Beauty Road Test: M.A.C Just Dessert Lipglass

What: The Sugarsweet range from M.A.C. On the face of it, it’s a pretty bold collection. Lipsticks, eye shadows, shadesticks, nail varnishes and mineralised skin finishes (metallic blusher to you and me) are all inspired by the frosted shades and vivid colours of cakes. Yum, yum.

Most intriguing is the range of five, tricolour lipglasses. Once the urge to consume sugared almonds and cupcakes had been suppressed, we road tested one to see how it worked.

The Product: Just Dessert is probably the tamest of colour combinations in the range. No blues or deep oranges here. A layer of pearly Barbie pink gives way to a warm metallic pink shot with gold followed by icy metallic pink on top. It won’t break the bank at £12.72 for 5ml.

The look: I was dubious as to how the three colours were to combine and suspected the layering was there just to look good in the packaging. Indeed it is impossible to pick each shade out once applied. There is no solid colour to the gloss.

However the combination of the layers provide different facets of colour for light to bounce off. In daylight, the effect is subtle- a light pretty sparkle. Under electric light, the sparkle is rather more spectacular, with thousands of tiny pin-pricks of colour. Very pretty.

The feel: Glosses are prone to be either too heavy or too sticky. This gloss felt thick on application but stayed put. After three hours of wear, including eating and drinking, it was still there.

Packaging: A square tube rather than a classic round one. M·A·C has wisely kept the fun in the colour combinations and kept the packaging simple, clean and stylish.

Overall: Yes, the layering is a great gimmick and looks great. But all credit to M·A·C. They’ve created a unique product here. The tricolour combination gives a great depth of texture and provides a new and subtle way of adding interest and prettiness to lips.

Rating: 8/10

Available at maccosmetics.com