The lovely mavens at David Jones gave me a sneak peek of the holiday releases, including Dress Sets, Nocturnelle, Temptations and that kicky silver train case. I can't emphasis how nice this counter is, people. They help me out with release dates all the time, and are never backwards about giving great customer service.

The Formal Black sets are gorgeous, of course. The fabrics and beading are very luxe. They're much, much better than last year's fug leatherette containers. I'm not a fan of pre-made palettes, but if these are your thing, then they're going to look cute in your handbag. Intense eyes is the only let-down - the colours are jarring, gaudy, and it looks like there wasn't much thought given to the colour selection beyond 'make em bright'. As much as I hate to say it, it looks like something I'd expect to see from Napoleon.
Eye & Lip palettes will be AU$85, as expected. Temptations are AU$65, same as last year.

Dress Sets (even though I can't stop calling them Temptations) are... well, you know what's in them. Paints, shadesticks, lipgelees, lipglasses, etc etc etc. Same as last year, pretty much. These are good bang for your buck, so I opt for these rather than the Formal Black palettes.

Nocturnelle, some hits and misses. For a collection that uses Dita Von Teese as inspiration, I was hoping for more sultry classic selections. Some of it is a little 'my first make-up' on first glance. I have a bit of a grudge against Endless Love e/s dating back to the Diana Ross Icon collection, but it's been given a tweak and should be more satisfactory now. Entremauve pigment is the stand-out of the collection - it is similar to Grape, but the very slight frosting (and I mean slight - it's more satin than frost) makes it far more wearable than Grape pigment.

The silver train case is so, so cute. It's tiny, but I'm seriously thinking about getting it to use as a travel bag instead of my rag-tag collection of soft bags. FYI, the lift-out tray on top is long enough to fit standard long-handled brushes. I think this is going to be sold at all counters, but don't hold me to that.

Aaaaaand, drum-roll please... David Jones will be exclusively stocking the Pret-a-Porter brush set, currently only an online exclusive to the US and Canada. The set is great value, and will be retailing somewhere in the ballpark of AU$350.

ETA: No one seems to know if the soiree/party bags are being released in AU, but if they are, it might be a Myer-only release. Generally pre-packed MAC sets don't sell well in Australia (try-on pacs, for example), so EL Australia doesn't option them often.

Hope this helps, ladies!

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You are devine Lara, thanks for the info

Would you say that the quality of the pret-a-porter brush set has the same quality as the standard brushes, or would their quality be similar to those of the holiday brush sets?

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They're regular brushes of standard quality, just like you'd buy individually. Don't quote me on it, but I'm 99% sure they're not marked as being SE. They're definitely not SH.

I'm due to triple up on my basic brushes and this is coming out at the right time, so I'm going to lay down the plastic and buy the set. The brush roll I'll probably pass onto my mum, or be mercenary and wait 'til it's a cult collectors item and then sell it on ebay.

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ok.. if they have the stock it's coming out on monday. dammit. no way of getting to DJs until thursday. AND i'm meant to be on a shopping ban.

do you know how much the mini brush sets are? i wouldn't mind the basic set just for travel.

Arrrgh. She said the price, but it's totally slipped my mind.

The Patternmaker brush sets were AU$110 and AU$115, so probably something close to that.

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thanks lara! that's a bit steeper than i was expecting.

btw - did you you get my email?

thanks lara, you're a gem.
I'm going to MAC Myer Highpoint today, the girls there usually let me buy bits and pieces before they are released.
Plus the fact that i have a $100 coles-myer giftcard and a $100 MAC voucher burning a hole in my purse
looking forward to the Nocturnelle pigments mainly.....

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Ok, went into MAC Myer Highpoint yesterday...

Got a good look at the Nocturnelle collection.

Ended up getting Desirous blush (i'm in love!), Entremauve pigment (again, in love), and Subtle pigment (very nice too).

Had a look at the eyeshadows in this collection, and i have to say i wasnt that impressed. Maybe they will look better when they are on display.

Not sure what to spend my MAC voucher on when i go into Chapel Street....... oh what fun it is to have vouchers!

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Anyone know how much the little clutches with the 2 lippied and lip glass are?

argh... lemming lemming lemming this stuff. it's all so pretty.

quick! someone talk me out of the warm eyes palette and the basic brush set i'm thinking about allowing myself entremauve, but bonus points for whoever talks me out of that as well... the shopping ban is not going well.

AU$75. I bought some for my mum.

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The Red lip clutch set is BEAUTIFUL.

Myer does stock the Soiree sets - they're kinda little, and ugly, though :P I'm really not fond of the cool set, and the warm set's basically just everything in shades of orange. A little off-putting.

hi,
i was wondering, which david jones are going to be stocking the the Pret-a-Porter brush set, and are any of the myers going to be?

thanks =)
oh and do you know where it is available online?

There are only two David Jones MAC counters - Elizabeth St & Bourke St. It's exclusive to David Jones, so Myer won't have it.

It's available online to US and Canadian residents only.

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