MAC Gold Pearl, Green Pearl, Pink Pearl Top Coat Nail Lacquers Reviews, Photos, Swatches
MAC Green Pearl over Nocturnelle Nail Lacquer
MAC Gold Pearl Nail Lacquer ($12.00 for 0.34 fl. oz.) is described as “sheer gold pearl transformer.” It’s a sheer, gold-shimmered polish with a warm, yellow-tinged base and fine, gold pearl shimmer. It makes nails look almost metallic, because the shimmer is quite fine and creates “threads” of shimmer that are somewhat visible (depends on the angle). The consistency is slightly thick but manageable during application. I tried one coat over Impassioned, which is a bright coral, and it warmed it up, lightened the color, and added shimmer. The way the two worked together was nice–it didn’t look like an overlay of shimmer, it was as if the two were really one, which is a great effect. It’s not much of a duochrome, as it is just gold and golder, though it almost looks a bit like a duochrome in the bottle.
MAC Green Pearl Nail Lacquer ($12.00 for 0.34 fl. oz.) is described as “sheer green pearl transformer.” This shade is much more nuanced and more of a duochrome top coat, as you can see the shimmer goes from golden green to emerald green to plum. On its own, you lose a lot of the nuances to the shift, and it seemed best layered over darker, cooler-toned polishes (I tried Nocturnelle). The shimmer is very fine, but the result is almost metallic so there are slightly visible brush strokes. The wider brush helps, as you can get it to splay out and almost cover the nail in single pull, which helps brush strokes to look even and become more camouflaged. I tested this shade, and it showed minor tip wear after seven days.
MAC Pink Pearl Lacquer ($12.00 for 0.34 fl. oz.) is described as “sheer pink pearl transformer.” It shifts from a medium gold-orange to pink to pink-red. It seemed to have less shimmer compared to the other two, but this one applied better with less visible brush strokes. It does add a slight warmth when layered over another polish as well (I tried Shirelle), though it is primarily adding shimmer/pearl. The texture was also a bit thinner compared to the other two so it was easier to work with.
I haven’t come across too many top coats like these, so I don’t have any dupes to suggest based on experience, but if you have any suggestions, please share in the comments! Thank you!
Gold Pearl
PPermanent. $12.00.
Green Pearl
PPermanent. $12.00.
Pink Pearl
PPermanent. $12.00.
MAC Gold Pearl Nail Lacquer
MAC Gold Pearl Nail Lacquer
MAC Gold Pearl over Impassioned Nail Lacquer
MAC Gold Pearl over Impassioned Nail Lacquer
MAC Gold Pearl over Impassioned Nail Lacquer
MAC Gold Pearl over Impassioned Nail Lacquer
MAC Gold Pearl over Impassioned Nail Lacquer
MAC Green Pearl Nail Lacquer
MAC Green Pearl Nail Lacquer
MAC Green Pearl over Nocturnelle Nail Lacquer
MAC Green Pearl over Nocturnelle Nail Lacquer
MAC Green Pearl over Nocturnelle Nail Lacquer
MAC Green Pearl over Nocturnelle Nail Lacquer
MAC Green Pearl over Nocturnelle Nail Lacquer
MAC Green Pearl over Nocturnelle Nail Lacquer
MAC Green Pearl over Nocturnelle Nail Lacquer
MAC Green Pearl over Nocturnelle Nail Lacquer
MAC Pink Pearl Nail Lacquer
MAC Pink Pearl Nail Lacquer
MAC Pink Pearl over Shirelle Nail Lacquer
MAC Pink Pearl over Shirelle Nail Lacquer
MAC Pink Pearl over Shirelle Nail Lacquer
MAC Pink Pearl over Shirelle Nail Lacquer
MAC Pink Pearl over Shirelle Nail Lacquer
MAC Pink Pearl over Shirelle Nail Lacquer
MAC Pink Pearl over Shirelle Nail Lacquer
All over MAC Nocturnelle: Pink Pearl (pinky), Green Pearl (ring), Gold Pearl (middle), Highlight (index)
All over MAC Nocturnelle: Pink Pearl (pinky), Green Pearl (ring), Gold Pearl (middle), Highlight (index)
All over MAC Nocturnelle: Pink Pearl (pinky), Green Pearl (ring), Gold Pearl (middle), Highlight (index)
These are really pretty, but been there and done it long ago with Ozotic.
Not surprised that they’re a brand that has something similar!
I don’t think you’ve chosen the best way to swatch these… It should’ve been shown on the same nail polish to see the difference, and you’d have better left one nail with no top coat. Now it is too difficult to see the difference between all these topcoats.
