Make-up Product of the Month: February - MAC Da Bling Eyeshadow

This eyeshadow is already available on the permanent line but has also featured on the Spring Colour Forecast collection. On the one hand, I feel a bit like these repromotes from MAC are a tad lazy, I would like to see some new colours, but on the other, this repromoting gives people a chance to discover a product they might not have known about otherwise. Also the fancier packaging the collections usually come in are a lure, although for this collection the packaging is as standard.

I mentioned that I was somewhat tricked in to buying this eyeshadow, because the MA in the store was wearing pink eyeshadow herself. It really wasn’t a colour I thought I would buy and pull off myself. Originally I wanted Expensive Pink but after seeing how dark that was in real life, knew it would only make me look washed out and ill looking. Although I thought Da Bling was much brighter than I was used to, it’s a lot more flattering than I expected. A combination I find works really nice is Da Bling on the eyelid, Twinks in the crease, and Hush on the brow bone. I really like how this makes green eyes (hate to use this word) “pop” (cringe, but it really does!) It’s not a colour I thought would compliment green so well but I’ve been pleasantly surprised. The colour payoff is quite good, it’s a veluxe pearl finish, which I find means it goes on quite lightly but can be built up for a more intense wash of colour depending on your personal taste. This is always the first colour I notice when I open my palette, it’s a refreshing flash of colour amongst my neutrals. Well worth a glance over if you haven't seen this colour.

Nearly finished MAC palette...

My palette is slowly making progress. I had three new additions for Christmas, Nylon, Greensmoke and Espresso. I’m finding it more and more difficult to choose the final few colours. I look at blogs and the MAC website and think I’ve decided on the colours I want, then go in to the MAC store and walk out with completely different colours.

With flash.

And without.
I really didn’t think I would ever buy Nylon. I’d seen pictures of it, watched videos about it, thought it looked pretty but decided that since I had Shroom, I didn’t need another highlight colour. Obviously I was wrong because here I am with it in my collection. There’s just something really attractive about this colour, it has a frost finish, compared to the satin finish of Shroom and has almost a creamy texture to it and is very shimmery. I think the shimmer at first put me off because I’m not really into that look, but sometimes a bit of shimmer is just necessary and the shade also has enough of a hint of beigey gold in it to not look too brassy as a highlight.

Greensmoke is my new favourite eyeshadow. Green is by far my favourite colour to wear (if it’s not neutral!) and I love a green smoky eye, hence Greensmoke. As a lustre, it’s not amazingly pigmented but it is buildable. I like to wear this either on the lid with Espresso in the crease for a dark green smoky eye, or wear it in the crease with a shade like All That Glitters on the lid, for a lighter look. I’m thinking of getting either Swimming or Humid to wear with it, but not sure which would work best.

Espresso is probably one of the most popular shades by MAC. It’s pretty universal, making a great crease or outer corner colour for most people. Whether you’re just starting out with MAC or have a tonne of it, I’d recommend adding this to your collection. You can never have too many browns now anyway, can you?

(top row,l to r: Typographic, Twinks, Tempting, Greensmoke, Espresso, middle row, l to r: Satin Taupe, Patina, Woodwinked, bottom row, l to r: All That Glitters, Hush, Nylon, Shroom.)

I suppose this looks like a very unadventurous palette so far but neutral/earthy tones are my favourite and suit me best so I keep going back to them. There are some amazing and unique colours by MAC but I wanted my first palette to be full of staples I will actually use. If anyone has any recommendations for my remainder pans please let me know! I’d love to know what colour combinations work for you.

FOTD

This was actually face of the day a couple of days ago. It was super hot today, so fotd quickly melted! Hopefully you can see the Patina eyeshadow on the lid here. The finish of MAC frost eyeshadows is quite subtle, but pretty, and I love the irridescent effect. I'm wearing Patina on the lid, Tempting in the crease, Hush as a highlight, and the darker shade from the Nars duo; Paris in the outer corner, Refined Golden as a bronzer and the lips are au naturel.