Review: [Make Up For Ever] Mat Velvet + Mattifying Foundation

I have been looking for a matifying foundation for summer and I tried 3 popular ones: MUFE Mat Velvet +, Tarte Amazonian Clay 12-Hour Full Coverage and Estee Lauder Double Wear. MUFE Mat Velvet + is the only one I actually bought and tried continuously for a week. I will also write a little about the other 2 since I did try the samples a few times.


1. MUFE Mat Velvet + Matifying Foundation

I tried this foundation with matifying primer and setting powder using both beauty blender and a flat kabuki brush.

Pros:

• Full coverage
• Not heavy if applying the right amount
• Nice soft matte finish

Cons:

• Doesn't stay matte, turns to dewy finish in 1-2 hours
• Comes off easily around my T-zone
• Oxidized
• Becomes cakey and heavy if applying too much
• Accentuate dryness

2. Tarte Amazonian Clay 12-Hour Full Coverage

Pros:

• Full coverage
• Long lasting

Cons:

• Settles in pores
• Feels heavy

3. Estee Lauder Double Wear

This foundation feels very similar to the Too Faced Born This Way foundation, except that it dries to a matte finish as compared to the natural finish of the Born This Way foundation, doesn't feel as lightweight but provides more coverage.

Pros:

• Full coverage
• Creamy texture that blends easily.
• Dry to a nice matte finish.
• Long-lasting

Cons:

• Doesn't have a pump (NOOOO!!!)
• A little heavy (but can still be used as a heavy-duty foundation for special occasions)

I had a very high hope for the MUFE Mat Velvet + but unfortunately it didn't work for me. Estee Lauder Double Wear seems nice but wouldn't be the one I'll reach to on a daily basis. Tarte Amazonian Clay settling in my pores is a big "no no". It means I'm still trying out matte foundations so stay tune for more foundation reviews!

Beauty Talk: The Palette Tag

Today I will be showing you all of the palettes that I currently own. The reason: I feel like I have enough eyeshadows for now and it will be a long time before I decide to buy another eyeshadow palette (I don't really like buying single eyeshadows). I'm putting them in categories because I think doing so will give you an idea of which ones I consider as suitable for each of different purposes. Except for the LORAC AfterGLO palette, the eyeshadows in all other palettes have great quality and are buttery smooth!

1. Most used: LORAC Pro 1&2, IT Cosmetics Naturally Pretty

If you've seen my posts about these palettes, you'll know how much I love them. LORAC Pro 1 & 2 have both shimmery and matte shades and the colors are beautiful for everyday use. IT Cosmetics Natural Beauty contains all matte shades and is a little more colorful than a typical neutral palette.

Swatches:

- LORAC Pro 2

- IT Cosmetics Natural Beauty

2. Cutest Packaging: theBalm Nude'tude and Smashbox Santigolden Age in Apocalypse Now

The two looks created by using the two palettes in the collection.

While I put these 2 palettes in the "cutest packaging" category, the quality of the eyeshadows in both palettes is also very good. Because Nude'tude is a neutral palette, I also use it a lot in addition to the 3 palettes above. Smashbox Santigolden Age in Apocalypse Now belongs to the brand's Summer 2014 collection.

Swatches: theBalm Nude'tude

3. Most versatile: Smashbox

This palette has the shades arranged in a way that makes it easier for me to create different looks and I feel that you can use it in any occasion and with any outfit. This is a holiday palette so it's out of stock at most beauty stores but I still see it on Amazon.

4. Best for a romantic look: Urban Decay Naked 3

When we try to do a romantic/date look, we normally think about pink or rosy eye makeup. Well, this palette has everything I need to create that look. I got it as a gift from a friend and I'm very thankful since all of the colors are gorgeous! I would say this palette is the only one that I like among the four Naked palettes from Urban Decay.

5. Best for travel: Tarte Rainforest After Dark and LORAC Pro To Go

These palettes have blushes, highlighters and bronzers beside the basic eyeshadows that work very well together. The packaging is also another factor that makes them so great to bring on travel.

Swatches:

- Tarte Rainforest After Dark

- LORAC Pro To Go

6. Best for smokey eye makeup: Urban Decay Smoked Palette

While it's obvious that you can create smokey eyes with almost any palette, this palette provides the dark shades that were specially created to help creating many different types of smokey looks. This palette looks like a wallet with zipper and came with a photo book that contains tutorials for 12 different smokey eye looks.

