MUA EVER AFTER MATTE PALETTE REVIEW

                                                                                                              
This colour story may look a little boring but neutral palettes are useful for everyday work looks. The darker brown and green could create a smokey eye.

The top row are your spring pastel shades. However I found them lacking pigment and very powdery. The white was just like Talcum powder it didn't really adhere to the skin.I have olive skin but it wasn't the case of the colours being too light to show up (usually pink and white show up on me)  but that the shades were very chalky, hard in the pan, powdery to swatch with lots of fall out and little colour was left behind on the skin. The brown was less chalky and has a decent amount of pigment.

Unwrap (white) Butter (beige) Bare (light pink) Taffeta (Peachy pink) Fade (pastel brown)

Penny (mid brown) Chino (taupe) Truffle ( chocolate) Fog ( dark green) Smoke (very dark brown)


The Bottom row consists of darker neutrals. It's nice that they included a green among all the browns giving the palette a little more versatility. The last colour smoke looks black in the pan but is actually a very dark brown. This row thankfully is much more pigmented and texture is much better and smoother with no powder fall out. I wore Fade and Penny for a natural daytime look, with primer on one lid and one without. After 6 hours the one without primer still had shadow but it had faded and lost a little definition. Pairing Chino on the lid and truffle in the crease is another natural daytime look. I wore this for 10 hours one lid with primer and one without. After 10 hours eye shadow on both had faded although still there, but the lid with primer fared better. I created a smokey eye with truffle and smoke.Again I wore one lid with primer and one without. Eye shadow was still intact on both lids after 12 hours although it had faded a little bit. I would recommend a primer because it makes the colours brighter as well as keeping the eye shadows looking fresher for longer. This palette has 3 taupe browns in different shades which would suit a natural look for the summer or for work and the darker browns for an evening smokey eye.

Packaging: Basic packaging in black. The square pans change it up a bit from the usual MUA circle pans. Although there are 10 pans rather than the 12 usual round ones, you actually get more product (10g vs. 9.6g)

Price: 10 shades (10g) for £4

Verdict
I find this palette to be very disappointing. It is the first MUA palette I have bought where the pigmentation and texture of almost all the top row has been so awful. I would say 6/10 shadows are good-adequate. Matte shadows are difficult to get right however  MUA do have decent light pastel shades in their singles so I don't know why these aren't up to scratch.The eye shadows seem to fade quicker than MUA's other palettes as well. On the whole I don't think this palette delivers a happy ever after. I would recommend checking out the light matte colours in MUA's Smokin palette instead.

MUA Matte Ever After Palette from Superdrug and MUA online £4

MUA UNDRESS ME TOO PALETTE REVIEW AND SWATCHES (Naked 2 palette dupe)

 I have Urban Decay's Naked palette, but I decided not to buy Urban Decay's Naked 2 palette because the colours looked cooler (I prefer warm toned palettes) and I don't really gravitate towards taupe colours. This is an inexpensive Naked 2 palette dupe to experiment with. As don't have Urban Decay's Naked 2 palette I can't compare the two palettes side by side.

I can compare Urban Decay's Tease from the Naked 2 palette to MUA Lavish, both are cool brown-taupe- perfect for a cheek contour powder as the colour mimics a shadow. They look exactly the same in the pan but UD Tease does look a bit browner and warmer. UD Tease has more pigment which produces a stronger swatch and ultimately lasts longer on the skin. For this reason I use UD Tease for my face contour.

SWATCHES

Top row (l-r) Naked, Devotion,Shy, Fiery, Lavish, Dreamy

 Bottom row; (l-r) Tranquil, Exposed, Reveal,Wink, Obsessed, Corrupt

Unfortunately the first shadow Naked does not show up on my olive skin, you can see a faint barely there swatch.There are three matte shades Naked (Cream colour), Lavish (Taupe) and Corrupt (Black.) Naked and Lavish apply a little chalky. Corrupt is very pigmented black.The colours Shy (satin white) Dreamy (mid toned copper like a dark 2p coin)  Obsessed (chocolate) appear matte here but they're actually satin finishes. The satin shades apply more smoothly. My favourite is the silver taupe Exposed since I don't have this colour in my collection.Compared to Urban decay shadows these don't last as long but this is easily solved through using eye primer. Some many want more matte shades or more greys but as this is a dupe of UD's Naked 2 palette that factor determined the shade finishes and colours in the palette. All in all a good neutral colour selection for both smokey and natural looks.

Longevity: Not as long lasting, may need eye primer.

Packaging:  Basic looking. This one is white so shows any fallout/mess more easily than MUA's previous black packaged palettes. Contains a mini tutorial for one look on the reverse side.

Price: 12 shadows (9.6g)  for £4 available at superdrug (currently on 3 for 2 offer online) and MUA

Verdict- At this price this is a steal: high quality shadows for a bargain £4. A wonderful neutral palette that is versatile for creating smokey and natural looks. I love neutral eye shadows and feel that even if you generally use warm toned palettes these aren't so cool that they won't suit or work with warmer skin tones.

You might like this if...

• You love cool toned neutrals
• You are on a budget
• If you want a travel friendly naked 2 palette

You might not like this if..

• You only like warm toned colours
• You are expecting more greys
• If you are used to luxury brands and have very high expectations of matte eye shadows
• You want to use an eye shadow shade (i.e. Lavish) as a face contour colour 
• You are olive skinned or darker.