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! :D 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! :D
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 :P ) 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 :D
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! :D 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)
[show_shopthepost_widget id=”880322″]
Eeks, MUFE eyeshadows! I want some, but I can’t bring meself to get some, partly because I’m no longer a freeloader off my parents’ incomes HAHAHAHAHA. I’ll just have to save up for them. I’ve always been enamoured of their famed purple shade though.
There is a discount for them in the US Sephora website which is very interesting. You pay USD 44 for a trio palette when the actual price is USD 64. One eyeshadow is USD 21, so you essentially get 3 for the price of 2 (the palette itself is USD 1).
http://www.sephora.com/make-up-for-ever-custom-artist-palettes?icid2=mufe_artistshadow_ppagebanner
With your penchant for bright eyeshadow, Hanny, you will LOVE MUFE shadows :) They’re way better than Nars or MAC! I did see the very good prices on the US Sephora site but since we can’t avail of that promo I’m just sitting here salivating from afar. I don’t think the palettes are RM3.80 here although they’re just US$1 there!
Oh my. ME554 Gunmetal is beautiful! Although I like colours for my eyeshadow but ME216 Electric Blue is scary lol. Just use a light brown shade to blend the top and you’ll be fine. Love the look you did. I may have gone overboard with the blue if I have the blue haha :)
I have a sneaky feeling it’s a shade you’d like Fiona ;) ME216 scared me silly! It took me so long to figure out what to do with it, but I’m glad it’s so pigmented so it’s easy to just pick up a little bit and blend it out, and to blend with other shadows. Blue goes so prettily with brown/taupe doesn’t it? :D
Judging from the swatches, these eyeshadows seriously mean business haha. New to the world of eyeshadows and been eyeing the MUFE shadows since you posted the nude palette on instagram >.< it looks so pretty (no sure abt the no matte shades though). Also, the eye-look with the blues looks fab!
Oh yes they do Robert! Depending on how brave or not you are with colours and shimmer, I think you’ll like the MUFE shadows. The nude palette is really pretty, but the downside is that there are no matte colours. It would have been nice if they included one or two, to make it ieasy to blend. Definitely take a look and maybe the Satin or Matte textures might be up your alley!
I discovered MUFE eye shadows a few months ago when I bought 3 matte, neutral brown toned eye shadows and a empty 3-shadow pan at Sephora. I agree with you that the eye shadows are of exceptional quality. They don’t flake and they are densely pigmented. The powder is silky smooth and easy to apply. I think they are much better eye shadows by MAC, Bobbi Brown, UD, etc.
I haven’t bought their matte shadows yet Esme but am happy to know they are lovely! It’s so hard to get the texture of matte shadows right, don’t you agree? They are most certainly underrated shadows in the makeup world. Beats MAC, UD, BB and Nars hands down!
That blue looks like a fun shade to try and hopefully not turn to green when I apply to my eyelids; somehow whatever shades in the blue family that I use, the outcome will look more green than blue LOL
I like the pros that you listed but I think for “daring” shades like the electric blue, I think I need to be extra careful or use light hand if I don’t want to look clownish :D I mostly wear makeup in the office so whatever makeup experiments will be tried during work days and I think my colleagues still can’t get use with my unique ways of trying things, haha.
210 shades with 5 different textures! That sounds so many to try, I always wish eyeshadows comes in two different sizes (normal and mini) packaging :D Yeah, there are seasonal palettes but those colours are often not permanent.
Ah Fathin you might then be pleased to know that in most MUFE seasonal palettes, their colours are usually permanent! Yep, there’s a new Artist palette with 9 shades (smaller pans) and they’re all permanent shades, just in a premade palette! Comes in nude (safe for work) and pop (for fun) so you might take a look at that ;) I will share more soon once I get some pix taken. And I think that blue is quite safely staying blue unless you sheer it out a lot. I too find that some blues turn green on me (I think it’s our yellow based Asian colouring) so it’s always a peril as to whether it’ll work. Hope you had a fun Hari Raya celebration! x
Yep, MUFE eyeshadows are really good, and I also think one of the best (if not the best) in the market today. I only tried them out when I was studying makeup at their academy this year and fell in love – I’s seriously been missing out!
Hiya Renee! Glad you agree about the quality of MUFE shadows. Often, after I’ve used them, I wonder why I even bother with others that suddenly feel so inferior!
What a beautiful shade of blue. I’m still afraid to play around with color. That being said I was fortunate enough to swatch about half of the collection at my local Sephora the night before they were being put out on the shelves. Even though both of my arms were swatched from top to bottom I was in eyeshadow heaven! I have several but one of my faves is M536 Milk Tea. Seems like a boring shade but it’s the perfect blending color for my skin tone.
Colour can be pretty scary, I agree. Especially bright shades like this! I’m less afraid of blue than I am of purple. Now purple, really really scares me! LOL :D Ahhh now I have to check out M536 because Milk Tea sounds so delicious too! :P I’ve now learned that there is no such thing as a boring shade – even boring shades have their uses! ;)
I know that you buy some of your stuff in iHerb and which delivery method did you choose? Since it is my first time purchasing from them, I’m not too sure which I should go for and it’s either DHL, AirPremium or UPH :/
Hi Jassmyn, if it’s under 4kg and there’s no offer on DHL I usually take USPS which is cheaper but can take up to 1 month to arrive. Otherwise I take DHL if I feel the price is reasonable. It arrives within a few days :) Don’t forget that the code MPW213 gets you a discount on your 1st purchase and that means you get to save a little bit on shipping too :)
Thanks a lot :) Real Techniques is next on my to try list so I’m also going to try to get it at iHerb. Saw it in SHINS a few days ago and it retails at RM78, shows just how high they marked up the price.
Oh yes, stay away from Shins. They marked up the prices of RT brushes so high, I’m surprised that ANYONE buys from them >.<
Blue totally brings attention to dark brown eyes! :)