Makeup Palettes | 2013 Editor’s Favorites

Best Beauty Products
Contains: Sample
Christine |

Choosing my top ten favorite palettes from the ones I tested and reviewed in 2013 was a lot more difficult than I anticipated! To give you an idea on how stiff the competition was, there were 128 reviews filed under “makeup palettes,” so you can see there were plenty to choose from! (And if you were curious, I have 1,261 posts filed under “reviews,” and the majority of those posts feature more than one shade, for the past year.) I considered which ones gave me warm, fuzzy feelings, that were high quality, and that I could really reach for over and over again. With those things in mind, here are my favorites…

What were your favorite palettes that you tried this past year?

We hope you'll consider supporting Temptalia by shopping through our links below. Thanks!
Sephora Beautylish Ulta Nordstrom More

Compare Any Two Swatches

Curious how two shades compare to each other? Type in the shades below to get instant side-by-side swatches!

We hope you'll consider supporting Temptalia by shopping through our links below. Thanks!
Sephora Beautylish Ulta Nordstrom More

88 Comments

Comments that do not adhere to our comment policy may be removed. Discussion and debate are highly encouraged but we expect community members to participate respectfully. Please keep discussion on-topic, and if you have general feedback, a product review request, an off-topic question, or need technical support, please contact us!

Please help us streamline the comments' section and be more efficient: double-check the post above for more basic information like pricing, availability, and so on to make sure your question wasn't answered already. Comments alerting us to typos or small errors in the post are appreciated (!) but will typically be removed after errors are fixed (unless a response is needed).

We appreciate enthusiasm for new releases but ask readers to please hold questions regarding if/when a review will be posted as we can't commit to or guarantee product reviews. We don't want to set expectations and then disappoint readers as even products that are swatched don't always end up being reviewed due to time constraints and changes in priorities! Thank you for understanding!

Comments on this post are closed.
We hope you'll consider supporting Temptalia by shopping through our links below. Thanks!
Sephora Beautylish Ulta Nordstrom More
Phyrra
Fairest, Neutral undertones. Combination skin. »

Too Faced Pretty Rebel, UD Naked 3, bareMinerals The Wild Thing, and Sugarpill Cold Chemistry are all on my list. I also loved the UD Theodora and Glinda palettes, Kat Von D Spellbinding, and Aqualillies for Tarte, too.

Christine
Light-Medium, Neutral, slight yellow undertones. Normal-to-Dry skin. »

I almost included the Glinda palette, and I had the Spellbinding pulled up initially (I think I had about 25 open before I whittled everything down). Both were nice palettes!

Mariella
Fair, Pink undertones. Normal-to-Dry skin. »

My faves (not all may have been released in 2013 but I got them in 2013) would be:
Bare Minerals Power Neutrals
Stila In the Garden
Clarins Forest quad (thanks to Christine for alerting me to this beauty)
Dior Bonne Etiole (ditto on the thanks)
Clarins Odyssey (from last Holiday season but I got it in 2013)
Urban Decay Vice 2

Mariella
Fair, Pink undertones. Normal-to-Dry skin. »

and seeing Phyrra’s answers, I wonder how on earth I could forget the Tarte Aqualillies palette. I love that one, especially for the shades Hammock, Bikini and especially Barefoot

Christine
Light-Medium, Neutral, slight yellow undertones. Normal-to-Dry skin. »

All awesome choices, Mariella! I haven’t tried Clarins Odyssey or Stila’s In the Garden. I almost included Power Neutrals, but I ended up with The Wild Thing for its more unique color combo!

Mariella

I really love In the Garden (much to my surprise, to be honest, but so many of the colours in it are actually the sorts of neutrals I really love). Odyssey was LE and it’s not available any longer. It has a gold shade in it, though, that looks like particles of gold leaf – very beautiful to look at though a bit tricky to apply.

rashmi

I am really loving the recent posts and adding things to my wish list Christine 😀
I have naked 3 ( which will arrive in a month or two soooo ) also have GUERLAIN and i want too faced pretty rebel badlyyyy
and i havent tried Bare minerals till now 😀 so want one palette to start my journey 😀

my fav would be UD VICE 2 i guess 😀
too faced is very under rated brand and i need to start buying their palettes now 😀

Mariella
Fair, Pink undertones. Normal-to-Dry skin. »

It nearly got away from me too because my Dior rep went on vacation and the gal filling in, who was supposed to call me, DIDN’T!!! But I managed to get the very last one at the store and I am so happy; I’d have been really distressed if I’d missed this beauty.

