Archived Post

MAC Soft Frost Extra Dimension Skinfinish Review, Photos, Swatches

Name: Soft Frost
Brand: MAC
SKU: 263401

Reviews

Contains: Affiliate Links, Sample Provided

Christine | Updated: 11/07/16November 07, 2016

Soft Frost

MAC Soft Frost Extra Dimension Skinfinish ($33.00 for 0.31 oz.) is a cool, icy lavender with a violet sheen.

The Extra Dimension Skinfinish formula now features four, permanent shades, and the formula is supposed to be a highlighter that “lasts up to ten hours” with “prismatic reflections.” Soft Frost had semi-sheer, buildable color–up to medium coverage–with a very fine, pearlescent sheen. It was one of the sheerer Extra Dimension Skinfinishes I’ve come across, and the consistency was much firmer in the pan as well. It has a subtle shift from a tinted white to a more noticeable violet sheen, depending on the angle. Despite the firmer texture, it still blended out well on the skin and wasn’t a real challenge to use, as long as the sheerer coverage is desired. On me, it wore well for eight hours before fading.

FURTHER READING: Formula Overview for details on general performance and characteristics (like scent).

Top Dupes
Formula Overview

Top Dupes

View Swatches View All Dupes

Pat McGrath Iridescent Pink (003) (PiP, $60.00) is more shimmery (95% similar).
Physicians Formula Iridescence (P, $10.99) is less shimmery (95% similar).
Make Up For Ever 5 Frozen Purple (P, $21.00) is less shimmery (95% similar).
MAC Cold Comfort (LE, $42.00) is less shimmery, lighter (90% similar).
Becca Prismatic Amethyst (LE, $38.00) is less shimmery, warmer (95% similar).
Pat McGrath Iridescent Pink 003 (LE, $25.00) is more shimmery (95% similar).
NYX Lavender Steel (P, $7.99) is warmer (95% similar).
Laura Mercier Obsession (LE, $45.00) is darker, warmer (90% similar).
Huda Beauty Arctic Glow (LE, ) is more shimmery, cooler (90% similar).
Too Faced Unicorn Tears (LE, $28.00) is less shimmery (90% similar).

View Swatches

Formula Overview

$42.00/0.31 oz. - $135.48 Per Ounce

The Extra Dimension Skinfinish formula is supposed to give “the perfect glow to the skin” with a “creamy powder formula” that wears for “10 hours.” It’s a powder highlighter that I’d describe as a moderate to intense highlighter, and they come in varying hues with some that might work as highlighting blushes/bronzers are on some skin tones and true highlighters on other skin tones. In general, the formula is very pigmented, blendable, and wears around eight to nine hours on me.

Browse all of our MAC Extra Dimension Skinfinish swatches.

Soft Frost

PPermanent. $42.00.

8.5

Product

Pigmentation

Texture

Longevity

Application

83%

Total

MAC Soft Frost Extra Dimension Skinfinish

Makeup Look

On face:

Guerlain Lingerie de Peau Foundation
Laura Mercier Loose Setting Powder

On eyes:

Natasha Denona Polaris (116K) Eyeshadow
Natasha Denona Cosmo (109K) Eyeshadow
Natasha Denona Phoenix (113CM) Eyeshadow
Natasha Denona Spectrum (101K) Eyeshadow
Natasha Denona Gemma (106CM) Eyeshadow
Natasha Denona Electra (115CM) Eyeshadow
Natasha Denona Vega (111CM) Eyeshadow
Natasha Denona Orion (105DC) Eyeshadow
Natasha Denona Galaxi (112K) Eyeshadow

On lips:

Too Faced Honeybear La Crème
Makeup Geek Celestial Highlighter

Explore Temptalia

We're here to help you make better beauty purchases that you'll enjoy and love! We recommend signing up to take advantage of personalized features like tracking products you own, viewing dupes that you already have, and more!

Here are some useful resources for you:

Foundation Matrix™

Find your next foundation or concealer match!

