MAC Office Hours Pro Longwear Blushes Reviews, Photos, Swatches (Part 2)
MAC Stay By Me Pro Longwear Blush
Still Powdery, but Better Color
This review focuses on three new shades of MAC Pro Longwear Blushes ($23.50 for 0.21 oz.) from the latest launch, Office Hours: Stay By Me (light peach coral), Stay Pretty (light bright blue pink), and Whole Lotta Love (light blue pink).
Please see part one for a more in-depth review of the formula. I echo those sentiments overall. Stay Pretty and Whole Lotta Love had better color payoff compared to the other five I’ve reviewed. Stay By Me lasted for three hours well, then had disappeared by the sixth hour. Stay Pretty started to look a smidgen faded around the edges after four hours and had disappeared after seven hours. Whole Lotta Love didn’t look faded until five hours, and there was still a glimpse of color after eight hours. It’s less wear than I typically get out of a MAC blush (normally, I’d see six to eight hours with some fading but the majority of the color is still there).
Stay By Me is a pale peach with a barely-there shimmer. It looks mostly matte on the skin. This shade was noticeably powdery and dusty, so it did not look natural against the skin (kind of cake-y). I needed to apply four layers of product to get the color to show up in the swatch (my forearm is around NC20 in color; I did the same on cheeks, but my face is darker (around NC30), so it didn’t really show up. NARS Sex Appeal is slightly lighter.
Stay Pretty is a light-medium blue-based pink with a subtle golden shimmer. This shade wasn’t quite as powdery as the other six shades I tried. I applied three layers of product to get it to show up on my arm and four layers of product on my face. MAC Lovecloud has a stronger sheen. Bobbi Brown Nude Pink is bluer-based. NYX English Rose is similar, perhaps a bit lighter.
Whole Lotta Love is a brightened pop of medium-dark pink with a subtle sheen. I only needed to use two layers to get the color to show up on the arm, and I layered it three times on my face. The texture was a little drier compared to the other six shades, which actually was good, because it wasn’t as powdery. MAC Full Fuchsia is slightly darker. MAC Her Blooming Cheek is more fuchsia, more blue-based. Tom Ford Wicked has a smidgen of plum in it. MAC Supernova is darker, redder.
MAC Office Hours Pro Longwear Blushes Reviews, Photos, Swatches (Part 2)
MAC Stay By Me Pro Longwear Blush
MAC Stay By Me Pro Longwear Blush
MAC Stay By Me Pro Longwear Blush
MAC Stay By Me Pro Longwear Blush
MAC Stay By Me Pro Longwear Blush
MAC Stay By Me Pro Longwear Blush
MAC Stay Pretty Pro Longwear Blush
MAC Stay Pretty Pro Longwear Blush
MAC Stay Pretty Pro Longwear Blush
MAC Stay Pretty Pro Longwear Blush
MAC Stay Pretty Pro Longwear Blush
MAC Stay Pretty Pro Longwear Blush
MAC Whole Lotta Love Pro Longwear Blush
MAC Whole Lotta Love Pro Longwear Blush
MAC Whole Lotta Love Pro Longwear Blush
MAC Whole Lotta Love Pro Longwear Blush
MAC Whole Lotta Love Pro Longwear Blush
MAC Whole Lotta Love Pro Longwear Blush
Thank you for your swatches Christine. I like whole lotta love the most, all of them look very similar and the pigmentation doesn’t look that strong. I think I stick with tarte’s blushes, they last many hours and are good for your skin.
I have to ask because it’s so stunning, what is the color you’re wearing on your waterline?
Tom Ford Exotic Teal
Great swatches!! I like these colors!! Just wish they weren’t so pricey
I truly believe that if MAC did not put out 50 or more collections a year (an utterly INSANE number, imo!), things like this would not happen. With fewer collections, they could review things properly at Quality Control and send back poorly performing F or D-type products to be fixed. That said, I have no idea what was NARS’ excuse for the Warhol collection. All in all, a bad few weeks for new collections.
I think this was intentional on their part. Not the powderiness or the lack of staying powder obv (well, hopefully not lol) but the sheerness, and I happen to like it for that aspect.
And it’s a good price too. I’d love a Burberry or Guerlain blush, because they seem to do great “loud colors in pan/sheer on face” blushes, but they are expensive. And yeah, those blushes probably do have better quality than these ones but at the end of the day, quality is not an indicator that will show up on the bank statement lol.
You could buy one shade instead of two, or save up for one really fantastic product. I say this as someone who was super obsessed with makeup initially and bought rather indiscriminately – looking back, I wish I had bought only the best products, even if it meant less. I totally understand when something is more comparable – you know, like maybe a B+ to an A- or even B+ to an A product but there’s a $20 discrepancy!
