MAC Holiday '08 Passions of Red: A Review

NOTE: Click HERE for swatches.

I've had the chance to play with my eye palettes (Warm and Cool), and let me say that I am more impressed with the color choices and pigmentation of this year's palettes than last year's. The colors of this year's Cool palette are more of my colors (no tacky bubblegum pink colors or eighties' blues), but the plums, purples, mauves, lavenders, and especially the indigo are as richly pigmented as I'd wanted them to be. I didn't find a "filler" color in the palette, as I honestly love all the shades. Those in-between shades actually would make great transition or blender colors to blend two contrasting shades together. Satisfy is a slightly shimmery pale ballet pink that looks amazing as a highlighter or as an inner lid color. Cavort is a cool dirty lavender orchid that would look good as a wash. Platonic is a frosty grey periwinkle that I used as a blender color, and it truly blended two opposing colors well. Feast is a frosty pink plum that reminds me a lot of Full Flame, a limited edition shadow released two years ago. My favorite of the lot is Bon Fete, a frosty neutral mid-tone pink that has a variety of uses, and is very versatile. Deep Feelings is a beautiful, deep violet indigo that is amazing as a crease or outer lid color. I am glad I didn't get the mineralize eyeshadow trio in Persuasive because the deep inky indigo in that trio is an almost-clone of Deep Feelings, except that the latter has purple undertones.

The Warm palette made me feel all fuzzy inside because the shades all look gorgeous. These are classic and classy colors that I will use again and again and would suit almost any occasion. Pigmentation is amazing as well; each shadow is truly saturated with color. Sweet Joy is a frosty creamy pale gold that complements the rest of the compact's colors when used as a highlighter. Warm Suede is a frosty antiqued golden olive and is one of the colors that really attracted me to this palette. Well Spiced is a frosted warm peachy brown that is neutral and in-between enough to be used as a blender color. Gentle Heat is a light muted grey taupe that is pretty as a wash or to blend gradient colors together. Real Drama is a beautiful, dirty burgundy with red pearl that reminded me of Sketch from the Thunder Eyes quad - just gorgeous. Grand Entrance is a dirty deep green with green pearl. I love, love, love Grand Entrance! It is exactly the deep green that I'd been craving whenever I use Humid as a crease color. Humid is a beautiful deep green, but it lacks the "dirty" factor that Grand Entrance has a handful of.

All in all, I believe that MAC has made better palettes this year compared to last. I am still on the fence about the packaging, but at least they are lighter compared to Royal Assets' really heavy metal compacts. The colors in the Warm and Cool palettes were obviously well thought of, and each of them is very wearable. The shades are perfect coordinates to each other. I didn't see any duds, so I am pretty much happy with these two. I didn't get the Smoky Eyes palette as I already have '06 and '07 Smoked Eyes palettes. The Classic Eyes' colors are just a bit "meh" to me, so I am not that keen on getting that as well. I am a happy camper with my Cool and Warm anyway.











Eyes (all products MAC unless otherwise stated):
Beige-ing shadestick as primer
Bare Study paint pot on lid
Cavort shadow (Cool Eyes) on lid
Feast shadow on crease and above crease
Deep Feelings shadow to contour crease
Platonic shadow to blend Deep Feelings and Feast
Satisfy eyeshadow to highlight
Bon Fete shadow to blend Satisfy and Feast
Indelible gel liner in Tanzanite
UD 24/7 liner in Zero to tightline and on waterline
L'Oreal and Maybelline mascaras

Face:
Monistat gel as primer
Earthen Glow Minerals foundation in Helena (Cover Me formula)
Mary Kay signature concealer on undereye area
BE Well Rested over Mary Kay
Aromaleigh Illuminating Finishing powder in Nectarine
MAC blush in Petalpoint

Lips:
Almay lipliner in Bronze
Estee Lauder Pure Color long lasting lipstick in Rose Tea
MAC Money, Honey dazzleglass