notoriously morbid slay me mattes: the most aptly named product ever

I'm missing one rogue jar in this shot, whoops!

Please note the photos in this post have been adjusted for lighting tint using photoshop to make the colors of the product appear to true life. However, the product has not been enhanced, saturated or otherwise improved in any way.

I think my foray into Notoriously Morbid was largely hindered by the fact that they were always just sort of hovering at the corner of my vision, rather than being in full-on glorious view. I'd toyed with the idea of buying some of their glorious products a few times but was never able to actually make the plunge because somehow there was just no real deep pocket-burning need for me to have their shadows. That all changed though when they released not just their Slay Me Wave 4 collection, but also two limited edition GWPs for it that came free with the full set purchase and--and--free shipping.

For everyone.

My jaw hit the floor at this unprecedented concept.

Free international shipping? For me? Really? Really? 

It worked too, because I ended up placing not one, but two orders within an hour. And both of them had fabulous results.

L to R: Bringers of the First, Burn All the Witches, It's the White Hats

I had no mattes that weren't Blackbird or Shiro before these, and oho, these have brought me into an entirely new realm of matte goodness. They're soft, a little powdery but very pigmented and blend out like a dream. The first day I got them I tried on Burn All the Witches and was amazed. What is this pigmentation? This silky smooth ease of blending?

Honestly, these are my new favorite mattes. I'm totally smitten, though unfortunately the colors in this wave aren't all incredibly easy to wear on a daily basis.

It's the White Hats over UDPP.
Damn I feel pale now.

It's the White Hats is a matte pure white. No cream tinges, not too grey or blue, just straight clean white. It's not chalky or streaky, but due to being white it does take a bit of building to get completely opaque. It's also very nice for lightening other shadows as well, a heavy hand with this over something too dark will get you pastels, man.

It also makes a killer liner when mixed with foiling serum:

White Hats mixed with Missha's Magic Eye Change serum.

Brings of the First over UDPP in natural light.

Bringers of the First is a matte, slightly mustard-y khaki color. It's not green or olive but still has a weirdly unnerving yellow tinge to it that makes it slightly more slickly than your standard warm brown/khaki. That said, it's great as a base shade or pre-shadow crease shade to smooth everything over, and the color looks weirder in the jar than on the skin.

Burn All the Witches over UDPP in natural light.

I apologize for this swatch, mostly because my camera ran out of battery the day I was shooting my initial swatches, and by the time it charged I was out of daylight. You can see my initial swatch of Burn All the Witches on my arm above Bringers of the First, and then here, where it looks a bit less pink. Overall I think a weird combo of lighting conditions and adjustments may have made this swatch a little brown but the other one a little too mauve. The actual shadow is something like a mix of all these things.

It's described on the site as "burnt rose", which I think is a good description. It's a warm deep pink with a tinge of red and brown to it. I compared it to Shiro's Little Bird, and Little Bird was both more pink and a bit more orange, plus it's not as deep. Overall I'm really in love with this shade, it's gorgeous when blown out in the crease.

The Powers That Be over UDPP.

The Powers That Be is a bright pastel turquoise. NM has it as cerulean, but to me it's a bit green for that, but that's splitting hairs I suppose. This isn't chalky but it does take some building to get proper pigmentation on the lid. If you want it quite opaque it'll take a bit of work, but not so much it's totally unworth it. It still blends very beautifully as a formula, it's just that in blending it loses some of its punch. But if you're looking for a great shade for spring, this is it. It's everything spring.

Done over UDPP in natural light.

Done is a warm violet shade, pastel but also quite bright. For me I find this one also a bit weak, it takes a bit of building to get the true punch that the shade looks in the jar. Since it's warmer-toned and goes well with Burn All the Witches, but would pair decently with any other warm shades.

Watcher to Father over UDPP in natural light.

Watcher to Father is a nice deep, slightly greyed navy color. It looks a bit eggplant to be in the jar but applies clearly as a navy. This one really is one of my favorites, I love the navy but even more than that it applies very smoothly, without any difficulty blending or any chalkiness. As far as the deepness of the color and the opacity and ease of it, this one is a real knockout. It's perfect for smokey eyes, smudged liner, crease, outer-v--it's got an endless array of possibilities!

Passion and Unattainable over UDPP and Pixie Epoxy in natural light.

Lastly, we have these two bad boys. And I mean that quite literally, as these are Limited Edition Spike/Buffy and Angel/Buffy shadows that were a GWP available only for the weekend of the collection's release. I honestly forget which color is for which couple, especially since these are no longer on the NM site and I searched their FB group but got nada. I can guess based on the shades, but I am not sure if I'll be right, so I'll just leave it at vagueness.

Passion in natural light, left over UDPP, right foiled over PE.

Passion is a slightly sheer and silvery color that looks like a greyish sparkly white in the jar, but applies very metallic on the skin. It also has a slight pink tinge to it in some lights. It's not my favorite but it's lovely, especially with the multicolored shimmers inside it. It's very nice for an overshadow or inner corner sparklebomb.

Unattainable in natural light, over UDPP on the left and foiled over PE on the right.

This shadow. This. Shadow. This is one I didn't like when I saw it on the site, but in person it is a stunner and has helped to change my entire perspective on "blurple" type colored shadows. (I'm not a big purple person, really. But that has been changing.) Applied wet or foiled on the lid it really glows, and in some lights it even exhibits a slightly rich green shift. I remember NM said they'd bring one of these back, and I hope it's this one, because it is fantastic.

Unattainable on the lid.

Overall these are a fantastic lineup of matte shadows and since this is Wave 4 (!!) there is a huge selection of amazing shades to choose from. The formula on all of them is wonderfully blendable, but some of them (namely the pastels) take more building than others to get good color oomph. I'm extremely pleased.

Where to buy: Notoriously Morbid's shop, here.