The $40 Eye shadow x 9: MAC Amber Times nine palette (center)
Gah!
Why?
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Why, makeup gods, WHY?!
I don’t understand… The Eye shadow x 9: MAC Amber Times nine eyeshadow palette, one of four $40 MAC Times nine palettes available now in the permanent collection and released with the Eyes on MAC collection, is soooooo my style. On paper, it has everything I typically want in a neutral eyeshadow palette. It has some matte brown transition shades; it has a sprinkling of sparkle and shimmer, thanks to the inclusion of a few shadows with Frost and Lustre finishes; and it has not one, but two of my favorite MAC eyeshadows of all time in Cork and Ricepaper.
Plus…IT has A shade CALLED KITTIES!
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All this for $40, which I considered a steal based on all of the looks I saw myself doing with it.
Then I delved in…
Eye shadow x 9: MAC Amber Times Nine. top row from the left: Don’t Tell, Ricepaper and comfortable Grey; middle row from the left: Aromatic, creative Copper and Kitties; bottom row from the left: Pepper Please, Cork and Georgia Peach
Here I’m wearing Ricepaper, Don’t Tell, Cork, aromatic and Pepper Please on my lids
When the four $40 MAC Eye shadow x 9: Times nine palettes launched a while back, it was with the much more expensive $85 MAC cool Neutral and warm Neutral 15-pan palettes.
In addition to Amber Times Nine, there’s also a Purple Times nine palette, Navy Times nine and a burgundy Times Nine, but yesterday I played with Amber.
The pans in these Times nine palettes are smaller than regular full-size MAC eyeshadow pans (they’re about the size of my thumb, LOL!) and hold 0.02 ounces of powder, compared to 0.05 ounces in a standard $10 pro palette refill pan.
Eye shadow x 9: MAC Amber Times nine gave me trouble…
This was my first time using one of MAC’s Times Nines, and while I was wishing to achieve neutral shadow nirvana with Amber, I didn’t. Seriously, what a letdown… I had so much trouble working with this palette.
The hard-packed shadows feel like concrete in their pans, and I have a difficult time picking them up with either a brush or my fingers. even the darker shades, which I expected to be much more pigmented, apply disappointingly sheer. I have to layer and layer and layer some much more to see them on my lids.
And the colors I know so well and love, like Cork and Ricepaper, are unlike the Cork and Ricepaper I’ve grown to love. I promise they’re sheerer here, and harder, and require much more passes with my 217 to blend.
Swatches from the left (for reference, I’m an NC42): MAC comfortable Grey, Kitties, Georgia Peach, Ricepaper and creative Copper
Swatches from the left: MAC Cork, Don’t Tell, aromatic and Pepper Please
After enough effort, I am able to build the colors up enough to see them on my lids, but it takes a lot of layers. You can certainly get there, but do you want to? — that’s the question. With so numerous other fantastic MAC shadows out there, is it worth the price and effort?
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For me, I would say no. I haven’t used the other MAC Times nine palettes yet, and I’ve still got high hopes for those, but I can’t recommend this one over one of the 15-pan palettes, like cool Neutral or warm Neutral, or the Nordstrom Naturals palette, despite all of them being considerably much more expensive.
PRICE: $40 (one of four $40 MAC Times nine palettes)
AVAILABILITY: available now in the permanent collection at MAC counters, stores and online
MAKEUP and charm blog RATING: C-
The Eye shadow x 9: MAC Amber Times nine palette includes…
Cozy Grey — a cool gray with a Matte finish
Kitties — a pale bronze with a Frost finish
Georgia Peach — a dirty, rosy pink with a Matte finish
Ricepaper — a shimmery, peachy gold with a Frost finish
Creative Copper — a light beige with a Lustre finish
Cork — a muted golden brown with a Satin finish
Don’t tell — a sparkly brown with a Lustre finish
Aromatic — a dark brown with a Matte finish
Pepper, Please — a sparkly bronzed copper-brown with a velvet finish
Your friendly neighborhood charm addict,
Karen