MAC loves purple quads.
No, not those purple quads. 🙂
I’m referring to purple quads like these…
They’ve been a recurring theme over the years (see: MAC Kelly Osborne Bloody Brilliant Quad, Archie’s Girls Eye Shadow X 4 in Spoiled Rich and the Private Viewing Quad from Make-Up Art Cosmetics, among many others), and with the new MAC A Passionate Quest Quad, their purple passion lives on. I think it’s one of their most interesting purple eyeshadow productions to date.
Those two shadows on the right side of the quad may look like pretty unassuming purples, but they each contain a surprising amount of blue.
Serenade, the lighter shade, is a mid-tone purplish pink with blue duochrome, while Stay Sultry is a dark navy violet.
The blue in both shadows advertises itself more clearly on my skin than it does in swatches, and it’s weird — layered on top of a black base, both shades look almost more like blue eyeshadows than purple.
A breakdown of the eyeshadows in this look: The Wrong Man (a light cool dusty pink) on my brow bones and in the inner corners), Serenade (a mid tone pinkish purple with blue duochrome pearl) on my lids and lower lash lines, Brazenly (a rich eggplant) in the crease and Stay Sultry (a deep violet navy) in the outer corners. Also, on my lash and water lines, I’m wearing MAC Fluidline Eye Pencil in Black Brilliance. Lashes are Ardell 105s.
It’s as if the quad has a split personality. If you were to split it right down the middle, you’d have a blue duo on the right, and a more traditional purplish pink duo on the left.
A Passionate Quest (limited edition) is one of three quads in the MAC A Novel Romance collection, and I’d say it’s probably the most dramatic — and that’s not just because of the blue surprise. MAC really swings for the fences with the darker shades in the bottom half of the palette.
MAC’s been playing a lot with pigment over the past few seasons, especially with their limited edition quads, sometimes, I think, to the chagrin of their core fans. Deceptively dark shades in some of their quads turned out to apply surprisingly sheer, and depending on how rich and heavily pigmented you like your eyeshadows, these could have been hits or misses.
But this isn’t an issue for the two darkest shades in A Passionate Quest (the ones on the bottom half). Both are packed with pigment. It just takes a bit of Brazenly (the eggplant shade) or Stay Sultry (the navy violet) to get a powerful punch, and neither shade suffers from annoying fallout. Also with these, I don’t have any major problems with blending, layering or wear time.
I can see the intensity of these shadows working well for dramatic smokey eyes in purple or blue tones, or for winged eyeliner looks.
A Passionate Quest isn’t shy at all. It’s bold, and I like it! 🙂 Save it for a time when you feel like cutting loose, and don’t forget the false lashes.
PRICE: $40 U.S., $48 CDN
AVAILABILITY: Coming to maccosmetics.com August 14, in stores August 21 – October 2, and internationally this September
MAKEUP AND BEAUTY BLOG RATING: A
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
Ooh Stay Sultry looks really beautiful! Blues are always pretty when done right. 🙂
Love the look you created with this palette Karen!
Blue really is the new purple! I like the way it is becoming a more popular color to wear. I took the liberty of reading the backdrop to your product photo. Filling in the blanks has me fanning myself! My favorite trashy paperback has to be the one Ms. Perky is drafting in 10 Things I hate About You. Hands down one of my favorite characters from teen rom coms 🙂
I love it. That blue under your eye makes the look. And I love purple eyeshadows! Stunning girl!
I love the blue tones! Your lower lash lines are rocking. Love it!
Woo! I love the look you put together with this palette! 😀 Purple is my favourite colour, so this one is definitely rogue-approved! 😉
Gorgeous look here–and the other posters are spot on: the lower liner color seals the fabulous deal.
Lovely <3
Yes, Lady Karen you are wearing this eyeshadow quad! My wallet is tingling in anticipation…
Oh you did a pretty look with this palette! I love blues and especially purple eyeshadow against my brown eyes.I’ve been waiting for something to use my MAC gift card on, this looks like winner!
Beautiful look Karen! I love how you created the pop of color on the bottom lid. Very creative!
Cant stop staring at your eyes.. (for the nth time in an hour..:P) .. you have applied even the sheer purples so beautifully.. though i like my eye shadows to be ultra pigmented but I want this quad.. just bcz the way you did your eyes.. <3 fab eyes.. 🙂
This looks positively smokey and sultry on you! Very gorgeous! I wish I could pull purples off as well!
Love purple quads!!! Both of them!!! Hahaha. Your posts are incredibly funny, entertaining and creative.
Oh wow, your eyes looks absolutely mesmerizing, Karen! Purples look amazing on you!
Love this make-up on you Karen! Amazing eyeshadows and I am tempted to buy it when it comes out! Novel romance is in the air <3
Um, HELLO. This look is gorgeous, Karen!! And something about those lashes feels like just the right amount of mod.
(PS: Did you just happen to have that book lying around…? :P)
Love your eyes. Can you please tell me what makeup brushes you used?
Guuurrrrl you are working that quad! I can never master dramatic, intricate eyeshadow looks- it always looks a hot mess lol. Those colors are really pretty <3
Wow, that purple quad looks stunning on you, Karen!
This look makes me want to buy this palette 😀