Swatches: MAC Viva Glam Nicki

I was desperate to get my hands on the latest Viva Glam lipstick from MAC when it launched last month. Actually I wanted it sight unseen, when I heard last year that it involved Nicki Minaj and Ricky Martin! It was an obvious guess the lippie would be mega bright and most likely pink, judging from the Pink Friday/Nicki Minaj collab and the fact she practically always has bright pink lips. A lot of people found the PF lipstick unwearable but it's actually one of my favourites and this is coming from someone that doesn't really suit pink lips! I love and live in nudes and can be tempted with browns and purples, but pink and I don't really get on and I never wear reds or orange.

I wanted this lipstick though. I'm not entirely sure why, it could be the Nicki Minaj connection, because I think she looks fearless and fabulous in everything! As always, I did my homework before committing and even although all the online swatches and images were screaming "it's not a 'you' colour", I ordered it from Debenhams the first day it arrived!

I then nearly died with the brightness when I opened it! MAC describe it as a bright yellow pink in a satin formula. It's definitely bright, actually neon and in some lights it leans towards bright peach, in other lights pink. The satin finish means it is opaque and has a slight sheen without any shimmer/glitter. It's nowhere close to anything else in my vast collection and definitely not a shade I would usually wear. I've been quite surprised to hear people say it's much more wearable than Pink Friday, I would definitely disagree with that. I think on darker skins it's absolutely stunning, like really beautiful (not seen a bad pic of it yet in fact), on pale white and lighter skins I'm not quite so sure.  The colour completely changes when you compare it on white and black skin and I'm definitely more of a fan of it on the latter (no offence to light skinned girls that are rocking it!).

Anyway, I quickly put it on my lips (sorry for the messy swatches-I hadn't intended to photograph it) without any liner and you can see what I mean about the difference in pink or peach. I can't say I didn't suit it, it's just soooo bright that it's going to take some getting used to. The sheer neon-ness doesn't come across in these photos, you have to see it in real life to believe it. I've noticed a lot of people saying you can really change it's look depending on which lipliner you use, so that's given me some hope of playing around to get it to suit me.

(Hand swatches show it layered and with only one swipe)

Last week my lipstick of the week, was MAC Fleshpot (sorry not updated the page yet) which is a really light nude, so I wondered if I could mix the two to tone down the brightness of Nicki. I put one coat of Nicki on first, then Fleshpot and got this really bright and fresh looking coral. I actually really liked it.

I'm kind of in a war with myself about whether to make it work by using lighter lipsticks like that, but then I think what was the point of buying such a bright, fun colour if I'm not going to use it, as is. I think for now, I have to build up to using it full-on as I just don't feel comfortable with that yet.

Personally I don't see it as a loss, all the money from these Viva Glam items are given to the MAC Aids Fund and that's everything, not just a portion or profits, the full rrp. MAC have now donated more than $250 million to the project which is just phenomenal. Deep down I want to like this, so I'm determined to make it work for me and if that means getting a little flexible with it then I think that's ok, because we shouldn't feel forced into wearing something we're not comfortable with or using as directed. I'm actually looking forward to seeing how it will work in summer and how bright I dare to go! FYI, the lipstick is available now and the Ricky Martin contribution is a clear Lip Conditioner (supposedly fabulous). Have you dared to go bold or is this type of lip colour a constant for you anyway?  Let me know what you think or if you have any fabulous combo suggestions!