Review: MAC Retro Matte Relentlessly Red Lipstick!

Looking for a rich, vibrant and sassily bright lippie to rock everyone's socks off this Winter? Look no further, this flattering bright vintage shade is here. Your Grandmother would approve! I give you, MAC Cosmetic's Retro Matte Lipstick in Relentlessly Red!

This shade can be found on the MAC Cosmetics website and retails for $16.00. They have a total of 4 fabulous shades that are "Retro Matte" to choose from. (I'm eyeing Ruby Woo)

The color is a bit different in person than it was on my monitor. It's very close to a neon pink--it's that bright!On the website, it looks closer to a true red. Don't be fooled!!! If you are okay with bright pinks and oranges on your lips, you'll love this shade! However, if you want a more traditional matte red, you'd hardly reach for this one.

This shade is such a bright one, that it's almost black light reactive! It's a neon red that borders on "pink." This color is long lasting, matte and glides on evenly. The only downfall to this particular shade is that it's a very dry formula. If you have chapped lips, do NOT wear this! ANY flaw that's on your lips will be extremely noticeable. Since the formula is pretty dry, I apply a small amount of softlips, lip balm, chapstick before applying the lipstick. That way, it will glide on over my lip's sad little wrinkles and look/feel much better than if I applied it without.

On to the swatches!
And ignore the orange lip liner. I didn't really have anything that would go with this particular color.

Notice how it hangs on the chapped part of my lips. Not an awesome formula for those of us who have chaptastic lip flaps! Exfoliation is our friend...

The swatch on the left has been built up with a few swipes. The swatch on the right is just one swipe. The coverage can be built up for opacity, but the color remains the same.


The Bottom Line:
Would I repurchase this lipstick? Probably not. The formula is too drying, and if I didn't have super chapped lips all of the freaking time, I'd love it. However, since my lips are dumb and sad most of the time, I can see this color bringing out my flaws more often than not. I really do enjoy the color though, I just wish the formula wasn't dry as a desert.

Have you guys tried the retro Mattes? What is your opinion on the formula? What do you like or dislike about them?