I think of M.A.C. as a beloved makeup company because of their highly pigmented formulas and massive selection of colors. I’ve bought very few of their products over the years because they’d make me break out if I even walked by their cosmetics counter. (M.A.C. uses Talc – pore clogging for me, in other forms Talc contains asbestos and is cancer causing, yikes!)

On an impulse buy a few years ago, I got a lip kit of neutral pinks and this week just finished up the lip gloss, Deelight Cremesheen Glass. It came with a Cremesheen lipstick in I Love Winter and a lip pencil in Boldly Bare. They came in white packaging, normally MAC products come in black.

I really love how these three look together, layered up, with other products or even alone.

I wanted to find out more about M.A.C. ingredients and the first thing I noticed is that I couldn’t find any listed on their own website. Shady! Then I tried to search the SkinDeep website. They only have one listing for MAC, and it’s very vague. I was surprised that this huge brand that has been around for decades doesn’t have a presence on the SkinDeep website.

Another blogger went to M.A.C. and got the package to read over (mine were long tossed). At least the ingredients are available on the packaging itself. She lists the full ingredients here (thank you thank you!):

http://finesseofsimpleliving.blogspot.com/2012/11/mac-cremesheen-glass-ingredients.html

I didn’t find too many awful things except for Petroleum, flavor, artificial colorings, and then an interesting pigment included called Carmine. Carmine I found is made up of crushed red beetles, and some consumers are allergic. Beetles! I personally don’t mind, but this would definitely make the product not vegan. I also had found some randomized testing that have found lead and other heavy metals in some M.A.C products. I do mind that this can be detected and it “colors” my opinion of M.A.C. product integrity.

http://environmentaldefence.ca/reports/heavy-metal-hazard-health-risks-hidden-heavy-metals-in-face-makeup

One cool thing I did find is that M.A.C. has a recycling program for their plastic containing products; if you bring in six qualifying containers you  will get a free lipstick. I like their method to encourage and reward recycling.

http://www.maccosmetics.com/giving_back/btm_return_packaging.tmpl

I’m going to finish these products up because I like their texture, smell, and look. Given the mysteriousness of their ingredients I’m not going to repurchase M.A.C. and instead put that money towards another product line.