Remember when I went all coral cray-cray with my review of MAC’s Coral Bliss Lipstick and Stay By Me Blush (basically a distillation of the fact I’m actually coral cray-cray for life!)?
Well, I decided it was time to give some love to the other shades on the blush spectrum and step out of my coral comfort zone, in the form of a pretty-in-pink look using MAC’s Sunny Seoul Cremesheen Lipstick and their Stay Pretty Pro Longwear Blush! Ta-da!
MAC’s Sunny Seoul Cremesheen Lipstick from their Cremesheen & Pearl Collection is actually one of my favourite lippies of all time. Give a beauty blogger a thousand lipsticks and the sad truth is that there are a few that we just always end up reaching for, no matter how many we have… and in my case, it’s invariably Sunny Seoul! After all, as a writer, how could I resist a stone cold solid pun like that?!
That’s definitely the only thing stone cold about Sunny Seoul though; it’s actually a lovely, warm medium pink that makes me think of sakura blossom on a gorgeous spring day – admittedly more Osaka than Seoul but hey, that wouldn’t have made nearly as good a pun would it?!
Like all MAC’s Cremesheen lipsticks, Sunny Seoul does have a slight pearlescent shimmer to it – don’t worry, nothing too Amy Adams’ side-boob in American Hustle, but just a gentle everyday kind of glimmer. It’s not quite as vivid and bright on the lips as it looks in the tube or on my hand but frankly, that’s just the way I like it – the perfect, easy, everyday, flattering shade of pink.
I also swatched it next to one of my other favourite everyday pinks, Clinique’s Mighty Mimosa Chubby Stick (which is reviewed in full here). Although they’re definitely quite close in terms of base colour, Sunny Seoul is obviously a more pigmented and vibrant pink – cherry blossom in full bloom rather than just softly starting to bud through – so I tend to reach for the MAC when I want a pink that pops just that little bit more.
Left to right: MAC Sunny Seoul vs Clinique Mighty Mimosa
The shimmer in Cremesheen lipsticks does mean that Sunny Seoul is a little on the dry side and the colour only lasts about-3-4 hours compared with some of MAC’s more heavily-pigmented hard-hitters, but even the most beautiful flowers can’t remain in bloom forever! LOVE.
However, when it comes to blush, I really am a one-woman girl – and her name is Coral, not Rose! With my spookily pale skin, soft subtle colours work best as blushes (anything stronger and I look like one of those Japanese cartoon characters with red circles painted on their cheeks); being naturally lazy, when I worked out that corals seemed to do the trick for my complexion without much thought or skill being required, I ended up sticking to my peachy guns forevermore.
When I was a teen, I also felt that wearing pastel pink blushes made me look younger (not ideal when you were trying to sneak into clubs underage – not that I ever did that, right Mum?!), so I never really gave pink a chance. Until now!
Like Stay By Me (the MAC coral blush I reviewed here), the Stay Pretty Pro Longwear Blush was originally part of their Office Hours Collection – so I’ll spare you the spiel about how it’s long-wearing, lasts a full working day, is all taking and no giving etc. As with Stay By Me, I think Stay Pretty lives up to that all-day claim pretty well, clocking it its full eight hours worth and maybe even a little more overtime than its peachy sister, simply because it has a more vibrant colour to it – a cool-leaning, light but bright sweet pea pink.
I also found that Stay Pretty had a noticeably less powdery texture than Stay By Me, feeling silky smooth and feather light to the touch. What I loved most about this colour though was how fresh it made me look; Stay Pretty does a great job of mimicking a light, swooningly pretty natural blush that I felt really brightened up my complexion in all the right ways. Obviously now I’m getting on a bit, a youthful shot of rosy radiance every now and again certainly ain’t to be sniffed at!
Whilst coral will probably always remain my go-to blush (I’ve had my favourite scarf…and perfume… and celeb crushes since high school – I’m a creature of habit, guys!), Stay Pretty’s perky pink flush has definitely made me re-consider my options. Together with Sunny Seoul, I reckon it’s a bit of a winning team; I guess this is proof I should start getting in the pink more often then!
MAC Sunny Seoul Cremesheen Lipstick, $145, Cremesheen & Pearl Collection
MAC Stay Pretty Pro Longwear Blush, $210, Office Hours Collection
See all MAC locations in Hong Kong here
Note: Stay Pretty was provided for my consideration; Sunny Seoul was bought by me personally.
Through The Looking Glass 