Karen

MAC has always been good at collections that tell a story, and sometimes the story’s a little hazy, and sometimes the story’s really clear. With the MAC Archie’s Girls collection (coming Jan. 30 to cyberspace, to stores and counters February 7, and internationally this March), it’s almost like you’re reading an Archie comic, but instead of flipping through the pages and reading the words, you’re seeing the story within the products. You get the sense of who these two girls are, Betty and Veronica, and how they relate to each other.

MAC divided the collection into two parts (chapters?) with very distinct packaging. There are 16 Betty products, 16 Veronica products and five accessories — brushes, bags, a mirror. That kind of thing. The Veronica products have Veronica’s face on them, and the Betty products have Betty’s.

Blonde babe Betty gets colors you might wear with a spring dress and a ribbon in your ponytail. Corals, sweet peaches, lavender, gold, brown and green.

Veronica’s colors? Like the exclamation marks on the collection! Royal purples, Corvette reds and a fuchsia you might see in a kiss on a really naughty album cover. These are colors you’d wear with your man-eater outfit.

But what I think is super, super cool is how the sub-collections reflect Betty’s and Veronica’s distinct personalities. They’re rivals vying for Archie’s affections, but at the same time, these two girls get along! In fact, they’re BFFs. If Betty borrowed a sweater from Veronica and wore it to school the next day, she’d still be Betty, walking down the hallway with her books in the crook of her arm, but she’d have some of Veronica’s swagger, thanks to the sweater.

Much like wearing the Betty cheek and lip products from Archie’s Girls with Veronica’s eye products. In essence, you can be the best of both girls, and play up the different sides of your personality. You don’t have to choose one or the other (unlike poor Archie).

So, who is Archie’s Girl Betty? Well, she’s the girl next door who slips on Converse high tops, skinny jeans and a tank top for a blind date. She’s very girly and sweet, like someone who sends thank you notes and feeds the stray cats that show up on her porch at night.

As for Veronica, she’ll spend an entire day at the mall looking for a specific shade of black shoe to go with the dress she plans to wear to an invite-only club. When she’s walking down the street and another girl walks by, Veronica knows if the girl’s bag is a knockoff or real. She’s the girl whose closet you envy and the one who’ll always listen to your boy problems before offering to take you to the mall to cheer you up.

I plan to play with these products and post some reviews over the next few days, but right away, I think MAC succeeded with the release by giving two different points of view.

On the Veronica side? — super saturated, rich colors, whereas MAC played with sheerer shades on the Betty side, which of course some gals will grumble about, but I think sheers can also be cool.

The quality is there. For me, the Veronica lip products stand out. The bold colors, the pigments — MAC traditionalists may really like these.

And then there are the Pearlmatte Face Powders… LOVE THEM! Just so we’re clear, when I’m running away from the zombies, you’ll find me clutching one of these in my palm (instead of a machete). A girl needs her highlighters, even in the apocalypse.

The Pearlmatte’s also have the added bonus of a built-in blush. See the hearts in each of the pans down below? They’re actually MAC Blushes, and they’re surrounded by MAC Beauty Powders.

As for the eye palettes, I’ve noticed this trend with MAC Eye Shadows over the past couple of years where when you put your finger in some of the pans to swatch the shadows, they feel very hard. I don’t know why, but these seem a little softer to me.

Without further ado, let’s get on with it, shall we? Come meet Archie’s Girls. 🙂