MAC Hey, Sailor!: Eyeshadows

MAC released their main Summer collection, called Hey, Sailor!, in stores today in North America. Hey, Sailor! is comprised of two parts, one focusing on colour and the other focusing on face and body. Together, this collection features a total of 40 products — 30 of which are new and limited edition, five of which are re-promotes, and five of which are permanent. Hey, Sailor! sees the release of five Eyeshadow shades, four of which are new and limited edition, and one of which is permanent (that will not be reviewed here). Each Eyeshadow comes in a limited edition navy blue pot with a clear lid featuring a navy blue nautical stripe design, and limited edition box packaging featuring the same design. Each Eyeshadow contains 1.3 - 1.5 grams of product, and retails for $19. These are not applicable for the Back to MAC recycling program.

From bottom right: Jaunty, Barefoot, Feeling Fresh, and Nautical Navy

Jaunty, Barefoot, Feeling Fresh, and Nautical Navy

Jaunty is a light-medium warm wheat beige with a metallic sheen in a Frost finish. It is a new and limited edition shade. The texture is soft, dense, and buttery. It goes on smoothly and evenly, with high pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. It can be layered and blended out easily. It is warmer than Patina, cooler and less frosted than Retrospeck, and lighter and less brown than Era.

Barefoot is a light-medium warm dirty gold in a Veluxe Pearl finish. It is a new and limited edition shade. The texture is soft, dense, and buttery. It goes on smoothly and evenly, and has medium-high pigmentation and semi-opaque colour pay-off. I find that it doesn't have the same intense pigmentation as most Veluxe Pearl eyeshadows, but this does layer easily to achieve opacity and also blends out easily. It is less yellow and much more subdued than Goldmine, and darker and more bronze than Gorgeous Gold.

Feeling Fresh is a medium brightened grass green with yellow undertones and silver shimmer in a Frost finish. It is a new and limited edition shade. It has a dry, powdery texture and doesn't bind well together, so it tends to skip on the skin and doesn't blend easily. There is a grittiness to it that makes it seem more like a Lustre finish than a Frost. It has medium pigmentation and semi-opaque colour pay-off, but it does layer easily over a primer or eyeshadow base to reach opacity. It is slightly lighter and a bit cooler than Fresh Flare Pro Longwear Eyeshadow.

Nautical Navy is a dark navy blue with soft blue and silver shimmer in a Satin finish. It is a new and limited edition shade. It has a slightly drier texture, but it goes on smoothly and evenly, with high pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. It can be layered and blended out easily. It is slightly darker and much less metallic than Thru the Night Pro Longwear Eyeshadow, much more blue and less purple than Contrast, and lighter and more blue than Nehru.

For me, the must-haves from these are Jaunty and Barefoot — they have the smoothest and most pigmented formulas, and they also happen to be the most wearable and neutral shades of the collection. They're the type of colours that look good on their own (with a bright lip, perhaps?) and mixed with brighter or darker shades to create a full-blown eye look. The biggest disappointment out of these is Feeling Fresh, which is such a gorgeous colour — if only it would execute better! If you're looking for a similar green, I would definitely go for Fresh Flare Pro Longwear Eyeshadow instead, which goes on much smoother and more evenly with better colour pay-off. Nautical Navy is nice (I had read that it was super-dry and stiff and sheer, but I was pleasantly surprised that it's none of those things!), but very easily dupeable within MAC and within other brands. It's a nice option if you're looking for a navy blue shade, but it's easily passable if you have a lot at home.