I once thought that I could never have too many eyeshadow palettes...
And then I realized I totally did have too many eyeshadow palettes.
Eyeshadow palettes are super convenient, often a great value and of course SUPER PRETTY! I don't know a makeup lover who doesn't get excited about new palettes. They make it easy to create a look with different colors that work well together. It is also very handy to have palettes in your kit if you're a freelance artist because it saves a lot of space. The palettes I'll be talking about in this post are palettes that you can buy already made, in comparison to making your own palette by purchasing single eyeshadows and putting them into an empty palette.
While we're on the subject, I own a couple of Z palettes and empty Coastal Scents palettes that I love using for my single shadows from Coastal Scents, Makeup Geek, MAC, NYX, and Anastasia Beverly Hills. When I was trying to be the ultimate queen of frugal makeup, I even made my own eyeshadow palettes out of old DVD cases and magnetic sheets (you can find out how to do this on YouTube).
Now, let's get into my thoughts on the palettes I have tried:
BH Cosmetics 120 Eyeshadow Palette, First Edition ($17.99): If you're starting off in makeup or need to build up your kit, this is a good way to have a ton of different colors for a very affordable price. I loved this for a long time but only used it when I needed bright colors. It did its job but the pigmentation wasn't outstanding or anything. I have since passed it along and replaced it with a Z palette full of Coastal Scents Hot Pots in all the colors of the rainbow (see single shadows post for their review)
BH Cosmetics Carli Bybel Palette (limited edition): I'm a huge fan of Carli Bybel and was so excited when she made this palette but even more excited when I finally got it and saw how good it was! So affordable, but all the shadows are pigmented and blend beautifully. The shade selection is really pretty too.
BH Cosmetics Carli Bybel Deluxe Palette (limited edition): The fan in me decided I needed the deluxe palette even though I have the original. There are some beautiful new shades in this one with the same great formula so I don't regret buying this at all.
BH Cosmetics Galaxy Chic Palette ($15.99): I love this palette! Such beautiful colors in BH's popular baked shadow formula. You will definitely get more color payoff if you wet your brush but you can also use it dry for a sheerer wash of color.
BH Cosmetics Wild & Free Palette ($11.99): Another nice palette from BH with the same baked shadow formula as the Galaxy Chic palette. I passed this along because I wasn't using it a lot but the colors were nice and the formula was good, it just wasn't a must-have for me.
Colourpop Double Entendre Pressed Powder Shadow Palette ($16): Good quality shadows, good price, and I love the shade selection in this one.
Juvia's Place Masquerade Mini Eyeshadow Palette ($25): Some of the most incredible, pigmented, buttery-smooth eyeshadows I've ever tried. I was super impressed!
Lorac Pro Palette ($44): A great formula- pigmented, smooth, and blendable. I love that it's half mattes and half shimmers. I keep this in my freelance kit.
Lorac Pro Matte Palette ($28): Lorac's typical buttery, pigmented formula in a small travel-sized palette. I loved this palette at first but in the end, I wish it had a couple shimmers. I also wished that Corduroy and Chocolate weren't so similar. I did end up dropping this and a few of them broke so I just got rid of it. A good palette, but not a necessity.
L'Oréal Colour Riche La Palette Nude 1 ($19.99): I had very mixed feelings about this palette and ended up passing it along. I was excited because it was the first larger eyeshadow palette like this at the drugstore. The pigment was pretty good but nothing amazing. The matte shades were better than the shimmers. It's not bad, just not great quality.
Morphe 35K ($23): Such a great palette. I use my Morphe palettes all the time and although everyone loves the 35O (I do too!) this one doesn't get the credit it deserves. It has the same great formula, but mostly cool tone neutrals which I actually use a lot.
Morphe 35O ($23): This palette is probably Morphe's most popular and is EVERYWHERE on Instagram and YouTube. It really is beautiful with great pigmentation at a very reasonable price. I remember being particularly impressed by the pigmentation on the shimmer shades when I first got it.
Morphe35O2 ($23): I'm a sucker and needed this one too. Same great quality with a new set of warm shadows.
Morphe Jaclyn Hill Palette ($38): Same great quality that Morphe palettes have. The shade range is great, mostly warm neutrals but also contains some flattering colorful shades. I will say, I wish there were a couple of cooler browns in the palette. I've been noticing recently when I use it that I'm wishing there were one or two cooler shades but overall, it's a great palette with a big variety of pigmented colors.
NYX Beauty School Dropout 101, Nude (discontinued): This is a cute little palette for travel or for someone just starting out in makeup. The pigment is good and the colors are nice.
NYX City Set Los Angeles (limited edition): These palettes are holiday exclusives so this particular one is not available anymore but they seem to keep releasing similar ones every year. The quality is good and it's a great gift because it has a Soft Matte Lip Cream, eyeshadows, and face powders.
NYX City Set Rome ($15): My thoughts are the same as the Los Angeles one (above).
NYX Contour Intuitive Palette, Jewel Queen (discontinued): Not my favorite NYX palette. I don't go for these colors too often. It's cool that you get highlighters and a blush with the shadows because some people look for an all-in-one palette.
