MAC is Beauty Limited Edition Eye Shadow Review, Swatches and Photos

A while back I mentioned that I wasn't hopping on the MAC LE collection bandwagon as frequently as I usually do, but this week with the new MAC is Beauty Collection I found  myself indulging. I'm not usually one for pastel colours, particularly eye shadows, but I had a few Back to MAC recyclables and thought why not?

The three new LE eye shadows in the collection are minty green Preening,  peachy-pink Bouffant and Easter egg lilac Wow Factor. Photos in natural light, swatches on NC 35/40 skin.

Clockwise from top: Preening, Bouffant and Wow Factor

MAC Wow Factor Eye Shadow (Matte)

MAC Preening Eye Shadow (Satin)

MAC Bouffant Eye Shadow (Veluxe Pearl)

MAC Wow Factor, Preening and Bouffant

Wow Factor - A soft, pale matte pink toned lilac with medium pigmentation and a soft, creamy, blendable matte texture.

Preening - A soft, pale, satin mint green which leans yellow. Pigmentation is on the sheerer side but it is easily buildable through layering. The fine shimmer keeps this shade luminous and not chalky.

Bouffant - A sheeny peachy pink with a pink iridescence. This shadow is a little harder than other Veluxe Pearl formulas but I think it's due to a very firm press of the product in the pan as texture wise it is smooth. 

I'm surprise how much I like these shades - both Wow Factor and Preening have very nice, buildable textures and don't appear chalky on my medium/medium-deep skin tone. Bouffant is also nice as well for bringing light and brightness to the eyes as well as layering nicely on top of the other shades. Because these shades are pale and soft, to get "true to pan" colour you will best wear a pale or white base beneath (such as NYX Milk or MAC Paint Pot in Painterly), otherwise the shades will mix with your skin tone.

For spring I think these are wearable pastels that would play very well with neutrals. I think Wow Factor would look smashing paired with a soft brown, while Preening would work beautifully with a silvery taupe.

Grade: B

  

MAC PRO Spring '13 Forecast Eye Review, Swatches and Photos

The spring season in the world of fashion and beauty starts about 2 months into our 5 month winter here on the prairies! So it's often hard for me to get into the seasonal pastels and brights when I know the sun will be setting at 4:00 pm for at least another 2 months.

But I digress - today I have for you the latest MAC PRO seasonal palette, the Spring '13 Forecast Eyes (LE, $47.50 CA). The MAC PRO eye palettes feature a creme formula which is like a drier, stiffer version of MAC's Creme Colour bases. Both these products do not dry down or set like Paint Pots. Photos in natural light on NC 40 skin.

MAC Spring '13 Forecast Eyes (top - bottom, left - right):

Now Mustard! / Sunshine

Must Have Brown / April Mist

Top Soil / Runway Rose

The palette is a well balanced mix of neutrals and pastels. Now Mustard! is a slightly cool grey toned cream, Sunshine is a surprisingly vibrant pastel egg yolk yellow, Must Have Brown is a beautiful mid tone warm taupey grey, April Mist is a pastel robin's egg blue, Top Soil is a mid tone burnt sienna, and Runway Rose is a very pale baby pink. Pigmentation on the shadows are semi opaque to opaque, with the strongest pigmentation being in Sunshine, April Mist and Top Soil.

Now Mustard!, Sunshine, Must Have Brown, April Mist

Top Soil and  Runway Rose

Because this is not a product that sets, it's less long wearing and that affects it's practicality. I find the MAC PRO eye palettes are designed to be more of a creative, editorial product than a practical, consumer driven product. The semi opaque pigmentation of these shades may be a con for some, but for me it makes sense with pastels as it allows them to mesh with your skin tone and not be overly chalky looking. These work well as bases for powder eye shadows, but could also be set with a transparent powder, or worn on their own as a wash on people with non oily, or shallow set eye lids. 

Overall I liked this palette, mainly because it successfully mixes pastels and neutrals. It's a fairly complex palette in terms of the mix because it runs the gambit of warm and cool which means there's a little bit of spring in this palette for everyone.

Grade: B

J

MAC Fashion Flower Preview

BLOOM BRIGHTLY WITH A STYLISH FUSION OF THE FLORAL AND THE FASHIONABLE IN A SUMMER COLOUR COLLECTION THAT EVOKES THE COOL SIDE OF THE HOTTEST SEASON. FASHIONFLOWER GIRLS ARE FREE TO BE, EACH ONE WITH A CULTIVATED CONNECTION TO THE GREENHOUSE AND THE FASHION HOUSE. UNFOLDING AND FLOURISHING, THESE PERENNIAL PRIMA DONNAS EMBRACE THE GROWING TREND OF CHEEKS AND EYES LIGHTLY DUSTED WITH DAISY-DEBOSSED BEAUTY POWDER AND SHADOWS. THEIR CONFIDENCE STEMS FROM PETAL-LIGHT LASHES THAT SPROUT DRAMATICALLY WITH STUDIO FIX BOLDBLACK LASH, DEWY LIPS THAT SPARKLE SWEETLY IN BUDDING BEAUTY LIPGELÉE AND SUMMER SHOWER, A SOFTLY SHEER AQUA BLUE LIPSTICK. EVER HIP, JOIN THESE RARE BLOSSOMS AND SUCCUMB HORTI-CULTURALLY TO A BOUQUET THAT’S EQUAL PARTS FLEUR AND COUTURE.

