E.L.F. Mad For Matte Palette

Earlier this year, ELF released some new eyeshadow palettes.  I had heard the most positive reviews about Mad For Matte.  I didn't have any all-matte palettes, and it was only $10, so I thought, why not?!

The palette contains 10 shadows and comes packaged in a sleek black container.  Size-wise, I compared it to the Urban Decay Naked palette since it's one that I have and one that a lot of people are familiar with.  The ELF palette is quite a bit smaller and a little bit thinner (granted, the Naked palette contains 12 shadows instead of 10), which makes it perfectly travel-sized.  I like that it fits in my everyday makeup bag without taking up too much space.  There is also a good sized mirror inside, which is always a nice feature.

Nice packaging, but it gets dirty easily!

The shadows themselves are pretty soft and are well-pigmented for the most part.  I have swatched all the colors on my arm, and some (mostly the darker colors) swatched more easily than the others.  While they are not as soft or pigmented as Urban Decay, Lorac, or some other shadows from higher end palettes, they are not sheer.  They deliver enough color and can be built up.  They are also not as blendable as the higher end shadows, but they still blend out well enough.  The majority of the colors are warm to neutral with a few cooler tones included.

Arm full of swatches!  #2 in the pan is looking more yellow in this picture--it's actually a very pale pink.

Swatched in more natural light

I've been playing around with the palette a lot over the past couple months, and my favorite shade is #5.  It's such a beautiful warm reddish brown, and I think it makes the green in my eyes pop.  #4 is a nice peach-toned transition shade that I use every time I do a look with this palette.  #3 is a nice warm brown that I like to put in the crease (right below where I apply #4).  #2 is my favorite to highlight underneath my brows.  While #10 is far from the most pigmented black shadow on the market, it's always great to have black in a palette.  I actually like how it's not super pigmented, and I've been loving using this as my top liner with an angled brush.  It gives beautiful definition, but because it's not super dark and black, it's very soft and subtle.  I love using #6 as my bottom lash liner, and it's also great to throw on the outer corner of the eye for a little more shadowing/definition.  It's also a great brow color--if you have dark hair like me, give it a shot.

My favorite way to wear this palette is:
#4 for the transition shade (in between the crease and brow bone)
#5 all over the lid
#3 in the crease (sometimes--this is not necessary)
#6 on the lower lashline (and sometimes on the outer corner of the lid, but it looks good both with and without this step)
#10 on the upper lashline
#2 under the brow

I was wearing this eye combo in this picture from my Estee Lauder Double Wear post

...And I wore it again today!

That sounds like a lot of steps, but it actually goes by quickly!  This is a very flattering and very warm-toned look, but for something more cool-toned, this is what I came up with:
#4 for the transition shade
#7 all over the lid
#3 in the crease (skip this if you don't want any warmth to this look)
#8 in the outer corner and on the lower lashline
#10 on the upper lashline
#2 under the brow

The pictures aren't really doing the shadows justice--the warm and cool looks I described look more different in real life than in pictures.  I did pull in a shimmery shadow from a different palette for my inner corner highlight for both looks, but it's totally feasible to use only this palette for your whole eye look and use #2 as an inner corner highlight.

I think you've all figured out by now that I really like this palette!  I've been wearing it constantly since I bought it.  I think it's very reasonably priced.  I have not seen it in the ELF section at my Target, but you could check your Target or find it on ELF's website here.  Even if you like shimmer, it's always good to include matte shadows with any look, and you could supplement your shimmery shadows with this palette.  If you prefer to wear all matte colors, this palette is great on its own.  I am very happy to have this in my collection and would recommend it to anyone!