Review: Viseart Neutral Mattes 2 Milieu

Sunday, August 25, 2019

A few weeks ago, I ordered the new Viseart Neutral Mattes 2 Milieu Palette when it launched at Muse Beauty Pro. Muse Beauty Pro had a 15% sale going on that really appealed to me, since I don't spend much at Sephora so it's unlikely I'll reach Rouge 20% anytime soon. 15% is as good as I'm going to get. I didn't spend much time debating it (I never do with Viseart!) and it arrived just a few days later.

This is my first Viseart palette in the new SlimPro packaging. While the thinner profile is nice and I like how the lid sits flush against the shadows, which I think offers better protection than the old packaging, I don't like how this new case doesn't click shut securely. The pans in this palette are removable from the magnetic slots but I don't dare pop out the pans, I can't maneuver the pans out without nicking them. I prefer the old cases, and not just because my palettes don't match now. Though the slight crookedness of the removable pans does make my soul itch.

I've written about Viseart many times before. It's one of my favorite matte eye shadow formulas, definitely my most worn matte shadows. When I'm doing my eye makeup, I tend to work in the "wet", as in I like to directly blend onto slightly damp primer and Viseart mattes are perfect for that. I do think that Rouge Bunny Rouge makes a slightly better matte shadow but the color range is not as extensive, particularly with warm colors. The only criticism I have of Viseart is that technically they also do make the worst matte shadow I've ever used - the matte pink in Cool Mattes Vol.1; it's chalky, powdery, faded, sticks to wrinkles/lines but not my eyelid (no matter how much priming!). But the one bad apple doesn't ruin the bunch for me. Overall Viseart still gets an A and Milieu falls in line with that.

This time around, I was looking to the pink for some sort of redemption. The pink, red, and the navy blue in the bottom row are a touch drier than the other shades (the way Dark Mattes is with that dark teal), while they're not as easy to blend as the other shades in this palette, I would say it only requires 10% more brush strokes to diffuse them to the same degree of evenness. Not that big of a deal to me, not nearly as bad as that dreadful pink from Cool Mattes 1. Overall the consistency in this palette is good, the Viseart that I know and love.

Swatches over eye primer.

Here I used the burnt sienna in the second row (the second shade from the left) as well as the light cognac (top row, first shade from the right) for this cut crease. I also used the cool bark brown from the bottom row to smudge out the lower lash line.

This look used the light brown on the right side of the middle row, as well as the light cognac in the top row, plus the bark brown in the bottom row. Topped with Tom Ford Opale Cream Shadow For Eyes and Natasha Denona Nude shadow.

I really liked using Milieu as supporting shades to Melt's Smoke Sessions palette. The warm browns play nicely with those greens. Here I used the mustard color in the top row of Milieu, as well as both of the browns in the second row. From Smoke Sessions I used Black Widow and Sour Diesel (review of that palette here).

Here I used the pale peach in the top row with the dark pink in the bottom row. The sparkle is Pat McGrath Night Creature from the Subliminal MOTHERSHIP (review here).

Here I used the red and blue shades for an intense outer wing.

The color scheme of this palette reminds of a warm take on Anastasia Beverly Hills Modern Renaissance but with a blue shade added in. I struggled with this palette for a while. Due to the similarities to Warm Mattes, I felt like any look I wanted to execute I had already done. Another flaw with this palette is the lack of a lighter shade, you can't really highlight the brow bone area if your skin tone is fairer than NC/NW35. I found myself pulling out my powder foundation and other palettes like Neutral Mattes 1 every time I used Milieu in order to satisfy that need. A couple of the tan shades in Milieu look similar, I wish one of them would have been a pale buttercream or cooler light beige instead so that I could complete a look without pulling other products out.

In summary, if you don't have any other Viseart matte palettes and generally prefer warm colors, this palette is great. However, If you already have Warm Mattes (and even more so if you have Dark Mattes and Neutral Mattes 1 too, do we really need more burnt orange?), I think there's enough similarities where you just won't feel the need for Milieu. This isn't so much as something new to the Viseart lineup than it is a remix of existing shades and palettes.

Currently, Viseart Neutral Mattes 2 Milieu is available from Muse Beauty Pro but I'm certain it will be at other stockists soon. Viseart 12 pan palettes are $80 each.

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