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.

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)