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MAC Keepsakes/Plum Eyes Eyeshadow Palette Review, Photos, Swatches

MAC Keepsakes/Plum Eyes Eyeshadow Palette
MAC Keepsakes/Plum Eyes Eyeshadow Palette

MAC Keepsakes/Plum Eyes Eyeshadow Palette ($39.50 for 0.112 oz.) is one of three, 8-pan eyeshadow palettes for the holidays. Each eyeshadow is 0.014 oz., and even though there are eight of them, it’s noticeably less than past holiday palettes. In 2012 and 2013, they were 0.14 oz., and in 2011, they contained 0.21 oz. while pricing has stayed about the same. This year’s holiday packaging is very plastic-feeling, and the “pearls” that wrap around the palette lift a bit, so I don’t know if this is going to be particularly travel-friendly as far as durability goes. Since they put eight shades into the palette, each pan is on the smaller side, though it fits a MAC 239 and 217 brush comfortably. I do not find the quality of the holiday eyeshadow palettes to be on par with the average full-sized eyeshadow. This palette is all right; it works decently on the skin, but it takes some layering and packing on to make it all work.

Sensibility is described as a “pale frosty pink [with a Frost finish].” It’s a semi-sheer, light pink with subtle warm undertones and a satin finish. The texture was somewhat stiff. It lasted for eight hours. See swatches of all dupes / view dupes side-by-side.

Taupeless is described as an “icy pink with silver sparkle [with a Lustre finish].” It’s a light-medium, cool-toned pink with silver sparkle. Lustre finishes are supposed to be sheerer shades, which this is, though the texture is also chunky and a little stiff. It lasted for eight hours, but there was fall out during wear. This shade has been out in a couple of holiday palettes previously. See swatches of all dupes / view dupes side-by-side.

Plum Grand is described as a “dirty frosty lavender [with a Veluxe Pearl finish].” It’s a medium-dark, purple plum with warm undertones and a frosted finish. It had semi-opaque pigmentation with a soft, but dry, consistency. It lasted for eight hours. See swatches of all dupes / view dupes side-by-side.

Nocturnelle is described as a “pinked-up chrome purple [with a Frost finish].” It’s a brightened, medium-dark purple with cool, pink undertones and a satiny sheen. It had fully opaque color payoff, and the texture was fairly soft and blendable. This shade stayed on well for eight hours. See swatches of all dupes / view dupes side-by-side.

Fashion Beat is described as a “dirty violet grey [with a Lustre finish].” It’s a muted, golden beige with a hint of gray and subtle, warm undertones. It had a more frosted finish, and it didn’t really have the sparkle content that you’d expect from a Lustre finish. It was also mostly opaque, which is more payoff than Lustres have. It lasted for eight hours on me. See swatches of all dupes / view dupes side-by-side.

Subtly Elegant is described as a “light grey lilac [with a Matte finish].” It’s a light-medium, gray-leaning taupe with subtle warm undertones and matte finish. It had really nice color payoff with a silky, velvety texture that was just a smidgen powdery. The color wore well for eight hours. See swatches of all dupes / view dupes side-by-side.

Shadowy Lady is described as a “blackened plum [with a Matte finish].” It’s a blackened purple-plum with a matte finish. This version seemed darker, slightly cooler-toned, than my permanent version (which is older). It had decent color payoff, but the texture was on the stiffer side, which made it harder to blend on the lid. It lasted for eight hours. See swatches of all dupes / view dupes side-by-side.

Magic Moor is described as a “rich blackened plum with pearl [with a Veluxe Pearl finish].” It’s a blackened, plummy taupe with subtle, warm undertones and a frosted finish. It had good pigmentation, and the texture was fairly soft. This shade started to fade after eight hours of wear. a href=”https://www.temptalia.com/swatch-gallery?sg=159293,144423,142943,109619,109567,108086,105593,105101,142526″>See swatches of all dupes / view dupes side-by-side.

See more photos & swatches!

MAC Keepsakes/Plum Eyes Eyeshadow Palette
MAC Keepsakes/Plum Eyes Eyeshadow Palette

MAC Keepsakes/Plum Eyes Eyeshadow Palette
MAC Keepsakes/Plum Eyes Eyeshadow Palette

MAC Keepsakes/Plum Eyes Eyeshadow Palette
MAC Keepsakes/Plum Eyes Eyeshadow Palette

MAC Keepsakes/Plum Eyes Eyeshadow Palette
MAC Keepsakes/Plum Eyes Eyeshadow Palette

MAC Keepsakes/Plum Eyes Eyeshadow Palette
MAC Keepsakes/Plum Eyes Eyeshadow Palette

