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.