I don’t like anything too large (like 25+ shades), and I tend to like quads or larger–like 8-15 shades. I want to see a variety in depth and a bit in finish in packaging that isn’t bulky.
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I like strong pigment and colours that I know I will use often. I prefer palettes with at least 6 colours; I’m not a professional so I don’t really need a lot of colours. For some reason, I dislike palettes with their shadows in strips like Urban Decay ones. I prefer shadows in circles and squares.
Nothing too large, and nothing with tiny or odd-shaped pans that are hard to get a brush or applicator in. For budget palettes, thin cardboard packaging is fine but for higher priced palettes they should be much sturdier. A mirror is nice to have. Prefer a mix of mattes and satins and shimmers, but no glitter at all.
Lately the palette has to be different, not the 10,000th one with the obligatory black (too harsh) and red (makes me look sick) and several oranges (horrible color on me). I feel we’re drowning in a sea of ModRen clones and ultra-warm neutrals.
A mixture of shimmer and mattes. Some neaturals for an everyday look and also some fun colours. Cohesiveness. I’m not a beginner but I’m also not an artist so I need some help. I’ve been a little pickier where I spend my money so I want to make sure I’m not going to regret the purchase.
When they’re a bit more compact (not too much space between shades), and the packaging isn’t bulky or too themed. A nice selection of browny neutrals with a few pops of color. (No reds or oranges please). A majority of mattes and satins with a few shiny, shimmery ones, but no sparse glitter.. I really don’t like that. Oh, and no black eyeshadow please. I never use it.
I prefer a smaller, edited colour selection which follows a theme. I am not very interested in neutral palettes with a pop of colour. It is good to start but fairly inefficient once you have more makeup. I don’t need more black, gold, white, grey, bronze. It also works better with how I picture what I want when I do my makeup. I either feel for a colour combo (do I bring some bright in?), a finish (wet look? matte? etc), a certain intensity (soft, smoked?), etc. I don’t mind using several palettes when I do my makeup. I also started making my own palette with shades with the viseart and mufe shadows I own to build combo I feel like wearing in the coming week, “dupe”a palette I crave to buy, etc.
I also want enough contrast in a palette but avoid the one offering too many dark colours as these shades proved more difficult to introduce in my daily makeup (being so fair).
If the packaging is pretty, it is a bonus but what really matters is that it remains functional and easy to store.
Think for number, prefer no more than 12. Cohesiveness and layout. Haven’t seen it but the cargo emerald city is laid out in duos and quads. That appeals. Prefer to have a crease and deepening shade, so as not to need a completer shadow pull out. Not too many warm or dark browns. Prefer not highly duped, and like cool leaning. Would prob choose En Taupe, if I had to 86 all my other palettes. And, at the same time, a part of me says borrrr….ing! In my case, aging friendly is also a factor. Much as I love the look of saturated, colorful, fun, like the bigger Hudas, think they are slipping outside my age/comfort zone. Currently, obvious/idiot proof is welcome, as well. Getting the most compliments on two shade, simplistic looks these days, and they’re on in no time! The quality I look for is refinement…you guys know…the reason mufe shadows in iridescent or diamond finish may look fine on an older user, when the similar shade in UD might be OTT.
Which is why I’m gonna cry once MUFE completes their “reformulation” on their already perfect Artist Shadows, KJH! The Diamond and Iridescent finishes are perfection already, and for whatever reason, I can get away with those or other refined glitter (Fenty Galaxy, UD Moondust) before many a metallic finish any day!
These days for me: A smaller (4-6 pans), tailored, cohesive palette that can be a single source for looks. Mostly matte and/or satin but a few shimmers ok. Travels well.
I have all the larger palettes I need now. So I’m up for these more tightly crafted and perhaps specific approaches.
Nothing too large, and a has a selection of shades I find appealing. I don’t mind having to use another palette to have a complete look asa long as this palette has a variety of colors.
I like the ten to 12 pan palettes. I prefer 4 mattes max and if there are more than two shades I know won’t work for me i’m passing.I like shimmer , colour and neutrals. The main thing for me is that the formula should be easy to work with.
I look for something with a variety of finishes (mattes and shimmers) and something that has a cohesive color story. Quality is super important to me, so that means pigment, blendability,= and wear time. Size wise, I think between 6 and 12 is good. Sturdy packaging and a mirror are preferred, and while not necessary, it’s a nice bonus if a good brush is included.
I prefer palettes with 12 or fewer shades, with a balanced mix of mattes and shimmers. Color-wise, I like a palette that is cohesive and lends itself to several different looks. It should have a nice combination of well-pigmented, light and medium cool neutrals with one darker color, plus a couple fun colors that work together. No glitter and no black!
