MAC • Free To Be Quad • Eye Shadow

Where To Buy?

*TOP REVIEWER* Hothead on 7/16/2010 8:40:00 AM more reviews by Hothead

Age: 44-55   Skin: Normal, Fair, Warm   Hair: Red, Straight, Medium   Eyes: Hazel    

MEH MEH MEH

this is not an exciting MAC quad.

on top of that, you get nasty service (prior review) and it makes for a disgruntled customer with a lousy product.

not good MAC !

    Was this review helpful to you? Yes   No

DNS on 7/16/2010 5:09:00 AM more reviews by DNS

Age: 36-43   Skin: Combination, Fair-Medium   Hair: Black, Straight, Medium   Eyes: Black    

didn't get the quad but the shadow is called Free to Be in matte. I like the consitency of the shadow. Great colour payoff but the sales girl had asked me what colours I didn't like I told her purples - that is what she shows me - 4 plumy purple colours and when I tell her I don't really care for purples she tells me I shuld have told her as I was "wasting her time" I have never been treated like that at a cosmetics counter. She was so rude. Everyother time I have been there they ignored me all the while talking about their weekend, I would have understood if they were busy the few times they did that. I am such a make up junkie and because the days I don't go to the counter done to the 9's they think I am not even worth a hello. I like the products but now refuse to muy any more MAC make up because of how rudely I have been treated EVERY time I go. I wonder how many other people get traeted that way???

    Was this review helpful to you? Yes   No

toxicapathy on 9/27/2006 2:11:00 AM more reviews by toxicapathy

Age: 25-29   Skin: Dry   Hair: Black   Eyes: Green    

I got this quad on eBay because I missed the boat while it was available; the Naturally Eccentric LE collection preceded my MAC obesssion ;)




I was so excited when I was bidding on it, because the colors looked so beautiful in the palette (the seller's photo was actually a near-perfect representation), but when I got it I was far less inpsired; this cooling of infatuation could have had something to do with the wait for it to arrive in the mail, now that I think about it. Once it arrived, it kind of sat around, and I think I actually stuck it in a drawer for a couple of weeks.




Now that I've finally got around to wearing it, my excitement has returned! Smut I expected to be fabulous because of all the raves here on MUA, but so far it's my least favorite shade in the quad, which isn't to say necessarily that I don't like it-- it's just out of the norm for my usual shade selections and I'm still working with it. For the newbies, Smut is a velvet, and described on the MAC site as 'muted black flecked with red shimmer'. The result is a blackened brown I like to call 'bittersweet' as it reminds me of semi-sweet chocolate bits you use in baking, with some shimmer to make it prettier. Crochet is a 'light neutral beige' veluxe that turned out to be a great neutral, sort of cocoa-ey, for my cool PPP coloring (I wear NW20) and in the same family as Quarry. Sensibility is a very light soft pink frost, not uncommon out there (it's VERY similar to Smashbox Baby Pink with a bit less shimmer), but a great highlighter nevertheless. My favorite shade here is Free To Be, a 'dirty grey bleu' satin that seems more greenish to me. . .just what I was looking for!




I have a thing about depotting everything lately, but wanted to keep this in the compact, so I popped them out, labeled and magnetized them, and put them right back into the palette, so at least I can switch them up for other combos.




I don't know how soon I'll be needing more of these, as my eyeshadow collection has become more of a colony these days, but I might repurchase if I could find it for a reasonable price.

    Was this review helpful to you? Yes   No

*TOP REVIEWER* GimpyPoop on 5/3/2006 1:24:00 PM more reviews by GimpyPoop

Age: 19-24   Skin: Combination, Tan   Hair: Black   Eyes: Brown    

I own the majority of the “neutral” quads MAC has ever put out and I’m sorry to report that this is my least favorite one. In fact I initially swapped it away, new, but then repurchased it in a fit of MAC delirium. I should’ve just stuck with my gut reaction. The colors are: Smut (almost black reddened brown) – I already own this and it’s a pretty so-so color that is great for lining and outer corners, but nothing to pee yourself over. Crochet (boring boring matte neutral tan base color) – doesn’t really show up on me, but I use it as a base or to blend out the other colors. Free To Be (muted seafoamish grey) – kind reminds me of Prose & Fancy’s lighter, much greyer cousin, but kind of boring! Sensibility (pale frosty pink) – gee MAC, how many more frosty light pinks could you possible conjure up?! I’ve been wearing this quad with Free To Be as the base blended out to Smut and with Sensibility as the highlight. And oh yeah, boring Crochet in there wherever it’s needed. It’s a nice polished everyday office look, but with a little hint of color, but I don’t know . . . it bores me to tears! I don’t think Free To Be is a very flattering color on my Asian complexion and Sensibility is a bit too harsh for this Quad in my opinion. The colors over all don't seem to compliment each other all that nicely . . . I much prefer the Inventive Quad over this one, but I’ll keep it around for now since this is my second time owning it after all!

