MAC Pale Lip Erase
MAC Lip Erase is a flesh-toned balm that visually neutralizes and erases natural colour from the lip. Shine- and texture-free. Available in a choice of two shades for use on light to medium skin tones.
MAC Lip Erase is available in two (2) shades: Pale (for lighter skin tones) and Dim (for medium skintones).
What is the purpose of this product? Like mentioned, this product is meant to cancel out the natural hue of your lips. Why? Well, if you have little to no color in your lips, you may not find this product at all necessary. But, if you have rosy, pigmented lips, you may find this product helpful. Your natural lip color has a big impact of how certain lipsticks and lipglosses will look on you. It's only usually when lip colors are very opaque, that your natural lip color may not have an affect on how the color will look. On the other hand, with sheer lip colors, your natural lip color has a very big impact on how the lip color will look.
MAC Pale Lip Erase swatched on my hand
Have you ever walked into Sephora and tried to find your perfect lipstick and you take advantage of the hundreds of testers & illuminated mirrors - only to find that every lipstick you picked up looks almost the same on your lips? This happens to me almost every time I try out new lipsticks in a cosmetic store. Each time you wipe your lips off, your lips will give off a rosy hue. The more "rosy" or pigmented your lips are, the less certain shades (especially sheer, neutral or nude) will show up true to what you see in the tube.
The best way to achieve the color you see in the tube, is by giving your lips a clear canvas, with little color (unless, like mentioned, the lip color is very opaque & will cancel out your lip color regardless).
Of course you can use a concealer or foundation on your lips, but sometimes the foundation or concealer can be too thick & end up "mixing" with your lip color, completely altering the shade or it can be very drying to your lips. What I like to do, is apply a moisturizing lip balm to my lips, and after I have applied my foundation to my face with a brush, I take the brush and tap it gently over my lips to cancel out any rosiness. This only adds a little foundation residue to my lips & isn't heavy or drying.
Left to right: MAC Myth, Maybelline Cover Stick Med. Beige, MAC Pale Lip Erase
A couple of comparisons: MAC Myth Lipstick (a common shade to lighten the lips), Maybelline Cover Stick in Med Beige (a concealer stick, blended) and MAC Pale Lip Erase. Even though I applied a few layers of the lip erase, you can barely see it.
So, what's so special about MAC's Lip Erase? Well, there's a product for everything isn't there? Some may find that their foundation/concealer trick works fine for them & don't feel the need to invest in this product (or similar). I really like this product though. If you are familiar with MAC Lip Conditioners & Tinted Lip Conditioners, this product comes in the exact same packaging and has a very similar feel. I originally thought this product would be thick and heavy like a concealer - but I was completely wrong. It's actually incredibly thin, and lightweight and has the consistency of a lip balm. It was actually a little difficult to get a decent swatch of the color because it is so sheer, but it cancels out the lips wonderfully. Once applied to my lips, I don't find that the color moves around after I apply my lip color over it. I also don't find it drying. My lips are normally dry, but I didn't find that this dried them out any more than usual. Because it is light, it will emphasize dry skin, so I like exfoliating my lips prior and putting a light coating of lip balm on. I think this product is extremely handy and it will be a product that I can pop in my bag and pat on my lips after meals before I apply my lip gloss or lipstick. I'm very happy I decided to get this product, and I'll surely be wearing more of lip glosses that I tend to neglect.
I took a few photos to show what Nars Chihuahua Lipgloss looks like applied to my bare lips and what it looks like applied over MAC Lip Erase. As you can see, applied over my bare lips, the color is more red toned, and rosy. I much prefer the way it looks with Lip Erase.
Nars Chihuahua Lipgloss applied over MAC Pale Lip Erase
Yes, sometimes it does bother me and other times I am fine with just gloss. I will use a pale lipstick once in a while but have really dry lips so mostly just prefer gloss. I have heard of this product. In the photos, I think I like the way your lips looks without Mac lip Erase. It appears more vibrant. Also I like when you wear a lipstick and then gloss over it.
ReplyDeleteI have been considering getting this product, but have never seen anyone wear it! I love the pics of the gloss with and without Lip Erase.
ReplyDeleteGreat review, thanks!
xx
obsessionstolivefor.blogspot.com
Just an FYI...this is actually on the regular website. Unfortunately each time I check they only have it in Dim.
ReplyDeleteHi there Natalie - long time lurker first time commenter and I'm also from Chicago!!...Well, from the suburbs anyway ha.
ReplyDeleteI couldn't help but notice how much you complain of orangish brassy hair, but then you'll wear LOTS of corals (blushes and lipsticks). Have you heard of the "Color Me Beautiful" book? It categorizes each face as "Spring", "Summer", "Fall", or "Winter" to determine clothing, hair, and makeup colors that best suit your natural complexion's coloring.
