Hit List: Worst Matte Eyeshadow Formula
What’s the Worst Matte Eyeshadow Formula…?
What brand/products win this category? What makes it so terrible?
Thanks to Caroline for today’s topic!
What’s the Worst Matte Eyeshadow Formula…?
What brand/products win this category? What makes it so terrible?
Thanks to Caroline for today’s topic!
We're here to help you make better beauty purchases that you'll enjoy and love! We recommend signing up to take advantage of personalized features like tracking products you own, viewing dupes that you already have, and more!
Here are some useful resources for you:
Curious how two shades compare to each other? Type in the shades below to get instant side-by-side swatches!
Comments that do not adhere to our comment policy may be removed. Discussion and debate are highly encouraged but we expect community members to participate respectfully. Please keep discussion on-topic, and if you have general feedback, a product review request, an off-topic question, or need technical support, please contact us!
Please help us streamline the comments' section and be more efficient: double-check the post above for more basic information like pricing, availability, and so on to make sure your question wasn't answered already. Comments alerting us to typos or small errors in the post are appreciated (!) but will typically be removed after errors are fixed (unless a response is needed).
We appreciate enthusiasm for new releases but ask readers to please hold questions regarding if/when a review will be posted as we can't commit to or guarantee product reviews. We don't want to set expectations and then disappoint readers as even products that are swatched don't always end up being reviewed due to time constraints and changes in priorities! Thank you for understanding!
We try to approve comments within 24 hours (and reply to them within 72 hours) but can sometimes get behind and appreciate your patience! 🙂 If you have general feedback, product review requests, off-topic questions, or need technical support, please contact us directly. Thank you for your patience!
Revlon ColorStay
I’m sorry to say it because I like their shimmer and satin eyeshadows, but Wet and Wild’s matte eyeshadows are chalky and don’t blend well. I bought their matte eyeshadow palette with 8 colors, thinking it would be a great way to mix textures when I use bright colors, but I don’t like these shadows.
I don’t have a particular brand in mind but any loose matte eyeshadow (pigment) just looks awful im my opinion, its always patchy and you can get a better result with pressed matte eyeshadows. I like the shimmery loose ones though 🙂
Ia.
what ?
I think that’s “I agree”
IA means I agree 🙂
IA stands for “I agree”.
I think maybe she meant.. I agree?? but I do agree with you, matte pigments are completely awful :/
Ia, ia Cthulhu f’taghn!
No, really it just stands for “I agree”.
I think she might mean LA Colors
I’m going to against popular opinion here and say that Sleek mattes are possibly the worst I’ve ever used. Can’t get them to go on evenly or anything regardless of what I use as a base.
I totally agree. Totally unmanageable.
Yes!!! To be honest though I don’t like their eyeshadows at all. Their other products are brilliant but the eyeshadows… Ugh
MAC…pretty much all their matte shades are absolutely atrocious. 🙁
Agree! My eyeshadow in espresso… Is a pain to use!
I have carbon… But I guess it’s the only one that really works for me.
which surprises me, because in my research, people who complain about MACs matte shadows seem to rip carbon to shreds!! it goes on patchy for me too 🙁
I agree. I purchased violet trance from some limited edition collection because it was such a pretty color, but, goodness what an absolute nightmare to pack on the lids.
I have Copperplate, a matte2 shade, that is wonderful.
Smashbox!
Word.
MAC have no pigmentation whatsoever, they are chalky and the texture is kind of hard
Pen’n’Pink by MAC. Horrible to blend and no color-payoff. Thumbs down.
Overall, any matte eyeshadows I have ever tried look like chalk.
bobby brown Bone!! its dusty!
maybelline.
I have had poor results with MAC mattes. I only keep them in my palette for comparisons and swatching. I hardly ever wear them.
Just about anything that isn’t Urban Decay’s or the mattes in the WnW Lust palette. (Including other WnW stuff.)
Though, I’m not a huge fan of mattes in general, so unless one pops up in a palette I purchase, I’m not going to be trying it.
MAC seems to be taking a beating here lol. I might be in the minority but not every color is bad. Actually a lot more of them work for me then don’t. I hate Wet n Wild. The worst!
Almay, Revlon, Covergirl in my experience, but I last tried these a LOOONG time ago so I’m not sure if they’re as horrible now as they used to be. I also have some mattes in a Smashbox trio that are totally useless.
Tarte matte eyeshadows are awful!
Tarte get muddy, streaky, you cannot blend and you cannot get a good even color application at all!
That I (heart) matte palette from Wet & Wild was awful.
I actually really love mine. I used Lorac primer potion and a MAC 242 and they were bright and smooth.
I have to agree with some saying the matte formulas of Sleek are a pain to work with. MAC doesn’t do the trick either… I like most of their other formulas but I can’t get used to the patchy results of their matte shadows.
MAX FACTOR colour trio is not my favorit,
because of the color wich is barely there, you have to use more of it.
MAC are the worst I’ve tried. They are very dry and lack pigmentation. I was very disappointed by them.
thats a hard one…I would say physician formula, I have this old eyeshadow quad from them and its a chalky mess..
MAC – almost all of the matte MACs I’ve tried are dry, chalky and sheer. I am so disappointed, at that price level they should be much better.