by Chrissy Iley
I have been known to scour the internet, tread from store to store when I have been obsessed with a certain shade of lipstick or eye colour.
An incredible thing happens – when faced with 30 shades there is always a single one that you love even though three may be very similar. There is only ever the one that is just enough beige, just enough blue, just enough peach, just enough red – and you know you have to have that one.
I thought I might be getting over it. For the past three days a friend of mine was desperate for a MAC Lip Pencil in Spice. It was for her sister. Spice had sold out in the UK, and all over the world because Kylie Jenner said how much she liked it.
So here we were in Beverly Hills, and later scouring the entire LA area. If ever I was in doubt of Jenner power, this was the proof. One mention and over one million lip pencils are sold in a few hours worldwide.
My friend tried to convince me that it wasn’t just about Kylie Jenner, who she loves. It was because MAC pencils have great staying power as well as great shades. In the many stores we visited I saw that they were juicy and strong, rich with pigment and soft. She swore to me that they were longer lasting than my favourite Bobbi Brown, but I could never put it to the test.
The man in Bloomingdales had a condescending look: ‘Of course we have no Spice. And we have no Whirl and no Soar.’ They are the other Jenner favourites. ‘Let me see if we have Hover, which is similar to Spice.’ That was out of stock too, as so many people going for Spice have been offered Hover.
Online MAC offers 30 shades, 19 of them have sold out because of people going for shades that look like shades the Jenners wore. Bloomingdales man told us to go to the MAC store. He had sold 70 Spice in a couple of hours on the day it was released and then he had no more. We called up other department stores – nothing. The long walk to the MAC store was pointless.
Instead of making me want the MAC Lip Pencil more it just made me hate MAC for making me waste so much time on it. It made me hate MAC for having 30 shades and selling out of most of them. Supply not meeting demand seems silly.
It also made me think about the taste and decision making process that we go through; if Spice is so good, just because Kylie says so, do people love Kylie because she is so clever, so beautiful or because we have become programmed with Kardashian marketing?
I will never test out a MAC Lip Pencil against my Bobbi Brown. When Bobbi Brown sells out of a shade it is because it has amazing colour, not because Kylie said so.
Doing online searching for the lip pencil I also discovered that MAC tests products on animals. This used not to be the case. There are many headlines that say MAC Cosmetics are no longer cruelty free. In the past the company`s products were specifically designed not to be tested on animals, sadly no more.
My friend in the end bought a MAC Lip Pencil as she did not want to disappoint her sister. It was an orangey nude. She carried it around in a little MAC bag like a trophy. And then forgot to pack it. Forgot it entirely. The MAC Pencil after all that had vanished. But the whole process had plugged in to the circuit in my brain that says obsession.
One lipstick counter I passed was the Tom Ford one. They had a collection of lipsticks called The Boys. They were tiny but powerful and I tried one on called Beau. It was nude and pink. It had a particularly thick, creamy consistency. It looked edgy, powerful and nude. All things that are contradictions in terms. It was a limited edition and it was sold out. So there began more tracking in more stores.
Instead I bought Chantecaille Hydra Chic lipstick in Fairy Moss. And also a Bobbi Brown in Uber Beige. The two of them together made one Beau. After matching what must have been hundreds of shades I was still not satisfied. I had to have Beau. I found it online but advertised as last remaining in the world. By the time it arrived I decided I liked Fairy Moss better. There is a moral in this tale somewhere.