MAC Mischief Makers: Pigment/Glitter Sets Reviews, Photos, Swatches
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.
See swatches and shade breakdowns…
Note: I didn’t purchase these as I own a lot of the repromoted shades, and it seemed awfully silly to purchase these just for photography. This means I’ve linked to any shades that I have photographed previously for your reference, so just click if you’d like to see the product photo.
Copperized, Jardin Aires, Museum Bronze, Rushmetal, Reflects Gold
5 Haute High Jinks ($32.50 U.S. / $38.50 CDN)
- Copperized is a shimmery olive green with almost a metallic look to it. This is a repromote from Rushmetal (2007).
- Jardin Aires is a lovely gilded gold that makes an excellent base under shadows, cheek highlighter, and even body highlighter. MAC does re-release this shade from time to time, and it’s just a nice neutral pigment.
- Museum Bronze is a rich chocolate brown with a gold sheen. This is a repromote from Overrich (2008).
- Rushmetal is a frosty, coppery bronze. Even when it was originally released, it seemed like a redux of Copper Sparkle–perhaps slightly less gritty and more copper. This is a repromote from Rushmetal (2007).
- Reflects Gold is an ultra fine glitter that reflects gold. It’s pretty much exactly as it’s named! This is part of the permanent PRO range.
Deep Blue Green, Fuchsia, Grape, Kitschmas, Reflects Transparent Teal
5 Cool Capers ($32.50 U.S. / $38.50 CDN)
- Deep Blue Green is a rich, deep dark teal-black. It’s kind of like a forest green, but deeper, darker, and has a bit of a teal cast. Lovely shade! It’s available at PRO permanently.
- Fuchsia is a shimmery hot pink. It really is that simple. It’s a permanent shade, but it’s also a favorite of mine — it was one of the first pigments I owned. (And these days, it’s eye-safe — when it originally was out, it wasn’t!)
- Grape is a rich, jewel-tone purple with a great, smooth finish. This is part of the permanent PRO range.
- Kitschmas is a soft mauve-y purple with high sheen and frost-factor. It’s a chunky pigment, so it can often have fall out problems, too. It’s not my favorite pigment because the texture leaves much to be desired. It was part of the permanent range, but it was discontinued.
- Reflects Transparent Teal is a ultra fine glittery white base with small particles that reflect teal-green. This is part of the permanent PRO range.
Chocolate Brown, Dark Soul, Naked, Sunnydaze, Reflects Antique Gold
5 Sexpot ($32.50 U.S. / $38.50 CDN)
- Chocolate Brown is a medium dark chocolate brown with slightly paler bronze shimmer. This shade is part of the permanent range.
- Dark Soul is a dark gray-black with silver sparkle. I find that it can often look too much if you’re not careful, and it always reminds me of Black Tied eyeshadow. This is part of the permanent range.
- Naked is a fleshy beige shade that has a velvet texture and slight silvery sparkle. It makes for a decent base shade if you like to use pigments as bases. This shade is part of the permanent range.
- Sunnydaze is a cool-toned bronzy taupe with a metallic sheen. This is a repromote from She Shines (2006).
- Reflects Antique Gold is an ultra fine deep antique gold glitter with a brown cast. This is part of the permanent PRO range.
didnt realize that everything in cool capers was permanent but i still WANT IT!
I saw them yesterday at Nordy’s and was NOT impressed!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can’t believe all 3 sets consist of either repromotes and/or perm line colors! I am so disappointed. Did MAC get lazy this year w/ their pigment sets? I can forsee these at my CCO in about half a years time…
MAC usually mixes repromotes/permanent shades in their holiday sets — it’s pretty rare that we see a brand new shade in the mix, actually! I mean, for those of us who buy full sizes, it’s can be frustrating, but I’m sure for everyone one of us, there are five who saw the price tag and size of one pigment and hoped for it to be in a holiday set 😉
I agree with you Christine, I never buy full size pigments, no matter how much I like the shade, as I don’t use pigments regularly. I look foreword for the holiday sets. This year, I got all 3 pigments sets and I am very glad they are repro. and prem. as I am a new collector and building up my collection:)
I have to agree with you. I already own full size of all of these colors, but I’m happy that I can save money, or buy some for someone else for a change 😉
You do lip swatches of pigments? 😛 Also, Kitschmas got discontinued.
