Dupe or Dud | KVD MetalMatte vs Okalan MatteMetal | Eye Look Comparison!

I originally saw the Okalan Natural MatteMetal palette on Shop Hush and had to get it to test out against the KVD MetalMatte palette that she launched for the holiday season of 2016. I own that palette, really enjoy it, and know many people regret not picking it up (darn, limited edition). So I’ve tested them out — side by side — this past month to see…is the Okalan a good dupe for the limited edition one??

If you missed any of my other battles in my “Dupe or Dud” series…check them all out here!

Purchased by Me Affiliate Links

KVD MetalMatte vs Okalan Matte Metal

The Products

Kat Von D Beauty Metal Matte Palette | Retail Price: $60 | This beautiful eyeshadow palette includes 22 eyeshadows in a slim–but mega-sized–cardboard palette. There are nine Metal Crush eyeshadows (each is 0.06 oz.) and 13 matte Eyeshadows (each is 0.06 oz.). It has a net weight of 1.32 ounce.

Sold Holiday 2016 | Discontinued | Read My Review

Okalan Natural Matte Metal Palette | Retail Price: $15 | Are you soft matte or heavy metal? Two extremes join forces in one high-contrast palette. Featuring Kat’s signature Metal Crush and matte eyeshadow formulas. Net weight for metallic shadows is 0.54 ounces and net weight for the matte shadows is 0.78 ounces.

Shop Hush | Amazon | Jet | Beauty On

The Swatch Comparisons

Alright, let’s dive into the swatches first. All of these swatches were done with my finger and without any primer or base underneath them. The Kat Von D MetalMatte is on the left and the Okalan MatteMetal is on the right.

Nebula || Both swatch really well, but the KVD shade is a bit more reflective and shows up better than the Okalan. The Okalan can be built up, though, and has a pretty similar finish as the Kat Von D shade.

Watt || Both are very smooth, reflective shades. The Okalan isn’t as pigmented, but spending a few extra moments building it up will give you a near-identical look.

Ignite || These look and behave SO similarly…it really is hard to point out the differences! The Okalan formula is a bit softer…but that really is being picky.

Tinsel || While both of these shades — when compared with the other metallic shades in the palettes — are the softest in the palette, the one in the Okalan is a lot softer and doesn’t give you a smooth, reflective finish. It can tend to chunk up or catch in weird areas. The KVD, on the other hand, behaves just as beautifully as the other metallic shades in the palette.

Glitz || My go-to inner corner highlight! Both perform very well! If I wanted to be very judgemental, I felt like the Kat Von D shade had a bit more reflective-ness to it…but that was really looking at them both hard.

Twinkle || These two lavender shades were really close — I think the most identical out of all the metallic shades. They both were pigmented, easy to apply, and easy to blend.

Volt || The undertones of these purples were a tad off, but pigmentation-wise they were pretty identical. The Okalan side wasn’t as intense, but still had nice pigmented and had a smooth formula.

Synergy || These two were a tad off as well, but pretty identical in the intensity and how they applied. I didn’t really need to build up the Okalan side at all to match the KVD side.

Flash || These two are also very, very close — The colors look identical but the intensity of the metallic is a bit stronger in the Kat Von D palette than the Okalan palette.

Linen || The KVD shade is just SO pigmented, it is really hard to beat that. The Okalan shade is definitely not at that level, but with that said…it’s a white. I don’t really reach for them, or often need them to be that intense. And if you want the intensity of the KVD shadow, the Okalan will build up very nicely.

Jet || A really nice black, the Okalan side is a bit more subdued than the KVD shadow. But both apply, blend, and build up nicely!

Velour || This shade…well, just watch the video (below) to see the difference between these two! Spoiler Alert: The difference between these two are the biggest in the palette.

Stone || Both shadows look really nice — they’re both so pigmented and blend so nicely…that they almost are too pigmented and rival the shade Jet if you’re not careful, lol

Moss || These both look and behave identical on the eyes. I know the KVD didn’t look like it swatched well, but on the eyes it goes on a bit more intense than the Okalan side before I build that one up. Overall, they’re identical in shade in my eyes.

Ribbon || There is a tiny color tone difference between these two shades, but when used in a look you really can’t tell. They both work nicely on the eyes, though.

Silk || I feel like pastels are often difficult to formulate, so with that in mind both of these shadows work very well! They’re soft on the eyes, but still apply and look pigmented. And look pretty identical.

Fringe || This shade seems kind of pointless on my skin, because of the ton, but using them on the eyes they apply similarly.

Feather || These two shades performed on the eyes identical. I had no issues with the Okalan shade and didn’t really need to build it up, either.

Oak || The Okalan shade isn’t as smooth as the KVD and if you don’t spend a few extra moments blending it can look a little patchy, but with some work it applies similarly.

Suede || The Okalan shadow definitely isn’t as pigmented as the KVD and takes some building up, but considering the shade…it isn’t detrimental to getting identical looks.

