Nude matte cream eyeshadow base comparison

Matte cream eyeshadow bases are handy products to have on call - they act as an eyelid neutralizer, hiding redness and veins, while also serving as a primer. Today I have 4 options to compare for you: the Maybelline Color Tattoo in 250 Nude Pink (LE), MAC Painterly Paint Pot, NYX Eyeshadow Base in 03 Skin Tone, and Milani Shadow Eyez in 10 Almond Cream. Each shade works as a "nude" color on my fair skin, but the shades aren't universal - look for something that matches your skin color and undertone.

NYX Eyeshadow Primer Base 03 Skin Tone review & swatches

NYX Eyeshadow Base in #3 Skin Tone (ESB03) was one of the first products I purchased when I started looking for eyeshadow bases / primers that would even out my lid color and mask visible veins. NYX Eyeshadow Base is an emollient cream base product that promises to act as a primer and concealer for your lids in one. The product also comes in two other color options - white (01) and white pearl (02). I bought mine for $6.99 at Ulta.

Skin Tone is the type of product name that makes me rage a little inside - "skin tone" is not one color! (This shade is likely a good match for light to medium skin) I apply this by patting a little bit of product onto my lids and it blends into my fair skintone well with a sheer application, but I don't think the shade is as important when used as a true base shadow because you will be layering product on top of it.

Bare Minerals 5 in 1 BB Cream Shadow Candlelit Peach review & swatches

Let's get this off the table right away - the name of this product is ridiculous. "Bare Minerals 5 in 1 BB Advanced Performance Cream Eyeshadow" Seriously, they jumped on that BB bandwagon hard. Okay, let's move past that. The new Bare Minerals cream shadow is supposed to be a longwearing primer cream shadow, similar in claims to a Mac Paint Pot but in a more liquid form. I have shade Candlelit Peach, which came in the Bare Minerals Multi Tasking Stars kit (review here) and is sold on the Bare Minerals site. This product retails for $18 for a .1 ounce tube.

Shade
Candlelit peach is very accurately named. The shade is a warm toned creamy peach with a matte base and a little shimmer. The product doesn't have a pearl effect or any luminescence in the base formula, but has an odd spattering of shimmer particles suspended in a flat matte base. From a distance, the shimmer doesn't appear unless it hits the light and it shows as a satin finish. Up close, however, the sparkle particles are apparent.

Empties & Mini Reviews - Too Faced, NYX, Elf, Bare Minerals, Jack Black

I was inspired to share some empties today after doing an end of summer collection purge. All of the empty products below are *actually* makeup & beauty products. Anyone else get angry about body scrub and candle empties? Let's check out what I used up recently:

• NYX Butter Gloss in Creme Brulee (BLG 05)
• e.l.f. Essential Wet Gloss Lash & Brow Clear mascara
• Jack Black Intense Therapy Lip Balm in Grapefruit & Ginger and Lemon & Chamomile
• Too Faced Shadow Insurance
• Bare Minerals Lash Domination mascara (black)

 Let's get into the mini reviews: