What’s in a good eyeshadow palette? For me, it’s about three things: pigment, application and staying power. I have fair skin and hazel eyes so I’m drawn to purple, brown and green hues. I’m also no expert when it comes to application so I heavily rely on quick tutorials or beauty guides—otherwise that palette collects dust in the cabinet under my sink. I’m usually getting dolled up for work when I know I’m going from desk to drinks so staying power is a must too.
While I’ve tested a bevy of palettes, only a few I keep on my vanity. These are the five best eyeshadow palettes worth the splurge.
Urban Decay Naked3 Palette—My experience with this palette started out pretty rocky as I look back on my first mention. Initially, I was really annoyed it didn’t come with a look book and I thought the $52 price point was absolutely ridiculous, but when as I write this round-up this palette is first to come to mind. One of the best eyeshadow palettes. The rose toned combination of matte and shimmer hues is perfect year-round and for special occasions (you can see my first look above).
Urban Decay Naked Ultimate Basics—If rose-hued shadows aren’t your thing, then you’ll love their Naked Ultimate Basics palette. All neutral-matte shades ranging from cool to warm; and it comes with a double-ended blending and smudge brush to smoke out your eye look. My everyday combo consists of Commando on the crease, Nudie on my lids and Blow on the inner corners. I love wearing Extra Bitter (burnth orange matte) on my lids for a bold look.
bareMinerals Ready Eyeshadow 4.0 in The Instant Attraction—I’ve been obsessed with this palette since last summer. This eyeshadow quad holds four pretty matte and shimmer shades. I use all four to create a mini sunset on my lids, making it perfect for spring and summer nights.
LORAC Unzipped Eyeshadow Palette—This palette has a good combo of rose golds, pinks and browns and soft enough shades to pull off for a daytime look. I was new to LORAC up until trying this palette and loved how easy it is to blend these shadows—barely any fallout.
Too Faced Sweet Peach Eyeshadow Palette—OK, so technically I haven’t tried this, but I’ve read so many amazing reviews online that this is at the top of my wish list. With peach/nectar being a popular color trend this spring, I’m totally willing to splurge on this one. Check out the super sweet peach swatches here for inspo.
Have you tried any of these? What brand do you think sells the best eyeshadow palettes?
One palette that’s not worth the splurge is Tom Ford’s Cocoa Mirage. For a while there it seemed like every beauty blogger/vlogger was obsessing over it. It’s good… but not $80 good.
I’ve only tried Tom Ford lipstick but I’ve always thought that line has been so overpriced. Good to know and thank you for reading!
The Too Faced Sweet Peach Eyeshadow Palette is amazing! I love that it even tastes sweet!!
I love the scent too!
Have you tried the Sweet Peach palette yet? I debated buying it for months and finally pulled the trigger and love it! I thing the nectar shades would look fabulous with your hair and skintone. Fellow fair girl here!
Yes!! So I got extremely lucky and the PR agency sent me the palette and one of the lip glosses from the Sweet Peach collection. I love love love the scent of the palette and so far really like some the looks I’ve created.