REVIEW: MAC x Cinderella Eye Shadow and Lipsticks – Stroke of Midnight, Free as a Butterfly & Royal Ball


Hello lovelies!

Gosh, it’s been a while since I blogged anything about beauty. My parcels from MACCosmetics.com kept coming but I hardly had time to review them (photo-taking alone can take up to 2 hours per collection) due to my internship, so please bear with me! In the meantime, do check out my Instagram for more bite-sized updates 🙂

And at last, I’m finally able to write about the highly-anticipated M.A.C. x Cinderella collection which launched many donkey years ago. I’m late with my review again, sorry. But I do hope that this would still be able to help those who are hunting the items down on reseller markets.

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Gorgeous! Have you caught the movie?

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A huge collection that include 1 eye shadow palette (Stroke of Midnight), 2 Studio Eye Gloss (in Pearl Varnish and Lightly Tauped), 2 pigments (in Pretty It Up and Evil Stepmother) , 2 fluidline (in Macroviolet and Little Black Bow), Studio Fix Lash in Boldblack, 2 lipsticks (in Free as a Butterfly and Royal Ball), 2 tinted lipglass (in Glass Slipper and Happily Ever After), Beauty Powder in Mystery Princess, 1 Iridescent Powder in Coupe D’Chic, 1 Glitter in Reflects Pearl, 1 Blending Brush and 1 Large Angled Brush

I witnessed the items, especially them lipsticks, fly off the e-shelf on the day of launch. I think they went out of stock as fast at the Rocky Horror Picture Show collection. Many people couldn’t get what they wanted but lucky me actually predicted the launch time correctly (tip: never ever, ever rely on their mailers because they are sent to millions of subscribers and delays are inevitable) and managed to get everything on my shopping list.

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An overview of what I bought 🙂 For the first time, I actually bought an eye shadow palette from MAC. The colours are just too irresistible.

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Call me biased (since Cinderella is my favourite Disney cartoon and it was always on replay on my TV screen when I was a kid), but this collection is nothing short of breathtaking. Let’s not go into details yet and admire the presentation of the items from this collection. They are in sweet, pearlised light lavender blue packaging that’s specially designed to match the colour of the gown that Cinderella is wearing in the movie poster. Absolutely lovely! 🙂

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Official swatch

This collection comes with only 2 lipsticks (phew!) and it seemed like all eyes were already set on Royal Ball as it was the first item to sell out (followed by the iridescent powder). Both lipsticks are nude-coloured and have Lustre finish. Having owned quite a number of nude Lustre MAC lipsticks, I came to realise that they are all very under-utilised because somehow nude and lustre don’t work for me. Probably because I grew tanner, the shades are invisible on my lips and would sometimes wash me out. So I wasn’t really looking forward to adding the two lipsticks to my stash. :\

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Free as a Butterfly and Royal Ball

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Bullets

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Swatch

Let’s start off with Free as a Butterfly!

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Free as a Butterfly is a Semisheer Golden Nude with a Lustre finish (US$17.50)

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I’d say it’s actually very sheer on me. That is, even after layering it about four times.

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Okay, I probably see a slight difference in my lips because of the glossiness nature but definitely not something I’d spend US$17.50 / S$33 on if not for the packaging. The bullet was very slippery on my lips because it’s quite moist so I suspect that it would feather over time (not like you can see it anyway). Hence, also the reason why I think it wouldn’t last for more than an hour on my lips.

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Royal Ball is a fleshy pink in Lustre finish (US$17.50)

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One word: Disappointing 😦

I was expecting so much more than this but sigh, it turned out to be another Free as a Butterfly, but worse because I felt a little cheated. Where is the fleshy pink I see on the bullet? I was so attracted to the colour I saw on the official swatch (I’m pretty sure everyone else was too that’s why it’s so popular) but it appeared to be a totally different thing on my lips. I’m so grossed out, it kinda reminds me of a milder version of Happy Hibiscus which I sold a few years back because I absolutely hated it. Why, MAC, why?!

I don’t think I was ever so critical in my review but sigh, I really can’t help it 😦 I felt like I bought 2 of the same item because I really can’t tell them apart (besides the colour of the bullet).

But somebody please convince me that I look good in these two lipsticks because I really, really love the packaging hahaha. I’ll probably keep them for future swatch comparisons. 🙄

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Swatch comparisons with other similar nude shades I have!

Oh well, at least I still have an eye shadow palette to hopefully cushion the blow of a disappointing purchase.

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Official swatch

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Stroke of Midnight: Eye Shadow X6 (US$44)

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Vapour (peach pink with violet pearl, Velvet), Phloof! (Frosted Off-White, Frost), Omega (soft muted beige taupe, Matte), Quarry (soft muted plum brown, Matte), Satin Taupe (taupe with silver shimmer, Frost), Stroke of Midnight (black-plum with sparkle pearl, Velvet)

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Swatch!

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On me

This is MAC’s very own Naked (or Basics, since it’s so tiny, perfect for travelling) palette because it’s packed with 6 neutral shades. Five of these shades are already permanent but as you know, MAC likes selling its eye shadows in individual pots so having this palette would really save you a lot of time, money and space.

I’m probably too used to my Naked palettes but the eye shadows are quite difficult to work with because they are not really pigmented. They took me quite a number of swipes for them to be reasonably visible on my lids. Thus, it would never be my go-to palette during the morning rush hour. Having said that, it also has its upside, in terms of mistakes prevention. It’s perhaps more suited for people who are still experimenting with eye shadow colours 🙂

My favourite shades from this palette are Omega, Quarry and Satin Taupe. These were the easier ones to work with.

That’s all for this review! Do stay tuned for the next MAC review coming up very shortly 🙂

Thanks for reading!

On face: Urban Decay Weightless Foundation in 5.0, Benefit Boi-ing Concealer in 02, Make Up For Ever HD Pressed Powder, Benefit Rockateur Blush, Bobbi Brown Bronzing Powder in Medium, Benefit Watt’s Up Highlighter.

On eyes: Smashbox Brow Tech Trio, Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion in Anti-Aging, Benefit Roller Lash Mascara, Benefit They’re Real Push-Up Liner, MAC Stroke of Midnight Eye Shadow

MAC x Cinderella collection is now out on MACCosmetics.com (mostly sold out though) and in stores.

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