One of the bigger launches for MAC this year has definitely been the MAC x Mariah Carey 2016 Holiday Launch!

Encased in beautiful gorgeous gold with silver glitter lining, this collection definitely screamed glitz and glamour (and Mariah, for that matter!) – perfect for the holiday season! These items are in high demand and keep going in and out of stock online. Definitely call up your local stores if you’re looking for a particular item!

The It’s Everything eyeshadow quad is an interesting neutral quad that has both warn and cool colours – I feel like this is fairly uncommon, but it’s hugely appreciated since it will appeal to a wider range of people.

Every shade swatched out well and quite pigmented, except for Diamond Butterfly which was a really odd shade. It’s listed as a Frost finish, but in my experience Frost finishes are quite smooth and buttery. This shade performed like a Lustre which is ALWAYS disappointing since it’s sooo dang flakey. Regardless of my feelings towards the shadow’s finish, there is no denying the amount of sparkle punch that Diamond Butterfly provides!

The Sweet Sweet Fantasy blush in this collection was the item I was most excited about and it did not disappoint. This is a stunning medium-peach/coral shade and it’s hella pigmented against my skin!

Rounding out the products I have are the Dreamlover lipglass and This is My Night Eyeliner.

Dreamlover is a light peach gloss that basically shows up nude on my lips. The kick to this product is the amount of sparkle and shimmer you get jampacked in the gloss. But don’t worry, it doesn’t feel gritty on your lips!

This Is My Night Eyeliner is a dip post style  eyeliner which is not my favourite style of eyeliner (personal preference), but it is exceptionally pigmented in one swipe. It’s a deep blackened brown that dries to a completely matte finish.

MAC Mariah Carey Makeup Look

This full makeup tutorial using all of these items is coming to my YouTube channel tomorrow , – here’s the video! –  but in the meantime here’s the look I created using these products!

Let me know if you were able to snag anything in the MAC Mariah Carey collection! I know it was utter madness trying to get a hold of some of the items!

These products are PR samples that were kindly loaned to me by Samantha!

Guys!! We are right around the corner from the MAC Star Trek collection launch! I previously posted about some of the products I received for review in this post and this video, but I didn’t have access to the unbelievably gorgeous face powders at the time.

Thanks to Swatch & Review, I was able to play around with MAC Trip The Light Fantastic Powder in Strange New Worlds. And I’m more than a little bit smitten!

Strange New Worlds is a beautiful nebulous swirl of creams, oranges and reds. This product looks an awful lot like MAC‘s Mineralize Skinfinishes (older style packaging however), but on me this one is a lot more pigmented so I can’t really wear it as a highlighter. That’s okay though, because this beauty makes a stunning blush.

Swirled all together Strange New Worlds is a pearly orange with hints of gold. It’s absolutely stunning and I found myself slowly falling in love with it.

I’ve opted to wear Strange New Worlds as a blush without adding any additional highlighter. There is a bit of a sheen to this product, but if you want that BAM from a highlighter, you won’t really find that in this product. (Not complaining, just observing.)

I found that this blended on smoothly onto my cheeks and gave me a gorgeous warm flush. Seriously guys.. between the product and the end result… this whole product is just simply breathtaking.

If you’d like to see more from the MAC Star Trek collection, you can check out my video here:

Let me know if you plan to pick anything up from the MAC Star Trek collection! It launches online tomorrow August 25th and in stores on September 1. I expect this collection to go *extremely* fast since it’s been hyped up since March!

Coming soon to a MAC counter near you: MAC‘s It’s a Strike! limited edition collection!

Head straight to the fast lane and have a ball with M∙A∙C It’s a Strike! A range of Lipstick and Cremesheen Glass is racked in red. Rich eye shadow and Fluidline Pen shades will have everyone begging to join your league, while easy hues of Casual Colour are right up anyone’s alley. Practice a clean follow-through with three creamy colors of M∙A∙C Studio Nail Lacquer. Finally, knock them all down with the luminous allure of new Pearlmatte Face Powder.

My main excitement in this collection was stemmed not only by the new pearlmatte face powder (sadly, not pictured in this post), but also the GORGEOUS new eyeshadow shades!

While you’ve got your usual Carbon in there, there’s also a glorious mid-tone brown-grey in Bowl Out (matte), an incredibly fun yellow-green in Bowlarama (satin) and a to-die-for blackened cherry in 300 Game.

Aside from Carbon (who has long needed help in the pigmentation department), these eyeshadows swatched and wore like a dream. I love that there’s that sort of weird chartreuse colour that’s not quite green enough to be a true chartreuse. It played out so, SO nicely on my lids. Bowl Out – the grey brown – is the kind of shade I wanted Copperplate to be, but never was. And 300 Game is just way too awesome of a dark red to ignore! I’m also really, REALLY happy that this collection has only satin and matte eyeshadows – it’s just a nice change of pace, you know?

The lipsticks are also equally enticing – particularly the dazzle lipstick which I’ve never played with before!

Babes and Balls is a matte deep burgundy, whereas Liquid Lurex is described as a tarnished gold in a dazzle formula.

Although Liquid Lurex got pegged as “tarnished gold”, I personally see a very thin green-gold base with flecks of gold, silver and pink glitter dispersed throughout the formula. I thought it was a lot of fun to wear, even though it really is just a glitter lipstick. Despite the glitter, it’s not uncomfortable to wear. Removal is a bit of a pain however, as the glitter pieces will try their darnedest to stay stuck on your lips!

Babes and Balls is… well… just freaking stunning. Perhaps more suited towards the coming fall months (which I cannot WAIT for btw), Babes and Balls is a gorgeous matte lipstick that I know I’m going to get a ton of use out of. Not only is it a gorgeous shade, but my personal preference for lipsticks is always going to be a matte because they just stay PUT. And this one is no exception!

I’d never tried MAC‘s new(ish) Fluidline Pens, but I was eager to since I do love me a good winged liner on almost all of my makeup looks.

Sadly, I was not a fan of these pens. I found the felt tip pen made it very difficult to deposit the colour onto my lids. It’s like it just wasn’t flowing to the very end of the felt tip, which made it really frustrating to use. 🙁 These were a total pass for me. (I can’t recommend the fluidline gel pots enough though – those are excellent and I’ve been through several of them!)

MAC‘s Casual Color formula is another completely new to me product as I had never previously been drawn in by them. Consider me a convert though, because this was incredible.

It smells like their vanilla lipsticks (and can be used on the lips as well) and blended onto my cheeks easily. When I first stippled the colour on my cheeks I was slightly taken aback by just how much colour it deposited. But with a little blending action, this dark colour faded out to a soft  yet vibrant cheek colour.

MAC It’s a Strike! Look

If you’re interested in this It’s a Strike! makeup look, it’ll be coming to my YouTube channel tomorrow! Here it is:

For the full MAC It’s a Strike! colour story, please check out Swatch & Review.

Let me know if you’re interested in this collection. I’ll admit I was on the fence at first since it seemed like a weird place to draw makeup inspiration, but having tried out the products, I’m particularly enamored by the lipsticks and eyeshadows! This collection will be available online on August 18th and in stores August 25th.

The products featured in this post were sent to me by PR for review.