MAC Zac Posen: Eye Z You Eyeshadow Palette

Last week, MAC launched their collaboration with American fashion designer, Zac Posen: "After dazzling women with his modern but timeless designs on the runway and red carpet for 13 years, New York designer Zac Posen presents his debut colour collection for MAC. His signature love of bold, daring colour delivers brilliantly in lipsticks... Achieve the high-contrast sculpted look seen in Posen's runway shows with the powder blush duo... then opt for drama with an exclusive six-shade eyeshadow palette that flits from effervescent champagne to deep frost-grey and pearly soft lilac. From the iconic packaging to the square-handled contour and buffer brushes that boasts the designer's mark, every loving detail that Posen adorns on the female form takes on new shape for the face."

Zac Posen sees the release of a total of ten products, of which five are new and limited edition, and five are permanent and in special edition packaging. Zac Posen sees the launch of one new and limited edition Eyeshadow x 6 Palette. It is housed in a special edition teal-grey square mirrored compact with gold detailing, and matching cardstock packaging. Each palette contains a total of 5.3 grams of product, and retails for $52. 
Cozy Grey, Performance Art, and Palatable

Cozy Grey is a light-medium cool-toned taupe in a Matte finish. This is a permanent shade in the Eyeshadow x 15 Cool Neutral palette. It has a soft, finely-milled texture, and goes on smoothly and evenly. It has high pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. It can be layered and blended out easily. It is cooler than Malt, more grey than Kid, and lighter than Camel Coat Paint Pot.

Performance Art is a medium cool-toned pinked mauve in a Veluxe Pearl finish. This is a re-promoted shade from 2012's Styleseeker collection. It has a soft, finely-milled texture, and goes on smoothly and evenly. It has high pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. It can be layered and blended out easily. It is lighter and less metallic than Smoky Mauve Extra Dimension, more pink and more frosted than Shale, and lighter and more pink than Sable.

Palatable is a medium-dark cool-toned taupe-grey in a Satin finish. This is a new and limited edition shade. It has a soft, finely-milled texture, and goes on smoothly and evenly. It has high pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. It can be layered and blended out easily. It is warmer than Knight Divine, cooler and more grey than Satin Taupe, and cooler and less metallic than Stolen Moment Extra Dimension.

Phloof!, After Dusk, and Mauve Over

Phloof! is a pale cool-toned brightened pinked beige in a Frost finish. This is a permanent shade. It has a soft, finely-milled texture, and goes on smoothly and evenly. It has high pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. It can be layered and blended out easily. It is warmer than Pink Freeze, brighter and more pink than Dazzlelight, and more pink than Jest.

After Dusk is a medium warm rosy mauve in a Veluxe Pearl finish. This is a permanent shade in the Eyeshadow x 15 Cool Neutral palette. It has a soft, finely-milled texture, and goes on smoothly and evenly. It has high pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. It can be layered and blended out easily. It is more pink than Star Violet, cooler and more muted than Cranberry, and warmer and more pink than Smoky Mauve Extra Dimension.

Mauve Over is a dark muted warm reddened plum in a Veluxe Pearl finish. This is a new and limited edition shade. It has a soft, finely-milled texture, and goes on smoothly and evenly. It has high pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. It can be layered and blended out easily. It is darker and more muted than Plum Dressing, more reddened and less metallic than Rich Core Extra Dimension, and darker and more reddened than Nocturnelle.

This palette is like a condensed version of MAC's Neutral Cool Eyeshadow x 15 palette, so it's predominantly cool-toned but neutral enough that all skintones can wear it. I like that they're fairly muted shades, too, so you can wear them both in the day and the evening, but they add more interest than straight-up neutrals. All six shades performed well, too — finely-milled, soft, and blendable with good colour pay-off. I personally really like the packaging as well and I think the matte teal-toned grey of the compact and the antique gold of the trim and logo go really beautifully together. It has a nice weightiness to it that makes it feel more luxury and more worth the price (this palette is more expensive per gram than MAC's permanent palettes). My only complaint is the lack of matte shades. Of the six included, only one of them is matte, so I find that the shades here can end up look too blended on the lid and lack the depth and dimension that matte shades would add. Other than that, this is a timeless, classy palette that will work on everyone for all occasions, and is especially great for those who want a palette that is travel-friendly.