MAC Eyeshadow Quad: Sumptuous Olive, Cranberry, Satin Taupe & Woodwinked

A long, long time ago I purchased two eyeshadow refills by MAC thinking I would eventually create a whole entire palette filled with MAC shadows. I bought an empty palette on Ebay to fill with them and I never ever ended up buying another eyeshadow to fill it with. Recently it started to bug me that I had a whole palette in my collection filled with two shadows I never used because the palette had nothing else to offer than two pretty unique coloured shadows. Therefore I decided to buy a smaller palette, by MAC, and to buy two more eyeshadows to completely fill it. This eventually lead to the quad you can see on the picture above. Today I’m going to review all four eyeshadows. If you’re interested in finding out more about them, make sure you continue reading!

Let’s start off by discussing the palette itself, since that is something you have to purchase seperately too. At first I just bought an empty palette from Ebay because I thought it would be a waste to spend my money on just an empty palette, but I ended up buying one by MAC anyway because I just think it looks prettier and because this one has magnets in it so I don’t have to tape the shadows into the palette anymore. That’s a little more convenient isn’t it?

The palette itself feels really sturdy and well-made. It’s compact and I like that it has a clear lid so you can immediately see the colours that are inside this palette. I also like that the design is very simple and clean. Overall it just looks great, it feels great and I’m glad I bought it.

MAC Pro Colour x 4 Compact – €5

Moving on to the shadows. Let’s start off by talking about the two I already had, and then move on to the new ones. The ones I already had are Sumptuous Olive and Cranberry. I do think you were able to tell from the picture, but I’m just saying it in case you didn’t. I bought Cranberry because back in the day I used to love wearing shades like that. I actually used purply/burgundy colours everyday on my eyes. Back when I finally purchased this the hype was already a little over, but I still got some use out of it every now and then.

I usually only buy very natural shades when it comes to rather expensive eyeshadows because I want more expensive shadows to be products I use a lot. This definitely was an exception to that rule, but I’m glad I did it. I think that Cranberry is a very unique colour. It has a bit of red to it, but it’s also on the purple side. It’s definitely a shadow you don’t see everyday and I like that about it.

MAC Eyeshadow Refill – €13,50

Moving on to Sumptuous olive. This is a very pretty olive colour, as the name already suggests. This is a colour that I wouldn’t say is very natural, but it’s not as bright as Cranberry. Combined with a couple of browns this could look very natural, but it can also be used in a more creative and colourful look. Aside from that I also think it’s a very unique colour, which is a quality I look for in more expensive shadows. If it’s something you can find at the drugstore, I generally don’t want to have it. But this definitely isn’t a very basic shade. It’s gorgeous!

Moving on to the new eyeshadows. Let’s start off with Woodwinked, the colour in the top left corner. Woodwinked used to be quite a popular shade back in the day and I used to love the look of it when my favourite Youtubers used it in their tutorials, which is why I ended up buying it.

Woodwinked is a gorgeous golden-brown shadow with quite a bit of shimmer to it. It’s natural but unique. It’s the perfect balance between gold and brown and that’s what I like about it. Back in the day I used to love gold shadows more than I do now, because I now I think they can look a little too intense, but this is the perfect gold for me.

The other shade I bought is one that still is very popular in beauty-world. It’s Satin Taupe. Buying Satin Taupe used to be my biggest dream when I was younger. Everyone used it and I absolutely loved it. It was all I ever wanted, which is why I’m happy I actually ended up buying it. Even though I use it differently now that I would have back then, I’m still really happy with it.

Satin Taupe is actually the prettiest and the best taupe coloured eyeshadow in the world. It has a gorgeous satin-like finish and it’s the darkness is pretty much perfect. Because it’s not too dark you can use it all over the lid, as I like to do. But because it’s not too light you can also use it in the crease to darken up the look. Another thing I like to do is use it on its own as an all over shade. Just put it all over the lid and blend it into the crease and you’re good to go.

Moving on to the swatches. As you guys know I’m not the best at taking pictures of swatches, so this isn’t the perfect picture but it shows what it has to show. The first shadow in the row is Woodwinked. On the picture it appears to be pretty horrible for what you pay, but in fact it’s not. It’s a little out of focus so you can’t really tell, but it’s actually pretty pigmented. As I told you guys many times I don’t think MAC have the best eyeshadows so no, it’s definitely not the best pigmentation I have seen around, but it’s not bad. It’s okay.

Moving on to Satin Taupe. This one looks a lot better doesn’t it. It is quite pigmented and it has a gorgeous sheen to it. I think it looks absolutely stunning, but I do think it looks even better on the eyes.

Moving on to Sumptuous Olive. The pictures of it in the pan doesn’t do it justice, but I think this swatch does do a better job at showing its beauty. It’s such a unique colour and it’s so richly pigmented. I love, love, love it!

Lastly we have Cranberry. This might even be the most pigmented one out of the four. It’s very intense and just like the other three colours it’s absolutely stunning. It’s a very unique and quite a colourful shadow for me, but I do really like it and writing about it makes me want to use it more.

Overall the pigmentation of the shadows is pretty good. Like I said I have seen more pigmented and more buttery shadows out there, but these are great as well. The main thing I love about these MAC shadows is that they are incredibly easy to blend. Not in a way they just disappear and end up looking like one blur of colour, but in a way you don’t have to worry about harsh lines and you don’t have to blend until your arm hurts.

Another thing I like is that they just don’t budge. They stay in place all day. They don’t lose intensity and they don’t fade. These shadows just have that perfect formula that makes them feel really light and smooth, but also longlasting. And I think that’s a great quality to have as an eyeshadow.

Overall I’m really happy with this little quad. I’m really, really happy I finally ended up putting them in a reasonable looking palette that is completely filled and I’m glad I bought some new MAC eyeshadows because it made me realise that they are actually really pretty and that I should use my other ones more often.

And that’s pretty much it for today’s review. I hope you enjoyed reading it and be sure to let me know what you think of MAC eyeshadows and which ones are your favourites!

XOXO, Nicole.