Archived Post

MAC x Cinderella Lightly Tauped Eye Gloss Review, Photos, Swatches

MAC Lightly Tauped Studio Eye Gloss
MAC Lightly Tauped Studio Eye Gloss

MAC Lightly Tauped Studio Eye Gloss ($21.00 for 0.50 fl. oz.) is described as a “light beige gloss with pearl.” It’s a dirty olive with fine, multi-colored shimmer. It’s basically a slightly warming clear gloss with a smattering of shimmer. This isn’t a type of product I’ve come across often, so I don’t know of any dupes that are designed for use on eyes. The glossy effect coupled with the barely-there amount of shimmer when actually applied to the lids is really replicated by any glossy product that could be applied to the eyes.

The Studio Eye Gloss formula is supposed to give a “high shine” and can be used with pigments or as a “wash of gloss and a hint of color” on its own. I’d love to know the reasoning for including this formula in a mass, consumer-driven collection like MAC x Cinderella, because this is everything that you’d expect to find in a PRO-only product… because it IS a PRO product. It is a high maintenance product that’s best for photoshoots or for someone who wants a very specific look and doesn’t mind the pitfalls of what amounts to as a lipgloss you put on your eyes.

It’s tackier than any gloss I’ve tried, and it physically snaps the skin on my eye lid back as it sticks to my finger or brush (anyone who is concerned about tugging or pulling at the skin around the eyes, stay far away). I applied it using a flat, synthetic brush all over the lid and above the crease, and it settled into the creases within five minutes. I could feel the gloss migrating immediately, and the area near my inner corner gave me the sensation of my eyelid becoming glued shut. Every time I blinked, I could feel my upper and lower lash lines sticking together and slowly releasing. The product is so sheer and within a few minutes, most of the shimmer settles into the creases, so it just looks like you’ve applied clear gloss–I can get the same glossy effect using Vaseline, which is more comfortable to wear, since it isn’t tacky.

I tried patting pigment on top of it, and the loose pigment stuck well to the glossy base. It was hard to apply, and it’s very finicky as you’ll get big clumps of product lifting off of the area as you work. It actually lasted a bit longer than I anticipated–creasing occurred two hours into wear, but surprisingly, I didn’t feel like the effect was glossy (the pigment looked the same applied damp).

MAC doesn’t make a whole lot of claims about it on their website, so I don’t know if it’s supposed to be long-wearing or crease-resistant, but it’s not even short-wearing, because the formula gravitates towards the creases immediately for me. I can only see this working for an editorial shoot, where the look is high-shine, glossed eyelids, where the eyes can be touched up constantly for that specific shot.

See more photos & swatches!

MAC Lightly Tauped Studio Eye Gloss
MAC Lightly Tauped Studio Eye Gloss

MAC Lightly Tauped Studio Eye Gloss
MAC Lightly Tauped Studio Eye Gloss

MAC Lightly Tauped Studio Eye Gloss
MAC Lightly Tauped Studio Eye Gloss

126 Comments

Comments that do not adhere to our comment policy may be removed. Discussion and debate are highly encouraged but we expect community members to participate respectfully. Please keep discussion on-topic, and if you have general feedback, a product review request, an off-topic question, or need technical support, please contact us!

Please help us streamline the comments' section and be more efficient: double-check the post above for more basic information like pricing, availability, and so on to make sure your question wasn't answered already. Comments alerting us to typos or small errors in the post are appreciated (!) but will typically be removed after errors are fixed (unless a response is needed).

We appreciate enthusiasm for new releases but ask readers to please hold questions regarding if/when a review will be posted as we can't commit to or guarantee product reviews. We don't want to set expectations and then disappoint readers as even products that are swatched don't always end up being reviewed due to time constraints and changes in priorities! Thank you for understanding!

Comments on this post are closed.
Carla Avatar

I can’t understand why they put this in a general collection either. Maybe in hopes that it will be the next trend? I don’t know, but it just feels useless to me as a normal, everyday makeup user. If I would have to rock a glossy lid for any reason (most likely just playing with makeup at home, lol), I would rather use vaseline as you said.

Allison Avatar

I cringed just reading your description of the stickiness and migrating tendencies for this product!! I don’t know why anyone would want anything like that on their lids, especially if it tugs and sticks your lids together like you experienced. I have a hard enough time wearing shimmer liner on my lids that tightens up the skin a bit, let alone battling skin sticking together. I’ll definitely steer clear of this product, that sounded like torture!

Dustin Avatar

Bwahahaha!!! Okay now that that’s out of my system I want to say a couple things: I agree that with a collection that’s supposed to have mass-market appeal this is a bonehead move. I was still very interested to read your review though because I don’t own any of these and I’m shocked they made it this tacky! Gloss creases, period. However there’s no reason it needs to act like glue. MAC themselves make gloss products that are still high shine without being sticky! Lastly, I have to know, did you try this on your lips and if so, is it stickier than Lipglass?

WARPAINTandUnicorns Avatar

Man, I was going to stay out of this one because when they launched this as part of the PRO line, I was a resounding “Hellllls Noooooo!!!”

They have a gloss base, like their Mixing Medium Shine that they should be marketing more for this technique with their existing pigments. Wet but not gloopy. (Is gloopy a proper adjective. 😉 )

Left to dry gloss… sounds almost like bondo to me (pros-aide version). lol

markiebamboo Avatar

Now I am a huge fan of glossy lids! I think it is so beautiful!

Have you or Christine or anyone tried the other MAC eye glosses? Are they the same?

Is there another way of achieveing this look? A better way or is Vaseline our only option? I have read Making Faces by Kevin Aucoin as a kid and he also used Vaseline in a glossy lid Cher type look.

kellly Avatar

I read the reviews online on the MAC site for their other eye glosses and this one seems to echo what people had to say about the earlier ones. I would LOVE to have a glossy eye product that worked well but this, with its pronounced stickiness, definitely isn’t it.

