My MAC shadow collection

Have begun to fill up my large MAC palette with the few shadows that I own. Some of these came from blog sales, some I depotted myself, and a few are Pro shades I bought instore. I definitely need a better range of colours than this, and many more neutrals, but I do love most of the shades I have in this palette. I have some pre-made palettes from MAC holiday collections etc, but I've chosen to have them in a separate post, so this is not my complete MAC collection.

The large palettes can be purchased from Pro stores for $28 AUD, and fit 15 MAC pans within them. You can wiggle the dividers out in order to fit more than that, but I would rather buy another palette. I've heard the shadows tend to break during travel when the divider is out, so that is also something to consider. You can also buy a 4 pan palette for $10 AUD, which I also own (but cannot find!) I purchased mine from the Chapel St store in Melbourne, which is the nearest Pro store to me.

Outre is breathtaking, and though it looks unassuming in the pan it is amazing when on the lid. Outre came out with the Mac Me Over collection, and was the shadow I was most afraid of chipping when I depotted my shadows recently (post here) It is described as a matte mid-toned mustard. It is excellent with the rose shade from the Nars Grand Palais palette, or paired with other brown shades (especially from the Naked palette)

One of my most worn MAC shades, Mink & Sable is a starflash khaki filled with a golden sheen. I feel that this colour is the most flattering on me, and the compliments I get when I wear this tend to support that idea. I wear this, generally, all by itself, and take it right up and over the crease just a touch before blending it out, and highlighting my brow. It adds a depth to my eyes while the golden sheen brightens them, and it is my favourite MAC shade.

I wear French Cuff quite often during the colder months, and I find it performs best when paired with a wine coloured lip. It was described as a burgundy purple when it was released in 2008 with the Brunette, Blonde, Redhead collection, but I wouldn't align it to a purple, personally. It is a lustre finish and like Mink & Sable, it really lights up my eyes when I wear it. This is really similar to Methology (also called Mythology) and Expensive Pink, which are below, but it prettier in my opinion.

Patina is one that I bought because I heard a lot about it, and I wanted to add more MAC neutrals to my collection. It is a shimmery, brownish taupe with a golden sheen to it. On Makeup and Beauty Blog here, she mentions that it shows up more purple on her than on lighter skin tones, and I agree with that as it's definitely a light-toned brown with a strong gold lean on my light skin. This isn't my most flattering shadow, but I'm still happy to have it in my collection. I just need to play around iwth it some more and find out how to make it work for me.

Methology was a gift from the lovely Melissa (blog here) as she purchased it while in the U.S, but came home to find that it was pretty much identical to her Mythology pan! Not sure what is up with that, if anyone knows why they name varies I'd love to hear it in the comments. This is a coppery pink shade that is super similar the Expensive Pink (below) when on the lid. I don't use these pink shades as much as I probably should, as I like them over the lid. Once I get my hands on Cranberry I am going to attempt to recreate this look.

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Expensive Pink is, again, super similar to Methology/Mythology and also French Cuff. It's a coppery pink shade, with perhaps a touch more shimmer than the other shades, and a little bit darker.

Plumage is a matte dusty peacock blue sort of colour that is my sort of smoky eye shade! I purchased this from a blog sale without having seen it in person, as I knew I would be able to make a matte navy sort of shade fit right into my collection. It's a bit hard to blend, even in swatches, but I don't really mind as I like to blend shades like this right out when I'm creating a smoky eye. I've also seen it paired with pale shades with just this in the crease, and it looks amazing!

Humid was a blog sale no brainer, as it was super cheap and a green, which means it would get a lot of use from me! It's a shimmery, deep true green, which despite it's frost finish is rich in colour and not at all frosty. I love pairing this with all of the other greens in my collection, it's very wearable.

Of Summer, my least favourite shadow from my collection. This was thrown in as a freebie when I purchased from a blog sale, and I can sort of see why. It's so darn hard to make this show up, both in swatches and on the lid. I understand that some people may appreciate Of Summer for the sheer quality, but I prefer pigmented shadows and find them much easier to work with in general. Having said that, this lilac with a fine sheen is really pretty once I manage to get it to show up.

Shimmermoss is a darling, it really is. The fact that it has been discontinued makes me sad, as it's a vibrant teal with is really pigmented and lovely once you build up the confidence to wear it. I regularly wear bright eye looks, so I get quite a bit of use from this shade. You can see from the swatches below how much it stands out from all of the other shades! I am really glad I picked this up before it was discontinued, if you come across it I think it's definitely worth grabbing.

Patina, Methology, Expensive Pink, Outre, Mink & Sable, French Cuff, Plumage, Humid,

Of Summer, Shimmermoss

From top: Mink & Sable, Outre, Expensive Pink, Methology, Patina.

From top: Humid, Plumage, French Cuff, Mink & Sable

From top: Shimmermoss, Of Summer, Humid, French Cuff

From top, Methology and Patina.

Order as above.

I'm excited to be filling up my palette, and have my eye on a few more staple shades from the permanent MAC collection to go into the final 5 slots. Now that I'm confident at depotting my shadows (see post here) I don't mind getting the pans from the Pro store or ordering some online, so we'll see what I choose next.

 I'd love any MAC recommendations in the comments, or some ideas on what sort of looks you'd like me to showcase on the blog with the above shades! In my opnion, the must have shades from my palette are Mink & Sable, French Cuff and Outre, with Shimmermoss a close runner up.