Cruelty-free Matte Palettes

In light of the fact that I recently called a moratorium on purchasing any more matte eye shadow palettes, I thought it might be useful to show off the ones that I have felt compelled to purchase!  So here goes…

It Cosmetics Naturally Pretty Celebration Palette:  I was able to resist the original Naturally Pretty palette as it had a few too many orangey warm tones for my taste, but as soon as I saw this one, I was sold.  So much so that I featured it in my splurge-worthies post!  Of all the matte palettes I have, I’d say this one has gotten the most use.  This past winter, right around the holidays no less, I had a inexplicable swelling around my eyelids that came and went for a few weeks.  As such, I wanted to stick with matte shadows to help the area recede as much as possible.  I found myself consistently reaching for this palette.  I was able to get all sorts of looks, from the most neutral work-appropriate, to a smoky black using Coal, with Miracle used as a transition color to warm things up.  I gotta say I really ended up liking that one!

Sonia Kashuk Eye Couture Palette in Eye on Neutral 02:  I think this is a quite nice, drugstore-priced palette of matte shades, that again can be used to create an array of wearable-to-dramatic looks.  I have a number of products from this line, available exclusively from Target, which I enjoy.

Pur Minerals Soul Mattes palette:  As soon as I saw this, I knew it truly was my matte soul mate.  If it’s burgundy, it’s mine.

The Balm’s Meet Matt(e) Nudes palette:  The home of some of my favorite transition shades!

A few thoughts…

I’ve heard that matte shadows are among the most difficult to formulate, and taking that into account I’m overall impressed by the quality of all of these palettes.  That said, the smoothness and pigmentation is a bit variable among the shades in all of them.  It seems like the lighter colors tend to be the less creamy/pigmented, but of course,the lighter colors tend to be the ones that blend into my skin tone the most and without shimmer/pearl, it would be difficult to see the contrast anyway.  In terms of ‘extras’, all but the Sonia Kashuk come with a decent sized mirror.  The Pur Minerals palette is the only one that comes with a brush (and space in which to store it), making it, in my opinion, the most travel-friendly of the group.

Do you have any fave matte palettes?

*These are only my opinions, formed through my personal experience as a consumer. I am not a medical doctor, an aesthetician, or a health/beauty professional. There is no guarantee what effect, positive or negative, these products may have on anyone else.

**All products were purchased by me from brands that, to the best of my knowledge, are cruelty-free.