Temptalia

MAC Electric Cool Eyeshadow Review, Photos, Swatches (Part 2)

Christine — Tue, 24 Jul 2012 15:00:52 +0000

MAC Highly Charged Electric Cool Eyeshadow

Breakdown of MAC Electric Cool Eyeshadow – Part 2

The last six shades of MAC Electric Cool Eyeshadow ($18.50 for 0.07 oz.) that we’re going to go through are: Highly Charged (rich purple with pink pearl), Infra-violet (mid-tone pink violet with blue pearl), Love Power (soft shimmering rose), Pure Flash (pale champagne), Superwatt (light shimmering taupe), and Switch to Blue (rich cobalt). Please read my review for how these feel, wear, etc.

Highly Charged is a subtly red-toned medium-dark purple with a soft shimmer-sheen. It has so-so color payoff and some fading issues when worn. All of these only faded to a point, they didn’t disappear, but they weren’t as vibrant on as they were in the pan. Buxom Schnauzer is more of an eggplant purple. MAC Drawn to Drama is more blue-based. L’Oreal Perpetual Purple is brighter by a small amount. MAC Plush is softer, more red-toned. Make Up For Ever #142 is very similar in color though more matte in finish.
Infra-violet is a vibrant fuchsia-magenta with a violet iridescence. It has decent color payoff, and it actually performs better on the lid in terms of pigmentation–it has some very slight fading over time. Make Up For Ever #89 is more magenta. Both Urban Decay Fishnet and MAC Stars ‘n Rockets are less pink, more purple. Bare Escentuals Boudoir is very similar though has less iridescence.
Love Power is a pale pink with subtle yellow undertones and a highly metallic finish. This had beautiful color payoff when I swatched it, but I couldn’t get it to apply evenly at all. It was the worst on the lid out of all twelve. MAC Young Venus is paler, icier. Dior Garden Roses is similar but blue-based. MAC Taupeless is similar but frostier. MAC Seedy Pearl is cooler-toned. Inglot #431 is more metallic.
Pure Flash is a soft peach with warm undertones and a frost-metallic shimmer-sheen. It’s semi-opaque in color. This would be a great brightening shade on light to medium complexions. Buxom Collie looks exactly the same in color, but it has a more metallic finish (less sparkle, more sheen). NARS Ramatuelle is similar, possibly lighter. Tarina Tarantino Delightful is more metallic.
Superwatt is a subtly gray-tinged medium-dark brown with a frosted, metallic finish. It had good color payoff and applied easily to the lid without needing a lot of packing or manipulating. Buxom Mutt is warmer, more golden. Urban Decay Rehab is slightly darker. MAC Street Cool is darker. Urban Decay Midnight Rodeo is a bit warmer, browner. Inglot #402 is very similar, perhaps a touch darker.
Switch to Blue is a medium-dark blue with softer blue shimmer and a satiny sheen. It’s mostly opaque but there is some underlying sheerness. Buxom Bulldog looks very similar, perhaps very slightly purple-tinted. Tarina Tarantino Violet Storm is brighter, more cobalt. Inglot #428 is darker, more intense. Make Up For Ever #81 is darker, more navy blue.

The Glossover

	MAC Electric Cool Eyeshadow Review, Photos, Swatches (Part 2) B-
	If you really, really love shimmering, sparkling finishes, you might consider checking out the formula and seeing if it's worth the effort. If you want to wear them alone as washes of color, they're definitely worth a look.
	Product 8/10 Pigmentation 8.5/10 Texture 8.5/10 Longevity 8.5/10 Application 3/5

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MAC Highly Charged Electric Cool Eyeshadow

MAC Infra-violet Electric Cool Eyeshadow

MAC Love Power Electric Cool Eyeshadow

MAC Pure Flash Electric Cool Eyeshadow

MAC Superwatt Electric Cool Eyeshadow

MAC Switch to Blue Electric Cool Eyeshadow

MAC Electric Cool Eyeshadow Review, Photos, Swatches (Part 1)

