MAC Dazzlesphere!: Plum Pigment Ornament

MAC released their second holiday collection yesterday, called Dazzlesphere!, which features lip gloss and pigment stack sets in sphere-shaped "ornaments." Each pigment set features four new and limited edition shades of Crushed Metallic Pigment. All shades of Crushed Metallic Pigment have, as the name implies, a strong metallic finish. Each ornament of Crushed Metallic Pigment comes with two individual stacks, each stack containing two shades, totalling four shades. It is designed so that the lids can be interchangeable to stack each shade on top of each other. Each container houses 3 grams of pigment, with a total net weight of 12 grams per ornament. Each ornament retails for $38.50.

Clockwise from top: Misty, Seasonally Cool, Grape, and Light Violet

Misty, Seasonally Cool, Light Violet, and Grape

Misty is a light metallic silver. It goes on smooth and fairly pigmented, though not quite as pigmented as most other shades of Crushed Metallic Pigment. It is more grey than Forgery.

Seasonally Cool is a medium metallic taupe with stronger brown undertones. It has excellent pigmentation but there is a bit of grittiness to it and, as a result, has some fall out. It is more grey than Bronze, darker and cooler than Patina.

Light Violet is a metallic pink-based lavender. It has excellent pigmentation but is extremely gritty. As a result, it is much harder to blend and smooth out, and has quite a lot of fall out. It is darker and more purple than Seedy Pearl.

Grape is a metallic dark red-toned purple. It goes on very smoothly and has phenomenal pigmentation. It is similar but more metallic than Nocturnelle, and more red than the original Grape Pigment.

Crushed Metallic Pigments look absolutely stunning – in the jars and in execution. They really stay true to their product name, and really do look like crushed metal nuggets. The hardest shade to utilize will be Light Violet just because it's so chunky. It will be very hard to smooth out and blend, so this is better padded on. Crushed Metallic Pigments would work best using other textures, however, since they are super metallic and it might be overkill to use all shades in a stack together. I do recommend using these on top of a slightly more emollient base, just so they have adhere better to the eye area. I use MAC's Vibrancy Eye Primer, but Paint Pot or Paint would work well. I usually don't like loose eyeshadows because I find them messier with more fall out, but as someone who loves metallic eyeshadows, I find these totally worth working with. For those who like more matte shades, you can skip these.