The Dupe List™

Find a product dupe or compare two palettes.

Swatch Gallery™

Find swatches by color, product, formula, etc.

Compare Any Two

Curious how two shades compare to each other? Type in the shades below to get instant side-by-side swatches!

43 Comments

Comments that do not adhere to our comment policy may be removed. Discussion and debate are highly encouraged but we expect community members to participate respectfully. Please keep discussion on-topic, and if you have general feedback, a product review request, an off-topic question, or need technical support, please contact us!

Please help us streamline the comments' section and be more efficient: double-check the post above for more basic information like pricing, availability, and so on to make sure your question wasn't answered already. Comments alerting us to typos or small errors in the post are appreciated (!) but will typically be removed after errors are fixed (unless a response is needed).

We appreciate enthusiasm for new releases but ask readers to please hold questions regarding if/when a review will be posted as we can't commit to or guarantee product reviews. We don't want to set expectations and then disappoint readers as even products that are swatched don't always end up being reviewed due to time constraints and changes in priorities! Thank you for understanding!

Comments on this post are closed.

Rachel R.

Lightest, Neutral undertones. Normal-to-Oily skin.

Beautiful!

Christine

Light Medium, Neutral, slight yellow undertones. Normal-to-Dry skin.

The finish is very smooth!

Nancy T

Medium, Olive, neutral undertones. Combination skin.

When I had an opportunity to swatch all 4 a few weeks ago, I loved this one SO much! Just not sure how someone of my coloring could get away with these ethereal violet duochrome shades that have been coming out lately? They seem perfect for the very lightest and very deepest of skin colors as both extremes tend to have pinker or blue-burgundy undertones that really look fabulous with these! ?
But me? I’m a rather neutral, yet golden olive smack dab in middle, depth wise. ?

Christine

Light Medium, Neutral, slight yellow undertones. Normal-to-Dry skin.

Must be a trend!

Celesta

Very Light, Neutral, slight pink undertones. Normal-to-Oily skin.

So pretty!

Christine

Light Medium, Neutral, slight yellow undertones. Normal-to-Dry skin.

It is!

Ginny

I think your very first line is wrong because it says “light gold with warm, yellow undertones.”

Anyway, this is nice and your photos really capture it well. I don’t mind that it’s sheer because this would just be a flash when you turned your head just so. And might help it work with darker skin tones. Lots of affordable dupes, though!

Christine

Light Medium, Neutral, slight yellow undertones. Normal-to-Dry skin.

I am so sorry, Ginny! It looks like my post update when I was writing it didn’t go through, because I KNOW I changed that 🙁 I’m so sorry!

Ginny

No need! It’s holiday madness time lol 🙂

Katherine T.

I shivered when I saw the swatch

Christine

Light Medium, Neutral, slight yellow undertones. Normal-to-Dry skin.

LOL!

Erin

Lightest, Neutral undertones. Combination skin.

I like it, it’s not a natural look but its still really refined.

Christine

Light Medium, Neutral, slight yellow undertones. Normal-to-Dry skin.

I think if you pair it with the right blush, it can look more “natural”!

kjh

They look pink, not gold, to me, all of them. Am I off? Well, yeah, but….

Christine

Light Medium, Neutral, slight yellow undertones. Normal-to-Dry skin.

I’m so sorry, KJH! I know I wrote out the right description, but I have a feeling it didn’t save (we were having some database issues when I was writing these reviews) and did not catch it when I was proofreading (obviously, I’m not very good at proofreading, lol).

Tammy

Looks like Bite Beauty’s Opal, but instead of lips it’s for cheeks. Pretty!

Christine

Light Medium, Neutral, slight yellow undertones. Normal-to-Dry skin.

Definitely in that vein!

Helene

Very Light, Neutral, slight yellow undertones. Combination skin.

It will be hard to chose just one!

Christine

Light Medium, Neutral, slight yellow undertones. Normal-to-Dry skin.

I agree!

