MAC Pro Eyeshadow Palette in Woodwinked, Expensive Pink, Carbon and Honey Lust - Review and Swatches

Before I even start sharing anything about this beautiful custom palette, I must share that I bought these eyeshadows last year and it was only this year that I actually placed them in the 4 eyeshadow pro palette, available at MACCosmetics.ca. I bought these thinking about my summer vacation and picked shades that would work well with my YSL Couture Palette in 03 (reviewed here), which is a vacation staple for me. I picked shimmery shades as my YSL palette has creamy satin finish neutrals, so I thought this will be a great mix to have while travelling. Oh, did I say travelling? Cuz that sounds weird now..

Anyways, so let me show you my MAC Custom Eyeshadow Pro Palette with four handpicked shades called, Woodwinked, HoneyLust, Carbon and Expensive Pink. Swatches and thoughts on these shades in today's blog! 

SWATCHES

All swatches are on bare skin -  without any foundation or primer base.

I have only swiped all colors once, except Carbon, for which I did 3 strokes with my finger.

MAC Eyeshadows in HoneyLust, Woodwinked, Expensive Pink and Carbon Swatches

MAC Eyeshadows in HoneyLust, Woodwinked, Expensive Pink and Carbon Swatches

Carbon
You might be wondering why all shimmer shadows and then a matte deep black in one corner, so lets deal with that first. Well, the reason why I picked Carbon was because it can double up as an eyeliner. All I do is wet my eyeliner brush with MAC Fix+ and voila! It becomes an eyeliner which is very comfortable to wear and it also lasts! So that was the whole point of a matte black eyeshadow. I can smudge Carbon out a little as well and it works effortlessly with the eyeshadows on my lids. Its a great color to have, even though the swatch looks slightly disappointing but let me just say that Carbon is very pigmented and works best over a primer - it is not the creamiest and definitely not as blendable as other MAC eyeshadows.  

Honey Lust

Honey Lust is a sparkling, warm golden-pink with lots of chunky glitter. I picked this while browsing the MAC store and I thought I would get glittery eyes using this on my lids. It definitely works a lot better with a concealer or primer base and is actually a great shadow to brighten up the eyes, despite its chunky texture and lack of pigmentation.  

Just as I was compiling this post, I realized that Honey Lust is now discontinued by MAC. I do understand why, because this eyeshadow is probably the worst among the four in terms of fall out and texture. It's hard to contain on the brush and its the only one that falls on then sticks to my cheeks! So, the only reason why I still have it in my palette is because I couldn't go back to MAC store to return it. I initially got it as an eyeshadow topper and that is how it can be best used. I usually layer it for some sparkles on my lids and that's about it. Even the pigmentation isn't very great. But nonetheless, it's discontinued so you wont find this anymore.

Woodwinked

This is the second refill for Woodwinked for me, as I broke the first one while travelling last year (gosh I brought travelling up again). I had initially decided to put all my MAC refills in a Z-Pallete but it did not hold them well, and only the MAC eyeshadows would get off from the base of the palette and in case of this eyeshadow, it couldn't bear that movement. 

Woodwinked is a warm antique gold color that appears more of a satiny golden brown on my lids, so applying a concealer or a primer is best to pull out those golden hues. It has an amazing soft, satiny texture, that glides nicely on skin. Every stroke is fully pigmented and this eyeshadow alone is enough for me to add some interest to my eyes. Its a great eyeshadow to add to any eye palette and I would highly recommend this cult favorite shade to everyone.

Expensive Pink

This was another impulse purchase from MAC store which I am extremely pleased with. Its a highly pigmented warm pink shade with iridescent sparkles which are so finely milled that they catch light beautifully. Its a neutral shimmering pink shade on my medium skin tone which balances really nicely which matte brown contour shade and a rich black eyeliner. I have really enjoyed wearing this all summer this season. It applies beautifully and even the swatches are so beautiful without any primer underneath.

Currently I am loving all of these eyeshadows and the shades work beautifully on my medium skintone. I would highly recommend using the MAC Pro Palette for these eyeshadow singles because they can break in other palettes. If I think about the cost of these, each eyeshadow is $9 for 1.3gm of product and the Pro Palette for 4 shadows is $10, so this palette costs me $46 +taxes in Canada. That is a high price if I think about the eyeshadow palettes I can get in that price range. 

I only reason why I feel its worth it is because I can swap out eyeshadows according to my needs and if I don't like any, in this case the shade HoneyLust, I can easily take that eyeshadow out and replace with something that better meets my needs. The price of individual shadows, though feels high at $9 per 1.3gm pan, it lasts me very long time. 

At the end of the day, it's about how compact the palette is and how it can be customized that works for me. It fits in my small toiletries bag and you can understand space concerns when you travel to Europe which is always on my travel plans. 

Overall, I am happy with my palette and though we are facing travel restrictions, I find these shades wearable for my everyday quarantine life. 

Are you are fan of compact palettes or do you go big? Let me know!