Christine — Tue, 24 Jul 2012 13:00:01 +0000

MAC Blacklit Electric Cool Eyeshadow

Breakdown of MAC Electric Cool Eyeshadow – Part 1

The first six shades of MAC Electric Cool Eyeshadow ($18.50 for 0.07 oz.) that we’re going to go through are: Blacklit (black with multi-dimensional pearl), Brilliantly Lit (bright acid yellow green), Coil (copper bronze), Dynamo (mid-tone coral), Electroplate (cool gunmetal grey), and Fashion Circuit (bright kelly green). Please read my review for how these feel, wear, etc.

Blacklit is a black with multi-colored shimmer–there was silver, teal, and blue that I spotted. It’s semi-opaque. This one did fade and didn’t apply as evenly as I’d like. Buxom Black Lab is nearly the same, but the black is less buildable, though it seems to pack more shimmer/sparkle. Chanel Mirifique is very similar but sparklier and much, much more pigmented. Lancome The New Black is similar but powder. Bobbi Brown Black Sparkle is also similar but a bluer black.
Brilliantly Lit is a yellowy chartreuse with a soft shimmer finish. This was one of the more opaque shades, and it also applied more evenly than others. Buxom Shiz Tzu is much greener. NARS Rated R is just slightly greener. MAC Double Feature 2 is also a bit greener. MAC Bitter is similar but a smidgen greener.
Coil is a medium-dark red-toned bronze with lighter bronze shimmer and a soft sheen. This was also one of the more opaque shades–it was one of the easier shades to work with and didn’t have any fading issues either. Buxom Golden Retriever is a dead-ringer for the color but it has a less metallic sheen. Milani Caramel Brown is a bit lighter. Clarins Enchanted Summer is very similar. MAC Havana is darker. Dior Aurora is slightly softer. There are a fair amount of similar shades to this type of brown.
Dynamo is an orange-coral with a soft pink sheen. It has fairly good color payoff, but I did have problems with getting it to really show up well on the lid and wasn’t the nicest shade to blend. Guerlain by Emilio Pucci is darker, richer. Inglot #361 is pinker.
Electroplate is a purplish-gray taupe with soft champagne sparkle and a semi-metallic finish. The color payoff was decent but less opaque on the lid during application. Buxom Pug is nearly the same, perhaps less purple-tinted. Chanel Illusoire is darker, has more of a blackened base. Make Up For Ever #2 is browner. MAC Dynamic Duo 3 is darker, less shimmery. MAC Keep Your Cool is darker, browner. Urban Decay Mushroom is a smidgen grayer. Giorgio Armani #4 is browner.
Fashion Circuit is a green-based teal with silver sparkle and a slightly metallic sheen. The color payoff is good, but this one was a fader. Buxom Saint Bernard is greener. NYX Seafoam Green is a smidgen greener. Maybelline Edgy Emerald is barely bluer. NARS Misfit is much, much darker. MAC Aquadisiac is just a hair lighter. Urban Decay Minx is similar but has glitter. MAC Surf USA is richer, more intense. Make Up For Ever #168 is a touch greener and more frosted.

The Glossover

	MAC Electric Cool Eyeshadow Review, Photos, Swatches (Part 1) B-
	If you really, really love shimmering, sparkling finishes, you might consider checking out the formula and seeing if it's worth the effort. If you want to wear them alone as washes of color, they're definitely worth a look.
	Product 8/10 Pigmentation 8.5/10 Texture 8.5/10 Longevity 8.5/10 Application 3/5

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MAC Blacklit Electric Cool Eyeshadow

