I became a resident assistant (aka RA) in college because I would do anything to live by myself. I never realized it would change my life. Among the sorority girls on my floor with their new BMWs and big hair was an art major who looked like she was just as scared as I was. I decided that I would make her my friend, and it didn’t take long until she was inspiring me to explore every creative instinct I had shoved down in favor of pursuing microbiology. Honestly, what was I thinking?
Long before the days of Sephora, we practically lived at our local department store MAC counter. I remember buying “O” lipstick and Nymphette Lipglass while she bought the Electric Eel single eyeshadow. While I was making safe, practical choices, she was living by her own rules. She taught me to drink Evan Williams straight from the bottle (a terrible idea, don’t do it), nurtured my love of polka dots, and how to see the beauty in everything, especially the unloved, discarded items we might ordinarily consider trash.
Sadly, she’s no longer here to shake things up, but my memories of her continue to inspire me and challenge me to see the world differently. For that, I will be forever grateful.
When the MAC x Jeremy Scott collection first arrived, I was so excited. Jeremy Scott’s shows during NYFW always feature over the top looks, so I had high expectations for the products that would come from these two high octane brands. My first impression upon opening the PR package was that the packaging of the two palettes that I received was unlike anything I’ve ever seen. The Lo-Fi eyeshadow palette is about the same size as the Jaclyn Hill Morphe Palette and at least twice as heavy. The Future Emotions lip palette is the size of a cassette tape, which the outer packaging is modeled after, and also heavy (although I find a lot of higher end lip palettes to be heavy – what’s up with that?)
The first time I used the Lo-Fi palette, I wanted a look that was a wearable & daytime appropriate. Although the brightest colors in the palette immediately catch your eye, I had no trouble finding an all over lid shade (Lo-Fi), a crease shade (Bite the Beat), and a metallic lid pop (US Dance Remix). When I tried to use some of the bolder shades was when I began to struggle.
With shadow formulas like Anastasia’s Modern Renaissance and Natasha Denona’s Sunset Palette being so popular, I have high expectations for orange shadows. I tried to use Disco Therapy in my crease, but it was sheer and patchy. After using Endless Frequency to try to blend out the edges of Disco Therapy, my whole crease turned vibrant coral. I was able to save the look with the neutral shades I mentioned above, but the orange shadow’s performance was a real bummer.
I wear Electric Eel every year on March 9th as a personal connection to my friend. Sadly, since most of my makeup collection is in storage, I couldn’t find my single shadow after hours of searching. When the Lo-Fi palette arrived, I thought I could breathe a sigh of relief after noticing Electric Eel in the sixth row. Sadly, this Electric Eel formula was nothing like I was used to.
Initially, I tried to use the entire sixth row to create an eye look, but the shadows were difficult to blend and I wasn’t able to achieve the level of pigmentation that I expected. I took my eye makeup off in frustration and tried again, this time bringing in reinforcements from the Pat McGrath Mothership I Subliminal palette combined with Electric Eel to achieve the look in the photo above. For the second attempt, I used Pat Mcgrath’s Blitz Blue in the outer third of my eye, with Electric Eel on the inner third, and then used Pat McGrath’s Astral White (both wet & dry) to blend the two shades together. Electric Eel added a bit of vibrancy to my lids, but to be honest, it was barely visible by the time the look was completed.
Thankfully the Future Emotions lip palette performs more consistently than the eyeshadow palette. I’ve been loving using Living In Stereo (the nude shade) on my cheeks as a cream blush and as a lipstick. Classic MAC shades, like Violetta and Morange, being included alongside limited edition shades rounds out this palette nicely.
The performance issues of the eyeshadow palette aside, I’m shocked at the $75 price for the total amount of eyeshadow that you get. Although there are 29 shades, the pan size is very small. The lip palette is $35, which doesn’t sting quite as bad, but the pan size in that palette is also very small. After talking with a few followers on Instagram who expressed interest in the palette, they didn’t seem to mind the performance issues of the price tag. It certainly was not the worst palette I’ve tried, but it also didn’t meet my (admittingly high) expectations. We all have our own shopping motivations and our own preferences, so I do think there is an audience for this collaboration.
