Art meets fashion in the M.A.C x Toledo Collection

This collection has got me so excited – not just for the colours within, which are unbelievable – but for the chic yet whimsical packaging too. Art meets fashion in the M.A.C x Toledo Collection where the marriage of Isabel and Ruben Toledo mirrors this marriage of illustration and fashion colour, in a vibrant collection that you just want to play with. It’s a passionate collection from a romantic couple who said in an article in Harper’s Bazaar it was “love at first sight” when Ruben first saw Isabel aged 13 in Spanish class in New Jersey USA. After two decades it’s clearly an ideal partnership with the creative and bohemian couple – Ruben creating art, and Isabel creating her eponymously-titled fashion label, Isabel Toledo.

Now, they have teamed up with M.A.C Cosmetics to release this stunning new colour collection of makeup, a brush, and a makeup purse, with a packaging illustration that reminds me of the great Spanish Surrealists. I love that the design is on the bullet cases and compact case and not just on the cardboard packaging. I can just imagine Paloma Picasso wearing these red lips with her jet-black hair.

Below: I photographed some of the pieces against my fashion illustration book of Celia Birtwell designs which I felt complemented the fashion illustration of the Toledo packaging, and against my ABC3D book which matched the black, white and red graphic designs and its architectural approach.

The MAC Toledo Collection includes:

Eye Shadow Palette

For eyes, forget nudes and go bright with these Eye Shadow palettes of six hues in a variety of textures from matt to shine, to go from day to night, in the fabulous white packaging with Ruben’s illustrations of graphic lines and faces. There are three colourways in pops of vibrant jewel tones of greens, blues, and purples called respectively Bellgreens, Moodyblu, and the Violetwink eyeshadow pictured here. Each palette retails for $105.

Violetwink shades L-R are Sweet Allure, French Clay, Tendersmoke, Stars n Rockets, Frizzyplum, Overnight.

Isabel and Ruben Toledo Lipstick

There are six shades of lipstick, in every colour you like as long as it’s red (okay, and a peach). Pictured here are my favourite – the deep blood red Sin, and a lovely, classic true red; Tenor Voice. They retail for $44 each from 2nd March.

Below: Sin lipstick.

Lipstick in Tenor Voice (shot on my apple print by New Zealand illustrator Holly Roach.)

Isabel and Ruben Toledo Tinted Lipglass

To match the six lipstick shades, there are six corresponding Lipglass colours for a more sheer and glossy counterpart to the latte lipstick finishes. If you like blue-reds you’ll love this lipgloss in Victoriana, and if you’re a fan of peachy nudes, try Oxblood, both with a high-shine finish and super moisturising on lips with jojoba oil to hydrate lips. I like that you can wear it on its own or layered over a lipstick to add gloss and shine. $42 each.

Tinted Lipglass in Victoriana.

Below: Oxblood Lipglass

Also in the Isabel and Ruben Toledo range are Blush Ombre – a powder blush featuring a shade wave of gentle ombré hues; Studio Nail Lacquer – long-lasting, high-impact nail colour that won’t fade, dull or chip easily; a 129SE Powder/Blush Brush, Eye Liner pencils in blue, green and violet, and a Isabel and Ruben Toledo Makeup Bag which doubles as a clutch.

The Toledo collection is available from 2nd March 2015 at all New Zealand MAC locations.
Megan Robinson
25th February 2015