Rebel and Crosswires (a Russian novel?)

Hello, again!

I don't have any good reason for not blogging other than I've been busy with school and lazy to do anything else. To be honest with you, I've been lazy even with school. I've never actually had a burnout in my entire life. But I think I'm nearing that state now. It's pretty damn depressing.

I couldn't process the event. I begin my graduate course with a solid state of mind and mission (to continue to a PhD), but several months in, I realised that state was not as solid as I thought. The usual suspect contributes : that inevitable "I'm really not good enough for this." The unexpected suspect : my realisation of how I didn't understand the Ivory Tower Academia and my discomfort with it. I noticed a certain type of... arrogance? I hesitate to use that label; let's just call it the environment of concentrating alpha-types best-minded people, competitively trying to solve the Big Questions of Our Time and win the Nobel prize. Whatever label it is, it made me as uncomfortable as reading 4chan or more relevantly, ejmr. (I am aware that both sites have trolls and academia doesn't, but I can't help feeling this similar discomfort feeling, ok. Not gonna theorise on why.) Also if you're in academia, I mean no offence! This is definitely local to me and my "holy shit I ain't prepared for this environment."

Anyways, what have I been up to? Still buying tonnes of stuff and totally forgot at some point, I told myself I should be on a low-buy/no-buy! Hah, how unsurprisingly weak :/ Well, that means I've got more material to talk about on this blog, eh? But the complete opposite for this post. Instead of the new stuff I have, I'm gonna review the only two MAC lipsticks that I own.

I was inspired to blog again by the particular pairing of these photos, both posted separately on my Instagram. They are reflective to my depressingly bleak state of mind and my future unemployment post-Masters -- meaning I gotta work the bleakness out of my system by talking about things I love, i.e. the intended purpose of this post. By the way, I'm wearing MAC's Rebel and generously edited the photo, on top of the A5 vsco filter. Yah, I'm that girl.

MAC Rebel has a cult following for a reason. It looks good on everyone and including yours truly. I would describe it as a flattering berry shade, leaning to pink with a neutral tone and has a satin finish. I have never felt it to be too warm or too cool for my complexion. (Talking about complexion, my face is totally beige, unlike my yellow neck -- but I never have to worry because I cover my neck when I have the full-hijab on! #hijabiPerks. Anyways, another discovery in my Understand-Thy-Shade adventure.)

dabbed vs full-on application

I much prefer a dab-smush -- dab lipstick, work it in with fingers (smush?smoosh?) -- application. It's much more natural and definitely my-lips-but-better colour. Healthy skin, healthy glow kinda feel, y'know? The formula is not terrible, it's decently moisturising but can cling on to any dry patches on my lips. When I apply Rebel to full opacity, however, I don't like it as much. It's a wonderful colour, but I think it requires more effort in my make-up. Smoky eyes, perhaps, but we know I never do those (don't know how to and there hasn't been an occasion where I needed to be full glam.) The colour may appear uneven, at times. So it needs work.

The other MAC lipstick I own is Crosswires, a cremesheen formula. I bought Crosswires with Rebel, actually, and both were on sale. I have heard of the lipstick often (not sure if it has a cult status, though) and I was curious about the formula.

dabbed vs full-on application

I would describe the colour as peachy-coral on my complexion. While in pictures I think I look fine, I actually don't enjoy wearing this colour. I just don't like coral colours. I hated the formula. I din't think it was that creamy and rather than a sheen, it looks waxy to me. Not a good look. I'm sure the formula might perform differently with other colour, but it puts me off considering other cremesheen formulas altogether.

Rebel, Crosswires

L-R : Wet n Wild Cherry Bomb, Wet n Wild Ravin' Raisin, Milani Matte Love,
KIKO 414 Mauve, MAC Rebel, MAC Crosswires

I was trying to compare Rebel to my other "berry" in my collection in like 2 minutes. If I were to layer Wet n Wild Ravin' Raisin with Milani Matte Love, or KIKO 414 Mauve, I would perhaps get the same effect as Rebel. Clearly Wet n Wild Cherry Bomb is not a berry, but the vampy red serves as a vampiness comparison to Rebel (it's not that vampy, it seems. Why and when did I get this idea that Rebel is a vampy shade, to begin with?) You can also see how un-matte the MAC colours are.

I have never been drawn to MAC lipsticks. They're expensive and I never feel welcomed by any MAC sales associates, ever. Having tried both lipsticks, I am not tempted to try more, except MAC's Plumful, the supposed toned down version of Rebel. As I am clearly a fan of the berry-pink colour and the MLBB look, the lustre finish of Plumful might suit my needs better. Aside form that, no more MAC for me.