MAC • Orchidstrate Amplified Creme • Lipstick

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*TOP REVIEWER* tgparks on 2/23/2006 7:28:00 PM more reviews by tgparks

Age: 25-29   Skin: Other   Hair: Other   Eyes: Other    

This is one of my favorite lipsticks. I cannot wear nudes easliy-this is a lilac-nude that works on my LLL, NC30 skin. Can be too harsh is too much is applied. I like it with Cavalier, or Morning Glory lipglass over it. With BB Lilac shimmer gloss over it, it is the perfect lilac lip look that doesn't make me look dead.

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lolita84 on 8/28/2005 more reviews by lolita84

Age: Unknown   Skin: Oily   Hair: Black   Eyes: Brown    

I love this, it can look gray but in natural light it looks like a nude pink on me. I'm a C6.

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Pam_Too on 8/3/2005 5:31:00 PM more reviews by Pam_Too

Age: 25-29   Skin: Other   Hair: Other   Eyes: Other    

This is the first time that a NUDE lippie has left me with mixed feelings. Being a smokey eye / nude lippie kind of girl, I fall in love immediately with most nude lip shades. They're always so easy to pair with a dramatic eye look. But not this time. :/ I wish they would make a nude color similar to this, but with more "oomph"!

The reviews here made me think Orchidstrate was going to be that "perfect light-medium shaded, plum-toned brownish-NUDE, that I have been searching for. But ordering it sight unseen, I was quite surprised to find that it was a fairly dark (not quite as "deep" as Vista. And Vista is much more "plummy", imho) shade, with a plum tone visible only on my hands --but not on my lips. Perhaps it's fighting my coloring (brown eyes, blonde hair, light olive skin (faux tanned)? I don't know. But something seems "off" to me. It's not really a "nude" for me, because I'm not that dark skinned. And yet it doesn't have enough yellow tones for me to consider it a "beige". The perfect, "true neutral beige nude" lippie for me, was FONDLE -- which was about the same color as Stripdown lip pencil (why did they discontinue Fondle!). But then again, there's not enough plum or anything in Orchidstrate, for that matter. It's an "ashy brown". Against my faux tanned skin, and pretty well pigmented lips, Orchidstrate comes off looking like a "muted, medium-dark, VERY ashy-neutral (no pink, yellow, red, or even markedly gray tones), FLAT, blah taupe-y brown...with just the slightest tinge of plum (but only on my hand!).

I love to mix MAC lip colors, to create new shades. But with Orchidstrate, I seem to be struggling to find mixes that will FIX this shade for me. That seems more trouble than it's worth. I'm hoping Orchidstrate will look better on me in the winter, when my pale olive skin returns. But, I'm not feeling too confident. lol I'd really like to know the hair, skin, eye coloring of those reviewers who thought this shade was "plummy". ?? Please, do tell! :)

Update: I've raised my rating from a 2 to a 4! I've found that as my tan fades, and my light olive skintone returns, Orchidstrate is looking so much prettier on me. I can definitely see more of the plum tones in it, now that my skin is losing a lot of it's warmth from the faux tan. Great color! and I've found that OPI Chocolate Moose nail polish is an almost exact match to Orchidstrate-- in case anyone else likes to coordinate lipstick to nail color, as I do. :)

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cyprine on 2/2/2005 7:11:00 PM more reviews by cyprine

Age: 19-24   Skin: Combination, Fair-Medium   Hair: Brunette, Wavy, Medium   Eyes: Brown    

This made me (NC30 with olive undertones) look like a corpse. Waaay too gray. It looked like New York sludge on my lips. YMMV, though.

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tayztee on 10/15/2004 11:36:00 AM more reviews by tayztee

Age: 25-29   Skin: Dry   Hair: Brown   Eyes: Green    

This is one of the most beautiful nude shades I have tried on in a long time. My lips are very pigmented and still this nude looks gorgeous--for once I found a shade that does not make my lips look gray and wash me out. It needs blended a bit with a fingertip, but that's all you need and your lips suddenly look full & sexy. I'd definitely purchase it again.