MAC Brilliantly Lit Electric Cool Eyeshadow

MAC Coil Electric Cool Eyeshadow

MAC Dynamo Electric Cool Eyeshadow

MAC Electroplate Electric Cool Eyeshadow

MAC Fashion Circuit Electric Cool Eyeshadow

MAC Electric Cool Eyeshadow Review, Photos, Tests

Christine — Tue, 24 Jul 2012 11:00:15 +0000

MAC Electric Cool Eyeshadow

All That and Then Some on the Matter of Electric Cool Eyeshadows

There are twelve shades of MAC Electric Cool Eyeshadow ($18.50 for 0.07 oz.), which is a new formula (though rumor has it is the concept is Big Bounce Eyeshadows reformulated). There’s not a whole lot of information on these; the texture is described as soft and lightweight, it will deliver rich color, there is “sensational blending power,” and has “medium-to-high coverage.” The press release mentioned also wearing it as a wash of color. I think I managed to wear all twelve shades over eight different tests (a mix of with and without primer, different primers).

This post is only the review portion. There will be two follow-up posts featuring a breakdown of all of the shades along with photos, swatches, possible dupes, and the like. This post includes 26 photos from the tests I did to see how these applied and wore.

First, I don’t think I’d ever attach Big Bounce to these. From a texture standpoint, they’re nothing alike, and from the way they look and wear, they’re also nothing alike. No more than one eyeshadow to the next, at least. I think it does them a disservice and sets up expectations as being almost leery. When I originally tested out Big Bounce Eyeshadows, the only way I could get them to work was as an eyeshadow base, which meant they had to be set with a powder eyeshadow, and once that happened, they were fine.

The texture of Electric Cool is spongy; it’s more moveable than putty, lighter than sludge. These felt a lot like Buxom Stay-There and Chanel Illusion d’Ombre eyeshadows, both have a spongy, lightweight texture. Buxom has more spring, as it returns more to its original shape upon pressure, while Electric Cool will just retain whatever shape you mold it into. When I stabbed at one pan with an eyeliner brush, there were all these little burrows where the brush had gone. MAC’s formula is more buildable, overall, compared to Buxom’s (which are supposed to be sheer). There is also a lot of shade overlap between MAC and Buxom’s ranges. Chanel’s formula feels similar but has a slightly wetter feel initially. There is less overlap with Chanel’s color range, but the few that do overlap, Chanel’s seem to have slightly more depth, which is going to be even more negligible once applied. The texture is completely unlike products like Giorgio Armani Eyes to Kill Intense and L’Oreal Infallible, which are very powder-based products. You might liken the finish to them, as it has a very shimmery, sparkly end result.

The wear of Electric Cool was hit-and-miss. Some shades performed better than others, as not all shades were as dry or as wet as the next one. These actually don’t crease easily; for the most part, they didn’t crease over time–if there was any creasing, it seemed to happen shortly after application. What I did have problems with was fading–I routinely went back to pack on more product during application. I’d apply one shade to one eye, then apply the same shade to the other eye, and when I went to apply another shade, the original eye already seemed to have faded somewhat. This was particularly true with some of the brighter shades like Dynamo, Fashion Circuit, Highly Charged, and Switch to Blue. I did not experience fall out with the shades when I used them on the lid*; when I tried using Fashion Circuit on the lower lash line, it did have a tendency to migrate downwards.

These have a beautiful finish; it’s very sparkly and shimmery in an interesting way. It’s not frost, not metallic, but a complex combination thereof. I think the neutral shades are exceptionally lovely as a wash of color (and honestly, the best results with this product were when these eyeshadows was worn that way). Some of them play well with others; some really did not want to be in the company of others.

Applying them evenly, smoothly, and opaquely, was more of a challenge. I tried an assortment of brushes and tools, mostly firmer, flat bristled brushes, along with fingertips and sponge-tipped applicators. I liked MAC’s 242 the best, because it is just slightly fluffy at the edge, so it worked well to pat the color into place (and you must pat, don’t sweep, or else it will be a mess) and then using the edge to lightly blend the color into the next one or diffuse it for a wash.

Blending was also an area I found seemed to hurt these rather than help these. When you blend it out, you get left with mostly shimmer and not much; the color seems to bunch up a little, which creates a slightly patchy result. I do want to note that it was hard to see it with my eyes (and even more so from a distance), but it’s obvious in the photos. To blend two colors together, it’s a very gentle process, and you really have to use a light hand to do so.

