Up in Smoke This Set Goes

MAC Fabulousness / Smoky Eye Palette ($39.50 for 0.14 oz.) contains five eyeshadows: Taupeless (lavender pink), Satin Taupe (taupe with silver shimmer), Love Spice (mid-tone rosy pink with pearl), Spellcaster (matte aubergine), and Black Slip (rich blackened plum with pearl).

For reference, MAC eyeshadow quads ($38.00) typically contain 0.19 to 0.20 oz. (about 0.05 oz. per eyeshadow). Last year’s holiday eyeshadow palettes contained 0.21 oz. (and retailed for $38.00). The prior year’s holiday palettes contained 0.19 oz. (and retailed for $36.00). You used to get six shades, but with this year’s design, you’re getting five.

Taupeless is a light pink with silvery-white sparkle. It has a lustre finish, so it is a bit sheerer and has lots of sparkle. I did experience a fair amount of fall out with this shade. This shade has been released before. Chanel Harmonie du Soir is a bit warmer, less sparkly. MAC Love Power is similar but less sparkly. MAC Young Venus is cooler-toned. theBalm Safe Bet Annette is slightly warmer.

Satin Taupe is a medium brown with subtle warm orange undertones and a gray-ish tinge. It doesn’t look like the permanent Satin Taupe at all. It had decent color payoff but it was a little dry. Guerlain Turandot is darker. Dior Fairy Golds is also darker.

Love Spice is a rosy-toned medium brown with a champagne shimmer-sheen. The color payoff was so-so, and the texture was a little dry. Giorgio Armani Champagne is similar but browner. Cle de Peau #207 is similar but grayer and sparkly. MAC Pink Frontier is a touch lighter. MAC Jete is darker. MAC desert is a bit grayer. MAC Earthly is grayer. Here’s a swatch of the permanent Satin Taupe.

Spellcaster is a matte, dark purple with subtle red undertones. It was dry, stiff, and was a pain-in-the-behind to blend. It’s an eyeshadow that you have to grab a lot of, place it, go back for more, place it, and then try to blend those together. Normally, I’d take some product, apply it to the middle of the area I wanted it to be, then I’d take the brush back and forth to blend it out. It just doesn’t work with the texture of this shade. NARS High Society is lighter. MAC Dynamic Duo #4 has a similar shade that was better pigmented. Urban Decay Rockstar is a little lighter and shimmery.

Black Slip is a red-toned brown with hints of burgundy and bronze shimmer. It had good pigmentation, and it was the best performer out of the five. The texture was a lot softer and more blendable. Urban Decay Rapture is lighter. Illamasqua Queen of the Night is not as frosted. MAC Winterized is grayer, less red-toned.

Taupeless had some significant fall out while I wore it, which wasn’t a total surprise, because it had a sparkly, kind of gritty/chunky texture that is common to lustres (which I rarely have good experiences with).  Satin Taupe is unrecognizable in this palette–I’m left wondering if this is even meant to be one and the same as the permanent version.  If not, they really should have named it something else.  Black Slip was the best eyeshadow, but I would say that it is a good but not great eyeshadow.   Spellcaster works really well with the rest of the colors in the palette, but it is difficult to blend and was noticeably faded after eight hours of wear, even over a primer.  I couldn’t get all of these shades to show up without a primer underneath; Black Slip and Spellcaster were the only ones that showed up decently without a primer.

The Glossover

	Fabulousness Smoky C
	Not as bad as the Neutral Eye Palette, but it's not a particularly good palette. It's not where I would spend my holiday money.
	Product 7/10 Pigmentation 7/10 Texture 8/10 Longevity 7.5/10 Application 3.5/5
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MAC Fabulousness / Smoky Eye Palette

MAC Fabulousness / Smoky Eye Palette

MAC Fabulousness / Smoky Eye Palette

MAC Fabulousness / Smoky Eye Palette

MAC Fabulousness / Smoky Eye Palette

MAC Taupeless Eyeshadow

MAC Satin Taupe Eyeshadow

MAC Love Spice Eyeshadow

MAC Spellcaster Eyeshadow

MAC Black Slip Eyeshadow

Satin Taupe (inner lid), Taupeless (inner tearduct), Love Spice (middle of lid), Black Slip (outer lid), Spellcaster (crease), Feminine Edge Fluidline (lower lash line)

MAC Ice Parade Pearl Iced Delights Eye Bag

MAC Pearl Iced Delights Eye Bag ($45.00) includes Taupeless (lavender pink), Celestial Black (rich blue-black with red pearl), and Purple Dash (purple), along with a full-sized Zoom Fast Black Lash Mascara and 275SE brush. There are three different Eye Bags and all three contain both the mascara and special edition brush, but the eyeshadow duo and eyeliner vary. MAC Ice Parade launches on October 27th, 2011 in-stores.

• Taupeless is an icy pink with subtle cool undertones and silver sparkle. It has a lustre finish, which means it is prone to fall out. The pigmentation is so-so with some underlying sheerness. This particular shade is a repromote. It is similar to MAC Seedy Pearl, which has a smoother finish.
• Celestial Black is a burgundy-tinted black with red shimmer. It has a velvet finish. It’s dry, stiff, and tends to work better when used with a fluffy brush (like the 222). The color payoff is underwhelming. MAC Beauty Marked isn’t as black-based.
• Purple Dash is a purple-plum with fuchsia-purple shimmer. It’s creamier than the limited edition Technakohls from the holiday colour collection. This is part of the permanent range. It is similar to Make Up For Ever #4L.

This kit would be a skip for me, because the fall out from Taupeless combined with the stiffness of Celestial Black make it less than appealing at $45. The mascara and special edition 275 are nice additions but likely not the reason you were interested in it! I think some will love the bag, while others will hate it. It’s very soft and squishy, so it feels cheap to me, though it is lined and feels durable enough.

The Glossover

	MAC Ice Parade Pearl Iced Delights Eye Bag Review, Photos, Swatches C+
	This kit would be a skip for me, because the fall out from Taupeless combined with the stiffness of Celestial Black make it less than appealing at $45. The mascara and special edition 275 are nice additions but likely not the reason you were interested in it!
	Product 7/10 Pigmentation 7.5/10 Texture 8/10 Longevity 8.5/10 Application 3.5/5
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MAC Pearl Iced Delights Eye Bag

MAC Pearl Iced Delights Eye Bag

MAC Taupeless Eyeshadow

MAC Celestial Black Eyeshadow

MAC Taupeless Eyeshadow

MAC Celestial Black Eyeshadow

MAC Purple Dash Technakohl Liner