The
Balm Meet Matt(e) Nude (
$42 at Kohls) isn't a new palette but I picked it up during a recent The Balm sale on
HauteLook and I've had quite a few requests for a review and swatches. I think a lot of you are wondering if it's worth the $42 price tag and I can already tell you that although I'm happy I was able to get it for $21, I would
definitely pay full price for this one (and I don't say that too often). Let's take a look!
- Nine matte eyeshadows can be worn wet or dry.
- Mirror attached for easy application.
- Triple-milled pigments
- Can be used wet or dry
- Talc-free
- Paraben-free
Quick Verdict: Yes, yes, YES! You need this one.
First of all, the packaging is so adorable, just like all The Balm products. It's quite large and it has a nice big mirror. The soft cardboard palette has a magnetic closure and I feel like it is very well cushioned to protect against the shadows breaking if this gets dropped. It also has a nice slim profile, so it's not a heavy, clunky palette to store.
All nine shades are matte, which is one of the reasons I purchased this palette. As I get older, I tend to gravitate toward more matte shadows and the only all-matte palette I have is the original Tarte Tartelette palette. So I was definitely looking to add more shades to my collection, especially since I don't buy single eyeshadows very often.
This palette has a beautiful range of shades, both warm and cool, including a pure white shade which is hard to find in most palettes. Usually you get a cream or a pale pink as the lightest shade, so having a pure white shade is a welcome addition to my collection.
I'm so glad that each shade stands on it's own, there aren't any in this palette that are too close to each other. There are three gray shades...Matt Johnson is a deep charcoal, Matt Abdul is a pretty medium gray and Matt Hung is a grayish purple shade. There are also three brown shades...Matt Garcia is a warm deep brown while Matt Rosen is a warm medium brown. Matt Wood is a really deep, rich brown that would work great as a liner. But the nice thing is, all three browns and all three grays are very different from each other.
The last three shades are very different from each other... Matt Malloy is a pure creamy white, Matt Singh is a pretty peach shade, and Matte Lombardi is a buttery tan-yellow.
The formula of these shadows is
beautiful. They're so smooth and silky with very little fallout. They feel almost creamy which is rare for matte eyeshadows...most of the time mattes are dry, powdery, and brush off of the skin easily without a primer. These really cling to the skin and have great staying power. The pigmentation is just insane...look at that white shade! When I swatch eyeshadows, the really light cream or pink shades usually don't show up very well on my light skin, but this one really pops. These are swatched on bare skin, no primer and they're one swipe after swirling my finger around in the pan a few times. They also go on very true to the color in the pan, which is just so amazing.
Overall, I can't recommend this palette enough and give it two thumbs
way up! These are some of the best matte eyeshadows I've had the pleasure of trying. If you're willing to wait for another
HauteLook sale, they usually come around once every few months, so there will likely be another one in the late Spring/Early Summer. Or, if you can't wait and want it now, don't feel too guilty about the $42 price tag...this is an extremely high quality palette. Plus, if you're buying it at
Kohls, you can use your Kohls Cash and Yes2You rewards on this to save a little bit off the price.
