For the holidays last year, MAC must have had Tootsie Rolls and time capsules in mind for the packaging of their Curiositease collection — six sets of mini lipglosses, eye pencils and pigments housed in elegant white cylinders with gold and silver accents.
This year, MAC revisits the giant Tootsie Roll with Little Darlings ($29.50 per set), scheduled to arrive November 16 as part of MAC Holiday 2008.
This capsule is hard to miss. Ya’ll know I love red, but the packaging feels a little cold to me. It’s modern — I’ll give it that.
Today I checked out two of the sets from the new collection: 5 Neutral Lipglass/Lustreglass (strange name for a set) and 5 Warm Pigments/Glitter.
5 Neutral Lipglass/Lustreglass
5 Neutral Lipglass/Lustreglass includes mini-tubes of the following products:
- Beau Lustreglass: a shimmery, warm beige-brown
- C-Thru Lipglass: a shimmery peachy beige
- Languish Lipglass: a deep bronze with golden pearl
- Love Nectar Lustreglass: a light peachy-pink with golden pearl
- Mouthwatering Lipglasss: a shimmery light pink-beige
From left to right: Beaux, C-Thru, Languish, Love Nectar, Mouthwatering
The name says it all — neutral. That’s also how I feel about this set. I like the shades, but none of them really pop to me or make me go “OoOoooOOO.”
My favorite is Love Nectar. It has a just-made-out-for-hours look to it, but Languish’s golden pearl will go well with bronze looks. I think Mouthwatering, C-Thru and Beaux are also pretty, but by themselves they don’t really stand out.
The three Lipglasses and two Lustreglasses all deliver nice color and shimmer, but the Lipglasses are thicker, stickier and longer lasting. They come with a doe foot applicator, while the Lustreglasses come with a brush.
The texture of the Lustreglasses is thinner than the Lipglasses but feels more moisturizing, and I think because they aren’t as shiny as the Lipglasses are, the Lustreglasses produce a more natural looking lip.
If you wear a lot of dark smokey eye looks, the 5 Neutral set might be a good option for you. And if you’ve got a young teenager in the family, they could make a great gift because the colors aren’t too sexy or in-your-face.
5 Warm Pigments/Glitter
Eureka! There’s gold in them thar hills, and there’s gold in these here Little Darlings, too…
- Gold Dusk Pigment: A shimmery, pastel lemon-gold. It looks a little chalky on my tan skin, but if you have have lighter skin, this would look better on you than it does on me. Try it as a wash all over the lid, along with a thick line of black gel liner along the top lash, and then pair it with some rich red lips. Ooh!
- Gold Mode Pigment: A shimmery light golden peach. Gold Mode doesn’t look as chalky on my skin tone as Gold Dusk does. I can see myself using this as a brow bone or lid shade with a few good MAC browns like Soft Brown or Saddle.
- Gold Stroke Pigment: PRETTY! A taupe with shimmery golden pearl, Gold Stroke goes with lots of other shades. I can totally see doing a smokey eye with it paired with MAC Club and Woodwinked eyeshadows.
- Melon Pigment: A warm peachy gold. Like Gold Mode, it looks good on tanned skin. Here’s a no-brainer shade for simple color washes over the entire lid.
- Reflects Antique Gold: Large flecks of kahki-gold. Did I say large? I meant *extra* large, as in too big. This is my least favorite shade of the bunch. The glitter’s too big for me and looks a little like dirt on my skin.
From left to right: Gold Dusk, Gold Mode, Gold Stroke, Melon, Reflects Antique Gold
If you haven’t worked with MAC Pigments before, you could ease yourself into them with these shades. The golds are subdued (except for Reflects Antique Gold) and could work in place of neutral browns and beige. Might also be a nice way to spin a smokey eye look by layering a gold onto a dark brown or black.
More Little Darlings Deets
Like last year’s Curiositease, Little Darlings also includes two Pigments/Glitter sets and a Softsparkle/Eye Pencil set. This year MAC didn’t include a Plushglass set and chose instead to include an extra Lipglass/Lustreglass set (Neutral, Coral and Pink). All of the different sets will go for $29.50 each.
I’m kinda tempted by the Coral and Pink Lipglass/Lustreglass sets… What do you think of Little Darlings, little darling? 🙂
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
Well you are right, I do think that not all the lipglasses are interesting. Well at least the ones I’m interested in are from the permanent collection so there’s not much novelty factor. Besides, are they smaller in size or regular-sized? Cuz I think if they are smaller-sized, you can’t back to mac them individually. You’ll need to hand in all of them together and that counts as one item.
Cute packaging but for some reason it’s not calling to me. I guess it is a good thing for my wallet.
I ♥ Love Nectar!
Marisol´s last blog post..TILT 10.23.08
For some reasons I’ve never been interested in MAC holiday collections, except for the brush sets. However, I think they make nice gifts for people and they’re just so darn cute. Did Tabs come back yet? I kept thinking about him.
