Overall impression: I love the theme of shimmering pales (as seen in last month’s Loving Right Now: Shimmering Pales post). I’m all about the glowy and luminous but when I started seeing swatches and reviews on other blogs I was a bit let down. Everything looked so frosty! Still, curiosity got the best of me so I took a peek at the MAC counter the day after Christmas. I can report that my favorite bloggers did an amazing job in swatching with great accuracy. The colors are indeed very metallic in this collection, however I was able to find a few things that worked for me when applied with a lighter hand.
Chez Chez Lamé Special Reserve Highlight Powder – This is a soft pale beige gold shimmer. I have a soft spot for MAC MSFs even though they tend to be overly frosty so I couldn’t resist these new highlighting powders. On my skin, the shimmer is more finely milled and less frosty. I also find these less frosty than Bobbi Brown Shimmer Bricks. I was pleasantly surprised! This is extremely pale however – if you’re a Chanel Shell or darker I would recommend using this with a super light hand to avoid super-frost.
Rosé Olé Special Reserve Highlight Powder – This is described as a soft pink with gold shimmer, on me it’s a peachy-rose, slightly bronzey. Same finely milled shimmer quality on the cheeks. I think this will look great on the eyes. Since it’s darker it’s not quite as contrasted on my skin. I recommend also applying with a lighter hand, I don’t think these will photograph well if applied heavily – you will most likely end up looking oily from the shimmer/shine.
Vintage Selection Paint Pot – I was the most anxious to see how the Paint Pots looked in real life. I thought I would pass on them all as they looked glittery and chunky. They are significantly more sparkly than any other paint pots I’ve seen, yet there were two that I liked blended out. Vintage Selection is a lovely light mauvey-pink sparkle. Those who don’t like micro-glitters may find this too over-the-top. Normally I avoid glitter like the plague, but this one is pretty blended out. Even though these are creams, for some reason I find MAC Paint Pots to be a bit hard to blend and need a bit of help from eye creams.
Let Me Pop Paint Pot – A unique coppery peach that is light enough for me to wear on the eyes without looking ill. This too has glittery chunks, so I recommend if you do venture to try this, try it on in small doses.
If you’re wondering how the shimmer highlighters compare to other high-end brands, well, I still have to tell you they just don’t. Even though these are finely milled and not-too-frosty, The Dior Skinshimmers and YSL Holiday Powder and Chanel just have a more natural glowy quality. Compred to the frost level of NARS Multiples, Blushes, and highlighters, the MAC is more subtle in my opinion.
I was surprised myself that I left the MAC counter with anything – you all know I’m not a huge fan of super-frost or glitter. I won’t say anything is a must-have, but I do recommend if you’re at all interested to explore this collection and check it out in person if you can. You might be surprised to find something fun and different.
* As an update to the rude commenter and others who like to throw insults on a regular basis – I did not mean to imply I am too good for MAC. I do like quite a few items from MAC, in fact a substantial percentage of my collection consists of MAC products, but mainly from older collections. Those who have actually read my blog for a while know I do not typically cover MAC collections by choice simply because it is a widely accessible brand that is well covered in blog reviews, message board reviews and videos. I blog about what I want to blog about and what I like. What I like is variety. If you are offended by luxury brands then this is not the blog for you to read.
