MAC Mischief Makers Collection:  Pigment/Glitter Sets

Alongside the lipglass/lustreglass sets are three pigment sets. Each set includes four vials of pigments and one vial of glitter. MAC has them priced at $32.50 a pop, but they denote the value of the set as $39. Again, each set is housed inside a holiday box, so they’re easy to give away as gifts.

I always like the holiday pigment sets, because I think they give people a chance to try out pigments without investing $19.50 per shade (not to mention, you’re very unlikely to ever finish a jar–I never have… not even have I come close!). The only part I don’t love is the vial of glitter, as none of MAC’s glitters are eye-safe, so I just never find myself using them often. However, people do ask what can you do if not use them on the eyes, and my answer is: try them in your hair (e.g. mix with hair spray), mix into a nail polish, dust on your body, or pat onto your lips. Each vial is smaller than a full-size jar, but I really think you get more than you’ll probably need–certainly enough to last you years.

My favorite set was 5 Cool Capers, because I think they brought together some very bold, but perfect for fall/winter, shades. Running a close second was 5 Haute High Jinks, because I am always a sucker for earth tones. I think they’re flattering on a variety of skin tones and they tend to be easy to use (particularly the shades they chose–they all have excellent texture). 5 Sexpot is so-so, but it consists of mostly permanent shades, and I think I’d have liked to see the addition of a gray or silver in it, just for a little more kick.

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MAC Mischief Makers Collection:  Lipglass/Lustreglass Sets

Every year, MAC offers up holiday kits and sets for giving and receiving.  This year, there are three lipglass/lustreglass sets, each with three lipglasses and two lustreglasses, and all of them are in miniature sizes.  MAC has them priced at $29.50 a pop, and they denote the value of the set as $35.  (Yay, they did the math for me!)  Each set is housed in cute, giftable packaging (as pictured above), so they’re incredibly easy to give as holiday gifts.

The majority of the sets contain a mix of permanently available shades, repromoted shades, and the occasional brand-spankin’-new shade.   Long-time collectors may want to take a quick glance at their stash to see if they already own a lot of the shades (or need to replace some of their old favorites).  I did notice that they repromoted quite a few shades from 2005, which is about four years ago, and I imagine some of those lipglasses may be in need of an update.

Don’t forget — if you like one of the shades that’s permanent but aren’t sure about the rest, consider purchasing it by itself and in full-size! ;)

Overall, I really did like the way these came together. My favorite set was the 5 Models Misbehaving, but I’m also often attracted to bolder lip colors, even if I seldom wear them!  5 Sexy Shenanigans was the lightest/sheerest of the three sets, while 5 Frisky Business was a good mix of soft, medium, and bold.

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MAC Magic, Mirth, & Mischief Collection: The Round-Up

MAC Holiday is always a bit of an overwhelming event, just because of the sheer size of the offerings. Each year, MAC puts out a holiday colour collection, but they also have several separate, yet related, launches of more giftable items. From eyeshadow and lip palettes to mini-sized sets (which are due out November 5th), MAC has you covered. There are also some store exclusive sets, too.  To help make sure you haven’t missed anything, here’s a compilation of all of the reviews for holiday:

Colour Collection

• Mineralize Eyeshadows
• Mineralize Blushes
• Nail Lacquers/Softsparkle Pencils
• Lipsticks
• Dazzleglasses
• Cremesheen Glasses

Kits & Palettes

• Smoke & Mirrors Eyeshadow Palette
• Devil May Care Eyeshadow Palette
• Mystic Cool Eyeshadow Palette
• Sorceress Eyeshadow Palette
• Face Kits (Hocus Focus / Fab-racadabra)
• Lip Kits (Possessed by Pink! / Heavenly Dish)

MAC also released lip, eye, and brush gift sets, which I won’t be reviewing in detail (if you’re looking for a review, this is all you’re going to get–sorry!), because it includes mostly repromoted or permanent products. Each lip bag does feature one new, limited edition lipstick. They’re all good bang for your buck — you’re probably getting more than you would if you purchased the items separately, so they make good gifts or opportunities to pick up permanent items you may have skipped over in lieu of something limited edition.

On MAC Holiday Brush Sets: The holiday brush sets are machine-made rather than man-made (or handmade) as the full size brushes are. This is primarily what accounts for the difference in quality between brush sets and full size brushes. I do recommend the brush sets inasmuch as you’re on a budget and you think you’ll use the majority of the brushes included in the set. I started off just owning a holiday brush set, but I’ve since gone on to replace all my brushes with full sized versions. I’m disappointed that the eye brush set doesn’t contain the 239, which I think is one of the most vital, must-have eye brushes ever. The brushes themselves are sleek handled and look really nice, though they do feel a little scratchier/rougher than the full size versions do.

