MAC To the Beach Collection – Eyeshadows Review, Photos, Swatches
Thursday, May 13th, 2010
MAC To the Beach Collection — Eyeshadows Review, Photos, Swatches
To the Beach will see the launch of five eyeshadows–three limited and new and two permanent–ranging from a much yellowed green to a peach to a teal.
- Sweet & Punchy is a very, very yellowed chartreuse green. It’s pretty much a dead ringer for Rated R, which came out a year ago. It’s not really like Lucky Green (so much more yellow!).
- Shimmermoss is a darkened aqua-teal with a frosty sheen. It’s part of MAC’s permanent line, and it’s definitely one of my favorite eyeshadows, too. It’s a shade I think everyone who loves colors and MAC should own. If you depot your products or don’t care about the special packaging, you can snag it in pan form and save a few bucks.
- Humid is a darkened green with a yellow undertone and slight golden sheen. Like Shimmermoss, it’s a permanent shade, but it’s a classic shade, too. It’s soft, smooth, and has great color pay off. Humid is a must for green fiend like myself!
- Firecracker is an oranged-coral-red. It’s not a red, and it’s not a coral, but it’s a mix of all of that. It has a soft frost sheen and packs a good amount of color. Looks fab paired with Sweet & Punchy! I don’t think it’s really similar to Hot Hot Hot.
- Sand & Sun is a matte peach-nude. I wasn’t impressed by this, because I really had to layer on about ten layers to get it to show up on my skin tone. I tried it over a shimmery base later on, and it barely showed up. To me, this is barely there not done very well–I don’t want to have to jab my brush in there ten times just to have something to show for all that effort.
See more photos & swatches!
MAC Humid Eyeshadow
MAC Humid Eyeshadow
MAC Humid Eyeshadow
MAC Firecracker Eyeshadow
MAC Firecracker Eyeshadow
MAC Firecracker Eyeshadow
MAC Sand & Sun Eyeshadow
MAC Sand & Sun Eyeshadow
MAC Sand & Sun Eyeshadow
MAC Sweet & Punchy Eyeshadow
MAC Sweet & Punchy Eyeshadow
MAC Sweet & Punchy Eyeshadow
MAC Shimmermoss Eyeshadow
MAC Shimmermoss Eyeshadow
MAC Shimmermoss Eyeshadow
MAC Eyeshadows: Shimmermoss, Humid, Sweet & Punchy, Firecracker, Sand & Sun
MAC Eyeshadows: Shimmermoss, Humid, Sweet & Punchy
MAC Eyeshadows: Sweet & Punchy, Firecracker, Sand & Sun
Sweet & Punchy provided as a press sample; Humid, Shimmermoss, Firecracker, and Sand & Sun purchased by Temptalia.
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thanks for the swatches Christine. Do you think urban decay's Free Love is similar to Firecracker? what are the differences if any? I'm debating on which one to get and I'd like to hear your opinion. TIA<3
Free Love is much lighter than Firecracker! I wouldn't say they are dupes.
Hi Christine, can mac eyeshadow in "Juxt" be a possible dupe for "sweet and punchy"?
You could definitely use it instead, but I wouldn't say it's a dupe!
hey christine, I was just wondering how close sand and sun was to samoa silk or Tete a Tint? And if u think sand and sun is worth buying if u have one or both of those?
They're kind of close - I don't think Sand & Sun is worth buying, period. Terrible payoff.
Out of the eyeshadows - Firecracker appealed to me. I don't like how it turned out on my lids and was about to return it when i thought about how it would look on the cheeks. Since thrills lipstick looks like a brightened reddish coral on me, the firecracker eyeshadow used on my cheeks, complimented the lipstick incredibly well that i am keeping firecracker. Its not as shimmery as marine life and im glad i didn't get the highlight powder as firecracker is even better.
Great idea, Crystal!
Thanks to an artist at the only stand alone MAC store here, I found a way to make a dupe for the way Sand & Sun looks in the pot. It didn't swatch well on me, but the artist tried coral crepe paint pot as a base to just the crease line, and then patted MAC Orb eyeshadow over the top. It looked bright and peachy, like I wanted the Sand & Sun to look on me.
YAY!
i can always depend on u for photos and swatches.. ur tha ish!!!!! i luv u, thank u sooo much! =D
oh! sorry for the double comment but i needed to ask.... how similar are steamy and shimmermoss ...
Steamy is bluer, Shimmermoss is tealer.
Hi Christine!! i need a recommendation from you... since MAC isnt available where i live i have to order it.. and cant see the shades for myself... so i need to ask.. if Firecracker eyeshadow is better or Paradisco any alternative to sand and sun? i need pinky coral shades.. my skin tone (which i dont know in mac shades) is i think a little darker than yours.... imagine indian/Pakistani skintone :) also is Pint LusterDrops a good idea to get?? or TheBodyShops glow enhancer???
