Review & Swatches: Too Faced Matte Eye Shadow Collection

I haven’t gone matte in a long time. These days, I’m all about creating points of light on my face—and in my thirties, I feel like matte just makes me look…well, for lack of a better word, old. Gasp! I can’t pull off all the same tricks I used to, and that includes an all-matte eye look. I always have to balance it out somehow with a little bit of sheen. But for those who like all-matte, all the time—you’re in luck. Too Faced has a great palette with your name all over it, aptly named the Matte Eye Shadow Collection.

With nine shades to work with, you’ve got plenty of shadows to work with to create different combos, or you can just stick with the enclosed how-to cards for classic, daytime, and fashion looks.

Day — Tufted Suede (tan), Chinchilla (medium brown), Coffee Bean (dark brown)
Classic — Velveteen Bunny (eggshell white), Pebbles (graphite grey), London Fog (deepest blue)
Fashion — Fresh Linen (pale pastel pink), Vintage Violet (mauve/violet), Midnight (darkest charcoal grey)

These felt like suede to the touch, and they weren’t on the chalky side like some mattes are—but they do tend to look a bit muted once you start blending. (Then again—I’m extremely fair, these should perform better on medium-to-dark skin tones.) I used Lemon Drop Shadow Insurance with the Matte Eye palette, and these shadows would not budge! While I didn’t experience any fallout, I find you’ll get the maximum color payoff by patting the shadow onto the eyelid, versus swiping.

For $36, this should satisfy your matte cravings, that’s $4 a shade. (And cute too!)