MAC Fabulousness Smoky Eye Palette Review, Photos, Swatches
MAC Fabulousness / Smoky Eye Palette
Up in Smoke This Set Goes
MAC Fabulousness / Smoky Eye Palette ($39.50 for 0.14 oz.) contains five eyeshadows: Taupeless (lavender pink), Satin Taupe (taupe with silver shimmer), Love Spice (mid-tone rosy pink with pearl), Spellcaster (matte aubergine), and Black Slip (rich blackened plum with pearl).
For reference, MAC eyeshadow quads ($38.00) typically contain 0.19 to 0.20 oz. (about 0.05 oz. per eyeshadow). Last year’s holiday eyeshadow palettes contained 0.21 oz. (and retailed for $38.00). The prior year’s holiday palettes contained 0.19 oz. (and retailed for $36.00). You used to get six shades, but with this year’s design, you’re getting five.
Taupeless is a light pink with silvery-white sparkle. It has a lustre finish, so it is a bit sheerer and has lots of sparkle. I did experience a fair amount of fall out with this shade. This shade has been released before. Chanel Harmonie du Soir is a bit warmer, less sparkly. MAC Love Power is similar but less sparkly. MAC Young Venus is cooler-toned. theBalm Safe Bet Annette is slightly warmer.
Satin Taupe is a medium brown with subtle warm orange undertones and a gray-ish tinge. It doesn’t look like the permanent Satin Taupe at all. It had decent color payoff but it was a little dry. Guerlain Turandot is darker. Dior Fairy Golds is also darker.
Love Spice is a rosy-toned medium brown with a champagne shimmer-sheen. The color payoff was so-so, and the texture was a little dry. Giorgio Armani Champagne is similar but browner. Cle de Peau #207 is similar but grayer and sparkly. MAC Pink Frontier is a touch lighter. MAC Jete is darker. MAC desert is a bit grayer. MAC Earthly is grayer. Here’s a swatch of the permanent Satin Taupe.
Spellcaster is a matte, dark purple with subtle red undertones. It was dry, stiff, and was a pain-in-the-behind to blend. It’s an eyeshadow that you have to grab a lot of, place it, go back for more, place it, and then try to blend those together. Normally, I’d take some product, apply it to the middle of the area I wanted it to be, then I’d take the brush back and forth to blend it out. It just doesn’t work with the texture of this shade. NARS High Society is lighter. MAC Dynamic Duo #4 has a similar shade that was better pigmented. Urban Decay Rockstar is a little lighter and shimmery.
Black Slip is a red-toned brown with hints of burgundy and bronze shimmer. It had good pigmentation, and it was the best performer out of the five. The texture was a lot softer and more blendable. Urban Decay Rapture is lighter. Illamasqua Queen of the Night is not as frosted. MAC Winterized is grayer, less red-toned.
Taupeless had some significant fall out while I wore it, which wasn’t a total surprise, because it had a sparkly, kind of gritty/chunky texture that is common to lustres (which I rarely have good experiences with). Satin Taupe is unrecognizable in this palette–I’m left wondering if this is even meant to be one and the same as the permanent version. If not, they really should have named it something else. Black Slip was the best eyeshadow, but I would say that it is a good but not great eyeshadow. Spellcaster works really well with the rest of the colors in the palette, but it is difficult to blend and was noticeably faded after eight hours of wear, even over a primer. I couldn’t get all of these shades to show up without a primer underneath; Black Slip and Spellcaster were the only ones that showed up decently without a primer.
MAC Fabulousness Smoky Eye Palette Review, Photos, Swatches
MAC Fabulousness / Smoky Eye Palette
MAC Fabulousness / Smoky Eye Palette
MAC Fabulousness / Smoky Eye Palette
MAC Fabulousness / Smoky Eye Palette
MAC Fabulousness / Smoky Eye Palette
MAC Taupeless Eyeshadow
MAC Satin Taupe Eyeshadow
MAC Love Spice Eyeshadow
MAC Spellcaster Eyeshadow
MAC Black Slip Eyeshadow
Satin Taupe (inner lid), Taupeless (inner tearduct), Love Spice (middle of lid), Black Slip (outer lid), Spellcaster (crease), Feminine Edge Fluidline (lower lash line)
well, you created a really pretty look, despite the product’s shortcomings.
