MAC x Cinderella Stroke of Midnight Eyeshadow Palette Review, Photos, Swatches
MAC Stroke of Midnight Eyeshadow Palette
MAC Stroke of Midnight Eyeshadow Palette ($44.00 for 0.25 oz.) includes six eyeshadows with a neutral theme. Five of the six eyeshadows are part of the permanent range, which may be a deal-breaker for long-time MAC fans. On the bright side, those five permanent eyeshadows are as good in the palette as they are individually. The only shade I had real trouble with was the limited edition color.
Each eyeshadow is 0.042 oz., which is slightly smaller than full size (0.05 oz.). Depending on how you want to calculate the value, if you take the equivalent price per ounce for single eyeshadows sold in pots, then the palette has a value of $80, and if you take the equivalent price per ounce for single eyeshadows sold in pans, then the palette has a value of $50 in eyeshadow + $10 for a palette to fit them in (since you can purchase five of the six shades in pan form, I think this comparison is the most useful).
Vapour is described as a “peach-pink with violet pearl [with a Velvet finish].” It’s an iridescent brightened white with a bluish sheen. It had decent color payoff, but it was one of the weaker shades in the palette with respect to intensity. It was buildable, and it was easy to work with otherwise as it blended well. The color started to fade after eight hours of wear. See comparison swatches / view dupes.
Phloof! is described as a “frosted off-white [with a Frost finish].” It’s a pinky-beige with subtle, neutral-to-warm undertones and a frosted finish. It had good pigmentation with a soft, buttery texture that applied evenly and blended well. The color wore well for eight hours. See comparison swatches / view dupes.
Omega is described as a “soft muted beige-taupe [with a Matte finish].” It’s a medium brown with subtle, warm undertones and a matte finish. It had excellent pigmentation that was really soft and finely-milled, which made it easy to blend on the skin. It started to fade after eight hours of wear. See comparison swatches / view dupes.
Quarry is described as a “soft muted plum-brown [with a Matte finish].” It’s a muted, medium plum with warm undertones and a matte finish. The texture was soft and silky, though a smidgen powdery, and the resulting color payoff was mostly opaque. This shade stayed on well for eight hours. See comparison swatches / view dupes.
Satin Taupe is described as a “taupe with silver shimmer [with a Frost finish].” It’s a medium-dark taupe brown with warm undertones and a frosted, metallic sheen. The color payoff was excellent, while the texture was soft and smooth. It wore well for eight hours on me. See comparison swatches / view dupes.
Stroke of Midnight is described as a “black plum with sparkle pearl [with a Velvet finish].” It’s a blackened purple base (mostly black) with a dusting of multi-colored sparkle. It ends up looking mostly matte and like a soft, warm black applied, because the sparkles don’t really translate. The texture was a bit powdery and drier, and I found blending to be more troublesome, though not impossible. It lasted for eight hours on me. See comparison swatches / view dupes.
Stroke of Midnight
LELimited Edition. $42.00.
Vapour
PPermanent. $17.00.
Phloof!
PPermanent. $17.00.
Omega
LELimited Edition. $17.00.
Quarry
PPermanent. $17.00.
Satin Taupe
PPermanent. $17.00.
Stroke of Midnight
LELimited Edition. $17.00.
See more photos & swatches!
MAC Stroke of Midnight Eyeshadow Palette
MAC Stroke of Midnight Eyeshadow Palette
MAC Stroke of Midnight Eyeshadow Palette
MAC Stroke of Midnight Eyeshadow Palette
MAC Stroke of Midnight Eyeshadow Palette
MAC Vapour Eyeshadow
MAC Vapour Eyeshadow
MAC Phloof! Eyeshadow
MAC Phloof! Eyeshadow
MAC Omega Eyeshadow
MAC Omega Eyeshadow
MAC Quarry Eyeshadow
MAC Quarry Eyeshadow
MAC Satin Taupe Eyeshadow
MAC Satin Taupe Eyeshadow
MAC Stroke of Midnight Eyeshadow
MAC Stroke of Midnight Eyeshadow
MAC Phloof! Eyeshadow, MAC Quarry Eyeshadow, MAC Pretty It Up Pigment,
MAC Satin Taupe Eyeshadow, MAC Omega Eyeshadow, MAC Vapour Eyeshadow,
Burberry Trench Eyeshadow, MAC Evil Stepmother Pigment, MAC Reflects Pearl Glitter.
