Make Up For Ever Artist Palette from The Makeup Show Orlando

When I posted my last The Makeup Show haul, I mentioned that I'd purchased a Make Up For Ever (MUFE) palette that was exclusive to the event. It's a gorgeous combination of colors hand selected by The Makeup Show Orlando's featured makeup artists (including James Vincent and Orlando Santiago).

The palette is pretty much perfect because it includes neutral matte and shimmery shades for eyes and cheeks that will work with a variety of skin tones. I dare say I like it more than my Urban Decay Naked palettes because I have eyes and cheeks in one place and a better ratio of matte to satin/shimmer in one palette.

(Note: I prefer having more matte shades than shimmery shades in palettes and that's my only real qualm with UD's Naked palettes. I feel each one is missing at least one or two extra mattes so they can be stand alone palettes. Otherwise, I love the quality and array of colors available in the Nakeds, and I use them often. Don't go getting your panties in a bunch.)

While purchasing the complete set was exclusive to The Makeup Show, that doesn't mean you can't create the same palette for yourself. All you need to do is purchase the 10 individual eyeshadows and blushes and stick them in an empty palette (you can choose the MUFE palette or go for a Z palette or anything similar). Since I purchased this at the show, the empty MUFE palette was included in the price. If I were going to create this palette on my own, I'd likely just go with a Z palette and I'll tell you why in a minute.

Make Up For Ever palette exterior casing

This is what the palette looks like form the outside. It's a sleek, sturdy, plastic black casing made of the same material as Nars palettes. I love that the material is has that rubbery, non-slip feel, but I hate that it will quickly and easily show dirt and finger prints (as you can see in my photo, which I took before I even touched any of the shadows).

Does anyone out there know a good way to keep these kinds of palettes clean? You'll make my day if you tell me.

Since mine is for personal use, I don't mind as much that the case is all black. But if I were lugging around multiple palettes, I'd prefer having a clear top so I could easily see what's inside (reason #1 for using a different case).

Another thing to keep in mind about my MUFE empty palette, is that once you put the pans in it they're not easy to get out without destroying them. They're in there for the long haul. That's because the pans aren't being held in place by a magnet, so it's a tight fit to keep them in place. You better be committed to where you place your shadows (reason #2 for using a different case). I wish I'd known that, because I kind of want to reorganize them, but now I can't. (Unless someone knows how to do this without breaking my shadows and is kind enough to tell me. Anybody?! Please?!)

Here are the pretty shades inside and a list of the colors included:

Make Up For Ever Artists palette

Make Up For Ever Artists palette from The Makeup Show Orlando
Top row (left to right): #76, #126, #127, #35, #139
Bottom row (left to right): #15, #54, #74, #161, #307

Swatches and color descriptions:

#139 (Deep matte brown), #35 (matte vanilla shade similar to MAC brûlée), #127 (medium brown satin), #126 (champagne satin), #76 (matte taupe -great contour color)

#307 (Diamond shadow- black with silver glitter), #161 (matte rust color also nice blush for darker skin), #74 (rosy pink blush) #54 (gold satin), #15 (baby pink blush)

I'd like to send out a special thanks to the Make Up For Ever store in NYC for kindly allowing me to exchange the duplicate shadow I received at the show for the shade I was missing. The quickly mailed me shade #35 and I'm sending back my extra #126.  Usually, whatever you purchase at a trade show is final sale. I'm very appreciative that they did the exchange. 

What do you guys think of the palette? Will you duplicate the palette? Or do you only want a handful of the shades? Which colors are your favorites?