MAC Divine Night: Mineralize Eyeshadows

Last week, MAC released a new collection called Divine Night, which is the main colour collection and first part of MAC's Holiday 2013 offerings. Divine Night was inspired by "what happens at night... the moment when flashing lights illuminate a flair for finery and limitless luxury that can only be described as divine." The design of the powders and the colour combinations were inspired by the elegance and geometric designs of 1920s Art Deco, as well as Studio 54 and the lavish lifestyles of the era. Divine Night consists of 32 products, and sees the release of six new and limited edition shades of Mineralize Eyeshadow (two of which will not be reviewed here). It is housed in special edition matte black packaging with yellow gold detailing and matching secondary cardstock packaging. Each Mineralize Eyeshadow contains 1.8 grams of product, and retails for $27.50.
Exquisite Ego
Exquisite Ego (swatches): used dry (left two) and used damp (right two)

Exquisite Ego #1 is a pale soft warm beige in a frosted finish. This is a new and limited edition shade. It has a soft, silky texture, and goes on smoothly and evenly. It has medium-high pigmentation and semi-opaque to opaque buildable colour pay-off. It can be layered and blended out easily. It becomes slightly more intense and more metallic when used damp, but it does look fairly similar when used dry. It is more whitened and more sparkly than Dazzlelight Eyeshadow, warmer than Forgery Eyeshadow, and less peach and less sparkly than Light Touch Pressed Pigment.

Exquisite Ego #2 is a medium copper-bronze with orange undertones in a metallic finish. This is a new and limited edition shade. It has a soft, silky 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 becomes slightly more metallic when used wet, but it does look fairly similar when used dry. It is less reddened than Mythology Eyeshadow, darker and more orange than Honey Lust Eyeshadow, and darker and more copper than Tan Pigment.

Gilded Night
Gilded Night (swatches): used dry (left two) and used damp (right two)

Gilded Night #1 is a soft black with silver sparkle in a frosted finish. This is a new and limited edition shade. It has a slightly drier texture, but goes on smoothly and evenly. It has medium-high pigmentation and semi-opaque to opaque buildable colour pay-off. It can be layered and blended out easily. It becomes significantly more intense and much more metallic when used damp. It is similar though more sparkly than Black Tied Eyeshadow, more muted than Cinderfella Mineralize Eyeshadow, and much less sparkly than Jet Couture Pressed Pigment.

Gilded Night #2 is a light-medium soft yellow gold in a frosted finish. This is a new and limited edition shade. It has a soft, silky texture, and goes on smoothly and evenly. It has medium-high pigmentation and semi-opaque to opaque buildable colour pay-off. It can be layered and blended out easily. It becomes slightly more metallic when used damp, but it does look fairly similar when used dry. It is darker and more gold than Retrospeck Eyeshadow, darker and more sparkly than Ricepaper Eyeshadow, and lighter and much more muted than Goldmine Eyeshadow.

Past Midnight
Past Midnight (swatches): used dry (left two) and used damp (right two)

Past Midnight #1 is a pale cool-toned pink with a touch of lavender in a frosted finish. This is a new and limited edition shade. It has a soft, silky texture, and goes on smoothly and evenly. It has medium-high pigmentation and semi-opaque to opaque buildable colour pay-off. It can be layered and blended out easily. It becomes slightly more intense and more metallic when used damp. It is cooler than Pink Freeze Eyeshadow, lighter and brighter than Seedy Pearl Eyeshadow, and lighter and more pink than Amethyst Pressed Pigment.

Past Midnight #2 is a dark royal purple with a blackened base in a frosted finish. This is a new and limited edition shade. It has a drier texture, and can go on slightly patchy as a result. It has medium pigmentation and semi-sheer to semi-opaque buildable colour pay-off. It can be layered and blended out easily. It becomes significantly more intense and more metallic when used damp, and also applies much smoother and more evenly. It is darker and slightly cooler than Nocturnelle and Plush Pro Longwear Eyeshadow, and cooler than Young Punk Mineralize Eyeshadow.

Until Dawn
Until Dawn (swatches): used dry (left two) and used damp (right two)

Until Dawn #1 is a medium cool-toned caramel brown in a frosted finish. This is a new and limited edition shade. It has a soft, silky texture, and goes on smoothly and evenly. It has medium-high pigmentation and semi-opaque to opaque buildable colour pay-off. It can be layered and blended out easily. It becomes slightly more intense and more metallic when used damp. It is darker and cooler than Soft Brown Eyeshadow, lighter and less reddened than Haux Eyeshadow, and more brown and more frosted than Stormy Pink Pro Longwear Paint Pot.

Until Dawn #2 is a light-medium golden wheat in a frosted finish. This is a new and limited edition shade. It has a soft, silky texture, and goes on smoothly and evenly. It has medium-high pigmentation and semi-opaque to opaque buildable colour pay-off. It can be layered and blended out easily. It becomes slightly more intense and more metallic when used damp. It is darker and less yellow than Ricepaper Eyeshadow, warmer and more muted than Retrospeck, more golden than Sweet Satisfaction Pro Longwear Eyeshadow.

I've always been on the fence with Mineralize Eyeshadows. On the one hand, they can look absolutely beautiful in execution... but on the other hand, they take quite a bit of patience to use. They remind me somewhat of MAC's Lustre finish eyeshadows, which are very sparkly and have a semi-sheer to semi-opaque colour pay-off (they are meant to be a wash of colour on the eye). Like the Lustres, these are also prone to a lot of fall-out because of the amount of sparkle. But unlike MAC's regular powder eyeshadows, Mineralize Eyeshadows can be used damp, and that's when they really execute beautifully. They work really well on top of a more emollient base like MAC's Paint Pots, though any eye primer will help significantly in making the eyeshadow adhere better to the lid and show up more pigmented. As MAC has released many similar shades to these and continues to have many dupes within their permanent eyeshadow range, I wouldn't say any of these are must-haves, but they may entice you if you love Mineralize Eyeshadows.