MAC Nudes & Metallics Eyeshadows ($15.00 for 0.05 oz.) include eight shades in total, and these are four of them. I grouped these four together as they were all in the Nudes family. This post features: Bare Minimum (sheer soft pinky nude with pearl), Body Conscious (*sheer warm mid-tone nude), Exposed (sheer neutral mid-tone nude), and Glimpse of Flesh (sheer warm pink nude).
Bare Minimum is described as a “sheer soft pinky nude with pearl [with a satin finish].” It’s a light-medium peach with a hint of pink and a satin shimmer. It has semi-sheer to semi-opaque color payoff that’s buildable to mostly opaque coverage. bareMInerals Peace is more beige. Tarte Giant Peach is lighter. theBalm Third Eye Blinded is very similar. Dolce & Gabbana Jewels is more frosted.
Body Conscious is described as a “sheer warm mid-tone nude.” It’s a medium orange-brown with a barely-there satin sheen. It had rich color payoff (as opposed to the sheer in the description), and the texture was soft and silky. MAC Indie Spirit is browner. MAC Soft Brown is darker, browner. MAC One to Watch is more golden. MAC Tete-a-tint is browner, less orange. MAC Star Myth has a much more frosted finish, but it had a similar orange/brown coloring.
Exposed is described as a “sheer neutral mid-tone nude.” It’s a medium-dark brown with warm, terracotta orange undertones and a satiny finish. It had incredibly rich, full color payoff (again, not sheer as described) with a soft, silky-smooth texture (that was a smidgen powdery but didn’t look that way applied). It was very easy to blend on the lid. Guerlain Turandot #2 is more plum/less brown. Guerlain Les Fauves #2 is warmer, redder. MAC Rusty is lighter (and a cream product). MAC Soft Brown is very similar, just softer. Inglot #357 is yellower and matte.
Glimpse of Flesh is described as a “sheer warm pink nude.” It is a light-medium beige-shimmered, rosy brown with a pearly sheen. It had good pigmentation (not sheer at all), and it was soft and smooth. Burberry Pale Nude is more beige, not quite as warm-toned. Too Faced Marzipan is lighter, more beige. MAC Soft Brown is darker, redder, and matte. L’Oreal Blinged & Brilliant is much, much frostier and more beige.
Go figure — MAC puts out eyeshadows that aren’t described as sheer that are sheer, and then they launch these four shades, which are described all as sheer, and they’re really not. They’re some of the best nude eyeshadows MAC has released in at least a year, maybe longer. Swatching and using these was a refreshing experience; I was impressed, and my hope was renewed. Of course, unlike a sheer eyeshadow that isn’t supposed to be sheer (so it never builds up in its intensity), a pigmented eyeshadow can be more readily sheered out or used sheerly simply by using less. The texture of these four are all soft enough that they can be blended out for a softer application, but if you genuinely want barely-there eyeshadows, you might look elsewhere. (Can I just vent my frustration on this? These are amazing eyeshadows except they’re more pigmented than described!)
The texture of all four were consistently impressive; soft, smooth, and silky. They blended and applied evenly and easily, and when worn together, they worked in harmony. When I tested them for wear, all four lasted eight hours with very, very minimal fading that didn’t become noticeable until the ninth hour.
P.S. — The Nudes & Metallics Collection may be frustrating to find. When it launched in PRO stores on the 18th, every store I called was sold out of over half the collection already. The online launch date has been pushed to mid-June (no specific date was given). It is supposed to be for PRO only, which may mean that it is restricted to PROs only even online, but you should be able to call MAC PRO at 1-800-387-6707 and order (for anyone, PRO and non-PRO alike) per a LiveChat I did this morning.
These are really standout eyeshadows, relative to MAC's eyeshadow formula in general, but they're all described as sheer when they're all rather quite pigmented. So long as you'd much rather pigmented eyeshadows than the sheer, then consider these rated an A.
Product
9.5/10
Pigmentation
8/10
Texture
9.5/10
Longevity
9/10
Application
5/5
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Where to Buy
This product can be purchased at the following retailers:
MAC PRO, June 2013
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MAC Embrace Me Eyeshadow ($15.00 for 0.05 oz.) is described as a “soft pink [with a satin finish].” It’s a bold, deepened raspberry pink with a matte finish–it may be listed as a satin, but it read very matte when I applied it! MAC More Amour is more subdued, less pink. MAC Tease with Ease is cooler-toned, pinker, and satiny. MAC passionate is barely warmer–a little brighter.
Embrace Me had excellent pigmentation–it was rich, intense, and applied that way, too. The texture was soft, finely-milled, and easy to blend out on the lid. It didn’t have any dryness, and it didn’t kick up a ton of excess powder or look powdery on the lid. It was nicely balanced in regards to texture (not too dry, not too soft), and it is an example of when MAC’s matte formula can shine. This shade lasted eight full hours–both with and without primer–on the lid without fading or creasing, but I did notice it would stain the lid somewhat when worn without a primer; after nine hours, there was a smidgen of fading without a primer.
