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MAC To the Beach Collection - Eyeshadows Review, Photos, Swatches

MAC To the Beach Collection

MAC To the Beach Collection — Eyeshadows Review, Photos, Swatches

To the Beach will see the launch of five eyeshadows–three limited and new and two permanent–ranging from a much yellowed green to a peach to a teal.

  • Sweet & Punchy is a very, very yellowed chartreuse green.  It’s pretty much a dead ringer for Rated R, which came out a year ago.  It’s not really like Lucky Green (so much more yellow!).
  • Shimmermoss is a darkened aqua-teal with a frosty sheen. It’s part of MAC’s permanent line, and it’s definitely one of my favorite eyeshadows, too. It’s a shade I think everyone who loves colors and MAC should own. If you depot your products or don’t care about the special packaging, you can snag it in pan form and save a few bucks.
  • Humid is a darkened green with a yellow undertone and slight golden sheen. Like Shimmermoss, it’s a permanent shade, but it’s a classic shade, too. It’s soft, smooth, and has great color pay off. Humid is a must for green fiend like myself!
  • Firecracker is an oranged-coral-red.  It’s not a red, and it’s not a coral, but it’s a mix of all of that.  It has a soft frost sheen and packs a good amount of color.  Looks fab paired with Sweet & Punchy!  I don’t think it’s really similar to Hot Hot Hot.
  • Sand & Sun is a matte peach-nude.  I wasn’t impressed by this, because I really had to layer on about ten layers to get it to show up on my skin tone.  I tried it over a shimmery base later on, and it barely showed up.  To me, this is barely there not done very well–I don’t want to have to jab my brush in there ten times just to have something to show for all that effort.

MAC To the Beach Collection
MAC Humid Eyeshadow

MAC To the Beach Collection
MAC Humid Eyeshadow

MAC To the Beach Collection
MAC Humid Eyeshadow

MAC To the Beach Collection
MAC Firecracker Eyeshadow

MAC To the Beach Collection
MAC Firecracker Eyeshadow

MAC To the Beach Collection
MAC Firecracker Eyeshadow

MAC To the Beach Collection
MAC Sand & Sun Eyeshadow

MAC To the Beach Collection
MAC Sand & Sun Eyeshadow

MAC To the Beach Collection
MAC Sand & Sun Eyeshadow

MAC To the Beach Collection
MAC Sweet & Punchy Eyeshadow

MAC To the Beach Collection
MAC Sweet & Punchy Eyeshadow

MAC To the Beach Collection
MAC Sweet & Punchy Eyeshadow

MAC To the Beach Collection
MAC Shimmermoss Eyeshadow

MAC To the Beach Collection
MAC Shimmermoss Eyeshadow

MAC To the Beach Collection
MAC Shimmermoss Eyeshadow

MAC To the Beach Collection
MAC Eyeshadows: Shimmermoss, Humid, Sweet & Punchy, Firecracker, Sand & Sun

MAC To the Beach Collection
MAC Eyeshadows: Shimmermoss, Humid, Sweet & Punchy

MAC To the Beach Collection
MAC Eyeshadows: Sweet & Punchy, Firecracker, Sand & Sun

Sweet & Punchy provided as a press sample; Humid, Shimmermoss, Firecracker, and Sand & Sun purchased by Temptalia.

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89 Comments

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Gail Avatar

I really like the look of Sweet+Punchy, and Humid which I’ve been meaning to get for ages. I think I’ll also pick up 2 Highlight powders and 1 Hipness. Is it going overboard to get Hipness and Highlight powder?? If only Hipness wasn’t LE I would skip it, but aargh as soon as MAC make something LE I lose all self-restraint. Aarggh MAC!!!

VJNS Avatar

If sweet and punchy is like Rated R then I’m not going to get it. Wonder why they make shadows so close to each other. So wasn’t there another shade? A coral shade?

Catherine Avatar

So like, Sweet & Punchy is exactly like Rated R?? In the photo S$P looks more yellow than RR I think. Thanks for the sneak peek btw 🙂

ellie Avatar

Thanks for the swatches Christine. I really really like the color of sweet and punchy but i’m just not sure if it will look nice on me i haven’t seen anyone wear a yellow eyeshadow! Christine, if i should get this what color of lipstick would match this? I have mostly pink lipsticks. Thanks.

Kitty Kris Avatar

I have Rated R(exact copy of Sweet & Punchy) and I team it with Buckwheat(or Tempting or similar shade) and it looks really good with a light pink lipstick like Lovelorn or Bombshell.

Laura Avatar

I have both and I think Mildew has more olive/yellow tones in it. Whilst Humid does have yellow undertones it’s more of an emerald green than Mildew is.

Mayaline Avatar

I already own Shimmermoss and Humid, but if I didn´t I would have bought them. I think the packaging is so cute! Sweet and Punchy looks prettier in the package than in the swatch.

kfm Avatar

What a nice surprise! Wasn’t expecting more of a sneak peek until much later. Thanks for putting the time in to give us more of an idea what to expect. I’d previously thought I’d pick up Firecracker, Marine Life and nothing else… Now I’m thinking I might have to add more…

For Sweet & Punchy, I know that the finish is different, but would you say that it is distinct enough from Sour Lemon (PRO) to warrant having both?

