MAC - Semi Precious Discussion

[BeautyByLele]

No matter what im not ordering from this collection online . . gotta chk this out in person

I wonder if Temptalia got any of the brushes? Thats what im most anxious about

 

[thursdaynxt19]

I keep flip flopping with this collection. I had several things on my list, then decided I might skip Semi Precious altogether. The swatches are making me reconsider my decision now~!

 

[kimbunney]

Blue Sheen and Smoked Ruby are nice! Overall I still feel so undecided on what to get. The collection is so big. Ugh

 

[m0rg3nst3rn]

I am undecided too..
I will have to check it out at the Pro store if I still have money after IMATS. I love red shadows but Smoked Ruby looks brown sometimes which really dissappoints me. I really need to check this out in store!

 

[miribre]

Quote: I might want Gem of Roses l/s.

Oh no! I didn't want to buy ANY lip products from this collection but the swatches of Geo Pink, Gem of Roses and Musky Amethyst look great.

I will definitely stick with all brushes, Rose MSF and Smoky Ruby eye shadow. The brushes look so nice.

 

[freesiafc]

So many things to choose from I don't know where to start.

 

[katred]

The swatches and Liba's descriptions are making it very difficult for me to resist this collection. I have an armful of packages I can B2M for and since this collection is in regular packaging, I'm assuming that I should be able to trade for the lipsticks at least...

 

[Naynadine]

Seeing the swatches, there are some items I really like, but overall I'm glad that most colours of this collection aren't for me, especially the lipsticks. I loved the ones from In the Groove.
For sure I want the pink MSF and the coral blush. And even though I'm addicted to pink blushes, I don't want this one. What is wrong with me? LOL I'll need comparison swatches for the brown one, but I'll probably get a permanent powder blush instead. Most of the times I like the texture of the powder blushes better that the Mineralize ones. From the MES I like 4-5, but only want to buy 1-2. I might end up with Golden Gaze, I don't have anything like it.That one will probably be very popular, I can also see Geo Pink selling out fast. I want to get my first Cremesheen with this collection, the pale pink one.

 

[missah]

My ladies - I just spent the past 3 hours playing with the whole collection - i have some super crappy swatch photos and lots of detailed opinions on everything from MSFs to blushes to lippies to brushes to those GLORIOUS shadows.

I have to head out again, but tonight I'll give you all the deets! This collection is stunning!!


EDIT: Quickly glanced at Temptalia's swatches - some do the colors justice and some don't even begin to show how beautiful and subtle they are - especially Golden Glaze, Hint of Sapphire and Rare Find - these look insanely better in person - also Geo Pink is not as bright orange as that and is the nicest coral MAC's done the whole damn year. Natural Flare, the lipsticks and Blue Sheen/ Smoked Ruby are very accurate - I'll discuss the textures (which a photo can't capture), especially the MSF's and the 3 different textures of the shadows......don't worry - they all work great and don't have annoying glitter once applied.....

Be Back Tonight!!!!!!

I wanna hear the deets on the MSFS and the brushes! I dont know if I should get the blush brush...
So far my list is:
- Gem or roses Lipstick
- One of a Kind lipstick
- Maybe one cremesheen[lipgloss] Geo Pink?
or: Cacqui or sonoran rain Lipgloss Should I go back anf get those ones?
><"


-Pearl MSF or Crystal Pink MSF
- Goldstone MSF [maybe]
- Rose quartz MSF

- Blue Sheen eyeshadow
- Golden Gaze eyeshadow
- Quartz Fusion eyeshadow

I liked hint of sapphire before but... I dunno anymore. I def want to see more swatches of the e/s!

Should I get the goldstone msf or would I need that if Im getting laguna, so ceylon and shooting star? Will rose quartz msf show up on my skin?
so many questions... such a limited budget

I'm also getting the tarte for true blood palette so I cant spend too much...

 

[UrbanSweetheart]

^^^ I keep hearing about the True Blood palette! Are there swatches anywhere??

 

[liba]

OK PEOPLE - I FINALLY GOT HOME:

First order of business is the BRUSHES.
They have all been patented by MAC, so you won't see a dual fiber brush like these from anyone else. Weird to do these in LE, but it seems like they'll bring them back if they sell well.

First off, the face brushes:
1) Kabuki brush - this is a must have brush, imo. It's soft, flexible, but not too flexible, densely packed and the best part is the flat angled head. You can do a perfect cheek swipe with this baby. The natural bristles are not scratchy at all and the synthetic badger is full and very soft. It's just the right size too - not too large that you don't have control, but big enough to apply product in one pass. Some people might prefer a rounded head for blending to this flat head, though - this is more of a swiping type brush that a circular blending type brush.