MAC Beauty Powder in Alpha Girl ($30 CDN/$25 US)
Soft peachy pink with gold nuances

MAC Beauty Powder in Light Sunshine ($30 CDN/$25 US)
Pastel neutral pink with soft gold and pink sparkles

MAC Eyeshadow in Aqua ($17.50 CDN/$14.50 US)
Aqua blue (matte)

MAC Eyeshadow in Bows & Curtseys ($17.50 CDN/$14.50 US)
Metallic hunter green (satin)

MAC Eyeshadow in Free To Be ($17.50 CDN/$14.50 US)
Bright true coral (matte)

MAC Eyeshadow in Fresh Daisy ($17.50 CDN/$14.50 US)
Frosty white yellow (frost)

MAC Eyeshadow in Groundcover ($17.50 CDN/$14.50 US)
Mid-tone warm grey (matte)

MAC Eyeshadow in Lucky Green ($17.50 CDN/$14.50 US)
Frosted mid-tone lime (veluxe pearl)

MAC Lip Gelée in Budding Beauty ($17.50 CDN/$14.50 US)
Pale coral dazzle gelée

MAC Lip Gelée in Fashionflower ($17.50 CDN/$14.50 US)
Pale pink dazzle gelée

MAC Lip Gelée in Now In Season ($17.50 CDN/$14.50 US)
Pale yellow dazzle gelée

MAC Lipstick in Ever Hip ($17.50 CDN/$14.50 US)
Bright creamy coral (cremesheen)

MAC Lipstick in Growing Trend ($17.50 CDN/$14.50 US)
Mid-tone taupe nude (amplified)

MAC Lipstick in Mlle ($17.50 CDN/$14.50 US)
Light white pink (glaze)

MAC Lipstick in Summer Shower ($17.50 CDN/$14.50 US)
Light aqua (glaze)

MAC Penultimate Eyeliner Rapidblack ($21 CDN/$17.50 US)
True black

MAC Studio Fix Boldblack Lash ($17 CDN/$14 US)
Deep intense black

MAC's latest collection is full of more pretty spring pastels but with a touch of hunter green, coral and warm grey. Happy spring shopping!

MAC Quite Cute Preview

“CUTE!” The most fanciful, fun and flattering compliment a young, modern trendsetter could ever want! Our version is the girliest kind of international glam possible, a style ride that combines postage-stamp-sized puppies with pixie swizzle-stick fashion and butterfly kisses for cute boys and even cuter shoes! Cupcake icing colours, vintage romance, an ATM card with Hello Kitty on it – and a way of life that says “yes!” to everything adorable! Come on, get happy, with the multi-culti cutie, from Tokyo to Toronto to Paris with love! Pastel shades for Eye Quads, Lipstick, Plushglass and Nail Lacquer…And, due to popular demand, we’re completely cute-ifying three favourite Lip Pencil shades from last season that will join the fun and frolic. Flash! You’ll ♥ the Mineralize Blush with the sweet heart baked right into it. If it shines, shimmers and pops it’s completely, contagiously, cute! 

#7 Lash
$17 CDN/$14 US

Cutie Eyeshadow x4
Goody Goody Gum Drop - Light white pink (satin)
Boycrazy - Pale lavender with silver pearl (lustre)
Moshi Moshi! - Pale white green gold (frost)
Azuki Bean - Mid-tone dirty violet (frost)
$43 CDN/$36 US 

Lip Pencil in Boldly Bare
Dirty red brown
$15.50 CDN/$13 US

Lip Pencil in In Synch
Bright yellow pink
$15.50 CDN/$13 US

Lip Pencil in Naked Liner
Light neutral
$15.50 CDN/$13 US

Lipstick in Candy Yum-Yum
Matte neon pink (matte)
$17.50 CDN/$14.50 US

Lipstick in Playing Koi
Creamy white peach pink (satin)
$17.50 CDN/$14.50 US

Lipstick in Play Time
Creamy intense violet (cremesheen)
$17.50 CDN/$14.50 US

Lipstick in Quite Cute
Creamy bright whitened lavender (cremesheen)
$17.50 CDN/$14.50 US

Lisptick in Saint Germain
Clean pastel ink (amplified)
$17.50 CDN/$14.50 US

Loud Lash Mascara in Noisy Black
$17 CDN/$14 US

Zoom Lash Mascara in Zoom Black
$17 CDN/$14 US

Mineralize Blush in Giggly
Light pink with pearly plum heart
$27.50 CDN/$23 US

Mineralize Blush in Miss Behave
Light beige with pearly minty heart
$27.50 CDN/$23 US

Mineralize Blush in Sakura
Lavender with pearly magenta heart
$27.50 CDN/$23 US

Nail Lacquer in Ice Cream Cake
Creamy blue pink
$17 CDN/$14 US

Nail Lacquer in Little Girl Type
Creamy pale lavender
$17 CDN/$14 US

Nail Lacquer in Mischievous Mint
Creamy pale blue mint
$17 CDN/$14 US

Penultimate Eyeliner in Rapidblack
True black
$21 CDN/$17.50 US

Plushglass in Bubble Tea
Creamy pale nude
$22 CDN/$18.50 US

Plushglass in Fashion Fanatic
Creamy pale pink
$22 CDN/$18.50 US

Plushglass in Girl♥Boy
Bright light blue pink
$22 CDN/$18.50 US

Plushglass in I♥U
Creamy mid-tone purple
$22 CDN/$18.50 US

I'm not totally sold on Quite Cute. Pastels and icy girly colours are not very me. I'll of course, check this out in person because the collections always look different in person. What do you think? Are any of these products calling your name? What should I check out? Tell me!


C.