What do you like about matte eyeshadows? What don't you like?
Tell us what you love and hate about...
Matte Eyeshadows
— Christine
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22 Comments
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I like that they’re a practical product and perfect for understated looks or for doing a subtle contour to my crease area.
I don’t like that they can be difficult to blend and also, on my “older” lids, while “they” say I should be avoiding shimmery shadows like the plague (how that cliche has taken on new meaning!), I find it’s matte shadows that can make my lids look dry. texture-y and crepe-y while a good quality shadow with sheen makes them look much smoother as well as making me look more wide awake.
Mattes seem to age my eyes as well. I find shimmers and metallic shadows bring a punch that mattes just lack. I’m in my early thirties and my eyelids are definitely changing. You hit the nail right on the head with how mattes react on “older” eyes.
Exactly. For me, a powdery matte is as bad as an oncoming-train metallic. Satins or Shimmers can refract the light and obscure the texture. We all know that THEY are often wrong. M/u ‘rules’ were made to be broken!
I’d just love to know who, exactly, first issued this “no shimmer on the eyes over age 40” statement. It must have come from someone, somewhere. I mean, I know who said “a woman can never be too rich or too thin” (also not true) and other such famous statements but who originated the one about eyeshadow finishes???? And why has it become almost carved in stone as a beauty “rule”? As kjh said, there should be places where it’s safe to break the “rules” and makeup IS the perfect place as it hurts no one!
Those “they” people should mind their own lids, IMHO 🙂
I have recently, last year or two noticed I have more texture on my lids, I guess it was bound to happen, sigh. If I use a matte shadow it absolutely enhances the texture, opposite of what “they” say. I also have very hooded eyes and need there to be a satin at least for the lids to pop when I blink, or remember to raise the brows, yes I walk around giving myself wrinkles on the forehead to make my lids show, but also to get rid of the built in baseball cap screen that are now built in. I do see surgery in my future.
Yep, another one agreeing with you here.
As long as the formula is right (ie: not splotchy in application, not so powdery that it just brushes away), what is there to dislike/hate?
I love all my good, well performing matte eyeshadows!
Matte eye shadows are inferior to shimmers in every way for me. A matte eye shadow will never be as pretty as a shimmer. I know there’s a “rule” about not using shimmer in your crease or for a transition, but I frequently ignore that. I basically only use mattes if I don’t have a shimmer in that color that I want to use.
I know, right! Who are these “rule makers”???? Same miserable folks who’ve decreed that I (closer to 70 than to 60!!!) should not be wearing shimmers at all! I really would like to know who issues these decrees and what their “expertise” is. In the same way that as we age, many of us want a dewier looking skin (I used to be all about matte powders and foundations in my 20’s and 30’s), a dewier, more shimmery finish on older lids can be extremely flattering.
Down with the arbiters of taste! Taste is preference, and last time I looked, there was no legislation against it. There ought to be at least one area in which we can do what we want, not what others tell us. I nominate makeup.
Moving towards 60 and concur!!! I look fab with metallics, shimmers, etc. Only frosts and metallics that flake are slight issues for me.
I completely agree!! I have mattes in palettes that I use for transitions, but all my singles are shimmers or metallic. I don’t think I have ever bought a free standing matte.
Love: Matte eyeshadows don’t emphasize my lid texture, shimmers sometimes do.
Hate: Some shades of green and yellow look on ne like someone hit me in the eyes…
Hate: hard to blend, shows all of my eyelid texture, makes my lids look dry (and I am oily!).
Like: They crease less than shimmers (sometimes).
I mostly use mattes as a base for shimmers, I don’t like to blend mattes over shimmers. I prefer when the darkest shade in a palette is a matte.
I generally don’t like matte eyeshadoows because they make my eyes look flat. I know that for hooded, aging eyes, matte eyeshadows are the go – but I just find them boring and they don’t really achieve the look I want.
On very rare occasions, I do use a soft brown or grey shade to contour in the crease and I find the ones from ND Glam the best.
But 99.9% of the time, I don’t use them.
I have a love-hate relationship with matte shadows. On one hand, I love them as transition shades to add some depth to my eye look, yet on the other, I often find them patchy and hard to work with. I’m also very OTT about how my eyes look, so I love a beautiful shimmer to bring attention to my most favorite feature.
I like some mattes to use as eyeliner but they kinda have a dead look to them. I prefer satin or light shimmer!
Although I appreciate mattes more than I used to, they’re still my least favorite finish. I just don’t find them as flattering or visually interesting as other finishes. They can be dry and patchy, and often don’t blend well.
I like when they’re a good formula, because they make useful crease shades for those of us with hooded eyes.
— Sometimes as transition shades, but I tend to gravitate to satins maybe 60% of the time. Mattes are usually patchy on me and/or difficult to blend, and I feel like they crease more quickly than satins. I love darker mattes, though, which feels rather counterintuitive. Additionally, I have hazel eyes and lack an undertone easy to determine (apparently cool with neutral leaning?), and mattes can’t match well. Or perhaps my technique is just poor, ha.
— I agree with others who reject the “rules” about how an eye look should be done. They’re MY eyes, mate.
Like when they are opaque and blend well.
Don’t like that most of the deep colors I’d like to have aren’t pigmented enough and are splotchy.
I like them for contouring my eye area.
I dislike that so many people feel they “must be included” in every eyeshadow palette. And I *hate* that they’re almost always some version of a pinky brown. Sooo unflattering on my skin and I’m tired of paying for shades I won’t use.
I feel I must come to the defence of poor downtrodden mattes. For *many* years, starting in my early 20s (long before my eye wrinkles were born 😉), mattes were the only types of shadows I used. I really enjoyed the elegant and subtle polish they created on the eye. Now, in the past few months, I’ve finally opened my mind to shimmers and even metallics, and over the holiday period purchased a few sparkly palettes (ND Glam, LM Prima Ballerina mini, PMG Celestial Divinity quad in Interstellar Icon and Lise Watier’s Holiday eye palette). They’re all beautiful. I haven’t played with them much yet; I haven’t been wearing makeup very often these days. But I think of the shimmers as “extras” to my basic matte look.
In my opinion(!), shimmers really make a statement all their own. We see the shine, the brilliant colour, the striking combinations over the lids and around the eye. In other words, the shadows themselves. Mattes, on the other hand, create dimension and depth, but rather than take the viewer’s attention to the shadows, let the eyes themselves do the talking. So I’d say it depends on the look you’re going for: “look at my shadows” or “look at my eyes”. I’m an eye gal at heart.