2) 128: This brush has me torn. It's a small cheek brush, but it's larger and fuller than the 109/116. It's still flatter, not domed, but it's got an extra thick soft belly, especially on the synthetic side, that feels luscious. It's an all-purpose shape, but maybe a little too un-specialized, but it feels really nice - i was on the fence about it, since i'm picky about brushes. I'd say it's a cross between a concealer brush and a highlighting brush and you could do a little contouring here and there with it if you didn't feel the need to be a perfectionist. Most people here probably have a variety of brushes that would override the need for this brush, though - but it's certainly luxurious.

 

[liba]

NEXT UP - EYE BRUSHES:

1) 234: This is a very unusual brush that is particularly well-designed for modern products. My MA was still a little perplexed at how to use it, but I think I've figured it out pretty simply. This brush has a nice sharp upper edge so you can do really sweet precision crease work and under eye stuff. However, it's a FLAT brush and also long, so the sides of the brush are meant for patting and tapping, not swirling. This is the perfect type of brush action for stuff like the Crushed Metal pigments and also these new MEBs, because with these products you want to place the colors next to each other, but you do not want to overblend and make the colors muddy. This one would be a great solution for the Big Bounce shadows too, which you all know I adore and as I'll get into later, make the hands down BEST base for the MEBs - like insanely best.....but i'll get into that in the next post. I'm probably going to get the 234, it's honestly very unique and versatile for the MEBs, crushed metals, the upcoming cream shadows and etc.

2) 235: Basic all purpose large blending brush. This is again a very nice, soft and full bodied brush, but it's pretty large - this is the sort of brush you use to do those modern looks where you have one color from lid to brow, diffused out as it gets closer to the brow. You could use it for concealer too, I'd say. Probably you have a brush like this already, but it's quite swanky and could be handy to put concealer on with one side and go straight for some shadow with the other, so a time saver too.

 

[panther27]

Ooh those sound nice,I would love to get the kabuki,I wish it weren't $50 though.

 

[liba]

EYE SHADOWS:

Oh my lord, where to start with these.....they are stupendous!

The colors are mostly so complex that no matter your eye and skin color, there will be a subtle hint of whatever color you need to perfectly enhance your eyes. Even colors that usually don't work on me, like greens, looked f-ing awesome and not a single one clashed or competed with my skin or eyes, whether applied sheerly, medium or super dense.

There are 3 basic textures. The ones with just smooth sheen and zero glitter, the ones with a mix of sheen with a small amount of fine sparkle and a few with plenty of sparkle.

The all-sheen ones include Blue Sheen, Smoked Ruby, Dark Indulgence, Golden Glaze and Faux Gold. None of these really have veining. Applied dry they are soft but pigmented, not sheer. The dark ones do not have a heavy black base the way the Style Black ones do. Also the sheen sits above the base and has highlights to it. These are sophisticated colors, definitely not one-note. Dark Indulgence is NOT like Nars Nightporter. It doesn't have that sort of sparkle and black base - it's all dark green but a perfect balance between warm and cool in the sheen department. I usually look bad in dark green (NC15 and deep green eyes) but this green has just enough of a touch of blue to the sheen that it works on even me. But that's the amazing thing about all these shadows - they're like the opposite of the Big Bounce ones where your natural coloring dictated which ones you could pull off and which ones would look horrible. All the shadows in this collection ENHANCE what you have and also override what you were born with too to give you beautiful color that is also totally flattering.

Golden Glaze is also just ridiculous - as my MA said, in his 15 years working for MAC he's never seen them do a color like this. It's like Sun Blonde grew up into a sexy metallic nighttime cabaret singer. A look with Sun Blonde and Golden Glaze together will be a must. Blue Sheen is also going to be the blue everyone wished Blue Flame was. No glitter, no black base, just pure solid blue sheen, hmm appropriate name. These sheeny ones all go on quite pigmented dry and take on a satin foil sheen effect when applied wet. They aren't sheer at all. With the right base, these are going to pop like a nuclear bomb.

 

[ladyarwen]

EYE SHADOWS:

Oh my lord, where to start with these.....they are stupendous!

The colors are mostly so complex that no matter your eye and skin color, there will be a subtle hint of whatever color you need to perfectly enhance your eyes. Even colors that usually don't work on me, like greens, looked f-ing awesome and not a single one clashed or competed with my skin or eyes, whether applied sheerly, medium or super dense.

There are 3 basic textures. The ones with just smooth sheen and zero glitter, the ones with a mix of sheen with a small amount of fine sparkle and a few with plenty of sparkle.

