rick, morty and MAC – con’t

Welcome back to Lab Notes!

We’re into the MAC that I mentioned yesterday. MAC, as in the iconic brand, which might be best known for its lipsticks and eyeshadow palettes. Before we get to the MAC of things, we have to go back a bit. A couple of weeks back, I bought one of Maybelline’s Superstay Teddy Tints in the colour “10 Current Mood” because I was looking for a natural-looking colour. Thankfully, Amazon has PRIME and next-day delivery! Upon delivery, I quickly put it on, and I loved the colour. Admittedly, the Teddy Tint would get quite dry on my lips after a while, so I wanted something that would perform better. So, I took to Googling other lip colours that are close to the “Current Mood” colour. One lipstick that was recommended was from MAC, under the product called M·a·cximal Silky Matte Lipstick in the shade “Velvet Teddy,” which MAC describes as a deep-toned beige.

M-a-cximal Silky Matte Lipstick in Velvet Teddy on TOP, Maybelline Superstay Teddy Tint in Current Mood on BOTTOM.

As you can see in the picture above, the colours appear extremely similar; in fact, they look almost identical in the photo, and the only difference I can see in person is the lipstick’s finish. I was able to take another photo with the flash on to show the finish.

Once again, the same swatches taken with flash on.

The bottom swatch of Maybelline’s Teddy Tint appears much glossier in person, at least before it dries down completely. The dry-down for the Teddy Tint does take a while, measured in quarters of an hour. Once it dries down, it looks almost identical to the MAC M-A-Cximal Silky Matte Lipstick in Velvet Teddy.

Let’s take a closer look at this Lab Report!

Maybelline Teddy Tint in #10 Current Mood

Here I am wearing the Maybelline SuperStay Teddy Tint in #10 Current Mood.

1. Pigmentation & Colour Payoff

• Opacity: This is a tint, so it isn’t completely opaque. That being said, you can build up the coverage if you want something more solid in colour.
• Consistency: The tint is creamy.
• Accuracy: The colour on the skin compared to in the bottle is pretty close, unless you are looking at the cap, which is much lighter.

2. Texture & Formula Application

• Glide: The product glides on with a very creamy consistency, making it easy to press from one lip to the other.
• Weight: It’s a light formula.
• Initial Set: It takes a long time to dry down to the matte finish. Even after 30 minutes, the product still hadn’t completely dried down. Finally, at a little over one hour, the lip tint had dried down on my hand. On my lips, it seemed to take 30 minutes to dry down.

3. Finish & Aesthetic Performance

• Type: Matte Lip Tint. Maybelline does also identify the Teddy Tint as a stain, but my lips didn’t seem to be stained any color after removal. Same with the sample on my hand.
• Texture Masking: Unfortunately, the longer I wear the lip tint, the drier my lips become. This seems to emphasize any dryness of the lips.
• Luster Stability: The matte finish stays through the wear of the lip tint.

4. Comfort & Hydration (Wear-Cycle Feel)

• Surface Tension: The lip tint doesn’t feel tight or restrictive at all.
• Moisture Level: I’d describe it as drying over time. There is a bit of hydration when you first apply it, but it fades as the lip tint dries.
• Stickiness: The lip tint definitely gets quite sticky as it dries, which, as noted earlier, takes a while.

5. Longevity & Durability

• Hour Benchmarks: 2hr – Fine, but my lips are dry | 4hr – Dry lips, otherwise fine | 6hr – Fine, dry lips | 8hr – Same as the previous
• Survival: The formula has excellent staying power, even in the face of vaping, soft-drink drinking and some eating. When I tried to wash the tint off the back of my hand, soap and water barely made a difference. I ended up needing to use micellar water and a decent amount of scrubbing. I would highly recommend having makeup-erasing clothes (these are the exact ones I have, and I like them) available, as they take lip tint off most easily.
• Fade Pattern: After 8 hours of wear, the colour was still on my lips; none had faded. If I smiled big, then I could see the colour of my lips in the cracks of the lip tint. I don’t normally smile this wide, though.

6. Transfer & Migration Resistance

• Smudge Test: Pigment stayed within the lip lines.
• Transfer Level: The formula was transfer-proof once dry.

7. Sensory Profile

• Scent: I can’t quite put my finger on the scent; it smells slightly sweet of raspberry, maybe, but there’s another note in there that doesn’t smell good to me. The scent disappeared after a couple of minutes, but honestly, I could barely smell it after I had applied it. Thankfully, the scent is quite mild.
• Taste: No taste.

8. Hardware & Packaging (The Component)

• Applicator/Shape: The applicator is a wand type, angled and “fuzzy” to help apply the lip tint. It takes a couple of dips of the applicator into the product to get an adequate amount on the lips. The applicator is small enough that you shouldn’t have to worry about accidentally drawing outside of the lines.
• Build Quality: The component is made of thick, slightly frosted plastic. The cap stays securely on the body of the component, thanks to a click lock at the end of screwing the cap on. I quite like the packaging.

Maybelline SuperStay Teddy Tint Liquid Lip Stain component and wand.

9. Value & Price Point

• Payload vs. Price: Based on what I could find online, the product contains 5.4mL of lip tint. I purchased the lip tint from Amazon for $15.96, before taxes in Canadian dollars. This means that per mL of product, the price comes to $2.95, which is certainly on the lower end for lip products.
• Performance vs. Claims: Maybelline’s claims about the SuperStay Teddit Tint are all true. The wear can obviously go up to 12 hours. It is transfer-proof and has a light feel.

10. Final Thoughts: I really like the colour, and the film that the tint forms on the lips is obviously very resistant to day-to-day life. Those things said, I didn’t feel the formula had anything to offer in terms of moisture. It wasn’t so much that it was drying out my lips, but it wasn’t doing anything to help a common situation that can happen during up to 12 hours of wear, chapped lips. I pulled the ingredients listed on the Maybelline website for the Teddy Tint, entered them into INCIdecoder.com, a site that lists ingredients and their known functions in various products, and found no moisturizers in the formula. If you’re curious, you can have a look yourself, here.

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MAC M-A-Cximal Silky Matte Lipstick in Velvet Teddy

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