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About the Author: Carleen Coulter

The new MAC Styledriven Collection includes large number of new items that will be part of the MAC Pro Longwear Permanent Collection. All items are highly pigmented and are designed for long wear, hence the Pro Longwear name.

MAC Styledriven Collection Swatches

I posted my indoor photos of swatches from the collection on Beauty and Fashion Tech. I usually tend to feel that the indoor pictures are more true to color, or at least more true to color for most situations and products, but the outdoor photos of this bunch came out pretty true as well. I suppose the more pigment there is, the more similar the colors will be in different light. Only the eye shadows swatches seemed a bit washed out from the sunlight in these photos.

MAC Styledriven LipCreme Swatches

I adore MAC Pro Longwear lipcreme. The lipsticks provide a good moisturizing texture and fells and the color lasts and lasts. I like to pair them with the lip pencils. These are heavy duty shades with a lot of gloss to them. Below are lipcreme swatches of the shades Endless Drama, Soft Sell, Dress It Up, and So Very Good.

MAC Styledriven Lip Pencil Swatches

The Pro Longear Lip Pencils do indeed give long wear. You can use these alone by filling in your lips and covering with a light gloss, for a sheer look, or cover then with a lipcreme or longwear lipglass for some serious staying power.   Below are swatches of the shades Nice N’ Spicy, Staunchly Stylish, What a Blast!, Absolutely It, Morning Coffee.

MAC Styledriven Lipglass Swatches

The Pro Longwear lipglasses also are high on pigment, but I tend to also find them to be on the sticky side. Here are swatches of the following shades: Ready or Not, Driven by Love, Whoops!, Dark As Night, and Infinitely Likeable.

MAC Styledriven Eye Shadow Swatches

The eye shadow in the MAC Styledriven collection holds up quite nicely. The amount of pigment is very high, as one would expect, and the shades really pop. Below are outdoor swatches of the following shades. From left to right: Styledriven, One To Watch, Hot Paprika, Thru the Night, and Legendary Black.

MAC Styledriven will hit the counters September 22, 2011.

Disclosure: This aticle is based on products provided by a representative of MAC Cosmetics. For more, please see our disclosure page.

L’Oreal Paris has new infallible shades endorsed by celebrities. The L’Oreal Infallible Stars Never Fail Collection has 6 shades elected by Beyoncé, Andie MacDowell, Diane Keaton, Eva Longoria Parker, Kate del Castillo, and Linda Evangelista.

Below are swatches of Beyonce’s Red (my favorite), Diane’s Tuberose, and Kate’s Plum:

If you haven’t tried L’Oreal Infallible, it comes with a  thick long wear stain with a sponge applicator and also a balm to wear over the stain. This stuff does indeed stick around! I couldn’t get it all washed off of my hand after swatching and still had a tiny bit on after my shower the next day. However, it does wear off lips quicker, and it will feel drying, so the balm is a necessity. Be sure to let the stain completely dry before applying the balm.

Total Beauty put out this interesting article on long wearing lipsticks. I tend to dislike most of the stain/gloss combos that claim to be long wearing (MAC’s version is the big exception—I love theirs). But I do like some of the more standard lipsticks that wear well, such as Dior. In reality, my best wear often comes from a combo of Cat Cosmetics lip liner and Dior or Laura Geller lipstick with a bit of gloss on top. It won’t last for hours, but it will wear fairly well, and it won’t look awful as it starts to wear off like the stain/gloss long wear combos do!

Find the Perfect Long-Lasting Lipstick

Real women put them to the test so you don’t have to

Looking for a lipstick that’ll last through your holiday party (not to mention a few trips under the mistletoe)? Well, we’ve found some for you. TotalBeauty.com had readers try nine different lipsticks that claim to be long lasting in order to find out which ones will really stand the test of time. Check out the results here. See lipsticks

Max Factor is no longer selling in the United States, but it is still available in Europe.  It also appears to still be available at some online retailers. I gave Max Factor Lipfinity MAXwear Lipcolor a try and rather liked it.

This is a dual sided long wearing stain and gloss combo. The stain is thick and full of pigment. For best results, apply it to completely clean and dry lips and let it dry entirely before applying the gloss. The gloss has a nice moisturizing feel to it with no stickiness at all. It was a bit on the frosted side for my tastes though.

Overall, I liked the color of the Max Factor products and I got a couple of hours wear out of this. It did come off quickly, however, with eating and drinking. The MAC Cosmetic Lustre Twins (read previous review) last longer and are still my favorite.

I have found very few long wearing products that I can put up with. However, I love MAC Lustre Twins and Dior makes some standard lipsticks that last incredibly well.

