fotd: mac pastels x 9

As someone who once only wore smokey neutrals, I’ve come a long way in my appreciation of pastel eyeshadows. Up to this point, the pastels in my collection were all from various Asian makeup brands – no big surprise, considering lighter makeup is the norm here – so it was a pleasant surprise to receive the MAC Pastel x 9 palette and get the chance to discover a more western take on light eye makeup.

Before I continue, I must apologise for the bed-head in these photos. I’d actually done this look just as a preliminary colour trial, but I ended up liking the photos so much I decided to use them in my post!

For this look, I used Sweet Green all over my lids blended out with Spice Bar, and Free Roaming in the outer V blended through the crease with a touch of Restless Rose. I finished the look with Fresh Innocence in the inner corners.

FYI, the shadows in this palette are light but not as sheer as I was expecting. So although this definitely wasn’t made for bold looks, most of the shadow colours in the palette do show up distinctively on skin. If you like pastels that register more true-to-pan rather than as just sheer coats of tinted shimmer, this is for you.

I can already tell this palette is going to get a lot of play from me. It seems to have been designed perfectly for sweeping on as a quick wash of colour – which will come in handy on hot summer days or nights, when you want to look pretty but can’t bear the thought of heavy makeup.

Speaking of summer, I paired this new palette with one of my favourite hot-weather lip colours: MAC Sheen Supreme Lipstick in Full Speed. I’m wearing it here dabbed on as a sheer stain but it’s actually an ultra-bright coral pink when applied straight from the tube. I love this colour so much I actually bought two tubes of it – I keep one in Singapore, and one in LA!

This product was provided as a press sample, however all opinions and observations are my own and not influenced by the brand or its PR team. This post contains affiliate links.