I have had this palette for a number of months, but I just got around to trying all of the colours recently. Before we get started, I would like to say that I love just about everything that theBalm puts out. I own almost all of their palettes. I will own them all one day, I swear. Their packaging is ridiculously cute.
This is an all matte palette. I am not an all matte girl, so please take this review with a grain of salt. I like shimmers, satins and a few mattes thrown in for good measure. All matte is a bit too DeeDee McCall (TV Show Hunter from the 80's) for my taste. Man, I am showing my age. I have to say that this is my least favourite theBalm eye shadow palette. Not just because it is all matte. I will explain why in a sec.
When I was 15, I was in love with a guy named Matt. Always thought that was a good name so naturally I like the concept of this palette. My husband's name is not Matt just for the record in case there is any confusion. I digress....
All of the eye shadow colours are named after well....Matts. The total product weight is 25.5g or 0.9 oz. Since there are 9 eye shadows, that is 2.83g each. These are big eye shadows! Value for your money - yes! The palette comes with a big mirror too.
From the top to the bottom and from the left to the right we have Matt Johnson, Matt Garcia, Matt Malloy, Matt Rosen, Matt Wood, Matt Singh, Matt Abdul, Matt Lombardi and Matt Hung. Same order on the swatches below.
I cannot stress enough that you need to use a primer and an eye shadow base under these colours. Preferably, a thick eye shadow base. A lot of these colours fade quickly and many are not long lasting at all. I find this odd because that is not my usual experience with other theBalm eye shadows. All of them swatch quite well though. They all blend easily and are soft in texture.
The best eye shadows here are Matt Johnson, Matt Malloy, Matt Wood, Matt Singh, Matt Abdul and Matt Hung. That's actually 6 of the 9 which isn't so bad. Matt Rosen is the worst. It isn't overly pigmented and when you apply it, it disappears on your eyelid instantly. I had to apply it a few times to my crease and use gentle strokes just so I could see it. A few blending motions and the colour completely evaporates. It's kind of crazy.
Matt Lombardi is not as yellow as it looks, but it's not a nice colour. I doubt this would look good on anyone except Big Bird. My top 3 would be Matt Malloy, which has some good staying power and pigment, Matt Singh, unusual and adds something, something to blend out a crease colour and finally Matt Hung, which is a nice purple.
I wish there was a neutral lid colour in this palette. I find it hard to put together looks without using other eye shadows when working with this palette. This palette costs $42 U.S. I picked mine up on Hautelook for around $19.
Packaging: 10/10
Pigmentation: 6/10Easy to Work With: 6.5/10 (immediate fading is a serious problem)
Longevity: 4/10
Texture: 8/10
Price: 10/10 (on sale or 7/10 full price)
Ingredients: 8.5/10
Travel Worthy: 10/10
Attractiveness of Product: 7/10 (minus the fading and the yellow shade)
Would I buy this again? No
Overall Rating: 7/10
I love this palette, in spite of its downfalls (which you have captured perfectly, I think -- not the best showing from theBalm in general). That said, Matts Singh and Abdul are my favourite by far...I find they work well to create natural contours with a rich depth -- the warm pink of Singh on the outer 3rd and the the greyish taupe of Abdul righttttt in the crease. They work well together!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the colour combo suggestion Kalyn!
DeleteI've never tried theBalm products, but I do love matte shadows. Of course, I like a little more colour, so I'd probably only use the purples from this palette. They do look pretty though.
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