This palette looks both pretty and useful — if Stroke of Midnight was easy to blend, I’d want to snap it up!
I wish they had put a better dark shade in it!
Why have phloof and vapor in the same palette? They’re so similar. It would have been nice for then to include a matte white as well. Still a pretty palette! Reminds me of UDs Glinda palette.
Vapour is very cool-toned and has a bluish iridescence – practically speaking, they’re very different in the way they would be used, I think!
Phloof! DOES look warm-toned against your skin. On mine it pulls very cool — like a frosty pinkish white.
WOW! I wasn’t super excited about the palette until I saw the beautiful look you created with it. So ethereal. Gah, I want it.
Thanks, Gem!
I am so glad the eyehsadows are as good as the permanent ones. I don’t have any of these shades so I really hope I will be able to get a hold of this palette!
I hope you can get it, Agata! 🙂
When I saw this I thought “six permanent shades and then an I Can’t Believe It’s Not Beauty Marked shadow?” LOL! Beauty Marked is one of those horrible ones that I can’t believe they still make. It’s also one of those mistakes everyone has to learn on their own… cause it looks so pretty in the pan that you’re just forced to buy it even though the salesperson warns you not to.
LOL! It is hilarious that five are permanent, one isn’t (and it’s not anything spectacular).
Dusty, you’re right – and if it’s not Beauty Marked, it’s Carbon (usually in a crummier formula than the permanent version, which is crummy enough!). Even though Christine says the purple shade isn’t that great, I quite like it and if I didn’t already own the 5 other shades, I’d probably buy this one.
I can’t wait to get this palette! The shades and packaging are all gorgeous. And Satin Taupe has been on my wishlist for years!
Yay!!
Aw pretty pretty pretty!
It is a nice set!
This looks like a palette that is really worth purchasing but as I said earlier, for lots of us, we would already have several of these shadows in our collections. But for someone fairly new to MAC, what a great way to get some of their best shadows and that lovely blackened purple as well. I have both Phloof! and Vapour and they don’t look quite as much alike as they do in these swatch photos but it still might have been nice if they’d replaced one of them with something a bit different.
Vapour in the palette here seems to have slightly more sheen or else it caught more of the iridescence (though my permanent pans that I swatched are way, way old, too).
When we told MAC to replace Carbon, that’s not what we meant… lol
haha!
With the right brush, Carbon is awesome! I tried my RT eyeshadow brush with it, not expecting much (I was swatching the Gravitas palette), and Carbon swatched beautifully. I tried it on my eyes, and the results were the same.
Wow, a MAC shadow palette that got an A-?? If you don’t have the 5 shades already, this would be a nice one to grab. Yes, it’s another neutral palette, but at least MAC got this one right
True!
I wish they would´ve done at least some limited edition colors in this palette. I always gravitate towards MAC palettes that have colors that aren´t permanent. Maybe that´s just me 🙂
I totally hear you! 🙂
I’m so glad that this received a good grade. I only have two of these shades, but I wouldn’t mind repeats.
I’m happy they performed similarly to the pan versions!
Yay!.. a very good palette from Mac! I actually own no Mac shadows except one of the small gift sets of pigments from the this past Holiday collection. I may have to pick this up. Idk..I will need to consider if this is going to be more valuable than 3 more MUFE artists shadows added to my collection. Is it me, or does this bring memories of the Tartelette palette? I love the look you made with this Christine!
I can see some similarities to the Tartelette palette, since these are mostly matte and neutral!
I really love this. I actually don’t own ANY MAC eyeshadows, so this seems like a great opportunity to try several for a decent price. I’m going to *try* to find this. It’s MAC LE though, and we all know how that goes.
It is a good option if you’re in need of MAC neutrals!
Oh wow, I didn’t expect to see an A rating, awesome! I love the look of those mattes.
They did a good job!
I have 4/6, and plan to grab Vapour, so I’ll pass on this, but I do love the ethereal vibe!
It’s one of those “Well, I can easily skip” but there’s always that feeling of, “But… I wanted to want something!” moments!
I’m considering both powders, and the purple pigment, so that’s enough for me, LOL!
Uhm… Considering that I have the three Naked palettes + the Basics 2, I think I’ll pass this one. I already have this kind of shades 🙂
Good call 😀
Man, if this was 5 years ago I would have snatched this one up. But since I switched to getting Inglot singel pans over MAC, I really don’t need this permanent shade palette anymore. There just as many similar permanent shades in both brands.
