MAC Viva Glam Ariana Grande

If you’re new to MAC Cosmetics as a brand, or have heard the term “Viva Glam” thrown out there before but didn’t really get the meaning, it’s a range of lip products that the brand donates 100% of the revenue from to the MAC AIDS Fund. The brand has been a pioneer in HIV/AIDS funding since the Viva Glam range was created in 1994 with the legendary RuPaul as the face, and has gone on to collaborate with some incredible stars such as Elton John, Rihanna, Boy George, Debbie Harry, Mary J Blige, Dita Von Teese, Lady Gaga and now, Ariana Grande – which I have a review and swatches of for you today!

I was recently sent the latest Viva Glam Lipstick and Lipglass which was collaborated on with singer Ariana Grande. The Lipglass is a pale pink shimmer that really shows up as a nothing colour of my (albeit rather pigmented) lips, but the shimmer adds a really subtle soft sparkle making it wearable for all ages and perfect for those who don’t love to wear strong colours but still want to support the cause. The idea here is that it can be worn, or as a top coat to the lipstick, which you’ll see below…

The lipstick is described as a ‘Matte Plum’ and boy is it ever deep – It looks almost black in the tube! You’ll see on the lips though it applies as a gorgeous bruised plum, that I would consider more of a satin finish rather than a matte in comparison to how incredibly matte some MAC lipsticks are. This is actually everything I wanted MAC’s Rebel to be, but with a much better formula to work with. Unlike Rebel, this deep vampy shade applies really evenly and doesn’t instantly start bleeding along the edges of the lips. In the swatch below I am wearing no lipliner, and I still think it holds its definition well.

When worn together, the Viva Glam Ariana Grande Lipstick and Lipglass pair really beautifully. The shimmer of the gloss really livens up the lipstick to add that extra dimension or aptly named ‘glam’. I’ll be honest and say that I didn’t really love the look of either of these pieces when I first received them, but am so happily surprised by how they apply and look. I really struggle with deep wine/berry tones and I really liked the way this looked and applied as just the gloss, just the lipstick and the duo together.