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ooohh I HAVE to have that pigment set!! The others dont really interest me, im not really one for buying lipgloss sets, I prefer to buy them individually plus ive put myself on a lipgloss diet recently as ive just got wayyyy to many thta i never ever use!!
I hardly have any pigments though because for a while every time i wore them they irritated my eyes but i seem to have gotten used to them now because they are not having the effect anymore – no idea how but its good news 😀
All of those pigment colours look really usefull too especially as im always wearing some variation or other on a smokey eye haha im so not brave with eye colour!
oohh and on a completely unrelated note, have you tried any of the products from the brand costal scents??
I have seen some rave reviews about their neutral pallette and was wondering if it is available in stores in the U.S. or if it is mail order only???
I tend to stick to more neutral lip colours and so I really like the look of the ones you tried on. Also, the pencils would be great. I’m trying to be a good girl and not spend money at the moment, so I’ll have to be extra good, not buy anything else and then I might treat myself!
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Hi Karen. I like all the sets except for the Neutral lipglass/lusterglass and Softsparkle/Eye Pencil sets. I’m definitely getting the Pink lipglass/lusterglass set.
Oh btw, I finally tried on Chanel No.5 Eau Premier. It smells almost like the original No.5, except that it’s a tiny bit lighter to me. I still prefer Coco Mademoiselle. 🙂
I love Languish, but I’d never wear it since I don’t like browns on me. I’m gonna check out the pigment sets though, I don’t own any pigments and so it’ll be a nice start. 🙂
I’m not into neutral lip colors, so that set doesn’t really do anything for me. But that pigment set is gorgeous, I love the colors!
The pigment sets look marvellous. How big are the containers?
Karen B´s last blog post..Top 200 my ass
PLEASE do a review of the Pink Lipglass/Lustreglass set!! those neutrals were pretty nice too, though. i guess its time to start a new wishlist on nordstrom.com!
Hi Sylvie,
Yup, they are smaller sized. At least the size is handy for when you have a small purse!
Hi Dao,
He’s still not back. Wherever he is I hope he’s having fun and that he’s safe. If he was here I’d give him a hug for you…
Hi Holly,
I haven’t tried the line, but I’ve heard of them. I’m not a hard core mineral makeup girl…
I did look at the site and saw that there’s a contact form where you can ask questions:
Coastal Scents Contact form for Holly
Hi Beth,
Sometimes it’s just fun to window shop. 🙂 I hope you reach your savings goal soon (you can do it!).
Hi MissQQ,
Yeah, I’m not feeling the Softsparkle/Eye Pencil set, either. I have a feeling I’ll cave into the Pinks and the Corals, though! I’m telling myself all the colors have to be wearable, though!
Oh yay, you tried it. I do love the lightness of it… I find it less cloying than the original, for sure! Coco Mademoiselle will always be #1 in my book, too. Right now I’m crushing hard on Allure. 🙂
Hi Ellery,
Oh yeah! If you love really bold eye looks you’ll definitely love the Pigments. I find them a bit harder to work with than pressed eyeshadows, but for nights when I want a little something special I’ll dip into my small stash. 🙂 They’re also very pretty when applied with a wet brush… super shimmery and shiny!
Hi Gio,
Yeah, I think the Pigments will be very useful… I already have Melon and it’s one of my faves!
Hi Karen B.,
Each container is 2.5 g or .09 fl-oz. They look small because they easily fit into the palm of your hand, but because you only need to use a teeny bit they last forever.
Hi Holly,
I have it on my calendar to visit the MAC when the release hits counters. I will take a close look at the Pink set! 🙂
Well I definately want to get the warm pigment set! I just am still deciding between the pink & coral Lipglass/Lustreglass set!
This sounds like the perfect holiday gift for me *bats eyelashes at mum*
Karen B´s last blog post..Top 200 my ass
There were mini pigment sets last year?! How did I miss them!? I’m definitely checking them out this year, though I know I’m passing on the gold one you reviewed. I have Gold Stroke and it is GORGEOUS, and I don’t want any of the others included in the set. Thanks for reviewing early!!
Hi Karen!
I got the shimmer pigments as a gift for Christmas and I am nervous to even open them, as I have a feeling I will end up with a shimmery, powdery mess on my bathroom floor and all over my shirt. What’s the best plan of attack with application?
Miss you! ~B
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Hi Berna,
Long time no see! You will love the MAC Pigments (I can see you rocking the glitz like nobody’s business).
They’re pretty easy to use once you get the hang of them. I did a tutorial a while back: MAC Pigments Made Easy. I hope it helps!
RAD! That is *exactly* what I was looking for! Thank you 🙂
BernaD*va´s last blog post..It has begun – You Can Run 13.1 Workout Recap
You’re welcome!
They are fabulous layered on top of cream shadows, too, so if you have any of those lying around then you can have a lot of fun experimenting.