MAC It’s a Strike! Collection: Quick Look and Swatches

Grab your favorite balls!

Wait… That sounded weird.

Grab your favorite bowling balls. That’s what I meant. 🙂

Is it bowling balls, or bowling ball? Heck, I don’t know. I’m so not into bowling.

I don’t hang out in bowling circles or bowling alleys, mostly because I was always being dragged to bowling alleys when I was a kid, and I was deathly bored the entire time. But perhaps if they’d had a MAC counter…

At any rate, the 26-piece MAC It’s a Strike collection (available Aug. 18 – Oct. 13) is all about bowling alleys, babe. It’s heavy on lip products, but there’s also a smattering of eyeshadows (mostly mattes), a few liquid liners, a highlighter (which looked very cute before I dropped it…and now it looks like it got run over by a bowling ball), nail polishes, cream blushes and some brushes, too.

You know, I’m not quite sure how I feel about this collection yet…

I gotta be honest, I don’t know if it’s just because I’m not a big bowing fan (did I mention that I’m not into bowling AT ALL?), but I’m…on the fence about it.

I think some of the lipsticks are beyond beautiful, though, particularly light beige matte Honeylove (also has a touch of rose). What a breathtaking nude.

Bright fuchsia matte All Fired Up Lipstick is also absolutely gorgeous and plump and juicy like a perfect strawberry ready to be devoured right now…

And matte burgundy Babes and Balls and sparkly Liquid Lurex are also super cool. I mean, the lippies are definitely the stand-outs for me.

I’m totally on Team MAC Cremesheen because of how hella hydrating and comfortable they are, and any time I go on a flight anywhere I keep one in my pocket and reapply it throughout the day.

From among this batch, Right Up My Alley is…right up my alley? Haha. It’s my favorite one. It kind of mellows out a little when you get it on your lips, but I think it’ll be a really pretty option in the fall on the days when I want to wear red lipstick but don’t want to deal with an opaque red lipstick.

Everything else in this collection, though — the eyeshadows, liners and face powder — just aren’t inspiring me to stop, drop and paint every inch of my face. Or take up bowling, for that matter.

For me the most exciting non lippie in the release, weirdly enough, is the soft and smooth matte off-white gray eyeshadow, Gutter Gal, a perfect matte dove gray.

But the other items? Just alright, at first blush. I’ll try a few looks with them and see if anything changes my mind.

Oh, and about that swatch of MAC Carbon? I think I may have gotten a wonky pan, because Carbon is a re-promote from the permanent line, and I’m usually cool with Carbon. It’s a dependable matte black, but the pan I have from this collection looks uncharacteristically sheer and patchy.

Don’t know what’s up with that…

I wish I hadn’t dropped the Pearlmatte Face Powder in Trophy because it was super cute… When I mix it all together I get a pinkish, beige-ish highlighter-type business with a touch of green.

I know that sounds a little weird, but it’s pretty in an “under the neon lights” sort of way.

When these arrive on the 18th, give the lipsticks a swatch, for sure. I think they’re definitely worth your time.

On that note…

Funny story (well, it makes me laugh) — the one time I went bowling as an adult was years ago for a work event. I’d managed to avoid any actual bowling, and just sort of lurked in the corner sipping a Coke while everybody else bowled and had a good time, until the end of the night, when everybody was getting ready to go and somebody pointed out that “Karen hasn’t bowled at all!” so they gave me the last ball.

I walked up to the front of the lane and just sort of, like, dropped the ball in front of me and turned around, thinking, whatevs, it’s just gonna go into the gutter, but then all of my coworkers started to smile and clap and cheer, and I heard the ball strike the pins, and everyone freaked the crap out!

Wouldn’t ya know it? I bowled a strike.

Best bowling story ever from someone who absolutely doesn’t like to bowl, haha! 🙂

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

The MAC It’s a Strike Collection includes…

LIPSTICKS, $17 EACH

• Honeylove, light beige toned with rose (matte)
• Flat Out Fabulous, bight plum matte (retro matte)
• All Fired Up, bright fuchsia matte (retro matte)
• Perfect Score, deep red (matte)
• Bowl Me Over, deep burnt brown (retro matte, online exclusive)
• Liquid Lurex, tarnished gold (dazzle)
• Babes and balls, deep burgundy (matte)

CREMESHEEN GLASSES, $21 EACH

• It’s a Strike, soft nude pink
• King Pin, deep chocolate brown mauve
• Throw a Spare, fuchsia with pearl
• Right Up My Alley, deep red
• Spare Me, dark purple

EYE SHADOWS, $16 EACH

• Gutter Gal, off-white gray (matte)
• Bowlarama, bright lime green (satin)
• Bowl Out, mid-tone gray (matte)
• 300 Game, blackened cherry (matte)
• Join My League?, dark espressio (matte)
• Carbon, intense black (matte)

FLUIDLINE PENS, $23 EACH

• Vintage Brown, deep dark brown
• Retro Black, black
• Indelibly Blue, deep navy blue

PEARLMATTE FACE POWDER, $27

• Trophy, multi-color (pearlmatte)

MAC STUDIO NAIL LACQUER, $13 EACH

• Rack ‘Em Up, cool deep khaki (cream)
• 5 Pin, deep wine (cream)
• Baby Split, a sheer lime green (cream)

CASUAL COLOUR, $23 EACH

• Have a Lovely Day!, neutral nude
• Blind Score, a dirty reddish lilac

BRUSHES

• 166 Brush, $35
• $213 Fluff, $25