I’m no makeup artist, but these Make Up For Ever Artist Shadows almost make me feel like one!

I was playing around with a new Make Up For Ever eyeshadow palette a few days ago, when it struck me that I’d not blogged about the new MUFE Artist Shadows, nor about what a huge fan of the brand’s eyeshadows that I am, ever since I was gifted with 1 a long time ago by a friend.

I have also talked about Make Up For Ever eyeshadows a long time ago (this was in the early days, so this was before swatches and pretty pictures but my thoughts on the products remain the same), and MUFE shadows are among the best in the business. I cut my teeth on Western brand eyeshadow on MUFE and it absolutely spoilt me with their pigment, texture and colour intensity. Very underrated, but the best in the business if you love pigmented colours. Forget MAC and Urban Decay, seriously. I’d pick a Make Up For Ever shadow any day.

And now that there are 210 colours to choose from in 5 different textures, what’s your reason not to pick one? LOL! I photographed these on a dreary day, which fits the colour theme of my palette. When MUFE launched their Artist Shadows, they also changed the packaging around. Now, you buy the eyeshadow refills and the cases are sold separately – the single, duo and trio fit 1, 2 and 3 shadows respectively and are plastic cases with a clear top, similar to what you see in my picture.

The base is magnetic and the pans are metal so it all sits comfortably in there. Want to move your pans around? There is a little hole at the back where you can poke out the pans and interchange colours. Very handy and practical. For anything above 3 colours, you get the metal pans, similar to this one. But I like the trio. I think it’s a perfect size for anyone and because it’s so slim, perfect for toting about. My colour selection for this trio is a little strange and brave though LOL! 😀 Have you checked these shadows out?

2 of the colours in this palette (ME216 Electric Blue and I112 Chrome) were a gift hence I had little choice or control over the shades. They were both a little too bright and too cool for my liking, but what happened is that the blue ME216 pushed me out of my comfort zone and resulted in this – 3 work-friendly blue eyeshadow looks! The blue was this electric blue and it’s really a stunning colour that you can wear bold, or lightened.

Here are the swatches of the 3 shades I own:-

• ME216 Electric Blue – This one is a deep intense blue that is beautiful. The ME indicates that it is a Metallic colour which it is, but not overly so. It’s wearable without being overly shiny and the colour is so pigmented, what you get on your skin is what you see in the pan.
• I112 Chrome – The I indicates this one is an Iridescent colour, but to me, there isn’t a lot of difference between this and the Metallic shade. The colour is similarly very pigmented and is a cool dark grey. I find this shade quite hard to wear due to its cool base but I’m working on it.
• ME554 Gunmetal – I picked this shade out of 210 colours (It’s an insane task!) to round off my trio. I wanted something I could wear with the blue to temper it, and although ME554 is a little dark, it tempers the blue well, and I liked the taupe shade. It’s very wearable and if you remember ME945 from Shu Uemura that was so popular back in the day and which has been discontinued, this one’s its sibling. It’s beautiful!

The new MUFE Artist Shadows swatch very smoothly and are pigmented. Not only that, they blend very beautifully. For some reason, as you blend and buff the colour on your skin, it spreads out the colour, without decreasing its pigment intensity, and makes the colour look beautifully wearable and blendable. It’s almost as if the colour “stretches” over your skin. This makes it very easy to use, whether you are a pro artist or an amateur, like I am.

For those of us just starting out with colour or eyeshadow, you can get just 1 neutral shade for all over the lid. ME554 is actually a nice one to start with, and then get a satin or matte lighter shade to blend and highlight with and you’d be set for a very simple eye look. The colours blend easily and you can keep buffing them for better adherence to skin and a  more diffused colour on lids.

I find that I only have to tap on the surface of the pan with my brush to pick up colour and then buff it onto my lid, to get the colour to show. The swatches above were done with my fingers, and they are just 1 pass on my arm. The colours are intense! I love it! 😀

Here is an example of how I wear this palette (Using the 3 shades which I rarely do)

I wore ME554 as a wash over my lid, ME216 in my crease, and I112 in the outer corner, just lightly. I still need a light matte neutral as a wash under my brow and to blend out the edges. I blended in the blue with my fave 216 medium blender brush. Love that to bits!!

Without a lid base, MUFE shadows stay put on me all day, but longevity has never really been a problem for me when it comes to eyeshadow (except with MAC which for some reason disappear as quickly on my skin as I can say MAC 😛 ) So, before you get sucked up into the next MAC or Urban Decay eyeshadow frenzy, how about taking one step back and considering other (better quality) options. The Make Up For Ever counter is a good place to start 😉

IN A NUTSHELL 

Make Up For Ever Artist Shadows were recently reformulated and come in 210 shades in 5 finishes – M Matte, I Iridescent, ME Metallic, D Diamond and S Satin. The texture is smooth, finish matches its description, they are pigmented and are very easy to blend. The finish on skin is lovely and colour fairly true to what you see in the pan. The quality is also very good, lasting all day on my non oily lids. They come in refill singles that you can fit into magnetized palettes. I’ve always loved MUFE shadows and if anything, they’ve just gotten better.

PROS: Intense and pigmented colours, Smooth and blendable texture, Long lasting texture holds onto skin,

CONS: Numbers make it hard to remember for people like me

WHO WILL LIKE THIS: Anyone who likes pigmented eyeshadow that is easy to blend and intense in colour and smooth in texture

Each eyeshadow is 2.5g and a large pan that is much larger than MAC shadow pans and retail at RM70 (US$21) so I think them excellent value. The trio is a handy size as you can see, and slim so it’s very portable. I feel the need to build another trio, which I probably will some time soon. I’m thinking something that can work with ME554 Gunmetal, perhaps a matte to use as a blending shade and something lighter/darker to complement? Ideas welcome 😀

Have you used Make Up For Ever eyeshadows? Are you a fan as I am?

I built up quite a decent palette of the old formula eyeshadow back in the day but they were a fairly eclectic mix of colours, predominantly greens. I’m not sure why, it must have been during my green eyeshadow phase. From what I can tell, the new Artist Shadow feels softer and finer and more blendable than the previous version. But don’t take my word for it. Mine are almost 8 years old! LOL! 😀 Still going strong though.

Paris B

Make Up For Ever Artist Shadow come in 210 shades and 5 different textures Price: RM70 | US$21 each, cases sold separately. I can’t remember the price of the trio palette, sorry! Availability: Make Up For Ever Pro boutiques (Starhill Gallery, Gurney Plaza) and Sephora stores or Sephora online (USA)

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