Share: Tell us what you love and hate about Eyeshadow Pans!
my answer: I love the versatility of buying just individual pans of eyeshadows, because you can create your own palettes, take a few with you, or take a lot with you! I also like that they’re often a little cheaper than buying the individual eyeshadow in its own compact. Now, when they’re the same price as the individual shadow in the compact, then I get annoyed!
We're here to help you make better beauty purchases that you'll enjoy and love! We recommend signing up to take advantage of personalized features like tracking products you own, viewing dupes that you already have, and more!
Here are some useful resources for you:
Curious how two shades compare to each other? Type in the shades below to get instant side-by-side swatches!
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!
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!
Cheaper, and perfect for customizing, so I’m all for them! 🙂
I like having less packaging
I like that they’re cheaper and that I can customize a palette to my liking. Once I started buying them in the pans vs the compact, I never looked back.
Not for me. Too unorganized and easy to get lost. Plus….I like the coordination of a palette (whether I put together or a makeup company does)
I don’t quite understand the question. Does “pans” mean the pro-pans/minimal packaging that you can get at MAC and Inglot, for example. If so, I LOVE them. I like being able to move shadows around, put together quads or 6 shadow “Freedom” palettes as it suits me. I also like the lower price, rather than paying for packaging I don’t even want in the first place (UD and Sephora, take note!). And as I’m not into the rigmarole involved in “depotting”, I really like products that give the option of “pan only” (I wish MAC’s LE shadows came in pro pans for those of us who are not wowed by chintzy “LE” packaging)
Yes, those! 🙂
For the essential shades, they’re great, becuse you can customise a palette and they last longer. For variety, they’re too expensive! 😀
I do really like just looking at the rack of the individual eyeshadows in the store though – especially somewhere like MAC or KIKO. SO many colours…
I appreciate a more ecological approach to packaging for single eyeshadows as well as for other products. Whenever possible I purchase my Chantecaille and Clé de Peau as “refills”. Both those brands provide a large number of products in that format. Since I don’t carry much makeup with me, I don’t need the protection of a hard case nor do I need the mirror and applicators that so often come with them.
I much prefer pans, whenever possible. Less packaging, more customizable.
I don’t have a strong opinion either way. If I buy a pre-made palette, I’m not going to choose one that doesn’t work for me, whether it be color, finish, etc.; there are too many options on the market. I also don’t find the “pans” to be all that much cheaper, since I would have to spend the “savings” on an empty palette. Since there is no uniform size/shape between brands, and sometimes within, that means even more palettes.
At the end, I prefer pre-made palettes. They’re the most economical option, and if I run out of a certain shade, or need a different finish/shade, the occasional single isn’t much of a burden.
In the past, I’ve always been more drawn to premade palettes (easy! great colors! value!) but with the purchase of my first Z Palette recently, I’m hardcore switching over. Less packaging (less waste), and I get to keep all my favorites in one place? Sold! And since my favorites change all the time, being able to swap them out is amazing.
And of course, with the Z Palette, you can put pans of whatever shape and size in there, which is a really awesome bonus.
i like my shadows separate for the most part. or i like to make mac quads. when they are all individual i can take which ones i want and then can mix and match easier for me. plus nothing more annoying than breaking a shadow in a palette grrrr!!!! i love nars but i have had a few of the shadow duos break. same with pans in a palette then its a big mess
I love it when I can buy eyeshadow pans and make my own palette…I know there are tons of depotting videos and tutorials, but I can never bring myself to destroy the packaging, especially NARS :shudder: nooooooo 😀
On the fence. I’m pretty sick of having a loose bag of MAC single eyeshadows to search through, so the idea of depotting is tempting, but it seems like a hassle and I’ll have to buy a palette (which will have a random mix of colours rather than one of those beautifully organised ones I’ve seen on people’s blogs). I also think MAC’s pans are about $26 AUD which is cheaper, but not a bargain. My local MAC counter won’t Back 2 MAC pots without the pan, so it’s still going to result in waste.
I like the idea of Inglot’s freedom system (and the $10 pan price), except their eyeshadows are a totally different size and shape to MAC, Urban Decay and so on, so I’d have to buy yet another palette if I truly wanted them all together. At least their palettes are very sturdy whereas I’ve seen enough pictures of battered Unii and Z Palette to know I don’t really want to go down that road.
I also question the idea that pans have ‘less packaging’. My Inglot pans all came in individual plastic protectors (as do MAC), the palette is plastic and came in a cardboard box… I think it would be less packaging if you’re someone who really burns through eyeshadow (and is regularly throwing away empty pre made palettes or singles), otherwise it’s about the same.