Kat Von D Metal Matte Mini Review
Just when my bank account was starting to recover from buying the Metal Crush Extreme Highlighter Palette, Kat Von D is dropping on us another palette. The new Metal Matte Mini Eyeshadow Palette which will go on sale on Dec. 12th is the travel size version of last year's holiday release, the Metal Matte Palette. This eyeshadow palette features 7 shades from the original Metal Matte Palette; 5 mattes (Bone, Feather, Suede, Oak, and Velvet) and 2 metalics (Flash and Synergy). The three remaining shades come from Kat's Metal Crush Eyeshadow line, however 'Raw Power" in this palette is vegan where as 'Raw Power' from the Metal Crush Eyeshadow line is not. You are getting 5 matte eyeshadows and 5 metalics eyeshadows, the palette costs $39, each eyeshadow weighs 1.7 g/ 0.06 oz for a cost of $3.90 per eyeshadow, the palette will be available at Sephora online and in store, and Kat's website. Kat Von D Beauty is a cruelty free brand, and the palette is vegan.
First Impressions
Genuinely when I saw this palette I was not drawn to it. My feelings have nothing to do with the quality of the eyeshadows, I just felt as though many of the shades in this palette I already have, and quite frankly the price wasn't very appealing either when considering that the Metal Matte Palette cost $60 for 13 mattes and 9 metallic. The reason why I decided to go back to Sephora and buy this palette was because I realized the palette was put out early and I wanted to get my review out for anyone considering to buy this palette. If you're a beginner at applying eyeshadows this palette will work quite well for you. The Metal Crush eyeshadows don't produce a lot of fallout and all the eyeshadows blend easily for me. I never bought the Metal Matte Palette because it wasn't vegan so I can't compare the quality of the two palettes, but I find that the mattes are pretty standard to Kat's other matte formulas. If I can compare the quality I'd say they perform closely to 'Martyr' from the Saint and Sinner Palette. Swatching these shades with my finger the metallics feel like I rubbing my finger in a cream. In my opinion the metallic eyeshadows are much creamier than the Metal Crush eyeshadows and they blend slightly better. As you all may know Kat Von D doesn't share the ingredients of her products online though they are listed on the boxes. I wasn't able to find the formula of the Metal Matte Palette for comparison, but comparing the metallics to the Metal Crush eyeshadows I noticed that the formula is slightly different. Using 'Thunderstruck' as an example, this is what I found; talc is now the second ingredient with mica being the first , dimenthicone has switched places with caprylic/ capric triglyceride, hydrogenated polyisobutene and palmitic acid have been moved toward the bottom of the list, methicone and benzoic acid have moved toward the end where calcium sodium borosilicate, synthetic fluorpylogopite, calcium aluminum borosilicate, and calcium aluminum borosilicate were (the FDA requires makeup companies to list ingredients from the highest concentration to lowest). I'm personally not concerned with any of the ingredients in this palette, but some ingredients that might cause you concern are talc, phenoxyethanol (this can be irritating if it gets in your eye and can is considered to be toxic on the mouth), and malic acid (skin irritant, avoid getting this shade in your eye).
Review
Overall I do enjoy this palette, the eyeshadows are easy to blend, they don't crease, the colors work well together with enough variety to create nice transitions, and I think this palette would work well on the majority of undertones and skin colors. My biggest grip with the palette that I touched on in the first impressions, is that it's quite expensive for the amount of product you're getting especially when you compare it to the Metal Matte Palette; you're getting less than half of the eyeshadows in the Metal Matte Palette, but paying for more than half the cost. I wish I had the Metal Matte Palette to compare the ingredients and quality against that way I could make sense of the cost, but I have contacted Kat's customer service team who will get in contact with corporate, they will call or email me later in the week with a cost break down. I wanted to give this palette a fair chance which is why I tried to find out what the cost break down was. For all I know maybe they're using higher concentrations of expensive ingredients and ergo had to raise the price, but I don't know, I will update this article when I receive a response from corporate. I enjoy that this palette has a focused color scheme; even though they're only 10 eyeshadows in this palette, they included a nice color selection; these shades complement each other nicely and I don't believe you'll need to reach for another palette for transition shades. One criticism I heard about the Metal Matte Palette was that the shades didn't last terribly long, however, and maybe this is just me, the mattes in this palette last well on me despite having a hooded eye. I'm not sure if the formula changed between the two palettes, so I can't guarantee that these shades will last any longer than the Metal Matte Palette for you. I find that all of these shades are quite beginner friendly as their more of a light/ medium color pay off and the metallics aren't to bold to where mistakes will stick out like a sore thumb; they're just really flattering on the eye especially if you apply with your finger or wet your brush. I will say that the matte eyeshadows do have a bit of kick up to them and they're a little on the powdery side, but I had no fallout with any of the shades. Without the cost break down from corporate, it's a little hard for me to justify the price, but if you're a Kat Von D fan, enjoyed the 5 matte eyeshades from the Metal Matte Palette and the 2 metallics from the Metal Crush line, want a vegan version of 'Raw Power', a vegan palette in general, if you weren't able to buy the Metal Matte Palette or want a good travel sized palette full of warmer colors you'll want to buy this palette, plus it would make a great stocking stuffer, however if you don't fit any of these categories, I feel as though you can skip this palette. I like this palette, but I don't love it, I'm sorry to say.
(The eyeshadows on top were swatched using the 'Shade' side of the EcoTools Enhancing Eye Set, the finger swatches were done right below. I used the Heritage Store's Rose Water and Glycerin spray as a base)
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If you've made it this far, I would just like to say thank you for reading my article! Your feedback matters a great deal to me, please feel free to message me through my email therobynvalentine@gmail.com regarding any feedback or questions you may have. Also while your here, I would greatly appreciate it, if you consider contributing to my website by making a donation to my Paypal using the email provided. Thank you again for all your continued support, it truly means the world to me.