A Review of MAC’s Black Lipsticks

The Lady of the Manners wants you to know, Snarklings, that this is not the giant Goth fashion edition of Gothic Charm School. No, because the Lady of the Manners is still collecting clicky-links and discovering that while she has oodles of advice about Victorian-esque and darkly elegant gothwear, she needs to do a bit more searching around for helpful words and links to give to those of you who favor a more punk-tinged aesthetic.

So! The Lady of the Manners is going to answer a reader question about makeup! Jaleesa asks:

I have to ask you something. What is your thought’s on MAC’s newest products from the “Style Black” collection? Also, what is your thought’s on plus size goths? Other than, I love your book and your site. thank you

Oh yes, the MAC Style Black collection, chock-full of black lipsticks and nail polishes. Haven’t you noticed, Snarklings? The harder-edged/punk side of Goth is a big deal in the fashion world this autumn, which amuses the Lady of the Manners to no end, (even if her stylistic preference is for the more Victorian side of Goth). The Lady of the Manners, being a complete push-over for this sort of thing, scampered down to her local MAC store to ooh and ahhh over the goodies, and ended up getting the Mattene lipstick in Midnight Media, and Glimmerglass glosses in Blackfire and Blackware.

Midnight Media is a nicely-pigmented black lipstick. It feels creamier and more moisturizing than other MAC Mattene lipsticks, and it’s fairly long-lasting. The color is buildable; the first coat does go on as black instead of grey (thank goodness!), but you’ll get a deeper, more opaque black if you apply more coats.

Blackfire is a sheer black/gray gloss with red/pink shimmer. The shimmer is not just there to look pretty in the tube, but definitely shows up on your lips and doesn’t have a texture to it. You won’t feel like you’ve spackled your lips with glitter when you wear Blackfire.

Blackwar is another sheer gloss, in a shimmer-free black/grey color.

The Lady of the Manners suspects that most people who aren’t Goths will use Blackfire or Blackware as a way to deepen a different color lipstick. (In fact, someone on Makeup Alley said that they thought Blackfire would look good over a candy-pink lipstick, the idea of which mystified the Lady of the Manners.) The Lady of the Manners has tried both of these Glimmerglass colors over MAC’s Nightmoth lip liner, which resulted in a lovely dark blackened wine color.

However, the Glimmerglasses are a pain for upkeep. In all fairness, the Lady of the Manners finds all lip gloss products to be a pain for upkeep, because no matter how carefully and precisely she applies lipliner, the gloss eventually feathers and bleeds. Which looks even worse if you’re using a black gloss. So! The Lady of the Manners will only be using the Blackfire and Blackware Glimmerglasses when she is prepared to check on the state of her makeup every half hour or so.

A lot of people hold the opinion that black lip color is a babybat thing, and that Grown-Up Goths shouldn’t go near it. Nonsense, says the Lady of the Manners. The key to being an ElderGoth and indulging in black lipstick is, just like with all things Goth-fashion related, to make sure you are wearing it, and not the other way around. Don’t go all-out with Spooky Dark Eye makeup and black lipstick, it will make you look like you’re trying too hard to present yourself as a Dark And Mysterious Creature Of The Night.

The Lady of the Manners has been wearing black lipstick paired with her usual eye makeup (ivory all over the lid, a burgundy/purple color lightly smudged at the outer corners and the crease, a pale shimmery pink in the center (MAC’s Mylar, Sketch, and Sweetlust, respectively), black liquid liner, and black mascara), and thinks it looks striking and not silly or overwrought. So to all the other ElderGoths, the Lady of the Manners says: it is time for us to take back the black lipstick from the Bad Gawfick Cliché file!

As to the Lady of the Manners’ thoughts on plus-size Goths? She wishes it were easier to find interesting and well-fitting gothy clothing above a size 12! The Lady of the Manners has been up and down size ranges, and is quite familiar with not only the difficulty in finding Goth clothing in larger sizes, but is also, sadly, familiar with some of the unspoken and vexing stereotypes about what a “Real” Goth should look like. The Lady of the Manners is strongly of the opinion that someone’s gothness is not determined by their clothing size. Or race, or able-bodied-ness, or anything else like that. In fact, the Lady of the Manners isn’t really sure why people would think that Goths must all be a certain size and shape, but the more she thinks about it, the more exasperating she finds the whole notion.

To distract herself from that looming exasperation, the Lady of the Manners is going to wander off and find more examples of mainstream fashion yet again borrowing from Goth, because such things amuse her. As always, Snarklings, do feel free to write to Gothic Charm School!

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