MAC for Gareth Pugh Nail Lacquer Swatches, Photos & Review
The MAC for Gareth Pugh collection features three new nail lacquers in super cool packaging.
The bottles are a thick square glass with rounded corners. The caps are a glossy black. They remind me a lot of the Estee Lauder “ice cube” bottles actually. All four corners have an “X” on them and cut through it you can see the polish inside. Each bottle is 0.30 oz.
The colors look very duo-chromatic in the bottles, but sadly they didn’t wind up that way on the nail.
Hyper, Ascension
Ascension
Hyper
Ascension
Ascension is a frosty greyish violet color. Most of what you see is the dusty violet, but you do get flashes of a greenish grey when you turn your hands, but it’s pretty subtle. Not what I was hoping for from what I saw in the bottle. The finish is a metallic frost, but only very slightly brush-stroke-y. Overall I say not worth the price for this one. This was three coats for maximum coverage as it’s on the sheer side.
Hyper
Hyper is a deep navy blue frost. This one also looked extremely cool in the bottle showing heavy purple and green flashes of color. But on the nail it’s pretty much undetectable. This color shows as a deep shimmery navy blue, and putting the fact that it doesn’t really look like a duo-chrome aside, it’s a gorgeous color. I probably would have bought this one as is because it’s really a buttery gorgeous blue. The formula was excellent, really opaque and I only needed two coats. But perhaps it’s not all that unique, except for the bottle it comes in.
Overall:
Hmmm, are these worth $23.00 each? Not really. The bottles are absolutely gorgeous and I felt the need to own at least one of them. But I REALLY wish the colors looked on the nail as they do in the bottle. I do really like Hyper, but am less than thrilled with Ascension.
Availability: MAC.
Pricing: $23.00 each.
What do you think about these? Would you bite the bullet on one of them for the packaging?
-Kelly
Welcome! My name is Kelly and Vampy Varnish is a animal friendly beauty blog.
They look incredible in the bottle but sadly fall flat on the nail. I’m so glad I found these swatches before buying these! <3 you rock!
Claudia´s last post…I go Gaga for silver leopard nails.
Yes, exactly!
I ALMOST picked one of these up but I couldn’t justify the price. They’re not eligible for the PRO discount either. bummer about it all!
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Ascension looks like Not Like In The Movies and Essence’s Where’s The Party?
Yeah and I think the Katy Perry one has a lot more shift in it too.
Hyper is really gorgeous, but as you mentioned, it’s not really unique. The bottles are pretty awesome so I wish they would’ve made the polish inside of them more exciting. I don’t think I’m gonna shell out the cash for either one of them. These are the best swatches I’ve seen of them though
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I love the bottles and the polish in them looks so gorgeous! Too bad it doesn’t translate onto the nails as well. I’m curious how they’d look layered over black as that often makes duochromes more… duochromey.
I also think that they’re overpriced. Unfortunately, I like the bottle design way better than the actual polish. Such a neat, futuristic look, and I love the X on the front!
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I like the dusty tones of Ascension, but I do think it’s a tad expensive for what you get.
Chris´s last post…Lush Trichomania Solid Shampoo
What a joke, lol. These colors aren’t even unique, and they raised the price by $10! Lavender/green duochromes are the most common kind, and there are 5000 blue shimmers out there. I have to admit, I love the bottle design though.
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I actually expected them to stun me, but they are just like.. meh.
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Ascension reminds me of WnW Gray’s Anatomy– except maybe a touch more opaque. All in all, I’d rather just sink an extra $2 and buy a Chanel polish.
It’s a shame when reality fails to live up to expectations. I have to agree that the packaging is definitely something else. But $23 for polishes that are neither unique nor extra special? I think I’ll pass. Thanks for the review, Kelly!
Carmela´s last post…NYC In A New York Minute Scenestealer Grey can gladly steal any scene
Boo Hoo on the colors, Why mac??? but I love those bottles
rmcandlelight (nailsbeautiqued)´s last post…Ozotic Pro 503
Love the bottles, but wouldn’t buy them just to have them. Too bad the polish is boring.
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Maybe try these over black? All duochromes are sheer but at $23 a pop, I really expected these not to be…
Wow, that’s a disappointment. I probably wasn’t going to get these anyway, but it would be nice if something this costly would come out the way you expect. They looked very promising from the promo pictures I saw a while back. Still pretty colors, just nothing out of this world.
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The packaging is great, but these shades are nothing I haven’t seen before :/ And the price is a bit high…
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I was so excited for this collection, but I’m glad I waited to see swatches before I purchased. There’s nothing really unique about these shades…the bottles are awesome, but I’d rather pay for the product than just the packaging. I was also hoping they would release an awesome makeup palette, but no luck… So disappointing
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Love these bottles. Ascension looks an awful lot like Deborah Lippmann Wicked Game to me, and I already have that. I did pick up Hyper because I love blue polishes and don’t have too many. Nice swatches..
Thank you again for having swatches of these. I wanted these also. I’m definitely skipping these. They aren’t worth the price. I want all that flash of my nails, not in the damn bottle!
If I had the money, I would buy, mainly for the bottle, but other than that, these colours aren’t that unique. Definitely not worth it.
Nice packaging but it is so hard to see the color, blue is lovely but the first is not my cup of tea
The bottles are pretty cool, but the polish fall’s short. I was expecting to really see something unique & flashy. it’s still pretty, but not for the price. They do look very nice on your nail’s though.
I was all set to order Hyper until you said they were $23. I’m not springing that much for the polish even though I think it’s a beautiful blue.
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I got all three of the Mac/ Garet Pugh polishes. I could have gone without Inert to be honest, but what they hay…
You should layer Ascension over Hyper. I really loved the way they turned out layered, while alone Ascension isn’t anything to write home about.