Hi Nina,
Thanks for your feedback! My goal was to show a variety of possible effects, so I wanted to show them over different color combinations – sorry that this was not helpful for you. As a FYI, each polish that I used as the color coat is linked in the review as well as under the first swatch if you wanted to see it without a top coat, for your reference.
I agree. These would be better over a black polish.
I have updated to include all four of the pearl top coats over black cream. Hopefully you find that more useful!
My original thought process was that black is a cop out – it’s such a duh! combo, so I wanted to try to be more creative, but obviously that was a big failure! Thanks again for everyone’s feedback. I’ll be sure to only swatch over black for these types of top coats from now on! 🙂
I agree. It’s going to be difficult to see a pink pearl on a pink/red nail polish. Same with the pale gold pearl on a somewhat light color. The main pictures should have shown the colors on black polish AND THEN show us what combos you came up with. By giving us these swatches, it’s going to lead some people into believing that the colors of the pearls are non-existant when in fact they probably are.
I have updated to include all four of the pearl top coats over black cream. Hopefully you find that more useful! I will keep your additional feedback in mind for future posts. Thanks again!
I have updated to include all four of the pearl top coats over black cream. Hopefully you find that more useful! I will keep your additional feedback in mind for future posts. Thanks again!
These look like the same concept as the (unfortunately discontinued) CND Effects line of polish overcoats. I stocked up on the CND versions, so I think I can pass on these. They are absolutely wonderful for dressing up a creme polish and adding something a lil something special to your mani.
Glad you were able to stock up on them!
Oh I soooooo want to play with these and experiment with different combos!
The combos are endless, haha!
I think I need Green Pearl, it seems perfect for creating a Chanel Black Pearl -esque effect!
It would be nice! 🙂
The pearls look so lovely, especially green on green.
They are a fun way to add a little shimmer! 🙂
I liked Gold Pearl!!! Post your reviews, I am for sure getting a few from these!!!!
Enjoy! 🙂
I love the combos you put together for these! Green pearl has perhaps the strongest effect, but i like the pink pearl combo best 🙂
I was pleasantly surprised with how Pink Pearl layered!
All of them look really pretty! I like the gold the most though. It’s perfect!
Yay!!
These look fabulous but trust me havent seen a TOP COAT like
YSL no 33 Premiere Neige …. i was late collector so missed that one and on top of that it never launched in India …
i am eagerly waiting to see if someone recommends any top coats
Essie shine of the times , is also beautiful shade which one of the temptalia readers recommended 😀
Aww! I didn’t get that one either!
It’s still on YSL website if you can get a polish mule here in the US!
Since the CND Effects are no longer available, I’m glad MAC is doing these, and I hope they expand with more shimmer colors.
Thanks for swatching these, Christine!
No problem!
Even though I have some of the CND Effects from before I still want these. I think they’ll be great to extend a lot of manicures.
Sad that CND discontinued theirs!
Green Pearl is so beautiful!
It is!
I’ve always loved colors like this! Yay! 😀
They’re so up your alley!
Gold pearl looks lovelyy.. I so wanna experiment with these tricky Top coats 🙂
Have fun!
Does Green Pearl look similar to Illamasqua Hemlock?
That was my initial thought, but definitely a lot greener!
Thanks for your answer 🙂
While I love your posts, I feel this review was not quite as helpful as it could have been. I would love if you could do an updated post where you show it side by side the polish without the top coat. Even if we go back to old posts, its not quite the same as a side by side of it over the polish and the polish on its own. So we can really see what the difference is!
Sorry! I do love the swatches though!
Hi,
The photos are taken in the exact same lighting (they are not old posts!), about a half hour spaced out in time! They are literally shot right before I put on the top coat! 🙂 Thanks for your feedback!
I have updated to include all four of the pearl top coats over black cream. Hopefully you find that more useful! I will keep your additional feedback in mind for future posts. Thanks again!
Love this effects!!! My favorite is Green Pearl. Gorgeous!!!
Yay!
These make me think of Nailtini’s toppers and mixers. Not sure how the intensity of the effect compares though.
Are those still available?
Christine, these swatches are so helpful and informative — thank you so much for taking the time to swatch each of these both over a creme-finish colour & over black! ♥
Happy to share, Rae!
I have a couple of pink polishes with a gold pearl effect built in, so to speak. The look of the shimmer is gorgeous. I think I’ll pick up the MAC Gold Pearl to top other cremes.
I like that these can be added to any polish!