Excuse me, miss, I’ve got an RSQ (Really Serious Question) for you: are you ready to party like it’s 1997? If you are, grab your glow sticks and look out! — because it’s MAC Snow Ball time. You have just been teleported straight into a Christmas rave circa 1997.
The forgotten era of mid-’90s frost
I’d be right there with you, hanging out in all my skinny-brow’d and Adidas-shell-toed glory, as would Gwen Stefani, because what’s a late-’90s festive fantasy rave without Gwen?
It would have to be Gwen from the early No Doubt days, of course, with space bun hair and jewels glued all over her face… We’d all be wearing frosty shadows from our lash lines to our brow bones, and shimmer and glitter for days.
See, I think that sometimes people forget that ’90s makeup wasn’t just about the mattes, because in the late ’90s, frost had a major moment. Lids and lips were fabulously frosty, and MAC Snow Ball grabs that vibe, but have no fear — MAC updated it, so it’s fun, festive and current — not dated at all.
A two-part holiday collection
MAC holiday collections are usually big, and so is Snow Ball, which is organized two parts. There are the kits and sets, with the bags, palettes, brushes and whatnot, and then there’s the main makeup collection with the eyeshadows, lipsticks, face powders and false lashes.
OH! There’s even a set of ’90s-style sparkly stickers for your face in the makeup collection! Gwen would totally approve.
In this post we’re chatting about the eyeshadows and face powders from the makeup collection. Stay tuned for swatches of the lipsticks. I’ll have those soon.
Snow Ball Extra Dimension Eyeshadows
OK, let’s start with the limited edition shadows, or, should I say the LE eye glosses? Because these eyeshadows look like wet eye gloss, AND IT’S AWESOME…
Oy, sloooow down, K. You’re getting ahead of yourself.
Alright, so, there are five of them, $20 each, and they’re in the MAC Extra Dimension formula. Being $20, they’re the same price as the Extra Dimensions in the permanent line. On that note, did anyone else notice that MAC hasn’t been tacking on extra $$$ for LE packaging lately? YES, MAC FAM. Cheers for doing the right thing.
The beautiful limited edition gold packaging looks like someone was having way too much fun and shattered a golden disco ball in the middle of the party…and then put all of the pieces back together haphazardly, which — big surprise — I totally love, because I wanna be the person smashing sh*t. 🙂
Getting back to the formula, the Extra Dimensions are a different formula than the regular MAC eyeshadows. They’re super soft, almost like a gel-powder hybrid, and exceptionally creamy and easy to blend. The Snow Ball shadows are like the party girl/party guy versions of the Extra Dimensions. They have the signature Extra Dimension creaminess, along with a whole lotta holiday extras, like glossy finishes (OBSESSED), multiple color shifts (which is when the color changes depending on the light), and “good” (air quotes) glitter.
Yes, it sounds like it could take a perilous turn at any moment — like the makeup that gets marked 50% off on an end cap at Claire’s — but don’t exit this rave early, because everything is tastefully done.
NO, SERIOUSLY!
Don’t miss Stylishly Merry
I’m all about Stylishly Merry. Where do I start? I can’t even tell what color it is half the time because sometimes it’s pink, other times it’s copper, then, like, I’ll blink see gold. It’s complex.
On top of the color shift, it’s packed with plenty of golden glitter, which you’d think would catapult it straight into tacky territory, but it doesn’t, because it’s delicate YSL/Dolce/Chanel-style flecks. So foine! And very expensive-looking.
If you saw it on my lids from an arm’s length away, you’d ask me what possessed me to smear lipgloss on my eyes, because these shadows have the glossy, wet finish of a thick eye gloss, but they don’t have the stickiness or movement (which is a good thing).
Picture something from a high fashion spread in Vogue. It looks super cool.
Yes, Stylishly Merry has All. Of. The. Things, but they’re all balanced perfectly, and I love it. Definitely worth at least a dance a swatch.
Face Powders
Onto the two Face Powders, which are $34 each. Compared to the eyeshadows, they’re relatively tame.
There’s a gold and a warm peach, both with mid-level pearl and pigment. You can wear them as blushes and/or as highlighters.
I prefer an understated cheek highlight, so I prefer to use them as highlighters. As blushes, all I have to say is “pores, pores, pores.”
Oh, I think you might be able to even use these Face Powders on your lids, too, because the Face Powder from the Fruity Juicy collection was eye-safe.
I’ve used the Snow Ball Face Powders to do an inner corner highlight and as a brow bone highlight (which is so ’90s), and they seem to work fine on my eyes.
So far, I’m having a ball with Snow Ball! 🙂 (Yes, that was a bad pun… I’m sorry.)
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
Colleenie says
Oh Karen, the last full-face shot (with the face powders) took me back to high school and those photo places where everyone had to get photos taken with their friends. They weren’t quite glamour shots, but they were better than photo booths. Your pic looks like an updated pic from one of those! Thanks for reminding me of 90s realness, frost and all.
Chelsea says
I’m contemplating some of the lipsticks… Still waiting for an equivalent to Drive Me Wild from Fabulous Felines!! ?
Linda Libra Loca says
But why oh why are there so many pink tones? I really want one of the eyeshadws, but these light pink based ones just don´t work for me. They didn´t even work for me back in the 90s. Nor did space buns, just saying.
Caked To The Nines says
This whole collection is so gorgeous! I love the eyeshadows the most. I definitely loved me some frosty makeup during the late 90s and early 2000s!
Sissi says
The eyeshadows were sold out within 1 hour of their launch! On macs website and on ulta…I couldn’t believe it!!!
Karen says
Hi Sissi,
I wouldn’t be surprised if they do another run online!
Sissi says
I hope!!! ?
Shannon says
Are these in stores/going to be in stores soon?? Tooooootally wanna check out those shadows…
Karen says
Hi Shannon,
They’re in stores now and will be there until November 30. 🙂
Barb says
The packaging alone is glorious! I’m such a sucker for that!!
Jill says
Wow these eyeshadows are beautiful! I wish they’d put out Lipglass though…still not a convert to lipstick.
Denise S says
All the eye shadows are sold out everywhere!! The face powders didn’t show up well on my caramel skin. Hope they restock because Stylishly Merry is a gorgeous duo chrome eye shadow!
Kim says
I like your puns. 🙂 Way too much frost for me, of course, but the packaging is definitely beautiful.
kellly says
I loved the sparkly eye shadows and went online THE VERY DAY they were released only to see “SOLD OUT”.
Waaaaaahhhhhh!!!! Snarl!!!!!!
Jen says
This line looks absolutely gorgeous!! The lipsticks are so pretty, I love the frosty sheen! Never thought I’d say that in a million years but it’s pretty and not outdated!
Karen says
Hi Jen,
Yeah, the frosty lip is definitely a ’90s style throwback look but there are ways to make it up to date. Happy Friday!