6 Smoke & Mirrors Eye Shadows

MAC Magic, Mirth, & Mischief Review: Smoke & Mirrors Eye Shadows

A good smoky eye palette is never a bad thing to have on hand. It’s useful, easy to travel with, and it’s classic. I’m not loving this year’s version of the smoky eye palette, because it’s more of a brownish eye, and I’ve always felt the classic smoky eye is monochromatic. I still hold that last year’s was better. (And I still contend that you can make your own smoky eyeshadow quad with permanent MAC eyeshadows just as well.)

6 Smoke & Mirrors Eye Shadows ($36.00 U.S.)

• Fire In Her Eyes is a super soft, slightly sheer beige with a light frost finish. In the swatch, you can tell it hardly shows up on my skin without a base. It’ll make a nice highlight, though.
• Wide-Eyed Wonder is kind of a taupe-y brown with a reddish touch. There’s nothing about this shade that makes it jump off the page for me.
• Black Magique is a velvety smooth deep dark black with brown tones. It has slight gold shimmer, but it’s hardly noticeable.
• Spell No. 9 is a satiny neutral pink. It’s sheer, and it doesn’t do much for me.
• Deception is a sheer, glittery copper bronze. Even though it’s a frost finish, it had more of a lustre feel to me.
• Smoke & Mirrors is a cool-toned chocolate brown with a little gray sheen.

I”m not sold on this year’s. It reads more like a neutral eye palette than a smoky eye palette to me. It’s useful, and the colors are easily worn by many, so in that aspect, it’s a solid choice for those looking for a go-to palette.

• Product: 24/30
• Value: 9/10
• Ease of Use: 4/5
• Packaging: 4/5

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6 Devil May Dare Warm Eye Shadows

MAC Magic, Mirth, & Mischief Review: 6 Devil May Dare Warm Eye Shadows

MAC’s Warm eyeshadow palette usually gets me. I’m warm-toned, and I naturally gravitate towards warmer shades. Give me gold and I’m a happy lady! This year’s warm eyeshadow palette isn’t my favorite, but I like half of it a lot. The other half is just so-so, but I’ve been known to purchase a palette for just one color… so I suppose half isn’t bad! I think the reason I don’t love half of the palette is that it doesn’t feel very “warm” to me.

6 Devil May Dare Warm Eye Shadows ($36.00 U.S.)

• Oh My Darling is a soft, slightly warmed up beige with a frost finish. I like that this color is included, if only because it’s a very nice shade for a highlight. It’s not too frost or white, so it will work well on the brow bone.
• Dare Ya! is a medium pink with kind of a peachy tone to it. It went on a bit sheerly on me, though.
• Sorcery is a reddish-toned eggplant purple with a soft finish.
• Gold Tease is a gorgeous shade of gilded gold with a metallic sheen. It reminded me of the Rushmetal pigments a bit, actually.
• Prankster is an antique gold; kind of like a green-gold that’s played down. Again, gold, so of course I love it. I told you – three shades rocked my world!
• Devilishly Dark is a warmed-up light chocolate brown with gold shimmer.

I would have bought this palette just for the two gold shades, but I have an unhealthy obsession with gold eyeshadow. (Particularly if they’re antique golds!)

• Product: 27/30
• Value: 9/10
• Ease of Use: 4/5
• Packaging: 4/5

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6 Mystic Cool Eye Shadows

MAC Magic, Mirth, & Mischief Review: Mystic Cool Eye Shadows

Mystic Cool is an interesting mix of eyeshadow shades. It’s not the most cohesive palette MAC has put out, but if you’re just looking to boost up your color collection and aren’t so concerned with a palette that works together easily, you shouldn’t mind. It’s not to say that there aren’t color combinations to be created from the palette, but it just requires a little more thinking than your average eyeshadow palette where there are so many obvious combinations to work with.

