Gareth Pugh For Mac: Pictures, Swatches & Gothtastic Experiments!

Bonkers couture, a self-professed love for makeup and an uncompromising fashion aesthetic - you kind of expect any collection from Gareth Pugh to be a lot left of centre so I've been pretty giddy about his collaboration with Mac, which will arrive on counter in December.

It's dark, it's beautifully packaged, and it's just one of several solid hookups the brand has up its sleeve in the coming months. The new year will see ranges from Daphne Guinness (this I have seen and it's not what you expect) as well as Iris Apfel (Google her if you don't know her) and of course, Miss Piggy.

The collection includes some standout products like a fantastic padded and zipped patent makeup bag for €82 as well as a square handled buffer brush, €62.50, Beauty Powder, €60, and Metal-X shadows in Obscura and Ardent, €34.50. Nail Lacquer will be €26, Lipglass, €26, Pigment, €34.50, Lashes, €22, and all products are limited edition.

But back to Pugh. The outer card casings on this 19-piece collection are back and silver irregular check, mimicking one of his familiar dress designs and inside, the powder and cream products come in weighty compacts with his signature stamp.  They're hard, angular and very, very black. It's a fairly small range but ruthlessly edited into two distinct choices - uber pale, or darkly dramatic.

With both, skin stays un-blushed, and technically none features here. But contour does, interestingly. So these looks aren't for the faint of heart - this is all about show-off, high fashion, look-at-me beauty that's a little complicated, a little bit of work and a little bit controversial.

A closer look at some of the products. It seems pretty clear that Pugh's picks for Mac are going to alienate as many as it turns on.  Which, I am guessing, is probably the objective. Certainly anything like this tickles my fancy for doing it differently, so I'm appreciating all over the lineup.

Here's what I got to play with: clockwise from top we have Powder Blush in Strada, €33, (really, this is a contour shade), Beauty Powder in  Elude, €60, Lipstick in Fervent, €26.50, Metal-X in Ardent, €34.50, and Lipstick in Restrict, €26.50. While I hadn't initially thought so, prices are significantly higher on this collection than normal and I'm guessing the packaging has something to do with that. Lets take a closer look at it.

With extra leather glove for added sinister

Smell the glove!

Out of glove-related commentary now.

So here I am, doing my best Wednesday Addams impression. Do I look deeply misunderstood and alone? I hope so bitches, I didn't layer on that amount of pale powder for nothing, you know. On eyes I have Metal-X in Ardent, contour is Powder Blush in Strada  and lips are courtesy of Lipstick in Fervent.

Ok, so while I was pretty heavy-handed with that contour (I didn't expect Powder Blush in Strada to be so pigmented or have such a red tone to it) I must say I like it - it works very well (with a lighter hand) on pale skin to sculpt and shape and I will definitely be using it again in my more, er, normal routine. I'd query the small pan size though: this is the same size as the Metal-X shadows and for ease of use I'd prefer it to be bigger.

I also really like Metal-X shadow in Ardent - these apply, blend and work well with powders.  But they do move about so you will need a primer or something to set them with. I've pretty much used the colour solo here, working it on in layers and blending, blending, blending. Not very well or accurately, but just to give you a goth-pression of how it looks.

Beauty Powder in Elude is another beautiful product I'll gladly use. A transparent, fine finishing powder, there's no shimmer or glitter, just a soft-focus finish.

Obviously, obviously, I will never leave the house with all this on together as it is clearly not a flattering finish and this is just for fun to show you the range in a homage to the goth glory of Gareth Pugh. The lipstick in particular does zilch for me - but if you love a deep purple then this is a satin finish that covers well and feels nice on the lips. There are also several bits in this collection you can happily work into your own collection and lots of them are a boon for pale girls, which is great to see.

Lastly, swatches.  From left to right we have Lipstick in Restrict (cremesheen), Lipstick in Fervent (satin), Powder Blush in Strada, Metal-X in Ardent. I didn't swatch the Beauty Powder as it just didn't show up on the skin.

So - that's pretty much it from me for Gareth Pugh, oh, except for these, er, 'outtakes' from my self-shoot. Will you nip to the counter to pick anything up in December?

Nope, couldn't keep a straight face