Of course, between now and then, I've managed to obtain a few other black shadows. Who doesn't need more black shadow? Before I move on to the swatches, I wanted to say that I bought two pans of MAC's Carbon, certain that I had a defective one. Both pans swatch exactly the same and the MAC counter rep I spoke to told me that "you don't actually want a shadow that black, because it wouldn't blend well!" I disagree, clearly, and so do many other cosmetics companies, apparently.
On to the main event:
My ten black shadows, in natural light
1. Sephora Collection No 54 Black Lace 2. Kat Von D Lucifer from Sinner 3. Smashbox M7 from Full Exposure 4. Sugarpill Bulletproof 5. MAC Typographic 6. MAC Carbon 7. MakeupGeek Corrupt 8. Urban Decay Blackout 9. Urban Decay Crave from Naked Basics 10. NARS Pandora II
Do you see the lengths we have to go to in Washington state to get 'natural light' photos? I'm hanging my shadow-covered arm out of my kitchen window for this. I think the MAC shadows are the most disappointing here - Typographic (5) and Carbon (6) are practically the same color and neither are what I would call black - they're clearly gray shadows. I was a little surprised by (3) Smashbox M7 from the Full Exposure palette. That palette has taken a beating on a lot of reviews I've seen as being poorly pigmented. I'm going to do a review for that palette next week but spoiler alert: buy it for the mattes.
The MakeupGeek Corrupt (7) and Blackout (8) seem to be going head-to-head. Blackout is smoother in texture and Corrupt seems to have a little glitter in it but they're both very dark, deep black shadows.
Let's look at these shadows inside, shall we?
1. Sephora Collection Black Lace 2. Kat Von D Lucifer 3. Smashbox M7 from Full Exposure 4. Sugarpill Bulletproof 5. MAC Typographic 6. MAC Carbon 7. MakeupGeek Corrupt 8. Urban Decay Blackout 9. Urban Decay Crave 10. NARS Pandora II
I feel like you can see which shadows lean brown or gray with indoor lighting a little better. I also think the difference between Typographic (5) and Carbon (6) is more clear here but I'm still not impressed.
If you're looking for a velvety-smooth true-matte black shadow, I still think Urban Decay's Blackout ($18 alone or available in the Naked 2 palette) is the best you can get - but at one-third the price, Makeup Geek's Corrupt ($6 in a naked pan, $8 in a single compact) is a serious contender, even with a little bit of shimmer.
I like the look of Corrupt! I'm more of a shimmer/satin girl than matte though. This is a great comparison, thanks!
ReplyDeleteIt's a really nice shadow - I'm pretty impressed with the shadows I've picked up from MakeupGeek. I wish their swatches were less dark, though. It's almost like they were swatched wet.
DeleteAh, the final showdown! Corrupt did pretty well, but the UD is really impressive for a matte. I agree about the MUG swatches, though. I wish they were open about how they do them - what kind of brush, how much they build them up - and good point, whether or when they do them wet. Some of their colors are in my all-time favorites list, like Vanilla Bean (my skin color!), Duchess, Cosmopolitan, Glamorous, Simply Marlena... and there are still a bunch I have that I haven't tried yet. (Two eyes, 2,000 eyeshadows syndrome here.)
ReplyDeleteDuchess is on my wishlist - it's been out of stock since I started paying attention. I think I ignored vanilla bean because it looks shimmery and yellow - is it different in reality? I'm really partial to Urban Decay's Walk of Shame as my blending/skin shade.
DeleteI have so many on my wishlist and I've already picked up a half-dozen or so - like I need more eyeshadow.
Vanilla Bean is not completely matte, but it's pretty close. I just swatched some on my arm and lost the swatch for a minute. I really had to shift my arm under the light to catch the - shine? Shine seems too strong a word. The color itself is literally my skin color. So I guess the next question is whether I have yellow undertones, and that is really the $64,000 question because I. don't. know. I haven't tried WoS, so I can't compare.
DeleteI need to do my own version of a palette parade where I make myself use only my Makeup Geek eyeshadows for a month.