Morphe single shadows...MAC single shadow Dupe or Don't?

It's been a while since I've made a new post on my blog. I do apologize for that. I've been pretty much full focus with youtube up until this week due to organizing my house, finishing up our screened in porch (a.k.a. Meeshka's catio) and also planning for a trip. But I thought that since I recently purchased a new Z Palette and ordered 18 new single shadows from Morphe, I would do a review and swatch for you guys. Before we go any further, this darling bright blue z palette was $18 on amazon.

If any of you watched my February Favorites video that I posted a while back you know that I adore building Z Palettes and that I do have a small palette full of morphe shadows. If you remember my JLo Golden Globes inspired makeup tutorial then you'll know two of those shadows were used (I'll have both videos linked below...
February Favorites ft. my first morphe z palette
JLo Golden Globes Makeup Tutorial ft two matte morphe single shadows 

The great thing about morphe brushes single eye shadows is they're budget friendly. Whether you're a makeup artist or beauty blogger who's just starting out and needs to build a professional palette tailored to your needs, or you're just a makeup enthusiast on a budget, you can't really beat $2.00 per shadow. Morphe is a good solid name that I've come to trust and enjoy ordering from. In fact I have the $25 rose gold brush set on the way. I have a few morphe brushes already but wanted to try one of their sets, and the rose gold one caught my eye.

There's a lot of reviews floating around the internet that say morphe brushes single shadows are a marvelous dupe for the MAC single shadows. Unfortunelty I don't have any MAC shadows that closely resemble all the colors I have from morphe. The few that I do have remaining after a major makeup clean out (I'm hitting MAC this week to restock and build another z palette) are more in the shimmering browns, greys and whites family. But here's the truth. I've had a good many MAC single shadows, and now that I've been working with morphe single shadows I say that both names have their great moments, their good moments, and their so so moments for me. With both lines there are some colors I find to work better, to blend better, to showcase better pigmentation. Overall I can't say that one replaces the other because both offer individual colors and many tend to differ. I'd say MAC is more of my lean to, but since discovering Morphe and the amazing price, I like the idea that I can buy more of these and actually fill a pan up in a week vs finishing one over a few months time with MAC's $10 each price.

Below I have swatched each color in the order they are laid out in the pan on my arm/wrist area. As a side note I am using a eye shadow base from Lorac. I never apply shadows without a base, and I prefer how they come out using a base vs not using one. That's actually a difference I can say I usually see between morphe and MAC single shadows. When I swatch the MAC shadows on my fingers I find the pigment is much better, whereas morphe seems primarily reliable upon a good base in order for the shadows to be done justice. Other than that I love both. The shadows begin with that first deep blue (the one closest to my sleeve). From that order the first seven are shimmers, while the rest (beginning with the 8th swatch on down) are all matte. Scroll down for the list of each name.

From the sleeve up the shimmer color names are: #46, #08, #38, Glow For Me, Crystal, I'm So Fancy, Ice,
Starting with the 8th swatch (the mint green) the matte shades are: Breakfast At Tiffaneez, Sunflower, Aloha, 35, Pretty In Pink, Creme Brule, Coal, Nuts For You, Birthday Suit, Toasted Hazelnut, Porcelain.

The three shades I was least impressed by are Crystal, Ice and Coal. Coal is the matte black and you'll really want to use this one with a black base for it to work. While the other two will work great for subtle highlights but not so great alone as shadows.

I hope this review helps you in deciding what to do for eye shadows. You really cannot beat the price for this quality, so if you haven't already tried this line then please do!