MAC - Naturally Discussion

[Mac-Guy]

Do not copy or link any pictures or reviews to another blog or forum without my explicit permission!

Subtle Breeze is described by MAC as a blue pink, but I would say that on my NW15-20 skin, it comes out as a rose pink with slightly blue (cool) hues. As the collection comes out during the cold winter months - at least where I am located - the color reminds me of a "kissed-by-the-winter" shade that gives your cheeks a natural flush of color. It is still very bright, so again, I recommend using a light hand with this MB.

The finish has more sheen - I would not call it shimmer yet - than Early Morning, which is just lovely in combination with the color, as your cheeks get a rosy glow. If you want to achieve a "healthy" look, SB is the color to pick.

The texture is similar to FH and EM, which is buttery soft, and the color is very easy to pick up with a brush. The pigmentation, again, is very strong. I love applying SB with the 128 as it allows me to brush it on in a painterly way. Using the 128 as opposed to a regular blush brush (109, 116, 129) also helps to make this blush last on the cheeks as you can apply pressure when depositing the color. The 128 also gives me the best finish with SB as you do not want to loose the sheen or the color. When I used the 109 or the 116, I lost a bit of the color while the sheen was still there. When applying a second layer, the sheen-color was not in balance anymore. Of course, this is just my opinion. Feel free to use whatever brush your hear desires.

I absolutely love to pair SB with Elude - lightly dusted all over - and Play it Proper b/p as a cheek highlight. The former one will provide a fantastic neutral base that brings out the freshness of SB, while the latter one complements SB through adding a pink-toned highlight that has slightly more shimmer than the blush itself. If you blend the edges carefully, you will achieve the most natural glow on your face.

SB is not the most outstanding color of this collection, but its natural look makes its a real treasure. Love it!

Subtle Breeze MB is the fourth one from the bottom.

 

[GreigeClarity]

These blushes look amazing! I am totally sucked in to buying them all now that I've seen Mac-Guy's swatches! I'm uber pale (NC 15...and on my sometimes that's still not light enough!) and am totally fantasizing about how I'll wear these when I have them, lol.

 

[Mac-Guy]

I would give it a try with the 188 then. It's a bit flimsy when it comes to applying pigmented blushes, but from the choices you have, this will be the best one.

 

[princess sarah]

Thanku for the advice

I would give it a try with the 188 then. It's a bit flimsy when it comes to applying pigmented blushes, but from the choices you have, this will be the best one.

 

[romi79_2008]

187 is my favorite for blushes with strong pay offs, you can control very easy how much you apply with it!

 

[Mac-Guy]

Do not copy or link any pictures or reviews to another blog or forum without my explicit permission!

Mac describes Twilight Fallsas a cool brown with bronze veining, which is pretty accurate. TW is my favorite MES from this collection due to (1) the texture; (2) the color pay-off; and (3) the coolness of the shade. It is a must-have for brown and taupe lovers, a definite check-it-out if you want a neutral with an oompf.

It seems that the MES formula has been improved again when I compare it with Semi-Precious or even the recent Glitter & Ice collection. The buttery feel of these MES is just amazing. Indeed, the texture of TW is very buttery and soft, making it very easy to apply. To get this smooth texture, I would avoid TW's that have larger chunks of bronze veining as these tend to be more gritty, though it is certainly manageable if you choose to get one with a lot of bronze veining.

TW's color pay-off is extraordinary as it is highly pigmented. Whereas the G&I collection featured much softer colors, TW has certainly an almost true-to-pan pay-off in terms of depth of the color. I only applied it dry (as I do with most of my MES), but I imagine it to be an extremely vibrant color when you foil it.

Admittedly, TW is not a looker in the pan as it looks very underwhelming and almost boring (think "dog turd" for the lack of a better description!). But its full potential comes to light when applied on the skin (dry), which brings out the cool undertones of the shade that lifts "brown" to another level by adding a subtle shimmer of blue and lavender to it (and bronze if you pick one with heavy bronze veining). Mind you, if you pick one with a lot of bronze veining, you will potentially loose some (or a lot) of the coolness. However, this option also makes this shade attractive to both NC and NW complexions.

If you are skeptical about wearing brown, you might want to try out this MES as it is certainly not your regular shade of brown.



Twilight Falls is the fifth one from the bottom (just next to Subtle Breeze).

 

[sunsetbeauty15]

WOW WOW WOW these blush are beautiful! subtle breeze stands out the most to me which i was not expecting, MAC-GUY your my hero i hope these swatches are true to color because they are stunning!

 

[Edelmc]

Mac-guy: do you think subtle breeze is similar to dainty or pet me?

 

[Mac-Guy]

Mac-guy: do you think subtle breeze is similar to dainty or pet me?

SB is much more pigmented than Dainty. And PM is yellow-tinged whereas SB has more coolish undertones but not as cool as Feeling Flush but more rose-blue.