I hear ya! They’re great shades, but it is easy to have dupes of ’em.
I’m struggling with this one! Glad to hear that this isn’t an instance where the formulas for the permanent colors were way off, at least. I do have Satin Taupe already, but it’s a color I love and will replace if I run out anyway. Disappointed that neither of the dark purple eye products in this collection lived up to their potentia,l though.
I agree with Krista, who mentioned that it seems redundant to have Vapour and Phloof!; maybe a matte highlight to replace one of them, or an additional LE dark color would’ve worked better. And it does have some similarity to the UD Glinda palette, just more mattes. It’s a big fat “maybe” for me!
If you use a lot of neutrals, you might like it. Omega and Quarry are really lovely!
I’m lemming this SO BAD as I don’t have any of these shades. However, I could probably dupe them with the countless neutrals that I already own. Decisions, decisions….
You probably could dupe em ;P
I really like this one. It’s so perfect for anyone under NC/NW 35 as an all in one!
Do you think you’ll get it?
I have all the permanent colors already, and I do have a Stroke of Midnight from years ago, but that one is a dark navy blue with shimmer.
I may have to bring out my pots and play with them, no need to purchase this for me. 🙂
Yay for saving money!
Yay, I’m so happy this is a good quality palette! I don’t own any of the permanent colours, but have been eyeing them all for a while, so this is a good deal 😀
Perfect for you! 😀
I really appreciate this palette, even though 5 of the six are permanent. The past year I was kind of giving up on Mac eyeshadows because they’ve been so dry and can give a hard time showing up on the lids, but in recent collections it looks like Mac has paid better attention to their formulas.
Their permanent line can be quite good!
I’m pretty happy MAC decided to put together a palette with most of their good permanent shades! Much better option than making a lot of LE shades that just don’t deliver!
That is very true!
I already own Satin Taupe, but this may be worth a look regardless. My pan of Quarry broke beyond repair, so this might be a more cost efficient way of replacing it while picking up other shades.
It’s a pretty good value if you only have one!
I could live without the first two shades but I like this palette! I could see myself using the rest of the shadows a lot
Four of six isn’t too bad!
Woww the colours look amazing! Love this palette!
Happy to hear it, Mandy!
Nice to see a MAC palette getting a good grade. Too bad about the LE shade. It could have been really pretty if it translated to the eye.
If only!
I am going to try to get this palette, the only eyeshadow I own from it is satin taupe. I love that it is all neutral, that is my everyday look. Thanks Christine. I always wait for your review.
I think this will be a great palette for you, Fabiola!
I have Phloof! and Satin Taupe, but they’re well used and I could use replacements. I don’t have the others. I think that is a good enough excuse for me to buy this palette. 🙂
Sounds like a good plan 🙂
Another neutral palette on the market! These colours look quite lovely and the only one that I really love is good old Satin Taupe.
Your eye look Christine is really pretty and would convince anyone to buy this palette.
Aw, thank you Genevieve!
I have a feeling I’ll be fighting at the MAC counters with other girls for the last palette on the launch date!
Good luck, Janelle!
Still not a fan of the packaging and I haven’t bought into the theme, but I love the look that you created with this palette of very pretty shades 🙂
Thank you, Allison!
best mac le palettes in ages
The quality is pretty good!
Very pretty
It’s a good mix of shades!
The packaging looks a bit plain to me, but didn’t expect a good rating like this! I should definitely check it out in store.
There’s almost a duochrome to it, as the shimmer shifts from blue to almost violet, but it’s subtle.
Does anybody know if pro discount applies to this collection?
It probably won’t!
This palette remind me the naked three, in a smaller version!
And matte!
OH. MY. GOD. Now I want it! Christine, that look is AMAZING. But that lower lashline is really calling out to me, I know you listed the shades used bit which were specifically on the lower lashline? 😀 Thank you!
MAC Evil Stepmother Pigment smudged with Pretty It Up
I only have satin taupe in another palette so I wouldn’t mind getting this palette. Although…I’m kind of on a no buy makeup at the moment.
It would be a better value for someone who didn’t own all the shades for sure!
MAC used to make an eyeshadow Called Stroke of Midnight over 10 years ago and it was a lot nicer than that one. I miss it.
Aw!
Why do they reuse the names in palettes? Look!
http://www.temptalia.com/mac-stroke-midnightwarm-eyeshadow-palette-review-photos-swatches
MAC often repromotes products.