Aladdin fans, prepare your hearts and coins! If you were stoked about the upcoming Aladdin film remake starring Naomi Scott (Jasmine), Mena Massoud (Aladdin), and Will Smith (Genie) — then you might really flip your lid.
MAC Cosmetics finally announced a collection inspired by the Aladdin reboot. The brand revealed every single product in its latest Disney collaboration, and we even got a release date!
Disney has been promoting this remake since 2017 (!!!), so it's only right that we get a special treats for the wait. Pack a bag and hop on your magic carpets because MAC and Disney are taking us straight to Agrabah this spring.
"Your wish, our command! Manifest your magic with The Disney Aladdin Collection by MAC," the brand wrote on Instagram.
"Launching this May, this wish-fulfilling collaboration highlights the self-determination and confidence of Princess Jasmine in the upcoming live-action adaptation of Disney’s animated classic, Aladdin — in theaters May 24."
MAC Cosmetics then rolled out images of every product in the collection. Per the packaging and the pigments, it seems the brand went for colors that would capture Princess Jasmine's actual made-up face as opposed to colors from her costumes or from the film overall.
The Aladdin palette seems to follow the royal protocol with golds, purples, and neutral tones.
The palette has six shimmery shades and three matte shadows. MAC Cosmetics also made sure that the palette was complete with proper transition shades and two deep purples for a royal smoky eye look. It's nice that MAC also threw a copper shimmer into the mix. The shadow lineup has the right blend of warm and cool shades.
Although this palette is sufficient, I think an eye shadow palette inspired by the Aladdin film could have taken better advantage of the colors from the entire film. A 14-pan palette with these shades as well as more blue and red shades would have fit perfectly along with the colors of Genie and Princess Jasmine's red costume.
Princess Jasmine wore a deep pink lip color throughout the majority of the original Aladdin film, so it's only right that MAC treat the people to a tube of similar lipstick.
The pink lipstick shade looks really pretty. It also looks like a hue that several different skin tones will look great wearing. The lipstick packaging is also gorgeous! MAC seemed to be aiming for an Aladdin-inspired collection that doesn't look too literal and cheesy.
Fans immediately noticed the similarities between the MAC Cosmetics Princess Jasmine lipstick and ColourPop's Jasmine Crème Lux Lipstick ($7, ColourPop Cosmetics), which was also done in collaboration with Disney.
The shades certainly look alike, although the ColourPop lipstick looks a touch brighter. The similar shades are probably due to the fact that both brands were trying to create a lipstick similar to what the original Princess Jasmine cartoon wore. MAC Cosmetics could have possibly set its lipstick release apart from ColourPop's a little more if it had released it with a pink lip glass.
Where MAC seems to have gone completely left is with its bronzer, which is supposed to help fans achieve that sun-kissed Princess Jasmine glow. There's just one problem...
I love the metallic gold compact and the genie lamp shape impressed into the bronzer. Unfortunately, I do have to point out that this hue likely isn't going to do any bronzing for anyone with a deep dark skin tone.
Beauty influencers like Too Much Mouth and Nyma Tang have been pointing out how brands neglect to make other products in their collections as inclusive as their foundation shade ranges. This bronzer release from MAC Cosmetics proves them right. A person with deep dark skin will not be able to comfortably wear this bronzer, which means they cannot enjoy the full Aladdin collection if they so desire.
Beauty brands have got to learn that inclusion goes beyond them trying to survive the Fenty Effect. Foundations and concealers aren't the only products that require consideration of deeper complexions.
In fact, beauty fans of varying skin tones also noticed this bronzer flaw in the collection.
"I never understand why they include a face product that can only cater to some skin tones when it comes to collaborations," one fan wrote. "I wish they would release a more universal item like lashes for example. But the packaging is always amazing!"
Yes, MAC Cosmetics strikes again with great packaging and lackluster product offerings.
One fan pointed out that this isn't MAC Cosmetics' first time releasing bronzer in a collection that only select people can wear.
"Again, bright orange bronzer," one person wrote, complete with an eye-rolling emoji. "Not for pale people, not for dark people."
Apparently, MAC Cosmetics only wants people whose skin tones fall somewhere in the middle to be able to get their bronze on with this collection. Le sigh. When are brands going to realize that every single complexion product they make has to be inclusive?
It's hard not to point out that MAC Cosmetics routinely releases collections that only have one or two bronze options and they are a fit for deep skin tones.
Fans are also annoyed that Princess Jasmine herself (um, hello?) would probably not even be able to wear this bronzer.
"You’d think the bronzer would be brown girl–friendly since Jasmine is brown," a commenter shared. It actually is kind of strange that one of the few brown Disney princesses is now being honored by a MAC collection that underserves other brown girls. Sadly, this failed bronzer attempt falls right in line with the controversy surrounding the casting of this film.
A lot of people criticized Disney for "whitewashing" the Aladdin film, which was written about Middle Eastern characters.
Lots of fans had an issue with Princess Jasmine being played by Naomi Scott, a biracial actress of British and Gujarati Indian descent. They were mostly worried about people confusing South Asian and Middle Eastern cultures. Disney fans immediately took to Twitter once the official casting was announced to call out Disney for treating the two cultures like they are interchangeable.
Critics were confused about why Princess Jasmine could not just be played by a Middle Eastern actress. Disney never truly addressed the issue. Instead, the company seemingly nabbed Will Smith to play the genie to balance things out.
With an Aladdin makeup collection that fails to be completely melanin-friendly and a questionable casting for Princess Jasmine in the live-action remake, Disney doesn't seem to be working too hard to make this reboot appealing.
It's not even like fans have been asking Disney to remake every single film it's ever made. The company seems to be on that reboot spree all on its own. Since that's Disney's angle these days, then the least the company could do is get the representation portion of the casting and the accompanying product rollouts correct.
Le sigh. This collection will be available on May 16 in stores and online. Unfortunately, maybe some of us will have to skip out on that trip to Agrabah after all.
