Sparkled Beauty

It has been a while since I got any Elf products. The return of the Illuminating palette last month (review to come) inspired an order with a few other things to take advantage of the flat rate Canada shipping.

Featured today is Elf Studio Mad for Matte palette, an item I heard so much about but was always excluded from sales on their site.

Packaging is great - the box shows illustration of the colours inside, the palette is of good quality plastic with the matte feel to it. Plus it is slim and small, with a mirror under the lid, great for travelling.

The lineup of 10 eyeshadow shades is in both warm and cool tones, with satin matte finish and good colour payoff, suggested to be used as eyeshadows (dry or wet) and liners.

I like the look of this :) The only concern (always with any palette) was if the light shades show up on my skin tone.

And the verdict is they do, as brow bone highlight but not much as a lid colour. I can't tell much of the difference between the first 2 shades when they are on, love the third and fifth shades as transition colours but am indifferent with the fourth shade.

The darker side of the palette is where you get your money worth, but make sure you like browns/ taupes because the first 3 in the group end up swatching quite similarly. The 2 grey shades are a good contrast to the warm tone of the other 3.

The eyeshadows feel slightly harder to the touch but blend easily with no fallout, and they last through the work day for me with a primer. I am not complaining at all.

Despite the small size, the palette actually houses quite a lot of product (0.49oz/ 14g) for $10 (mind the exchange rate), in comparison to Maybelline the Nudes palette (0.34oz/ 9.6g) or L'Oreal La Palette Nude (0.62oz/ 17.5g).