MAC Tropical Taboo Mineralize Eyeshadows Review, Photos, Swatches
MAC Tropical Taboo Mineralize Eyeshadows
MAC Tropical Taboo Collection’s Mineralize Eyeshadows ($23.50 for 0.10 oz.) come in six shades. All six are limited edition. If you’ve been following this blog for a few years, you’ll know that MAC Mineralize and I, generally, don’t get along. I love the way they look in their pots, and photographing the Mineralize collections is always fun–everything looks spectacular. I’m always disappointed by their performance, as they never look as pretty applied as they do in their pots. This is particularly true with the eyeshadows, and this year’s seemed worse to me than some of the more recent releases. More or less, the formula seems to have gotten better over the years (finer, smoother, less powdery), but the texture on these, overall, felt like Mineralize Eyeshadows from three or four years ago–drier, kind of powdery. Color payoff was an issue (even used with a damp brush), and then later on, wear, as all of these looked noticeably faded well before eight hours.
Bossa Blue is described as a “royal blue with brown pearl.” It’s a warm-toned taupe–a grayish brown with a gray sheen. The texture was a bit dry and powdery, and the resulting payoff when applied dry was semi-sheer, while when applied damp, it was more semi-opaque. I found it fairly buildable on the lid, but it does need some layering. There’s no shortage of shades like this, even with MAC’s releases. MAC Pastelluxe #5 is warmer. Disney Midnight Hour #4 is darker. Urban Decay Mushroom is a cream product but similar in color. Urban Decay Armor is a touch darker. Urban Decay Mushroom is similar. NARS Grand Palais #1 is lighter. MAC Keep Your Cool is darker. MAC Twilight Falls is browner. Giorgio Armani #4 is more shimmery. See comparison swatches.
Caribbean is described as a “rose with pink and red pearl.” It’s a reddish-coral with pink and copper sparkle. The payoff was sheer whether used dry or wet. This shade was really dry, powdery, and glittery–it didn’t bind well together, so it had a lot of fall out during application but throughout the time I wore it. My eye ended up really watery when I wore this, because of how much fall out and how sparkles kept getting into my eye. Milani I Heart You is slightly redder. MAC Raving Mad is less sparkly. MAC Daydreaming is brighter. See comparison swatches.
Cha-Cha-Cha is described as a “deep blue green with green pearl.” It’s a blackened blue with green and blue shimmers. Applied dry, it is sheerer and lighter, and then applied damp, it was semi-opaque and turned a bit bluer. The texture was dry and powdery, but not as difficult to use as Caribbean. Urban Decay Spell #2 is darker, less cool-toned. theBalm Sexy Stacye is grayer. Urban Decay Asphalt is a bit grayer. Urban Decay Ace is less shimmery. MAC Jade’s Fortune is more intense but very similar. MAC Hint of Sapphire is lighter. See comparison swatches.
Dare to Bare is described as a “light cream with gold pearl.” It’s a pale pink with a hint of lavender and a frosted, slightly metallic finish. This shade was slightly powdery, but it seemed to stick to itself fairly well. It was one of the more pigmented shades of the six. It was semi-sheer applied dry and prone to sheering out if you applied it to the lid dry, but applied damp, it went on very nicely and with full color coverage. MAC Pastelluxe #3 is sheerer. Urban Decay SWF is darker. MAC Seedy Pearl is cooler-toned. MAC Love Power is darker, cream product. MAC Good Fortune is more metallic, cream. Chanel Harmonie du Soir #4 is similar. bareMinerals Glitterati is more golden. Shades like MAC Joy & Laughter #1 and MAC Young Venus seemed similar initially but pulled too purple. See comparison swatches.
Time to Tango is described as a “lavender with silver pearl.” It’s a cool-toned, medium-dark lavender with a gray tinge and gold sparkle. The texture was a little gritty (like Caribbean but not quite as bad) because of the high sparkle content and general looseness of the shadow. Applied dry, it’s a sheer wash of color, and then applied dry, it’s more semi-opaque but doesn’t quite bind together as smoothly as I’d like to see in a powder product. I had a ton of fall out from this shade, unfortunately, throughout the day. NARS Flowers 3 #2 is less shimmery. Milani Purr-fect Purple is darker. MAC Idol Eyes is less purple. See comparison swatches.
Tropica is described as a “silver blue with purple.” It is a cool-toned, lavender urple with a subtle, teal iridescent duochrome sheen. Applied dry, it is fairly sheer, and then applied damp, the duochrome is more pronounced as the product is more opaque and smooths out better. Benefit Fancy Pansy is darker. OCC Datura is lighter. See comparison swatches.
Bossa Blue
LELimited Edition. $21.00.
Caribbean
LELimited Edition. $21.00.
Cha-Cha-Cha
LELimited Edition. $21.00.
Dare to Bare
LELimited Edition. $21.00.
Time to Tango
LELimited Edition. $21.00.
Tropica
LELimited Edition. $21.00.
