Your holiday makeup options are about to get extra glamorous, thanks to Mariah Carey, who certainly knows a thing or two about getting festive. To follow up on her widely-successful MAC lipstick from last year—appropriately titled "All I Want," natch—the elusive chanteuse is getting her very own icon collection, decked out in glitter, butterflies and enough shimmer to do us little lambs proud. "I was really excited for this project because it's something I've always wanted to do. I love MAC, I always have, and this is all stuff I will be wearing myself both onstage and everyday," Carey tells InStyle exclusively. "The team really let me express myself creatively through this, and it was almost like writing a song. As a songwriter, all of the little details you put in make the end result what it is, and this was a very similar creative process." With the icon's own signature makeup look as the starting point, Carey and the pros over at MAC worked for over a year and a half to create an impressive 23-product lineup, spanning the spectrum from nude lips and bronzy shadows, to feathery faux lashes and makeup tools.
Courtesy of MAC
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The glitter-covered exterior is also a first for the brand, not to mention, very Mariah Carey. "The packaging is my favorite thing I've seen in years, I'm telling you. When I saw it, I was blown away," she adds. "In my house in New York, I have a beauty salon where I get ready for events, and I wanted to take the products and put them in there so I could use them all the time. The folks at MAC told me they had never done anything like this before, and that was a huge compliment. I was very honored." December 15 will definitely be one sweet day, when the entire collection lands at MAC outposts and maccosmetics.com. In the meantime, scroll down to preview the collection's products, and find out what Mariah had to say about each one.
Lipglasses
With names as catchy as her own singles like "It's Just Like Honey," "Dreamlover," and "It's Just Like Honey," each shade of Carey's lipgloss lineup comes infused with ample amounts of shimmer, and are gorgeous over bare lips and pigmented hues alike. "I always have too many lipglosses in my bag, and these are amazing," she tells us. "I actually like my natural lip color better than most nude lipsticks, so sometimes, I'll just do a sheer gloss with a bit of shimmer over the top."
Lipsticks
Everyone will find a nude to flatter their complexion in Mariah's range, but don't count on ever seeing a red lipstick in her makeup bag. "I have this obsession with not wearing a bright red lipstick, I think it looks terrible on me, and nobody understands it," Carey says, laughing. "My makeup artist is always like, 'Please, please let me do a red lip on you,' and I'm like, 'No! It doesn't work and looks hideous on me.' I can wear certain deep colors, but I just have my own issue about red, but you can find that in any other collection, they don't need me for that!"
Eyeshadow Palettes
In creating her own collection, Mariah had the chance to add different products to the market she wished were already in existence. "It was a great enhancement to what I was already doing with my Vegas residency, tour, and being in the studio, and I love that I can wear the collection in all of these places," she says. "It's also a great thing to be able to create something that will make people feel beautiful."
Liquid Liner and Lip Pencils
"We tried our best to make the collection close to what I actually wear, because I'll be wearing this myself when I perform," Carey tells us. "I love the liquid eyeliner, and the colors range from the deepest tones, to pinks, peaches, golds, and coral."
False Lashes
"I'm not a mascara fan, so that's one thing we didn't include," says Carey. "People might be like, 'Why didn't she do a mascara?' but we did really nice faux lashes instead, and they're really fun."
Blushes
"There was a pink MAC blush that was my favorite of all time, and we had this long conversation about it because we found that other people loved it too," says Carey. "We kind of tweaked it for this collection, and it's so gorgeous. I'd definitely keep it in my makeup bag."
Extra Dimension Skinfinish, Buffer Brush, and Eye Shader Brush
"I prefer a nice, natural skin look, and something a bit more sheer and I'm very specific because I don't want a ton of shimmer everywhere," Carey tells us. Use the fluffy brush to blend the gold, Mimi-emblazoned powder onto your cheekbones to emulate her super-glowy complexion.
Touch My Body Loose Powder
Add a little shimmer on your collarbone to make your party dress extra festive, and rest knowing that Mariah is probably doing the same thing before she hits the stage. "When we were developing the products, we talked about what would look cool onstage and in certain lighting, but also how it would read in real life," says Carey. "You get this specific shimmer that would work under lights, but I think it's very wearable for everyday."