I know Urban Decay has the new Naked Smoky palette coming out; it looks very pretty and many people are crazy about it. The only thing that prevents me from wanting to get my hands on it so much is that the shades are very similar to what most "makeup lovers" already have; the palette actually looks like a combination of some dark shades from the other Naked palettes. I personally think that if you love to buy makeup, it will be never enough regarding the makeup you have and that palette does look stunning. However, I prefer the Smoked palette I have because it has more "colorful" dark shades.

7. Least used: LORAC AfterGLO Palette

I normally put a lot of thoughts about the shades before buying eyeshadow palettes because I don't want them to just sit there without being used. Thus, the problem of this palette is not the shades (which are beautiful to me), but the quality of the eyeshadows. I've read somewhere that LORAC has 2 types of quality for their eyeshadows; one is buttery smooth like the Pro palettes and the other is just average. Unfortunately, this palette falls into the later type. Since I've been being spoiled by the buttery smooth texture of the Pro palettes and the others, I have high expectation for eyeshadows and this palette just doesn't meet that expectation.

Swatches: LORAC AfterGLO palette

Review: [Tarte] Rainforest After Dark Colored Clay Eye & Cheek Palette (Limited Edition)

So, I'm very happy right now! This is one of the palettes that look too beautiful for me to resist. Because it is a limited edition, I want to post a review as soon as I get it so those who are interested still have the chance to get (it's gone on Tarte's official website and Ulta, only available at Sephora now).

The palette is in the Fall 2014 Collection with a snake design as in the photo below. Ahh, so pretty!

Photo: Tarte Cosmetics

The box with snake-skin texture

Gorgeous disc compact packaging: a golden snake with a purple gem on a wood-textured surface. It's a plastic compact but very sturdy and light.

I like that the mirror can stand on its own so it's functional. This palette contains a blush - Unleashed , a highlighter - Champagne, a bronzer - Park Ave Princess and 6 eye shadows - Bare to Explore, Make A Mauve, Plum Away With Me, Up To No Gold, Tan-gled Up In You and Don't Turn A-Brown.

I think this type of disc packaging is beautiful and very convenient! You can bring it on travel or just use it on days when you want to do your makeup quickly with an all-in-one palette. I've come to realize Tarte also has this disc packaging in their previous limited-edition palettes and the highlighter and the bronzer are repeated.

Left to Right: Romancing the Glow, Coral Crush and Aqualillies for Tarte. These palettes also had beautiful packaging and good reviews when they came out. 

There's a tutorial sheet included showing a day-time and a night-time look.

You can be more creative but I think some combinations easy to see here are any combination of 2 or 3 shadows next to each other. For example, the tutorial shows the first 3 shadows in the first look and the 3 shadows starting from Plum Away With Me in the second look.

 Top to Down: Champagne (highlighter), Park Ave Princess (bronzer), Unleashed (blush), Bare to Explore, Make A Mauve, Plum Away With Me, Up To No Gold, Tan-gled Up In You and Don't Turn A-Brown.

The texture of all cheek and eye colors is not very soft if you're used to LORAC PRO or UD's Naked palettes; however, the colors are more pigmented than it looks in the swatch photo above and on the pan. So I would say pigmentation is decent. They all show up beautifully on my skin!

The blush looks the same as my theBalm Instain Blush in Houndstooth (Review) which is a light purplish pink. Both blush and bronzer are quite light so I doubt that they can be seen on medium to dark skin tone.

The amount of Unleashed is a little more than a Tarte's full-sized blush which is already $26. So with pretty good amounts of a highlight, a bronzer and 6 eye shadows, at $38 this palette is like a steal to me.

Rating kisses (out of 5): 

My final thought: This is a beautiful palette for Fall since most of the colors have the purple/mauve hue and they all go very well together. Packaging is sturdy, functional and very pretty. The palette is worth the price and makes me look forward to the next limited-edition disc compact palettes from Tarte.


I also bought the SMASHBOX Santigolden Age Eye Shadow Collage in the color Apocalypse Now. This is like an impulsive purchase since it's on sale for $18 on Sephora (original price is $36) and looks pretty. Let me know if you want a review/swatch.