Lately I finally committed to trying some matte eyeshadow palettes. I love my shimmers, but a good matte is a must have of course as well. A palette that I have had for a while, but that I had never gotten round to reviewing is The Balm’s Meet Matte Nude. This palette is much raved about and since it is fully matte it just never really captured my attention too much. Now that I’m getting into it more, I figured it was time for a review. 
The Balm Meet Matt(e) Nude eyeshadow palette
One of my reasons for not being super excited about this is the price point. This palette contains only 9 shadows, but retails for €42.95. That is a lot of money for 9 boring looking eyeshadow shades. That said, I had heard that this is one of the best matte eyeshadow palettes on the market and so one day I decided to bite the bullet.
The Packaging
The Balm palettes are always so cleverly packaging I think. The palette closes with a magnet, but then it also comes with a protective sleeve. I keep the sleeve as it means that if I ever travel with the palette it will never just open randomly in my makeup bag. The palette also comes with a generous size mirror in the lid and it is just a small and handy size that is easy to handle.
The Product
By now there are three versions out of this palette in this style, but this is not the first Meet Matt palette The Balm released. There was one before this that had smaller pans. And that is a I think one thing you can easily notice: the pans and the enormous sizes. In total you get just over 25 grams of product. That is 2.8 grams of product per pan and that is a generous amount. So in case you were wondering where all that money went: it went to the product and nothing more.
The palette is laid out with 9 shades in a variety of shades and undertones. I’d say there are 5 cool tones and 4 warm tones. The shades are laid out quite haphazardly at first glance, but the cool tones can be found along a cross shape from the middle of the palette and then the 4 shades on the corners. The others are matte.
Shade wise the shades really don’t look like anything special. You will probably think: I already own that. And you probably already do. But do you own it all in one convenient place? Do you own a palette that is one of the best companion palettes on the market and that rounds off every look you do? If that is something you are looking for, then this is something worth looking into.
The Swatch
In terms of mattes, the texture of these shadows is absolutely stunning. The texture is rich, but not creamy. Formula wise it seems a touch dry, but I think that that’s why the product works. The pigment is great, the blendability is great. And for a neutral palette that is all matte, there is still a great deal of variety here.
Now I have heard people mention that The Balm eyeshadows fade on them. I personally do not have that issue. I always double prime my lid. First I go in with a standard eyeshadow primer which I wait to fully set. Then I go in with a MAC Paintpot in Painterly and top it off with my TBS cream shadow to set it. I feel this combo is a great base for applying any eyeshadow over and so are these.
The Application
Look 1:
Lid: Matt Rosen & Matt Lombardi mixed
Crease, outer V, lowar lash line: Matt Garcia
Brow bone: Matt Malloy & Matt Singh mixed
Inner corner: Matt Malloy
For this first look I focused mainly on the warm tones in the palette. As you can tell from the list of combinations I made, I love mixing these shades together to create new shades. And that is why I feel that in terms of matte palettes go, this is one of the best ones to look into. The shades are easy to mix and match and to combine in a way that suits your needs. In a way, it’s a bit like a painter’s palette.
Look 2:
Lid: Matt Singh & Matt Malloy mixed
Crease, outer V & lower lashline : Matt Johnson & Matt Abdul mixed
Liner: Matt Hung
Brow bone & inner corner: Matt Malloy
Because this is a matte palette I am a bit stumped when it comes to creativity, but this is not the kind of palette that I love to wear on its own. This is definitely a companion palette for me. This is one of my favorite to pull in to pair with for instance some of my Colourpop Supershock shadows or other singles that are a bit more out there. This palette is just great for creating a basic look.
The Conclusion
This is a good basic palette to own. That is why I think The Balm’s Meet Matte Nude eyeshadow palette is not getting tons of hype. However, it is one of those slow burners that is just useful to have. A musthave because it is one of the ultimate basics to own, but nothing exciting is going on here.
What is your favorite palette by The Balm?