the Blackthorn Orphans
  • B L O G
  • The Blackthorn Orphans: read it onsite
  • The Blackthorn Orphans TRANSLATIONS PAGE
  • Lovely R BLOG
  • PHOTOESSAYS
  • SELECTED RAVINGS: essays & opinion
  • RUBYHUE Lipstick Review
  • blackthorn ROSE REVIEW
  • KITCHEN BITCH: Recipes etc.
  • verse
  • Hostile Witness FILM REVIEW
  • ALOES & SUCCULENTS
  • Blackthorn Perfume Review
  • B I O
  • C O N T A C T

RubyHue Lipstick Review: MAC Photo (satin)

19/3/2015

 
Ironically, there aren't many good images of MAC Photo to be found when one looks around the internet for an idea of its true nature.  Brown is a bitch to capture technically and I feel like the attempts to describe it aren't much chop either.  We're very fortunate in our access to clear, clean outdoor light here and this review will be pic-heavy so you can judge the shade for yourself in a range of different settings.  
Picture
Picture
I'd call Photo an easter-egg brown, because it is just a plain true milk chocolate, really; medium brown with yellowish undertones.  It hovers around neutrality but can swing either way into warm or cool with very little provocation, depending on the light source, time of year and your own skintone.  You'll be able to see the extent of that ambiguity from the images below, taken in the morning on an early autumn day as the sun was coming round. 

< The lead shot is flashed and oversaturated and pulls uber warm, so don't trust that guy.
Picture
Picture
These two pics are probably a good median representation.  

It may not surprise you that on its own, Photo is a difficult wear for most people.  I can't begin to tell you how horrible and wrong it looks on me when applied conventionally, but that's mainly because my hair is a clashing shade of deep brunette at the moment; on the lip and just against my skin, Photo is... odd, but in a good way- interesting.  It drains the green from my mostly-green eyes and turns them cloudy bluish, which is kind of cool.  For those with darker skin I'd still sound the same note of caution.  The wrong undertone will make this stuff look just as no; the sneakier, less obvious elements of your personal colouring are what will make or break your relationship with this lippy.  Below are some cool/bluish light shots.
L 2 R (All MAC) VG1, Photo, Bittersweet lip pencil, Costa Riche eye kohl, Chili, Prince Noir
this is cool, indirect outdoor light/semi shade
Picture
Picture
If you live in urban high-rise shade sort of environment, or if you experience a lot of winter, this (above and left) is what you're going to get from Photo most of the time.  Cool light won't kill the yellow tone and even exaggerates it somewhat.  See what I mean about it being a difficult little madam?  Warm indoor light and a more summery environment will make it appear a tad more copper/red, as per right and below.  Not sure that it makes it any easier to pull off.

Texturally Photo is a nice, medium-thick satin with a moderate lustre and even pigmentation, with a 70% sort of opacity, but you can build it to almost-total coverage, especially on dark lips.  You can see the relative translucence in these warmer shots. 
Picture
I don't get any bleeding into lines, even on a bare mouth.  To summarise: in a lot of poorly exposed/cameraphone shots, Photo can look like that deep milky neutral you may have been after, but if that's your aim, go for MAC Del Rio or Nars Walkyrie Velvet Matte, because this shiz is straight-up unapologetic brown and that's... well, not for everyone.  
Photo *will* of course be a neutral on a narrow range of deeper complexions but like I said, just because you have a tan don't imagine it will friend your arse.  You need matching tones somewhere on your person, and for this reason, a certain group of chestnuty redheads might find it useful straight from the tube, too, particularly those who wear a lot of gingery freckles with pride.  You can see its affinity with my own.  Personally, I have to pat it on- to obtain a nice sheer caramel- or mix it with reds and neutrals to make it wearable, which is fine because it collaborates well and produces some really interesting mixtures.  Try it with Nars Mascate for a deep roasted nutty oxblood.
Picture
L 2 R (All MAC) VG1, Photo, Bittersweet lip pencil, Costa Riche eye kohl, Chili, Prince Noir
warm direct sunlight
Picture

*   More Lipstick Review   *   Best of the Blog   *   Read the Book onsite   *



Comments are closed.