For a deeper look at some long wearing products, also take a look at my review of Revlon, CoverGirl, Maybelline, and Milani long wearing products on Beauty on Fashion Tech.

Below is an article syndicated from Total Beauty on the matter that looks at some of the products that I have previously reviewed and more.

9 Supposedly Long-Lasting Lipsticks

Do they really stay on? Read this real-woman road test

Slicking on a coat of lip color every five minutes lost its allure after junior high. Nowadays, we want color that lasts hours and a product that doesn’t suck moisture from our lips. The Total Beauty Squad tested nine contenders to find ones with real staying power — enough to withstand cocktails and kisses. Find out which products delivered and which disappointed. See lipsticks

Rimmel cosmetics has released a new line of long wearing lip duos—Rimmel Kiss and Stay. One side is a thick, long wearing stain, and the other is a gloss. I picked one up, and while I love the shade and lasting power of the stain, I was not at all happy with the gloss side of the duo.

The stain in the Rimmel Kiss and Stay duo is the typical high pigmented and fairly thick stain that you will see in long wearing products. Thus, in order to use it properly, you must apply it and let it completely dry before applying the gloss over it. Failure to let it dry will result in it chipping off or being over sticky. That is true of just about any long wearing product.  I found that the stain had nice color and it dried in the typical two minute time frame. It also lasted fairly well for me.

The gloss end of the duo was the disappointment. The gloss is very much on the sticky side. I found myself rubbing it off as quickly as I could and replacing it with a different non-sticky brand. So, while I liked the color that I got from the stain side of the product, I will not be using the gloss side of it.

Rimmel Cosmetics are available in Target stores and some drugstores. I think I picked up my Kiss and Stay  at Walgreens.

Comparison Shop for Rimmel Cosmetics

M.A.C. Cosmetics has managed to create a long wearing lip product that I actually like! I’m generally not a fan of long wear items because they tend to be very dry, get grainy easily, and really don’t last near as long as advertised. M.A.C. has managed to fix some of those issues with their Lustre Twins collection.

Lustre Twins consist of two interchangeable parts. One part is a heavy and long wearing lip stain, while the other is a gloss to top it. The pieces click together, kind of like the Meet Mark products do, so you can pair different glosses from the line with different stains. The shades are also quite pretty. I tried several of them, which are swatched below:

I found that I got a good 4 hours of wear from the Lustre Twins, even when drinking a can of soda, if applied properly—something that is very important in order to have success with this product.  For proper application, start with clean and dry lips. Apply the stain and let it dry completely. This takes about 2 minutes. Failure to allow it to dry, or applying it over another lip product will generally turn it into a peeling mess. Once dry, apply and reapply gloss as needed.

When I tested the Lustre Twins, I found them to be quite comfortable as long as I reapplied gloss, and the shades were much better than some other long wear items that I have tried.   The Ripe and Ready shade paired with the Pink Virtue gloss has become a regular item in my purse (which also has about 10 other lip items in it at any given time).

BTW, the stain stayed on my arm for over 24 hours because scrubbing and rubbing alcohol would not remove it. So yes, this stuff can really stick around! However, it sticks less time to the lips than it does to an arm, which is probably a good thing!

Comparison Shop for MAC Cosmetics

Callas is a a cosmetics brand sold developed in Japan and France, but made in Korea. I love Japanese and Korean Cosmetics (e.g I’m trying to get my hands on some Etude House), which tend to always be great quality. Callas makes some good products and the lip items are especially nice.

Callas Brilliant Stars Lip Gloss is a high shine, glimmery gloss that is low on stickiness, but still high on color. That is a good achievement, since usually to get good color some tackiness is expected as a matter of course.  At around $12-15, the price isn’t too bad–not budget range, but not high end either.

Callas Moist Petal Lipstick is a good moisturizing lipstick. The color pay off is high and it feels lovely. this one also runs in the $12-15 range.

Callas Perfect ColorStay Lipstick (pictured above) was my favorite. This slimline lipstick has nice staying power without feeling dry. The packaging is attractive and it pairs well with the gloss. I had a few positive comments on it from friends who saw it. They had not heard of the brand before and liked the look of the tube.  Callas ColorStay runs at around $15.

I linked to order pages from Amazon.com, simply because they are most likley to be in stock there, but I actually ordered mine from Yesstyle, which is an incredible Japanese and Korean fashion, beauty, and accessories site. It is a neat place for some unique items, and well worth looking at for non-beauty items. For example, they have some incredible handbags and shoes!   You can also view Callas items at Callas.com.