Product Review: MAC Look in a Box

The M·A·C Look in a Box: Tawny One is a Nordstrom exclusive for the half-yearly sale. At the store, I was obsessed with the mineral eyeshadow. It was so gorgeous on the top of my hand, I had to have it!! I wasn't sure if I needed the whole box of make-up, so I started to look around for something similar. MAC always has something similar to a temporary item, but alas, there was nothing that satisfied me. Even the kind salesgirl helped me with several items, but none of it was as gorgeous as the one in the box.


So...looking at the box I kept thinking  justifying how it's such a great deal with the mineral eyeshadow, bronzer, mascara, blush, and lip gloss. I totally negotiated with myself and conveniently forgot that I use ELF bronzer now, I don't use that mascara, I just bought the MAC At The Beach Lipgloss recently that has an orange tint to it, and that blush is pretty similar to my MAC Sunbasque. So... I somehow talked myself into buying it. Shocker, I know.


Here's MAC Look in a Box:

Ya not bad, but not stunning. Not the "look" on the box whatsoever or the one I imagined while entranced at the counter. I must say I was pretty disappointed with this purchase.  The eyeshadow is NOT the same color as in the box! The look on the box is GOLD, not tan with gold. It looks oddly similar to other things I own. Lets compare shall we?


Here are items I already own that are frighteningly similar to the MAC ones; MAC Bronzer (I had a little bit left in an old compact), CoverGirl Tapestry Taupe and Swiss Chocolate Eye Shadow, MAC Sunbasque blush, my Maybelline Volum Express Mascara, I forgot the lipgloss, but take a look at this post if you want to check it out.

Here's a closeup of the MAC eyeshadow (the one I LOVED in the store) on the left with a close-up of the CoverGirl eyeshadows on the right. Hmmmm hardly ANY DIFFERENCE AT ALL!!!


Lessons to be learned:
1) Just because you bought it at Wal-Greens, Rite-Aid, Target, CVS, Wal-Mart etc doesn't mean it's any less quality than something from a make-up counter.
2) Anything you can find at a counter you can probably find something similar to at your local store.
3) This doesn't apply to everything, sometimes you really do get what you pay for.

In summary, I did return the MAC Look in a Box back to Nordstrom and refrained myself from exchanging it for something else I also don't need/have something similar too. This whole ordeal has really got me thinking...first of all- I have TONS of make-up, I really don't need to start adding anything more to my loot, secondly- I'm far too easily sold on the MAC brand and boxed sets. I think I'll have to make a new resolution this year and photograph the amount of make-up I own for you guys, it's unbelievable!

Also, I just want to be clear that I'm still a MAC fan and this boxed set could be really great for someone who needs these items or has a hard time finding make-up palettes that looks well together, etc.

What do you think of the two looks? DO they look the same to you? Did you check out the Nordstrom sale, what did you get? What's your favorite eye shadow brand?