Both Brights and Neutrals Play Important Parts in the New MAC Rossy de Palma Collection

Described as a Picasso come to life, and Almodóvar’s muse, Spanish actress and model Rossy de Palma was something of an ‘it’ girl in the ’90s, but I seem to have missed that memo, lost to the same college vortex that sucked up the memo about Friends.

Yes, the TV show. I’ve never seen an episode of Friends.

How is that even possible, right? I don’t know, but it is.

I googled Rossy de Palma today, and oh em gee, the woman is gorgeous! I don’t even know where to start. She’s in her 50s, and I love that she actually looks like a 50-year-old woman. I can’t think of anyone else who looks quite like her. She seems sassy, artsy, strong, and I notice a recurring theme from her public pictures. She isn’t afraid to wear brights. She wears pinks on her lids, purples, teals…and I’m talking from the lash line all the way to the brow bone! She goes all out! I think I’m going to obsess over her now.

You can definitely see her love for brights in her new MAC collaboration, the MAC Rossy de Palma collection, especially through the Veluxe Pearlfusion Shadow Palette, Colours on the Verge ($32).

Brights play a big part in this collection, but the must-have take-home for me is a neutral. Go figure. More on that in a few…

Before we dive in, can we just take a second to appreciate the packaging? — because MAC went all out.

Some pieces have a holographic effect, while others have an illustrated version of Rossy’s profile and her signature red lips.

Oh! — that’s another thing. Rossy loves matte red lipstick. She’ll do nudes on occasion, but mostly she wears red.

MAC Colours On the Verge/Veluxe Pearlfusion Shadow

I think the teal and navy blue in the Veluxe Pearlfusion Palette are pure fun, but the pink and purple are cute, too. And everything’s pigmented.

I’ll be wearing the brights like this again, as a single lid color and/or liner with a warm brown in the crease.

Veluxe Pearlfusion is a formula you can only find in the five-pan MAC eye palettes (they’re the ones with the thin strips that go across the pan).

Technically, they’re powders, but they feel creamy, and they’re beyond easy to blend, which is my favorite thing about them. But they aren’t perfect. I do notice some fallout when I use this palette, and borderline a lot of fallout with the navy shade. After I was done doing the makeup for this look, I had to do some major cleanup.

MAC Powder Blush in Pink Desire ($23)

The shadows are pigmented, but you know what’s really pigmented? Oh, my gosh, the blush! — Pink Desire ($23).

THAT SH*T IS CRAZY, MA! I loaded my face brush with the littlest amount and dabbed it on each cheek, literally once, and I looked like one of those old-timey haunted dolls with the round red circles on the face.

I accidentally removed about half of my foundation and concealer blending it out, but it ended up OK… I like how the sheer skin contrasts with the shimmery eyes.

This blush is NOT playing. It walks up to you and slaps you unexpectedly across the face several times. It’s beautiful, but oy! — so difficult to work with.

MAC Lipsticks in Frenesi and Self Esteem ($17.50 each)

Here’s the funny thing about this collection: the juxtaposition of the trendy brights and some seriously classic workhorse pieces like the $17.50 red matte lipsticks (Frenesi is a little like Ruby Woo, and Self Esteem reminds me of MAC Red).

MAC My Moon/Eye Shadow X 2 ($22)

There’s also a black-and-white eyeshadow duo called My Moon ($22), which is like a shimmery NARS Pandora duo. It’s convenient for brightening or darkening other eyeshadows.

For this look, to brighten the navy blue from the Veluxe Pearlfusion, I started with the white shade as a base.

For eyeliner, I applied the black shade first, and then layered the teal from the palette on top. The black deepens the teal. If you want to add more dimension to your eye makeup, I’m serious — this duo is a workhorse.

MAC Nose Pose/Cream Colour Base X 2 ($22)

Surprisingly, what I ended up really, really loving, and what I think is the superstar of this entire collection, is the Nose Pose/Cream Colour Base duo ($22).

I didn’t expect to like it because it looked like a typically gray-brown and pink-beige contouring duo (snooze-fest!), but both colors are surprisingly warm, and yet not too warm.

They’re basically like cream shadow versions of two famous MAC eyeshadow staples, beige Brule and warm brown Saddle. The beige works as a lovely, subtle brow bone highlight, and the brown is, like, a perfect crease color that you can totally control.

I used both for this look. After applying the blue to my lids and lash lines, I feathered the edges by sweeping the brown cream into my crease with a MAC 217. I went with a domed brush because I wanted a precise crease placement, although a 224 tapered brush would work, too, but since it’s wider, the cream would feather out more.

That brown is perfect. PERFECT. So easy to control. I usually have a tough time guiding crease shadow and controlling how far up and out to go, but I got this cream exactly where I wanted it to go. Same for the brow bone highlight. Both are also easy to correct.

Lock down those cream shadows

I have dry lids, but I use MAC Cream Colour Bases often as shadow, so I don’t have an issue with creasing or disappearing. They’ll move a little throughout the day, but as long as I prime, I’m fine.

Here’s what you can do to lock that cream down: first, apply a thin layer of MAC Prep + Prime 24-Hour Extend Eye Base from lash line to brow bone, because, for some reason, this primer holds onto creams exceptionally well. Let it fully dry, and then buff a thin layer of transparent powder directly on top — something like the $27 Prep + Prime Transparent Powder from the Rossy collection. If you do that, any cream products you apply on top shouldn’t move.

Rossy rules! And so does Nose Pose. It’s out now through November 18th, along with the rest of the Rossy collection, at MAC counters and online.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen