Most-Used Eye Shadow Palettes

I’m a palette kinda gal. They’re pretty little things, they’re convenient and they’re good value. When it comes to everyday eye make-up, I usually use a palette. Here are what I consider to be the 3 top pros of palette life:

1) Usually you get 4 colours for a lower price than if you bought each one individually – good economics, you gotta love that.

2) The brand you buy from matches the shades for you, so you needn’t think about what shade compliments what if you’re new to make-up or if you’re just half asleep in the morning.

3) You can end up with colours you wouldn’t usually buy. They take you out of your comfort zone with little to no monetary risk. A nice way to make a new discovery.

If you read my Make-Up Storage post, you’ll know that I have a lot of palettes that are both high-end and budget, and my collection has grown even more since that post too. Perfect for travelling, or just for popping in your handbag for touch-ups, these babies can create an eye-look for whatever occasion within minutes and take you from day to night.

So, because of this love affair, I got to thinking about which in my collection are my favourite palettes to use. Some of my picks you’ll probably have seen 1000s of times around the blogosphere (Hello Naked 2!) and some you won’t have seen as often, but without doubt these are the eye products in highest demand when I get ready each morning.

There is literally nothing I can say about this palette that hasn’t already been said. This shit is da bomb, yo. Packed with versatile and wearable shades, this palette is the only thing a neutral lover needs to look work appropriate, casual cool or smokin’ hot. The shadows are velvety soft, pigmented and long wearing. The tin comes complete with 12 shades ranging from a creamy highlight to a dense black. My personal favourites are the light reflecting Bootycall and the shimmer-tastic YDK.

Depending on your personal preference, Naked 2 may be a little too shimmer packed for you with only 2 matte shades. Personally, I like a bit of sparkle on my lid. The palette comes with a double ended brush and a travel-size Lip Junkie Lipgloss in Naked. You can now also add the Naked Basics Palette to your arsenal and you’ll get all the matte shades you need to compliment all that shimmer. The Naked 2 Palette by Urban Decay retails at £36 from Debenhams. Pricey? A little, but worth it for the range and quality. I’ve used it regularly for over a year and I’m yet to hit pan. For a more in depth review and swatches, check out what Vivianna has to say…

Be still my beating heart! This beauty by Illamasqua came into the world with the Generation Q collection last Autumn. The shadows are rich and have a decent colour pay-off, though they’re less pigmented than the aforementioned Naked 2. Slink in the top left is a pearly, champagne highlight that is not unlike a powder version of the brand’s Aurora Gleam Highligher that I use on my cheekbones most days. Every palette needs its highlight colour and this one does the job well, but it’s nothing to write home about. The remaining 3 shadows however are absolutely glorious and I would buy them all individually. Focus in the top right is a rich brown cream, one of Illamasqua’s liquid metals, and I find it to be a brilliant base for a heavier eye look. It helps the shadows stay put all day and adds a colour intensity when you wear it under a powder shadow. Forgiveness is a matte, warm, burgundy plum. These types of hues are a favourite of mine (you may be able to pick up a theme running throughout this post). I use this in the crease and also to line my lower lash line for a more intense but very wearable day time look. If I’m feeling frisky, I’ll add a bit of Queen of the Night, a shimmery, blackened plum. for a warmer twist on a smokey eye – ideal for a nighttime look. Buy the Complement Palette online at Illamasqua for £34.

Why oh why don’t we have Wet n Wild here in the UK? I love the US drugstore favourite and make a point to pick up a few products from them each time I take a visit across the pond. I bought this palette, however, on eBay after repeated recommendations from one of my favourite YouTubers EmilyNoel83. This is the seller I bought from and you can get it for around £11 including P&P straight from the US. The beauty of these palettes from Wet n Wild is the texture of the shadows. They’re so pigmented (the most, out of all the shadows I own) and they’re so velvety to apply. You can pack the colour on with just a couple of swipes of a brush. They have a decent lasting power (8-10 hours with a primer) but the one draw back, seen pretty blatantly in the pic above, is that there’s a little fall-out. Keep your concealer handy and check up on it, but it’s nothing serious enough to make me think twice about using these gorgeous colours.

The brand make it super easy to apply these with Browbone, eyelid, crease & definer imprints in the pans to show you what to use where. Each shade is shimmery and the strip on the left is a particularly good day to night quad – I just use the top 3 for work days and pop the palette in my handbag to pile on the bottom colour when it’s time to party. I also have one of these palettes in Petal Pusher so if you’d like a post with a bit more detail and some example looks, just shout!

I have a good amount of MAC shadows in my collection (1x 15 pan palette and 1x quad full!) and despite not loving the formulation as much as other shadows in my collection, I still find myself reaching for them a lot. The quad is perfect for travel as you can pop in any colours you’re currently loving and IMO, MAC’s colour selection is unrivalled. Lately I’ve been using the combination pictured above a lot and really loving the rosey finish. It’s a great alternative to a standard brown smokey eye and it’s easy as pie.

I use Shroom (top left) as a highlight on the browbone, inner corner and tear duct area, then sweep Gleam (top right) all over the lid. Sable (bottom left) serves as soft crease colour to add some definition and then I pile a little of Cranberry (bottom right) on top of that, as well as along the lower lash line. I always use a Paint Pot as a base when I use MAC shadows and with that I find the look stays on all day and all day, until I take it off. I find MAC shadows in general a little hit and miss when it comes to colour pay-off but with these 4 especially I never have to work too hard for the desired look. Buy eyeshadows online at MAC for £12.

Do you have a favourite palette in your collection? If so, which one? I love recommendations!