MAC Large/Duo Pro Palette
MAC Large Duo Pro Palette ($25) is a new double-sided pro palette that accommodates two inserts. It has a see-through lid/divider so you can view all of your shades at once while keeping them secure and protected. What's cool about this palette is that you can customize it any way you want. For example, you could turn it into an every-day palette and put blushes, bronzers, etc on one side and eyeshadows on the other.All of the inserts are sold separately, and they all retail for $9 each. You have the option of purchasing a 15-eyeshadow insert, 6-blush insert, 12-customizable insert (usually for cream foundations, concealers, etc) and 24-customizable insert (for lipsticks and other cream products).
So, if you were to purchase the palette and two inserts, it would cost you $43.
I never use the inserts on any of my palettes, so I took the route of skipping purchasing any inserts for the time being to see how I like the palette as is.
The palette itself is slightly shorter in length than the old style palettes and almost three times the height. Some may find it to be bulky, but I love the fact that the palette is deeper than the old palettes, so there are no issues closing it, unlike the older MAC palettes. It shuts with a magnetic closure, which is really nice.
The old palettes held 8 blushes side by side with no divider. What dissapointed me about the duo palette is because it's slightly shorter, it doesn't hold 8 blushes nicely and uniform like the old palette. Nevertheless, it does hold 8 blushes with a little shifting around.
If you have nails, the clear middle divider is easy to lift up. Sometimes I have trouble with it, which can be slightly annoying, but you can just tilt the palette to get the divider to swing to the other side.
Most of my blushes are depotted, which means I have my own magnets on them. Many of my magnets are cut out from business magnets (you know, the ones businesses give you to stick on your fridge) and I found that the thicker the magnet was, the much stronger hold it has to the palette. The larger magnets also have a stronger hold than some of the smaller magnets. I only have one pro pan blush, and the hold is super weak. It hasn't fallen out, but I won't doubt it would with lots of handling.
From every review I've read on this particular palette, those who decided to fill it up with eyeshadows have had eyeshadows fall out and land on the clear divider lid, and have sometimes broken. I wouldn't doubt it one bit as the magnet isn't super strong. I put some eyeshadows in the palette to show you, and they didn't feel very secure. Huge bummer. It's not any less strong than the old MAC palette, but with the old MAC palette, once shut, there wouldn't be any space for any of the shadows to fall out. With this duo palette, half of the shadows would be stored upside down, and there is plenty of space for them to fall. I wish MAC would have put that aspect into consideration and made the magnet stronger.
Holding 48 MAC Eyeshadows in one palette is like a dream to me, but to me it's not worth the risk of breaking eyeshadows, so I don't think I'll be going the route of using one of these to store my eyeshadows in. Even with the inserts, it will hold 30 eyeshadows. Without the insert in the old MAC palette, it holds 26 eyeshadows - so I don't find it to be significant enough to make the change.
I think the overall quality of the palette is really good and worth the price tag. $24 might seem like a lot, but you're basically getting two palettes in one, so I think it's pretty justifiable. The palette is very well crafted and I don't find it overly heavy for travel.
Bottom line - I think this is a great palette for every product, except for eyeshadows without the insert. If you're planning on buying inserts, I'm sure the MAC eyeshadows will be a little more secure, but if you aren't, I wouldn't recommend putting your eyeshadows in this palette - unless you are extremely careful. It works great for depotted blushes, so I'll be purchasing another one to store more of my blushes. It's also deep enough for mineralize blushes, so that will be a project for me soon!
Anyone get this palette? Thoughts?
The Round-Up
Pros:- Nice, simple, sleek design
- Isn't overly heavy
- Fits 24 shadows or 8 blushes without an insert or the standard 15 eyeshadows and 6 blushes with an insert
- Completely customizable any way you'd like
- Since it's a double palette, it's much more convenient to see all (or more) of your products at once
- Slightly shorter in length, so it will fit a few less shadows than the old MAC palette (without an insert) and MAC blushes don't fit side by side.
- Magnet isn't strong enough to hold eyeshadows tight and secure.
- Expensive if you're purchasing the palette and inserts.