Thanks, Jennie! Without enough elbow grease, anything is possible!
That’s what I thought too!
so disappointed in these really wanted them to be amazing 🙁
Would you say Spellcaster is comparable to Indian Ink?
Also, what’s up with such an iconic shade like Satin Taupe being a completely different color, LOL? I actually liked these shades as a whole, but I would have been seriously miffed if I bought it, only to find Satin Taupe isn’t, well, Satin Taupe.
Not as cool-toned as Indian Ink!
I didn’t even realize it was Satin Taupe until I wrote the review. I thought it was some LE shade!
I placed my order ahead of your review, I was hoping for a rave comment. I think the packaging got me…still excited to get though.
Yeah….me too. Bummer. I guess it can always live on my vanity table and look pretty with the lid closed. Seduced by packaging!
Have the little holiday palettes ever gotten an A rating? They always seem so chalky and cheap. :/
Even though the review is disappointing (the grade not the actual review haha) I still might take a chance on this one. I do really love the colors, and I have very good luck with MAC eyeshadows, even ones that don’t get the best reviews. I love the three lightest colors in this one!
Again, LOVE the colors but disappointed in the quality. Still, at least the pigmentation in this one seems better than the last on you reviewed
I totally was going to try the other 2 palettes over this one. I have to say even after reading this review, that I might have to get this palette. I am really considering it because with a primer, the colors show lovely on your eye. I am willing to work with them because seemingly they have some kind of potential to be gorgeous. Spellcaster looks so pretty, it’s a shame it was hard to blend. What is with the Satin Taupe? Beautiful color, but it isn’t Satin Taupe! Think I will get this one. Love the look you did. I also feel like all of these colors will work well with Beauty Marked.
Hi Amanda!
Just keep in mind, I had to pack on the color, even over a primer – instead of taking maybe 5-10 minutes, each eye took 20-30 minutes, just to get them to look the way they do in photos. I think you could get the same colors in other brands that you won’t have to work nearly as hard for 🙂
Oh wow! Thanks for letting me know Christine! 20 minutes is way too much time to spend on ONE eye. Geez.
Christine, is this the best bet of the 3 palettes for the really cool and pale among us? That’s what I’m assuming, though the neutral one might work for me if the thing didn’t look so darned awful in swatches, yikes.
I want to try one of the palettes mostly because of the packaging (ha), but I am going to wait until they show up in CCOs. No way am I paying retail for this!
Sad that MAC can’t get their act together with stuff like this. It should be their chance to really wow customers, especially so they can draw new people into the brand during the holiday season! The poor quality just comes across as laziness to me at this point.
This or the neutral one would work 🙂
Oh, no! What has MAC done with my beloved Satin Taupe? 🙁 I’m skipping all the palettes/kits included in the holiday collection. I’ve decided to splurge on items that have gotten good ratings from you such as the blushes, mineralize skinfinishes, and lipsticks from Glamour Daze.
I’ve always relied on your swatches and reviews before purchasing anything. I really appreciate what you do for us, Christine. 🙂
Oh dear, when I saw the promo pictures, I really wanted to have this palette! But wtf is this? I am really disappointed in mac 🙁 I was looking forward to it so much but now?
Thank you for the review! You saved me a lot of money!
I think I’m in love with Love Spice. But I’m not paying for the whole palette just for that lol
What the hell?? I was browsing the mac website, this palette is advertised containing Vintage Allure (matte aubergine) instead of Spellcaster. Why would they do that? Did you notice that?
http://www.maccosmetics.com/product/9882/23711/New-Collections/Fabulousness/Eyes/Fabulousness-5-Smoky-Eyes/index.tmpl
No idea – it might be an error somewhere down the line, because I bought mine, so it’s not an early sample or anything!