Cult Classics
From Ruby Woo to the Selena Quintanilla collection.
Everyone remembers their first MAC product.
MAC debuted as an iconoclast, says former celebrity makeup artist and beauty historianRachel Weingarten.
MACs subversive approach beauty changed the industry, which at the time, still looked mostly homogenous.
They never ever judge you.
While beauty lines have certainly evolved over the years, MAC sprang forth all-inclusive.
1991: Lip Pencil
Spice.
These are just a few of the most iconiclip pencilsin MACs collection.
It just spread like wildfire, Quinn says of the product.
People would come into the MAC store asking for Spice lip pencil without even knowing what it was.
They just had heard that it was the supermodel pencil.
And then you had Pamela [Anderson] and Mary J. Blige wearing in.
People just had to try it.
Supermodels were the original influencers.
Before this line, Jennings said many of these women would use eyeliner to get their desired lip look.
What MAC does best is also embrace variations that go beyond pale, brown or black, says Weingarten.
There is a shade for everyone.
Back then, matte was like being rich, says Jennings.
If you werent sweaty or glowy or strobed, you were wealthy.
I remember so many newscasters coming in to buy this product, including the guys.
This product was one of the first ever to offer shade rangers for multiple skin tones.
Thirty years of Viva Glam, thirty years of giving back, says Jennings.
Its really incredible that this brand stood up for their friends, their colleagues, and their customers.
That’s how the first few years of Viva Glam felt.
No one was doing this back then no one, he says.
When you think about creating products and how long the lead time is to create this, its outrageous.
The designer had to give us the fabric and the main part of the collection.
Jennings recalls the fabric as being a beautiful burnt orange with a subtle metallic flair.
Using that as the main inspiration, the CB 96 lipstick was born.
Quinn notes that almost thirty years later, this color is still making waves on and off the runway.
Case in point: the coral lippie is spotted on Julien Calloway in thetheGossip Girlreboot.
They were using it for the good because its so viscous and it doesnt move.
You cant have a makeup artist in the cockpit reapplying sweat, Quinn laughs.
Its an all-in-one product that also looks really beautiful on lips.
Jennings said no one has managed to match the formula since its inception.
It makes the lips look fuller and plumper and it really catches the light, he says.
That heavy stickiness also gave us this beautiful, 3-D lip.
Its kind of magical.
Quinn herself says she wore the famed color on her own interview with MAC years ago.
But what most people might not know is thatRuby Woos creation was a happy accident.
Ive been with MAC for 32 years and was selling this lipstick back in the 90s, Jennings adds.
The blue of the red thats in this lipstick would actually make teeth look whiter, he says.
It was amazing that you could wear something that would enhance your smile.
It was the beginning of social media and this was the first time that anything went viral.
Before then, it was by word of mouth or Page Six.
For the everyday customer, Strobe Cream became the embodiment of a MAC lifestyle, Weingarten adds.
I think women were skittish to wear more evening-y makeup looks during the day, she says.
Disco was dead and makeup had its place Strobe Cream changed that.
Back then, it was packaged in a high-tech, space-age white bottle with black text.
The doll looked like our leader at the time, Jennings recalls.
We really innovated the Barbie line back then, Jennings adds.
It was the first time a brand collaborated with this kind of young, iconic, toy.
No one did this before on this scale.
You saw it in the shade range.
You saw it in the shade names.
We even launched in her hometown of Corpus Christi, Quinn adds.
With MAC, its never just slapping someones name on a collection.
Its so carefully thought out and theres true intention behind every step of the process.