 

[Mac-Guy]

WOW WOW WOW these blush are beautiful! subtle breeze stands out the most to me which i was not expecting, MAC-GUY your my hero i hope these swatches are true to color because they are stunning!

The swatches are pretty much true to color, but keep in mind that I have an NW15-20 complexion, so they might swatch differently on NC and/or darker skin.

 

[Mac-Guy]

Do not copy or link any pictures or reviews to another blog or forum without my explicit permission!

Summer Haze is described as palest gold with deeper gold veining, but there is a great variation of veining in this particular MES, which has a direct influence on the color you get.

SH is more shimmery - but not glittery - than Twilight Falls, but the texture is still easy enough to work with to achieve an opaque color pay-off in one swatch.

The best feature of SH is the light gold color you get when you swirl the veining together. As I wanted a light but still opaque version, I picked one that has a lot of the pale base with pronounced veining that makes it easy to pick up colors individually if I wish to do so. I have not foiled this shade and do not plan on swatching it wet, but I imagine that it will turn out rather vibrant if you desire a more eclectic result.

It is a lovely shade for an all-over wash of color, which I like to blend up to the inner half of the brown bone while maintaining a nude eye look. It goes very well with Goldstone as a blush or applied all-over as these two colors bounce off each other, complementing a very natural appearance that reflects different shades of yellow light gold to more bronze-y shades of gold. I find it more neutral than Faux Gold as it has less (no) burgundy in it, making SH a much lighter color.





The swatch probably does not do Summer Haze (second from top) any justice as it is difficult to photograph more shimmery products. I certainly did not want to cake it on as this is not how I would apply it (and if caked on, there are potential fallout issues).

 

[sunsetbeauty15]

i'm NC 15/20 do you think they will still look similar?, thanks so much for taking the time to post swatches

 

[Mac-Guy]

i'm NC 15/20 do you think they will still look similar?, thanks so much for taking the time to post swatches

It really depends how undertones. If you have stronger yellow undertones, the swatches will certainly look different. If you have a fairly neutral NC complexion, the swatches might get close.

 

[sunsetbeauty15]

It really depends how undertones. If you have stronger yellow undertones, the swatches will certainly look different. If you have a fairly neutral NC complexion, the swatches might get close.

quite neutral yes i'm so excited thank you

 

[bronzedbeauty18]

Hi Mac Guy! Would Subtle Breeze work for the darker part of the NC spectrum (NC 47)? I'm definitely adding TW to my list. Thanks for the swatches!

 

[Icecaramellatte]

Mac-Guy! Thank you so much for the swatches and reviews. I'm looking forward to this collection the most. I was waiting for swatches of the blushes to see if I could add them to my list. I thought they might be too light but they look vibrant enough. I like all 3! Swatched on your hand, the stripes are reminiscent of Ripe Peach (at least on my screen). I love everything you swatched: pigment, MES and blushes. I'm getting it all!

 

[Mac-Guy]

Hi Mac Guy! Would Subtle Breeze work for the darker part of the NC spectrum (NC 47)? I'm definitely adding TW to my list. Thanks for the swatches!

I wish I would know the answer. I'd say yes, but to be on the safe side, I recommend that you swatch it in store or wait for a swatch on darker skin. All three MB's are quite pigmented, so there's a good chance that it will work nicely on WOC.

 

[bronzedbeauty18]

I wish I would know the answer. I'd say yes, but to be on the safe side, I recommend that you swatch it in store or wait for a swatch on darker skin. All three MB's are quite pigmented, so there's a good chance that it will work nicely on WOC.

Woo-hoo! I'm in love with the texture of Feeling Flush....so there is a huge possibility that all 3 blushes will be going home with me once I have a chance to swatch them. The pigmentation almost reminds me of Taj Mahal or Exhibit A.

 

[elegant-one]

Do not copy or link any pictures or reviews to another blog or forum without my explicit permission!


Fresh Honey MB is described as a warm apricot, though on my NW15-20 skin, it swatches much more orange-y than apricot. It is an absolutely gorgeous blush which I would call "Hello Orange!" rather than "Fresh Honey." FH will set the tone for the orange trend, of which we will see a lot in 2012. Be prepared for some serious orangeness in 2012 and embrace this shade as an wonderful change to what we have seen in the past years.

yep, those tones do that to me too - of course

I used to hate anything orange until last summer. I learned to embrace it. This Fall I wore orange t-shirts with menswear herringbone sienna pants with a burnt orange skinny belt. And, a dab of the warm orange-golden coppery glittery middle zipper strip in the MES (yes the zipper ya'll hate) just patted right above the iris in the middle of the lid. Love the color now.

 

[SweetSarah]

I ran into my favorite MAC MUA at Whole Foods yesterday and she recognized me (you know you spend too much money at MAC when...)!

So we got to talking and she was raving about the products she had seen at their Naturally Update meeting or whatever. A Perfect Day is so going to be mine.
She also told me Redhead would be amazing on me.

So excited.