Provided for review/Contains affiliate links
How gorgeous was this year's MAC Christmas collection, Nutcracker Sweet? Decked out in dark purple and hot pink with gold accents, there's so much to choose from, but you'll want to be quick to grab some before it's gone - it's just been discounted on the US MAC website!
Let's kick things off with the lipsticks, which are so often my favourite part of MAC's collections. In Nutcracker Sweet, there are five to choose from. MAC's lipsticks have a teardrop shaped bullet and a vanilla scent.
- Kingdom of Sweets - Soft, milky pink (Cremesheen)
- Flamboyish - Hot deep pink (Matte)
- Saucy Little Darling - Deep coral red (Amplified Creme)
- So Good For You - Intense cool red (Matte)
- Leap of Delight - Deep plum purple (Matte)
Kingdom of Sweets is described as a 'soft, milky pink' with a Cremesheen finish. I must admit, I'm always curious about who the market for these ultra pale pinks is because I rarely see MAC fans going gaga for them - it feels a bit like MAC is trying to make 'fetch' happen, pumping these out collection after collection. But maybe I'm missing something! At any rate, Kingdom of Sweets makes a great addition to an ombre lip, as Christel from Makeupper demonstrated here. I found it difficult to wear on its own as the pale colour combined with the Cremesheen formula makes for slippery, uneven colour payoff that settles into lines and forms demarcation lines when lips are pressed together. It lasted for five hours and was lightly drying.
So Good For You is described as an 'intense cool red' and has a Matte finish. This is more my speed (I'm so bloody predictable), I absolutely love this. Excellent colour payoff, a smooth finish and a solid five hour wear time. I noticed a small amount of feathering along the lower lip line towards the end of wear but didn't have any trouble with drying. There was light staining after most of the lipstick had faded.
Moving onto the limited edition Magic Dust eyeshadows, which are a new formula intended to be 'long-wearing shimmering pearl powder eye shadow with a unique silky texture, creamy to the touch'. I didn't notice a marked difference between this and MAC's regular eyeshadow formula, I would liken the texture and colour payoff to the Velvet finish in the regular range. There are six shades and they have an RRP of $56NZD each. The pan sizes are the same size as the standard MAC eyeshadows but they contain more at 2.2g (as opposed to the usual 1.5g).
- Dance Flowers Dance - Light pink
- Pretty Dainty - Pink coral shimmer
- Rabblerouser - Bright intense pink
- Forward March - Peachy gold shimmer
- Dark Lullaby - Midnight purple
- Mustache - Black with gold sparkle
Dark Lullaby is described as 'midnight purple'. It's a dark warm purple with a brown base and fine violet-pink shimmer. The colour payoff is decent but still took a little more building up on the lid than I would have liked. It was a little stiff to blend out, too, but I was pretty happy with the final makeup look I came up with using this and Prunella (see below).
The final piece I have in this collection is Prunella Eye Kohl, which is one of two repromoted permanent Eye Kohls. They have an RRP of $40NZD and need to be sharpened.
- Prunella - Purple (repromote from permanent range)
- Powersurge - Bronzed brown with golden shimmer (repromote from permanent range)
Prunella is described by MAC simply as 'purple'. It's a dusty dark purple with a warm brown base and very fine shimmer. The colour payoff is pretty good and it held up well when I used it on my waterline. Being part of the permanent range, you can pick this up anytime, but I was particularly happy with how it paired with Dark Lullaby in the look below.
Here I've used Dark Lullaby on the outer half of the lid and lower lashline and Prunella on the waterline. I've also used some ColourPop eyeshadows: Tinsel on the inner half of the lid and lower lashline, I Spy for the transition, To-A-T on the crease and Fanny Pack highlighter on the inner corner. The lashes are Cala 1.
- M.A.C Britomart, Atrium on Takutai, Auckland.
- M.A.C Ponsonby, 130-134 Ponsonby Road, Auckland.
- M.A.C Westfield St Lukes, 80 St Lukes Rd, Mount Albert.
- M.A.C Botany, Fountain Lane North, Botany Town Centre.
- Smith & Caughey’s Queen St, 253-261 Queen St, Auckland.
- Smith & Caughey’s Newmarket, 225 Broadway, Newmarket.
- Farmers Centre Place, Shop 81, 501 Victoria Street, Hamilton.
- David Jones, Lambton Quay, Wellington.
- Farmers Westfield Queensgate, Queens Drive, Lower Hutt
- Ballantynes, City Mall, Christchurch.
- M.A.C Westfield Riccarton, 113 Riccarton Road, Christchurch.
- Arthur Barnett, 285 George St, Dunedin.
No comments