When the promotional images for MAC's Colour Craft collection first came out, I was quite fond of their idea of stone stiff, marbleized bake eyeshadow quad. (It's just like those Stila baked shadow, only with more colors! ) Anyway, my lemming had gradually diminished as I was thinking that none of the colors are truly unique and it's MAC...I am never been a mac fan anyway. I mean, I got a blush from Grand Duo, see how well that went?
Anyway, I had a little bit free time Friday afternoon so I took a trip down a shopping plaza, where there was a MAC counter...I played with the eyeshadow a bit so the swatch arm is back to business again!
I ran out of space so one of the swatch was done on the back of my hand instead. (I wonder if you can tell, but I am actually a lot tanner now...) Don't they all look "blah" to you?
The official Colour Craft eyeshadow promo images are from Temptalia of course.
Anyway, my first impression of the shadow is that the pots are really tiny (I guess I am used to the big-enough-to-pass-to-great-grand-daughther Stila round trios...) but mini is cute, and perfect for those "make up collectors" who are running out of space. The second thing I notice is that the shadow doesn't look "mineralized": it's doesn't have a baked surface and smooth texture like the Stila baked trio or Bourjois eyeshadow that these MAC "mineralized" eyeshadow are actually quite dusty after you swipe it for the first time.
Come on, the whole point of the "MAC Mineralized" gimmick is that those dome shaped baked shadow are cute (evenafter you used it for a few times), have pretty veining and they have a smooth, sheer and non dusty texture...
The colors are OK (Why is the same soft yellow popping out everywhere?) , nothing really eye catching and beside Natural flare, all the other shades are either a bit sheer or dusty for my liking. If you are looking for nice shades to wear on the lids, I personally think it will not be difficult to find low-end replacement (from brand like Wet n Wild, Jane and Milani) with much better texture.
I don't even have a galactic collection of eyeshadow but I think I have got dupes for most of these quads, with texture that's a lot nicer.
Overall Color and Texture wise, Natural Flare is the best quad (in my opinion) among the six...It reminds me very much of (not as smooth version of) Stila Oasis, Ray and Go Lightly.
Anyway, if you are looking for something to collect...Well, keep in mind that they are essenstially dome shaped eyeshadow quad, not really "mineralized" so the pan isn't that pretty. (Especially after you have swiped it.)
P.S. I have also checked out their two brushes, the Mineralized Skin Finishes and the blushers, the pans look much better that the shadow... I didn't spend much time on them since I don't really like those blusher's formula or the idea of dusting pink power (those MSFs) allover my face...
As for the two brushes, they are cute, but "MAC" printing on one of the display brushes has already faded (consider the collection hasn't even been out for week!) ...Anyway, I got a MAC lip brush last year and it pissed me off quite badly when the word faded...I mean,it's not supposed to fade when you paid an arm and a leg for it. (Not really that expensive, but you get what I mean.)
P.P.S. I didn't pay much attention to the lipsticks and lip gloss since I do think that many drugstore ones are just as pretty (if not better) and I personally like lipsticks with pretty tubes like those Anna Sui and Lancome ones...
Anyway, I had a little bit free time Friday afternoon so I took a trip down a shopping plaza, where there was a MAC counter...I played with the eyeshadow a bit so the swatch arm is back to business again!
I ran out of space so one of the swatch was done on the back of my hand instead. (I wonder if you can tell, but I am actually a lot tanner now...) Don't they all look "blah" to you?
The official Colour Craft eyeshadow promo images are from Temptalia of course.Anyway, my first impression of the shadow is that the pots are really tiny (I guess I am used to the big-enough-to-pass-to-great-grand-daughther Stila round trios...) but mini is cute, and perfect for those "make up collectors" who are running out of space. The second thing I notice is that the shadow doesn't look "mineralized": it's doesn't have a baked surface and smooth texture like the Stila baked trio or Bourjois eyeshadow that these MAC "mineralized" eyeshadow are actually quite dusty after you swipe it for the first time.
Come on, the whole point of the "MAC Mineralized" gimmick is that those dome shaped baked shadow are cute (evenafter you used it for a few times), have pretty veining and they have a smooth, sheer and non dusty texture...
The colors are OK (Why is the same soft yellow popping out everywhere?) , nothing really eye catching and beside Natural flare, all the other shades are either a bit sheer or dusty for my liking. If you are looking for nice shades to wear on the lids, I personally think it will not be difficult to find low-end replacement (from brand like Wet n Wild, Jane and Milani) with much better texture.
I don't even have a galactic collection of eyeshadow but I think I have got dupes for most of these quads, with texture that's a lot nicer.
Overall Color and Texture wise, Natural Flare is the best quad (in my opinion) among the six...It reminds me very much of (not as smooth version of) Stila Oasis, Ray and Go Lightly.
Anyway, if you are looking for something to collect...Well, keep in mind that they are essenstially dome shaped eyeshadow quad, not really "mineralized" so the pan isn't that pretty. (Especially after you have swiped it.)
P.S. I have also checked out their two brushes, the Mineralized Skin Finishes and the blushers, the pans look much better that the shadow... I didn't spend much time on them since I don't really like those blusher's formula or the idea of dusting pink power (those MSFs) allover my face...
As for the two brushes, they are cute, but "MAC" printing on one of the display brushes has already faded (consider the collection hasn't even been out for week!) ...Anyway, I got a MAC lip brush last year and it pissed me off quite badly when the word faded...I mean,it's not supposed to fade when you paid an arm and a leg for it. (Not really that expensive, but you get what I mean.)
P.P.S. I didn't pay much attention to the lipsticks and lip gloss since I do think that many drugstore ones are just as pretty (if not better) and I personally like lipsticks with pretty tubes like those Anna Sui and Lancome ones...
I like how everything is compared to Stila. Stila eyeshadows are soo soft and creamy that MAC just seems disappointing! Natural flare looks the prettiest to me too. Probably because it seems most wearable. I also like the the dome gets flatter as you use it. It's kinda cute. XD
ReplyDeleteHa, Stila is is the only shadow I use that are actually "wearable"...I haven't gotten that much high end shadow anyway, I have tried Estee Lauder (dusty), Urban decay (smooth iff used on larger area but not fine enough for tiny detail like tight line), Anna Sui, Shu Uemura (both way too sheer)...
ReplyDeleteThe price of Stila is just right (during their summer promotion things gets pretty reasonable) plus I can use them as a liner so most of my eyeshadow are from Stila.