MAC Cosmetics Retro Matte Lipstick “Ruby Woo” | Review

Hello friends!

As mentioned in last week’s review, I love finding popular, still available makeup at TJMaxx! When I saw Ruby Woo sitting on the shelf, not swatched or touched by other people as the makeup there so often is, I had to grab it.

This is one of those colors I feel like anyone who knows about makeup recognizes! MAC’s Ruby Woo feels iconic to me, so when I pulled this out to review, I couldn’t help but be excited!

Color: On the MAC website, Ruby Woo is described as a “vivid blue-red”. This color is absolutely a classic, in-your-face red, with a slight pink undertone that’s hard to notice at first, but becomes more obvious as you wear it.

Finish: They call this a retro matte and they certainly mean it. The finish from application until I take it off is completely matte; there was not even the slightest bit of sheen on my lips while wearing this color!

Packaging: The packaging of this is the iconic MAC shiny black bullet with tiny silver glitter flecks throughout, a silver ring where the cap meets the tube, and MAC printed on the cap. The bottom of the bullet has a sticker with the product name and information on it.

Applicator: As with the majority of any bullet lipstick, the shape of the product is a standard teardrop.

Application: The only downside to this product that I found was that application is not easy. With the product being so matte, it is hard to get to deposit onto the lips, and I had to go back and forth a few times to get full color payoff, as it stuck and dragged a little until I worked it back and forth a few times.

It was also really difficult to get into the corners of my lips with the tip of the bullet, so I would make a bit of a mess there as well as the rest of my lip line and needed to go back to wipe it away after. The MAC lipsticks have a faint vanilla scent that does not linger after application.

Transfer: Y’all, when I say this lipstick did not budge, it did. Not. Budge. I couldn’t believe that the only transfer was a tiny bit at the beginning of wearing when extra product came off, and then the only time I found there was significant transfer was after eating a super oily salad. Otherwise, unless you saw my lips you wouldn’t know that I was wearing lipstick!

Fading: The good news with this product is that because it doesn’t transfer much, it also doesn’t fade much. I wore this bullet lipstick without touch ups and while eating and drinking all day, and while I did have a reduction in color I did not feel like I needed to take off the lipstick or that it looked bad. There was a point after about 8 hours where I would have preferred to do a touch up, but for a bullet lipstick I was so impressed.

With this being a red lipstick, it definitely is clear when you need to do some fixing up, as the red may wear away completely in some spots, especially the inner part of the lips, while remaining on the outer part. This is not surprising and I don’t fault the lipstick for it.

Comfort: For as matte and dry as this lipstick is, I was shocked with how comfortable it ended up feeling on! There was never a point where I wanted to wipe it off or do anything with it, and honestly I completely forgot I was wearing it at some points with how thin and comfortable it remained throughout the entire time wearing.

In full transparency, I’ve heard a number of people say that they do NOT like this formula as it feels way too dry and uncomfortable, so I don’t know if I have a different batch type or just can handle matte lipsticks better than the average person.

Overall: I’m obsessed with this lipstick! It’s not one that I can wear comfortably every day due to the color, but the formula works so amazingly well with it. If you can handle a really matte lipstick, I definitely recommend that this gets picked up as it is such a fantastic addition to a makeup lover’s collection! I do want to say that I don’t know if I’d buy any other colors in this formula right now, as there’s a limited number of shades, and none of them really appeal to me the way that Ruby Woo does.

Price Point: This lipstick can be purchased on MAC’s website or at Ulta for $21. While this isn’t a terrible price, I’m always one to wait for a sale, so see if you can find them that way instead! Additionally, I’ve seen a lot of MAC lipsticks in Marshall’s and TJMaxx, so be sure to check one of those stores out before shelling out the full price!