And I won't be buying.
I mentioned this in my post about the "Smoky" palette, but I don't see how MAC figured this was a warm palette. All of these shadows lean cool, even the yellow, which is the warmest shade in the palette. The only thing I can think is if the eyeshadow palettes follow the same naming system as the foundations. In MAC foundations, NW shades are for cool-toned skin, and NC shades are for warm-toned. So maybe that's what happened here?
My thoughts about MAC and their limited edition collections can be found in my post about the Nutcracker Sweet Smoky Eye Compact. And my thoughts on MAC's place among the cosmetics industry's trends can be found in my post about the Nutcracker Sweet Cool Eye Compact.
This palette costs $39.50 and has received poor reviews. As I mentioned in an earlier post about this collection, MAC quality seems to drop dramatically when eyeshadows are moved from the traditional round pans.
I have one shadow from this palette in my collection, which is Woodwinked:
The reason I only own one of the colors from this palette is because I have warm olive skin and cool-toned shadows don't look the best on me. But for people who do have cool-toned skin or who were interested in this color scheme, I have to tell you: this palette is not that interesting.
If you take the yellow shade out of this palette, you are left with the most average selection of neutrals imaginable. There's nothing wrong with that, of course, but there is also nothing special about it.
This palette reminds me of the It Cosmetics Superhero palette:
Viseart Theory palette in Cashmere:
Photo: Temptalia
Even the MAC Navy Times Nine:
But it most reminded me of two palettes from E.l.f. The Need it Nudes:
And especially the Everyday Smoky:
Let's do a rundown. The MAC palette costs $39.50 for nine shadows and is of poor quality.
- It Cosmetics Superhero palette: $42 for 12 shadows
- Viseart Cashmere: $45 for six shadows of exceptional quality
- MAC Navy Times Nine: $32 for nine shadows
- E.l.f. Need it Nudes: $10 for 10 shadows
- E.l.f. Everyday Smoky: $10 for 10 shadows
I have heard great things about the E.l.f. palettes, but I have not tried them personally. I imagine that the quality will be lower than my preferred shadows from Make Up For Ever, Makeup Geek, traditional MAC, Kat Von D, and Viseart. However, I would imagine the quality would be on par with, if not better than, these limited edition items from MAC.
And that is something that really upsets me. E.l.f. palettes are priced at $10 for 10 shadows because the shadow quality and packaging isn't the best. That is not to say that E.l.f. does not have good or great products. The ingredients and formula are just not as high quality as some (not all) more expensive brands. Because of this, E.l.f. has priced their products accordingly and have created a line of cosmetics with a price range that is truly accessible to most people. So watching a brand like MAC release a low-quality, underperforming product and charging $39.50 leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
Again, it seems the only reason to purchase these palettes is if you are a loyal collector of MAC holiday and limited edition collections or if you collect MAC packaging. Because the quality of the product is not there, especially for the price. I don't collect makeup personally, so this collection really has no value for me.
I have mentioned in all my other posts about MAC that I really do like the brand for the most part. Like every brand they have their hits and misses, but I find the atmosphere in a MAC store to always be so fun and positive. It really is a celebration of makeup, the artistry, and the boost of confidence it can give someone. And for the life of me I can't figure out why MAC wants to cheapen that with their recurring poor quality limited edition collections.
When I first became interested in makeup, I looked at past MAC collections and drooled over the gorgeous packaging, especially the Heatherette collection:
And most notably the Manish Arora collection:
The eyeshadow palette compact alone was so stunning:
Photo: A Beautiful Sentiment
And I got it. I got the whole MAC thing. Because I imagined that the quality I had in my permanent items would be transferred into this gorgeous packaging. And who wouldn't want their makeup to be as stunning as possible?
But by the time I got on board with makeup, these collection were gone. MAC started pumping out collections almost monthly, and the quality of the products went severely downhill. And because they were being released so quickly, the quality and beauty of the packaging was also going lacking.
In fact, the last MAC collection I remember where people were exciting about the packaging was the Alluring Aquatics collection with the globs meant to look like water droplets:
And now, of course, we have the bowling "It's a Strike" collection:
Photo: Thou Shalt Not Covet
And the Nutcracker Sweet holiday collection:
And, I don't know, this is a far cry from Heatherette and Manish Arora.
Unfortunately, what made the MAC special collections special is long gone, at least in my opinion. The quality of the product and packaging has tanked, so it's a wonder anymore what people are really paying for. And because I am delusional, I keep hoping that MAC will bring back some of what made me fall in love with the brand. Of course gorgeous packaging is a huge bonus, but the focus should always be product quality first and foremost. And a lot of times, quality feels like an afterthought or the least important factor. And as a customer, that just sucks. So again, the holiday collection from MAC was a huge disappointment for me. And I won't be buying.
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