MAC Nutcracker Sweet: Smoky 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.
Too-dle-oo, Deception, Sweet Dreams, Kid, and Dewdrop

Too-dle-oo is a pale brightened warm beige with shimmer-sheen in a Frost 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 warmer than Shroom, darker than Dazzlelight, and cooler than Ricepaper.

Deception is a medium-dark warm taupe-bronze with gold shimmer-sheen in a Frost finish. This is a re-promoted shade from 2009's Magic, Mirth, and Mischief collection, 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 cooler than Bronze, darker and warmer than Patina, and lighter and more golden than Mulch.

Sweet Dreams is a medium cool taupe-brown 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. It is darker and warmer than Omega, cooler than Wedge, and lighter than Coquette. 

Kid is a medium warm fawn brown in a Veluxe finish. This is a discontinued permanent shade, and is a re-promote. 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 lighter than Soft Brown, warmer and more matte than Era, and lighter and peachier than Wedge. 

Dewdrop is a light-medium warm gilded peach with gold 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 less gold than Gleam, darker and more sparkly than Naked Lunch, and lighter and more peach than Honey Lust.

Cake & Biscuits, Swiss Chocolate, Dance in the Dark, and Licorice Lane

Cake & Biscuits is a medium warm peachy brown 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. It is slightly darker than Soft Brown, lighter than Saddle, and lighter and less orange than Texture.

Swiss Chocolate is a medium-deep warm reddened mahogany in a Matte 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 lighter and more red than Embark, more red than Brown Script, and warmer than Corduroy.

Dance in the Dark is a deep-dark cool blackened brown in a Matte finish. This is a permanent shade (in the Eyeshadow x 15 Warm Neutral Palette). It has a slightly drier texture, but 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 than Brun, darker and warmer than Concrete, and cooler than Mystery. 

Licorice Lane is a dark cool brown 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. It is lighter similar to Brun, warmer than Concrete, and lighter and cooler than Mystery.

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). The Smoky Eye Compact will definitely be the most popular one of the three, if only because it contains the most universally flattering and foolproof neutral shades. All the shades in this palette applied really well — smoothly and evenly with good colour pay-off — with the exception of Dance in the Dark, which was slightly drier and stiffer than the other shades. (This shade is permanent in the Eyeshadow x 15 Warm Neutral Palette, and has been re-promoted many times before.) It's not too hard to work with, and it does actually go on quite pigmented, but it swatches really, really poorly, so I do have to note that Dance in the Dark goes on much smoother and more evenly on the eyes using a brush than swatching with your fingers.

The Smoky Eye Compact has an excellent variety of warm and cool tones, and light to dark shades, so you can create complete eye looks with it without having to dip into other shadows. What sets this apart from some other neutral palettes is the ratio of matte to shimmery shades. My biggest pet peeve with any given palette is that there are too many shimmery or metallic shades and not enough matte ones, so eye looks become muddied and dirty-looking. The Smoky Eye Compact has six matte shades and three shimmery shades so you can create far more eye looks with more dimension and can see the nuances between colours when worn together. Whether you're looking for a good everyday palette for yourself or as a gift for someone else, this one is well worth checking out.