Finding a good matte palette in the drugstore can be a bit of a pain. I think more and more brands are starting to pick up on the matte trend, but it's a much harder formula to do well than you standard shimmery eyeshadow and I've found that most of the matte eyeshadow palettes that I've come across have been pretty lackluster. I forever hold out hope though! Enter the Hard Candy Top Ten Trendsetters Palette in Birthday Suit*, which is an all matte palette with a very neutral color story at an incredibly affordable price. You guys know I needed to have this in my life! But how does it measure up?
Keep reading for a closer look and swatches!
First of all, how cute is this packaging? With a pale creamy leather look wrap on the lower half of the lid and a triangle of rose gold studs, this packaging feels unique and a little bit special. The top half of the lid is clear, so that you can see each of the shades easily. Inside, this palette comes with two sponge tip applicators and a nice, wide mirror which actually works quite well for application. I have to tell you guys, when it comes to packaging in the drugstore I think Hard Candy always brings something a little bit different and unexpected, and I like that.
This palette contains 10 shades, most of which are firmly neutral. There is a good mix of neutrals, with more olive/brown toned shades on the left, 4 creamy pale shades, 2 mid toned crease shades in a warm and a cool hue, and then a somewhat surprising navy blue shade towards the right. Personally, I would have liked to see perhaps less pale shades in exchange for a greater selection of mid-tones - since those are the types of shades I use in a matte finish on a daily basis, but overall I think this is a pretty good selection of shades. I think you can create some really good every day types of looks from this shade selection, but you can also use it to supplement other palettes or single shadows, particularly as transition or deepening crease shades.
My favorite shades in the palette are the olive toned shade second from the left, the taupe and terracotta shades in the middle of the palette, and the deep brown.
I think the shadows in this palette have a great texture. They're quite soft and creamy without being at all chalky. They can be a little bit powdery, but I haven't had much trouble at all with fallout from these shadows. Unlike a lot of matte shadows that you find in the drugstore, these shadows blend quite nicely on the eyes, which makes them really easy to work with.
As far as pigmentation, I think that these shadows are a little bit light, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing. I do find these shadows quite buildable, but for the most part you're going to get soft looks from this palette. As an everyday or supplemental palette, I think this level of pigmentation is acceptable. I will say, however, that women with deeper skin tones will likely not gain much from picking up this palette.
Overall, I think this is a great buy for the price point. These are some of the better matte eyeshadows at a drugstore price point and they definitely get the job done. For someone just starting out in makeup, I think these are absolutely perfect, but also for those of us who are just looking for a good, affordable matte palette to complete looks using more shimmery shadows this is pretty perfect.
Hard Candy is available exclusively at Walmart!