MAC Holiday 2011 Smoky Blue Crush Metal Dazzlesphere Review & Swatches

The MAC Holiday 2011 Collection includes a few beautiful glittery pots of love.  More specifically Crush Metal Pigment Dazzlespheres!  I got all three limited edition Crush Metal Pigment Dazzlesphere Ornament sets (Smoky Blue, Berry Crush and Plum) to satisfy my holiday makeup shopping urges ;)

First up of the Crush Metal Pigments Ornaments is Smoky Blue.  The Smoky Blue Dazzlesphere includes White as Snow, Silver Sleet, Dark Moon and Winter Sky.  While not the most practical for me, I thought this set would add some appropriate cool winteriness to my stash.

White as Snow is a chunky frosty white with a hint of silver to it.  It is particularily gritty and probably the least nicest eye shadow I've played with recently.  I would highly suggest using this wet and working it into the brush to achieve a better texture.

Silver Sleet is medium silver grey. This had a much better texture than White As Snow.  Less gritty and chunky, it seemed finer in texture.  I think it allowed it bind together more readily.  While this shade isn't overly unique, if you love silvers and platinums, this one is definitely one to  love.  It is quite similar to MAC Silver Fog Pigment, but not as warm as MAC Platinum Pigment. It is quite similar to Platinum pigment, but not as warm.  It is cool like Silver Fog, but not as light in shade.

Dark Moon is shimmery charcoal black.  It swatches with a hint of silver and blue in it, but I think those are more so remanants from Silver Sleet and Winter Sky.  This had a drier texture than Silver Sleet and White As Snow.  I think it works for this particular shade though, because you could use it as a crease shade or outer crease shade.

Winter Sky is frosty indigo blue.  This shade reminds me of my cousins wedding color.  The purpley blue is one of those happy colors that brightens up this set.  The texture of this one lies between that of Silver Sleet and Dark Moon.  I think it could have been smoother, but used wet and worked into the brush, it works alright.

Overall, there are some annoyances with Crush Metal Pigments. They do require a base to stick to, there is almost always glittery fall out unless applied wet, the texture can vary greatly within one crush metal pigment set, the packaging is a little troublesome if you have butterfingers and you only get frost and shimmer finishes within a set.  With that said, I still quite like this set.  I can grab it without much thought to finding coordinating shades and the shades work really well together.  I do love my frosts and shimmers, but these do result in a super shimmer eye look using all of the shades.  Oh well, getting creative with some mattes and satins will be fun to do! :)  Enjoy the swatches until next time ;)