October 25, 2007

MAC Royal Assets Holiday Collection 2007

Ok, MAC Addicts.

It’s that time you’ve all been waiting for 😉

The Muse’s haul is very tiny, actually, it’s bigger than I originally thought it would be!

This morning I was fairly sure I was going to end up with one palette but, of course, like the diseased cosmetic whore I am, I ended up purchasing three of the four Royal Asset Palettes.

Unless you’re as diseased as I am you only need one of the Royal Assets palettes in my opinion. This only applies if you are up to date with MAC Formal Black Holiday Collection 2006. If you didn’t partake of Holiday palettes last year this year is a good time to nab very similar palettes as 2006’s releases!

I’m not sure what I think of the actual compacts yet. I’m sorta of loving them and I’m sorta hating them. They are very nicely made. Very classy, worldly, chic but they may have a little bit of an underlay of cheap. I’m not sure what exactly it is that’s turning me off but I feel a little cheap going on here. So, right now I’m in a love/hate relationship with the actual style.

Contents are typical MAC eyeshadows that are very, very similar to Formal Black!

The Muse took the guess work out of this for you and compared the palettes side by side. The only palette I totally skipped out on was the Smokey Eye because it wasn’t even close to last year’s in beauty! It was actually quite blah! The colors seemed all matte to me and not as beautiful as last year’s smokey palette! The good news is that I highly recommend nabbing the Royal Assets Metallic Eyes palette as that appears to be a bit similar to last year’s smokey palette!

Let’s review. I ended up getting the Cool, Warm, and Metallic Eye palettes.

Metallic Eyes

Cool Eyes

Warm Eyes

Few differences in last year’s palettes and this years! Here we are comparing the warm palette from this year (on the left) to the warm palette from last year (on the right).

Royal Assets Warm Eyes Palette vs. Formal Black Eyes Warm Palette

I don’t have the names of last year’s shadows sadly. It’s not listed on the box or the insert and the Muse is a bit too lazy to look it up on the internet 😉 So I’ll give you a run down of the names of this year’s shadows and compare them to last years!

Royal Assets Warm Eyes Palette Eyeshadows:
Sunday Best (this is replacing a lighter gold color. It’s nude with a bit of a frosty shimmer to it)
Star Voilet (this is replacing a copper color. It’s not nearly as nice as last year’s color. It’s a matte light brown)
Club (this is replacing a beige gold color, last year was a nice color but this year the color is even better! It’s a nice shimmering gold)
Showstopper (This is a bluish brown color and replacing a caca green/brown color from last year! I’m not sure I like this color! Prefer last years!)
Nobility (This is matte dark brown color! Very blah! Last year was a lighter chocolate matte brown! Neither is pretty in my opinion)

I’m comparing Formal Black’s Smokey Palette to this year’s Metallic Palette because 1. I didn’t get this year’s smokey palette as it was too blah for me to bother! And 2. These are a bit similar in color!

Formal Black Eyes Smokey Palette vs. Royal Assets Metallic Eyes Palette

The Metallic palette is definately a keeper! The colors are very workable and in my opinion it’s the best palette in the lot of the four that were released! It quite reminds me of last year’s outstanding smokey eye palette! Again, I don’t have last year’s color names as they aren’t listed so I am going to do a quick rundown comparison.

Royal Assets Metallic Eyes Palette Eyeshadows:
Honey Lust (This is nothing like the nude color that’s included with the Formal Black Smokey Eye Palette! It’s a gorgeous shimmering gold!)
Silver Fog (Silver Fog is a silver white shimmering shadow that’s very similar to what was included in last year’s palette! Last year it was a bit of a darker silver shimmer.)
Stately Black (This is a light copper shimmer that’s slightly similar to the brown shimmer we got but not quite the same!)
Velvet Lady (Nothing like the smokey eye palette this is a beautiful dark blue with silver shimmer!)
Creme Royal (Again nothing like last year’s color! This is chocolate brown with an almost iridescent green too it)
Manor (Black Tied was included with the Smokey Eye Palette and this is quite similar but has much less silver than Black Tied and is much more subdued!)

