SS11: Mac Cham Pale Products + Swatches

One of a few launches from Mac this month, Cham Pale is a sprawling offering of wearable neutrals foreyes, lips and face and there's a small skincare edit with it too. This is a pretty big launch from the brand with lots on offer, and is going to find favour with anyone who adores skintoned shades with a bit of shimmer and shine.

If you missed out on Urban Decay's Naked palette, then I think you might take a bit of succour from the Cham Pale products. So lets take a look at 'em, shall we?

Four Lipsticks will launch: Tanarama - Pale Beige with golden shimmer (Frost), Flustered - Frosted pale bronze (Frost)* Quiet, Please - Frosted pink champagne (Lustre)*, and Gel - Sheer metallic beige (Frost). Each will be €17.50.

More lip treats will come in the form of a quad of Lipgelee glosses, all of which are limited and in frost finishes. Luxure - Off white with pink pearl, Sin-tillation - Sparkly pale icy pink,  Bubble Lounge - Sparkly pink peach and Straight to the Head - Sparkly bronze brown will be €17 each. I got Luxure to try, so lets see what it's like in real life, eh?

Luxure is SUPER DUPER glittery, with lots of fine iridescent pink particles in a thick, glossy gloop. I'm not massively fond of lipgloss in general, and probably won't get a lot of wear from this tube, but it's very impressive looking when swatched - check it out below.

Mad bang of shimmer off it, wha? This is something I'd add over a red lipstick for night, I doubt I'd wear it solo. In terms of sparkle per square inch (a new beauty metric I just invented) Luxure definitely performs. If you've magpie taste and love a bit of bling, then this is one for you. The fact it's not massively pigmented with colour means it'll work with lots of different lip finishes and shades too.

Love the texturisation on the two fancily-named and limited edition Special Reserve Highlight Powders. Chez Chez Lame is a soft gold with silver shimmer and Rose Ole is a soft pink with gold shimmer. They're €28 each.

Another quad of goodies: four Paint Pots - all limited - launch: Chilled on Ice - Frosted white gold, Let Me Pop - Frosted light copper, Vintage Selection - Frosted dirty peach and Dangerous Cuvee - Frosted cool grey are €19. These work incredibly well as a base for powder shadow, adding to intensity and giving you extra longevity too.

This is one of the nicest pieces in the collection. It's the limited edition Caviar Dreams eyeshadow quad and for €47.50 you get four shades, one of which is also a limited edition.  Shades are Brule - Soft creamy beige (Satin), Et tu, Bouquet? - Frosted pale pink gold (Frost), Caviar Dreams Dirty frosted pewter (Lustre) (limited) and Retrospeck - Beached blonde (Lustre).

While the palette itself is dull and uninspired (I really wish Mac would shake up its packaging) , the press shots really don't do the actual shadows any justice.  The brand sent me one as a press sample and this is a very wearable edit of colours you'll actually use. The mix of textures is good, the shade choice lovely and as this is Mac, you know the quality will be good.

Try as I might, I could not get a decent shot of this in 'real life' - I blame the current watery winter light, but I did manage to get some swatches which will hopefully illustrate how nice the colours and finishes are.

Particularly loving the Caviar Dreams Dirty frosted pewter to the left - this is the limited edition shade and is the sort of colour I adore. It's quite Erika F/Gosh's T R13 trio-esque.

Lastly, the aforementioned skincare products:

I'm not totally convinced by Mac's skincare, though the Cleanse Off Oil is a good, hardworking product. As part of the Estee Lauder family of brands, you know they're sharing knowledge and expertise though, so if you like your skincare to come from the same brand as your makeup, then you may be interested in the new Complete Comfort Creme, €34.50, an ultra-rich facial moisturiser. French lavender is used in the other three products which are limited edition: M·A·C Fix+ Lavender, €16.50, Lip Conditioner SPF 15 + Lavender, €14.50, and Tinted Lip Conditioner SPF 15 + Lavender, €17, round out the collection.

Like the look of anything?

*indicates a limited edition item.