The all-sheen ones include Blue Sheen, Smoked Ruby, Dark Indulgence, Golden Glaze and Faux Gold. None of these really have veining. Applied dry they are soft but pigmented, not sheer. The dark ones do not have a heavy black base the way the Style Black ones do. Also the sheen sits above the base and has highlights to it. These are sophisticated colors, definitely not one-note. Dark Indulgence is NOT like Nars Nightporter. It doesn't have that sort of sparkle and black base - it's all dark green but a perfect balance between warm and cool in the sheen department. I usually look bad in dark green (NC15 and deep green eyes) but this green has just enough of a touch of blue to the sheen that it works on even me. But that's the amazing thing about all these shadows - they're like the opposite of the Big Bounce ones where your natural coloring dictated which ones you could pull off and which ones would look horrible. All the shadows in this collection ENHANCE what you have and also override what you were born with too to give you beautiful color that is also totally flattering.

Golden Glaze is also just ridiculous - as my MA said, in his 15 years working for MAC he's never seen them do a color like this. It's like Sun Blonde grew up into a sexy metallic nighttime cabaret singer. A look with Sun Blonde and Golden Glaze together will be a must. Blue Sheen is also going to be the blue everyone wished Blue Flame was. No glitter, no black base, just pure solid blue sheen, hmm appropriate name. These sheeny ones all go on quite pigmented dry and take on a satin foil sheen effect when applied wet. They aren't sheer at all. With the right base, these are going to pop like a nuclear bomb.

HA! That's the best thing I've ever heard.

 

[LMD84]

OK PEOPLE - I FINALLY GOT HOME:

First order of business is the BRUSHES.
They have all been patented by MAC, so you won't see a dual fiber brush like these from anyone else. Weird to do these in LE, but it seems like they'll bring them back if they sell well.

First off, the face brushes:
1) Kabuki brush - this is a must have brush, imo. It's soft, flexible, but not too flexible, densely packed and the best part is the flat angled head. You can do a perfect cheek swipe with this baby. The natural bristles are not scratchy at all and the synthetic badger is full and very soft. It's just the right size too - not too large that you don't have control, but big enough to apply product in one pass. Some people might prefer a rounded head for blending to this flat head, though - this is more of a swiping type brush that a circular blending type brush.

2) 128: This brush has me torn. It's a small cheek brush, but it's larger and fuller than the 109/116. It's still flatter, not domed, but it's got an extra thick soft belly, especially on the synthetic side, that feels luscious. It's an all-purpose shape, but maybe a little too un-specialized, but it feels really nice - i was on the fence about it, since i'm picky about brushes. I'd say it's a cross between a concealer brush and a highlighting brush and you could do a little contouring here and there with it if you didn't feel the need to be a perfectionist. Most people here probably have a variety of brushes that would override the need for this brush, though - but it's certainly luxurious.

i knew the kabuki would be amazing! i simply must add it to my kabuki collection!! thanks so much for your thoughts.

i have read your info on the shadows and am very excited about those too!

 

[Edelmc]

[quote name="liba" url="/forum/thread/174559/mac-semi-precious-discussion/1500#post_2133690"]OK PEOPLE - I FINALLY GOT HOME:

First order of business is the BRUSHES.
They have all been patented by MAC, so you won't see a dual fiber brush like these from anyone else. Weird to do these in LE, but it seems like they'll bring them back if they sell well.

First off, the face brushes:
1) Kabuki brush - this is a must have brush, imo. It's soft, flexible, but not too flexible, densely packed and the best part is the flat angled head. You can do a perfect cheek swipe with this baby. The natural bristles are not scratchy at all and the synthetic badger is full and very soft. It's just the right size too - not too large that you don't have control, but big enough to apply product in one pass. Some people might prefer a rounded head for blending to this flat head, though - this is more of a swiping type brush that a circular blending type brush.

2) 128: This brush has me torn. It's a small cheek brush, but it's larger and fuller than the 109/116. It's still flatter, not domed, but it's got an extra thick soft belly, especially on the synthetic side, that feels luscious. It's an all-purpose shape, but maybe a little too un-specialized, but it feels really nice - i was on the fence about it, since i'm picky about brushes. I'd say it's a cross between a concealer brush and a highlighting brush and you could do a little contouring here and there with it if you didn't feel the need to be a perfectionist. Most people here probably have a variety of brushes that would override the need for this brush, though - but it's certainly luxurious.