Hi Rabia, Better than Paradisco. Try Tete a Tint. I haven't tried The Body Shop's Glow Enhancer, so I have no idea!
Christine, what would you think would be a suitable dupe for Firecracker? I already own so many red tones and warm bronzes I am having a hard time justifying buying it......
Maybe something like Paradisco?
How does Sand & Sun compare to tete a tint matte shadow?
Tete-a-tint is probably a little more orange, but in the pan, they are similar.
I hope you don't mind me asking, but I was wondering if sweet and punchy or firecracker would work with my coloring? I'm super fair (cool undertone), reddish-brown hair, and light brown eyes
I think you could rock 'em :)
haha thanks!
Hi! Thanks for all the great swatches. I've already ordered two shadows, and now Shimmermoss is jumping out at me. I own Urban Decay's Narcotic matte shadow, and I was wondering how similar these two may be, if you have any idea. I don't love the color payoff of Narcotic, I realize it is a matte but it doesn't seem true to color on skin.
Hmm, I don't own Narcotic, and I am totally blanking on what it looks like, unfortunately :(
Hi Christine, this is my first comment here and I just want you to know that you are doing a fantastic job providing helpful information and honest reviews on pretty much everything about makeup. =)Thank you so much and keep it up! =)
Aw, thank you! :)
wow, these colors are gorgeous! love them all!
I can't wait for Firecracker!
Eeeek, I really am not too fond of the green packaging!
is fire cracker a similar but darker shade of sand and sun kind of like evrything you want sand and sun to be thats how it looks in the swatches also is fire cracker similar to paradisco i have been wearing paradisco over coral crepe would fire cracker give a similar look or is is really different idont want to end up with 2 of the same =P thanks
Nah, I'd say Firecracker is pretty pigmented in comparison to Sand & Sun (enough so that it's a darker color than Sand & Sun even looks). I think you could do maybe a dark pink like Passionate over Coral Crepe to dupe it.
that sucks about sand and sun e/s...i was looking forward to that one! boo on mac
I was excited to see these, but they're really not calling to me. I'm most interested in Firecracker, but other than that I'm not dying for anything. I'm surprised at how disappointed I am by this collection. It's huge and I was seriously looking forward to it but there's not much that I'm really freaking out over. Maybe when I see it in person...
Thanks for the swatches and pics, Christine! If I have Birds and Berries, would Shimmermoss be good to get, or skip?
It's a bit different, but you could always wait on it, too, since it's permanent.
Thanks for the swatches and pics, Christine! If I have Birds and Berries, is it still a good idea to get Shimmermoss, or skip?
Thank you sooo much for all the swatches and reviews - I check your blog pretty much daily! Just wondering, do you think that a pale, cool-toned redhead could rock Firecracker eyeshadow? I think it looks so pretty but I'm concerned it'd just look awful on me...
I think you could ;) Just depends on what you pair it with.
Thanks so much for this Christine! I already have Shimmermoss and Humid. I think the only e/s I will pick up is Firecracker. Too bad about S&S's colour pay off :(
I knowwww! Ugh, I really wanted it to work, but seriously could not get it do much for me... :(
Would firecracker be pretty over coral creep paint pot? Love the swatches!
Yes :)
Hi Christine First of all, I could not live without your blog. I'm often on here multiple times a day, checking out your latest posts. You do a amazing job and your site is the best beauty site out there in my opinion! I wanted to ask you if you would prefer Samoa Silk over Sand and Sun eyeshadow? Samoa Silk has been on my wishlist for long time, and when I saw Sand and Sun, I was tempted to get that instead. But you mentioned the colour payoff wasn't so good with Sand and Sun? In terms of colour pay off, is Samoa Silk the better option?
Thanks a lot, AnaC! :) Yeah, I think I'd say I prefer it. I think, maybe, if you have a really light skin tone, maybe you can rock Sand & Sun better than I... it was just too frustrating to work with! Samoa Silk is a little darker, but the pay off is better, IMO!
hi, do you think sweet & punchy is at all similar to sharp (from tempting quad)? btw i love the look you did with sweet & punchy and firecracker; so pretty!
It's yellower, but they are similar. Thanks!
Thanks so much for the review. I wanted to get Sand&sun because I'm a sucker for peachy-things, but after this I rather get Firecracker!
I'm hyperventilating with those colors! Thanks so much for the swatches Christine! Your the best :*
Ooh, Firecracker is a really nice colour but I just don't know if I could pull it off... I have red hair and pale cool-toned skin (NW10-ish) so it might look awful on me :-/
Great and very accurate swatches Christine! I was disappointed with Sand&Sun too but absolutely love Firecracker and Sweet&Punchy.
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