As I started writing this article, I kept thinking to myself, “Oh god, this is a bad idea. People are seriously going to question your makeup judgement after they read this.” I’m still thinking that now, even as this post goes up.

Then I sat for a minute and had a crazy thought: maybe I’m not the only one who feels this way. There has to be at least one other person out there who feels like this, right? Anyway, this column is a place where all makeup opinions, popular or unpopular, have a right to be heard. I decided to say “screw it” and just go for it. 

I don’t like MAC lipsticks. There, I said it.

Makeup lovers everywhere seem to praise MAC as a brand, and this especially applies to their lipsticks. You can barely go anywhere on the web without hearing the words “Ruby Woo” or seeing one pop up in a beauty vlogger’s monthly favorites. These lippies definitely have a devout cult following.

Even though this is such a popular product, I just can’t get as hyped about it as everyone else. I’m not head-over-heels for MAC lipsticks for three reasons.

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Reasons I Don’t Like MAC Lipsticks: 

• First, these lipsticks really dry out my lips. After wearing these for 15 minutes, my lips feel like they’ve had all their moisture sucked out. No other lipstick does this to my lips, and I don’t have dry lips at all. It’s a bit annoying to see that happen after using such a highly-praised product. I’m not a big fan of the “crusty lips” look. 

• Second, the pigment wears off unevenly. Once the lipstick dries my lips out, the pigment begins to ball up and bunch together in the grooves of my lips. It’s totally weird. When you take this into account with the price, this kind of wear feels sub-par. 

• Third, they transfer super easily. When I’m eating, the wear time on these bad boys cuts down to barely a half hour. You definitely need to reapply after eating a meal. They just don’t feel like they stay too well on my lips in general. I haven’t tried a matte lipstick from MAC, so to be fair, maybe that lasts better on the lips. Even if the matte formula is amazing, one winning formula out of 6+ still isn’t a shining record.

My Alternative? Colourpop!

Okay, so I don’t like MAC. What do I use instead? Colourpop Lippie Stix are my preferred alternative to MAC lipsticks. These have such similar formulas that I could barely tell the difference. If I were blindfolded, I would have serious trouble telling these apart.