Beck Avatar

I wonder how C-Shock’s Eyepopping would look next to Sweet& Punchy in comparison? The Veluxe Pearl finish is a definite selling point though
for Sweet & Punchy. 🙂

rose Avatar

OMG! sweet and punchy is really pretty i need it! i think that is one of the things that i will definitely be purchasing that eye shadow

thank you =D

Rosanna Avatar

I’ll get Sweet &Punchy because I don’t have anything like it in my collection and does look beautiful!

Might get firecracker but… How does “Firecracker” compare to “Coppering?”

Heli Avatar

Great and very accurate swatches Christine!
I was disappointed with Sand&Sun too but absolutely love Firecracker and Sweet&Punchy.

Laura Avatar

Ooh, Firecracker is a really nice colour but I just don’t know if I could pull it off… I have red hair and pale cool-toned skin (NW10-ish) so it might look awful on me :-/

Bellcheria Avatar

Thanks so much for the review. I wanted to get Sand&sun because I’m a sucker for peachy-things, but after this I rather get Firecracker!

rain Avatar

hi, do you think sweet & punchy is at all similar to sharp (from tempting quad)?
btw i love the look you did with sweet & punchy and firecracker; so pretty!

AnaC Avatar

Hi Christine

First of all, I could not live without your blog. I’m often on here multiple times a day, checking out your latest posts. You do a amazing job and your site is the best beauty site out there in my opinion!

I wanted to ask you if you would prefer Samoa Silk over Sand and Sun eyeshadow? Samoa Silk has been on my wishlist for long time, and when I saw Sand and Sun, I was tempted to get that instead. But you mentioned the colour payoff wasn’t so good with Sand and Sun? In terms of colour pay off, is Samoa Silk the better option?

Christine Avatar

Thanks a lot, AnaC! 🙂

Yeah, I think I’d say I prefer it. I think, maybe, if you have a really light skin tone, maybe you can rock Sand & Sun better than I… it was just too frustrating to work with! Samoa Silk is a little darker, but the pay off is better, IMO!

Cherie Avatar

Thanks so much for this Christine!

I already have Shimmermoss and Humid. I think the only e/s I will pick up is Firecracker. Too bad about S&S’s colour pay off 🙁

Laura Avatar

Thank you sooo much for all the swatches and reviews – I check your blog pretty much daily! Just wondering, do you think that a pale, cool-toned redhead could rock Firecracker eyeshadow? I think it looks so pretty but I’m concerned it’d just look awful on me…

Emma Avatar

I was excited to see these, but they’re really not calling to me. I’m most interested in Firecracker, but other than that I’m not dying for anything. I’m surprised at how disappointed I am by this collection. It’s huge and I was seriously looking forward to it but there’s not much that I’m really freaking out over. Maybe when I see it in person…

Courtney Avatar

is fire cracker a similar but darker shade of sand and sun kind of like evrything you want sand and sun to be thats how it looks in the swatches also is fire cracker similar to paradisco i have been wearing paradisco over coral crepe would fire cracker give a similar look or is is really different idont want to end up with 2 of the same =P thanks

Ria Avatar

Hi Christine, this is my first comment here and I just want you to know that you are doing a fantastic job providing helpful information and honest reviews on pretty much everything about makeup. =)Thank you so much and keep it up! =)

Amanda Kelly Avatar

Hi! Thanks for all the great swatches. I’ve already ordered two shadows, and now Shimmermoss is jumping out at me. I own Urban Decay’s Narcotic matte shadow, and I was wondering how similar these two may be, if you have any idea. I don’t love the color payoff of Narcotic, I realize it is a matte but it doesn’t seem true to color on skin.

SB Avatar

I hope you don’t mind me asking, but I was wondering if sweet and punchy or firecracker would work with my coloring?

I’m super fair (cool undertone), reddish-brown hair, and light brown eyes

Brenda Avatar

Christine, what would you think would be a suitable dupe for Firecracker? I already own so many red tones and warm bronzes I am having a hard time justifying buying it……

Rabia Avatar

Hi Christine!!

i need a recommendation from you… since MAC isnt available where i live i have to order it.. and cant see the shades for myself… so i need to ask..

if Firecracker eyeshadow is better or Paradisco

any alternative to sand and sun?

i need pinky coral shades.. my skin tone (which i dont know in mac shades) is i think a little darker than yours…. imagine indian/Pakistani skintone 🙂

also is Pint LusterDrops a good idea to get?? or TheBodyShops glow enhancer???

Ember Avatar

Thanks to an artist at the only stand alone MAC store here, I found a way to make a dupe for the way Sand & Sun looks in the pot. It didn’t swatch well on me, but the artist tried coral crepe paint pot as a base to just the crease line, and then patted MAC Orb eyeshadow over the top. It looked bright and peachy, like I wanted the Sand & Sun to look on me.

kcrystal Avatar

Out of the eyeshadows – Firecracker appealed to me. I don’t like how it turned out on my lids and was about to return it when i thought about how it would look on the cheeks. Since thrills lipstick looks like a brightened reddish coral on me, the firecracker eyeshadow used on my cheeks, complimented the lipstick incredibly well that i am keeping firecracker. Its not as shimmery as marine life and im glad i didn’t get the highlight powder as firecracker is even better.

Laura Avatar

hey christine,
I was just wondering how close sand and sun was to samoa silk or Tete a Tint? And if u think sand and sun is worth buying if u have one or both of those?

civa Avatar

thanks for the swatches Christine.
Do you think urban decay’s Free Love is similar to Firecracker?
what are the differences if any?
I’m debating on which one to get and I’d like to hear your opinion. TIA<3

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