Hello!
Somehow it happened that I own a lot of eye shadows, but there are very few matte everyday shades among them. After a long search I finally found the E.L.F. Mad for Matte Eyeshadow Palette.
I try not to write reviews on makeup products without having tested them for at least a month, because the first impressions tend to change. So it happened this time: at first I was delighted by the palette, then the eye shadows started to irritate me, but now I know how to use them properly and I can finally make well-balanced conclusions.
Now let's talk about everything one at a time.
Name: ELF Mad for Matte Eyeshadow Palette
Where to buy: I purchased it at iherb.com
Manufacturer: E.L.F. Cosmetics, USA
Weight: 14g.
Price: $10
Product details:
Achieve both beautifully bold or subtle everyday eye looks with these perfectly curated 10 matte eyeshadow shades. This collection of hues is ideal for shading, highlighting, and defining the eyes. The satin matte shadows can be used as a liner, on the lid, and in the crease of the eye for an expertly contoured and blended look.
List of ingredients:
For those who are interested:
Ingredients: Talc, Mica, Silica, Magnesium Stearate, Nylon-12, Ethylhexyl Palmitate, Dimethicone, Phenoxyethanol, Caprylyl GlycolMay Contain: Titanium Dioxide (CI 77891), Iron Oxides (CI 77491, CI 77492, CI 77499), Manganese Violet (CI 77742), Red 40 Lake (CI 16035), Ultramarines (CI 77007)
EYE SHADOWS:
A very beautiful range of ten truly matte, versatile shades in rectangular sectors.
The size of each sector is 35 x 12 mm - not bad, plus it is convenient to pick up shadows with a brush (even with my rather big EcoTools brush)
Since the shades do not have their own names, I'll call them by numbers - from 1 to 10.
Swatches with different lighting (on the bottom with an eye shadow base, on the top - without one):
Briefly about each shade:
1 - the lightest, translucent shade, barely visible on the eyelids. But despite this, it’s my go-to shade, I use it every time to slightly "powder up" the eye shadow base and to blend the rest of the eye shadows.
2 - cold light pink. Slightly more saturated than the first one, but also hardly visible on the eyelids.
3 - light sand. Pleasant to use, not dusty at all.
4 - warm light salmon 
My fave. At first, it rarely used it, but now my hand reaches to it more often than to the others. It is applied evenly, does not dust, easy to blend.
5 - brick-brown. When applied over a cream base it turns into a saturated dark color
6 - dark brown. Lowly pigmented. It is applied unevenly.
7 - taupe. When I ordered these eye shadows, I thought that Number 7 would be my favorite. But it did not show itself to good advantage: alas, it's applied unevenly. It looks lighter on the eyelids than in the swatch. But the color is beautiful anyway.
8 - it’s very similar to the 6th shade, but there is a difference in color and properties. The 8th color is applied more evenly, dusts a little, but can also be used to create a cat eye look.
9 - cold gray. Applied trouble-free, it’s smooth, does not dust, blends well and is highly pigmented.
10 - it seems to be black, but in fact it is a dark gray. The nastiest shade of the whole palette. Not only that the pigmentation is not the best, it also dusts insanely.
THE DETAILED Review
Palette. Such palettes often contain shades, which do not differ at all from each other on the eyelids, or some out-of-the-line shades that you will never use.
The undoubted advantage of the ELF Mad for Matte palette lies in the fact that there are no repetitive shades, everything is absolutely wearable and versatile, perfect for natural makeup for every day. The presence of cold and warm, light and dark tones makes it suitable for owners of any color of eyes and hair.
Pigmentation. At first, the pigmentation of these shadows seemed to be lowly, but after a month I bought natural brushes and it got better. For some reason, synthetic brushes pick up and transfer these eyeshadows to the skin much worse than natural ones.
The shadows are quite pigmented, some shades more, some less, but the pigmentation in general is quite okay.
The most badly pigmented are:
- shade number 1, which is translucent and barely visible.
- shade number 2 is slightly more saturated, but also hardly visible on the eyelids.
On the hand, though, the both shades are visible, both with eyeshadow base or without it.
Some shades, like 3 and 7 disappear on my lids, even though I use an eyeshadow base and put the shades on with a natural brush, in a few layers. It's a pity, because they are so beautiful... But I will not count it as a drawback, maybe it is just I’m a bad makeup artist.
Dry, fine texture. Some shades, such as 6, 7 and 10, dust and fall out. When I’m trying to do a cat eye makeup with 6 or 10 - whether dry or wet - there is always a fallout:
When I try to remove the fallout I can accidentally make a mess. Therefore I have already gotten used to putting on a concealer not before, but after the whole eye makeup.
Once applied, shades 6 and 7 look patchy. Especially the 6th, when I’m trying to blend it, it ends up looking messy.
The best of the whole palette are the shades of 3, 4, 8 and 9.
Lasting power. As the owner of oily hooded eyelids, I cannot wear any eye shadow without a primer. In this case too. Anyway, with a primer the E.L.F. Mad for Matte eye shadows last all day.
I’ve been using the eye shadows for 3 months now, but my impressions are still controversial. It’s a beautiful palette, which contains good shades for any makeup type. Plus it has a reasonable price. The pigmentation is generally decent, although some shades are weaker in this regard. It is better to use brushes made of natural bristles.
It's frustrating that a third of the shades are substantially dusty, some of them look patchy, no matter how carefully I apply and blend them.
In general, the conclusion is this: these are regular eye shadows, which personally I use almost every day, but some of the shades (6, 7, 10) drive me insane.
Four stars.
