5 Gorgeous Matte Brown Eyeshadows

Drool!  I’m a sucker for dark brown eyeshadow and I own a lot of them too!  And now I want a few of the these too!  Strangely, most of my brown shades have a hint of shimmer or satin finish.  However, on the matte side, there is a more red than brown shade by MAC which I adore and still reach for frequently despite my MAC bashing: Sketch.    I usually do a dramatic eye with it, but keep it super simple and just do a gradation wash from lash line up paired with a neutral base and a brighter highlight.  Brown shadows form the basis of many of my looks and I also frequently pair brown with virtually everything bright.  It’s a wonderful way of making a subtle statement with a bright colour.  I always get compliments when I wear a basic brown eye with a punch of bright colour on the lower lid.  I have heavy lower lids..meaning they are thick and pronounced, so I can wear a fairly thick application and slightly smoke it out and still have it look fresh and not overdone.  Oh, and Stila has a great matte dark dark brown with oodles of pigment and I can’t remember the name!

I love just about every matte brown that I’ve ever tried; I can’t think of one that has ever “failed” me. Like a good matte black, a matte brown is definitely a staple, and I have far too many to even count. At the moment, NARS Bali is my “go to”, because it’s still fairly new (an amazing dupe, by the way, is Flirt! Coconutty). I’ve been a fan of matte brown shadows ever since I started wearing makeup, regardless of the “evolutions” of style. Sometimes I use it as a contour, other times I’ll use it as a quick lid color with a coat of mascara. It’s also good to tone down a brighter color or to add depth. Lately, I’ve been using NARS Bali in the crease with Ondine on the lid & Abyssinia as a highlight as a quick, neutral eye look.

I have Pebble by ELF, which is a good one for contouring (on pale, pale skin tones), be it the eyes or cheekbones. As an all-over colour on the lid, it’s definitely lacking. Too bad pigmentation.
 
There’s a good matte brown in one of the Sleek palettes, Original or Storm.
 
In the Nude on Nude palette (NOT kit) by NYX there’s lots of gorgeous, greatly pigmented browns for SO cheap.

Too Faced Sexpresso (a very dark brown) TF Up in Smoke (a matte cool brown from the newer Smokey Eye palette); Mac Centre Stage (okay, maybe not entirely and totally matte but it has a sheen and is “almost” matte) and I guess I should throw in MAC Charcoal Brown, which I happen to be wearing today.  I don’t seem able to resist any new brown/taupe/neutral shade or collection I stumble across, as much as I really do try….

I stopped wearing browns & neutrals when I stopped practicing (yay for colour freedom!) but all my stand-bys or HG colours were from Shu Uemura. I can’t speak highly enough about the Shu eyeshadows (don’t know the numbers, as they’ve faded off the bottoms). At the time, I used a few matte browns from Bobby Brown (hehheh) but they were never as silky, soft and long-lasting as the S/U ones. The few times I turn to a matte brown now, it’s always the S/U ones.  If I were to be tempted again, it might be by that MUFE one you’ve listed above as the 2nd colour. What a rich-looking colour!