MAC Nutcracker Sweet: Warm Eye Compact Eyeshadow x 9

Last Thursday, MAC launched their holiday collection called Nutcracker Sweet. It was inspired by the story, The Nutcracker and the Mouse King: "Leap into a magical land that's a bit nutty, a little naughty, bursting with whimsy. Lose yourself in an eccentric kingdom of oversized treats and rosy-cheeked nutcrackers. Twist, turn, and tumble deeper into the land of dolls. Our story has only begun..." In previous years, MAC released their holiday collection in two parts; the first part for the colour collection and bag sets, and the second part for kits. This year, they have been released all together under the same collection name, so what you see in stores and online now is Nutcracker Sweet in its entirety. 

Nutcracker Sweet sees the release of three eye compacts, each containing nine powder eyeshadows and a double-ended 214 short shader brush/213 fluff brush. They are housed in special edition neon coral and dark purple striped mirrored compacts with a gold embroidered design on the fronts, with matching secondary card stock packaging. Each Eye Compact contains a total of 9.9 grams of product (1.1 grams of each eyeshadow), and retails for $47.50.
Filament, Whirling, Era, Woodwinked, and Unwind

Filament is a pale brightened cool silvered white with silver sparkle in a Lustre finish. This is a permanent shade. It has a slightly gritty texture, but goes on smoothly and evenly. It has medium-high pigmentation and semi-opaque colour pay-off. It can be layered and blended out easily. It is more muted and more sparkly than White Frost and Crystal Avalanche, and more white than Forgery.

Whirling is a medium-dark cool taupe-grey with silver sparkle in a Lustre finish. This is a new and limited edition shade. It has a slightly gritty texture, but goes on smoothly and evenly. It has medium-high pigmentation and semi-opaque colour pay-off. It can be layered and blended out easily. It is lighter and warmer than Satin Taupe, cooler and more grey than Sable, and darker and more grey than Patina.

Era is a medium warm wheat beige with a soft sheen in a Satin 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 cooler and more golden than Grain, lighter and warmer than Wedge, and warmer and more brown than Omega.

Woodwinked is a medium warm antiqued gold in a Veluxe Pearl 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 cooler and more muted than Amber Lights, lighter and more golden than Tempting, and brighter and more golden than Patina.

Unwind is a medium warm golden khaki in a Veluxe Pearl finish. This is a permanent shade (in the Eyeshadow x 15 Warm 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 golden than Sumptuous Olive, lighter and more golden than Greensmoke, and more green than Patina.

Lady Fingers, Twelve Chimes, Showstopper, and Beyond Gorgeous

Lady Fingers is a medium-dark warm dirty mustard yellow in a Matte 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. There is nothing similar to this in MAC's permanent range.

Twelve Chimes is a dark cool brown with gold and bronze shimmer in a Lustre 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 cooler than Tempting, darker and more sparkly than Silver Dawn, and darker and cooler than Mulch.

Showstopper is a dark cool dirty brown in a Matte finish. This is a re-promoted shade from 2003's Liza for MAC collection, and is limited edition. It has a dry, stiff texture, and can go on patchy as a result. It has medium-high pigmentation and semi-opaque colour pay-off. It can be difficult to layer and blend out. It is lighter and cooler than Brun, lighter than Concrete, and darker and cooler than Charcoal Brown. 

Beyond Gorgeous is a deep dark cool black-brown with silver shimmer in a Veluxe finish. This is a re-promoted shade from this year's Girl Band Glam Look in a Box kit, and is limited edition. 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 Carbon, more brown and less sparkly than Black Tied, and more sparkly than Dark Dare.

The first thing you'll probably notice about this year's holiday eye palettes are that they bear a striking resemblance to the Urban Decay Naked Palettes. Never before has MAC put out a nine-shade eyeshadow palette for holiday — and these pans are almost full size (1.1 g vs. 1.3 g), making them a really great value at $47.50 (for $125.40 worth of eyeshadow). All the shades in this palette applied really well — smoothly and evenly with good colour pay-off — with the exception of Showstopper, a shade that has been re-promoted many times before, which was significantly drier and stiffer than the other shades. It's not a deal-breaker because there are still eight beautiful shades to work with, but it is worth noting. I really feel like this palette could have included more mid-tone matte shades because it lacks transition colours; for this reason alone, it will be harder to create cohesive eye looks. Moreover, three of the nine shades here are permanent, so for those who already own them, you might want to re-assess if this is worth purchasing. The name of this palette also confuses me a bit because it actually has more cool shades than it does warm — to the point where I initially thought this palette was mislabeled. Not that it's not a nice palette, because it is pretty and I like that they included a wild card colour (Lady Fingers) that is really quite unique. But do note that if you're interested in a true warm palette, the Smoky Eye Compact will fare much better.