MAC Spellbinder Shadow: This Shine Has Powerful Pull

This is probably as close as I’m going to get to sci-fi makeup this week. They’re the new MAC Spellbinder Shadows, and they have magnetized particles — which is weird and freaky and cool.

I held a paper clip above one of the pots, and you can see the particles cling to it…

Ooh, science. 🙂

These eight new $22 limited edition loose powder shadows look kind of like cream shadows in their pots, but they aren’t. They’re loose, but they’re ionized and bound together by a magnetic charge.

The shades are all on the darker end of the spectrum, like dark blue, brown and plum — so they’re very moody and very fall. They’re also very bling-worthy and shiny.

MAC Spellbinder Shadow
$22 each, available now online in eight shades
Available in-store October 20 through December 1, 2016
#MACSpellbinder

I gotta say, though…I expected these to be easier to work with than MAC’s other loose pigments because of the whole magnetic action, but they aren’t. When I did this look, I got shadow all over the place — all over my desk, all over my hands, all over my face.

I should not have done my foundation first; it took a while to clean everything up…

But you do get high-wattage, super dramatic, super frosty drama with these, and incredibly enough, they don’t highlight my fine lines. If you want your eyes to sparkle from a mile away, these are great for that.

“A shadow made of ionized, magnetically charged pigments that cling to lids like velvet. Black, ionized pigments are magnetically charged, fusing the loose powder together so it magically maintains its form and dimension. Features eight shades in a metallic finish.

“Apply using fingers, brush or sponge. Works best after application of Prep + Prime 24-Hour Extend Eye Base.”

—maccosmetics.com

Interestingly, and I’m not sure why this is, these are easy to blend into each other but difficult to blend and buff apart. Like, in the look I’m wearing here with multiple shades, getting one of the colors to merge into the next hardly required any blending work, but when I tried another look with just one of the shades, I couldn’t successfully buff out the edges.

MAC does recommend that you use a primer under these, and I totally agree. I tried them both with and without, and with a primer, the shadows applied smoothly. Primer definitely makes them easier to work with.

If you don’t use a primer with them and have any unevenness or dry patches on your lids, brace yourself, because these could get skippy.

Also, I have this water line sensitivity issue… I don’t know if “sensitivity” is the right word, but sometimes when I wear certain eye products, my water lines feel dry.

My eyes don’t water, feel itchy or turn red, but I can feel when the skin is dry. Unfortunately, these do that with me. I don’t know if it’s just something with my eyes, but I feel it when I wear these shadows, and I don’t always feel it when I wear eyeshadow in general.

It’s not a deal-breaker, though. I still love how these look and how they don’t highlight my fine lines (yay!). I just have to be careful how long I wear them.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen