For me, they’re overwhelming to review,
and they are rarely filled with 100% amazing shades – there will most likely be a few duds. I don’t mind palettes in the 15-or-less range, but when they creep up to 20, 30, etc., it’s too much for my taste.
— Christine
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Yes, totally agree. I rarely use my Morphe Taupe palette as I get overwhelmed by the 35 colors.
8 to 16 is more than enough.
Mega palettes – especially “all-in-one” eye, cheek and lip ones – rarely catch my interest. Powder products tend to be dusty and not that pigmented, and mixing in cream products just seems unsanitary and not very useful. I’d rather have a smaller, well-edited collection that seems cohesive and works as a standalone product where I can throw in my own lip and cheek colors. I wish more brands would offer build-your-own palette systems, too.
I think they can be a lot of fun for the makeup novices and are perhaps of value to the makeup artists who have to be prepared for just about anything, but for the average person, they’re probably more of a novelty and a waste of money. The quality usually isn’t all that good and there are usually too many colors or textures that don’t suit me. I’d rather pay more and get a good 4-6 color palette of colors I’ll actually use.
Looking at those huge Morphe palettes make my eyes hurt trying to distinguish any slight variations in the colors. How many different browns do you need?
Theres a pic on Reddit of a girl with like 7 different swatches from the same brown palette and they all look identical.
Exactly. I really don’t understand how people choose Morphes on Ulta. They all look incredibly similar, as if the pans were rearranged slightly. As if someone took a brown slice from the color wheel and pulled 30 virtually identical teeny tiny (see how CP sneaks into our vocabulary?) variations. I don’t get it at all.
I couldn’t agree with you more, Christine. And for me, it isn’t about testing, but about storage space at this point! I mean, I love some of the mega palettes out right now, problem is, where to put them. My sock drawer has more eyeshadow palettes than space for socks at the moment! And it’s driving me bats! ?
One of the biggest reasons I purchase palettes is to get a curated collection of colors that work together, since my color theory isn’t the strongest. I get super overwhelmed at the color selection in palettes that go significantly past 16 colors, unless they’re arranged in such a way that the palette can still kind of guide me into making good color combination choices, or the palette is set up with two (or more) distinct finishes.
It depends on the quality/colour/finish selection, how physically big the palette is and if it’s easy to use. I tend to steer away from the flip old folder type or the ones with little drawers now – I just want a flat, single folding lid that can tuck behind the palette so I can hold it in one hand.
Dud shades or shades that I won’t use aren’t a total dealbreaker, as long as the value and quality is there for the majority of the shades I will use. I don’t like anything too dark or monochromatic (like the Morphe 35R and 25B – brown, deep brown, dark brown, blackened brown, more brown, etc). I like them to have 10 – 25 pans in a good layout (wasted space is a big pet peeve) and it’s highly unlikely I will buy a palette with only matte shades because girl does love her some shimmer.
Having said that, the last palette I purchased was the Chichi Aphrodite Goddess 54 colour palette (lots of peaches, pinks, golds and berries, mostly in the light to mid-tone range) which I definitely did not need, is way too big and hard to store but I can use pretty much every single colour in it, so… 🙂
I have maybe 2 or 3 that I really enjoy having even if I don’t use them all that often because my little bathroom – where I put on makeup – is “little” so working from something so big is awkward and as a result, I generally opt for more manageable sizes – Chanel quads, the UD Naked palettes – things of that size and “easy handling”. I also find that in the really big palettes (whether eye ones or full face ones) there are bound to be shades that simply don’t work for me – I wear cool-toned blushes so a palette that has both a cool pink or berry and then an orange/coral blush – that’s just a wasted product for me.
I rarely can handle so many shades, I bought the 35O at one point and quickly realized that my indecisiveness applied to large palettes and spent a great deal of my time unsure of what shades to use. I found it to be true with the lorac mega pros too. The only giant palette that I have made work for my makeup life is my Natasha Denona 28 pans, but that is probably due to my love for her shadows. I did recently buy saint & sinner, so we’ll see how that goes.
Mega palettes are not for me — most have several colors I’d never use, and anyway these days I have a ton of palettes and singles that fill basically all my needs plus some.
Rave: You feel like you are getting a bargain most of the time. So many shadows to choose from but there in lies the rant. Too many colors are overwhelming to try and come up with looks. There are invariably shades that don’t perform well or that I will never use so it effectively lessens the value for me as an individual. In general, they are bigger and bulkier and not travel friendly.
The mega palettes are just not for me. I bought a couple of 4 eyeshadow “palettes” from MAC many years ago and in each one there was that one shadow that I never ever used. Drove me nuts. Good thing is that I used those now empty palettes to make my own.
On the recent large palettes there seem to be many shades that are so close to another one in same palette and as always, a couple duds that i’d never use. So I just don’t buy.
