Oh man, I remember some dark, dark times with matte lipstick. It was the early/mid-90s and matte lipstick was everywhere...although it seemed the shade selection consisted only of brick reds and various shades of "neutral" ranging from pale beige to chocolate brown. The textures were horrid and somehow made even the most voluptuous lips look thin. It makes me think of mean, tight-lipped executives in scary power suits.

I'm chalking it up to the economy. The recession must have depressed people into actually wanting to look drab and puny-lipped.

But matte is back, and fortunately this time around, the colors and textures are just gorgeous. Lucky for us, the new matte lip is much, much more wearable.

MAC's Mattene collection has just launched with 16 matte shades, fortified with emollients to avoid that dry, cracked feel, and packaged in a sleek, slim tube.

So far I've been playing with Composure and Classic Dame, but I really have my eye on 40's Pink (the description says "dirty pink," how could you not love it?). Composure is a neutral bronze plum and is actually much darker than the color swatch on the MAC site. It makes a fabulously rich autumn mouth (and looks amazing with my Clinique Pink Truffle lipliner from last year's holiday collection).

Classic Dame is just what you'd envision from reading the name...a classic red. I love playing with this but have yet to venture out of the house with it on; I'm going to have to psych myself up for that one!

And here's the full listing of Mattene shades...enjoy!

• Poise - Clean yellow pink (Semi-Matte)
  
• Composure - Neutral bronze plum (Semi-Matte)


• Flattering - Beige pink (Semi-Matte)


• Café Matte - Rich caramel (Semi-Matte)


• Orange Dare - right yellow orange (Semi-Matte)


• Seriously Rich - Bright pink red (Semi-Matte)


• Immodest - Bright magenta (Semi-Matte)


• Night Violet - Deep purple grape (Semi-Matte)


• 40’s Pink - Neutral mid-tone dirty pink


• All Grown Up - Deep chocolate brown


• Tango - Dirty coral


• You Say Tomato - Tomato red


• Classic Dame - Blood red


• Rapturous - Deep red berry


• Powersuit - Vibrant clean yellow pink (HA! Love the name!A throwback to the old days of matte?)


• Rougette - Wine berry