I love when they’re more velvety and substantial–dense but not thick/heavy to the point where they’re so pigmented and rich that they become difficult to blend out. I prefer a little too firm to super powdery as well. I like how they can add depth to the look and help to soften shimmer if necessary!
— Christine
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I love matte eyeshadows! They work much better than shimmers on my aging hooded eyes. I don’t really have anything negative to say about mattes.
Honestly I don’t get what the big hype is about matte eyeshadows at all, they’re wayy less pretty than shimmers and they’re usually formulated like crap.
Love that they can transform the entire appearance of my eyelid. For me, matte eyeshadows are a necessary “evil” due to my having heavily hooded eyes. I get along well with most mattes. Favorites include MAC, UD, ND, Viseart.
Dislike: There’s some that stick in spots and are more difficult to blend out. PML mattes can be more difficult blend, I find. Not a fan of super powdery mattes, either.
I don’t like that they can be patchy to apply especially if, like me, you tend to go for a lighter application – that’s when the patchiness can really show. I also don’t like how dry and harshly aging they can look – not always but sometimes. I’ve got a lot of beloved matte shadows that are flattering workhorses (MAC Omega, Blanc Type, Typograhic, Concrete, Coquette and many more) but when a matte is bad, it’s patchy, dry, aging and hard to blend (sort of the matte equivalent of all day glitter fallout from shimmery shadows – the bane of that finish when it goes wrong).
“when a matte is bad, it’s patchy, dry, aging and hard to blend”
This is exactly true and what I hate about matte shadows!!
Mattes are a lifeline for my ‘hoods.
I love mattes when they’re great quality. I love how well they work as the transition shades in my looks and I love using a great black matte to add depth to the outer crease. I don’t do all matte looks as often as I should, but wonderful mattes are really a joy to blend out and make me happy.
I love matte shadows and discovered back when I was starting with makeup (at age 16) that they look much better on my eyes. Something about shimmery shadows just makes my eyes look smaller. Mid-tone mattes are perfect to deepen the eye area and make it look larger overall. One thing I dislike is the occasional patchiness, particularly when the shadow sticks to tacky sunscreen-ed areas around the eyes. I’m not going to stop wearing sunscreen, so I just blend and reapply.
If you base a look around mattes there’s more room to accentuate with different textures and finishes.
I find mattes look much more flattering above the crease than other finishes.
Love good quality mattes for creating shape (overall lifting and re-installing the illusion of more crease).
Also love the soft/sooty look of a ‘blown out’ color from using powder at the lashline and blending up. Somehow that’s a look I like best in colder weather….
I like mattes to bring depth to the eye. I then add metallic or shimmer to areas I want to high light. I often use a shimmer above my upper lash line instead of liner to bring out my eye color.
Love mattes for bringing shape, contour & definition to the eyes- be it subtle with mid tones or dramatic with darks.
I am just not a fan of matte eyeshadows – I find them too ‘flat’, preferring shimmery/satin/metallic options. I should like them because I have hooded eyes, and occasonally I do, but they are surrounded by lots of shimmers.
I find that most mattes are poorly formulated – they look dry, dusty and patchy. Or they can be ‘overpigmented’ so that they are hard to blend.
Like: The beautiful pigmentation and blendability (when they are well made)
Dislike: Blotchiness if poor quality and powdery ones (tend to have more fallout)
LIKE: I love mattes for a pin-up eye. Good mattes look sophisticated, and can be subtle or dramatic. They’re great for anchoring a look, and diminishing areas such as hoods. While not my favorite finish, a good matte is beautiful and a pleasure to use. I think there are more good matte formulas on the market than there were a few years ago.
DISLIKE: A lot of brands seem to struggle with making mattes. They can be dry, chalky, powdery, underpigmented, patchy, and hard to blend. My favorite eyeshadow shades — purples, teals, blues, reds, greens — are often really hard to translate into good, non-patchy mattes.
I love how mattes can blend together and form
A gradient