CatG

My top palette of the year is Too Faced Pretty Rebel! A++ palette in my book! Runner up for me would be the Sleek Sunset palette, the pigmentation and quality of that palette for the price blows my mind!

Deb
Light-Medium, Neutral undertones. Oily skin. »

Nice timing, the BareMinerals Wild Thing Quad is on the sale section of Sephora and with the extra 20% off sale items right now I just snagged it for about $17! Always love your year end Top 10 posts!

Karen

I own 5 of your top 10, they are also on my top list as well! (Naked 3, Laura Mercier Artist’s palette, Too Faced Pretty Rebel palette, Sugarpill Cold Chemistry palette, Lorac Pro palette), I also love love the Kat Von D Spellbinding palette, Kat Von D Ladybird palette, Urban Decay Glinda palette, Too Faced Chocolate Bar Palette, as well as Too Faced A Few of my Favourite Things palette. Love these all so much!

Christine
Light-Medium, Neutral, slight yellow undertones. Normal-to-Dry skin. »

Great minds think alike, Karen! 🙂

I was considering both Kat Von D palettes you mentioned, as well as UD’s Glinda palette – but those were some awesome palettes as well! It was a good year for makeup, it seems!

Allison
Fair-Light, Pink, moderately pink undertones. »

I’d add IT Cosmetics Naturally Pretty, an alternative to UD Naked 3, and I loved my little bargain from the Stila warehouse sale: Under the Mistletoe

desiqtie
Medium-Tan, Yellow undertones. Combination skin. »

I mostly used single shadows this year for colorful looks but LORAC Pro, Naked, and theBalm nude ‘tude (all bought in 2013) got plenty of use too – I actually hit pan on a few shades!

I really wanted to try the Laura Mercier Artist’s Palette but couldn’t get my hands on it sadly.

xamyx

My “Number 1” pick is NYX Butt Naked “eyes” palette, although I’m not sure when it was released. Although I’m not loving the “face” products, at $25 for 15 eyeshadows, which are completely foolproof for me, it’s well worth it. This is the only palette I’ve used almost exclusively for the last 2 months, which os something I’ve *never* done!

Kat von D Ladybird is another top pick, but more as a “companion” palette for the others. Since picking thos up, I used my other palettes a lot more than I ever have.

LORAC Pro is definitely one that needs to be on the list. While not “unique” in any way, it’s a complete workhorse, and is nearly as foolproof as the above stated NYX palette.

Rounding off the top 5 are Kat von D Spellbinding & UD Vice 2, although they’ve both been sitting virtually untouched… I love them for the quality & value, as well as variety, so although I haven’t used them much (yet!), I see myself using them quite a bit in 2014!

kassie (@kmakesithappen)

I own the Sleek Makeup Sunset palette, and I agree with you the quality of the eyeshadows is amazing, they are so pigmented, but I thought they were a bit more on the brown side when I bought it, only to discover it was a nice mix of different colors. I’m dieing to get my hands on the urban decay naked 3 palette but it’s sold out everywhere

CeeBee

NYX Butt: Naked Turn the Other Cheek and the Smokey Look Collection (which I received 5 days ago and am still playing with but so far, so good) were cheap and surprisingly decent quality.

I loved Sleek i-Divine Vintage palette and the Sweet Cheeks Candy Blush by 3.

And I just bought Dior’s Constellation e/s palette yesterday – I haven’t used it yet but I KNOW I am going to love it.

Christine
Light-Medium, Neutral, slight yellow undertones. Normal-to-Dry skin. »

Enjoy Constellation! I ended up going with Bonne Etoile, well, you know… blues and teals and yeah. There was no help for that 🙂

Really need to check out some of these NYX palettes! Too many options…

SabrinaW

My favorites for 2013 is Naked 3 and Laura Mercier. I am still trying to track down the Anastasia Lavish palette! The Lorac pro palette has been sold out on Sephora’s site every time I try to purchase it. 🙂

Chris25

I got Sleek Sunset and UD Naked3 and I love them both! I also got Too Faced Natural at Night palette, and I like it a lot. In 2013 I bought all 3 of the Naked palettes and I can’t believe i waited so long to buy them. 🙂

Renu
Medium, Neutral undertones. Oily skin. »

I love Naked 3 (just got it for Christmas) and Sleek Sunset – haven’t tried the others on your list, but I also love Balm Voyage, Too Faced A Few Of My Favourite Things (a Christmas buy) and Sleek Vintage Romance from this year!

grlnxdor

I’m loving the new Naked 3–my first Naked palette. It’s pretty much a no-brainer for people with green eyes like myself. I snagged the last one in stock at the Fox River Mall in Appleton, WI a few days before Christmas. I was surprised to see that they still had Laura Mercier’s Artist Palette in stock at the time. If some of you are still looking for that palette you might want to try that Sephora location.

