MAC Heavenly Creatures - Sky & Universal Appeal Eyeshadows

L-R: Sky, Universal Appeal

Every year MAC bring out a mineralize collection for the Summer, after their main Summer collection. They are always so beautiful with the swirls in the products and there are always lovely shades. I like mineralize products but I had to be practical with the eye shadows this year because I simply don't pull them out enough to get a bunch of them, no matter how much I like them. I chose two shades which I thought were quite unique compared to what I have already.

Sky

Universal Appeal

The things I like about the mineralize eye shadows are that you can use them wet or dry and when you apply them over different bases you get multidimensional effects which look pretty cool. I also like these swirly eye shadows because you can pick out different areas to use. Some people say you can't but I always use them like this so I know you can. You might not be able to pick out an individual colour but I do pick areas to swirl my brush in to change the shade of the shadow. Eg. In Universal Appeal, there is a dark purple, violet and gold. If I want it to be very dark purple, I choose an area which has more of the dark purple or if I want more violet, I choose those areas. 

L-RL Sky, Universal Appeal. Complete mixed colours swatched dry, no primer/base.

These two colours are quite well pigmented for mineral eye shadows when used dry, when used wet they are much better and yield plenty of pigment. Universal Appeal also appears more purple when used this way compared to the browner tone it has used wet. Sky is such a pretty shade of blue and has a teal undertone which makes it easier for me to wear, blue is not the best colour on me so I have to pair it well to work. Both colours apply smoothly and evenly and don't drop lots of fallout although all mineralize eye shadows have some fallout so care should be taken when using them. These have a much nicer texture compared to the chunky mineralize eye shadows MAC has released previously.

Jennifer xx

MAC Naturally Swatches & Review

MAC's latest collection to hit UK and European shores is Naturally. It consists of well... natural shades really. Nude lipsticks, golden and beige tones with some browns and pinks thrown in. It is a lovely collection and is great to pick up some basic tones but still be interesting for makeup fanatics as they are all still interesting.

I'll start with the mineralize eye shadows that I got:

L-R: Summer Haze, In The Sun, Twilight Falls

Summer Haze L-R: dry, over UDPP, wet, over Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy

Summer Haze is a gorgeous light gold and I can also get a peachy beige out of my pan too. It is super smooth and gorgeously pigmented. It makes a lovely lid brightening shade and the lighter shade in the pan is good for a highlight. It looks really metallic when used wet or patted over Pixie Epoxy which is very good for helping it stick all day long.

In The Sun L-R: dry, over UDPP, wet, over Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy

In the Sun is a hot burnt copper. The veining in my pan isn't as nice as other pans I have seen where there is more fuchsia to pick from. If you pick a pan with more fuchsia, the colour variant would be a bit different as mine mainly has deep gold in it. There is some shimmer in this shade which can fall out so a sticky base such as Pixie Epoxy is best, plus it helps to give it even more intense colour payoff. The sparkle looks really pretty on the lid when the light catches it and the particles aren't too chunky.

Twilight Falls L-R: dry, over UDPP, wet, over Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy

Twilight Falls is a beautiful shade of mauvey brown. I really love this one. It works fantastically with the other two shades I got and is a very good yet interesting every day brown. You may see in the image there is a blueish sheen, this makes it more than the average brown eye shadow. It is so smooth and buttery. The pigmentation even when dry is very good and would be great as a quick wash or to smudge along the lash lines for a smokey look. I wear browns and golds a lot so this is going to get a good amount of love from me.


There were three shades of mineralize blush in this collection but only this one stood out to me. It is Subtle Breeze. I also wanted to stay on the safer side because I'd never tried the mineralize blushes before so didn't entirely know what to expect and wanted something more wearable to me.

Subtle Breeze mineralize blush

Subtle Breeze is amazing, it really is. It is soooo pigmented, I swirled my brush into it as normal and ended up with way too much product on my face. A couple of taps into the pan is all that is needed to a lovely pink flush. The finish is beautiful, it has a slight sheen so isn't completely matte but has no shimmer in it either. I really like it, it gives such a pretty glow. I find that it lasts really nicely on me too although I do have dry skin so not sure how oily skin would fare but it is worth a try.

There are two mineralize skinfinishes in this collections, these are some of my favourite products from MAC so I was pleased to see these. They are both repromotes from the  Blonde, Brunette, Redhead collection.

L-R: Redhead, Blonde

Redhead Mineralize Skinfinish - first four as the different shades,
last two are mixed, swatched heavily and then blended.

Redhead is the warmer shade of the two. It is more golden toned. It is very smooth, so much smoother than I expected it to be and than of any other of my MSFs. I think it would be flattering on a wide variety of skin tones. It gives a lovely golden sheen to the skin but like all MSFs it is quite shimmery so may emphasise pores. 

Blonde Mineralize Skinfinish - first four as the different shades,
last two are mixed, swatched heavily and then blended.

Blonde is a cooler shade, more pink based. It is still a flattering shade and works nicely over the top of Subtle Breeze blush. This is just as smooth as Redhead and also shimmery.

