August 13, 2010

MAC Dare to Wear Eyeshadow Review and Swatches

Aptly named Dare to Wear is a collection of crazily vibrant shades of MAC eyes shadows and lip glosses, daring you to wear such bold shades.

MAC Dare to Wear is what MAC C-Shock was to me three years ago, a reintroduction of what MAC does best, awe aspiring shades of shadow.

Maybe….

  • A. I’m getting too old.
  • B. I hated the finish on most of these.
  • C. I’m off the MAC bandwagon

Because I totally did not roll over and play dead when I saw this collection pop up. I’m in this brown eyeshadow stage right now, a place where I never thought I’d be, and aquas, greens, and my normal crazy shades of color are simply not as appealing as more neutral shades lately so maybe that’s what triggered my less than stellar excitement upon seeing Dare to Wear. Plus I kinda felt like the mattes and frost finishes prevented me from bothering as well…

Anyway!

I did get a few MAC Dare to Wear shades to try out.

Wanna peep?

Jump!

For the most part about 75% of MAC Dare to Wear is in a matte format. Yay! Insert heavy sarcasm here. Honestly, working with neutral, boring shades of shadow in matte finishes is difficult but add vibrant, bolder shades and seriously that turns into mission impossible for most makeup users unless you have mad ass skills like my mate Christine. On top of the matte, MAC added in a few frost finishes as well. It’s a conspiracy to get me to NOT buy anything because lord knows frost is almost as bad as matte for me most days since it makes my fuller face look awful.

But there isn’t any denying that Dare to Wear has some choice morsels of color for those who love the vibrant. This brings it.

I tried three of the twelve shades of shadow released. The colors I got were Going Bananas (it’s back from C-Shock!) which is a frosty lemon yellow, Shock-a-Holic (matte royal purple), and Crazy Cool which is a velvet lilac. Going Bananas was a fond favorite when it originally released with the MAC C-Shock Collection but has since been tossed in the Makeup Graveyard due to its frosty finish. It is however one of those essential shades to have around in my opinion because you’ll potentially use it in various looks in the Summer. Shock-a-Holic is instantly one for the rubbish bin for me because I simply cannot work with a matte shade of purple, seriously? Holy hard to do Batman! Crazy Cool is a very nice shade and utterly wearable however I have one too many lilac shades to get excited about this particular one.

Mmmm a bit of ranting in this post I supposed but MAC Dare to Wear turned into a collection that didn’t particularly thrill me or make me want to salivate to you guys about how awesome it is.

I’m on to bigger and better things, ‘ello MAC Venomous Villains, come to Mama Muse!

How about you?

What was your overall impression of MAC Dare to Wear?

Was it a killer collection for you?

Or simply a leave it?

Share!

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

  • Anitacska

    I didn’t get any of the DTW eyeshadows either. I don’t like mattes, already have Going Bananas and the rest was just too blah. Just as well, since I spent a fortune on lipsticks and lipglosses. 🙂

  • Taylor

    I was excited over this collection, until I got my order in the mail and had to swatch the heck out of these colors to get anything decent. I’m more in love with MAC’s lipsticks, so I guess this one was my fault for trying something new lol.

  • Nia

    Oh no, sorry to hear that.
    Do you happen to have a MAC 213 brush? This is my answer to all matte eyeshadow woes. It even makes Violet Trance apply like a dream. 🙂

    As most browns somehow do not suit me, I do not have brown to fall back upon, but to like loud colours just to like them is not me either.
    I just ordered Shock-a-holic and Sassy Grass.

  • Becky

    I don’t have a MAC counter near me so I’m just not into it (UD is my current obsession lol). I’ve found one way I really like matte shades is layering the UD Stardust over it. I know, I know. LMAO But that way I get the bright solid color under it and the sparkle over it and the effect is totally different than just a shadow with glitter. Love!

    • the Muse

      Yay for UD becky 😀 great idea actually 😀 that works a treat! :-D!

  • Samantha

    I am totally over MAC as well. Actually I don’t know if I was ever into it. It’s just not that exciting. Everything is basically the same.

    • the Muse

      I wouldn’t personally go that far Samantha hehe I fear I’m a fan girl

      • Samantha

        Sorry that seemed awfully severe!!! I don’t know what’s into me. Just sayin that mac doesn’t excite me like some other make up brands do 🙂

  • JoElla

    We finally got a MAC counter in my podunk town, so I was super excited to touch and look and play with this line…. and what I found was

    1) really, really bad lighting
    2) really loud and annoying music
    3) Willy nilly displays.. eye shadows here and over there…

    And since my area is considered a ‘smaller market’ we didn’t even get any of the fun collections in.

    I personally don’t get MAC, way too many launches and I feel overwhelmed with this line..

    All of this could be a moot point, because I am afraid I have finally landed into that dreaded summer movie tag line in my life..