But you’re better off trying one of MAC’s Sheertone finishes instead if you want this price point 🙂 Tarte may be better, too – similar soft texture. If you like sheerer applications, invest in a good brush – either something very fluffy and not as dense or a stippling brush, because then any blush you own can be used sheer!
If this is your price point, I’d try tarte.
If you like subtle and don’t have an issue with cheap makeup, I’d check out Luminoso from Milaini’s baked blush line.
The colors, what I can see of them, are pretty, but the quality is just awful. I’ll stick to Burberry and Tarte 🙂
What a disappointment that all of these blushes are such poor quality 🙁 This is happening more and more with MAC, it’s not good. Maybe they should do less collections but focus more on quality.
I was excited about this collection. It was unfortunate to hear that the quality wasn’t there. That being said, I do like the colour of MAC Whole Lotta Love,so I may go swatching it at the store.
I was really hoping the blushes would be an improvement on the eyeshadows! There were a few colours I had an interest in, but… Yikes.
Good thing everything in this collection blows. My bank account is very very happy! lol
Though I do like some of the colors, I would definitely NOT purchase because of wear time. Especially for something labeled as “long wearing”.
Well, Stay By Me and Whole Lotta Love look pretty, but the quality seems too stink. I have $3 ELF blushes with much better quality than these. Thanks very much for the honest reviews!
The new Pro Long Wear collection looks like such a disappointment! The colors are too sheer to be even considered “long-wearing”. It seems that MAC doesn’t put too much effort on limited-edition collections.
How much do you want to bet MAC is going to make a KILLING on this collection.. The colours are so soft and pretty and I can see a lot of people really loving these blushes. I’m so glad I started following your blog, Christine!!
i actually ordered two, whole lotta love and stay by me.. I was so in love with the pro longwear bronzer texture and wear, its such a bummer that these don’t sound so comparable.. Wondering if whole lotta love is worth keeping??
I know, right? The Pro Longwear Bronzers had such an AMAZING texture. They’re not alike at all 🙁
I hope they work better for you than they did for me, Soph!
these wouldnt even show on my skin tone. im glad i saw this review. this is disappointing.
why in the world are these more expensive? did the prices jump for all blushes or just this collection?
It’s just the pricing for these blushes – the regular blush range didn’t increase with this launch!
phew. i was afraid it was all because i have noticed that mac’s been slowly increasing their prices for other items!
I almost bought a couple of these when they first launched on the website, but I’m so glad I waited to read your review of them! I’m really disappointed with how Stay Pretty and Whole Lotta Love actually look on the skin. I’m glad I didn’t waste my money!
Yuck, they look damn bad on the face, stay by me is so pretty in the pan, but total crap on the face, thanks help me remove these on my list
Hi Christine!
What about Stubborn? Any comments about it yet?
Thanks!
Hi Isabel,
I don’t have it – it was coming soon when I placed my order!
The first swatch looks almost identical to a Makeup Forever blush/eyeshadow pan I bought at IMATS. Can’t recall the shade number right now. I use it to tone down some other blushes that are too harsh, or to soften the edges of cream products. It’s a great formula and wears all day, unlike these MAC blushes you reviewed in two parts.
MAC really should be embarrassed for putting out junk like these products. They obviously can’t care very much about their reputation for carrying quality makeup if they’re trying to foist crap like these on us.
I’ll say it once again: La Femme! I really hope people give the La Femme blushes a try because they’re truly incredible, at nearly a tenth the cost of ONE blush by MAC. Think of how many shades you could collect at only $2.50 each…..I’m well on my way to owning 20 of them, put my latest order for another 8 in today. Can’t wait to get them. They never disappoint! 🙂
I’ve sworn off MAC blushes now for a while. Why bother paying for junk when other companies are doing it right. I also picked up some Kryolan blushes at IMATS this year that are absolutely stunning! Branching out and up 🙂
I love la femme!
Well, I thought that I might really like Stay By Me, but meh– I’m not too impressed. Whole Lotta Love is probably my favorite of all of these, but I’m not overly impressed with them. Good, my wallet needs a break!
how do these compare pigmentation-wise to benefit dandelion?
i am SUPER pale (as in MUFE 110 is too dark, as is NARS siberia.)
dandelion is a bright pink on me… would you say these would work in a similar manner? i think i remember your dandelion review saying that that was too sheer for you as well, so i am wondering if this might work for me.
thanks 🙂
They might show up better on you — not sure how well they’d wear!
Hi Christine, is Stay by me a similar colour to Archie’s Girls’ Cream Soda?
Thank you.
Lighter, sheerer!