SICKA THAN AVERAGE

All the most exciting activities require at least two players, right? Would you rather play solitaire or chat with friends over a heated round of poker? Dribble a basketball by yourself or find a fierce pick-up game? Sway your hips in a darkly lit corner of the club or glide onto the dance floor with a cologne-covered, firm-chested salsa partner? The folks at MAC Cosmetics know that one is the loneliest number — which is why they've invited collaborations with some of the most exciting fashion and jewelry designers, animation houses, illustrators, and toy manufacturers. This year alone, they've released limited-edition collections created alongside the likes of Liberty of London and Alice + Olivia.

But MAC's most exciting collaboration in years (and yes, I'm even counting the Hello Kitty and Barbie collections) is its new Venomous Villains collection, which pays homage to the scheming, conniving, spell-casting, envious, greedy scoundrels in some of Disney's most beloved animated films. In particular, this limited-edition collection nods to Cruella De Vil, the puppy-squashing ice queen of Walt Disney's 101 Dalmatians); the mirror-loving, poisoned apple-dispensing Evil Queen of Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs fame; the manipulative, top hat-wearing Dr. Facilier of The Princess And The Frog; and Maleficent of Sleeping Beauty, the horned evil fairy who cursed Aurora to die when she touches a spinning wheel's spindle before her sixteenth birthday. I love most of the villains chosen, though I do admit I would've preferred a classic evil genius like Ursula from The Little Mermaid over Dr. Facilier. But Cruella and Maleficent were particularly fun choices for me.

The collection's packaging is exquisite — the character depictions are completely true to their original incarnations, and yet they feel modern, with clean lines and vivid colors updating each figure emblazoned across lip gloss an lipstick tubes or stamped on clear eyeshadow lid cases. You literally feel like a giddy child as you twist open every lipstick tube or snap open every beauty powder compact — it's the kind of enthusiasm a five-year-old feels when he opens his new pencil case or lunchbox for the very first time. 

In terms of the color collections themselves, each of the four mini collections inside the Venomous Villains umbrella feature hues that correspond with the fairy tale in question. The best part: having experimented with the products in all the collections, it's hard for me to pick one favorite. If the lipsticks in one collection had me salivating like forbidden pieces of fruit, the eye shadows in another called for me to go up a mysterious staircase, and the pigments in another made me want to harmonize with a trumpet-playing gator. Bottom line: every story has its very own happy ending.

Today, we'll focus on the Cruella de Vil and Dr. Facilier color collections. Below, you'll find in-depth descriptions of each collection and the products therein, images of all the pieces in these collections, swatches, and much more.  Being bad never looked this good!

Keep reading after the jump to check out these collections!

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