    I AM GETTING TOO OLD FOR THIS SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII….

    Oh well.. maybe instead of spending like crazy with each launch, I can save and just stick to the brushes I have been lusting after forever.

    • the Muse

      mmm Jo sounds typical LOL! Some counters are really bad about keeping things in order and loud music comes with the mac adventure LOL! hahahahaa!!!!!!!!!!!! honestly you aren’t 😀 MAC isn’t for EVERYONE and even I must say my love affair with it is tittering on the edge 😀

  • JoElla

    Hopefully I can get over the horrid lighting to actually play with this line. The music was just annoying, who would have thought I would have longed for some fun dance/techno.. this was just WTF?! LOL

    I want to like this line, they are reasonably priced and people loooovve them.. but I really think the horrid lighting will keep me away. I would like to at least know what wild color I am buying instead of going home and hoping for the best 😉

    • the Muse

      LOL what were they playing Jo!?

      Honestly, give it a 2nd chance particularly when Felines launches in August 31st this may sway you to the mac world!

  • Wendy

    I got Zingy, Sassy Grass and Goin Bananas. I really love GB, I was never a big fan of yellow eyeshadow but now I love it! And Zingy is just beautiful on the lower lash line with a bright yellow and orange on top.

    • the Muse

      nice hauling Wendy 😀 GB is a really nice shade. I had it from C-Shock’s release 😀 I like it paired up in sunset eye looks!

  • Charlotta

    Maybe I�m to old to because whenever I try really bright and loud shadows I look horrible! I do prefer taupe/brown/grey/olive-kinda colours. I really don�t like MAC either. To many collections and I�m not to happy with the way they market there products. I�m not only thinking about there most recent “mistake”, but also about a year ago or so when they didn�t use their own eyeshadows in an eyeshadowcommercial. Lately Laura Merciers products have really impressed me.

    • the Muse

      charlotta oooo that’s some gossip I hadn’t heard…which collection was this in with the shadows they didn’t use? curious minds. As I get older I appreciate brands like Bobbi Brown and Laura Mercier more and more 😀

  • dina

    i was pretty excited about these colors but very disappointed in the texture 🙁 ended up with nothing. oh wellm on to the next one . . . . 😀

  • Storm

    Muse, Muse, MUSE! Girl, I hauled half the eyeshadows and three of the lippies. And I love them! I have: Sassy Grass, Going Bananas, Winkle, Zingy, and Atlantic Blue. I know mattes are hard to work with; that is why I love them. However, I’m out of contacts, so I won’t be putting on mattes for the next few weeks (I’m blind as a bat!). But I love these bad boys…And I always feel washed out in neutrals.

    • the Muse

      hey storm sorry for the delayed reply. Sweet hauling babe! 😀 I LOVE me some bold but I suck so hard at mattes girl!

  • electronicfly

    From the three, only Going Bananas look out from the ordinary to me, but not in a good way. Looks nice in the pan, but when swatched? No thanks.

  • Rosalie

    It doesn’t look that bad, but I won’t buy anything because I already have most of the colors of the collection in my numerous eye shadow palettes and monos.

    Working with mattes is not that bad, seriously. I bought a Guerlain LE palette not so long ago that featured many mattes and loved working with it. It is all about bluring the edges with the appropriate brush. But I can understand that “neutral” color can look more appealing as they require less time to be put on and feature a lower risk of disaster 😉

    Crazy Cool is, for me, among the three shades you presented, the most appealing color, but I also have way too much shadows of this color.

    • the Muse

      hey roselie I think guerlain anything, including mattes are damn easy to work, really depends on the formula. MAC mattes aren’t so forgiving for me 🙁

  • sillylilacs

    Maybe it’s just me…but the majority of the colors are dupe-able…and if not 100% then 90% I’d say…=/ MAC isn’t really impressing me…I jumped onto the MAC bandwagon when Liberty of London came out…now I jumped off lol!!

    • the Muse

      true lilac but I try to not let that get to me b/c alot of mac stuff is dupable sometimes 😛 LOL aww I jump on and off myself 😀

  • Charlotta

    It was the Color Craft collection (from 2009 I think). Apparentely they used shadows from Ben Nye (?, never heard about this mark though). Maybe their shadows wasn�t pigmented enough (haha).

    • the Muse

      interesting I hadn’t heard that Charlotta! ha! hard to believe since mac has some damn pigmented stuff 😀

  • Ryan

    I never really got into MAC and I’m only 19. Probably that’s my incessant need to act way more old than anybody expects me to. I’m young enough to not be into Bobbi Brown though. That’s why I love Shu Uemura so much. I feel it’s definitely very trendy and youthful but it’s also very sophisticated and something people older than 20 something can like. This whole comment had almost nothing to do with the post… whoops.

    • the Muse

      lol ryan no worries 😀 about the post or not, love hearing about makeup! Shu is a great brand. They def have a universally reach!