MAC Nutcracker Sweet Holiday 2016 Gift Sets: The Gold Pigments and Glitter Kit, and the Bronze Pigments and Glitter Kit

Baby love, the times, they are a-changin’, because for once I think I might actually be able to finish an entire jar of MAC Pigment. In my entire history of wearing MAC, I’ve never finished a jar.

You know that they’re big, right? They’re HUGE, but these minis are actually bite-sized and handleable.

There are two pigment and glitter sets in the new MAC Nutcracker Sweet holiday collection, along with a bunch of other sets. One of them has a bronze theme, and the other one gold, but both sets are super cute.

If you don’t know anything about the MAC Pigments, basically, in a nutshell, they’re loose, concentrated eyeshadows and glitters, which, on the one hand, are great if you want big, flashy “Oh, hey there, look at me!” eyes that practically beam from across the room, but on the other hand, they’re messy.

That’s the main reason I don’t use them often… The permanent collection jars have a wide mouth, and FOOF! — I’m always tipping them over and getting glitter in my brows, my ear, my bra. It’s a mess.

But these mini jars have a smaller mouth, which makes them easier to handle. I just tap a little on a paper towel and pick it up from the towel with my brush, and if there’s any left over, I kind of scoot it back into the jar.

So, in the process of doing the look I’m wearing in these pics (I’m wearing the Sweet Gold kit, BTW), I discovered that my new favorite thing in the whole wide world is inner corner glitter. It is basically the sh*t.

M∙A∙C Nutcracker Sweet
Available online October 20, 2016
Available in stores on October 27, 2016 through December 8, 2016
#MACNutcrackerSweet

As a glitter person, I usually like to just splash it all over my eyes, but if you take a little of the glitter (here I’m wearing Gold Reflects, the gold glitter from the gold kit), pick it up with a wet brush (something like MAC Fix +), and concentrate most of it in the inner corner and fade that out as you move toward the center of your lid, I think it looks really cool.

Maybe it’s just me, but I think it completely distracts from my dark circles while still being flashy and fun.

Between these two kits, I recognize several of the colors in the Gold kit, like Gold Reflects Glitter and Heritage Rouge, from the permanent line, but I don’t recognize anything in the Bronze kit, so if you’re looking for something more exclusive and unique, the Bronze kit might be the one to pick up.

MAC Nutcracker Sweet Gold Pigments and Glitter Kit ($35) — English Gilt Pigment (not perm), Reflects Gold Glitter (perm), Rust Glitter (perm) and Heritage Rouge Pigment (perm)

MAC Nutcracker Sweet Bronze Pigments and Glitter Kit ($35) — Sugar Rush Pigment (not perm; don’t think I’ve seen it before), Stardream Pigment (not perm), Handsome Prince Pigment (not perm) and Reigning Riches Glitter (not perm)

Packaging-wise, both are SO Instagrammable. Like, I’m opening these drawers back and forth and thinking, “How am I gonna Boomarang this?” They’re very cute.

It’s hard to pick a favorite between the two… You know me — neutrals girl, and the Bronze kit has all of these wearable neutrals that you can just throw on with black cat liner and lashes, and bam! — you’re good, but I really love the Gold one because purplish red Heritage Rouge is bomb and looks great with gold glitter or liner.

There’s something about gold and that dark reddish purple that’s just so rich and festive and holiday to me.

I’m having a party working my way through these MAC holiday kits and sets. I hope the next ones are just as cool as these two.

I have a new theme song

Have you been watching Luke Cage on Netflix? That show… It’s stylistically interesting, and I think the character development is great. Yes, it’s superheroes, so it helps if you’re into that, but it’s really interesting superheroes.

During the episodes, there’s this one character who looks like Wesley Snipes, and I know he’s not Wesley Snipes, but I keep calling him Wesley Snipes.

Anyway, he owns a club, and he sits there in his club watching performers rehearse. Well, the performers are real artists. Like, Faith Evans was in a recent episode, and this guy who I’d never heard before named Jidenna. He did a performance called Long Live the Chief.

I’ve been having a rough couple of weeks (no big deal), but in the mornings I put on this song. The lyrics are explicit, so I don’t listen to it with little children around, but I crank it up every morning in my headphones and dance around like a fool in my office.

It helps! I feel like a bad-@ss chick when I hear it. It makes me feel like I could swim the English Channel in my skivvies.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen