MAC Eye Shadow X 9 Burgundy Times Nine Review

Hello lovely ladies,
I can’t believe that I have a plethora of eye makeup lined up for review. Everyone knows my love for lipsticks. But I seem to be taking a full 180 degree turn with going subtle on my lips and bolder on my eyes! So, today I have the review of a permanent eye shadow palette from our beloved brand, MAC. Let’s find out more about it!

Product Description:
A well-edited palette featuring a colour wave of burgundy hues ($55 Value).

This well-edited palette features a colour wave of burgundy hues that offer countless shade combinations. It provides an array of textures from matte to satin to frost for creating a variety of looks for both day and night. The saturated, soft and smooth hues are all packaged in one compact for easy portability.

Claims & Benefits:
• Dermatologist tested
• Ophthalmologist tested
• Non-acnegenic
• Safe for contact lens wearers
• Can be used wet or dry

Contains:
Honey Lust: Bronze dipped peach (Lustre)
Poppyseed: Midtone mauvey nude (Satin)
Quarry: Soft muted plum brown (Matte)
Antiqued: Ash brown with bronze (Veluxe Pearl)
Embark: Intense reddish brown (Matte)
Noir: Deep black brown w/ gold pearls (Velvet)
Haux: Soft muted rosy brown (Satin)
Star Violet: Pinky brown plum (Veluxe Pearl)
Sketch: Burgundy with red shimmer (Velvet)

Price: Original price $40/New Price $32 |BUY THIS PRODUCT HERE|

Price in India – INR 3,100

Packaging:
The product comes in a small compact – refer the collage pic – you can see it fitting into the palm of my hand. It has no mirror, no applicator, no look book guide. Nothing! Its just 9 eyeshadows in a square compact with a transparent top.

My Experience with MAC Eye Shadow X 9 Burgundy Times Nine:

MAC launched these palettes about a year ago. They are available in 4 shade ranges, which include Burgundy Times Nine, Amber Times Nine, Purple Times Nine and Navy Times Nine. All the palettes are permanent and consist of 9 eyeshadows in various finishes. These eyeshadows have shades from the permanent range, as well as some special ones.

However, these palettes did not get much hype apart from the initial buzz they created. What did not work for them was that some people found the palettes too small – each eyeshadow in the palette is actually less than half the amount of product which is there in a pro pan refill. The second issue was bigger – the shades did not work well – the shadows were stiffer and sheerer, once applied. Even the shades from the permanent range did not work as well as a regular eyeshadow would. This might be attributed to how the shadows were packed into the smaller pans of the palette. Nevertheless, the buzz died down pretty quick on these palettes.

How did I end up picking this? When I went for a MAC tutorial, the MUA used about 4-5 shades of purple – ranging from violet to burgundy – to create the eye look. And none of these shades were available in the refill form. Also, buying 4-5 shades of the same colour (9 technically) to be able to create just one look did not make sense to me. So, I was tempted to buy the ‘Purple Times Nine’ palette instead. A single refill shade costs about INR 900, while the palette retails for INR 3,100. That’s like a no brainer, right? Yes and no. Yes, that buying the palette made more sense. However, my sweet MUA friend, subtly steered me away from the ‘Purple’ palette and insisted that I pick up the ‘Burgundy’ one instead. And I did. Let’s find out why:

Honey Lust: Described as ‘bronze dipped peach’. This one is a gorgeous champagne gold in lustre finish, with tonnes of fine glitters. This also means that you have to deal with fall out. Also, the colour pay-off on this one isn’t too great. So, how to use it? I finally figured 2 ways to work this through – one, apply it wet and pat it on. Second option is to just pat it onto the lid on an existing colour to add a touch of glamour.
Poppyseed: Described as ‘midtone mauvey nude’ is a lovely pinkish mauve in satin finish. Works very well as a crease shade or for all over the lid for an office appropriate look.
Quarry: Described as ‘soft muted plum brown’, this shade is like a less pinker version of Poppyseed. Being matte finish, I find it stiffer and a bit difficult to work with, in terms of blending.

Antiqued: Described as ‘ash brown with bronze’, this gorgeous, gorgeous shade is in veluxe pearl finish. One of the prettiest shades in the palette. Even though this does not have much relation to the burgundy theme of the palette. The fact that it is there is a big plus for the palette because it helps you to create coppery/bronzy looks also, from the same palette. And you know how coppery/bronzy shades work really well for Indian skin tone.
Embark: Described as an ‘intense reddish brown’. This one is, again, a matte finish one. However, it’s smoother to work with than Quarry. The shade is obviously a brown but with red undertones. This may or may not work for everyone since it can look a bit muddy. If used sparingly, it works well to add depth to any look.
#Noir: Described as ‘deep black brown w/ gold pearls’. This is part of the velvet finish range. It looks absolutely gorgeous in the pan – the grey black with hints of gold. However, the gold does not transfer to the lid – it kind of gets lost between the pan and the brush.

Haux: Described as a ‘soft muted rosy brown’, this one has a satin finish. This is quite a famed shade. It works well as a crease colour or as an all over lid shade.
Star Violet: Described as a ‘pinky brown plum’. Like Antiqued, this one is also from the veluxe pearl finish and is THE most gorgeous shade in the palette! This is the one shade I would probably hit pan on and will need to buy a refill for my pro pan palette. It just brightens up the eye and blends so effortlessly.
Sketch: Described as a ‘burgundy with red shimmer’, this is part of the velvet finish. This one works really well with Star Violet. Actually, all 3 shades in the last row really work very well together.

Texture:
The smoothness of the shades depends on the finish. Some shades are easier to work with and blend together, some take a little bit of effort. However, there isn’t really a shade which doesn’t come through. They might not be as creamy and smooth as the Make Up Forever ones, however, different textures and finishes are known to perform differently, and mattes which are smooth and creamy are more difficult to find.

Staying power:
With a primer underneath, I get a full day wear from the shades – so about 8 hours plus.

Pigmentation:
Except for Quarry and Haux (at times), the shades in the palette have good pigmentation. They can be built up or sheered out as necessary.

• Sharing with you two of the looks created with this palette. One was done during another tutorial I did with MAC – smokey eyes, using this palette. The MAC MUA made me blend till the cows came home. Needless to say, the finish is flawless. And the second look was created by me at home.

Pros of MAC Eye Shadow X 9 Burgundy Times Nine:

• Lovely array of shades – covering burgundy, brown and neutral mattes
• Good mix of finishes
• Really allows you to create a number of looks
• Excellent, travel proof packaging
• No fragrance
• Soft, velvety texture for most shadows
• Finely milled, silky smooth powder
• No fallout – except for Honey Lust
• Good pigmentation for most colours
• Most colours blend easily
• Shadows stay put the whole day – with primer
• The color works well even for office wear, day wear or evening out
• Did not irritate my eyes
• Dermatologist tested
• Ophthalmologist tested
• Non-acnegenic
• Safe for contact lens wearers
• Can be used wet or dry

Cons of MAC Eye Shadow X 9 Burgundy Times Nine:

• Couple of shades take a bit of effort to work with, but cannot really be termed as bad

IMBB Rating: 4.25/5 |BUY THIS PRODUCT HERE|
|BUY: MAC Eye Shadow Palette x 9: Navy|

Overall Thoughts:
I think this is an excellent palette and a great value for money for someone who’s wanting to try MAC shadows but is not comfortable to splurge on singles. There has been a lot of talk about how small these palettes are. But honestly, that’s what I love about this one. It is really small – still has a good variety of shades and variations in finishes to be able to create looks that can take you from neutral to exotic or from daywear to evening out.

And the best part is it’s so easy to travel with. Considering, I was anyway planning to buy Embark and Antiqued, I think this provided great value for money for me. Yes, the pans are smaller. But, I doubt if I will ever finish a pan. And if I do, I know which ones I’ll be in a hurry to go out and repurchase.

Would I Repurchase/Recommend MAC Eye Shadow X 9 Burgundy Times Nine?
If I were to lose this palette (knock on wood!!), yes I would go out and re-purchase in a heartbeat. I do really love this one. Do check it out at the store. I absolutely recommend picking it up. And I am so happy that my friend gently nudged me away from the other palettes.

MAC Carbon Black Eyeshadow
12 Must Have MAC Eyeshadows for Indian Skin Tones
MAC Brun, Corduroy, Sable, Shroom Eyeshadow
MAC Ruby Woo Lipstick
MAC Pro Conceal and Correct Palette
9 Major Beauty and Makeup Blunders We All Have Been Guilty Of
RiRe Wine Burgundy Lip Manicure High Fix
Lakme Burgundy Affair Absolute Sculpt Studio Hi Definition Matte Lipstick
Lush Let the Good Times Roll Cleanser
Lakme 9 to 5 Lipstick – Saffron Gossip