I made a mistake and had to edit this! Sorry 🙂 Thanks to the reader that pointed out my error! This is a comparison between Intense Eyes from Formal Black and the Cool Eyes from Royal Assets! Cool eyes last year is a bit similar to the Royal Assets version however I find that Intense Eyes from Formal Black was more on the same base as this year’s Cool palette!

Formal Black Eyes Intense Eyes Palette vs. Royal Assets Cool Eyes Palette

Royal Assets Cool Eyes Palette Eyeshadows:
Shadowy (This is a very light pale pink! Last year we had no light pink color like this.)
Silverwear (This is a frosty matte silver! Again, nothing like this!)
Modern Heir (Light Fuschia pink. Last year we had a similar pink but a bit more dark.)
Queen’s Jewel (This is a light off purple color. Last year we had a true purple color in the cool palette)
Medellin (Very similar but minus the frost. This is a matte dark chocolate color)
Trophy (An iridescent bluish color, nothing like last year’s palette)

Formal Black’s Intense Eye palette had much more POP! to it! This year the colors are nice but not nearly as beautiful as the previous palette which had a beautiful aqua, green, purple, etc….This year many of the shadows are a matte frost texture and not nearly as shimmery.

MAC Royal Assets Palettes

Metallic Eyes, Cool Eyes, and Warm Eyes

Overall, it’s a nice collection but nothing you have to have unless you’re a serious MAC addict! I do suggest grabbing the Metallic Eye Palette as it is quite gorgeous! The rest I advise leaving and saving your money!

The lip palettes are nice as well but they weren’t so appealing I had to have them so I skipped! Brush sets are very pretty as well but nothing I don’t already have.

A good collection for new MAC users or people that skipped out on the Formal Black collection.

Count the Muse as being a bit sad and depressed that the collection didn’t completely knock her socks off!

Oh well we have the Stylists collection to look forward to right?

20 Comments

About the Muse

Isabella MuseIsabella is just an average everyday geeky girl who doesn’t blend her eyeshadow correctly, wears too much blush, and hopes she never finds her holy grail products because she likes the thrill of the chase so much. Her mission is to bring you super honest reviews on makeup, skincare, fragrance and all things beauty. She’s in no way an expert on the topic and she sure as hell isn’t a super model. But she’s passionate about makeup and is seeking like-minded individuals that like pina coladas, getting caught in the rain, and ones that enjoy spending hundreds of dollars at Sephora without feeling buyer’s remorse. If you’re that person feel free to reach out and leave a comment or follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Bloglovin‘.

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Comments

  • Stephanie

    im loving the smokey eye palette, but its so.. cliche for me.. i have thousands of palettes that has black/grey/blue/purple/silver combo.. its my favorite colors for the night.. hmm… so unless the texture is vastly different from the palettes i already own, i probably wont go for it. thank god im not a big mac fan..

    but i am getting the face brush set though. i need everything in that set, except for that tiny little brush, what is it? a concealer brush? u said its garbage, im going to take your word for it. if it works as a lip brush, i will keep it. otherwise, makeupalley here we go.

    omg, i just got my iphone! my bf got me a belated bday present and im sooooo excited!!! ok, just had to share that..

    ttyl muse!

  • the Muse

    ok
    sorry but we can’t be friends anymore.

    I don’t have an iphone therefore I am green with envy. you have an iphone the muse is upset. if you don’t share it we can’t be friends 🙂

    hehe! only kidding! your boyfriend is my hero lol! Damn Steph that’s an awesome gift 🙂

    Do take pics I wanna see I wanna see 🙂 Is it sweet? I’ve touched it and petted it in store but I was sorta waiting on it! Any bugs?

    I wish I wasn’t such a big mac fan otherwise I’d probably have no problem saying I don’t need these! I’m a bit obsessed at times!

    it’s a concealer brush, spot brush thingy whatchamacallit! But Elke has a point it’d make a good lip brush I bet! But MUA might be a good option as well 😉

    The only thing that disappointed me was the makeup bags had a big chunky plastic clap! I’d have liked to see something a bit less shabby!