Donna

The palette I almost didn’t purchase and use more than most is the Urban Decay Glinda palette, it also seems to be the palette I go to for that “gosh what color do I need now” color.

Christine
Light-Medium, Neutral, slight yellow undertones. Normal-to-Dry skin. »

I love hearing how many people are enjoying the new N3 palette. Looks like it’s on its way to classic status like the other two!

Aida

My obsessions this year:
Chanel Charming
Chanel Seduction
Chanel Raffinement
Dior Constellation (Mystic Metallics)
Dior Smoky Khaki
Guerlain Les Violets
Guerlain Les Roses
Tom Ford Sahara Haze
Urban Decay Naked 3 (totally addicted to it!!)

Sylirael

I swatched the Pretty Rebel palette when I was in a Paris Sephora, and then moved on, assuming there would be other things. *kicks self*. We don’t have the brand (or Spehoras) here, and I don’t think I’ve ever swatched a sparkly black eyeshadow that matched up to the Miss Sparkles in that palette!

I’ve been eyeballing that Cold Chemistry one too…! 😀

Vineetha
Medium-Tan, Yellow undertones. Normal-to-Dry skin. »

Oh ! I missed on the Laura Mercier Artist Palette! Love Naked 3 and Lorac Pro Palette.few of my favs would be voyage palette by thebalm and kate von d ladybird palette

Amara

oh wow i have 4 of these!!!

i’m really impressed with the lorac pro palette, as i just got it for christmas.
i LOVE the naked 3 and can’t believe i was so scrooge-y about it haha
i just ordered the sleek sunset palette!
and i bought the dior one based on your post about it! i love it so much!
and i just adore every palette kat von d releases!!!!

fancie
Deep Dark, Neutral, slight pink undertones. Normal-to-Dry skin. »

I have Naked 3 and Lorac Pro Palette and I love them both! Escpecially the Pro Palette. Its just so versatile! I really want that Sleek palette though. Its so pretty and I don’t own a lot of orangey shadows

Christine
Light-Medium, Neutral, slight yellow undertones. Normal-to-Dry skin. »

Hi Audrey,

I do both – you can see that I have done these in the years before as well. Editor’s Choice is completely different and separate from these, as Editor’s Choice is, for the most part, focused on formulas, not necessarily shades 🙂

Cindy KC

I love the Guerlain palette mentioned above with the Naked 3. I didn’t expect to like the Naked 3 but really love it.

The Laura Mercier palette I really tried to love. The colors seemed like something I would love but I couldn’t. I even went to return it and the sales girl at Sephora convinced me to keep it, only to take it back after two more tries. It just really disappointed me.

Faves of the year:
The Balm Meet Matte
The Balm Nude Tude
Naked Basics
Nars Voulez Vous
Tarte Off theCuff

Precious
Light, Yellow undertones. Combination skin. »

My favorites are:
1) Chanel Ombres Matelassees Eyeshadow Palette in Charming
2) Dior 5 Couleurs Mystic Metallics in Bonne Etoile
3) Guerlain Ecrin 4 Couleurs in Coup de Foudre
4) Laura Mercier Artist’s Palette for Eyes
5) Urban Decay Naked 3

Christine
Light-Medium, Yellow undertones. Dry skin. »

Lol, I own five on your list Christine. My most used of the five is the Too Faced Pretty Rebel palette. I like to put Girly on my lid with Totally Fetch in the crease, Charming on my outer corner and a touch of the gold on the tear duct. It makes for a really eye catching look 🙂 I used Nars’ Lovejoy on my checks and Bite’s Mulberry on my lips with a sparkly nude MAC glass on top…colorful but not over the top.

Jennifer

I have the Lorac Pro palette and Too Faced Pretty Rebel. I was so disappointed I couldn’t find The LM Artist palette anywhere. I’m always on the hunt for an awesome cool toned palette. Besides Sugarpill Cold Chemistry what other cool toned palettes could you recommend?

We try to approve comments within 24 hours (and reply to them within 72 hours) but can sometimes get behind and appreciate your patience! 🙂 If you have general feedback, product review requests, off-topic questions, or need technical support, please contact us directly. Thank you for your patience!