I put these black eyeshadows to the test. Which one is truely the richest, deepest, sexiest black velvently goodness that we are all looking for? With smokey eye season upon us it is critical to have the riches smoothest vibrant colors for your winter looks. As you may already know, not all Black eyeshadows are created equal. Black eyeshadows are available in many finishes from a flat matte, to shimmer to glossy to a satin like finish. I selected 10 Black eyeshadows that were either matte or slightly satin matte with no additional sparkles or glitters. There were many other Black shadows that I LOVE with white or gold sparkles, however I wanted to swatch the purest black shadows that I had for the sake of this article.
BLACK is the New Black
Each shadow was rated ONLY on its performance and not compared to the rating of the others. I rated the shadows in 5 categories; color payout (the amount of color that comes off with minimum press of the brush), Brush Playtime (the amount of time spent to swiping your brush across the shadow to get enough color on your brush), Coverage/Opacity (the coverage the shadow gives on the skin), Adhesion (how well the shadow sticks to your skin and not just the brush) & Staying Power (how well the color stays true after applied. In this review, I have based this rating on 3 hours of normal wear.)
Urban Decay “Black Out” Eyeshadow
Finish: Matte
Color Payout:
Brush Playtime:
Coverage/Opacity:
Adhesion:
Staying Power:
Overall rating:
Available at UrbanDecay.com Retail Price: $18.00
NYX Butt Naked Palette “Stripped” Eyeshadow
Finish: Matte
Color Payout:
Brush Playtime:
Coverage/Opacity:
Adhesion:
Staying Power:
Overall rating:
Available at NYXCosmetics.com Butt Naked Eye Makeup Palette Retail $25.00 (approx. $0.83 per included eyeshadow)
“Stripped” sold seperately for $4.50
Sp3ctrum “Black Bean” Eyeshadow Refill
Finish: Satin/Matte
Color Payout:
Brush Playtime:
Coverage/Opacity:
Adhesion:
Staying Power:
Overall rating:
Available at Sp3ctrum.com “Black Bean” Eyeshadow Refill Retail Price $10.00
Make-up Designatory “Onyx” Eye Color Refill
Finish: Matte
Color Payout:
Brush Playtime:
Coverage/Opacity:
Adhesion:
Staying Power:
Overall rating:
Available at MUDShop.com Retail Price: $11.50
L’Oreal Paris “Lush Raven” Studio Secrets Professional Eye Shadow Singles
Finish: Matte
Color Payout:
Brush Playtime:
Coverage/Opacity:
Adhesion:
Staying Power:
Overall rating:
Available at LorealParisUSA.com Retail Price $4.48
FASH 120 Color Eyeshadow Palette
Finish: Slightly Satin/Matte
Color Payout:
Brush Playtime:
Coverage/Opacity:
Adhesion:
Staying Power:
Overall rating:
Available at FASHlimited.com FASH 120 Color Eyeshadow Palette Retail $39.99 (approx. $0.33 per included eyeshadow)
Black eyeshadow is not sold separately
Morphe Brushes 35 Color Glam Palette “True Black” Eye Shadow
Finish: Matte
Color Payout:
Brush Playtime:
Coverage/Opacity:
Adhesion:
Staying Power:
Overall rating:
Available at Morphebrushes.com 35 Color Glam Palette Retail $19.95 (approx. $0.57 per included eyeshadow)
“True Black” also sold seperately for $2.00
Motives Cosmetics Pro Color Palette “Onyx” Eyeshadow
Finish: Matte
Color Payout:
Brush Playtime:
Coverage/Opacity:
Adhesion:
Staying Power:
Overall rating:
Available at MotiveCosmetics.com Motives Pro Color Eye Shadow Palette $240.00 (approx. $5.22 per included eyeshadow)
“Onyx” Pressed Eye Shadow also sold separately for $12.50 (Use affiliate code: AMBERROSEMCDOWELL)
The Balm Nude ‘tide Palette “Serious” Eyeshadow
Finish: Matte
Color Payout:
Brush Playtime:
Coverage/Opacity:
Adhesion:
Staying Power:
Overall rating:
Available at TheBalm.com NUDE ‘tude $36.00 (approx. $3.00 per included eyeshadow)
“Serious” eyeshadow is not sold separately
Sleek Cosmetics Bad Girl Palette “Noir” Eyeshadow
Finish: Slightly Satin/Matte
Color Payout:
Brush Playtime:
Coverage/Opacity:
Adhesion:
Staying Power:
Overall rating:
Available at SleekMakeup.com NUDE ‘tude $9.99 (approx. $0.83 per included eyeshadow)
“Noir” eyeshadow is not sold separately
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