MAC Keepsakes/Plum Eyes Eyeshadow Palette
MAC Keepsakes/Plum Eyes Eyeshadow Palette

MAC Sensibility Eyeshadow
MAC Sensibility Eyeshadow

MAC Sensibility Eyeshadow
MAC Sensibility Eyeshadow

MAC Taupeless Eyeshadow
MAC Taupeless Eyeshadow

MAC Taupeless Eyeshadow
MAC Taupeless Eyeshadow

MAC Plum Grand Eyeshadow
MAC Plum Grand Eyeshadow

MAC Plum Grand Eyeshadow
MAC Plum Grand Eyeshadow

MAC Nocturnelle Eyeshadow
MAC Nocturnelle Eyeshadow

MAC Nocturnelle Eyeshadow
MAC Nocturnelle Eyeshadow

MAC Fashion Beat Eyeshadow
MAC Fashion Beat Eyeshadow

MAC Fashion Beat Eyeshadow
MAC Fashion Beat Eyeshadow

MAC Subtly Elegant Eyeshadow
MAC Subtly Elegant Eyeshadow

MAC Subtly Elegant Eyeshadow
MAC Subtly Elegant Eyeshadow

MAC Shadowy Lady Eyeshadow
MAC Shadowy Lady Eyeshadow

MAC Shadowy Lady Eyeshadow
MAC Shadowy Lady Eyeshadow

MAC Magic Moor Eyeshadow
MAC Magic Moor Eyeshadow

MAC Magic Moor Eyeshadow
MAC Magic Moor Eyeshadow

MAC Keepsakes/Plum Eyes Eyeshadow Palette
MAC Keepsakes/Plum Eyes Eyeshadow Palette

MAC Keepsakes/Plum Eyes Eyeshadow Palette
MAC Keepsakes/Plum Eyes Eyeshadow Palette

73 Comments

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Sylirael Avatar

I really like the colours, and the cameo design concept. If only the execution had been…er… a little more positive.

I like Subtly Elegant and Plum Grand especially for colour, but it feels kind of awkward that what I mostly took out of this is that if I were going to shop at a MAC store, I would just get the Nocturnelle single, which seems to be pretty much the best thing there…and its permanent!

Helene Avatar

I’m going to skip this as it’s not performing on top. Pity, as this was thepalette I though of getting. Nocturnelle is really pretty. I wish this palette had been a lot better.
Well, more money for something else.

xamyx Avatar

Because they know people will buy them no matter how bad they are, even if ot means paying outrageous prices on eBay… You’d also think while they’re cutting corners on quality, it’s likely the costs are down, so making more product shouldn’t be problematic…

Mariella Avatar

Seeing the packaging close-up, I really don’t like it. It looks like cheap packaging that is trying to look “elegant”. But I’m very tempted by this assortment, even though a few of them (ones I don’t really care about anyway) performed poorly. Magic Moor, Subtly Elegant and Fashion Beat are the ones I really like and they’d make this a reasonably “worth it” purchase.

Chris Avatar

Thanks, Christine! If you ever have time, I and some other readers would really appreciate a palette edition of you top five series, like “Five Plummy Eyeshadow Palettes for Fall,” “Five Green-Themed Eyeshadow Palettes..” etc. or something. Just an idea – I really appreciate everything that you do already!

Christina Avatar

Yeah, no, this isn’t something I’ll be picking up. There are so many wonderful releases this year, and MACs holiday palettes are not good enough in quality to compete with other brands or other releases within their own holiday collection.

xamyx Avatar

I actually really like this one, both the packaging, and the composition of shades. Thos is probably the first “cohesive” palette I’ve seen from any brand in a long time, and includes shadows for a complete look.

kris Avatar

Awhh man…i got this one coming too! Ugh. I eve made a Z-palette of all MAC Purples similar to this but without the browns/taupes.. I wonder how the other palettes are?? The bigger ones too?

Pami Avatar

This was the palette I was most excited about. I absolutely love all of these shades. I am so disappointed that the quality is not there. I was still thinking about getting it anyway since it’s probably workable (why should I have to settle for “workable” though), but I would want it mainly for travel or touch ups, and with the packaging being flimsy it seems that it would not fare well.

I’m really getting tired of MAC’s collections. So many of their limited releases sell out immediately (at least the items that I – and everybody else wants), or the quality isn’t there. I appreciate them trying to be innovative, but maybe they ought to focus less on the quantity of collections, and zero in on the quality… End of rant.

Beth Avatar

I bought it, and tried it today. Decided to read up what other people thought. This is the first time I have tried mac shadows. I am going to be returning it. It is as you described it – stiff. The color pay off and consistency, I am just not happy with it. I have tried better else wheres. The packaging though I loved. Nuts about the vintagey feel. What a bummer :/

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