I don’t like them. It’s too much for me to deal with. I’d rather have a well-thought out palette of about 12 or fewer nicely coordinated shades. (Although I did just buy KVD Saint & Sinner, but for some reason, I see that one differently.)
Rave: Occasionally there can be really good ones, such as the UD Spectrum, BH Foil Eyes 1 and it can allow you to try colours/shades that normally you would not wear.
Rant: I have a feeling that the days of the mega palettes are more or less over: I can certainly understand why they are overwhelming for you to test and review Christine – so many shades and the palettes often contain very similar colours too.
Storage wise, they can be a nightmare and eventually I don’t think they are used as often as they could be.
Those that contain lip and cheek colours are ones I am definitely not interested in at all.
Lots of the mega palettes contain shades that I simply would not use, so are a waste for me.
Palettes of of 8 -12 shades is about the right size I think.
Rave: They can lots of variety, and they’re really fun to play with. You know you’ll find shades that work for you. If you don’t have a lot of money and/or storage space for lots of palettes, these can be great.
Rant: They can be overwhelming. You can end up with shades that are very similar. Often, the quality isn’t there. If you own several, they can be hard to store due to their size.
The colors in the megas can be so appealing to look at but I am out of storage space for ANY large palettes. Plus it is harder to remember what shades you like in them and the ones you dislike . With a smaller palette I can just go by memory .
Please pardon me while I proceed to repeat what everyone else has said lol.
Rave: They can be fun and a good way to start if you’re young and/or just getting into makeup. You’ll get a lot of shades right away.
Rant: Too. many. colors. It’s overwhelming to my eyes and things usually either look too similar or not similar enough. Most mega palettes have a terrible color story and I can’t get inspired from them. Ironically, I use the XL (54 pan) MUFE metal palettes to hold my single and depotted shadows, so maybe number of colors isn’t the problem so much as the poor color stories. However, if I’m buying an eyeshadow palette (which is rare for me these days because I prefer singles), I look for ones that are 16 colors or (preferably) less so the color story is more focused. I love the 9-pan ones because they have a decent color story and I can depot them. Mega palettes are also typically not very high quality. The only one that has worked out for me was the Lorac Mega Pro 3, and I don’t even use that anymore because Lorac isn’t CF.
They are not my cup of tea. During the day I use a limited range of shades on my eyes (more neutral), therefore the mega palettes will be a waste on me. When I use bold colours or shades outside the neutral sphere, I have my preferences (i.e. certain shades of blue, green, violet etc.) and I usually buy singles or quads. My largest ES palettes are from ABH (MR and Mario). But I can see the mega ES palettes as a good option for those new to makeup, for MUA or for those who want to experiment with different shades.
The mega palettes containing full face products do not interest me. Smaller full face palettes can be useful though, if they are well made and if their quality matches the one from the regular line (I have in mind the concept found in The Making Faces Beauty Book – KA).
I don’t like them. Find them over board huge and a challenge to keep and use. Not practical for me.
I notice this as well. I feel like the small pans are pressed differently; palettes with lots of colors and very small pans seem less pigmented to me. I’d rather have a few shades in big pans that can hold more binders and silicones, because they will apply better.
I just don’t see the point. Usually the quality is lower, and I would never end up using all the shades. When I was starting out I got what I think was a BH palette and I didn’t really use it and have since given it to my sister’s almost-step-daughters (not yet married but she basically is lol) to play around with as they were like 8 and 11 at the time and have used it for a few years now. I think basically the more affordable mega palettes (I think I got that one on sale for like $18 and it had like 50 shades) are more like kids toys. Like the big box of crayons you covet when you’re 7. The pricey ones are just ridiculous to me. I
think the only uses would be if you’re a makeup artist who does a VAST range of looks or if you do stage makeup for theater, though in the latter case we never used the pricey stuff, just the cheap ones as it only had to stay on for the duration of the play.
For eyeshadow palettes, the sheer size is off putting. Not only is storing it a pain for me, but I never reach for them either because I usually have to put them separately from the rest of my palettes. And like you said Christine, quality isn’t uniform in these palettes.
I also don’t like the palettes that have products for the whole face. I rarely find that most of the products will work for me usually because of my skin tone.
THe only huge palette I own is the Morphe 35O. I got it because I was desperately in need of some neutral tones as none of the other palettes I own had this. I’ve actually found it pretty useful because it basically covers everything I need from a neutral palette in one, and the shadows are good enough quality at a really great price. BUt, outside of the 35O, I don’t think I could see myself buying any other palettes that big, just because I don’t see why it would be necessary.
Just remembered – I do also have the UD Full Spectrum palette, which was bought for me as a gift. I got it when I was first starting out using makeup, so it was very helpful to have a variety of colours in one place, and it still remains my go to palette when I need glitter and colour. So yes, I can see the advantages of these big palettes. Storage space hasn’t become a huge issue for me yet!