Cost: $34.50
Available at: theBalm, Rexall, Sephora
What is it?
A 9 eyeshadow matte palette named after theBalm’s favourite Matt’s! It also includes a dual ended angled brush, and a mirror.
The shades…
- Matt Smith is a matte light beige perfect for highlighting
- Matt Gallagher is a matte medium-brown, kind of taupe
- Matt Ramirez is a matte dark, greyish brown
- Matt Mcdonald is a blue-ish grey but not exactly matte
- Matt Horowitz is a purpley-blue
- Matt Chung is a white-ish pink
- Matt Batali is a eggplant-colored
- Matt Schilling is a blue-ish teal
- Matt Patel is mauve-y, slightly grey-ish brown
Performance
I don’t have many matte eyeshadows in my collection, nor have I tried anything from theBalm, so I was really excited when I found this at my local Rexall.
Upon swatching, I noticed how smooth, soft, and pigmented the eyeshadows are. I also noticed that the eyeshadows are slightly chalky. They kick up a lot of powder making the palette look messy.
For the most part, the color pay off is great except I had a hard time swatching Matt Chung. The pay off wasn’t as intense as the other shades, and it is quite sheer. I needed more layers of shadow in order to capture the color on camera.
Without primer, the eyeshadows start creasing after about 3 hours.
With my UD Primer Potion, it wore for 13 hours + without creasing and with the same intensity! I’m quite impressed with the longevity of these shadows.
Overall, I do like this palette. I also love that the palette is compact and perfect for traveling or for the on-the-go beauty! Because of the range of shades (although mostly neutral), I can see this being the only palette I take when I go away for a few days.
During the day, you could keep it flirty with a neutral eye and a bright, pop of color on your lips. For example, highlight with Matt Smith, lightly pat Matt Gallagher on your lid, then define your crease with Matt Ramirez (or you can use it as eyeliner). For your lips, my go-to summer color is MAC Impassioned (neon pinky-red).
At night, you can create a beautiful smokey eye with Matt Chung on your inner lid and the corner of your eyes and Matt Batali on your lid and in your crease. Or you can create a neutral smoke with Matt Ramirez and add a pop of color with Matt Schilling on your lower lash line
SWATCHES
This brush isn’t the greatest but it’s not a complete toss out. It works for eyeliner and for placing color in the crease but it’s too stiff to blend.
(LtoR): Matt Smith, Matt Gallagher, Matt Ramirez
(LtoR): Matt Mcdonald, Matt Horowitz, Matt Chung
(LtoR): Matt Batali, Matt Schilling, Matt Patel