Bone || I use this shade to set my eyeshadow…and both work just fine for that. I feel like the Okalan shade is a lot more powdery and less pigmented — but it’s kind of hard to tell since it’s legit my skintone, lol

Velvet || I wasn’t a fan of how the Okalan shade worked. While it wasn’t as pigmented, I still found it applied a bit patchy and took a lot of work to try to blend it out.

The Similarities

Packaging

This is pretty obvious…but Okalan basically copied the Kat Von D design and packaging word for word. They are the same size, same width. The only difference besides the brand names being difference is the name on the front and the colors of the palette — Kat Von D is black and the Okalan is a dark blue.

Amount of Product

Both of the palettes contain the same amount of products for both the metallics and the matte, with a net weight total of 1.32 ounces of product in the entire palette.

Shade Selection & Shadow Names

As I already said, Okalan copied Kat Von D’s palette word for word — and they did the same inside the palette. Each shade is in the same order/area and the names are the same. I know — Okalan couldn’t (or didn’t want to) think of their own names for the shadows. :-/

Color Vibrancy

As you already saw, while a few shades are a few tones off…the Okalan is pretty dark identical to the Kat Von D palette when swatching them. I was impressed how close they got the colors to the original.

Looks You Can Create

As you might guess, the looks you can create from the Okalan MatteMetal palette are going to be pretty dead-on identical to the looks you would get from the KVD MetalMatte. I’m not saying it’s just as easy — keep reading for my thoughts there — but when you put down the brushes…they look pretty darn exact!

The Differences

Shelf Life

Something to note is that the shelf life is different for each palette. The Kat Von D MetalMatte palette has a 12 month shelf life and the Okalan MatteMetal has a 24 month shelf life.

Lasting Power

The Kat Von D MetalMatte eyeshadows have no problems lasting all day on my lids with a primer. I do have to use a glitter glue underneath the crushed metal formula or it will transfer everywhere. The Okalan palette is similar in that I have to use a glitter glue for the metallic formula, but even with priming my eyes well, I do notice some fading at the end of the day. Nothing extreme, no creasing, but the mattes definitely tone down in color/vibrancy at the end of a long day.

Powder Kickup/Fall Out

While the matte shadows in the KVD MetalMatte are soft and powdery…the Okalans are a whole different level of powdery! Oh my goodness, they kick up a ton of powder! In the video (below) I do a tutorial and I don’t wipe my face off until I finish doing the eye look so that you can see the amount of fall out the Okalan palette gave me as opposed to the Kat Von D one. The fall out is no joke with the Okalan MatteMetal!

Ease of Blending

Kat Von D matte formula is a really nice, ease to work with formula that blends almost effortlessly. The Okalan formula, on the other hand, can tend to stick in areas, doesn’t like to build up, and can easily get some streaks/patches as you work with it. In full disclosure, there are a few times when I can run into a patchy problem with the KVD formula, but it isn’t every time and tends to be with the brighter shades. But with the Okalan palette…it’s nearly every time you create a look. :-/

Shadow Pigmentation/Consistency

This can honestly go either way…and I almost put this category in the similar area. Because while most of the colors look identical in the pan, and even when using on the lid…they definitely feel very different. The KVD matte formula is very smooth to the touch whereas the Okalan feels dry and dusty. Even just swatching the palettes on my fingers, I had to flow off the residue after swatching because the Okalan would kick up SO much powder on my arm and in the palette.

The metallic formula is also pretty different. Most of them in the Okalan palette feel very nice, but are just a bit softer than the metallics in the Kat Von D MetalMatte palette. But the shade Tinge in the Okalan palette is very chunky and difficult to work with — I felt like it accentuated all the lines on my eyes and made them stand out. Not my preference when it comes to a metallic formula!

So, Is it a Dupe?

If you are wanting to create eyeshadow looks that LOOK the same…than yes, this is a dupe. But if you want a palette that gives you similar looks and is easy to use…no, I wouldn’t recommend you purchase the Okalan MatteMetal palette as a dupe. And if you are a beginner or don’t like to work with difficult eyeshadows, I definitely recommend that you stay far away from this palette.

While I could get the eyeshadow looks to end up looking nearly identical, I had to spend over twice the amount of time on my Okalan side as I did on the Kat Von D side. And even then, oftentimes the Okalan side still had issues. Like in the purple eyeshadow look I shared above — on the outer corner you can see some patchiness on the Okalan side. And in the tutorial “Dupe or Dud? You Be the Judge!” video you can see how much trouble I had with the blue.

So it’s really up to you! If you just loved the colors in the Kat Von D MetalMatte palette and keep regretting your decision not to get it — pick up the Okalan MatteMetal palette! You can definitely make it work. Just don’t expect the same eyeshadow quality and ease of using as Kat Von D gives you with her eyeshadows.

What do YOU think? Let me know down below — does it bother or deter you from buying when a “dupe” palette is a lot more difficult to work with than the original? I’d love to know what you think!

Please save My pin!

---

The products were purchased by me. Some of the links above are affiliate links, meaning I get a small payment if you purchase through my links. Any questions about my disclosure, read here. Thank you for your support!