    RSS Feed

    Picture

    Independent Creativity
    Hi-Fi Introversion

    ORIGINAL CONTENT
    HONEST REVIEWS
    VELVETEEN VERBIAGE
    VISUAL LUXURY
    MORBID IDLING
    THE NATURAL WORLD
     
    ​photography  
    film
    flora  fauna  culinary
    ethnography  objet
    ​

    modest living
    ​vintage shit

    A U T H O R
    Picture
    K ✂︎ l l y
    congenital delinquent
    Human Durian
    celebrating
    glorious deviation in the land of
     the long white cloud

    -  New Zealand  -


    - T h e   B o o k -

    Picture
    T H E  
    B L A C K T H O R N
    O R P H A N S


    What is freedom, when it is
    all that remains to you?
    In exile two brothers pursue an anarchist's trajectory,  from an old world into the new, from East to West, subject always to the pleasures & horrors of an enduring flesh, to the ironies of karma & impunity. Love bears thorns, the lost return & the dead are haunted by the living. 
    ​

    E P I C   D A R K   F I C T I O N
    *   R E A D   *
    T H E
    B L A C K T H O R N 
    O R P H A N S
     O N S I T E  

    H e r e



    Picture

    Selected
    ​Ravings

    opinion essays observation private regret public 
    exaltation semicoherent speculation 

    Picture

    Photoessay​

    epic undertakings
    documented

    ​
    Picture

    Hostile Witness FilmReview

    Cruel but fair

    Picture

    RubyHue 
    ​
    Lipstick Review

    Lipstick: love it
    ​

    Picture

    Our Photography​

    we've seen worse
    ​

    Picture

    Port Chalmers​

    Dunedin, New Zealand
    ​

    Picture

    Blackthorn ​
    ​Rose Review

    Garden Hoe Wisdom
    Picture

    Verse​

    Loss, love, truth, beauty everything, everything
    ​
    Picture

    The  Lovely R's Blog​

    Likes photography  Knows a bit about it

    Picture

    We Liked This​

    Amazing things from other people
    ​

    Picture

    Cacti, Aloes
    ​&
     
    Flora​

    Our garden & general vegetal splendours
    ​

    Picture

    KitchenBitch

    Home cooking
    & raw ingredients
    ​
    Picture

    Ethnographic​

    Strange wonderful things from elsewhere
    ​

    Picture

    Jewellery
    ​

    Picture

    Tiny Little 
    Dinosaurs
    - a book for children -


    All images & text property of the authors 
    ​
    unless stated

    © us
    & original sources
    All Rights Reserved



    Picture

    Privacy Policy
    ​This is a noncommercial site.
    No ads. No shady data jacks. 
    No interest in your bizniz.

    ​We don't personally view, utilise or sell your data, apart from occasionally checking totally anonymous + super basic site view stats. We don't even know how to monetise that stuff, so don't worry.  Everyone's privacy is important to us.

    Our platform is probably harvesting your data, though, via their cookies. Look at their privacy page so you can see what they're up to.

    Please use Adblock or something similar.
    ​
    Google et al superimpose ads that we never see a penny from so fuck them.

    Picture

    Archives

    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    September 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013


    Picture

    Categories

    All
    A Thing Of Beauty
    Blackthorn Orphans
    Blackthorn Rose Review
    Cacti & Aloes
    Ethnographica
    Flora
    Hostile Witness Film Reviews
    Jewellery
    Kitchen Bitch
    Make Up Review
    Maximum Respect
    Perfume Reviews
    Photo Du Jour
    Photo Essay
    Places & Things: A Blackthorn Review
    Port Chalmers
    Remembering Dreams
    Roses
    Selected Ravings
    Softcore Rendition
    Sweetmeat
    Textiles
    The Lovely R
    Verse
    We Liked This

    Picture
Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.