Thursday, May 5, 2011

MAC Flighty Collection: Big Bounce Shadow Review

Ok, as always, I'm going to be honest with y'all. I haven't been impressed or interested with any of the MAC launches since the Mickey Contractor collection, which was 4 months ago. That's saying a lot because I can usually convince myself that at least one product in each collection is worthwhile. I was really excited about the MAC Flighty collection launching in stores in the US today, but after reading other bloggers' reviews, I thought it would be just like the others: disappointing. 

I am happy to say I was wrong. 

Now, I know a lot of people follow Temptalia, as do I, but I find that there are numerous occasions where I don't agree with her. But that's the beauty of the blogging world....we all have our own opinions and the same products work differently on each individual. In the case of the Flighty Collection, there were many negative reviews of the Big Bounce shadows, however my experience was quite the opposite.


I had to try at least one, so I picked up my standard-issue, will-definitely-use shade of peachy gold, the shade titled Up The Ante! The texture of this shadow is somewhat of a liquidy mousse. It doesn't feel whipped, but it doesn't feel watery either. Since it is on the liquidy side, MAC was smart and included a little plastic shield so the product doesn't get all over the place when you open the jar.

 Since I heard that this new shadow creases like crazy, I decided to try it on top of the NARS eye primer. In the spirit of experimentation, I used my finger to apply the shadow on my left eye, and the recommended 242 brush to apply the shadow on my right eye. The brush applied the product more evenly and in a thinner layer, which I preferred because it was buildable.  

 Immediately after applying Up The Ante! Big Bounce Shadow

This shade is pretty shimmery, but not glittery or gritty. It might be a bit too much for the office, but you could work with layering powder shadows on top (as I do later on). The Big Bounce shadow itself dries pretty quickly, but that might be because I used a primer underneath. I didn't feel like I had to leave my eyes closed for the shadow to dry, which was a plus. In order to test out whether this product would wear well on its own (over a primer of course), I wore just this shadow for one hour.  Since most other bloggers said this creases right away, I figured one hour would be sufficient to determine how this wears over another primer.

 One Hour after applying Up The Ante! Big Bounce Shadow

As you can see, this wore really well after an hour! No creasing!!! Part two of my experiment was to see how another shadow would wear on top of the Big Bounce Shadow, so I applied MAC's Kid Powder Shadow on top of Up The Ante!

Immediately after applying Kid Powder Shadow on top of Up The Ante! Big Bounce Shadow

Applying Kid over the sparkly Big Bounce shadow gave a very subtle but gorgeous effect. I really like how this has some visual interest....the shimmer peeks through so it doesn't look like a shimmer shadow but it's not flat either. So how did this shadow combo wear over time?

Five hours after applying Kid Powder Shadow on top of Up The Ante! Big Bounce Shadow

I think it wore quite well! Sorry for the blurriness but it was late when I took this photo and I tried so many times to get a clear shot, but my camera just wasn't having it. In any case, you can see that there was still no creasing or fading of color. Thus, I am pleasantly pleased with the performance of the Big Bounce shadow and I might even go back to check out the other shades. If you don't mind using a primer first, I think these shadows will make be gorgeous as a wash of color over the lid or as a beautiful base. 

Kajal Couture Overall Opinion: A (as long as you use a lid primer underneath)

What do you think? Will you check out these new Big Bounce shadows?

7 comments:

  1. wow...this makes me want to check it out. like you, i had read the reviews and was hesitant to give it a try (well, more like i used that as an excuse to not buy yet another product)....but to see that this didn't crease...and i do have the nars primer...hmmm ;)

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  2. Great review. I've heard so many bad things about these but your review makes them at least redeemable. Thanks for the comprehensive experiment and swatches.

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  3. Thank you for the review! I was really afraid that this collection would be a total disappointment, but I guess I have something to look forward to after all!

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  4. @fantastic Let me know what you think if you do get any! I hope I'm not the only one who likes these!

    @Kristie No problem! I like to share my own experiences because I know things work differently on everyone so maybe your experience will be similar to mine?

    @Katherine Did you check these out yet? Let me know what you think when you do!

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  5. that is such a gorgeous colour! also, your lashes are UH-MAYZING! you are so lucky :).

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  6. i can't remember if temptalia recommended a base and a shadow to set over top, but it seems like a decent combo. you are an enabler for giving me a glimmer of hope. i was totally about to skip these. i might check one of the colors out ;) love your blog!

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  7. Great review, thank you so much for it!!!

    I was looking for a bit more...diversity in the reviews of the big bounce eyeshadows earlier today, especially after watching the Bombshell Suite's rave YT review. I'll agree that they're probably not the easiest products to work with (which was why I initially passed on the whole collection), but once you get to play with them a bit, like you did, I believe you could get a lovely result, that cannot be achieved with regular powder eyeshadows...

    In that sense they remind me of Illamasqua's liquid metals which are notorious for creasing, but they do add a lovely metallic sheen wherever they're used!!!

    That said, I think I must stop by MAC asap... the ashy brown and golden shades seem so pretty! ;)

    x

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