MAC Tartan Tale: Chapter 2 Overall Review & Roundup

Of all of MAC’s holiday offerings, I do like their miniaturized sets the best, because I find them to be on par with full-size products.

The pigment sets are definitely the most value-oriented set, and I think the holiday sets are an opportunity to try out a variety of pigment shades without laying down $19.50 for a full-size pigment.  Pigments can be really hard to use up in their entirety, so the smaller vials are perfect–and still more than enough for most!   I would just caution you that each set does include either a few permanent or repromoted shades.

I’m not as gung-ho with the lipglass sets, but I do like that they included a lot of new shades in each of them, rather than the same repromotes each holiday season.   The sets are a little more economical than buying full-size lipglasses (on a per ounce basis), but I like that you get to try five shades for the price of two.  Lipglasses have a lot of variability; some are more pigmented, some are creamy, some are frosty.

The only item I did not like much was the nail lacquer set, because the shades themselves were a little finicky.  I found two of the shades had a tendency to be streaky, and four of the five needed a full three coats for opaque color coverage.  Though the shade selection did not affect the overall score of the set, I think it’s worth noting that none of the shades are groundbreaking–and MAC has done some interesting shades in the past.

Reviews, Photos, Swatches

• Sassy Coral Lipglass Set
  
• Sassy Neutral Lassies Lipglass Set
  
• Sassy Pink Lassies Lipglass Set
  
• Cool Thrillseekers Pigments/Glitter Set
  
• Smoky Thrillseekers Pigments/Glitter Set
  
• Warm Thrillseekers Pigments/Glitter Set
  
• 5 Naughty Little Vices Nail Lacquer Set

Temptalia’s Recommendations

Must-haves: Pigment Sets

Nice-to-haves: Lipglass Sets

Skip: Nail Lacquer Set

Don’t forget to Check your stash for…

FROZEN DREAM (repromote), ELECTRO LUSH (repromote), MIMMY (repromote), REFLECTS BRONZE (permanent), GOLD MODE (repromote), GILDED GREEN (repromote), REFLECTS PEARL (permanent), SILVER FOG (permanent at PRO), SOFTWASH GREY (repromote), MAUVEMENT (repromote), REFLECTS BLACKENED RED (repromote), NAKED (permanent), BLUE BROWN (permanent), DARK SOUL (permanent), NOCTURNELLE (repromote), ASIATIQUE (repromote), BEYOND JEALOUS (repromote).

Recommendations by Skin Tone

Please note that this section is merely suggesting shades that would complement a particular skin tone better than other shades, but these lists are meant to be rather exhaustive of the entire collection; it’s not reflective of must-haves for your skin tone. When it comes to cooler/warmer skin tones, these are products that lean noticeably cool/warm and therefore complement the corresponding skin tone better (but it does not mean you can’t wear a warmer product if you’re cooler!).

Light, Medium, Dark Skin Tones: I think all of the sets would work equally well across the range of skin tones.

• Best Picks for Cooler Skin Tones: Sassy Pink, Cool Thrillseekers, Smoky Thrillseekers
• Best Picks for Warmer Skin Tones: Sassy Coral, Sassy Neutral, Warm Thrillseekers

What are you loving? What are you looking forward to?