My Perfect MAC Eyeshadow Quad for Travelling

As someone who wears glasses everyday, I tend not to wear  a lot of eye makeup on a daily basis.. Recently as I've decluterred all of my makeup collection I realized that I don't have a go-to eye shadow palette. I tried using a small Z-palette but I'm not a fan of de-potting shadows and I tend to gravitate towards a very similar range of neutral shades. One of my all-time drugstore favorites is the Wet n' Wild Color Icon Eyeshadow Trio in Walking on Eggshell. Those three shades are absolutely beautiful but I found it to be too shimmery for travelling. 

The reason why I chose MAC over let's say Makeup Geek or ColourPop is because I need to be able to swatch it and make sure that it all works together. I'm pretty fortunate that there is a MAC store in Cherry Hill Mall in New Jersey where I was able to create my palette. 

My plan was to get shadows that would work beautifully alone if I'm lazy and I just want throw one shade on but looks great being used together as well. 

First let's talk about the process of creating a palette at MAC. You can do it online or at their independent retail store (you can't purchase the single shadows and the refill pan at MAC stands that are in Macy's or Nordstrom, etc.). The Pro Palette Eye Shadow/Concealer x 4 is $8 and the single refill pan shadows are $6 each for 1.3 g /0.04 oz. Buying a single shadow with the container is $16 so it's a saving of $10 per shadow. You can choose from 114 shades and MAC provides pretty detailed product information. 

So as you can see below, this is the same exact palette had I purchased it online. The total cost for the 4 refill pan shadows + Pro Palette is $32 (+ taxes). 

My Perfect Quad 

Woodwinked - Warm Antique Gold (Veluxe Pearl)

The first shadow that I knew I wanted is Woodwinked. It's absolutely stunning. I have to say that not all MAC shadows are beautiful, I've swatched some that were extremely patchy and dry. This however was just so smooth like butter and when it's blended with a fluffy crease brush it almost takes on a different shade. I've been using this by itself a lot recently because it looks like I'm wearing 2 different shadows.

Saddle- Golden Orange Brown (Matte)

The second shadow I picked up is saddle because I knew I wanted a soft-matte medium brown that would work with Woodwinked. It seemed scary at first because I tend to stay away from anything orange- based but for some reason this works really well on my complexion. 

Espresso- Muted Golden Brown (Matte)

I wanted a deeper dark brown color that I can use as a brow filler if I wanted to which means I needed a matte shadow. This was a toss up between Espresso and Embark but I swatched Embark and it was so chalky so I went with Espresso. This is beautiful on the crease and again goes along with the other shades very well. It also works on my brows because I tend to do a couple of shades lighter than my brow color. 

Ricepaper- Peachy Gold with Shimmer (Frost)

The final shade is Ricepaper which works well for underneath the eyebrow or on the inner corner. It says peachy gold on the description but it swathed yellow on my skin. 

(L to R - Ricepaper, Saddle, Espresso, Woodwinked)

I do wish that the pro palette has a mirror instead of a clear transparent top which does get dirty but it is what it is. At the end of the day $32 is still a lot of money and one could argue that I could've just picked up a Lorac or Urban Decay Naked Palette for a lot more shadows but I've learned that I just won't use it and I rather invest in 4 shadows that I absolutely love and will use.

Let me know your must have MAC shadows below that I just have to try or if you have a go-to travel palette. 

Until next time,