Today I’m reviewing Notoriously Morbid’s Slay Me collection, which is based on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which I adore. This collection was released in waves, and today I’ll do 1 and 2. (3 and 4 will come later.) The entire collection is matte, which is unusual. Sadly, two of the colors have been discontinued, but I’m including them anyways for posterity’s sake.

Since these are mattes, I swatched them slightly differently than usual. The top/left half is over bare skin and the bottom/right half is over Urban Decay Anti-Aging Primer Potion. The top picture is in indoor natural light and the bottom one is in direct sun. The sun brings out a slight sparkle in some of the swatches, but they all looked matte on my eyes when I used them.

Wave 1: Boca Del Infierno, Comic Relief, Teacher in Tweed, Hesitant Heroine, Quiet Storm and Gypsy Curse

Wave 2: He’s Going Through Changes, She’s Got Gidget Hair, Dust to Dust, The Dating Slayer, She Names the Stars, Bloody Awful Poet

Boca Del Infierno: “A rich, deep oxblood.” This is a dark, rich burgundy blood red. It’s much darker and more opaque over primer than bare skin.

He’s Going Through Changes: “A warm, gingery peach, as smooth as Oz’s fur.” This is a matte pinky peach. It’s very warm. On me it’s too warm to really using as a blending or transition shade (which I sillily keep trying to do), but it makes a nice lid color. It’s darker over primer, but the coverage is very even on bare skin.

Comic Relief: “A cheerful sunny orange.” This is a great matte orange. Sadly, it’s one of the colors that is no longer for sale. If you apply it lightly and blend it out it looks more peachy, but if you apply it with a heavier hand it’s definitely orange. It leans more red than yellow.

She’s Got Gidget Hair: “A pale orange with a beige undertone.” This is a peachy tan. It’s similar to He’s Going Through Changes, but more yellow and less pink. It’s definitely a warm color and applies smoothly on bare skin.

Dust to Dust: “An icy mint green with a gray/bone undertone.” This is a very pale green, with a whitish grey cast. Over primer it looks more grey-green and on bare skin it’s more white-green. It works surprisingly well as a highlight color for the browbone or inner corner in cool-toned looks.

The Dating Slayer: “A bright sky blue – so Cordelia, so 90’s.” This is a matte baby blue. Over primer it becomes more sky blue. It’s a pretty dated color to my eye.

She Names the Stars: “A cool, blue toned purple as deep as Drusilla’s evil madness.” To me this reads as cornflower blue rather than purple, especially over primer. It’s sheer over bare skin and very slightly more purpley. It’s a really pretty color, but it’s been discontinued.

Hesitant Heroine: “A deep sapphire blue with an indigo tone in a matte finish.” Yet another matte blue. This one is darker and more cobalt. It’s much sheerer over bare skin than it is over primer, but I haven’t had any problems blending it. The fallout really does want to stain, though, so be careful when you apply it.

Quiet Storm: “A sweet baby pink with a gray undertone.” This is such a pretty lavender! It was tricky to photograph since it’s about the same level of lightness as my skin tone, just purple. Like most of the other pastels in the collection, it’s whiter over bare skin and more grey over primer. This is one of my favorite colors from the collection.

Gypsy Curse: “A warm-toned taupe, the exact color of the shadows Angel waits in.” This is a fantastic grey-brown color. It makes a great transition or crease shade, but it does not blend out well over primer, so using it can be a little tricky. I want to love it, cuz the color’s great, but it gets weird patches that won’t blend out when I use it over primer, so I’m torn. Primer doesn’t affect the color or saturation much, but it really does impact its blendability.

Teacher in Tweed: “An olive brown that practically screams librarian.” This is a slightly green tinted brown. The color is much darker over primer, and it has the same primer-induced blendability issues as Gypsy Curse.

Bloody Awful Poet: “A cool-toned matte black, as cool as Spike’s leather trench coat.” This is a matte black. It’s solid black over primer and sheer charcoal black on bare skin. I love using a tiny bit on a liner brush to softly line my lower lashes. I get a ton of use out of this one. Plus, I love Spike, so points for that.

Overall Thoughts: I love Buffy and the connections to the characters are great, but this collection is a bit of a mixed bag for me. There are colors I love and will get a lot of use out of (like Bloody Awful Poet and Quiet Storm) alongside ones I won’t use very often (The Dating Slayer, I’m looking at you). The formula also strikes me as inconsistent. None of them were patchy, and all of them had a smooth texture. However some colors need a primer to improve their opacity and adhesion, but others blend better without one. Over time I think I’ll be able to figure it out, but it makes some pairings tricky (like when I used Boca Del Infierno, which is better with a primer, with Gypsy Curse, which is better without). I considered doing a separate review for each wave, but didn’t think I’d be able to make balanced looks with just one wave at a time, since Wave 1 is heavy on the deep colors and Wave 2 is primarily pastels. That said, I was happy with the looks I wound up putting together. These colors also make fantastic liners when mixed with Superstar Serum. I imagine I’ll most use these in conjunction with other shadows, cuz I like a bit of sparkle. But mattes are useful to have as part of my collection and the Buffy connections really do make me smile.

Stay tuned for the looks tomorrow! (Check them out here.)