Hiya everyone how are you? Hopefully having a good week! Today we are discussing the new MAC Botanic Panic collection! I’ll go over what’s included in the collection and then show you swatches of what I picked up. I’m still undecided if I might pick up another of the lipsticks… but more on that later!
The MAC Botanic Panic Collection is new for Spring/Summer 2021 and is quite a curated collection. There are 5 lipsticks, 2 Extra Dimension Skin Finishes and an eyeshadow palette. I purchased both Extra Dimension Skin Finishes and one of the lipsticks.
Now, currently the collection has been available on MAC US and Selfridge’s in the UK. Some of the collection has already sold out, but it hasn’t even been released on the MAC UK website yet, so there will still be plenty of chances to purchase it!
Selfridge’s tend to get exclusives for about a week and then the collection will be released elsewhere, so I will come back and update the links as and when it becomes available.
Right, without further ado, let’s get into the details of the MAC Botanic Panic Collection!
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COLLECTION OVERVIEW AND PRICING
This is a slightly smaller collection than we are used to seeing from MAC. And for once, I don’t see a MAC Fix Plus! We pretty much always get one in these collections, some may find that boring. I guess it kind of is, but I will always have room for Fix Plus as I use it every time I do my makeup.
At the moment I have one on the go from the Cherry Collection a couple of years back and the bottle is so pretty, I always planned on buying the plain ones and decanting them into the cute one. However, they keep releasing cute bottles so that’s not been happening!!
In this collection there is a 12 pan eyeshadow palette, 5 lipsticks and two Extra Dimension Skin Finishes.
You can currently buy some of the collection at Selfridge’s (UK) or MAC (US). As it becomes available elsewhere, I’ll come back and update this post. Now, let’s go through each inidividal product and the pricing.
Botanic Panic Eyeshadow Palette
This palette is $50 and usually £39. Since it’s sold out on Selfridge’s, there’s no price available. All other 12 pan eyeshadow palettes are £39. Sometimes Limited Edition collections are £2/£3 more expensive.
This is quite a refreshing colour scheme as I feel like a lot of the eyeshadow palettes recently have been quite safe. For me, I don’t do brightly coloured eyeshadow, so everyday colours are great. However, it’s nice to see them still doing bright bursts of colour as some people love coloured eyeshadow and are bored by neutral palettes.
MAC Botanic Panic Lipsticks
Here we have a mixture of finishes, retro matte, matte and one frost. They are £19 each. Ruby Woo is a repromote and a retro matte. Skew (a coral with pink duochrome) is a Frost finish, but (this is the shade I purchased) it’s not the most metallic frost I’ve seen. I was slightly apprehensive when I saw it was a Frost, but it didn’t look like it in any photos, so I bought it and it’s fine. I’m not really keen on super metallic lips, but Skew isn’t like that at all.
We also have La-Di-Dhalia which is a matte mid toned pink, Tulip Service, a peachy red and Forget-Me-Naughty which is a matte lilac shade.
I’m sort of interested in La-Di-Dhalia, it’s a gorgeous colour, but I’m not keen on matte finishes. Ruby Woo is definitely over done, but we all know it’s their most famous shade, so it comes up a lot in collections. I definitely don’t think I can pull off lilac lipstick, but I’m glad to see a fun lipstick colour in a collection.
Extra Dimension Skin Finish
There are two shades of Extra Dimension Skin Finish, £25 each. One is a highlighter called Fleur Sure and one is more of a blush. It’s called Royal Flush. I picked up both as I love the formula of Extra Dimension Skin Finish.
PACKAGING
I have to say I am loving the lilac and pastel pink packaging! I also love the floral elements, it’s bright and fun this collection and I’m here for it! It doesn’t feel the most luxurious plastic, it’s quite lightweight. The plastic of the standard MAC collection does feel slightly better than this stuff, but it is cute, so I’ll give it a pass. The lipsticks feel better than the Skin Finishes. The tops of those feels pretty cheap.
The boxes are gorgeous as well. When there are collections like this, I keep the boxes as I can’t bear to part with them. They are covered in a floral print and the MAC letters are raised and glossy.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS AND SWATCHES
I want to talk about the lipstick Skew first. Lovely formula, not fully opaque in one swatch, but I prefer that. It’s a buildable formula, comfortable on the lips. This particular shade is quite like the lustre formula, which is one of my favourites.
It’s a pinky brown with gold/purple shimmer. I wouldn’t call it a coral if I’m honest. It’s more on the pink end of things. I can see this becoming a favourite everyday shade though, it’s easy to wear and goes with everything.
Now, let’s look at the Extra Dimension Skin Finishes. Fleur Sure is a gorgeous light champagne gold. The formula is smooth and pigmented. You can build it from sheer to full on dazzling highlight. It’s a pretty dupeable shade as light champagne gold is probably the most popular highlighter shade there is. However, it’s nice to have one in this formula with the cute packaging.
Royal Flush is slighly more unique. Not way out there, but not an overdone shade. It’s a golden plummy pink. The shimmer is golden and juxtaposes the plum base perfectly. Again this formula is smooth and pigmented. You can definitely build it up to be a pretty strong colour. While I love this colour, it is unique to the rest of the collection I feel. All the other products/shades are brighter and more Spring/Summer. Royal Flush is darker and, for me at least, a bit more like an Autumnal shade.
If you don’t love shimmery blushes, then I would give this a pass. It doesn’t give you a full on metalic cheek, but there is noticeable sheen, as with all the Extra Dimension Skin Finishes.
Here are some swatches. All on bare skin with no primer:
FINAL THOUGHTS
Overall, I’m impressed with the MAC Botanic Panic collection. I love the shades I bought, the packaging, that lilac and pink are just gorgeous! I don’t think we’ve had such a fun collection for a good while! The MAC Black Cherry Collection, which I overviewed a few months ago was super pretty as well, but a bit more moody in colour scheme. Botanic Panic is bright, colourful and you can’t help but feel happy when you look at it!
If you’re a collector of limited edition makeup like me, then you will love this collection. If you love brightly coloured eyeshadow then you’ll love the palette in this collection. The lipsticks (apart from the lilac) are all wearable, the skin finishes are wearable. Dupeable, but wearable. So it depends, does cute packaging make you want to buy stuff? Is it the product AND packaging, or do you not care about packaging at all?
I am glad that I’ve got these products to add to my collection, but I don’t think the collection is so unique you need to run out and buy everything. Maybe just pick up one thing so you have the packaging. We will definitely see Ruby Woo in another collection soon and a light champagne gold highlighter!
Annie is a self-taught baker, recipe developer and food photographer, who has an obsession with dessert and beauty! 