    TTYS 😉
    Happy Weekend!

    Amen the Muse needs her Beauty Sleep she’s emotionally exhausted 😉

  • the Muse

    hey vonnie 🙂
    long time no see 🙂

    metallic eyes is definately a fav of mine at the moment 😉

  • nilla cookie

    Thanks so much for the side by side comparison! I don’t have any of last year’s palettes so I have to pick some up any way 😉

  • noangel

    sorry, muse. but wanted to point out, from my monitor screen, the palette you listed as : Formal Black Eyes Cool Eyes Palette
    looks like the intense palette from last yr…

    love the review tho! metallic palette seems to be gettin alot of love on Specktra.

  • the Muse

    angel thanks so much you are completely right!!!!!!!

    😉 I just corrected it! I was a bit tired last night and made a rather dumb mistake there 😉

    Thanks so much!

    I imagine metallic is a hit as it’s quite pretty!

    Thanks for your help:)

  • the Muse

    Hi nilla cookie!

    You’re most welcome! It’s my pleasure 🙂

    This is a great time for you to get some! Yay! 🙂

  • Toya

    Hmm … Metallic Eyes might be worth it, but I think I’ll skip the others.

  • the Muse

    Hey Toya 🙂

    Agreed! I think you can safely skip them aside from Metallics!

  • Haru

    I saw these in person yesterday and was not tempted by them at all… phew! Then again it’s been a long time since MAC has really impressed me. Enjoy your haul!

  • the Muse

    hey iris 😉

    I wish I could get there! God I really wanna not want MAC 🙂 hehe!

    Thanks =)

  • rocketqueen

    Oooh, love it! Just taking a sneek peek here before going to bed, and also to let you know you’ve got mail! Take care hun, talk to you tomorrow!

  • Dia

    Hello,

    Thanks for replying to my last coment!

    Well…I actually looked at your blog prior to my purchase last night. Which is a good thing b/c I too was sooo disappointed. None of the shadows had the pop MAC is known for..or just dull colors I already had dupes of or didnt want to own in the 1st place. I only ended up getting the metallic palette, eye brush set and a viva glam lip palette.

    Well when I got home I was unimpressed with the metallic eye shadow palette. I hate when shadows have big specks of gliter instead glitter throughout.

    Ppl keep comparing stately black to black tied. But I dont think its like black tied at all. Black tied is more brillant and more glitter.

    Not only that but my Viva glam lip palette broke when I took it out the box so I have to exchange it for another.

    And I think I will return the eye palette. Which sucks cuz I hate passing up a deal like this since the packaging is sooo gorg and MAC shadows are normally 14 a pop. UGH!

  • Dia

    Woops! I meant velvet lady is compared to black tied…not watever I just typed. lol

    Thats how much I dont like it I guess :/

  • the Muse

    hello rocketqueen 😉

    I owe you a few messaged 🙂 It’s been a nutty weekend will get to them soon 🙂

    Talk soon!
    Thanks for the comment!

    Hello Dia!

    Your most welcome 🙂 Thank you for commenting!

    I must say that the pop isn’t as great in these as last year! last year the colors were more deeper, vibrant, shimmery!

    I didn’t get the viva glam palettes I thought I’d wait for them to get to my local CCO as I’m not a lip palette fan 😉

    Black tied is far more deeper to me and pigmented! I agree! But this velvet lady has something special about it too!

    ugh so sorry your viva glam palette was broke 🙁 that stinks! At least they are good with returns!

    I’ve debated on returning them or not too but I’m leaning towards keeping them I think 😉

    We have many more collections to look forward to that will be heaps better 🙂

    Eagerly awaiting stylists! So at least one disappointing collection will make room for some great ones 🙂

    Thanks for the comments!
    and visiting my blog!

    Let me know what you end up doing 😉

  • Sara

    Yes…I went WAY deep today. I have these and love them. This is the Mac I was obsessed with. Sure do miss it.