I like a hard palette that makes a nice snap when you close it and is easy to clean (no more fuzzy palettes!). It would be awesome to have a mirror that’s half regular and half 5x magnifying. And how about a little light that goes on when you open it… 😉
Layout-wise, I’m not that picky as long as it’s simple, uniform, and organized. I dislike palettes with odd-shaped pans or pans that are scattered at weird angles. (Side note: I saw a youtube video of someone who rearranged her KVD Saint & Sinner palette to put like shades together. It looked a lot easier to work with, but ruined the whole stained glass look of the palette.)
And finally, no extravagant pricing! Less than $50 would be nice.
Build-your-own. I cannot think of a single palette EVER that I wore all the shades or didn’t need to supplement it with other shades. I’m glad others can find them. But, as for me, I’m not a fan of ‘browns-tans-beiges’ (on me) and that alone eliminates a ton of them. I’m also not a fan of all-shimmer palettes (on me). That eliminates many. I like cool shades (on me). That eliminates even more of them. I’m not a fan of any shade of blue eyeshadow (on me). That eliminates a few more. By the time I’m finished eliminating, I’m down to build-your-own. And, that’s exactly what I do. Thank goodness a few lines think that’s a good idea, too, and market their eyeshadows that way.
Something with the # of shadows and the size of the Lorac Pro or Anastasia Mario palette (I guess I prefer more of smaller pans than fewer larger pans) and wearable colours with maybe one or 2 hits of a brighter shade. I like a variety of finishes (all matte palettes are not for me and don’t excite me) and I would like for there to be one highlight/light shade for my NW15 skin tone (that’s the big failing of the Mario palette for me – not the end of the world but a vanilla shade with a bit of sheen would have been perfection).
I love to be able to look at it and see looks jump out at me! Although, it does not necessarily need to have a browbone shade included, as I already have my HG for that. Nor a transition shade, under some circumstances, ie; an all shimmer palette or a quad. I do look for cohesiveness within it, however. Oh, and the quality must be there! But I’d say that that’s a given, right? ?
One more thing; size matters! Nothing too bulky or difficult to store due to it being an awkward shape (KVD S&S) or too large (sorry Kat, but again, Mi Vida Loca).
Uhh, existing?
I’m such a eyeshadow palette addict – I don’t even know how many I have!
It has to have colours that appeal to me (I won’t buy anything that has a lot of blues, greens or greys as I don’t gravitate towards those colours), not have stupid packaging (overly bulky, pointless decorative add-ons that make it hard to store – who needs an actual tassel on an eyeshadow palette? Not me!) and have decent product.
Size-wise I tend to prefer something in the 8-12 shadow range, and it needs to be easy to depot because I love depotting and combining palettes together to give myself a wide range of colors in a small space. I also look for streamlined packaging, I think most palettes are over-packaged right now which is part of why I’m such a depotting fiend. In fact my ideal palette packaging is Viseart’s 12-pan: No fuss, no muss, just my eyeshadows and a clear case I can see them through. Color-wise I look for things I don’t already have, I have enough mid-tone browns to get me through Ragnarok so if I’m going to bring in something new it should be unusual and inspiring.
For an eyeshadow palette to appeal to me it needs to be:
1. No more than 12 or so shades
2. Contain the colours that I would wear: taupes, browns, olives, darker greens, blues and greys
3. Have a variety of finishes – mattes, satins and shimmers – no glittery/frosty numbers
4. Highly rated by Christine in terms of pigmentation, longevity and ease of use
5. Affordable and accessible.
6. Sturdy packaging with a mirror.
I like 4-12 shades with efficient but stylish packaging. I prefer there to be a concept behind it, not just based on seasonal trends or celebrities.
Most importantly, I prefer a targeted palate in terms of undertone. Nothing annoys me more than seeing one special edition color I can wear surrounded by ten more that I can’t. I only buy palates with a strong majority of shades that works on my cool-neutral tones.
i don’t think i’ll buying many more palettes, if any. they never meet my needs. i’ve never used black shadow and i never will, nor white, nor blue in almost any form, nor green, red, orange, gray or yellow. i’m fair with red hair and i look best in pinks, orchid, violet, lavender and other variations of light purples and magenta. but they must have lots of pigment. very light tones disappear into my skin. clean light browns work, as long as they aren’t orangey or muddy tones. no glitter ever. so there aren’t going to be many, if any, palettes to meet my needs.
I prefer a palette with atleast one mid tone shade, that will work with my darker lids. I prefer an eyeshadow palette that is not too big, with too many colours. I get confused if there are too many different colours, or too many similar colours.