MAC Heavenly Creature Mineralize Skinfinish: Photos, Swatches and Reviews

It’s about time MAC gives us some new colorful Mineralize Skinfinish powders! All four of the new MSF’s from the Heavenly Creature collection are bold, but buildable. These are unique and there haven’t been any products from MAC lately that are similar to this texture or these colors. These Mineralize Skinfinish powders have a lot of shimmer, so if you’re into having a matte face, these may not be for you!

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These MSF’s are highly pigmented and can look quite bright and shimmery, almost glittery, on the skin, depending on how much you apply. If you use a fluffy duo-fibre brush like a MAC 188 or 187 (both of which are being re-promoted with the Heavenly Creature collection), you will get a soft wash of color and minimal shimmer, which is perfect for a cheek highlight or to add some shine over your blush. If you apply these with a more dense brush like a MAC 116 blush brush, or a MAC 130 short duo fibre brush, you will get a heavier application with bolder color and a more frosted-metallic finish with lots of glitter. The cool thing about these Mineralize Skinfinishes is that every one of them can be worn on any skin tone, depending on what application technique you use! Using a medium to large sized fan brush like a MAC 184 duo fibre fan brush (from MAC Pro), will apply these as light as possible, so if you have fair skin like I do, you might want to give a fan brush a shot.

Like all blushes and highlighters, these are most easily blendable when applied over your setting powder so you get an even application without random, heavy bloches of color. These wear longest on dry to normal or combination skin, typically giving about 8-10 hours of wear before fading. However, I have combination skin with some oily patches and I still get 8 solid hours of wear before my Mineralize Skinfinish powder starts to move around or fade. On oily skin these may wear for more like 6-8 hours… Mineralize products tend to slip around on more oily areas and can appear blotchy as your skin produces oil throughout the day. The shimmer in some of these (typically the ones with larger shimmer particles) can emphasize pores, but as long as you make sure not to apply to areas with enlarged pores, these will look fine! You can also try using some kind of pore refining primer under your foundation and powder to help minimize pores :)

These have a smooth, but somewhat powdery texture that can seem dusty and messy at times. However, if you are gentle when gathering product on your brush, these won’t be so messy! Mineralize products do need to be handled with care. If you travel or keep it in your makeup bag, be sure to pack it surrounded by soft things or put a tissue in the container between the product and the lid to make sure it doesn’t get jarred around and crack or break.

These four Mineralize Skinfinishes are limited edition so supplies are limited. These sell for $29 for 10g/0.35 fl oz of product. I have yet to go through an entire MSF, even the one I use several times a week, so these will last you a long time! The Heavenly Creature collection is already available on MAC’s website at www.maccosmetics.com and will be at your local MAC counter or store on Thursday, July 5th. If there’s a product that you have your eye on, you may want to call and reserve what you want ahead of time. These always sell out quickly! Star Wonder has already sold out online.

Photo taken outdoors with indirect sunlight on NC20 skin.
Left: Applied heavily Right: Blended out

Center of the Universe
the weird striped shadow is from the screen on my window… sorry! my lamp broke so I had to use sunlight

Center of the Universe:   This is described as a “coral with gold shimmer”. I don’t see much of a true coral to this MSF, but the main, finer part of this powder is a light, peachy kind of coral. The lesser parts of the veining are a warm, coppery brown and a yellowed gold, both of which contain the larger type of shimmery particles. On the skin it’s more of a medium, warm, peachy orange with golden shimmer. Center of the Universe contains finer shimmer particles so it’s not over-the-top glittery. Since this is one of the lighter Mineralize Skinfinish powders in this collection, this would be suitable for the fairest of skin to the deepest. On lighter skin tones, it can be used as either a blush or highlight, while it’s best as a highlight on dark to deep skin.

Earthshine

Earthshine:   Earthshine is a “tarnished bronze with gold pearl and pink reflects”. Wow, that’s a mouthful! This is the darkest of the Mineralize Skinfinishes in the Heavenly Creature collection. It’s a warm, intense plummy, reddish brown when blended together. It contains a mostly golden powder with intense, but fine, shimmer particles (mine seems to have more gold than some other Earthshines). There is also a peachy beige vein and a deeper bronzed, wine colored vein which contains the larger pink reflects bits of shimmer. This is an extremely intense color, so on fair skin it should be used very sparingly, and is best used as a blush or eye shadow. Earthshine is the most flattering on dark to deep skin tones as a blush and/or highlight.

Photo taken outside with indirect sunlight on NC20 skin.
Left: Applied heavily              Right: Blended out

Light Year

Light Year:   This MSF is a “peachy pink with golden shimmer”. Light Year is the lightest Mineralize Skinfinish in this collect. For the most part, this contains a soft, pale, champagne-peach colored powder with smaller sized veins of peachy pink and warm gold. The warm golden vein has slightly coarse, intense gold shimmer particles. Although it looks like it could be very light and super glittery, it’s actually a light to medium peachy pink with fine, but still intense, golden shimmer. On light to medium skin Light Year can be used as either a blush or highlight, while on medium-dark to dark skin, this would be a nice pink highlight. If you have a dark to deep skin tone, you may want to apply this sparingly to avoid looking washed out.

Star Wonder

Star Wonder:   Star Wonder is a “plummy-pink with multidimensional pearl”. This Mineralize Skinfinish has a fine, mostly golden, pearly base to it with a large, warm, plummy vein and a smaller vein that’s a pinky-champagne color. When blended on the skin, it’s a warm, medium pinkish-plum with a yellowed-gold, pearly, highly reflective shimmer. Since it’s a medium shade, Star Wonder will work on all skin tones. It looks gorgeous as a blush or highlighter on pale to medium-dark skin. The lighter you are, the more intense this can look, so you may want to apply it sparingly then build up more product until it’s the intensity you like. On dark to deep skin, this is probably best as a highlighter with a pink or plum blush, although you can try it alone as a blush. The shimmery particles could possibly wash out deeper skin tones… I’m not sure, as I haven’t had a chance to try this out on anyone but myself yet!