6 Mystic Cool Eye Shadows ($36.00 U.S.)

• Cool Incantation is a frosty golden-white with an almost gray tinge to the white base. It reminded me a little of Nanogold but yellow.
• Blue Enchantment is a deep turquoise with subtle shimmer. Surprisingly, MAC doesn’t have a shade like this in their permanent line. It’s almost as if Shimmermoss and Bottle Green had a baby.
• Deep Secret is a shimmery, jewel-toned indigo-blue. It’s incredibly pretty, and it reminded me of a darker Cinders eyeshadow (one of my all-time favorite limited edition shades).
• Shhh, Don’t Tell is a satiny pale neutral pink that goes on like a dusty rose pink. It was hard to get it to show up really well on my skin tone without a base.
• Rose Potion is a frosty rose. It’s a fairly simple shade, but it’s not one I’ve seen often by MAC either.
• Violet Vow is a cool-toned, dark brown with kind of a purple edge to it. I found this one harder to work with, and I felt like it wasn’t as pigmented as it could have been.

I didn’t fall head over heels in love with this palette, but I did like it. I think there are some great colors in this palette, but long-time collectors may find they have similar shades (at least, similar enough) in their stash already.

• Product: 24/30
• Value: 9/10
• Ease of Use: 4/5
• Packaging: 4/5

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6 Sorceress Eye Shadows

MAC Magic, Mirth, & Mischief Review: Sorceress Eye Shadows

I’ve always liked MAC eyeshadow palettes, because I do feel like they represent a chance to get multiple eyeshadows at a more affordable price point, and MAC has put out some great limited edition shades in holiday palettes in the past. This year’s palettes actually reminded me of a bit of the Ornamentalism palettes from a few years ago–which is a good thing. The packaging is better, though, this year, as it’s sleek, functional, and feels like it has more quality than the last few years’ palettes.

6 Sorceress Eye Shadows ($36.00 U.S.)

• White Rabbit is a frosty silver-tinged white. It’s not a particularly unique shade, and I’d say it’s a little too frosty to work well as a highlighter for most.
• Hold My Gaze is a gray-green base with golden-green shimmer. This is actually a very unique shade, and I’m not sure I’ve ever seen an eyeshadow of this color before (which is pretty surprising). It has decent pigmentation. It’s just a very unusual shade.
• Edge of Dark is a charcoal gray with silver gray shimmer, and I had some issues getting it to go on smoothly. It doesn’t have the best texture, but it is a lustre, so I’m not surprised.
• Magnetized is a frosty white-purple. It kind of reminded me of a lighter, whiter Beautiful Iris eyeshadow.
• Hypnotizing is a grayed down mauve. It’s dark yet light, because it’s not an intense shade.
• Altered State is a dark, almost jewel-toned purple with slight reddish brown tones. I liked this shade a lot.

I liked the combination of colors MAC put into the Sorceress combination, and I was pleasantly surprised by Hold My Gaze. I’d probably buy it just for that shade, simply because I haven’t seen one like that before. I can appreciate the originality of it! Overall, though, it is a cooler palette, so if you prefer warm shades, you might not like this one.

• Product: 27/30
• Value: 9/10
• Ease of Use: 4/5
• Packaging: 4/5

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Hocus Focus Colourful Face Kit

MAC Magic, Mirth, & Mischief Review: Face Kits

I like that MAC tried something new – a face palette. I haven’t seen them put out a face palette in quite some time, and the tiered system of this compact is convenient. These palettes actually do have some heft to them, so they’re not ultra lightweight or anything. (I was very surprised at how heavy my bag was when I purchased the palettes in general–sure felt like I was walking out with a lot!) I think at the price range, these feel a little steep. It’s hard to tell just exactly how much product you’re getting of each and if it’s really a better deal than if you bought them separately.

Hocus Focus Colourful Face Kit ($38.00 U.S.)

• Pretty Baby is a soft, powdery pink beauty powder. Beauty powders can be used as all-over powders, blushes, highlighters, etc. It’s really up to you on how you want to use it, and depending on your skin tone, what may be the best use for it. I remember when it launched with the Diana Ross collection and I’d use it everyday, but I couldn’t tell you what it did for my skin/face.
• Sunsparked Pearl is a pearly peach highlighter. It’s one of my favorite MAC highlighters, because it has subtle shimmer and a great “glow” factor. I’ve always felt it worked particularly well on warm skin, but it’s also nice on cooler skin.
• Peachykeen is a peachy-coral blush shade that is available all the time. It’s one of my favorite blushes (MAC has an excellent line of permanent blush shades).

Fab-racadabra Bronze Face Kit ($38.00 U.S.)

• Golden is a golden-brown bronzing shade with subtle gold pearl shimmer.
• Buffed & Polished is a glitzy gilded bronze with golden shimmer. It reads a little chunky shimmer to me, though, so it’s not my favorite to use on the face.
• Sunbasque is a deep bronzy peach. Again, it’s an excellent blush and part of the permanent shade range.

