Ciate’s formula is all over the place, as is Melt’s. I think Melt’s shimmers are some of the worst-performing I’ve come across, on average. Urban Decay single eyeshadows still tend to be better than not, but their offerings in palettes tend to be weak.
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I’ve only tried the traditional, “in store” type shadows (rather than indie/online brands like Clionadh) but to be honest, I think every brand I’ve tried, from budget priced to high end, has some great shadows and some stinkers. If I had to choose a brand that’s “iffy”, it would perhaps be Lancome, Revlon or Clinique (though all 3 of those have some great shadows too).
Unpopular Opinion: Pat McGrath. I have all sorts of palettes from her brand in all the various sizes that I have tried and I have never been impressed once by a look I’ve produced with PMG shadows. Even the Huetopian Dream palette was so… DRY! I find them hard and not so pigmented and lacklustre believe it or not. For high end, I’ll stick to Natasha Denona eyeshadows.
I’ve had a similar experience with PMG and regret most of my purchases; I’ve decluttered everything from the brand except the Motherships — and I have all of them. I think PMG shadows look pretty and swatch nicely, but I don’t get great looks which I attributed it to my lack of professional makeup artist skills. But I can get nice looks from other brands, and 100% agree about Natasha Denona.
I was contemplating getting the Bridgeton palette, but your comment has me thinking I shouldn’t. Are all her formulas dry? I need deets 🙂
Fenty
OFRA! They’re known for their highlighters and now I know why.
P.S.There are numerous brands that can’t seem to do eyeshadows well, and I’ve only singled out OFRA given their price point.
Nars and Ciate are too brands that I always have allergic reactions to.
Urban Decay palettes are worse than their single eyeshadows and old school UD palettes.
Not a fan of Colourpop. It rates well here but just doesn’t look good on my eyes, especially the large palettes – 5 million shadows all blend into the same shade.
Charlotte Tilbury- I don’t understand the hype. I have a 4-Pam of hers which is weak palette, poor pigmentation, is not inclusive.. just no.
Urban Decay shadows (and I’ve tried them since like ‘99) have been mediocre to terrible imo. The singles even fade on me so quick and no other brand does that and that’s even with the best of primers
I’d agree with Colourpop too. The quality has faltered so much since they started. I’ve decluttered every palette I’ve bought from them and I no longer really check for them anymore. They are cheap but they don’t have unimpressive quality and nothing is really unique or special. Very easy to pass in their releases since I know I’m missing nothing!
What was once THEE leader of the pack, Urban Decay, has fallen off completely to the wayside in recent years. Pretty sure that the brand is either going through some major growing pains, or they are in need of resuscitation. If one can still find their old subway token looking singles, I’d say to grab up any shades that you love while still possible!
I so agree about grabbing any of the “oldies” one might find (though I think they really have vanished). The last one I got was Stray Dog and what a wonderful shadow that is but it’s got to be at least a year ago. Their old singles did have some let-downs too – Maui Wowie, Midnight Cowboy Rides Again – both of those were unwearable because of the glitter fallout even though the colours themselves were beautiful. But finding ANY of those “subway token” singles – you’re right – grab!
I nabbed up several of the old UD singles that I dearly love….Pistol, Mushroom, Verve to name a few.
As much as I love the Intense eyeliner, I’ve never found any other eye products by Clinique that impressed me.
I think there are quite a few brands that struggle with eyeshadow palettes at the moment – Urban Decay, Guerlain, Lancome, Melt, sometimes Chanel, Byredo, Hourglass etc.
And then there are those brands that offer the same ol’ shade colours all the time – PMG, ColourPop – regardless of price.
Any eye shadow I’ve ever tried by Cover Girl has been abysmal.
Beauty Treats, some Wet n Wild eyeshadow palettes. Urban Decay. Not worth the expense (especially in Rands) I live in South Africa.
If I’m going to invest in a high end brand, it must live up to my expectations. I always like to ask for swatches and samples before I commit to a brand. I know, no more traditional testers.
But the shop assistants are always helpful, and they give me a sample, swatch or spray of perfume. I love testing perfume! I usually get a swatch on each wrist, then some more on little pieces of paper. The scent really lasts on paper, I’ve discovered. I can keep those and little sample bottles for longer. My current holy grail items are- YSL Kouros, original and Silver, Yardley Gorgeous In Pink, Avon Far Away, Hugo Boss Pure and The Body Shop Black Musk.
I prefer rich, long lasting perfumes.
Revlon, YSL,Fenty, and Hourglass., Urban Decay, Melt, NARS, MAC, Wet n Wild, NYX ,and the Revolution Makeup family of brands are mixed bags.
There are lots of mediocre brands out there, but truly bad…I just don’t love ELF. Maybelline is pretty bad too, and I have tried them all. Butter London…terrible. And I agree that Pat McGrath is underwhelming for the price point. I think one of the issues there is honestly palette curation though. I’m not ready to write off UD just yet. I do, however, still use my OG Naked palette often and it’s a favorite. Still performs well after all these years, but I do keep the plastic sleeve and the box to protect my palettes as much as possible.
I think that Urban Decay and Lancome has been my biggest disappointments, but others that I don’t care for are Charlotte Tilbury, Smashbox, Colourpop, Morphe, ULTA and Sephora store brands.
I literally just used Santa Maria from the Mary Jane melt palette and waxed poetic about how creamy, smooth, and almost metallic it went on my lid. I actually buffed it across in a thin layer to get a wet shine instead of patting it on like normal. Still worked just fine, no fallout. It’s so crazy how we all use the same things and have wildly different experiences.
I don’t think the “typical drugstore” brands can do eyeshadow. The Maybellines, Revlons, Covergirls, etc… I’ve been picking them up off and on for the last twenty years and they never last long in my collection. No one wants to hear it, but I don’t like Colourpop’s pressed eyeshadow formula. I don’t think it’s good and I don’t want to use it. I’ve swatched nyx, morphe, and makeup revolution. Also not convinced they can do eyeshadow either.
I don’t have any due to this, but I think Fenty still need work on the eye shadow palettes.