Review & Swatches: MAC Guilty Passions Sweetly Smoky Crushed Metallic Pigments

Availability: MAC Stores & Online
Price: $32.50

This review is for the Sweetly Smoky set of Crushed Metallic Pigments releasing with MAC’s Holiday Guilty Passions Collection. This post includes photographs and swatches of the following colors:

• Femininity: Cool pink frost
• Maribu: Lilac frost
• Prettified: Mauvey frost
• Dusty Desire: Rich purple frost

Packaging: 9.25/10

This kit comes in a cylindrical, hat-box-like container made of very heavy cardboard. The top slides off to reveal the set of four (4) Crushed Metallic Pigments inside, which themselves are housed in clear, plastic jars with twist-off tops. The jars can be stacked together.

Quality: 8.25/10

Maribu is a very pale, frosty pink shade. The texture of the color is more uneven than your normal pigment, but its more finely-milled compared to other Crushed Metallic Pigment shades like She’s Got Class.

Prettified is a light brown color that has a slight pinky-silver sheen. It has the same texture as Maribu.

Femininity is a bright, pink-violet shade with a silver sheen. This shade has an almost-duo-chromed effect on the skin. The powder is much smoother on the skin–more like a normal pigment would apply. This shade can leave a slight stain behind on the skin, so I’d suggest using it over primer.

Dusty Desire is a deep, bold, royal purple color. This shade, unlike most of the Crushed Metallic Pigment shades, is fairly opaque. I’d suggest using this shade dry, as the boldness of the color is diluted a little if used wet.

All Crushed Metallic Pigments have (as the name suggests) highly metallic finishes. The powder consists of larger particles than your typical eye shadow pigment. As a result, you get a more chunky, less even finish to the skin compared to a more finely-milled powder. Overall, though, the Sweetly Smoky set has more finely-milled shades compared to the Brilliantly Cool set.

All of the colors have great pigmentation, but the chunkier colors leave a patchier finish and are definitely more difficult to blend if you plan on taking them into the crease.

The chunkier shades transfer and crease noticeably quicker too. With Maribu and Prettified, I saw dramatic creasing after just three (3) hours of wear and the pigment traveled on the lid. Femininity and Dusty Desire fared better, lasting about four and a half (4.5) hours over primer before fading and creasing.

These also aren’t the best for mature skin, as the highly frosty finishes and grainy texture will emphasize wrinkles. I don’t believe in having makeup rules that say your age or skin color means you can’t wear a certain makeup product or color. But for those with mature skin wanting to wear shimmer, I’d suggest using a pigment that is much more finely-milled and smooth than the Crushed Metallic Pigments.

Ease of Use: 8.25/10

Although often times beautiful, Crushed Metallic Pigments are comparatively difficult to work with. They get glitter absolutely everywhere and the open-jar packaging only encourages you to get shimmers on your fingers and clothes. You need to apply more pressure onto your brush in a sort of pressing/patting motion to flatten and even out the pigment. I’d also strongly recommend using a primer underneath to help the shadow particles adhere to the skin and to stall creasing. Expect to brush away fall-out after application, particularly with the chunkier shades.

Price: 9.75/10

These are the same price as last year’s Crush Metallic Pigment sets (hooray for the rare no-price-increase from MAC!) and contain the same amount. For $32.50, you get a total of 12 grams of pigment. MAC’s normal pigments cost $20.00 and give you only 4.5 grams of product. You’re getting a great deal with the Crushed Metallic Pigment sets.