I Kudzu Not (Get It?): Make Room for the Eye Shadows From the MAC Moody Blooms Collection

What if stylish villainess du jour Maleficent had had a green thumb? I’ll tell you what — girlfriend would not have spent her days tending to tulips and tea roses. I know that much.

Like, if she called you up on her banana phone and invited you to afternoon tea, you’d be wise to brush up on your poisonous plant identification skills before heading over, and be careful not to touch anything with thorns on it; otherwise, you might not make it out of that garden party alive.

Moody Blooms, MAC’s latest collection, is like an evil gardener’s dream come true — a dream about being lost in a dark, menacing forest filled with beautiful but deadly plants. As you enter the forest, every fiber of your being screams at you to “TURN BACK NOW!!!” but you don’t.

Because you can’t. 🙂

And before you know it, you’re surrounded by Moody Blooms…

Eyes get special treatment in the collection, and there’s plenty of new stuff here. Of the six powder Eye Shadows, I don’t think any of them are permanent collection re-promotes. Same goes for the three Fluidline gel liners.

Among the eye products in the release, False Lashes Mascara in False Black, 211 Pointed Liner and 239 Shader Brushes are re-promotes plucked from the permanent line.

At first the overall color palette — reddish copper, darkened plum, violet, golden pink, green and teal — sounded more like something from one of MAC’s straight-up artsy collections. I didn’t think I’d be able to figure it out. I just thought it didn’t make sense, but when I got the colors on my lids, the color story clicked.

The five of six shadows shown here gleam with flattering finishes — Veluxe Pearl, Frost and Satin. There are no mattes, so if you like a flatter finish in your eye looks, you’ll have to incorporate other shades.

I’m thinking that some warm orangey and/or reddish brown mattes would contrast nicely with the copper, plum, green, brown, teal and golden pink shades, so consider incorporating MAC Soft Brown, Saddle or Texture when you sit down to play.

But with the shadows in Moody Blooms, you have a lot of room to experiment and explore.

You could go the natural-looking route with the gorgeous, easy-to-blend neutral shades in pinkish gold Artistic License and warm metallic brown Deep Fixation, or turn up the volume by smoking out violet Blooming Mad or deep aubergine Hidden Motive.

Or, surprise! — line your lower lash lines with dark yellow Lucky Green or teal Green Room for a splash of unexpected color.

The MAC Moody Blooms Eye Shadows: Some Thoughts on the Shades

• Artistic License: This one reminds me of MAC Sushi Flower a little, but with golden shimmer, less coral and more pink. I think it’s super pretty and easy to blend.
• Deep Fixation: Like a dream come true — a dream filmed in coppery warm brown. Pigmented and buttery, Deep Fixation buffs out like nobody’s business. Among the five of six shadows I’ve tried, I think it’s the must-have.
• Blooming Mad: I bet Blooming Mad would make a very cool transition shade with copper Deep Fixation. Incidentally, this beauty is definitely channeling Stars N’ Rockets for me.
• Hidden Motive: Take my breath away, why don’t you? This righteous reddish purple looks wicked lovely layered with Deep Fixation.
• Lucky Green: More yellow than green to my eye, Lucky Green has an almost golden tone to it. I think it fits well with the warm reds and purples in the release — perhaps as a nice pop of bright color when worn on the inner part of the lower lash lines, as I’m doing here.

Kudzu — oops! I meant to say “kudos” to MAC for not defaulting to a typical copper, bronze and teal color palette with a summer release. The addition of purple, pink and green to Moody Blooms spices things up.

For what it’s worth, I didn’t have any problems with the performance of any of these shadows, as I do sometimes with MAC limited edition shades. No patchiness or fallout, and no problems with blending whatsoever. These are MAC shadows at the top of their game.

The 25-piece MAC Moody Blooms collection sprouts online June 24, and at North American stores and counters June 26 (through August 21). International beauty babes, look for it in July at all MAC locations.

The MAC Moody Blooms collection includes…

• Sheen Supreme Lipstick in Moody Bloom, a bronze plum ($17)
• Sheen Supreme Lipstick in Phosphorescent, an electric pinkish coral ($17)
• Sheen Supreme Lipstick in Pheromonal, a dark blueish pink ($17)
• Sheen Supreme Lipstick in Lust Extract, an electric violet ($17)
• Sheen Supreme Lipstick in Quite the Thing!, a deep blueish plum ($17)
• Sheen Supreme Lipstick in Venomous Violet, a deep berry available exclusively online at maccosmetics.com ($17)
• Sheen Supreme Lipglass Tint in Bubble Gum, a soft warm pink ($20)
• Sheen Supreme Lipglass Tint in Gwi-Yo-Mi, a mid-tone raspberry ($20)
• Sheen Supreme Lipglass Tint in Blushing Berry, a mid-tone cool red ($20)
• Sheen Supreme Lipglass Tint in Glorious Intent, a warm plum ($20)
• Sheen Supreme Lipglass Tint in Simply Wow, a mid-tone cool mauve ($20)
• Veluxe Pearl Eye Shadow in Artistic License, a pinkish gold ($15)
• Veluxe Pearl Eye Shadow in Deep Fixation, a metallic brown ($15)
• Frost Eye Shadow in Blooming Mad, a mid-tone ultra violet ($15)
• Veluxe Pearl Eye Shadow in Hidden Motive, a deep aubergine ($15)
• Veluxe Pearl Eye Shadow in Lucky Green, a dark yellow green ($15)
• Satin Pearl Eye Shadow in Green Room, a mid-tone teal ($15)
• Fluidline in Copperthorn, a glittery bronze ($16)
• Fluidline in Nightshade, a blackened plum ($16)
• Fluidline in Black Ivy, a blackened greenish plum ($16)
• False Lashes Mascara in False Black ($21)
• Powder Blush in Bred for Beauty, a mid-tone bluish pink ($21)
• Powder Blush in Worldly Wealth, a shimmering peachy bronze ($21)
• 211 Pointed Liner Brush ($20)
• 239 Eye Shader Brush ($25)

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

For more MAC Moody Blooms collection coverage…

• With Pen Packaging, These MAC Moody Blooms Collection Sheen Supreme Lipglass Tints Do Some Things Write
• Beatiful Together and Apart: The MAC Moody Blooms Worldly Wealth and Bred For Beauty Blushes
• These Six MAC Moody Blooms Sheen Supreme Lipsticks Gleam Like a Dream
• The MAC Moody Blooms Fluidlines in Copperthorn, Nightshade and Black Ivy Look Wicked Good
• Worldly Wealth and Bred for Beauty, The Two New Blushes in the MAC Moody Blooms Collection, Plant Plenty of Pigment on Cheeks
• I Kudzu Not (Get It?): Make Room for the Eye Shadows From the MAC Moody Blooms Collection