Edited both parts 😉
Hey, I figured someone was bound to miss it on the first post and maybe ask me on the second!
haha, no worries. Just thought I’d point it out! 😉
i was leaning for the 3 but i might just get 1 or 2!cool capers for sure though!
Nah, I’m not interested in these at all. Oh well, save some money for the lipglass sets. 😉
Same here 😀
Cool Capers will be mine!!!!
I got all three. Only one of them is for me. That’s two people down for Christmas lol.
Cool Capers & Sexpot, please!<3
I’m interested, but how big is it? Like how many grams per little jar? They don’t tell on the MAC.
If I remember correctly, they’re about 2.5 grams. I think full size is around 7? I don’t have any of the baby vials here (just the full sizes) to check.
Vials are 2.5 grams, most jars (exception being some of the metals and mattes) are 7.5 grams.
Thank you MAC-xpert 😉
Thank you! I’m getting them for sure. 🙂
Wow… Again, my wallet is crying, but all of these are gorgeous! I’m trying to decide between the first set, the 3rd set, or Guerlain’s Bal de Nuit palette. What do you think Christine?
What do you wear more often?
Pigments are fun, but how are you going to use them? You may find you’ll get the most use out of already pressed eyeshadows and may not want to work with pigments as often, you know?
If I had to choose between these the first and third, I’d probably go first.
for me, im def. going for sex pot.. i have waaaay to maany purples and earthy tones.. so im actually going to pass on those two.. but for some reason sex pot is just so appealing =]
I don’t have a whole lot of pigments. I was really interested in these-you know,trying them out before purchasing the full size. I ended up getting Cool Capers and Sex Pot- I love the colors in both!
I think im going to get the sex pot set! I have alot of bright colors but not very many neutral/smokey colors at all…so I may need to get it just so I can some neutrals.. I didnt like the first set at all…not really my colors and the cool capers set is nice but I have the deep blue green one already, a sample of grape pigment and reflects teal glitter from last winter…. in all honestly grape reminds me of push the edge pigment from the Makeup Art cosmetics collection. So I dont think i will get the cool capers one…didnt deep blue green pigment come out with the Hello Kitty collection earlier this year?
Yep, it did come out with HK as well!
Somebody on Youtube compared Grape and Push the Edge. There was almost no difference at all between the two colors.
Got all three of these yesterday at my nordy’s! 🙂 I like the small size and the fact that these are pretty much repromote and permanent because I just can’t bear to throw down like $20 for a full size since I will rarely use them anyway! ^_^ and they’re also cute to collect 😀 haha, but that would be a waste so I will use it xD
I wish they would make some glitters permanent on the regular site. I’m almost tempted to get the cool set just for Reflects Transparent Teal. But I have a full size of Fuchsia, I have Push The Edge which is pretty identical to Grape, and I don’t like the other 2 colors much. Guess I will wait until some glitters are repromoted again.
I wish they’d just open up PRO products to consumers — or at least some of PRO (e.g. products that they have overlap with, like pigments but not Paintsticks).
now they are many smaller sized of some beautiful pigments i love. cool. i think i probably want that Deep Blue but other than that, i have quite a few of the other shades already. what do i do? split the set with a friend or steal a tube? LOL
thanks for the swatches as always!
LOL!
Split the set ;P
Dose the cool capers set remind anyone else of the hello kitty collection?
It’s not surprising that it does — Deep Blue Green and Milk (which looks similar to Kitschmas) were both released with it!
and the reflects glitter was too, and fuchsia reminds me of the bright pink gitter that was released with it
not to mention the abundance of purple colored things in that collection…
I picked up the High Jinks (warm) set and Sexpot! I love my pigments!
I really like the sexpot ones. The other ones are pretty but I wouldn’t get much wear out of them.
My favourite set is also Cool Capers but I am skipping this collection as there is really only some random colours I like from every other set, but the set as a whole. Thus, most of these pigments are permanent and I have quite a few of these already.
Thanks for the swatches Christine. I just ordered all 3 of the pigment/glitter sets online. I can’t wait to receive them. I’m a sucker for pigments and glitters so I always knew I’d get these. The good thing is I only have 1 or 2 of the shades already so it seems like a worthwhile purchase for me. 🙂 x
All of them have something to offer. I’d almost want all just to take some from there and some from over there to create a look…
OMG Christine too much make up I want…My eyes are bigger than my stomach… haha
Oh brother, oh kind person please be reading and hook a girl up for xmas haha
Hey Christine
Out of curiosity when you go to the stores to swatch do they ever say no to photographing?