MAC Bossa Blue Mineralize Eyeshadow
MAC Bossa Blue Mineralize Eyeshadow
MAC Bossa Blue Mineralize Eyeshadow
MAC Bossa Blue Mineralize Eyeshadow
MAC Bossa Blue Mineralize Eyeshadow
MAC Bossa Blue Mineralize Eyeshadow
MAC Bossa Blue Mineralize Eyeshadow
MAC Caribbean Mineralize Eyeshadow
MAC Caribbean Mineralize Eyeshadow
MAC Caribbean Mineralize Eyeshadow
MAC Caribbean Mineralize Eyeshadow
MAC Caribbean Mineralize Eyeshadow
MAC Caribbean Mineralize Eyeshadow
MAC Caribbean Mineralize Eyeshadow
MAC Cha-Cha-Cha Mineralize Eyeshadow
MAC Cha-Cha-Cha Mineralize Eyeshadow
MAC Cha-Cha-Cha Mineralize Eyeshadow
MAC Cha-Cha-Cha Mineralize Eyeshadow
MAC Cha-Cha-Cha Mineralize Eyeshadow
MAC Cha-Cha-Cha Mineralize Eyeshadow
MAC Cha-Cha-Cha Mineralize Eyeshadow
MAC Dare to Bare Mineralize Eyeshadow
MAC Dare to Bare Mineralize Eyeshadow
MAC Dare to Bare Mineralize Eyeshadow
MAC Dare to Bare Mineralize Eyeshadow
MAC Dare to Bare Mineralize Eyeshadow
MAC Dare to Bare Mineralize Eyeshadow
MAC Dare to Bare Mineralize Eyeshadow
MAC Time to Tango Mineralize Eyeshadow
MAC Time to Tango Mineralize Eyeshadow
MAC Time to Tango Mineralize Eyeshadow
MAC Time to Tango Mineralize Eyeshadow
MAC Time to Tango Mineralize Eyeshadow
MAC Time to Tango Mineralize Eyeshadow
MAC Time to Tango Mineralize Eyeshadow
MAC Tropica Mineralize Eyeshadow
MAC Tropica Mineralize Eyeshadow
MAC Tropica Mineralize Eyeshadow
MAC Tropica Mineralize Eyeshadow
MAC Tropica Mineralize Eyeshadow
MAC Tropica Mineralize Eyeshadow
MAC Tropica Mineralize Eyeshadow
Dare to Bare (inner lid), Time to Tango (outer lid), Caribbean (crease)
Tropica (inner lid), Cha-Cha-Cha (outer lid), Bossa Blue (crease)
Caribbean and time to tango look fab but th colour payoff looks a little disappointing. Might give these a miss. Thanks for listing the swatches so quick!
Bossa Blue looks interesting to me, mostly because it doesn’t really look blue at all but more of a grey/brown. But really, the thing with so many of MAC’s MESs is that they look so much more interesting in the pan than applied. So these will not be difficult for me to pass up.
Thanks as always for the thorough reviews. None of these eye shadows seem worth buying. They swatches seem muddy. I’m sure these colors can be recreated with what many of us have already. Thanks so much for saving me money on the shadows!
They always look so pretty in the palette.
To be honest, I’m glad I managed to feed my fever for baked eyeshadows by redeeming Ulta rewards back in the day, because they’re always prettier in the pan. So at least the ones I have that I just look at and don’t use were free! XD
Caribbean is the only one I’d consider buying. Thanks for the photos so early!
Dare to Bare, Time to Tango, and Tropica are all so beautiful! I’m very disappointed with Bossa Blue and Cha Cha Cha, I feel like they would have had so much more potential with a higher concentration of the blue and chartreuse, respectively. Caribbean just looks gritty and uncomfortable to me.
Can’t wait to see the dupes so I can hopefully narrow down my list!! Thanks for working so hard (and probably staying up all night). I’d send you a cup of coffee if I could!!
I love your Posts, your photos, and your Reviews!! I love your Blog!!! Kisses
Is it just me or are Tropica & Time To Tango almost identical ???
I’m not a huge fan of mineralize eye shadow, but I really like Dare to Bare.
When I first laid eyes on Cha-Cha-Cha I just knew I had to have it!
For some reason, Bossa Blue reminds me of a shade from one of the eyeshadow duos in the ’11 Holiday collection — Woodsmoke. Woodsmoke was greener, but just from the swatch they look a bit similar.
Thank you for swatches 🙂 but I don´t like this collection. I am so disappointing 🙁
None of these eyeshadows appeal to me. Think I will purchase a couple of the blushes and MSFs instead.
They look like alien eggs or something in the pan. Sad they dont look as cool swatched!
Thankfully not appealing, thanks for saving me some dosh!
Looks like I might get Dare To Bare, for the rest… big meh.
It seems like these might be a bit prettier to look at in the pan than they are to use. What a shame.
i feel like that about almost all of the mineral shadows MAC has put out in the last few years.
So disappointed in these :/ they’re so pretty in pan but all of the colors look so muddy and just blech.
Pretty to look at, but the quality’s just isn’t there. Dealing with them is a pain in the behind too. 🙁 At this point, I’d rather spend my money on a couple of mineralize blushes and skinfinishes.
Like many people said already, I definitely think these are much prettier in the pan (with the exception of Tropica! Purples are my weakness!)
I really like Bossa Blue; it almost reminds me of MAC Moth Brown from the Barbie collection years ago. It was like a deep blue/brown/gray shade; I like it out of all the others in this collection.
They look kind of bland when they’re mixed. Could you swatch what each color looks like? So for Bossa Blue, swatches of just the brown and just the blue? I think that would be helpful too.
Hi Jen!
The sections are really quite interwoven/small, so it wasn’t practical to do it that way! Sorry 🙁
Thank you so much for posting dupes I had most of the same shades already and I bought some cause I loved them but now I will be returning them! Thanks for saving me some money!! 🙂
No problem, Alissa!
I’m so glad you reviewed these Christine. I had Bossa Blue and Cha-Cha-Cha on my basket to check out online but will save my money for something else!!! Such a shame they look sooo pretty.
I love them they seem really unique wish i could get them 🙁