Perfect Day lipstick

Perfect Day lipstick



This is the only lipstick which appealed to me, it is a lovely pinky nude which I find far more wearable than most nudes. It doesn't look stark against my skin tone and would work on a lot of different skin tones. It is an amplified finish so applies a good amount of colour in one swipe. It lasts pretty nicely for a nude shade, probably due to the finish which seems to stick to lips better than a lustre or cremesheen lipstick does. I haven't got a lip swatch because my lips are far too dry for photographing at the moment... I hate what this cold weather does to my skin!

So that is what I picked up from Naturally, all very nice wearable colours which can be paired with lots of different shades to make really nice looks from neutrals to brighter. Anyone else pick anything up? What did you think of the collection?

Jennifer x

MAC Glitter & Ice Mineralize Eye Shadow Review

MAC's Holiday collection offered six mineralize eye shadows. I initially bought two of them and then later went back for two others after seeing lots of swatches. The last two ended up being my favourites of the four.

L-R: Fresh Ice, Shimmermint

Fresh Ice
This is a frosty white with a very slight pink tinge. It has some lavender pink veining in the pan to go with the white. I bought this to use as a highlight shade, particularly in the inner corners of my eyes. When used dry it is slightly sheer which makes it perfect for me to use as a highlight as it is not full on frosty opaque white. It has lovely sparkle to it but it isn't so chunky that I experience lots of fallout. To make it more opaque, using it over a primer gives more payoff and holds the sparkle more. It is even better wet, which is the general expectation for mineralize eye shadow - they work in a similar manner to pigments, when foiled the payoff is really good and has a metallic finish. It is really sparkly used like this but can still drop some sparkle once it dries.

L-R: Dry, Over primer (UDPP), Wet, Over Pixie Epoxy

Shimmermint
This is a glittery minty, silvery shade. I love shades like this and they seem very few and far between. They are often quite sheer too, I guess due to the lightness of the colour. This is also like that when used dry and... it is a complete glitter bomb. I first used this dry and it went everywhere, I mean everywhere. I was finding glitter all over my clothes as well as my chin and forehead. There was glitter flying off of the brush as I used it. This colour must be used wet, and carefully for it to stay put. Primer helps a little although not much, wet is much better but it can still drop. A sticky base is a MUST. Once finding out how to use it, it looks really nice on. On me it shows more green but I have seen it appear more blue on other people.

L-R: Dry, Over primer (UDPP), Wet, Over Pixie Epoxy

Snow Season
This is a peachy pink with pink and gold shimmer. It is a very smooth mineralize eye shadow and has good pigmentation even when dry. It makes a good wash of colour for quick application and could also be used as a highlight. It is the sort of colour which will flatter most skin tones. When used over primer it appears more pink and when foiled it is far more metallic and the payoff is much brighter. I really really like this shade and it will be getting a lot of use. I do not experience fall out with this shade.

L-R: Snow Season, Winterized

L-R: Dry, Over primer (UDPP), Wet, Over Pixie Epoxy

Winterized
This is a smokey blue purple with a purple sheen. The base is a satin type of finish and then it has teeny purple sparkles. When used dry it appears more brown from the burgundy areas of the pan and applies smoothly with decent pigmentation. Like this it would work really nicely with khaki, olive and brown colours. When used over a primer it has more pigmentation but still retains the smokey quality. When foiled it becomes this amazing purple and much brighter. It has a gorgeous purple sheen when the light hits it with a slight pink tone. It works particularly nicely with Snow Season. I do not experience fall out with this shade. I love this one the most and it is definitely my favourite mineralize eye shadow out of all of the ones that I own.

L-R: Dry, Over primer (UDPP), Wet, Over Pixie Epoxy

I find the best way to use mineralize eye shadows is over a product called Pixie Epoxy, from a company called Fyrinnae. I will do a post on this product soon but it is basically like a 'glue' for pigments and works well for these types of eye shadows too. It holds the glitter or shimmer in really well and keeps the colour intense all day. I rarely get fall out if I use this product and I would advise using this to help.

Jennifer x

MAC Semi Precious Mineralize Eyeshadow Reviews

I'm so late for putting this up but I have had a good chance to test run them since I've had them. Every year MAC put out a mineralize collection and this year's offering was Semi Precious. I originally didn't plan on getting any of the eyeshadows because I'm not normally a fan of the mineralize formula. However, once I started seeing swatches coming out I loved the look of them, they seemed so multi-dimensional and beautifully sparkly. Not only that but they were gorgeous in their pots, I loved the marbled effect which resembled little planets. I ended up getting quite a few of them, 9 in fact out of the 12 available!

As with all mineralized products which have marbling, each one is unique even when they are the same product, the marbling can differ greatly from one to another. It is best to choose them in person from a store and you will be able to choose one which suits your tastes best. I didn't get a chance to go to a store so ordered mine online. I was quite lucky with the ones I received, they are all beautifully marbled and have good amounts of each colour within them, allowing me to pick out individual colours if I wish.