Melt Cosmetics Radioactive Pressed Pigment Palette Review & Swatches

Radioactive

Melt Cosmetics Radioactive 8-Pan Pressed Pigment Palette is the newest palette from the brand, which seems like a replacement from the Radioactive Stack, which shares the first four shades (on the left), while the last four shades (on the right) are new.

At a glance, it looks like a fun palette, and I love working with color, but I was left disappointed by this palette. A few of the shades were under-pigmented, while others were firm, stiff, or difficult to apply or to blend out, so the palette was rather hard to work with on its own. Applied over primer, things were slightly more manageable, but it remained a challenge to use even with primer.

Melt Cosmetics Radioactive Pressed Pigment

Radioactive

Radioactive is a bright, medium-dark fuchsia pink with strong, cool undertones and a satin finish. The eyeshadow had a denser, smoother consistency that felt more silicone-heavy to me, as there was light slip, but it was thinner and firmly-pressed in the pan.

I found the texture made it hard to pick up product with a brush and then apply it to my lid, so the end result was somewhat patchy, semi-opaque coverage that didn’t build up well. It stayed on well for seven and a half hours on me before fading noticeably on me.

Melt Cosmetics Radon Pressed Pigment

Radon

Radon is a medium orange with moderate, warm undertones and a mostly matte finish, though there was the faintest pink and gold pearl at times. The pigmentation was nearly opaque in a single layer, but it was difficult to achieve those results once I started to apply and blend out the color in practice. The texture felt more emollient, but it seemed to crumble a bit and resulted in emphasized texture of my lids and some patchiness in overall color. It lasted for just over seven and a half hours on me before showing signs of fading.

Melt Cosmetics Neon Eyeshadow

Neon

Neon is a bright, sunshine yellow with a mostly matte finish. It had a drier, moderately powdery texture that felt chalky and was prone to fallout, sheering out, and emphasizing lid texture and lines. There are a lot of shades this color on the market–it’s just one of those shades that every brand has done–and this is such a far cry from how well they can be done.

It seemed to have quite a bit of pigmentation, but it ended up so lost after blending and sitting on my lid for a few minutes (as my natural oils seemed to feast on it). The color wore decently for six hours on me before fading visibly and left a light, yellowish stain behind.

Melt Cosmetics Xenon Eyeshadow

Xenon

Xenon is a bright, chartreuse green with warm, yellow undertones and fine golden shimmer over a more matte finish. It had semi-opaque pigmentation with a drier, moderately dusty texture that had light fallout during application and was more prone to sheering out. The eyeshadow was blendable, though, so as long as the lesser pigmentation isn’t a deal-breaker, it wasn’t the worst shade in the palette (which, unfortunately, isn’t high praise). It lasted well for seven and a half hours on me before fading a bit.

Melt Cosmetics Arsenic Eyeshadow

Arsenic

Arsenic is a medium, blue-leaning teal with faint shimmer woven through a more matte finish. It looked bluer-based in the pan, but it had such a faded appearance when swatched that it almost read warm-toned against my warmer undertones.

The texture was thin, stiff, and dry–almost chalk-like–and the application showed it to be the same. It was difficult to build it up barring using it with a white base, but even going through my arsenal of tips, it was difficult to get true-to-pan coverage. The eyeshadow was fairly blendable, and it worked well as a diffusing shade against Meltdown, but it wasn’t much to speak of as a standalone shade. It showed signs of fading after seven hours of wear.

Melt Cosmetics Meltdown Eyeshadow

Meltdown

Meltdown is a muted, medium-dark teal with neutral-to-cool undertones and a matte finish. It had semi-opaque pigmentation that was buildable to full coverage with a second layer. The texture was slightly drier to the touch, lightly powdery, but it didn’t prove to be troublesome with fallout. The eyeshadow applied fairly evenly and blended out without too much effort. It wore well for eight hours on me before fading noticeably.

Melt Cosmetics Hazmat Pressed Pigment

Hazmat

Hazmat is a bright, deeper violet purple with subtle, cool undertones and a satiny sheen. It had some shimmer in there, but the finish didn’t end up looking that shimmery or metallic when applied to my skin. It had an incredibly dense, almost stiff, consistency that was thick and extremely difficult to pick up with brushes.

I had to really jab at the surface to get product onto my brush, and it was a challenge to press and push it into place on my lid. I had the best luck smoothing out the product with a fingertip or using it with a wet brush. It stayed on well for eight hours before fading visibly.

Melt Cosmetics Uranium Eyeshadow

Uranium

Uranium is a light-medium lavender with cool undertones and a soft, frosted finish. It had a drier, more powdery texture with moderate kick up in the pan and some fallout during application. It applied unevenly and was difficult to get into place without using a fingertip or a wet brush. The pigmentation was medium to semi-opaque and did not build up well. The eyeshadow started to show signs of fading after seven hours of wear.