If there’s enough saturation and the right texture,
I can get down with pastels on myself, but I tend to find them a weaker color category for a lot of products and the stronger white base often doesn’t seem flattering on me.
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!
I personally love pastels! It is difficult to get them to show up, but, would rather it be subtle anyway.
Limited use: typically in the crease
I love lavender (esp if it’s cool toned or grayed) but other pastels eeehhhhh not so much.
I’m not a huge fan. They only seems flattering to wear in Spring when you want a light, soft look. Not flattering on many skin tones. Bc they have a white base, they can come off as chalky
Yes, and the older I get (I’m 59) the more I like them, since dark shades can look witchy and extremely aging on older skin IMO. I don’t want to look like Skeletor. Of course you don’t want chalky either, but clear light tones are wonderful.
Yes.
Nope – I’m “pastel” enough that they just don’t work for me.
No. Light shades, yes, pastel shades, no. That white base makes all the difference.
I despise pastel makeup. I’m sure there are people who can make it work for them, and they’re welcome to it, but … I just can’t. For me, even if the color payoff and finish are good, the obvious white base and weak hues seem so … cartoonish (and not in a good way).
If it’s KVD Pastel Goth eyeshadow palette or MAC Sugar Or Syrup blush level of pigment and depth; Yes.
Or a shade like MAC’s recently released Nicki’s Nude Lipstick, or UD Cruz lipstick, I sure can rock those out! Notably, neither shade has a heavy or remotely noticeable white base, though.
I cannot do white, ashy bases!
They don’t work for me if they have too white a base. I tend to go for a pastel shade that is slightly greyed. That probably takes it out of the pastel range if I am honest. I am very pale and something about white based pastels just don’t flatter me and most particularly in lipsticks. I can get away with it in e/s if I mix slightly darker shades.
Usually not. I like some pastel blushes and lipsticks, and I love the KVD Pastel Goth Palette. I’m more likely to use bright pastels than really light, white-based pastels. That goes for eyes, cheeks, and lips.
No – if I wore pastel hued makeup, I think I would be asked if I were ill…..with my porcelain complexion, it is really unflattering on me.
I do like pastel makeup, I do not think its flattering in a traditional sense but l resonate with its strangeness and it adds variety to a collection. they can be hard to get cohesive looks together with though
Hmmmm? Don’t own any I think but don’t think they look or noticeable on me at at all. Give me those rust colors for my hazel eyes (greenish) or purple, berries, lavender, olives green, all bronzes and golds!
Not really. I’m already so pale they either make me look like a doll or look like a corpse. Neither are my aesthetic so I avoid them.
I’ve been really drawn to bright pastels lately, but in practice they’re generally not as well pigmented as I like. I got Fenty Ya Dig? (as a last hurrah before the great lipstick no-buy of 2018) which has kind of a pastel vibe but isn’t pastel. Been loking at Sugarpill Home Sweet Home eyeshadow but afraid it will be a pain to work with. They’re super fun to look at in really full on, editorial type looks, but tricky IRL.
I don’t mind pastel highlighters, but anything else I’m not a fan of!
In theory, yes. In practice, not so much. If all pastels were on the level of KVD’s Pastel Goth, then maybe I’d be a little more enthusiastic, but they are so often un-pigmented, ashy, and just difficult to work with.