I liked them best of bare lids, and second to that, over a creamy, opaque primer like MAC Painterly Paint Pot. I tried these over NARS Smudgeproof Primer (awful over this base–made applying the color difficult to get even!), Too Faced Shadow Insurance (better than NARS for these), and MAC Painterly (best results for over a primer). I think the color adheres better over bare lids, but you can get more even color application when used over an opaque base (again, Painterly is what I tested these with). With or without a base, the wear didn’t seem affected.

The biggest problem I had with these had to with packaging. Six of the twelve shades had loose pans, which meant that the actual metal pan that houses the eyeshadow would fall out of the container if turned upside down–which meant a lot of product was caught on the lid and lip of the product. Second, despite overnighting these, several had moved significantly during shipment. They were delivered before noon, and here, it’s only been getting to 80 degrees in the mid-afternoon–it’s not that hot. The formula isn’t that moveable. I set several of these on their sides for 48 hours, and they didn’t seem to move away from the edges.

They absolutely can be pushed back into place, but for some of them, it seemed like shrinkage or drying occurred because it didn’t fill the pan when pushed back into place, which leads me to my next point: these are tiny. For this product category, we have two competitor formulas that are very similar: Buxom contains 0.12 oz. ($17.00 and comes in a glass jar) and Chanel contains 0.14 oz. ($36.00 and comes in a glass jar). These come in shiny black screw-top jars with a clear plastic window on top. I thought it was worth pointing out that MAC has about half as much product as two similar formulas on the market and comes in cheaper packaging. MAC Paint Pots, for example, contain 0.17 oz. and come in glass jars. Even MAC Big Bounce was 0.17 oz. and also came in a glass jar (and also $2 cheaper just a year ago).

Overall, I can see some people loving the sparkling, shimmering finish of these eyeshadows. They really can look splendid as the light catches and plays with the dimension of the colors. They take some work, some practice, and aren’t flawless. I feel like they’re a quirky, finicky product that can work but it has to be worth the effort to the individual who uses them. If you intended to use them together, they’re hardest to use that way; if you just wanted to use them as a wash of color and don’t need 100% opaque color, they’re a lot easier. For example, if you wanted a beautiful wash of color, Pure Flash is magic. No creasing, some fading with the bolder/darker colors, not-so-blendable, and the colors can apply patchy at times (Love Power was the worst; it clung to itself like you wouldn’t believe and made my lid look so crepe-y).

* Any fall out you see in photos of single shades being tested was actually sparkle that didn’t get 100% removed when I removed the multi-shade tests (I would do one test for eight hours, and then I’d remove that and do a second test for eight hours).

The Glossover

	MAC Electric Cool Eyeshadow Review, Photos, Tests B-
	If you really, really love shimmering, sparkling finishes, you might consider checking out the formula and seeing if it's worth the effort. If you want to wear them alone as washes of color, they're definitely worth a look.
	Product 8/10 Pigmentation 8.5/10 Texture 8.5/10 Longevity 8.5/10 Application 3/5

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Packaging

Brilliantly Lit, Fashion Circuit, Highly Charged, Switch to Blue – No Primer

Brilliantly Lit, Fashion Circuit, Highly Charged, Switch to Blue – No Primer (1 hour of wear)

Brilliantly Lit, Fashion Circuit, Highly Charged, Switch to Blue – No Primer (8 hours of wear)

Brilliantly Lit, Fashion Circuit, Highly Charged, Switch to Blue – No Primer (3 hours of wear)

Brilliantly Lit, Fashion Circuit, Highly Charged, Switch to Blue – No Primer (8 hours of wear)

Brilliantly Lit, Fashion Circuit, Highly Charged, Switch to Blue – NARS Primer

Brilliantly Lit, Fashion Circuit, Highly Charged, Switch to Blue – NARS Primer (1 hour of wear)