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CrashingBoy on 10/13/2004 6:04:00 PM more reviews by CrashingBoy

Age: 36-43   Skin: Combination   Hair: Blond   Eyes: Other    

I LOVE this! I love the amplified creams in particular, but this color is really my HG. The coverage is splendid, it wears GREAT and makes my lips look LUSH and big with little effort on my part with tricky 'draw-ins'. It is a mauvy brown nude and looks fab with my light olive skin, blue/green eyes and the mauve in it makes my teeth look *white*.

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*TOP REVIEWER* sana_j on 9/21/2004 10:19:00 PM more reviews by sana_j

Age: 19-24   Skin: Dry   Hair: Black   Eyes: Brown    

Great neutral. Esp. when paired with stone liner, it makes it a bit deeper. I love this shade if I'm not trying to get my lips to look overdone but still want color. Wish it wasn't SO creamy though, but still another fave of mine from MAC's wonderful lipstick collection.

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*TOP REVIEWER* MostAdorable on 9/1/2004 1:40:00 PM more reviews by MostAdorable

Age: 25-29   Skin: Very Oily   Hair: Brown   Eyes: Brown    

This color is a deep beigey neutral in the tube. Applied, the neutral beige is still there, but as the reviewers below have noted, I too could see slight mauvey undertones in this. But, that's actually a good thing for me, because I think it's probably what keeps this color from greying out on my pigmented lips. You probably will still see the greyness if your lips are not very pigmented though. Lightly applied, this color gives me a very polished, MLBB look. Just perfect for a light makeup day. Love the moisturizing texture as well. Not as dry as some of MAC's other lipsticks can be.
Update: I wore this lipstick today with a few dabs of MAC Cavalier lipglass blended into it. Very pretty neutral pink result! I just *have* to try more of MAC's lipsticks! =)

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*TOP REVIEWER* Aligirl on 6/8/2004 4:58:00 PM more reviews by Aligirl

Age: 30-35   Skin: Combination, Fair-Medium, Warm   Hair: Brown, Wavy   Eyes: Green    

Greyed beige that looks to have some lavender undertones(at least on me)Paired it with MAC Plum lip liner and it looks awesome.Love the smooth,creamy finish as well..Only new Amplified shade I've liked so far

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elise77 on 5/17/2004 1:11:00 PM more reviews by elise77

Age: 25-29   Skin: Combination   Hair: Brown   Eyes: Brown    

This color turns out a dark nude with mauve undertones on my lips. I use it with Spice liner which helps make it less beige. While I love the texture of this lipstick, I probably wouldn't buy this particular shade again. I like it for now, though.

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*TOP REVIEWER* meToo on 4/5/2004 1:07:00 AM more reviews by meToo

Age: 36-43   Skin: Dry   Hair: Red   Eyes: Green    

Too taupey-grey for me.

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*TOP REVIEWER* orodwen on 4/2/2004 12:09:00 PM more reviews by orodwen

Age: Unknown   Skin: Other   Hair: Other   Eyes: Other    

What a wonderful addition Orchidstrate is to the MAC lineup. I happen to love colours like X-Pose and Vista but have been wanting something a bit less cool. MAC describes Orchidstrate as "A symphony in true neutral beige" and that's fairly close. It is neutral but if it's a beige it's a dark beige. it's rare to find a beige that's not overly warm and if they go cool they can end up really taupe or mauve-like. Orchistrate does neither. As with all amplified cremes, Orchidstrate is less dry than a Satin but has a longer life on the lip than lustures (I don't care for lustres at all, by the way.) If you like Vista or Shitake or are looking for a very wearable dark beige that has a good chance of not washing you out, give Orchidstrate a test drive.I'm a dark & high colour PPP w/ rosy-pink cheeks, mauvy-rose lips, mirky grey-green eyes and hair colour that changes on a moment's notice, but is naturally a light-medium chocolatey brown which has begun to go grey.

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