MAC Midnight Media Mattene + MAC Blackfire Glimmerglass
Pucker Up: Glitzy Midnight Media
Again, applying MAC’s Midnight Media Mattene does yield better results when used with a lip brush than straight outta the tube. (To reiterate: it’s important to know that distinction–you want to know just how much work you have to put in to get what you want out of a product.) Like Black Knight, this color took about five minutes to layer on to my satisfaction, but it never quite gave the color opaqueness I was after. It always looked a little faded.
Everything that can be said about Midnight Media, I already said in my Black as Knight post (which is right below this one, so I don’t want to just regurgitate it). It is necessary to point out that Midnight Media isn’t a true black lip color; it is near-black, but there is burgundy in it, which is noticeable.
I liked this combination better, because I felt like both products worked well together. The burgundy-ish tone from the mattene was emphasized and played up by the red shimmer in Blackfire. The glossiness of Blackfire helped to minimize some of the imperfections of the mattene alone. (Seriously, totally exfoliated my lips right before putting it on — why so clumpy?)
Bottom Line: Apply a thin layer of concealer or foundation (or MAC Lip Erase, which serves the same purpose) to lips. This helps to neutralize your natural lip color and make whatever you’re applying much more pigmented, but it also evens out the surface a little more and adds a dry layer. Midnight Media isn’t totally opaque, so the concealer base will help the color pop more. Use either a very dark or a clear lip liner all around the edges of the lips to help prevent the intense color from bleeding. Then, apply Midnight Media using a lip brush. Layer until satisfied. Be cautious when applying gloss, because the gloss tends to shift the color around in a slip-slide fashion.
See progression…
MAC Midnight Media Mattene
MAC Midnight Media Mattene + MAC Blackfire Glimmerglass