MAC Eyeshadow X15 Warm Neutrals Palette

 

Everytime I walk into MAC I am overwhelmed with excitement yet intimidated by all the rows of colorful little orphans pleading for me to bring them home with me. And to be honest, I'm always a little afraid of the MAC BA's. They are always so eccentric and out there with their intense makeup, sometimes crazy hair colours/style and their lack of ability to pinpoint exactly what you want because there is just so much damn product! So when this palette was released early this year, it was like a ray of light shining through a break in the clouds. Someone has made a palette for me.

Almost every time I go to a MAC counter, I come home with something new, so over the years I've bought an eyeshadow here, a pan there, a pro long wear shadow in that shopping centre, an eyeshadow quad in this shopping centre. So I'm always reluctant to create my ultimate 15 pan palette as I already have some of the shades and most of the time that i do see something I like, "oooo-aaaah", pick it up and it's...oh...got that already.

Also the fact that MAC in Australia is about 2.5X the amount it costs in USA makes me cringe about creating a palette. A self-designed palette racks up to be $435. Uh...no, I'll be taking that kinda cash to Tom Ford thanks. So when this came out at an incredible $250, I thought I was getting a bargain. But wait...there's more. It sells for US$100 in USA and wouldn't this be a perfect time to dip my toes in and check out a mail forwarding service? YES!

So I saved a lot of money that could've been potentially robbed by spent in MAC Australia but don't let my excitement there confuse you about how I actually feel about this palette.

Here are some swatches of the colours. The lighting did wash out the colours a little. They are a tad darker in real life. The swatches are closer to real colour payoff.

 Top Row: Hey, Warm Breeze, Gingersnap, Dark Brew, Dance in the Dark

 Mid Row: Brule, Vanilla Extract, Honey Lust, Amber Lights, Saddle

 Bottom Row: Lemon Tart, Creative Copper, Butterfudge, Divine Decadence, Unwind

 Hey (Veluxe Pearl)

 Warm Breeze (Satin)

 Gingersnap (Frost)

 Dark Brew (Veluxe)

 Dance in the Dark (Matte)

Brule (Satin)

Vanilla Extract (Frost)

Honey Lust (Lustre)

Amber Lights (Frost)

Saddle (Matte)

Lemon Tart (Veluxe Pearl)

Creative Copper (Lustre)

Butterfudge (Satin)

Divine Decadence (Veluxe)

Unwind (Veluxe Pearl)

Upon first feel, the packaging feels light and hollow. Non of the colours particularly jumped out to say "HI! I'M YOUR NEW BEST FRIEND!" and the high shimmer shades looked extremely dry. But the most disappointing thing for me was that there was no mid toned matte browns. Nothing to use as a transitional crease blending shade. Which means this cannot be a "complete" palette for me even though it contains 15 colours. I will need to use another eyeshadow or palette in conjunction with this one.

The pigmentation is so-so. Maybe I'm used to the likes of Tom Ford and Charlotte Tilburry that I've become an eyeshadow texture snob? During the swatches, I've noticed some of the Veluxe Pearl and Frost finish shades already have that dreaded hard top on the shadows. Did I press too hard? Did I swirl my finger in it too many times? If so, that's only because the pigmentation is not as strong as it ought to be.

I have had it for a week and I'm sad to say I've only used it twice and four our of the fifteen colours. There is a lot of fall-out from the shadows when I go in with my Tom Ford Eyeshadow Blend Brush and my MAC 217. I don't own any of the eye shadows individually so I can't compare whether the shadow in the palette is equal or lesser quality than that of the individual but from what I do have in the individual shadows and pro long wear eyeshadows, the quality of these palette shadows are not on par. They are more crappy if I do say so myself.

I guess the bottom line is I can definitely live without this palette and had I known better, I probably should've forked out a little more money to design my own palette with colours that I know I will love and use every single time. I also bought the Cool Neutrals Palette and I am unsure if I should review it or just cut my loses and sell it on ebay before I use it. If you have US$100 to spend, I would recommend looking into Makeup Geek's eyeshadows. I have done a review and some swatches of her neutral colours here.

Have you used these neutral palettes from MAC? What do you think of their quality? Do you think I should keep them?