Back To MAC: Take Two

Zerda Ağustos 15, 2021

As the reality of global warming sets in, more of us are trying to be more plastic conscious. People are starting to buy metal drink containers to use instead of plastic bottles and we are all aware of the plastic bag charges which have been in full effect in the UK for a number of years. However is it the fault of the consumer or the brands who sell ridiculous amounts of packaging? Some brands have been championing using less packaging for a long time, take Lush for example, not only do they try and use as little packaging as possible but they also have a scheme where if you take back 5 empty pots you get a free fresh face mask in return. As a lot of Lush products don't have a container this isn't necessarily the easiest thing to do but if you are a regular user of the shower gels, like I am, then it is a great incentive.

Another brand who have a similar scheme is MAC. MAC get a lot of shit and because of this it is easy to forget some of the good they do. T'he MAC Viva Glam fund has raised billions to help fight HIV/Aids and they are also trying to do their bit for the environment. MAC have a scheme called Back to MAC which is something I have used a few times. Similar to the Lush scheme, if you take 6 empty containers back, they will exchange them for a free lipstick. This sound simple enough but for someone who only does make up on them self, it can take a while to get enough empties. I actually wrote a post on Back to MAC before, it was back in August last year, which is over half a year ago. Some of the products which I have taken back this time have been in my collection for a long time and some of them were running out when I did my last Back to MAC.

One problem I do have with Back to MAC is the limitations of what can be taken back. There are no real guidelines to be found online. With some packaging it is quite obvious such as: an empty lipstick, an eye shadow pot or any of the skincare but does it include palettes and limited editions? The MAC website doesn't help to clear this up at all as it only states: 'By returning six M.A.C primary containers to a M.A.C counter, [...] You'll receive a free M.A.C lipstick of your choice.' This is all well and good but a primary container doesn't mean anything to me. In addition to this, you can't have any old lipstick for free, it does have to be part of their traditional bullet lipstick range and it can't be a limited edition. Luckily I wasn't the one who found this out, my best friend did a Back to MAC and asked for a limited edition and was promptly told no. That is something to consider before going into MAC.

Once I have my six empties but before I take them in, I like to have an idea of the sort of lipstick I want. I always feel tremendously overwhelmed when I am confronted by the MAC lipstick line up because there are so many of them! I usually take the opportunity to get a lipstick I wouldn't normally buy; I like to be a little bit more adventurous with my choice as I'm not paying for it. However this time I knew I wanted to look for a matte. I had gone in with the intention of looking for Please Me but in the end that wasn't the lipstick I left with but more on that later.

Firstly I will take you through the six products I actually finished to be able to get the lipstick. If you are a regular reader then I don't think any of these will be a surprise to you. I'll start with the most boring, 2 bottles of the Brush Cleanser. This is the only spot brush cleanser I have ever used because I have never felt the need to try anything else. It cleans your brushes quickly and that is what I want. Obviously this is not going to clean your brushes as thoroughly as a deep cleanser but if you need to quickly get rid of some eye shadow on a brush, then this is perfect. I'm not going to lie and say I am on it when it comes to cleaning my brushes, in fact it is probably the opposite. I use the spot cleanser once a week, usually on a Sunday and then the following week I will use my deep cleanser. I am currently using the Beauty Blender Solid Cleanser because it is actually amazing for brushes. However I do use the brush cleanser regularly enough that I get through it quite quickly.

At £12 this is not a cheap brush cleanser but I think it is worth it. I must admit I only really buy this regularly from MAC because I know it counts as part of my Back to MAC. You can actually buy a brush cleanser which is identical from Estee Lauder. They are in an identical bottle and from what I can tell the only difference is the branding. The MAC Brush Cleanser makes up around half of my Back to MAC so it is worth using the MAC one if you are interested in the scheme.

Another product which has tempted me away from Estee Lauder is the Studio Finish Concealer. I think this was my first ever pot of it and it lasted a really long time. Prior to the Studio Finish Concealer, I used to use the Estee Lauder Double Wear Stay-in-Place High Cover Concealer which was very similar to the Studio Finish concealer but way more expensive. Having looked online, I'm not sure if they have discontinued the Estee Lauder Concealer as I can't see it on the Estee Lauder website. I like this pot style concealer as it quickly and effectively covers up any redness or spots I may have on my face. The places I tend to get spots and redness are across my T-Zone and chin, both of which can be get quite oily so I need something that is going to stay put. I also like to use it on my under eyes as it covers my dark circles. One thing to note is that you do not want to take this too close to your eyes or it will crease. I used this up quite a while ago so at the time (when it ran out) I went straight to MAC and bought a new pot. It was so long ago that I have almost used up the one I bought to replace it. I do use this concealer everyday so I am not surprised that I use it up so quickly.

