MAC for Iris Apfel Eyeshadows Review, Photos, Swatches

Christine — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 17:00:57 +0000

MAC Diamond Dove Eyeshadow

MAC for Iris Apfel: Eyeshadows

There are five limited edition shades of MAC Eyeshadow ($15.00 for 0.05 oz.) in the Iris Apfel collection: Diamond Dove (deep gray-brown), Early Bird (bright coral), Howzat (deep gray with silver sparkle), Robin’s Egg (mid-tone teal), and Silver Gull (blue-gray with sparkle).

Diamond Dove is a dark brown with subtle cool undertones. It has good color payoff, but it is definitely a drier matte, so you may or may not like that type of texture (it’s more like most of MAC’s matte finishes–not at all like the Matte2 finish). This has a matte finish. Tarina Tarantino Wonderful is a slightly less gray brown in the palette. MAC Brun is grayer. MAC Copperplate is a bit lighter and much grayer. It’s a bit darker than MAC Double Feature 3.
Early Bird is a medium coral-pink. This has a matte finish. The color payoff is good, but again, it is a drier matte, which you may love or hate. If you didn’t like working with MAC Free to Be (which is a bit darker but otherwise very similar), I doubt you’ll like this one. They’re both fairly dry. I actually found this to need more packing on the lid (I think to apply it to my inner third of the lid, I applied five or six times to get true-to-pan intensity). Inglot #361 is also similar.
Howzat is a bluish gray with a sheen. This has a satin finish. I didn’t like it the first time it came out, nor the second, and I still think it’s subpar. The color payoff is terrible with a really dry, stiff texture that’s just not worth the effort. MAC Interior Life is similar but more matte.
Robin’s Egg is a bluish-teal. This has a matte finish. This is the type of color that’s going to look bluer/greener depending on the colors you pair it with but your underlying skin tone will have an affect, too. For instance, warmer complexions will probably see this as more of a teal shade, while cooler complexions may find it turns bluer. The texture of this is different than the other matte eyeshadows–it’s much softer, not quite as soft as Matte2 finishes, but still softer and much easier to work with. It’s similar to MAC Double Feature 3 and Inglot #372.
Silver Gull is a pale, neutral-toned gray with silver sparkle. This has a velvet finish. The base color has more of a matte finish, while the sparkle lies on top of the product, which does cause significant fall out (even just swatching, the sparkle doesn’t bind with the actual color). It’s also on the sheerer side and a bit powdery. Guerlain Les Ombres de Nuit has a slightly similar gray. Unfortunately, I couldn’t think of any other dupes.

These are some of the better single eyeshadows I’ve seen from MAC since Surf Baby (which was an exceptional set!). I think what will sway you is simply how you prefer your matte finishes–if you like them drier, more consistent with most of MAC’s matte range, you’ll like these. If you prefer softer, denser, almost buttery mattes, these are not like those. In my experience, drier mattes perform just as well as more buttery ones once you apply them, but it’s in a quick swatch that you might find the major discrepancy. I wore Early Bird, Robin’s Egg, and Silver Gull to test out the wear of these, and I did have fall out issues with Silver Gull (which also required packing of color to get it to show). Robin’s Egg is the easiest to work with, because it’s soft and very pigmented–so you don’t need a lot of it, and you can easily blend it out, too.