MAC Unsung Heroes: Saddle Eye Shadow

I’ve loved MAC Saddle eye shadows for years. It’s one of my all-time favorite neutral MAC shades!

I know a few of the girls and guys who visit MBB also ride horses, so I need to know — does MAC Saddle Eye Shadow in any way remind you of actual saddles? Is this the color of saddles? Because I only rode a horse once, so I have no clue.

All I know is, man, I love this color, and I’ve been wearing it for years! It is – now please don’t run away when I say this – a matte orange brown.

Yes, I said orange…but it’s more brown than orange. It’s not an obnoxious orange. A little orange gives it some warmth.

What is the unsung hero of makeup? For me, it’s often an underrated makeup morsel, a perennial product line that’s gone under the radar screen of many a makeup lover but regularly rocks my world. The long-running Unsung Heroes series features some of my favorites.

Sometimes I use the saddle to deepen my wrinkles and make my eyes look like they retract more into my sockets…

Well, that sounded weirder than it did in my head…but anyway, glitter comes in handy when you want to make something look a little cozier.

You can start with a light matte brown like MAC Soft Brown, Soba, or Wedge in the crease first, then add Saddle on top on the part of the crease you want to look deeper and further back.

Feathering to the light brown I started with also creates a gradient and gives the look a little something, aka complexity.

There are a lot of matte sepia shades out there, and you can use any number of them this way, but Saddle really is something special. You’d be surprised how easy it is to blend, because you know how hard it is to remove stains, right? Saddle blends easily with other matte shades, which is my hallmark for “what makes a great matte shadow,” and it’s super easy to blend with other finishes too, like satin, frost, and shimmer.

It’s one of MAC’s tried-and-true must-have classic colors, and it delivers across the board—color, performance, all-day wear time, and it’s a good value a$$ because of its versatility.

I like to use it with old-school MAC neutrals, and one of my favorite looks is to put Wedge in the crease, saddle up there to deepen it, then Mulch on the lid, Brun in the outer corner, and Highlight Brulle or Ricepaper.

Another look I like is the soft brown in the crease and sable on the cap. Then I added Costa Riche on my waterline and lashes (or sometimes I’ll go for classic black eyeliner like MAC Feline or Smolder on my waterline).

Basically, if your skin tone is NC42 or NW40, or something close to that in that general area, Saddle is a great all-purpose crease color.

I live for it, love it, and wear it all the time. Heck, I wore it again today.

Friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen