MAC finally brings back the OG shade of iconic lipliner, Spice

It’s probably the most legendary lipliner in make-up history. Defining the 90s supermodel look, MAC Cosmetics’ Spice was worn by everyone from Pamela Anderson to Naomi Campbell, gaining it the reputation as “the supermodel pencil”. Last year, Cindy Crawford named it as her “beauty secret” in the 90s and it was rumoured Linda Evangelista would sneak into the toilets backstage to add the shade to her outer lipline, regardless of a catwalk show’s theme. 

It was Evangelista who introduced the pencil to Kevyn Aucoin, who used it on his lush rooster of stars, and by the end of the decade the shade was ubiquitous – in a 1999 article sharing signature shades of various actresses, models and singers, Spice is mentioned 10 times, more than any other shade, with fans including Kate Winslet, Mary J Blige, Neve Campbell and Courteney Cox.

However, over the years, as formulas changed and labs moved countries, the colour of Spice shifted and the modern day shade now runs much warmer and more orange than the original cool tone. Because of this, there have long been cries from the beauty community – including Erin Parsons who has been particularly vocal – to restore the shade to its former glory, and now those calls have finally been answered. 

MAC’s latest collection, Nudes, features 28 products for lips and eyes all in a range of neutral nude tones. The 19 lipsticks include a combination of new shades as well as ones that had previously been discontinued and are now being brought back from the archive including Fleshpot, Stone and Peachstock, while Velvet Teddy (made famous by Kylie Jenner in 2014) receives a revamp called Cool Teddy. There are also six eyeshadow palettes in a range of different neutrals, and then, finally, the three lip liner shades including Cool Spice which replicates the original cool-toned colour of the 90s Spice.

In a video posted on TikTok, Parsons, who also did the make-up for the Nudes campaign, demonstrates the difference between the modern day shade of Spice with the Cool Spice pencil, showing how much more cool-toned the new one is. The excitement over the return is such that the shade has already sold out in the US, where the collection dropped on Sunday. Luckily, for those of us in the UK, the launch is tomorrow (January 8) which means you still have a chance to get your hands on Cool Spice, and all of the other luscious nudes.

The Nudes collection will launch at maccosmetics.co.uk and MAC stores on January 8, and in Brown Thomas in Ireland. It will be available nationwide from January 22.