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.     Was this review helpful to you? Yes   No

*TOP REVIEWER* amby069 on 4/7/2006 5:56:00 PM more reviews by amby069

Age: 19-24   Skin: Combination   Hair: Other   Eyes: Green    

Out of this collection the Inventive eye pallette was DEFINITLY the stand out (one of my HG's). However I bought this one mainly because I had been wanting Smut and they were ALWAYS sold out at the Pro store (although this one is almost black with red flecks, and the single seems more blackish brown? Hmmm....). But I do LOVE the light pink! Fabulous highlighter! Reminds me of Phloof but with more irridencent pink than white like in Phloof. The light blue color is pretty as well though I dont think its an AMAZING blue like some of MAC's other ones. And the brown is a very nice matte brown as well (reminds me of Omega which I love). all in all a decent quad.

    Was this review helpful to you? Yes   No

*TOP REVIEWER* SandraWS on 11/29/2005 7:23:00 PM more reviews by SandraWS

Age: Unknown   Skin: Normal   Hair: Red   Eyes: Green    

Love this quad! The colors have been described very well by other reviewers. I find the colors to be easy to wear and flattering for me. I have green eyes w/gold at the pupils, FFF-MMM & pretty neutral. Auburn hair. I use the brown color on the lids, the greenish color in the crease and smudged under the lower lashes. The pink as a brow highlighter and Smut smudged deeply into the upper lashes. I also tight line with Bobbi Brown's Black Plum gel liner and use black mascara. The look is subtlt, but interesting. It does highlight my eyes and I get compliments everytime I wear it! Good purchase & I'd recommend it.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.     Was this review helpful to you? Yes   No

patentg33k on 10/1/2005 7:19:00 PM more reviews by patentg33k

Age: 25-29   Skin: Other   Hair: Other   Eyes: Other    

The color descriptions by the other reviewers are excellent and accurate. I find this quad to be too subtle, which is odd because I love neutrals. I find that the green is flat and lacks dimension. I have a hard time getting the pink to show on my NC20 skin, it seems a bit chalky too. The medium brown is fine, but does little for my green/blue eyes (the brown is similar to Symmetry)--although it might be a useful brow-filler for a brunette. I've tried 6-7 times to make something happen with this pallete but no winner looks yet.

EDIT: Months later, I'm finding that Free to Be offers me a lot of subtle and matte choices when I need makeup for business. When I use the darker shade, I do so as a liner. I've begun using the quad and now have changed my rating to a "would buy" again due to the price, convenience and because sometimes you just need some nice basic frosts and mattes for a subtle look.

    Was this review helpful to you? Yes   No

*TOP REVIEWER* ziebam on 8/30/2005 10:19:00 AM more reviews by ziebam

Age: 30-35   Skin: Acne-prone, Olive   Hair: Brunette   Eyes: Brown    

Free to Be Quad is a limited edition release from the Natural Eccentric collection released August 2005. It doesnt look like much in the package, but on the eyes its very nice, but not exceptionally unique. The four shades are:

Sensibility: which is a light frosty pink, dont see much pink but makes a great highlighter. very pigmented, easy to blend.
Free To Be: a medium grey with no shimmer;
Crochet: a matte neutral brown, not super pigmented;
Smut: a blackened dark dark burgandy that looks almost black. Its in 7 out of 10 MAC palettes. Nice in the outer v. Its super pigmented, so use a very light hand.

Overall, this is an OK palette. It doesnt look to exciting in the pans but on, its great. A great everyday neutral look but add a darker liner and you can also make it smoky and dramatic. It doesnt add alot of color so it will work well with any outfit. Retails for $34 and I prefer the other quad but this is still nice.

    Was this review helpful to you? Yes   No

*TOP REVIEWER* wongy74 on 8/28/2005 3:21:00 AM more reviews by wongy74

Age: 25-29   Skin: Combination   Hair: Brown   Eyes: Brown    

Free To Be came out in the Naturally Eccentric collection, released August 2005. Retailed for $34.

This is a great quad IMHO. I really like Crochet, which is a med/dark neutral brown shade. It looks lighter than it is when you apply it though, even on my C3 complexion. Free to Be is much like Prose and Fancy, but I really like the color, so I did not mind having two similar shades. Sensibility is a frosty pale pink- nothing special, as I have many similar shades. In this quad, Smut is very different from the Smut I have in a Holiday Palette (Eyes x 11). The Holiday Palette Smut was a dark gray color, while the Smut in the Free to Be quad is more of a black with subtle red shimmer. I like both versions of Smut, but I don't think MAC should have made two different e/s under the same name.

    Was this review helpful to you? Yes   No