I know if I did that, they would think I’m rather bizarre and probably be like no lol
Also want to say thanks so much for all the time and effort you put into this!
Jen
Hey Jennifer,
MAC has a pretty firm no photography policy, as do most stores. If you get to take photos in a store, it’s usually because you’re friends with whoever’s on duty and they don’t bother you or else those working don’t know the policy. Trust me, I’ve tried the old trick of *snap* *snap* “What, I didn’t know!” many a time!
So, I don’t take photos in store, generally. I usually swatch until there’s no room left, walk out of the store, and take photos *outside* the store.
At MAC, the ladies know me (which is a good thing, because they’re always so nice), and they always laugh when they see me walk out 😉 Lately, I do purchase the entire launch and bring it home, because I really want to be able to provide real life photos of the products in addition to swatches, so I’ll just swatch at home.
These colours are such a bore! MAC seems to be spending more $ on hyping the holiday collection up and less $ on actually creating something unique.
I do hope the cool set goes on sale eventually though 😛 I got shafted last year buying the sets at full price, and then they went on 25 % off.
mmm cool capers = love
loving the pigments mght hav to get one!or 2
liking Haute High Jinks afre carefull thinking of 1 item to buy in this collection alongsie the nail lacquers!
my goal is to definitely get Haute High Jinks! I love all of the gorgeous warm colors!
I bought all 3, I cant wait till they arrive. I have some samples of the shades but I’ve been waiting for these and now I will own them!
I really hate pigments and i dont know what will get me over it, they are so much effort to work with to get the effect you want (i,e, not all over your face lol)
Aww, Laura! Do you use mixing medium with them?
I love love pigments!I have a question about the glitters. I know that you said that they are not safe for the eye area….but is that because of potential fall out?However, i have seen people using it…Do you think it is worth the risk?The colors are so pretty, i can’t resist!Thanks!
Hey Eli,
Well, we don’t really have official reasons why something isn’t eye-safe. However, with glitter, you don’t know whether it may scratch your cornea and cause long-term physical damage (this is kind of like… the worst case scenario) or if it’ll just cause irritation that’s temporary.
I may throw safety aside once or twice a year, but my eyes are already going bad (LOL), so I don’t need any help. I also figure it’s pretty hard to replace eyes 😛
If you do use them, be sure to use a very adhesive base to keep them locked in place to minimize fall out.
I was thinking of getting all 3, but now I think I’ll skip. I have a lot of stuff that would be similar. They just looked so pretty in their little vials 😉
grape pro pigment is discontinued. too bad cause its AMAZING. <3
Yesterday I bought also the Haute High Jinks. My first pigments. I wanted to get something I can set with MUFE Eye Seal, cause that stuff destroys regular cake e/s. Love the small vials!
I only ended up buying one, as I found that a couple of the colors are more/less the same, such as Jardin Aires and Naked. So I Didn’t think it worth it buying all of them.
I got the 3 of them but i have to admit my favorite is cool capers!!!
Grape is the only set I like out of the 2nd test… I might get the first one instead, I’ll definitely get more wear out of that.
I am only getting the cool capers, like the colors. I was kind of wandering if MAC is planning to come up with something for the Alice in Wonderland movie premier. I was looking at some nailpolish blogs and it seems most brands are coming down with a collection for it.
I haven’t heard anything!
Since I don’t have many pigments I’ll probably pick up Haute High Jinks and Cool Capers… my only problem is with the vials… why MAC why? I wasted so much product from a set last year trying to get some out… why not just a mini jar???? UUUGGGHHHH!!!! How do you get yours out? Dump it on what and where??? LOL
I bought empty PRO jars and dumped mine in those, LOL.
I went to Hobby Lobby (or any crafy store) and bought these little plasic jars that you can get in the paint section. I believe you get 6 jars for $4, they are perfect. I have all the pigments sets from the past three holiday collections and thats how I store them.
Good ideas… my dumb butt just left them in the little vials and barely use them… gotta go find some jars… but MAC needs to redesign this packaging, it’s so stupid lol
Apparently Grape isn’t eye safe. I noticed you can peel up the labels on the bottom of the box and it says which ones are not eye or lip safe. I honestly can’t see where else I’d use that bright of a purple other than my eyes. I guess I’ll chance it. Picked up all 3 sets since I’m pretty new to pigments.
