He's heeerrrreeeeeeee!! I have been eyeing this palette for so long and now I am very happy to announce that I am very much in possession of a very matte and very hyped eyeshadow kit that I do not need, but definitely desire. I am aware that there is another Meet Matt(e) palette from theBalm but that is not readily stocked in Australia and looks considerably smaller than Matt(e) Nude. I can say that at $49.95 for 25.5 g of product, Nude is a little hefty. However, I was lured in and went for the kill anyway because I'm impatient and this was just taunting me every time I went to the stall to swatch this bad boy.
Onward to the actual review shall we? Personally I prefer palettes that are held in sturdy and attractive cardboard as they will absorb shock better than their plastic counterparts. Fortunately, the shocking factor doesn't really happen to me as I am relatively steady on my feet. The only time I can recall having a mini heart palpitation was when my Mary Lou-Manizer fell to the floor. That moment when you open the casing of a wonderful product and hope it hasn't shattered to pieces is awful, but I was lucky as Mary remained intact and only the actual metal tin holding the product separated from the casing. Easily fixed with some sticky tape or glue. I digress.
The thing I love most about theBalm has to be their pun-ny vintage inspired packaging. Almost everything about their names and casings are full of innuendos and cheeky messages, so it was no surprise to me that this palette made me giggle a little. Obviously a play on their previous Meet Matt(e), the nude version features the same Matt-dude presumably in the nude with side message "size matt(e)rs". Ahaha I see what you did there, theBalm. You should know that I'm not normally impressed by puns, my sister can vouch for that, but it is just so refreshing to have this sort of packaging for high end makeup brands where sleek loveliness tends to be the most marketable trend. Apart from their awesome quality products, I also love that theBalm is (should be, my research gives mixed results) cruelty free and vegan friendly. Even cooler is that this palette does not include a brush because as much as theBalm's included applicators are better than drugstore ones, I still don't use them.
Onward to the actual review shall we? Personally I prefer palettes that are held in sturdy and attractive cardboard as they will absorb shock better than their plastic counterparts. Fortunately, the shocking factor doesn't really happen to me as I am relatively steady on my feet. The only time I can recall having a mini heart palpitation was when my Mary Lou-Manizer fell to the floor. That moment when you open the casing of a wonderful product and hope it hasn't shattered to pieces is awful, but I was lucky as Mary remained intact and only the actual metal tin holding the product separated from the casing. Easily fixed with some sticky tape or glue. I digress.
The thing I love most about theBalm has to be their pun-ny vintage inspired packaging. Almost everything about their names and casings are full of innuendos and cheeky messages, so it was no surprise to me that this palette made me giggle a little. Obviously a play on their previous Meet Matt(e), the nude version features the same Matt-dude presumably in the nude with side message "size matt(e)rs". Ahaha I see what you did there, theBalm. You should know that I'm not normally impressed by puns, my sister can vouch for that, but it is just so refreshing to have this sort of packaging for high end makeup brands where sleek loveliness tends to be the most marketable trend. Apart from their awesome quality products, I also love that theBalm is (should be, my research gives mixed results) cruelty free and vegan friendly. Even cooler is that this palette does not include a brush because as much as theBalm's included applicators are better than drugstore ones, I still don't use them.
I am aware that I'm quite late on the bandwagon with this review, but I like to see other bloggers talk about products before I get caught up in the madness and purchase one, only to hate it blah blah. So at a rating of 4.3/5 on Makeupalley at the moment and the majority of the beauty world loving it but also telling their audiences that it is not a must have, I must agree.
Most of the time, matte palettes are hard to do right as there is always the possibility of the shadows themselves being too powdery, having too much fall out and not enough pigmentation. With Meet Matt(e) Nude however, I find that it blasts away all these negative factors. The shades are definitely not necessary, but they make a great accompaniment to other palettes which lack matte-ness. There is minimal fall out and just a slight touch onto the buttery smooth shadows leaves my brush with the perfect amount of pigment. I highly commend theBalm on grounds of these reasons. Longevity wise I find that these last around 4-5 hours without going haywire or fading - without primer. Obviously, the colours would be more intense and last longer with a good primer.
In addressing how I would use this palette is a different story. The only highlight shade for my skin tone is Matt Malloy which irks me a little bit, but then I remember all my other palettes having more than enough to compensate. Some beautiful crease shades for me include Matt Singh (peach tan), Matt Hung (dark violet) and Matt Abdul (taupe grey). The rest are evidently for darker eye looks or for the "v" shading areas. On swatching, Matt Abdul and Matt Hung may look very similar, but on the lids there is a difference to the effects they can give your eyes. Those with darker skin tones may find some shades a little too ashy, so make sure you go and test out this palette in person before making the commitment. I should note that I found a tiny bit of shimmer on all these shadows when I opened my fresh palette, but you needn't worry about that as it is just the over spray and definitely does not translate into the layer underneath.
I've only used this palette a couple of times so I'll see how that goes before I give it a finalized rating. That being said, I loved Meet[ing] Matt(e) Nude and will continue to keep seeing this fine specimen, until someone better comes along I guess. :P
Rating so far: 4.5/5
Most of the time, matte palettes are hard to do right as there is always the possibility of the shadows themselves being too powdery, having too much fall out and not enough pigmentation. With Meet Matt(e) Nude however, I find that it blasts away all these negative factors. The shades are definitely not necessary, but they make a great accompaniment to other palettes which lack matte-ness. There is minimal fall out and just a slight touch onto the buttery smooth shadows leaves my brush with the perfect amount of pigment. I highly commend theBalm on grounds of these reasons. Longevity wise I find that these last around 4-5 hours without going haywire or fading - without primer. Obviously, the colours would be more intense and last longer with a good primer.
In addressing how I would use this palette is a different story. The only highlight shade for my skin tone is Matt Malloy which irks me a little bit, but then I remember all my other palettes having more than enough to compensate. Some beautiful crease shades for me include Matt Singh (peach tan), Matt Hung (dark violet) and Matt Abdul (taupe grey). The rest are evidently for darker eye looks or for the "v" shading areas. On swatching, Matt Abdul and Matt Hung may look very similar, but on the lids there is a difference to the effects they can give your eyes. Those with darker skin tones may find some shades a little too ashy, so make sure you go and test out this palette in person before making the commitment. I should note that I found a tiny bit of shimmer on all these shadows when I opened my fresh palette, but you needn't worry about that as it is just the over spray and definitely does not translate into the layer underneath.
I've only used this palette a couple of times so I'll see how that goes before I give it a finalized rating. That being said, I loved Meet[ing] Matt(e) Nude and will continue to keep seeing this fine specimen, until someone better comes along I guess. :P
Rating so far: 4.5/5