An entire color collection based on black. Doesn’t sound particularly flattering, does it? Well, when MAC does it, it is luscious. We checked out the Style Black collection:

Young Punk – this baked mineral eye shadow has a black base and tons of purple shimmer and glitter. The black goes on very sheer, and the shimmer is quite pigmented. It offers an instant smoky eye without being too goth or Halloweeny. Unlike NARS’s similar Night eye shadows, the black never overpowers the shimmer.

Volcanic Ash Exfoliator – this gentle foaming exfoliator is certainly black. It doesn’t stain the skin though. It has a strange smell that I can’t quite place. The sugar crystals dissolve as you massage it in, and it rinses clean without drying. I like it enough to finish off the bottle, but it is not my favorite cleanser. I just don’t feel as clean as I could be.

Glimmerglass in Blackfire- This sheer black gloss with tons of purple micro glitter. It is surprisingly flattering, a sheer plum shade, but watch out, as the gloss can gather around the edges of your lips, which darken and make it look like you are wearing liner 3 shades darker than you should.

I was less impressed with the Dsquared collection. The blue sparkly Greasepaint Stick is too thick to easily use as a liner; too hard to use as a shadow. The Fuchsia Fix lip conditioner – while a little bright for my pale complexion, was a lot nicer than I remember the lip conditioners being. Not my favorite balm, but it doesn’t dry out my lips like the old formula did. And the “Blood Red” lipstick from the collection was far more fuchsia than red.