I liked the Hocus Focus Colourful Face Kit best. I think it’s wearable for both warm and cool skin tones, and I think it works well to give you a brighter, glowier look without a fuss. The Fab-racadabra Bronze Face Kit is exactly that–a bronzing kit. Since I’d rather just opt for a single bronzer than a whole kit full, it’s not my thing. I think it may lean too orange for some as well.

• Product: 27/30
• Value: 8/10
• Ease of Use: 4/5
• Packaging: 4/5

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Possessed by Pink! Lip Kit

MAC Magic, Mirth, & Mischief Review: Lip Kits

I cannot tell a lie: I hate lip palettes with a passion. There are many reasons why I passionately dislike lip palettes, and lest you be swayed by packaging and pretty shades, I’ll enumerate my top three for you.

1. They’re messy. If you even think about sticking your finger into the palette, you’re going to get a messy, germ-tastic palette.
2. They’re never as pigmented as a regular gloss/lipstick. Lip palettes always feel like pale imitations of the real thing.
3. They’re a pain in the butt to use. To keep it clean, you need to use a lip brush every time, and I consider that a pain. I also consider the little lip brush they include a pain in the butt to use, because the handle is so tiny, it’s difficult to hold (at least in my hands).

Possessed By Pink! Lip Kit ($22.50 U.S.)

• Sweet Smile is a sheer, rosy-pink gloss confection. It has a lot of multicolored shimmer.
• Laugh A Lot is a sheer medium rosy pink with a glossy sheen and not much shimmer.
• Tickled is a dark, plummy brown with a glossy sheen.

Heavenly Dish Neutral Lip Kit ($22.00 U.S.)

• Barely Visible is a sheer, glossy nude with lighter gold shimmer.
• Heavenly Dish is a sheer, pale, light pink with a glossy finish.
• Floating Lightly is a sheer dirty brown-beige with a glossy sheen.

I would never purchase these lip palettes if it wasn’t to review for the blog. I wholeheartedly don’t recommend purchasing them. On occasion, MAC will put one or two stunning shades into their lip palettes, and I, inevitably, cave, but this year is a total miss. Skip the palettes. If you want a deal, buy one of the lip bags instead. Or just buy one or two lipsticks/glosses you really like instead. At least MAC only put out two kits this year, as opposed to the three or four they normally launch.

I know there are some of you who love lip palettes, so if that’s you… take my review with a grain of salt. :)

• Product: 20/30
• Value: 7/10
• Ease of Use: 2/5
• Packaging: 2/5

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Midnight Madness Mineralize Eyeshadow

MAC Magic, Mirth, & Mischief Review: Mineralize Eyeshadows

Every MAC holiday color collection sees an introduction of new, limited edition mineralize eyeshadows. This year is no different. With six mineralize eyeshadows, each with a crescent of some glittery concoction, MAC really wants to make sure you get your mineralize fix for the year.

I will say that these are some of the smoothest, most pigmented mineralize eyeshadows (this doesn’t include the “crescent” shade, though) I’ve played with to-date. These don’t have to be used wet in order to get decent color pay off, so that’s a huge plus in my book. The crescent pieces are, in my opinion, terrible, because they’re just gritty glitter. Like last year’s trios, I find the crescent portion a let-down.

• Midnight Madness is a cool-toned dirty black-taupe with lighter silver sparkle and a crescent of glittery gold.
• Under Your Spell is a cool-toned, silvery-purple. This one was fairly light in color, but it has a really nifty sheen. The crescent is a glittery copper.
• It’s a Miracle is a rich, jewel-toned purple with golden shimmer combined with a crescent of glittery gold (looks the same as the shade in Midnight Madness to me).
• Blue Sorcery is an intense shade of medium green-based teal with softer green shimmer. It reminded me of an old holiday shade, Tease ‘n Teal, actually. It’s stunning. It’s matched with a crescent of glittery silver.
• Devil-May-Care is a medium purple with a silver sheen and cool tones. It’s nicely pigmented, but I think you could dupe this with one of MAC’s existing purple eyeshadows. The crescent portion is glittery silver.
• Mayhem is a rich copper-bronze with a high sheen/frost finish. It’s like Amber Lights and Woodwinked had a baby. The crescent portion is glittery silver.

I wish MAC would have done away with the crescent portions or had made it the same texture/feel as the larger shade. I just can’t imagine dealing with the inevitable fall out the glittery crescents will have. My top picks would be Midnight Madness, It’s a Miracle, and Blue Sorcery.

• Product: 26/30
• Value: 7/10
• Ease of Use: 4/5
• Packaging: 4/5

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