Sometimes products are discontinued or limited edition, which means that a product may no longer be available at one or more retailers so you may need to shop around for those hard-to-find shades! We try to update products as they become discontinued, and if you discover a product has been discontinued, please help us help others by letting us know.
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MAC Silly Eyeshadow ($15.00 for 0.05 oz.) is described as a “clean blue pink [with a frost finish].” It’s a light-medium pink with blue undertones and a mostly matte finish (there is no frost in sight). MAC Dynamic Duo #4 is a bit lighter (and so much sheerer/drier that they’re not easy to compare). Guerlain Boulevard du Montparnasse #3 is similar in color but frosted. MAC for Miss Piggy looks rather similar in the pan (but it had poorer quality, so they don’t look as much alike swatched). MAC Feather Pink is slightly lighter and has a satiny finish.
It had good color payoff that was mostly opaque applied. The texture had a very slight powderiness to it when I swatched it, but it seemed to be minimized when applied–but there was some excess powder kicked up in the pan, so be gentle with your brush to avoid waste. Silly was blendable, but it did have a tendency to sheer out somewhat when blended, so the best application method would be to pat it on, and then very lightly blend along the edges only as needed to maintain the intensity. When I tested it for wear, the eyeshadow lasted seven hours before starting to fade without a primer; nine hours with a primer.
Sometimes products are discontinued or limited edition, which means that a product may no longer be available at one or more retailers so you may need to shop around for those hard-to-find shades! We try to update products as they become discontinued, and if you discover a product has been discontinued, please help us help others by letting us know.
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Ablaze had good color payoff, and the texture was soft and blendable–but a little powdery. I recommend patting the product onto the lid to achieve the best pigmentation, and then lightly blending along the edges. This will help both the color and minimize any fall out from the powdery texture. On the lid, it doesn’t look chalky or powdery, though. Applied over bare lids, this shade lasted seven and a half hours well, and just after eight, it started to fade. Over a primer, I didn’t see any fading when I checked at eight hours.
I really liked how blendable this was, and it didn't sheer away to nothing when you went to blend it. It can be a little powdery, but it didn't look powdery once applied and blended on the lid.
Product
8.5/10
Pigmentation
9.5/10
Texture
9/10
Longevity
8.5/10
Application
4.5/5
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Where to Buy
This product can be purchased at the following retailers:
Sometimes products are discontinued or limited edition, which means that a product may no longer be available at one or more retailers so you may need to shop around for those hard-to-find shades! We try to update products as they become discontinued, and if you discover a product has been discontinued, please help us help others by letting us know.
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It had so-so color payoff; it applied fairly evenly, but there was a general sheerness to the color that kept it from looking as rich applied as it did in the pan. The texture was soft, though, and it was easy to blend–and some of MAC’s recent matte eyeshadows have been more problematic in both payoff and texture. This one is somewhat buildable, and a good primer and/or white base both go a long way to improving the pigmentation, as both help the eyeshadow become more intense and to adhere better. Without a primer, it had a tendency to look noticeably faded after six and a half hours, but over a primer, the wear was mostly intact after eight hours.
When MAC finally launched the eyeshadows on their website, this shade was quick to sell out, but Nordstrom has it on backorder and shipping on 5/4.
This color is workable, and you have to use the right base, tools, and some patience to get it closer to color you see in the pan. This color often has issues, so it's not a surprise to see some of those problems show up in here, too.
Product
7.5/10
Pigmentation
8/10
Texture
9/10
Longevity
7/10
Application
4/5
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Where to Buy
This product can be purchased at the following retailers:
Sometimes products are discontinued or limited edition, which means that a product may no longer be available at one or more retailers so you may need to shop around for those hard-to-find shades! We try to update products as they become discontinued, and if you discover a product has been discontinued, please help us help others by letting us know.
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MAC Daydreaming Eyeshadow ($15.00 for 0.10 oz.) is described as a “frosted mid-tone coral [with a] veluxe pearl [finish].” It’s a brightened, coral-red with a smooth, frosted sheen and warm, orange-y undertones. Guerlain Terra Azzurra #3 is lighter, less intense. Urban Decay Free Love is lighter and has a golden sheen. MAC Raving Mad is more subdued, less warm-toned. MAC Spicy Smoke is darker, redder, and it is most similar when blended out.
Daydreaming is an online-exclusive from the MAC x Hayley Williams collaboration, which is supposed to launch on April 9th (but hardcore fans may want to start stalking a little earlier). It had good color payoff, and it blended to a smooth finish, but the texture was slightly dry (and not quite as buttery/dense as the very best of the veluxe pearl formula). Based on my experience with MAC eyeshadows, they typically wear around eight hours with no creasing and little to no fading (and shades like this tend not to fade; it’s only the more powdery, sheerer shades that sometimes do).
Sometimes products are discontinued or limited edition, which means that a product may no longer be available at one or more retailers so you may need to shop around for those hard-to-find shades! We try to update products as they become discontinued, and if you discover a product has been discontinued, please help us help others by letting us know.
Disclosure: Temptalia uses affiliate links, which give us a small commission when you make a purchase (given to us by the retailer, at no cost to you). Your purchases help to support the site!