One thing that did surprise me is the amount of lipsticks I managed to use up. It is very rare for me to finish a whole lipstick however I actually finished 3 MAC lipsticks which I took Back to MAC. The first one I used up was Peach Blossom. Peach Blossom is easily one of my all time favourite MAC lipsticks and I actually included it in my Top 5 MAC Lipsticks. It is incredibly easy to wear and it is the most stunning peach/pink shade which is perfect for summer. The pigment isn't too bold but definitely shows up. It is a Cremesheen finish which is my second favourite from MAC, after Matte. I will definitely get another Peach Blossom but probably a bit closer to Summer, if Summer every comes around. If you are new to lipstick, this is the sort of shade I would recommend starting with as it is a good entry level shade.

My second lipstick is also a Cremesheen and it is was the first nude lipstick I ever bought from MAC, it is Creme Cup. Very early on in my blogging life, I wrote a post called My Lipstick Love which was an ode to this very lipstick. I absolutely treasured this lipstick. When I bought it, I was a student with very limited funds and this was tremendous treat. 'My Lipstick Love' was written back in 2014 so as you can imagine, the lipstick is very out of date. To be honest there was only a tiny nub left but what was left was definitely no good. I decided it was time to let it go. I had been holding on to it for so long because it was one of my first MAC lipsticks but I don't have enough space to be sentimental. I have to say even though back in 2014 this was 'my lipstick love' my taste has changed quite considerably since 2014 and a light pink nude isn't really what I would wear anymore. I prefer something with more warmth in it. Now-a-days I am more likely to wear Peach Blossom rather than Creme Cup. For this reason I probably wouldn't buy a new tube of this.

The final lipstick is another one I don't think I will be repurchasing and it is Patisserie. I bought this because so many people raved about it back in the day. However when I got it and started to wear it, I really did not like it as much as I thought I would. Firstly it is a Lustre finish which I assumed would be similar to a Cremesheen and it sort of is. It has that light glossy finish without much pigmentation. However a Lustre is much more glittery whereas Cremesheen has more of a shimmer. I found Patisserie really wouldn't last that long and the glitter would remain on my lips so I was just left with chunks of glitter on my lips which is not a good look. I liked the colour of the lipstick but I did have to make a conscious decision to use it up. It was placed in My Lipstick Pot so I would actually reach for it and hopefully use it up. Clearly this worked as I ended up finishing it and in the end I grew to like it but I won't be buying it again.

After the three lipsticks, I had my 6 empties. As I said I went to the counter with Please Me in mind. I had been thinking about getting it years ago and never did. I looked for it in the MAC line up and eventually picked it out. As I looked at it, it seemed similar to Mehr (which I already have) and it seemed a touch too pink for what I like these days. Instantly I decided it wasn't the one. After picking up pretty much every MAC lipstick I already own, I finally picked up Yash. Yash is a shade I've heard lots of people talk about but I had never really considered it for myself. I think it was possibly Jamie Genevieve who has spoken about it before and I have always loved it on her but she is super tanned so I worried it would not suit my super pale skin but I actually really like it. Yash is sort of similar to Kinda Sexy, which I already own, but it is slightly more neutral rather than peachy plus Yash is slightly lighter.

Even though Yash was not the lipstick I thought I was going to walk away with, I have been wearing it pretty much everyday since I got it. I have always loved a matte and this is the sort of shade I am loving at the moment. Back To MAC is an amazing scheme which I don't think has been highlighted enough. Not enough people know about it and it is a great way of getting a free lipstick and also getting rid of some packaging. If you don't buy from MAC very often, it is worth holding on to the packaging just in case you can reach 6 empties and get your free lipstick. There is no time limit on how soon you have to take products back, all you need is 6 empties.

I hope this has helped any of you who might not have been aware that Back to MAC existed. As I said the website is a bit sparse on information about Back to MAC but if you have any questions on my Back to MAC experiences, please leave a comment or message me on twitter, @SophaaRambles. As I do not work for MAC I have no idea about the guidelines but I have exchanged my empties through Back to MAC a couple of times so I can tell you all about my experiences. Whilst I was at the counter, I did do a sneaky MAC haul, it is sort of rude not to especially considering I was already there. Keep an eye out on the blog because there will be a post about my haul in the not too distant future.