Friday Flashback: Packed To Go

You know, usually if I'm not totally in love with something - or at least in strong "like" - I have no problems with promptly returning it.  However, I have to admit that this little palette kept me emotionally hostage in a saga-sized quandary for a very long time.  Oh, all the back and forth!  Should I keep it?  Can I make it work?  Should I make it work?  Ugh!  I just couldn't take it anymore!  So I ended up keeping it... in a drawer... kinda out of sight.  But, as you guys are already aware, I'm not too keen on keeping stuff just for the sake of having it.  I've got to use what I got; I refuse to have a "makeup museum" of sorts.  And so I have unpacked the Packed To Go palette (Warm, Smoky edition) from MAC and decided to make a concerted effort to show the palette some love. 

Packed To Go was a limited edition release from MAC that compiled six eyeshadows into one palette.  Color coordinated to create smoky eye looks, there were two versions: Warm and Cool.  Since the latter had shades of berries/purples (of which I have an abundance), I opted for the former, which includes MAC staples Shroom, Tempting and Naked Lunch.  Housed in a simple black case, it came equipped with a mirror as well as a handy little brush to use on the go.

(Top Row, L to R: Shroom, Naked Lunch, Tempting)

(L to R: Shroom, Naked Lunch, Tempting)

(Top to Bottom: Shroom, Naked Lunch, Tempting)

(Bottom Row, L to R: Greensmoke, Stormy Love, Showstopper)

(L to R: Greensmoke, Stormy Love, Showstopper)

(Top to Bottom: Greensmoke, Stormy Love, Showstopper)

I thought perhaps after many moons of not even giving it a glance that swatching Packed would incite some type of creative fire in me.  Maybe "hope" is a better word.  But, to the contrary, it has only awakened my ambivalence for the sextet of shadows.  Outside of Greensmoke (a gritty, iceberg green) and Stormy Love (a slightly more saturated version of MAC's duplicitous green/brown Club), there are no standouts for me.  And the color payoff left me pretty unimpressed, especially from Shroom and Naked Lunch. 

Technically, MAC does not have a a time statute on returns (at least that's what the customer service rep told me over the phone).  And although I am not totally in love or "like" with this palette, I'm going to tough it through and make it work.  Showstopper's brown is, no doubt, universal and I can definitely see Greensmoke as an overlay atop another, so there are options.  I just wish it had lived up to its hype for me.  If only...

But I'll make it work.  You'll see.  I'll pair it with some superstars... get the right bases underneath.  Oh, yes, you'll see.  I will definitely make it work!