(Some) MAC Pigments Review

Here’s a bulk swatch of 8 more MAC pigments.

Universal Mix – sheer ivory with a mix of blue/green and gold sparkles
Rich Life – dark brown with silver shimmer

Universal Mix, Rich Life

Both were released in the All Ages, All Races, All Sexes collection at the beginning of 2010. Universal Mix is sparkle city. I can see it working as a good eye and cheek highlighter but seeing as there isn’t much of a base colour, I don’t think it’d be good as a base eye shade. Rich Life is too cool for me. Might have some potential if used wet but too much work!

Universal Mix, Rich Life

See the sparkles in Universal Mix.

Lithe – warm light peach with gold shimmer
Bloodline – charcoal taupe shade with a plum undertone with gold shimmer

Lithe, Bloodline

These were the only 2 things which interested me from the Fabulous Felines collection (released sometime in August 2010). Lithe is so gorgeous. It’s like a much toned down Melon and it was sooo smooth! Bloodline, like Rich Life, is probably best used wet. It’s such a complex shade which makes it more pretty!

Lithe, Bloodline

Emerald Green – jewel green with silver shimmer
Antique Green – smokey green teal
Naked – very neutral, very beige with pearly shimmer
Shimmertime – icy baby pink with silver shimmer

Emerald Green, Antique Green, Naked, Shimmertime

Emerald Green, Antique Green

Naked, Shimmertime

Emerald Green, Antique Green, Naked, Shimmertime

Apart from Shimmertime, these are permanently available from MAC. Emerald Green is similar to Humid eyeshadow. It suits its name as its a very vibrant shade of green 🙂 Antique Green is much darker compared to Emerald Green. It’s a blackened shade of green with hints of teal. Naked is a very soft skintone shade with the perfect amount of subtle shimmer. Shimmertime was apart of the She Shines collection, which IMO saw the release of some VERY great pigments. It’s a light pink shade with hints of silver.

Universal Mix, Rich Life, Lithe, Bloodline, Emerald Green, Antique Green, Naked, Shimmertime

Quick Review: MAC A Tartan Tale

I swatched everything but the eyeshadow cos I don’t want to ruin that pretty pattern! 😦

Glamora Castle is a very nice grey blue with some really fine shimmer. The surface has a really cute plaid pattern which unfortunately does not go all the way through (as discovered by BritishBeautyBlogger).

Dark grey with teal tartan striping (Limited Edition)

They cost more than MAC’s usual eyeshadows ($19.50USD) but they are bigger (3grams).

The MAC A Tartan Tale eyeshadow (middle) compared with a typical MAC blush (left) and MAC eyeshadow pot (right).

Now, the pigments – I acquired samples of The Family Crest, Moonlight Night and Jigs & Jives. The Family Crest and Moonlight Night, along with Later, were released as full sized pigment jars. MAC also released holiday sets of the pigment vials and I think each set had at least one limited edition shade. I’ve been trying to get my hands on the others – Cheers My Dear, Gilt O Glamor and Most Darlingbut it has been difficult!

Moving on… both Moonlight Night and The Family Crest were swatched wet because..it seemed like their full potential would be released only when swatched wet lol. Jigs & Jives, I swatched dry as usual as well as wet.

First impressions – all the pigments went on smoothly and no chunky glitter yay! A darker base is suggested for The Family Crest and Moonlight Night.

Jigs & Jives – Naked taupe

Moonlight Night – Blackened teal with teal pearl (Frost) (Limited Edition)

The Family Crest – Blackened bronze with pearl (Frost) (Limited Edition)

Jigs & Jives – pinkish tan

Moonlight Night – black base with blue and green shimmer
The Family Crest – plum base with gold shimmer

The Faerie Glen, is essentially a sheer nude-pink-brown mix. I like the fact that it’s a lustre finish cos when it’s applied, it’s semi-sheer with a slight sheen.

