April 22, 2011

MAC Big Bounce Shadow Review, Swatches, Photos

I’ve been muddling around with a few shades of the new MAC Big Bounce Shadows from the MAC Flighty Collection. Yesterday I wore a shade out and today I’m wearing another shade.

I think I’m about ready to share my thoughts here…

Take a look!


A luminescent wash of shadow with a whipped mousse cream texture available in sixteen shades.


There’s no real definition for Big Bounce Shadows. It’s an eyeshadow, it’s a color wash, it’s an eye gloss….you can’t really define it in my humblest opinion.

The formula isn’t really a whipped mousse in my opinion as mousse has a certain density to it and these are pure thick liquid joy. The texture is a thicker creamier metallic paint-like substance. An artist would have a field day using these to paint with as the shades are so vibrant and gorgeous and the formula is oh so thick and creamy.

The shades I tried were:

  • The Cool Elite (White with Silver Pearl)
  • Up the Ante (Copper with Gold and Silver Pearl)
  • Reward Yourself (Bright Peach Coral with Gold Pearl)
  • Spread the Wealth (Dirty Olive with Gold Pearl)
  • Count Your Assets (Ric Blue Purple with Multicolor Pearls)

If you start playing around and swatching them you’ll instantly fall in love with the unique formula. They swatch amazingly well and have a super pigmented finish with a liquid metal-like effect with plenty of shimmer and sparkle in the mix. They swatch extra nicely but this is oh so deceiving…


I actually disliked them in a major way sadly even though I really wanted to love them. Please keep in mind this is my experience with the product and you might find results differ when you try them but the fact is they remain wet for far too long to easily work with.

I started off by applying a touch of color to my lids with my finger and blending out. They slip and slide badly around my dry eyes so I can imagine what they’ll be like on oily lids. The color is so emollient that it’s difficult to get it to show up on the lid because of the formula chasing around the lid as you blend out. You’ll notice patchy skin areas with no coverage if you blend too much and the formula proves difficult to build up because it remains dewy to the touch for so very long with hardly any dry time. You can head into an hour of wear and the finish still seems to remain tacky and dewy to the touch.

If you apply with a shadow brush you work the color onto your lid a bit easier and pat it into place but I find this method a chore and again the formula is too thick and wet to apply with a patting motion as it migrates around a hell of alot when patted into place.

For the most part they act more like an eye gloss or a wash of some sort and are extremely messy to work with. Most of the finishes have a high pearl/pigment content that reflects shimmery and glittery when blended out so building up color can result in a disco ball effect.

In my swatch photos (I took alot of swatches photos so you could see the finish and overall formula of the product) I applied a ton on my arm so you can get a feel for the texture and I also blended them out so you get a better feel for the shades. If they applied as well as they swatched I’d be a happy camper but sadly the formula proves really difficult to work with my in experience with them so far.

  • Anyone who likes a sheer wash of color on lids.
  • Anyone who likes working with eye glosses.
  • Anyone who likes exploring new, unique shadow options!

  • Anyone who’s in a rush in the morning to get their makeup on (these take time, effort, and know how to get into place correctly).
  • Anyone who wants a cream shadow that dries down and makes a good base for powder (the dry down seems like it never happens here).
  • Anyone with oily lids (they slip, slide, and migrate all over the place on dry lids, I imagine they’ll prove even worst for oily lids).


Mind you, I’m no expert at working with a medium like this but in my experience with the product they just seem a big old chore to get into place correctly. The formula is just too thick to work with and I find it really difficult to get them into place correctly so you actually see any color pay off. In my tries with the shades I ended up with a sheer wash of color that had a ton of sparkle and shimmer to it and in some cases I ended up with the skin showing on my lid since they blended out so badly. Patting color into place is an option but I find that the dry down is incredibly long or just not happening but maybe I’m doing something wrong here.

I’ll continue playing with these because the idea is unique and interesting but so far I call disappointment.

About the Muse

Isabella MuseIsabella is just an average everyday geeky girl who doesn’t blend her eyeshadow correctly, wears too much blush, and hopes she never finds her holy grail products because she likes the thrill of the chase so much. Her mission is to bring you super honest reviews on makeup, skincare, fragrance and all things beauty. She’s in no way an expert on the topic and she sure as hell isn’t a super model. But she’s passionate about makeup and is seeking like-minded individuals that like pina coladas, getting caught in the rain, and ones that enjoy spending hundreds of dollars at Sephora without feeling buyer’s remorse. If you’re that person feel free to reach out and leave a comment or follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Bloglovin‘.

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Comments

  • Courtney

    Do they have any colors that you think might work well as a cream blush or an illuminator? Sucks that they are so hard to work with. They look gorgeous.

    • the Muse

      Courtney I think they’d be positively awful on my face but you might be able to work them with skill!? ;-D

      • Courtney

        They;’re probably too shimmery for a blush. Maybe a highlighter but even that might be iffy. Oh well. Still pretty but what good is pretty if you can’t use it?

        • the Muse

          exactly Courtney Great in theory but kinda crummy to actually get them to work :-/

  • Wendy

    What a bummer! I was excited about these… That white one looks like Elmer’s glue… yuck!

  • Phyrra

    Yeah my guess was that these would never dry down. Definitely a pass for my oily lids!

    • the Muse

      i could be wrong but I think they’ll be a disaster on oily lids Court.

  • The Beauty Alchemist

    Oily lids ? Raises hand. What a mess. I had hopes for these as well but not only do I get little pigment , they don’t hold up at all. They do swatch beautifully but thats on the hand. Total diff. on the eyes. My post will be coming soon .Iit’s good to know how they work on dry eyes like yours. I am going to try a primer today with them. Mom did that and had better luck ( and she has oily lids too) than I did. But I don’t think it’ll help too much. Paint Pots still rule.

