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A companion to the just-released Neo Sci Fi collection, MAC’s new Solar Field boasts shimmery powders and bronzers to complement Neo Sci Fi’s summery pink, bronze and plum shades.

Early this morning I visited my nearby Nordstrom MAC counter to check out MAC’s new releases. When I opened my first jar of Solar Bits, one of the Solar Field collection’s four loose highlighting powders for cheeks and eyes, I thought “spacey and weird.” The coarse, chunky powder made me think of the surface of Mars.

I’ve been told the MAC folks created the chunky texture on purpose. The chunks are highly condensed clusters of shimmery pigment.

The MAC Cosmetics website suggests using Solar Bits for a sheer wash of shimmer to highlight cheeks and eyes. Two synthetic brushes, MAC 168 Large Angled Contour Brush and MAC 239 Eye Shading Brush, are being sold as part of the collection.

Crushing the chunks into a fine powder before applying seemed to produce more intense color and sparkle. I didn’t try to use Solar Bits this way, but I’m guessing you could also use it as an eyeshadow. I had a great time crushing the chunks down with my fingers when I swatched the colors on my arm and found the act weirdly satisfying, like popping bubble wrap.

I can see a number of uses for Solar Bits, but the stuff is flat-out messy, and that turned me off a little. The product got all over the place.

I liked all four colors (listed below) but wasn’t wow-ed enough to bring any of them home. Their versatility makes them worth checking out, though. Next time you visit a MAC counter, open a jar (carefully) and squash a few chunks. Trust me, it’s fun.

Solar Bits ($19.50)

• Sunpower – light metallic tan with gold pearl
• Black Ore – rich black with gold pearl
• Scatterays – soft metallic peach with gold pearl
• Bronzescape – clean yellow brown with gold pearl

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The odds of me falling in love with MAC’s newest collection, Neo Sci Fi, were higher than both Whitney Houston AND Bobby Brown in the late 90s.

Just put a label on my forehead that says, “Easy Prey.” First, there’s the bright orange packaging. Sure, it’s kinda highway-worker vest, but I think it’s fun and cheerful. Then there’s my weakness for warm shades of bronze, pink and plum, which headline the sunbaked, summertime collection.

And then there’s my not-so-secret penchant for, um, sci-fi. Did I ever tell ya that Terminator is one of my favorite movies of all time and that the sci-fi classic book Ender’s Game changed my life? Fo’ reals! In case you were wondering, no, I’ve never been to a Star Trek convention or to Comic-Con, but I have both on my list of things to do.

I was totally set up to fall hard for this collection. Hard!

Neo Sci Fi hit MAC counters today, and I love pretty much everything about it. Electro ($14, a bright orange lipstick) and Pink Grapefruit ($14, an orange Lipglass) demand attention. I don’t usually dig orange makeup, either, but both of these shades really pop and would look great with a summer tan.

I’m definitely going to snatch up as many of the Neo Sci Fi Lipglasses (remember Soft & Slow last year’s Smoke Signals release?), lipsticks, blushes and polishes as I can.

I thought I’d go crazy over the eyeshadows, too, but they didn’t wow me as much as I thought they would. Surprisingly, the color I liked most was Expensive Pink, a warm gold-pink duochrome in MAC’s permanent eyeshadow color collection. Where have you been all my life, Expensive Pink? Love ya!

The entire Neo Sci Fi collection includes…

Lipsticks ($14)

• Sci-Fi-Delity (frost) – burnt red with gold pearl
• Pleasureseeker (glaze) – creamy peach
• Astral (lustre) – mid-tone brown with red pearl
• Electro (lustre) – bright orange
• Sunsonic (frost) – white gold

From left to right: Sci-Fi-Delity, Pleasureseeker, Astral, Electro, Sunsonic

Lipglasses ($14)

• Supreme – bronzed brown with white pearl
• Naked Space – creamy mid-tone nude peach
• Pink Grapefruit – orange with gold pearl
• Soft & Slow – mid-tone creamy plum

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