Random MAC Swatches

After perusing the MAC collections’ product list, I realised there were some repromotes which I already had (only 3 lol).

Violet pigment – this is a permanent product but will also be released as part of the Stylishly Yours collection.

vivid bright violet purple

Later pigment – this was recently released with MAC’s Alice+Olivia collection. However, it was released only in the US, Canada & Asia, I believe as well as having been produced in limited amounts so some missed out. This will be released as part of A Tartan Tale.

It doesn’t look at all interesting in the jar but it’s definitely something special when swatched wet.

Also, in real life, I can definitely see the purple shimmer/sheen but when photographed, it translates to blue? 😦

black with transforming purple pearl

Brule eyeshadow – part of MAC’s permanent line. It’s my HG brow bone highlighter when I need a matte one. It’s also great to use as a base shade to provide an even base for your eyeshadows. Even though it’s a matte shade with no shimmer or duo-chrome, it’s a satin texture which means nice and smooth application.

Brule will be a part of the Cham-Pale collection.

soft creamy beige

Swatches: MAC Eyeshadows

I am loving these newest additions to my MAC collection 🙂 I decided that maybe I should start adding some “must-haves” into my collection instead of just purchasing the constant limited edition eyeshadows. Doesn’t help that MAC churns out a new collection every other week!

New additions:
Malt – a matte pinky beige
Naked Lunch – shimmery nude with pink
Time & Space(LE from the Neo Sci-Fi collection) – warm copper with gold shimmer

Shroom – beige gold with shimmer
Club – duochrome :D! reddish brown base with green overlay

And my quads all organised:

Pictures of Alice+Olivia Pigments

These are the pigments which are available from the MAC Alice+Olivia collection which was released a month ago in the USA. Apparently, this collection was only available in the USA, Japan and Korea.

The three newest (limited edition) pigment offerings from MAC are If It Sparkles…, Later and Partylicious. Initially I was only going to get Partylicious but then a lady I usually get my MAC pigment samples from were offering a great deal for a sample of all three! And who’s to pass up a good deal? 😛

If It Sparkles… is described as

White with transforming pink pearl (Limited Edition)

It’s so finely milled – even the pink shimmer is finely milled.

Here it is compared to my other “white” MAC pigments:

Pink Opal: If It Sparkles…has less of a yellow-white base compared to Pink Opal. Also, the pink shimmer in Pink Opal is more visible to the eye than the pink shimmer in If It Sparkles…
Your Ladyship: Your Ladyship is definitely more pinky-peach compared to If It Sparkles…
Vanilla: Pink Opal and Vanilla seems to have the same base shade with Pink Opal only having some pink shimmer added to the mix. So again, Vanilla has more yellow in it compared to If It Sparkles…
Frost: Compared with Frost, If It Sparkles…is definitely more finely milled. Frost is chunky has has white shimmer.

Later is

Black with transforming purple pearl (Limited Edition)

And last but not least, Partylicious – my favourite of them all! It is described as

Turquoise with silver pearl (Limited Edition)

Compared with other blue-ish MAC pigments:

Blue (Rebel Rock): A deeper blue than Partylicious.
Teal: Definitely more green in Teal.
Bell Bottom Blue: Dark blue and grey compared with Partylicious.

Swatches: MAC Paint Pots

MAC paint pots are a relatively new addition to the MAC line. They were brought out in 2007 with the Painterly collection and MAC now has some paint pots as part of their permanent line.

But…what are paint pots?

A highly pigmented eye colour that goes on creamy but dries to an intense, vibrant finish. Long-wearing, colourfast. Creates seamless coverage without weight or caking. Blends smoothly over the lids. Cream-based, can be mixed with M·A·C shadows and liners.

What I like about these is that they last you for.ever. (each jar contains 5g/0.17fl oz) and not only do they act as a primer ensuring that your shadows don’t crease on you but they can also be used to intensify your eyeshadows or even change the look of them.

These come in a glass jar (similar to MAC fluidlines) with a black lid which goes on tightly to ensure they don’t dry out.

What I have in my collection:
Perky – cream coral with white pearl [Fafi collection]
Rubenesque – mid-tone frosted golden peach with gold and pink pearl
Rollickin’ – aqua blue green with white pearl [Fafi collection]
Indianwood – metallic antique bronze
Cash Flow – green gold with gold pearl [Fafi collection]
Coral Crepe – soft coral [Pret a Papier collection]
Soft Ochre – yellow beige
Girl Friendly – creamy grey pink [Fafi collection]
Stray Grey (gray?) – grey mauve [Novel Twist collection]

Swatches:

Perky, Coral Crepe, Girl Friendly

Cash Flow, Rubenesque, Indianwood, Rollickin, Stray Grey, Soft Ochre

Busy morning? Apply Rubenesque all over your lid and Satin Taupe in the crease. One of my favourite go-to combos as it takes less than 2 minutes and your eyes look awesome!

Each paint pot will take $35AUD/$16.50USD out of your wallet.

Black Shadows

Quick swatch comparison between Urban Decay Zero deluxe eyeshadow and MAC Carbon eyeshadow. The latter is a matte black while the former is a shimmery black.

Both are permanently available 🙂 Just a quick side note, I absolutely love Urban Decay’s deluxe shadows box and this will be featured in an upcoming palette challenge for myself as I don’t reach for it often enough!

Natural light

Flash

Swatch: MAC Coral Crepe Paint Pot

When I heard that MAC was releasing a new paint pot with the Pret a Papier collection, I was so excited! Don’t ask me why cos I still don’t know. I have a lot of the paint pots but I rarely use them *shrug*

Anyways, I was umm-ing and aah-ing over Coral Crepe for so long. I cancelled it in my CP order but then I would see swatches and looks posted using Coral Crepe which made me kinda go “Aww, should’ve gotten it!” Man! I hate being indecisive. I went to see it in real life at a counter and when I swatched it, wow! The colour was gorgeous – for real. I didn’t want to fork out $35AUD (ouch!) for it so I went home and tried to see if I could maybe get a sample of it instead lol.

Finally got one thanks to a lovely girl 🙂 And I’m satisfied. I didn’t need a whole jar anyways cos I barely touch my paint pots. I’ve had other paint pot samples and they haven’t dried up on me yet so I’m not worried *fingers crossed*

MOVING ON – sorry about the story LOL – here are some delicious swatches of it 🙂

Compared it with Perky and Girl Friendly, both LE from the Fafi collection. There is nothing quite like Coral Crepe 😉

Swatch: MAC Rebel Rock Blue pigment v MAC Blue (original) pigment

Whenever I read about X product being a dupe for Y product, I get curious and wonder, “Really?” So I go out and purchase them and compare for my own personal opinion. Sometimes, the dupes are spot on. And sometimes, they’re more similar than exact. And other times, their totally different making me think, “Um, Y is NOT a dupe for X!”

MAC’s Blue pigment was released twice – the first, known as the ‘original’ and the other known as the ‘Rebel Rock blue’. I acquired a sample of both and decided to compare them. And there are definite differences. Due to them having the same name, I just assumed they were the same. But noo, they’re not! They’re similar but not exact. The Rebel Rock version has more yellow in it whereas the Original is a more vivid blue.

Here are some swatches to let you decide for yourself 🙂

Swatch My Stash #2 – Becca Jewel Eye Dusts

Astra (white with slight pink shimmer), Mazikeen (deep vibrant purple) and Luella (blue with green shimmer).

Luella reminds me a lot of one of MAC’s coveted eyeshadows, Parrot. So I compared them side by side and included a good dupe for Parrot – Cover Girl Aqua Paradise eyeshadow for swatching comparison sake as well 🙂

They’re all similar enough so you don’t need to own all three.