MAC Pret A Papier Swatches and Review

I was a little disappointed with this collection because I didn't fall in love with one single item. This is not to say that this collection doesn't have anything good to look forward to. On the contrary, there were some items that did catch my attention. However, they didn't make my heart palpitate or create a deep urge to purchase them. It may be because I already have similar or identical shades in my makeup stash. However, I might get one or both of the nail lacquers since I am currently having this fixation for nail polish. The colors are pretty neutral though and if you are still trying to expand your makeup collection, Pret-A-Papier offers some great neutrals that you can use everyday.

Blushes:


Instant Chic



(By the way, the swatches were taken on a cloudy day so they're not as vibrant as usual. But these are still as close to the real stuff as possible.)

Instant Chic is a very dainty mid-tone muted coral. I like that the formula is sheertone, so it's not as shimmery as the usual MAC blushes that I have. It gives a nice lit-from-within coral flush on my skintone. Lovely and if you like corals, try this one out.

Garb can only be used as a contour color or bronzer because this is too brown to be a blush. This is lighter than the usual bronzers that I have, so this can be nice for light to medium skintones.

Light Over Dark mineralize blush is a light yellow brown/dark peach that would also work as a shimmery bronzer. Perfect for summer.

Eyeshadows:





The eyeshadows are a mixture of neutrals and dark lid colors. I was particularly drawn to Cut To Fit, a beautiful frosted red-bronze (frost), and Memorabilia, a matte dirty purple. However, it dawned on me that I already have Memorabilia from The Originals collection:


Memorabilia

However, for some odd reason, my Memorabilia is lighter than the repromote from Pret-A-Papier. I do have Shadowy Lady and Jungle Moon (from the Colour 3 quad) though, so I don't exactly need a darker matte dirty purple.


Tissueweight

See more swatches and the rest of the review after the jump!


Tissueweight is such a pretty shade. It's a frosted pale peach that is a nice highlighter shade for the browbone or inner corners, or even as a wash on the lids. The only downside is that this is not a very unique color, but heck, it's pretty so this is definitely a keeper.

Bamboo is ehhh. It's a matte light beige with peach that looks like crap on my skin, and it didn't give much pigment either. Next.



Cut To Fit is beautiful. A frosted red-bronze that is so pretty even in my swatch. I think I'm getting this one. This can go with neutrals, plums, bronzes, golds...pretty much anything.

Gazette Grey is a dark green-grey with gold pearl that would work if you are looking for a not-too-common crease or outer lid color. I like the green and grey combination.

Lipsticks:


Kraft



I wasn't that impressed with the lippies maybe because I already have similar shades. The only one that called to me was Kraft, a creamy mid-tone warm brown in the amplified cream formula. This would be great under peachy or light lipglasses. Perfect for everyday neutrals.

Archetype is a sheer light gold that barely showed up on my skin. A definite "skip" for me.

Dressmaker, Dressmaker is a creamy light peach coral in the lustre formula. It's lighter than Ever Hip so if the latter didn't work for you, this might.

Made To Order is more similar to Ever Hip.  The former is a creamy mid-tone dirty coral, also in the luste formula.  This one might be a tad darker than Ever Hip.

Lipglasses:




C-thru at the bottom

Again, they repromoted another item from The Originals collection. C-thru is a fave of mine- a peachy beige with shimmer. LOVE this layered over any kind of lipstick - light, medium, dark - it doesn't matter. It gives the lips a very luscious, shiny finish. Beautiful. If you don't have C-thru yet, go get it.

Fold and Tuck is a mid-tone bright coral with soft pearl which might be too warm on my skintone. Pret-A-Papier is a dark reddened bronze with pearl that would probably look great with neutral or bronzey eyes.

Paint Pots:



I have a lot of paint pots but Coral Crepe is a darker version of Perky paint pot from the Fafinette collection:





As you can see, Perky is similar to Coral Crepe, only a tad lighter. It's so pretty, and I'm sure it will lend vibrancy and color to a lot of my eyeshadows.



Groundwork is mid-tone neutral taupe which would make a great base for neutrals (browns, taupes), smokey eyes.

Nail Lacquer:


L-R: Originality, Brownbag (yes, these came off without the need for nail polish remover)

Originality is a sparkly, frosty copper bronze that is lighter than Mercenary but the same in finish. Brown Bag is a mid-tone warm-dirty beige cream that might not look all that well on my skintone. I would have to try it on my nails just to make sure, but looking at it on my skin, I already have a pretty good idea.

Chromagraphic Pencil:






L-R: NW25/NC30, NC15/NW20

This was one of the items that fascinated me. It's a multi-tasker in the sense that you can use this to create a neater brow look by applying it under the browbone, or you can use it to conceal broken capillaries on the side of your nostrils, or to conceal blemishes. I believe you can even use this to create a concealer lip look. I can't wait to discover more uses for this.

Impeccable Brow Pencil:





The brow pencils are repromotes from the MAC All Ages, All Races, All Sexes collection. My perfect color is Taupe. Here is what I said about these brow pencils in my previous review:

I honestly like these brow pencils. I tried a lot of brow pencils and some of them are either one of two things: (1) they're too powdery, so much so that they don't really stay long on the brows, or (2) they are too waxy, so that when you apply them on your brows, they create splotchy patches on the brows and make one area darker than the other.

Well, these new brow pencils by MAC are just right. They are not too waxy but not too powdery either. I can fill in brows without the nasty waxy residue, and yet I know it contains wax because it holds the brows in place. I used the Taupe color and I believe it's perfect for my skintone.

All in all, if you are still new to MAC and are building your collection, you will find definite winners in this collection that can be staples in your makeup arsenal. If you have been into MAC for quite some time now, some of these might be dupes of several items in your stash. If you are considering getting something from this collection, I highly recommend the paint pots, C-Thru lipglass, possibly one or two of the shadows, a brow pencil of your shade and the chromagraphic pencil. Those are what I think will be some of the more popular items from this collection.

NOTE: Media samples were provided by a representative of the company. For more information on the matter, please refer to the Disclosure Page.