Christine Avatar

Yeah, it’s an odd one, because I think Pros know how to get a glossy lid with a slew of other products – how tacky this makes it apply really poorly (it’s just a bad experience for whoever is getting it on them) and harder to really work with in a precise way. MAC has other products, I think, that they can use for adding glossiness, too.

Julesow Avatar

Besides the blue of the packaging the entire collection seems off to me. This is for the princess who likes neutral to nude to “do you even have lipstick on”. Also, would it have killed them to give the eye palette some artwork, say a glass slipper, instead of just a see through window. Same on the powders. I think for those of us that actually watched & read Cinderella as little girls this is a big let down. It’s almost as if MAC & Disney both took absolutely no effort to put a Cinderella worthy collection together. Of course, Toledo was a total bummer too. Did you want the red lippy, or the orange red lippy or the yellow red lippy, etc. to go with your purple eye shadow palette in the collection?

Sarah Avatar

If they had made this color in a paint pot, I’d have snatched it up!

I guess they’re okay with selling all of these off at the CCO stores later?

Ashley Avatar

Gutted to see a product with so much potential but no practicality. Toyed with getting these last time they came out but there was so little about them online that I saved my money- glad I did! I hope MAC can find a formula for a longer lasting version of this product.

Katherine T. Avatar

Who’s making the call on these products? Why bother designing, manufacturing, and marketing a product that performs so poorly? It’s a waste of the company’s money, consumer’s money, and hurts the brand’s reputation

Christine Avatar

I agree – this is not the type of product that is easy to use, and collaboration collections with mass brandss like Disney/Cinderella attract all sorts of buyers, not just MAC fans, so it’s boggling to include such a niche, specific-use, pain-in-the-butt product.

Tammie Avatar

When I first saw sneak peek pictures of the collection I was so excited because I thought this was as paint pot…then I read “eye gloss” and immediately knew it was going to be awful… What a let down.

Brittany Avatar

Christine, do you think this could be used as a cheekbone or cupid’s bow lightlight or even on the lips? Do you think it would be to tacky for any alternative use?

MJ Avatar

I think MAC caved to pressure to release an eyegloss to the general public. I suspect they don’t expect to sell a whole lot of them. MAC in general has been disappointing to me of late. In fact other then some Back 2 MAC I can’t remember the last time I visited the counter.

Cindy Avatar

Quality issues aside, the color, when swatched, looks like the fat you find in the bottom of a pan after cooking meat or the kind that settles to the bottom of a jar after making homemade soup. It doesn’t look like anything that should be applied to the eye, face, lips, etc.

Rachel R. Avatar

It looks so pretty swatched, but I can’t imagine having any gloss on my eyes. It would drive me absolutely crazy. When you described the stickiness, I actually shuddered. Ick!

Brian Avatar

Im wondering how it might work as a highlighter on the face, it looks really pretty on the swatch on your skin. I could see it being used for a super dewy face but yikes it sounds like an awful product for eyes.

kellly Avatar

Sigh… it’s SO pretty and I wanted to love it, but it sounds like it performs about like all their eye glosses. I’ve been tempted, but the reviews on the MAC site were pretty discouraging, and your comments echo everything I read on their site about these. If only someone could invent an eye gloss that was glossy but not gloppy. I’ve been trying to find something like that for years and I guess I’ll keep searching because this sounds like it’s definitely NOT it.
Thank you – your review just saved me $21!

Quinctia Avatar

I think I could probably make something like this work on my browbone. My skin isn’t particularly oily, and my browbone is far enough away from my crease to keep it from migrating. But it sounds like it would still be uncomfortable, and that there would be better ways to have a similar effect work.

Rae Avatar

Yeouch! I was really excited for this one, so it’s really too bad to hear that it’s (still) such an uncomfortable product to actually wear :s I would much rather have seen a shimmer/reflects included in the collection that would give a similar “wet” look without all of the discomfort!

(On that notes, Clarins Graphites–which contains my go-to wet finish glitter–got discontinued and I am absolutely heartbroken. Now I know how it feels!! :()

Belinda Campbell Avatar

As a professional Makeup Artist, this is a product I may love. I have used similar products from MAC and other brands when I first started. I love when they bring out products that are more for pros since they started as a pro brand. I love the color swatch and can see this being used in an editorial shoot. I can also mix other products to get the same effect…. so I will have to stop by the counter to see it. Definitely not an F for me. It looks like a similar product that was clear that could be used with pigments that I purchased 5-10 years ago and it was great if you know how ti use it.

Joann Avatar

I agree. I bought this when the line came out at the store, mind you I was third in line and I was buying the last of some of the items – so it was really limited. I wanted to like this, but I can’t stand how it creases so quickly. When I use it straight from the pot it is so sticky like you said. The only way to combat that was to apply a pigment on top, or apply it on top of a paint pot using minimum product. The MUA at the store told me to warm it up on my hand first. It is so pretty I don’t want to return it, but the creasing bothers me. The MUA told me I can use it on my lips or face instead of a cream colour base. This was used at Spring Fashion week for Proenza in the city, so I’m surprised as well it was released mainstream.

Niu Avatar

Great review! Is there any kind of eye gloss that you can recommend though? I love that glossy almost wet eyelid look but have not find anything which can do so. Vaseline is too sticky too me as I am having monolids and wearing contact lenses so I hope that there is any product which could fake the effect!

We try to approve comments within 24 hours (and reply to them within 72 hours) but can sometimes get behind and appreciate your patience! 🙂 If you have general feedback, product review requests, off-topic questions, or need technical support, please contact us directly. Thank you for your patience!