I have a feeling you're a "Cool" which is why you dislike orangey hair tones. You probly look better in burgundy than tomato red, crisp white instead of ivory, black over brown, pine green rather than olive green, lemon yellow than mustard yellow, silver instead of gold, etc. If you're a "warm" the opposite is true, but your tan may skew things to make you think you're a warm.
Anyway if you're interested, I have the ebook and can email it to ya - perhaps you could review it as a blog entry!
What an amazing review! I had this product but swapped it, it was crap haha. I much prefer concealer on my lips, or MAC Myth. I find it moves too much on the lips and slides away with the lipstick.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for this! I have wondered about this so many times b/c like you said, concealer and foundation often mix or end up looking kinda gross when you apply lip gloss over them. i wish it was available at all stores though. i know they promoted it with a collection a while back but i of course didnt get it before it sold out :( thanks again though!
ReplyDeleteBarbara - Yeah.. I feel the same way most of the time. There are some lipsticks and lip glosses I tend to neglect because they will make my lips look a little too flushed. Which, isn't a bad thing.. but sometimes I want my lips to be a little toned down. I love MAC Marquise D' in the morning (when my lips are pale) and I don't like it as much when I re-apply throughout the day because by then my lips have more color to them & the lipstick doesn't look as pink. And thank you dear for commenting! I like the combo of lipstick + gloss better too. :)
ReplyDeleteBethany - Thank you!!!
MeghanF - Really?? I just checked and didn't see it. I'll check again. Thanks for letting me know!
annette1030 - Hi!! Haha that's awesome! :)
I just think brassy tones look weird on me because with my skintone, there isn't enough contrast between my hair color and my face. I love my hair highlighted, but when my brown hair fades to auburn - yuck! lol My friends and family love when my hair gets like that, as they say it softens my face, but I don't like the way it looks. It makes me think of brown hair with bleach in it.
I haven't actually heard of Color Me Beautiful, but I'd love to check it out! You can email it to nattyblogspot@ymail.com. Thanks so much!
A lot of my wardrobe is actually brown, and it seems to suit me very well - as does gold. Black actually looks terrible on me, and I don't own one black thing besides a few jackets.
I'd still love to read it anyway! Thanks again!
EllysMakeupbag - LOL.. I still have yet to mess with it more. I've only been using it for the past few days. I didn't find that it moves as much as it does with concealer, but I have only tried it with a few different lipglosses. I'll update this post, if my opinion changes.
Sammie - Yeah.. with concealer and foundation it could look gross. Esp. with the concealer colors I have. It makes my pinks look greyish beige - eww. They did have it with the collection D'Squared, I wanted it back then.. but I of course didn't end up getting it in time either. haha Thanks for commenting!
Check for it in the lipstick section! http://www.maccosmetics.com/product/shaded/168/1625/Lip-Erase/index.tmpl
ReplyDeleteAWESOME review doll! I will have to give lip erase a try! :)
ReplyDeleteprimpandgiggle.com
I've tried using foundation or concealer to erase my lips in the past and have always had problems because the foundation wouldn't sink into my lips. If this product is closer to Mac's lip balm then I'm assuming the color sinks into your lips better?
ReplyDelete-Diana
www.glamappetit.blogspot.com
I come across that problem all the time, and i've always used concealer/nude lipstick to solve that problem, but sometimes it gets too cakey!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing that, probably gonna invest in it :)
-Alisa
http://acee922.wordpress.com
Maybe I'm crazy, but it looks like the 'bare lips' before pic and 'with MAC erase + lipgloss' after pic are the same!
ReplyDeleteI find that my Estée Lauder Double Wear foundation works really well to cancel out my lip color. I carry a tiny squeeze bottle of it in my bag to reapply after eating/drinking, before reapplying my lipstick or gloss. I hate the way my natural lip color alters lipstick shades & makes it look like it's bleeding around the edges when it's not. I buy my ELDW in the 200ml/6.7oz bottles their sales associates normally use at their counters to provide samples for customers (saves a ton of money this way if you can find them new/unopened & much more convenient - I hate the glass bottles Double Wear comes in). I decant it into smaller dropper bottles for different uses, especially when traveling. It works for me not only as a foundation, but also a very buildable undereye & blemish concealer & a lip erase product. Because it adheres to the skin so well - including my lips - it doesn't get moved around by any product applied over top of it, including cream blush, liquid highlighters, gel-based cosmetic products, and lipsticks & glosses. Best multi-use product ever, I swear. No need for me to buy separate products for every use, and the huge bottles that sometimes come available really wind up being much cheaper per ounce/milliliter.
ReplyDeleteHi. It might sound weird that I'm interested in this product, as a 25-year-old guy, but hear me out. I have naturally pigmented, rosy lips, and I don't really like the looks of them. I've been trying to find a product that will tone them down to a more neutral color. Would something like this work by itself? Or is it meant to be just a base to apply lipstick over? Would it be obvious to people I was wearing makeup?! Thanks for any advice you can offer. :)
ReplyDelete