    • the Muse

      hey girl! aren’t they weird? I thought it was me, relief to hear you experienced little pigment too. Seriously no matter how hard I tried they sheered out to non existence color on my lid and I ended up with patchy skin areas. I tried with a primer and I also tried with a paint pot under…that works a LITTLE better but they still remain wet and gooey on my lid. They crease like a mother as well and migrate all over the place. they swatch beautifully, look incredible…in theory it’s a great idea but actual application and use is another story :-/

  • Luna

    I’m a little disappointed, but I might still invest in one or two to play around with. There’s gotta be a way to work with them…even if I never end up wearing them they look sort of fun.

    • the Muse

      luna no doubt they are damn fun and interesting ;-D sadly, formula is a chore to work with but ya never know, you might LOVE them ;D!

  • auroragyps

    Oh noes, I had high hopes for these. Has anybody tried them over powder shadow that’s on top of primer? I didn’t use primer back when I had the Rimmel glosses, but I loved putting the copper one I had over a copper shadow. It gave it depth & pretty good staying power I just patted it on with my finger tips, which after some practice worked great. I’d just bring the gloss with me and touch up when I had to. That eye with UD Shifty Lip Gunk was awesome for the Summer.

    • the Muse

      over powder shadow or shadow on top of you mean? b/c over powder would be a HOT mess I think ;-D using these as a base with powder on top is messy as well :-/ but I’m not sure Auro maybe you can try it out and it’ll work ;D!

  • Larie

    Ugh, yeah, I’m still not convinced these are a good idea, lol. Hot mess is right!

  • Crystal

    oh wow i was so excited about these but they look like one of the UDPP shades like greed or something. just a bit of color.

  • Jo

    In the jars these look a lot like the Rimmel Eye mouse shadows, but it sounds like the Rimmel ones actually perform better as they are very pigmented and easy to work with!

    • the Muse

      no lucky here Jo ;-/ they are kinda difficult to get into place sigh!

  • Ryou

    Pity! I’m loving the swatches for Up the Ante and Reward Yourself, but unless I can actually try them on I might have to pass. >:

    • the Muse

      ryou I’m sure your counter will happily test them out on you 😀

  • Sara

    Yikes, that’s two mediocre-to-bad reviews i’ve read with these today. The green one initially piqued my interest…. Ah well, I don’t need more eye shadows anyway! Thanks for the reviews and swatches, Muse!

    • the Muse

      my pleasure sara, prob worth a trip to counter just to ease your curiosity but not to shell out $$ imho!

  • auroragyps

    On top. I just used to pat a bit over the powder shadow. I never had a problem, but then again, it was a different brand & could be a really different product.

    I can try it out if I can get to the mall before they’re all sold out. Only on my hand most likely, but it’s better than nothing.

  • Liz!

    I was so interested in these, but including yours I’ve read several reviews that have the same grievances with them. Sad! Oh well, it’s not like I don’t have a plethora of other cream shadows lol

  • Courtknee

    I agree with the scary texture! These sounded great when I first heard about them, but now after seeing how runny/goopy and sheer they look, I think i’ll definitely pass 🙁 For some reason those swatches remind me of the covergirl shadowblast sticks that never ever dried, creased and were really sheer like that. (Maybe that’s just me? o.O)
    It’s disappointing that these take forever to dry, they do look shiny!!

    • the Muse

      oh gosh court they take ages to dry girl! ;-/ such a nightmare 🙁

  • shusheshe

    I was hoping for something like Benefit’s creaseless cream eyeshadow but I guess not. It’s too bad…

  • Lorraine ER

    I’m so thankful you reviewed these, Muse!
    I thought these were supposed to be mousse-like but they look very runny. I was really looking forward to these and now I’m fairly certain I’ll be skipping this and Fashion Flower..this is great news for my budget though! Sephora Professional Airbush set, come to momma!!

    • the Muse

      lorraine felt like it was a total wash up 🙁 both collections failed to thrill me! ha funny I have a schedule post about that today!

    • the Muse

      oh ann nothing like them at all hun. completely different products.

        • the Muse

          my pleasure ann, the eye jellies, if you like shimmer, are a much more worthy purchase!

  • tini

    I’m really sad now 🙁 I was def expecting better. The people want paint pots, not this!

  • Nia

    Skippety-skip. I am not patient enough to make something work, although I love the colours they brought out. Already have a lot of base colours and I do not need any more. A little more pigmented they would have been nice for an all-over wash for easy makeup days. But they seem to be sheer and they look very messy. Not likey messy for my makeup.

    Thanks for your review, I really appreciate it. Maybe I’ll try to buy a sample of them and see. Hope you had a great Easter weekend 🙂

    • the Muse

      me either nia I def like to get it on and be fone :-/ my pleasure hun! It was wonderful hope yours was too!

  • Mary the Muse Militant

    I’ll be avoiding these. Shame as the colours are fab.
    I’d like Mac to bring out some strong coloured paint pots.

  • plue

    they look mighty nice but i think it’s a no no for me! oily lids me have!

  • Josie

    Thanks for posting! I was really excited for these but now i’m on the fence. They look so runny and hard to work with! But some of the shades are so pretty! I’m going to swatch these in person before buying. I have some ELF cream shadows in a tube that i’m yet to use because they look the same as these. Maybe i should play around with my ELF ones first!

  • Misato-san

    at last I was able to make my Count your assets work in a really fine way for hours and hours!
    two tricks:
    1. apply it with a brush (a 242 like one)
    2. set it with powder
    I also wore it over my Too face shadow insturance