That would explain why I don’t own it! It’s so pretty… but if it’s not eye-safe, that’s why I don’t have it.
Sexpot and High Jinks I want I want!!!!
Ok, maybe I haven’t understood well. Are you saying we can’t use the reflects pigment on eye? Or just on eyelid? Can I use it in the brow area?
Vale
It’s not eye-safe, so it’s not recommended to be used in the eye area. MAC glitters usually come (or should, rather) with a little sheet of paper with all of the warnings.
On the MAC Canada site, Kitschmas isn’t discontinued. I have a small sample of it and don’t really like it. Milk is much better 🙂
I have been wearing 5 Cool Capers all week and next week I am buying 5 Sexpot. I have been throwing caution to the wind and wearing the glitter too. I noticed that 5 Cool Capers has almost the same color just different shades from the pigment set I bought last Christmas, Little Darlings 5 Cool Pigments. The two sets compliment each other nicely & I am enjoying pairing the colors up.
Out of all the pigments I love Cool Capers! I personal think that its the best one!
i got haute high jinks and sexpot. i enjoy the high jinks more because they wear well with many of my looks. the sex pot one was kind of boring but it had many staple colors. i think i’ll head out to a cco and see if they have pigments from last year. i can’t beleive i never got into pigmens before. i love their small size- it’s just enough but not too much!
thanks again for the swatches.
didnt know u could not used them in your eyes =O
but its a great product for those glitter lovers, and the price is not bad either
I got all three sets. I absolutely love these…. I have about 6 of these in the full size already, however these are great for travel. I am glad I treated myself. My favorite is sunnydaze
What about Melon? Wasn’t it in any of these sets?
Dark Soul is a dark gray-black with silver sparkle. I find that it can often look too much if you’re not careful, and it always reminds me of Black Tied eyeshadow. This is part of the permanent range.
May I ask why these collections are not posted on the http://www.maccosmetics.com website? Also, does anyone know if these sets will be available in any part of Asia? Thanks!
They’re available on the U.S. site under “Holiday.” I do believe they come to Asia.
I want them all!!!
OMG they are so beautiful i want cool shade and sex pot!!!!!!!
really wish they go on sale 🙁
I got Cool Capers last week and I am loven it. The Kitschmas is my favorite so far. I wish it was still availabe in the perm collection
🙁
I bought the Cool Capers. I thought Cool Capers was the one that had the least permanent colors. I dont live by a pro-store so maybe they are permanent for a Pro-store. I loved Deep Blue Green when I first saw it (Didnt it come out with Hello Kitty?) but I should have bought it back then. So I was really excited to see it now. I have Pink Pearl and Violet which I think will go awesome with Fushscia and Grape. So Im way way excited. I may go back for more because I really dont go through pigments like that.
I bought 2 of these sets a week ago and decided i’m going to get the third one also (cool capers). It’s my first time with MAC pigments. They are all so gorgeous and last forever. You’ve got the best swatches!
So none of the pigments can be used as eyeshadow? Most of the youtube gurus use them as eyeshadow but it’s not safe?
Some of them are not eye safe, so if you use them, it’s at your own risk. It’s not a risk I’d personally take with glitters. MAC always has paper inserts with the products that aren’t safe for the eyes!
Thanks for the heads up! I want to get the Sexpot set but I don’t know what else I’d use the glitter for besides on my eyes! Ahh they’re soo pretty though! Do you know if you can pick these up for a cheaper price later?
Hmm, maybe. Last year, MAC did 25% off all of their holiday sets in January. You may also see them show up at CCOs (30% off — so if *does* go on sale at maccosmetics.com – it’s worth buying right away rather than hoping for it to show up later on down the road).
You could try glitter in your hairspray/hair, body (mix with moisturizer), nails (mix into your fave polish or clear polish), and on lips (mixed with gloss).
Bought the cool capers and have been wearing them daily. So gorgeous! I am tempted to buy the high jinx as well but my makeup case is getting too full!
I was on the mac pro site looking for grape, but it’s not there so is it a permanent?
I saw Grape pigment listed on multi-use…
I was just looking at mac pro pigments on their website and noticed Grape is not eye or lip safe. Do you know why this could be? I’ve already used it on my eyes a few times and I don’t think I had any problems, but should I discontinue use in that area now?
It could be the dye or coloring in it that may be potentially irritating to those who use it on eyes or lips!
MAC Mischief Makers is my favorite cosmetic ,good infor.