Matte Monday

I've been neglecting my soft, velvety Too Faced Matte Eye Palette, so I thought I'd pull her out for an EOTD (plus, I like the alliteration in the title :-P). Bonus: I paired the look with a slick of MAC Hue, and the husband actually told me (unsolicited) he really likes my lipcolor today! Aw, shucks ^.~

Method: TFSI, followed by Chinchilla (matte mid-brown) patted on entire lid.  I then blended Pebbles (matte mid-gray) onto the outer 1/3 of lid and into my crease.  I brushed the matte off-white shade Velveteen Bunny just under my brows and blended the crease color down with Tufted Suede (matte shadow just slightly deeper than my skintone, perhaps NC30-35).  I lined my upper lashline and outer 1/3 of the lower lashline with Urban Decay 24/7 eyeliner in Stray Dog (a silvered taupe).  Lower lashes were coated with Clinique Bottom Lash Mascara in Black, and upper lashes were curled with Shu Uemura curler (got mine at iMomoko.com) and coated with several layers of L'oreal Voluminous Carbon Black Mascara.

theBalm SCORE! Holiday 2011 the Balm and the Beautiful, Meet Matt(e) Palette, and Mary Lou Manizer/ Betty Lou Manizer Duo

Seriously, check your local TJ Maxx to see if you can find these! It is totally worth it even if they don't have all of them!
Retail vs. TJ Maxx Score:
Mary & Betty Lou Manizer Duo (been lemming Mary since I saw it on Jess): $48 retail worth for $19.99
Meet Matt(e) Palette (was going to skip because I have the Too Faced Matte Eye palette, $36): $34.50 retail worth for $16.99
The Balm and the Beautiful Palette (supposedly for Holiday 2011! Exact shades as the 1000 limited-edition run of the Muppets Cast Your Shadow Palette): $44.50 retail worth for $19.99

These are a MAJOR steal if you can find them at your TJ Maxx. Sadly, they were the last/only ones at mine. I can't even believe my luck! I was dying for that Muppet Palette (the swatches are amazing at temptalia.com).

REVIEW: Too Faced Matte Eye Shadow Collection

Too Faced Matte Eye Shadow Collection ($36 exclusively at Sephora) is nine smooth, buttery matte eye shadows with nary a sparkle in sight.   Perfect for office-appropriate looks, casual day looks, and (as I soon realized) a dang sexy smokey eye!  The nine shades run the gamut of what I would consider Autumn colors, though the browns especially could give you a subtle, daytime contoured eye --if you're within the skintone range it calls for-- anytime of year.  These blended a dream and wore for me all day with TFSI and no fading or creasing.  Even though I am a total glam girly-girl, I didn't miss the sparkle AT ALL! Gasp! I didn't even miss my often bright colors.  I definitely prefer this to Urban Decay's Naked Palette because there is no risk of overdoing the shimmer and looking garish.  I felt the looks on the included cards made me look like a 1920's or 30's silent film star.  Sure, I'm going to want to use sparkly, colorful, or shimmer shadows quite often (I'm not a different person), but I was very pleasantly surprised by this all-matte-finish-collection's versatility.  I am now curious whether it's pointless to collect Too Faced's Smokey Eye shadow collection, because (as you can see below) the matte collection makes for a really sultry smokey eye.
You totally need this!

Tufted Suede lashline to browbone, Chinchilla on inner 3/4 of lid, Coffee Bean in crease and outer V

Kinda felt a tad too smokey and sexy for the office... the Robert Palmer Girl dress didn't help, haha! I think in the future I'll save Coffee Bean for date night.

This is after 8 hours of wear.

Never been a smokey eye girl... until now! Totally converted!

Face: Stila Tinted Moisturizer SPF 20 in Medium (really like it! It feels so light and non-greasy and gives decent coverage for a TM), E.L.F. Mineral Foundation in Light, BE Mineral Veil, Benefit Cha Cha Tint, Benefit Girl Meets Pearl (also lurve!)

Lips: MAC Creme Cup Lipstick, Lancome Juicy Tubes in Raspberry Ice

Mascara: MAC Zoom Lash (much prefer to the Lancome Hypnose Doll Lashes)

Necklace: Jewelmint

Dress: Forever 21 Fabulous Finds

Too Faced Matte Palette Preview Swatches

After all that shimmer overload that was Estee Lauder Pure Color Powder Gelee in Modern Mercury, I'm doing a 180 to bring you my swatches of Too Faced's new Matte Eye Palette.  Matte eye shadows can be a lot easier to wear than shimmers or frosts because they don't settle into fine lines on the eyes (that even 18-year-olds have).  They don't magnify your pores, either :P The review will have to come tomorrow as I've only just cracked it open and swatched it, but here's the swatches because I can't wait!

Left to Right: Tufted Suede, Chinchilla, Coffee Bean, Velveteen Bunny, Pebbles, London Fog, Fresh Linen, Vintage Violet, Midnight

This photo is really true-to-color, though a bit too dim, tbh.  London Fog looks blue-toned in the pan but not at all on my arm. Velveteen Bunny was surprisingly sheer but that's a good thing for such a light, matte color.
Below, a comparison to the two matte shades in Urban Decay's Naked Palette:

Left to Right: TF Chinchilla, UD Naked, TF Tufted Suede, UD Buck, TF Chinchilla

 I am thinking I might like this Too Faced Palette more than the Naked Palette, but only wearing will tell for certain!