Ebru Sancak

I absolutely love this one!!! It’s so pretty and interesting!! It looks so gorgeous on you too!! XxX

Christine

Light Medium, Neutral, slight yellow undertones. Normal-to-Dry skin.

Thank you,E bru!

Claire L

This is going on my wish list for next year! Love the violet shift.

Christine

Light Medium, Neutral, slight yellow undertones. Normal-to-Dry skin.

Woohoo! 🙂

Maggie

Light Plus, Neutral undertones. Combination skin.

Typo? First line: …”is a cool ivy lavender with a violet sheen.” Did you mean icy?

Christine

Light Medium, Neutral, slight yellow undertones. Normal-to-Dry skin.

Yes, I’m such a dummy! I’m so sorry about the confusion, Maggie.

Nika99

I’m so glad MG Celestial is a dupe I have it and I won’t have to buy this one also!!

Christine

Light Medium, Neutral, slight yellow undertones. Normal-to-Dry skin.

Phew! 🙂

Julia

Medium, Neutral, slight pink undertones. Normal skin.

Now THIS one I am so into! Powder formula dupe of Hippo? Yes, please!

Btw, I can’t wait to see what you have to say about that Natasha Denona palette… You look beautiful but I hear it’s a pain to work with!

Christine

Light Medium, Neutral, slight yellow undertones. Normal-to-Dry skin.

Hope you love it, Julia! 🙂

WARPAINTandUnicorns

Lightest, Olive, warm undertones. Combination skin.

I definitely need to see this one in person, I do own COLOUR POP Hippo but this one doesn’t seem as pink to me.

Christine

Light Medium, Neutral, slight yellow undertones. Normal-to-Dry skin.

I find this to be pretty violet on!

Kiss & Make-up

Light Medium, Yellow undertones. Very Oily skin.

I don’t think it would look good on me but it’s definitely special!

Christine

Light Medium, Neutral, slight yellow undertones. Normal-to-Dry skin.

It’s a fun shade!

Wednesday

Light Plus, Neutral undertones. Dry skin.

Your Natasha Denona eye look is lovely!
This highlighter is tempting.. argh.

Christine

Light Medium, Neutral, slight yellow undertones. Normal-to-Dry skin.

Thank you, Wendy! Well, at least it is permanent!

Michele @Binxcat4ever

Light, Neutral undertones. Normal skin.

Your swatch, and especially on you, looks like a dupe for the Milk Makeup Holo Stick (which I have). I love the color of this and think I’ll get more use from a powder product than I have the stick form. Looks like this is going to be a definite buy for me. Thanks!

Christine

Light Medium, Neutral, slight yellow undertones. Normal-to-Dry skin.

I bet they would layer well!

Michele @Binxcat4ever

Wow, that’s a really good idea!

Luna Sea

Very Light, Neutral, slight yellow undertones. Combination skin.

Beautiful! <3 Is there not a dupe list for this? I really want it, but was thinking Looxi or someone else may have a cheaper dupe.

Christine

Light Medium, Neutral, slight yellow undertones. Normal-to-Dry skin.

There are five dupes listed above!

Luna Sea

Thanks, I didn’t see them. This page looks different than the usual layout. 🙂

Eloise

Is this similar to MAC’s lightscapade mineralise skinfinish?

Natalia

Light Plus, Neutral, slight yellow undertones. Dry skin.

Hi Eloise!

You can see the swatches here http://www.temptalia.com/side-by-side/?sbs_1_search=MAC+Soft+Frost&sbs_1=263401&sbs_2_search=MAC+Lightscapade&sbs_2=108138, but I can tell you from the personal experience they are not. Lightscapade is a more conventional highlighter, whereas Soft Frost is a duochrome and has a noticeable lilac shift to it, which is gorgeous 🙂

We try to approve comments within 24 hours (and reply to them within 72 hours) but can sometimes get behind and appreciate your patience! 🙂 If you have general feedback, product review requests, off-topic questions, or need technical support, please contact us directly. Thank you for your patience!