautecore
Studded Kiss
All 4 lipsticks are matte in formula and are vampy, which fit with the current trend.
Hautecore originally released on Black Friday (and quickly sold out) so if you missed out you’re in luck. This is the same color (matte black).
It applies creamy but takes a bit of layering to get to full opacity. I’ve read some reviews that described it as patchy and compared it to Talk That Talk. It is not remotely as dry as TTT (which is a Retro Matte) and it’s not patchy…it’s just not as pigmented in one or two swipes like some may have anticipated. It initially has a slight sheen that seems to make the finish appear semi matte but once it sets it begins to look more like a traditional matte lipstick. It’s not as drying as some older MAC matte formulas have been and reminds me of how the recent RiRi Nude matte formula feels. This is true for all 4 lipsticks in this collection.
Studded Kiss applied the creamiest and smoothest out of the 4 lipsticks in this collection. It is also one of the most misleading when trying to photograph. It looks lighter in the swatch, but when looked at in the full face photo you can see that it is much darker (I’m wearing it in the photo with the light colored sweater). Some people have mistakenly thought that it had an orange tone to it due to some swatches that have been posted online but I do not see any orange in it at all. It’s a darkened red that leans towards a brick red color.
Punk Couture was a color I initial thought would be close to Heroine (which is being rereleased and will be permanent to the MAC lineup!) but was surprised to see that it was a great deal deeper due to it’s grape purple coloring. It makes Heroine appear a lot pinker. You will see a difference in the look of the color in the swatch and in the pic of me wearing it (it’s the one with me in the blue shirt below) at full application strength. It took on a much stronger blue-based purple tone when I wore it with full makeup but it applied lightly you can control this.
Instigator is a darkened berry-wine color that reminds me of Talk That Talk. I’m not sure if it’s an exact dupe (I haven’t actually swatched the two next to each other) but the formulas are night and day. If TTT was a nightmare for you to deal with then you will be very happy with the application of this. I honestly feel like this is worth having even if you already own TTT.
Are you planning on checking out the Punk Couture collection when it comes out?
Butterfly Eyes 
Reblogged this on CROHNS-N-LIPSTICK and commented:
I cant wait for these Lipsticks to come out. I want all four!!!
The buzz seems to be growing for this collection so it looks like a lot of people are excited. I think you will love them!
I am passing on Hautelook, but buying the other three lipsticks plus two of the glosses. I din’t care for Hautelook this time around, especially since I still have Black Knight and Grey Friday lipsticks that I haven’t opened.
I took advantage of the in-store pre-sell at a Mac store and at Nordstrom. I didn’t know they actually sold them online or I would have them in hand.
Have you reviewed and swatched the Nude collection that’s coming out the same day and the Huggable collection.
So glad I found your site. I prefer seeing swatches on women that look like me. Glad you posted a comment and link on Temptalia 🙂
Hi Monica!
I haven’t had a chance to review the Magnetic Nudes collection yet, but I hope to soon. I might not be reviewing the Huggables collection, but if I do I will mention so on my Twitter account or on my Instagram if I don’t post the blog first.
I think a lot of people were surprised by Nordstrom’s online pre-order and even more surprised by their early shipping. They may be releasing the collection officially before MAC if MAC sticks to their Dec. 26th release date since Nordstrom is releasing the collection online officially tomorrow (12/23). I suspect MAC will release the collection online before the 26th, but you never can tell. HauteCore isn’t a must have in my opinion. It’s an interesting color to have in your collection and can be quite versatile for mixing even if you aren’t comfortable with wearing a straight black lip, but I wouldn’t say that it’s a color that everyone should run out and add to their kit. I also think that if you’re looking for a better black lipstick then you may want to hold out for Melt Cosmetics new release as it looks like it may be more promising.
Thanks for visiting my blog, Monica! I’m glad that you enjoyed it and that I could be helpful. That’s always been my main goal!
Hi,
Thanks for getting back to me. I read your about me page and I figure you’re doing what I’m doing, watching football. Not sure what your favorite team is, I’m a Pats fan since I live in MA. I haven’t kept up with college ball as much as I have in past years, but I’ve always been an ACC girl since I graduated from UVA. We have a lot in common, we should chat off blog sometime.
I’ve always loved Mac Cosmetics. In fact I’ve been a fan since they came on the market and weren’t in a lot of stores yet. I’m mostly a lipstick/gloss/liner fan. I’m trying to branch out and wear eyeshadow. In fact, I’m just started to get into the whole face. Usually its just lips and I’m gone. I’ve always been into great skincare so I guess that’s why I never cared about wearing foundation or blush. I just bought a new mascara,
Maybe I’ll start a blog about skincare products. Maybe I can find out how you got started some more. Okay, back to the game. I’m feeling pretty good right now since we’ve clinched a playoff spot and we’re up 17-0 against the Ravens.
Thanks for letting me know about Nordstrom selling the collection early. I game my credit card at both a Mac store and one of my Nordstrom stores for them to charge on the 26th. I think I’ll call Nordstroms and find out what’s going on.
Yes I’m watching the game lol. But we’re rooting for opposite teams! I’m a Ravens girl! Your Patriots are hurting my guys right now though! It’s still pretty early though lol. I love football period so I watch all of the NFL games if I can and as far as college goes I’m an SEC girl all the way. And an Auburn Tigers fan rain or shine! So excited for the BCS Championship this year! It’s great that we have things in common!
Any dupes for Punk Couture?
I actually don’t have any dupe suggestions for Punk Couture right now. Everything I have tested hasn’t passed the dupe test so far. Not saying there isn’t a dupe out there…I’m just not aware of it at this point.
I would love to see some dupes for the four lipsticks sooooo mad I couldn’t get these
I will try and see if I have any dupes but I can tell you right now that I have nothing in my collection by any brand that is a dupe for Punk Couture. There are other black lipsticks out there that can be substituted for Hautecore (but may not be matte)…but Melt Cosmetics will be releasing a matte black lipstick soon that you can get in it’s place. Studded Kiss might have some possible dupes but I’ll need to do some comparisons to see if that’s the case. Same with Instigator.