Mac Mean & Green nail polish review

DUOCHROME ALERT! DUOCHROME ALERT!

Today, I have one of the most beautiful nail polishes ever to show you – MAC’s Mean & Green. Originally released with their Disney Venomous Villains Collection, and promptly selling out quicker than you can say ‘Mirror mirror on the wall’, this beauty was one of MAC’s most highly coveted polishes, much-duped and much swindled for on eBay after it was consigned to the deep dark depths of the MAC vault.

But rejoice! MAC have just launched a permanent nail polish line of thirty lacquers, bringing back many of their much-loved favourites to sit on the stands full-time… and Mean & Green is one of them! That’s right, this iconic duochrome is now available permanently for your purchasing pleasure (a pleasant change from cosmetics companies discontinuing items for them never to see the light of day again) – so suck on that, eBay hawkers!

Remember my rant about nail polish by non nail polish specialists generally not being worth it? Well, MAC are primary offenders. A lot of their polishes are easily dupe-able crèmes except at a much higher price point… but Mean & Green is awesome enough to undo any of MAC’s previous polish shortcomings.

I took about thirty photos of this baby, each more beautiful than the last, and none quite as magical as it is in person. Mean & Green is a stunning oil spill of a duochrome (nail polish lingo for shade-shifter), starting off as a blackened murky purple before skidding off into a coppery pink, a bronze-y copper, a green-y bronze, a gold-y green and so much more. It’s entirely fitting that it came out with the Venomous Villains line, because you can well imagine that some special sprinklings of Disney dark magic went into its creation.

Again, it has that amazing grown-up blackened metallic shimmer finish of the likes of Chanel Graphite and Butter London Wallis – I really need to think of a name for this, as I’m going through SUCH an obsession with it that I’m having to reference Graphite on a near weekly basis!

Mean & Green has a thin but great formula, allowing for easy smooth bubble-free application. MAC’s formulas can be a bit hiss and miss but this was definitely one of the winners; the initial coat is thin and somewhat watery in colour, but it builds well to bring out that amazing multi-dimensional depth, all with a flawless finish.

I can well imagine my favourite and the ultimate Disney villain, Maleficent, sporting Mean & Green on her nails. It’s a total magic spell of fish scales, starling wings, cauldron drippings and rainbow puddles. Thank God MAC gave us all a happy ever after and made this permanent, as you have NO idea what you’re missing out on until you spend hours gazing in wonder at your nails in different angles. However did my polish collection exist without it?!

Looks good with: ‘Touch the spindle, touch it I say!’
Drying time: 5 mins
Coats required: 3
Chips: +5 days

MAC Mean & Green nail polish, $110, see all MAC locations in Hong Kong here

Note: this product was provided for my consideration