So just what is it that makes matte eyeshadows especially wonderful for those of us who are 50+? Well, there are a number of reasons. First, matte eyeshadows offer opaque, rich, saturated color which is great for unleashing the creative artist within us.

Second, matte eyeshadows add gorgeous dimension to our eyes without drawing attention to any fine lines or texture. Third, although matte eyeshadows don’t offer shimmer and shine, they do tend to offer more pigmentation which results in better coverage and a smoother blend.

So, let’s take a look at some of the top notch all-matte eyeshadow palettes that are the best of the best.

Teddy Bear by Clinique

The smallest palette on this list, which I think is a real hidden gem, is Clinique’s “Teddy Bear” palette. It goes from very light to very dark with two mid-tone shades. But what’s brilliant about this little palette is that it’s neither too warm nor too cool – it’s pretty much the Goldilocks of neutral eyeshadow palettes that works for just about everyone.

Mad for Matte “Nude Mood” by Elf

This 10-pan palette not only has a great range of shades from light to dark, but has a nice variety of warm, neutral and cool shades as well. It even offers a lovely light-medium gray, a light pink-toned beige and a slightly deeper peach shade. It’s perfect for creating soft looks as well as day to night evening looks. And you can’t beat the $10 price tag.

Gone Matte by Colourpop

The newest palette, which is also the largest on this list, contains 30 pans in a range of warm- to cool-toned nudes and neutrals, peaches, beiges, taupes, pinks, mauves and greys. These shades are all extremely wearable. And the price? Only $34 for 30 shades which breaks down to a cost of one dollar and thirteen cents per eyeshadow. An amazing bargain!

Be sure to check out Elise’s YouTube channel which specifically focuses on makeup tips, techniques, and product reviews for those of us 50+. Don’t forget to subscribe!

A Variety of Viseart Palettes

Long the secret weapon of professional makeup artists in the entertainment industry, Paris-based Viseart offers high performance products that are highly pigmented and blendable. They have six all-matte 12-pan palettes which come in the widest variety of colors compared to the rest on this list.

There is a “Warm Mattes” palette, “Neutral Mattes,” “Neutral Mattes 2” called “Milieu,” “Cool Mattes,” “Dark Mattes” and “Editorial Brights.” But the great news is that smaller versions of all six of these palettes are now available at $40 which is half the price of their larger 12-pan counterparts.

Pro Matte by Lorac

This one is another favorite of makeup artists because of its outstanding quality. Pro Matte can be used wet or dry, and it’s possible to shade, shadow, line and define the eyes with these colors. There are light beiges to deep browns with some additional shades of pink, burgundy and jet black.

Master Mattes by Makeup by Mario

This is a palette that recently became a favorite. It contains makeup artist Mario’s “ride or die” mattes which are shaded and inspired by human skin tones from light to deep. These shadows have a very light, creamy feel and have been especially formulated to be easily buildable and blendable with superior grip and minimal fallout. The carbon black pigment is five times more intense than a traditional black eyeshadow.

Warrior Two by Juvia’s Place

The Juvia’s Place “Warrior Two” is nine-pan palette that is one of my all-time favorites. These highly complementary shades are velvety and so easy to blend. If I want an easy, totally flawless look, this is one of my go-to palettes because these colors almost blend themselves. And you can often find this palette on sale. When it’s not on sale, it’s still very reasonably priced at $20 because the eyeshadow pans are quite large.

Blends Palette by Blend Bunny Cosmetics

The Blends Palette is my newest discovery. It’s an unusual entry into this list for one major reason: color. It’s an all-matte, rainbow, 30-pan palette with a unique color layout. The shades are grouped in trios of super deep hues to light pastel transition shades. What this means is that there’s no need to puzzle over what colors to place where.

The founder of this brand, Maggie Jones, created a complete gradient of shades for blending in a layout that is logical and makes total sense. And these shades blend effortlessly. I’d call this a brilliantly innovative palette.

Transition by Dominique Cosmetics

This 15-pan “Transition” palette is a multi-use eye and face palette which can be used as contour, blush, under-eye brightener, and highlight. It can also be used to fill in the brows and create countless eyeshadow looks. And the pans are big enough to accommodate larger face brushes.

Since I usually use cream face products, I was frankly concerned that using these powder shades as face products would cause my face to feel extremely dry. But I didn’t experience anything even remotely similar to dryness with this “Transition” palette since these products literally feel creamy on the skin.

Sydney Grace – Create Your Own Palette

I’m cheating just a bit on this one because Sydney Grace doesn’t make an all-matte palette. However, you can create your own all-matte palette using their single matte eyeshadows. I’ve done just that, and I’ll show you my palette in the video.

Sydney Grace is an indie brand founded by two California sisters. One of the unique things about this brand is that they don’t outsource the manufacturing of their products. Their 94 different matte eyeshadow colors are smooth and strongly pigmented.

Bonus: Natasha Denona

Because Natasha Denona makes some of the best eyeshadows in the industry, I decided to include her as well. The brand doesn’t have an all-matte eyeshadow palette, but you can pop out the eyeshadows on most of the palettes and create your own customized matte palette. One of her palettes, Biba, carries 12 matte eyeshadows out of 15 pans.

Cruelty Free

Since some of you do like to know if products are cruelty free, let me share that out of the above list, there’s one company that isn’t cruelty free (Clinique, which is owned by Estee Lauder) and one company that’s in the grey area (Lorac). All the rest are certified as cruelty free.

You truly can’t go wrong with any of the palettes on this list, so I hope you’ll give one of them a whirl. You won’t regret it!

Do you wear mostly all-matte eyeshadows? If so, do you have a favorite all-matte palette that you’d recommend? What are some of your other favorite eyeshadow palettes?