This is a popular Youtube topic and I can understand why. MAC is a very accessible line that is a bit of a “gateway” makeup brand for many people, myself included. MAC offers high quality cosmetics in a wide variety of colours and finishes, at a reasonable price point (compared to department store or Sephora brands). My makeup collection began with essentials from MAC, including lots of their eye shadows. I now own 89 MAC eye shadow shades, which is roughly 15% of my total eye shadow collection.
These are my top 10 MAC eye shadows – unfortunately I can’t guarantee that all of these are in the permanent collection (in fact, one shade was in their permanent collection but now discontinued!) Note that these are only MAC’s powder eye shadows, I will do a separate post on Paints / Paint Pots and Pigments.
- Satin Taupe* (frost) – permanent
- Patina* (frost) – permanent
- Wedge (matte) – permanent
- Romp* (frost) – permanent (discontinued in 2012)
- Stolen Moment* (Extra Dimension) – limited edition (LE)
- Twinks (Veluxe Pearl) – permanent
- Style Snob (Starflash) – LE
- All That Glitters (Veluxe Pearl) – permanent
- Smoke & Diamonds (Starflash) – LE
- Vex (frost) – permanent
They’re roughly in the order of my preference and usage – the ones with the asterisk mean I own a back-up of them.
I purchase most of my MAC eye shadows in the refill pans – the ones in the individual packaging are usually from limited edition collections (I debate back and forth whether I should depot them or not). Below are swatches of each and more detailed descriptions.
stash matters 