Brilliantly Lit, Fashion Circuit, Highly Charged, Switch to Blue – NARS Primer (8 hours of wear)

Electroplate – No Primer (Initial)

Electroplate – No Primer (8 hours of wear)

Blacklit – No Primer (Initial)

Blacklit – No Primer (8 hours of wear)

Pure Flash, Dynamo, Infra-violet, Fashion Circuit – No Primer (Initial)

Pure Flash, Dynamo, Infra-violet, Fashion Circuit – No Primer (8 hours of wear)

Pure Flash, Dynamo, Infra-violet, Fashion Circuit – No Primer (Initial)

Pure Flash, Dynamo, Infra-violet, Fashion Circuit – No Primer (8 hours of wear)

Pure Flash, Dynamo, Infra-violet, Fashion Circuit – MAC Painterly (Initial)

Pure Flash, Dynamo, Infra-violet, Fashion Circuit – MAC Painterly (8 hours of wear)

Pure Flash, Dynamo, Infra-violet, Fashion Circuit – MAC Painterly (Initial)

Pure Flash, Dynamo, Infra-violet, Fashion Circuit – MAC Painterly (8 hours of wear)

Fashion Circuit – No Primer (Initial)

Fashion Circuit – No Primer (8 hours of wear)

Coil – No Primer (Initial)

Coil – No Primer (8 hours of wear)

MAC Electric Cool Eyeshadow Collection

Christine — Fri, 13 Jul 2012 19:34:55 +0000

MAC Electric Cool Eyeshadow Collection

Electrifying pigments fuse with high frost in 12 limited edition shades. From the moment your brush touches the lightweight formula, you’ll be wired into its sensational blending power. For a multi-dimensional pearly wash, try Superwatt—a shimmering taupe. Amp it up with Highly Charged’s vibrant purple, or shock with Fashion Circuit’s Kelly green. It’s luxe with a hue-rich colour charge…who wouldn’t want to be this Electric?

Electric Cool Eyeshadow ($17.50 U.S. / $21.00 CDN) (Limited Edition)

Pure Flash Pale champagne
Love Power Soft shimmering rose
Dynamo Mid-tone coral
Coil Copper bronze
Superwatt Light shimmering taupe
Brilliantly Lit Bright acid yellow green
Fashion Circuit Bright kelly green
Infra-violet Mid-tone pink violet with blue pearl
Highly Charged Rich purple with pink pearl
Switch to Blue Rich cobalt
Blacklit Black with multi-dimensional pearl
Electroplate Cool gunmetal grey

Availability: July 19th, 2012 at Nordstrom; July 26th, 2012 at maccosmetics.com, August 2nd, 2012 at all MAC locations; August 2012 at select International MAC locations

Temptalia

MAC Electric Cool Eyeshadow Review, Photos, Swatches (Part 2)

Breakdown of MAC Electric Cool Eyeshadow – Part 2

The Glossover

MAC Electric Cool Eyeshadow Review, Photos, Swatches (Part 2)

Product

Pigmentation

Texture

Longevity

Application

See more photos & swatches!

MAC Electric Cool Eyeshadow Review, Photos, Swatches (Part 1)

Breakdown of MAC Electric Cool Eyeshadow – Part 1

The Glossover

MAC Electric Cool Eyeshadow Review, Photos, Swatches (Part 1)

Product

Pigmentation

Texture

Longevity

Application

See more photos & swatches!

MAC Electric Cool Eyeshadow Review, Photos, Tests

All That and Then Some on the Matter of Electric Cool Eyeshadows

The Glossover

MAC Electric Cool Eyeshadow Review, Photos, Tests

Product

Pigmentation

Texture

Longevity

Application

See more photos & swatches!

MAC Electric Cool Eyeshadow Collection

MAC Electric Cool Eyeshadow Collection

Electric Cool Eyeshadow ($17.50 U.S. / $21.00 CDN) (Limited Edition)

See more photos!