[/quote] Fab reviews! I am really excited about the brushes. I think the 128 would be great for powder and cream highlighters depending on which side you use and slim eyeshadow brush looks like a more detailed/slimmer version of the 242. Quick question: do you think the kabuki brush would be good for applying cream/liquid foundations like studio sculpt and also what is a meb (sorry if that is a silly question)

 

[missah]

what about the MSFS?
and the lippies?

 

[Roxie]

Edited to contain my stroke until after Liba is finished LOL!

 

[liba]

EYES Continued:

The next texture is sheen mixed with veins of micro sparkle. These shades include: Mineral Mode, Unsurpassable, Hint of Sapphire, Jades Fortune, and Rare Find (although that one is sort of a cross between all sheen and sheen + sparkle - its low on sparkle, but it still has a little). Now, don't be afraid of this sparkle. It's not glitter. It's a very fine and non-pigmeted silica of some sort. In fact it's pretty much harmless - it doesn't fall out, it's not chunky, it doesn't pick up huge, out of place sparks of light - it's more like you will see the sparkle in the pan and in a hand swatch but on the eye it sort of melts into the skin and gives a sheen, but a dimensional sheen, rather than a flat, smooth sheen like the first texture or the Mega Metals (which are even flatter and smoother, for reference). Actually these sparkles are the same ones you see in the Big Bounce shadows - the ones with more sheen like Luxury Touch or Trophy - it's probably the exact same ingredient but now baked, instead of suspended in cream.

Here's the amazing thing about this group of colors......the veining is laid out to one side in the pans - at least all the ones I looked at. Like streaks of veining running mostly down a single half. What does this mean? It means you not only can totally control how much sparkle you want to add to your basic sheen, you can also mix colors together or get 2 totally different colors out of one pan. Yes, these are secret ninja duos, you heard me right. Go ahead and mix them together for a more greyish color, or just use one side away from the veining and then the veined side separately. OR, use the non-vein side and then add a bit of the veined side in to control how warm or cool toned you want the color to be. These are frikken artistic treasures here. I am not kidding around - you will be able to get a huge range of color out of one pan of something like Hint of Sapphire, Jade's Fortune or Unsurpassable.

There's another element to all of these variables, and that's how you apply them - dry, wet or with a base. This is where me and my MA bugged the hell out. All the colors in this texture were pretty soft and pastel and a bit sheer when applied dry. They lost their sheerness when applied wet, but were still pretty subdued. However my MA busted out some Big Bounce shadows to experiment with as a base (He and I are bosom buddies over the fact we both adore those Big Bounce shadows in all their very weird, avant guard sheerness and bizarre texture.). OK, you know I've already raved over what a perfect modern base they are underneath the Crushed Metal pigments from Surf Baby, how you can build up wild duochrome effects with them, how they don't compete with the sheerness of the texture unlike other heavier bases, etc etc.

Well some sort of MAGICAL CHEMISTRY reaction took place using them as a base for these MESs. First we tried it with Unsurpassable. Unsurpassable looks kind of like murky shit in all our current swatches, you will agree with me. Just some weird greyish color. Well, these swatches lie like the forked tongue of Beelzebub. Over a neutral Big Bounce, suddenly it becomes the most dense, velvety, opaque, and brilliantly bright emerald green you have ever seen. Like Jealousy Wakes on steroids. Don't boo hoo if you didn't get one - just get Unsurpassable and a Big Bounce for a base. We both did a complete, mouth hanging open double take when we saw what we were looking at. Even applied wet, there was no way we would have ever thought you could get such a vivid color out of any of these. Unsurpassable is doubly gorgeous because you have that damn green and you also have the blue veining, which is an amazing violet, periwinkle shade - stick to the blue veins and you have a totally different and equally blinding and vivid color, or apply a layer of the green side, let it set for a few seconds, then lightly brush and blend some of the blue into it, bit by bit, creating a bluish green of just the right proportion for your desire on the fly. Or don't blend the blue layer in and let it just sit on top and voila, you have a duochrome effect. This shit is bananas.

It makes me feel like if I buy out this whole collection, I will never need to buy another damn eyeshadow in my life. I used to have some Shiseido shadows back in their 80's glory days that were tiny chips of many different colors that you could sort of fool around with and get different colors out of one pan.....This group of Semi-Precious shadows is the mega-level of that concept. You will be able to release all your creative desires with these shadows and I am not exaggerating at all. The more you are willing to experiment with new ways of playing, the more you will get out of them. Or just do a quick swipe and get a weird murky color - but even over-blended, these are so complex, they will still make your eyes glow. Honestly, this group of colors is not for the faint of heart, but if you are an experimenter at heart you are going to feel like you died and went to heaven.