MAC Iris Apfel: Eyeshadows

MAC released a new collection in collaboration with Iris Apfel yesterday (you can read more about her here). This collection will be available online and at freestanding MAC Stores only. It features 20 products in total, 15 of which are limited edition. There are five limited edition shades of eyeshadow featured in this collection, three of which are new, and two of which are re-promotes (one of which, Howzat, will not be reviewed here). Each eyeshadow comes in regular black packaging, contains 1.5 grams of product, and retails for $17.50. These shades are applicable for the Back To MAC recycling program at MAC Stores.

Diamond Dove, Early Bird, Robin's Egg, and Silver Gull

Diamond Dove is a dark cool-toned brown in a Matte finish. This is a new and limited edition shade. This is a drier matte, but it goes on smooth and evenly. It has high pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. It is more grey than Handwritten, and lighter and more brown than Mystery.
Early Bird is a medium bright coral pink in a Matte finish. This is a new and limited edition shade. The texture is soft and smooth. It has intense pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. It is similar, though a bit more vibrant, than Free To Be.
Robin's Egg is a medium bright teal-blue in a Matte finish. This is a re-promoted and limited edition shade. The texture is soft and smooth. It has intense pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. There is nothing similar to this in MAC's permanent range, though it is darker and more teal than Surf USA (from last summer's Surf, Baby! collection).
Silver Gull is a light-medium cool-toned grey with sparkle in a Velvet finish. This is a new and limited edition shade. The texture is dry and stiff. It has low-medium pigmentation and semi-sheer colour pay-off. Though it applies more smoothly on the eye than in a swatch, I was disappointed with the texture and colour pay-off on this. It is lighter than Scene.

The mix of colours seems a little odd here, but the two bright pops of colour amidst three other neutrals will appeal to a wider audience. The biggest disappointment was, by far, Silver Gull, which was just bad all around: dry, stiff, hard to blend, sheer, and hard to build up colour. It just didn't want to show up! The swatch in the picture took about ten layers to get it to that opacity (which is not very opaque!). Diamond Dove is nice to have if you don't have anything similar, but it is very easily dupable. You could skip Early Bird if you have Free To Be, but it is definitely is a gorgeous shade to have, and it is ultimately softer and more pigmented than Free To Be. The must-have from this collection, especially if you wear brights, is Robin's Egg, which just has a phenomenal texture and colour pay-off. Moreover, I haven't found any great dupes for it, so it's definitely one of the more unique shades that MAC has come out with recently.