NYX Cosmic Metals Palette ($10): Really nice quality shimmer shadows! A nice little palette for someone who wants something small but I wish the packaging was a little less chunky.
NYX In Your Element Metal Palette (limited edition): I know the price is outrageous to most people since NYX is known for being affordable but honestly, these shadows are high end quality. They are so pigmented and metallic and I get compliments any time I wear it. I wore it nonstop when I first got it. It was limited edition but I hope NYX makes a similar collection at some point.
NYX Love You So Mochi Eyeshadow Palette, Electric Pastels ($20): This is such a fun and cute little palette! I love the squishy texture but beware, it won't feel very squishy until you use it a bit and wear down the top layer of the shadows. I don't think these are the most pigmented shadows I've used and they are all shimmery but if you love color, it's a fun one to have in your collection. I prefer to apply them with my finger for the most pigmentation.
NYX Modern Dreamer Shadow Palette ($35): Such an amazing palette full of beautiful neutrals and bright bold colors. Great quality and blend beautifully. Highly recommend!
NYX Mystic Petals Shadow Palette, Midnight Orchid ($12): Such a cute palette of truly mystical shades of pink and purple. I wish there were a couple more matte shades but some of the shimmer shades aren't too shimmery so I've used them on the outer corner or crease of my eye.
NYX Off Tropic Shadow Palette, Hasta La Vista ($20): I am obsessed with these beautiful tropical colors! They have great pigment and blend beautifully. Use a white base under if you really want them to pop.
NYX Rocker Chic, California Dreaming (discontinued): The quality wasn't bad, but the color scheme is not my thing. There were some other ones with pretty neutrals but for $18, you are better off with NYX Ultimate palettes (see below)
NYX Swear By It Shadow Palette ($35): Do not be deterred by the price because this is worth every penny. You get such a great variety of shades in here and the quality is great. I'm obsessed!
NYX Ultimate Edit Shadow Palette, Brights ($7): Cute for travel or for teens/someone starting out in makeup. There are more neutral shades but this one is all about those bright colors! They come out great on the lid with a white primer.
NYX Ultimate Shadow Palette, Warm Neutrals ($18): Probably NYX's most popular palette. A nice range of warm shadows in both matte and shimmers with a good quality formula.
NYX Ultimate Shadow Multifinish Palette, Smoke Screen ($18): The formula on these palettes is really good! You get a row of matte shadows and then a row of shimmers and a row of metallic shadows in matching colors. They have great pigment. This one wasn't my favorite because I don't really wear these colors but it was still nice quality.
NYX Ultimate Shadow Multifinish Palette, Warm Rust ($18): Amazing quality and amazing colors!! Love this one so much!
Physicians Formula Matte Collection Quad Eyeshadow, Canyon Classics ($7.99): I loved this at first as a nice little matte palette to go with shimmer eyeshadows. They had decent quality but as I got more into makeup (and bought more palettes) I didn't end up using this and gave it away.
Physicians Formula Shimmer Strips Extreme Custom Eye Enhancing Shadow and Liner, Nude ($11.99): Gel/cream texture, really smooth and decently pigmented. Never used it as liner and I don't think it would work well as such. There was glitter fallout and I just never reached for it so I passed it along.
Tarte Tartelette Palette ($46): I had wanted this for a long time before I bought it and I have mixed feelings. I don't mind the cool tones because I always mix it up between warm and cool but the formula is not consistent. Some shades are good and others are a little hard to blend. Not my favorite palette...
Tarte Tartelette In Bloom Palette ($46): ...my favorite palette! Maybe ever. I know that's a big claim but I have nothing bad to say about this palette. I love the colors. I love the formula. It smells like chocolate. It's small enough to travel with (which I almost always do). Just perfect.
Urban Decay Naked Palette ($54): No matter what, I will always respect this as the palette that started the eyeshadow palette revolution. After this one, so many brands released awesome, beautiful palettes. The quality is great and the colors are gorgeous, but I wish there were a couple more matte shades. I don't reach for it often because of that, but if you want to throw one shimmery color on your lid and a brown matte in the crease, this palette will be perfect!
Wet n Wild Color Icon 10-Pan Eyeshadow Palette, Rosé in the Air ($4.99): Beautiful colors and quality for a great price!
Wet n Wild Color Icon Eyeshadow Collection, Comfort Zone ($3.99): This is a super popular drugstore eyeshadow palette because it is so affordable but oh so good! Good quality and nice colors but I wished there were some matte shades because I never wear all shimmers on my eyes. Luckily, Wet n Wild is reformulating/rereleasing all of their Color Icon palettes and this one will have two matte transition shades so I can fully recommend that one as a great palette.
Wet n Wild Color Icon Eyeshadow Trio, Walking on Eggshells ($2.99): This is a great little palette for a very affordable price. The pigment is nice and the colors are pretty. My only complaint is that there are no matte shades but when they rerelease this, it will have a matte shade in it which will make it just about perfect!
